RaaDie

Jan 30 2020

Best of 2019 #21: RaaDie – “Vast Potential”

 

No album in 2019 displayed the immense power of a simple melody more than the RaaDie duo of trumpeter Lorenz Raab and e-zitherist Christof Dienz.  Vast Potential is a gem of minimalism, of sympatico intimacy, and an illustration how a transportive experience is just a matter of the succession of a few well-placed notes.  It’s like casting a spell, and it’s not unlike a mesmerizing effect this lovely recording elicits.  Every year, there are a handful of albums that are staggeringly beautiful, and that is what defines the recording and encapsulates its description.  For albums such as these, of which Vast Potential is one, there is not much more to say than this is one of the most beautiful things you could wish to hear.  And that’s it.

Your album personnel:  Lorenz Raab (trumpet, effects) and Christof Dienz (e-zither, effects).

Released on Traumton Records.

Music from Vienna, Austria.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

By • Recap: Best of 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Dec 31 2019

Now up: Best Jazz on Bandcamp in 2019

 

And here we go.

It was pretty much an impossible task to cobble together a Best of 2019 list for Bandcamp, limited, as I was, to just 15 slots.  Too many great recordings in 2019, too few opportunities to train a spotlight on them.  Rather than do a typical ranking, I went with the approach of presenting a cohesive picture of the modern jazz landscape, a snapshot of its diversity and how that leads to new and exciting forms of expression… including many that leave the 1950’s bop sound far behind.

Some of these albums will be familiar to you from the monthly recommendations columns to already hit The Bandcamp Daily, but there are also a few that will be new to this column.  2019 was the best year ever, and this list is just a fraction of the evidence supporting that claim.

And on that note, let’s begin.

Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.

Check out past recommendations by running through my contributor archives.

Have fun going through the list!

Cheers.

By • Announcement - Music • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 2 2019

Album of the Day: RaaDie – “Vast Potential”

 

Artist:  RaaDie

Album:  Vast Potential

Label:  Traumton Records

Style:  Sunday morning solemn

Favorite Track: “Unterwasserfische”

Music from:  Vienna, Austria

What I like about it:  I like the intimacy between the two musicians, and how they sound always in sync even when they’re twirling away on opposite sides of the dance floor.  I like how immaculately tuneful each of these pieces are, and how they have a catchy quality without really any dedication to patterns of repetition.  I like how this music is a Summer day, sometimes undiluted sunshine and other times like a starry night where the only sound are crickets and a soft, comforting breeze rattling the leaves in the trees.  This is music for daydreaming, and I like spending a lazy Saturday afternoon just kicking back and floating away in imagery, cats snoring nearby, and a feeling that peace has settled into my life.  This is the music for that kind of day.  It’s also one of my favorite albums of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Lorenz Raab (trumpet, effects) and Christof Dienz (e-zither, effects).

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , ,