May 26 2019
Winter came and went, but your Sunday still aches for some Game of Thrones action
Since HBO has left a void in your Sunday nights by ending Game of Thrones far too quickly, here’s some videos to dull the pain.
First up is from saxophonist Andrew Gutauskas. He’s got an album out sometime later in 2019 on Outside In Music.
Your song personnel: Andrew Gutauskas (soprano sax), Josh Paris (bass), and Chris Smith (drums).
Until that new album is released, in the meantime you can check out his 2017 release Look Up!.
And just in case you, like me, dies a little death every time the syrupy melody of the GoT theme accompanies that cool show opening of the clockwork castles of Westeros, here’s a respite from that banality. The song “Arya” was inspired by the show’s character, but doesn’t sound like anything that would ever make an appearance in the soundtrack. It’s by the Philippe Lemm Trio, from a 2017 performance at Jazz Club Paradox in Tillburg, Netherlands.
Your video personnel: Philippe Lemm (drums), Angelo Di Loreto (piano) and Jeff Koch (bass).
The piece also makes an appearance on their 2018 recording City Birds, which, coincidentally, was also released by Outside In Music. You can listen to that album at the artist’s Soundcloud page. It’s available to purchase at Amazon.
Artist: Jake Leckie
Though primarily a work of modern jazz and chamber, Clean is informed by the music of Steve Reich, Kendrick Lamar and Philip Glass… influences that bleed into the music with a remarkable subtlety. Their effect is revealed in harmonic roll-outs, pulsing rhythms, a narrative-like melodic development, and moments of stunning minimalism at the eye of a storm… an undercurrent of influence like an untold strategy guiding the hand of active participants. It’s an effect not unlike that of an author mapping out a storyline, which is an apt metaphor in light of the structure Paul Jones provides his excellent 2017 recording. Full of recurring themes, dramatic plot twists, and inter-character tensions, there’s an abiding sense of novella in sonic form. There are countless jaw-dropping moments of beauty on this album, and at times, it seems like it could go on forever… and then it’s suddenly over, far too soon. This recording fell just outside the official Top Ten, but there’s every argument to be made that not only did it deserve to be included, but that it earned a slot in the top half. Just a wonderful album.
Jan 15 2020
Kind of Yule: Some holiday music from Bandcamp’s jazz section
I go through every album that hits the jazz aisle at Bandcamp. Every Single One. I may only listen to it for a hot minute, but I give every album a chance to grab my ear. So, even those musicians and labels who don’t reach out to me personally still have a shot to get a write-up on my site or in one of my Bandcamp Daily columns.
Some I bookmark for later. Some of those tags are because the album has some odd trait that makes me want to revisit it later, and perhaps write about the album or form a column around that trait. One such theme is holiday music. I was giving a quick listen to one that showed up in the new releases section, and I mumbled to myself, “This is only kind of yule.” It was an unintentional pun. The album had a reference that made me think of Miles Davis, which spurred me to think of Kind of Blue, and it just went on from there. There’s no good way to explain the stream-of-conscious thoughts that ripple through my brain as I listen to music. But that’s where I landed.
The more I chuckled about the title, the more it occurred to me that, hey, maybe I have enough bookmarked holiday jazz albums to form a column. That led to a pitch to Bandcamp, and, happily, the go-ahead from my editor to put it together. As it turned out, I had more music that I had open slots. The Kind of Yule column may have begun as a chuckle-thon, but it manifested as a collection of some very fine music.
Here’s where you check out the column on The Bandcamp Daily. The list captures more than Christmas music. It’s meant to represent all holidays, even those that fall outside the month of December. Because Jazz is a worldwide pursuit and a worldwide love, and the world is a very diverse place.
And a special shout-out to Thomas Slater for the excellent column art. It really captures the spirit of the column. Cheers.
And feel free to check out my Bandcamp Daily writer archives while you’re at it.
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By davesumner • Announcement - Music, Jazz Recommendations • 0 • Tags: Art Yard Records, Auand Records, Bandcamp articles, Blue Music Group, Brad Linde, Dan Chmielinski, Ill Considered, Johanna Grüssner, Mars Williams, Martina DaSilva, Outside In Music, Salah Ragab, Sun Ra, Truth Revolution Records