The Bandcamp List

I listen to a lot of music.  I make lists of what I like.  I’m not able to write about everything, not nearly as much as the music deserves.  This new List column series will attempt to squeeze in some extra recommendations of stuff that I typically wouldn’t find time to write about on this site or my various other spots.

Here’s some quick hits of interesting stuff I found on Bandcamp today.

Miguel Ângelo Quartet – A Vida de X (Carimbo Porta-Jazz)

On the newest release from bassist Miguel Ângelo, there’s a richness to the album’s rhythmic approach that, on its own, would be plenty to keep the attention locked in.  And the lyrical nature of each melody is something where storybook concepts are expanded on and taken far from their original manifestation.  But his quartet’s delivery is a conversational tone that is practically soothing in the way it comes across, a concise, succinct way of telling wild tales.  That balance of diversity and economy earns huge dividends, and it’s why this tuneful music resonates so evocatively, with as much a chance at making a cerebral connection as a mainline into Emotion Central.  Another nifty recording from the Porto, Portugal scene.

Your album personnel:  Miguel Ângelo (bass), João Guimarães (alto sax), Joaquim Rodrigues (piano) and Marcos Cavaleiro (drums).

More listening and available for sale on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Erik Bogaerts – Bogaerts & Lasure + Dahm (Self-Produced)

There’s a compelling looseness to this Nordic Jazz session from the trio of pianist Lasure, saxophonist Bogaerts and drummer Dahm, as if a peaceful dream were coming apart at the seams.  There’s a sense that all of these tracks have a ballad in mind, even when they veer into territories more reflective of heartbreak than love song.  Each song is carried along by the strength of the melody, and each melody is stretched thin by the way the trio chooses to never let them adopt their final form and, instead, look to see just how far they can expand on the original idea.  This effect when combined with the casual approach to form makes for some strangely intoxicating music.

Your album personnel:  Hendrik Lasure (piano), Erik Bogaerts (alto sax) and Pit Dahm (drums).

More listening and available for sale on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Khaa Project – Khaa Project (Woldéba Records)

A seriously likable kind of world jazz fusion from the quartet Khaa Project.  They seem to borrow from a wide swath of Eastern music, from Indo-jazz to Japanese folk and over to Nepalese and Lebanese influences.  The quartet delivers their particular blends in catchy grooves that toss the melodies gently along their surface.  It creates a sense of perpetual dance, easy and free and joyful.  And when they slow things down, as they do on closing track “Looking For Khaa,” all of those elements combine for some riveting moody music that simmers with just the right amount of heat.  A four-track EP lasting approximately thirty minutes, and every one of those minutes is very enjoyable.

Your album personnel:  Guilhem Fontes (piano, Rhodes, alto clarinet), Thomas Bourgeois (drums, zarb, daf), Akram Chaïb (clarinet) and Philippe Guiraud (electric & double basses).

More listening and available for sale on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Toni Vaquer – Noninó (Underpool)

The progression of Noninó from first song to last creates a curious, addictive flow.  The debut from pianist Toni Vaquer opens with a heavy presence, a cadence that almost lumbers through the melody.  Yet with each successive track, the tempo moves more freely and the melody is exhaled effortlessly and each song becomes increasingly tuneful.  In addition to the abiding presence of each song and how it changes one from the next, Vaquer’s sextet adds little flourishes here and there by way of accentuating smaller changes within the larger transformations.  It gives some extra personality to each tune, so that their individuality can be appreciated as much as for how they fit into the album’s grander scheme.

Your album personnel:  Toni Vaquer (piano), Joan Mas (alto sax), Miguel “Pintxo” Villar (tenor sax), Dani Pérez (guitar), David Mengual (bass) and Ramon Prats (drums).

More listening and available for sale on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

ThreeJay – Our Voint of Piew (Self-Produced)

An exceedingly cheerful session from the Threejay trio of pianist Joan Solana, bassist Josep Colls and drummer Joan Carles Marí.  Melodies are drawn with thick lines and fall easily into the rhythm’s embrace.  Most songs keep to a brisk pace, but never to where the melodic expressions sound hurried.  Sort of a pop music influence, but for the most part, a standard modern piano trio sound.  Nothing groundbreaking here; just a pleasant album that’s pretty easy to like.

Your album personnel:  Joan Solana (piano), Josep Colls (bass) and Joan Carles Marí (drums).

More listening and available for sale on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

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