Oct 6 2016
Today’s Bandcamp List: Tak!, Natalie Lande, Motion Complex, Rodriguez/Castillo, and Harry Wilson
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.
Tak! – free-can-do (FlatTown Records)
This late 2015 release from the quartet Tak! is all kinds of wonderful. The thing is, free-can-do doesn’t have any kind of distinct personality to point to. This is simply an instance of musicians wielding the collective efforts of their collaboration in a way that every melody shines like a diamond, every burst of percussion influences motion in the most dynamic and varied ways, and where every note and nuance coalesces into a dramatic, singular piece that resonates with life. For all intents and purposes, this is a modern straight-ahead recording, but the little details perpetually shift the context just enough that nothing is quite as it seems… a sort of dreamstate that has nothing to do with serenity or sleepiness. Plenty of edge to complement some gorgeous melodies, and some arresting balladeering to balance out the fiery passages of deconstruction. Outstanding music.
Your album personnel: Roger Martínez (alto & soprano saxes), Joan Solana (piano), Manel Fortià (double bass) and Marc Bódalo (drums).
More listening and for sale on Bandcamp.
Natalie Lande – Learning How To Fly (Self-Produced)
Solid post-bop session from saxophonist Natalie Lande. Her quintet (plus some guest vocals) deliver a nice mix of melodic warmth and rhythmic intensity to her 2015 release Learning How To Fly. In particular, it’s the swings between moments where the melody is like a soft kiss and those where the rhythmic attack is like a corrosive element. Those contrasts in tone are plenty likable, but it’s the way the group winds its way between those extremes that seals the deal. The tracks with vocals leave some cracks in the album’s cohesion, but the alluring presence of “Things Aren’t Right” isn’t likely to raise any objections as far as that goes.
Your album personnel: Natalie Lande (saxophones), Sam Hasting (guitar), Dan Pierson (piano, organ), John Sims (bass), Peter Manheim (drums) and guest: Sarah Marie Young (vocals).
More listening and for sale on Bandcamp.
Motion Complex – Against the Tide (Self-Produced)
Pleasant contemporary piano trio session. The trio Motion Complex keeps the melodies simple, with an emphasis on making the connection between music and listener as easy as possible. For the most part, they keep things peaceful, and that’s when they’re at their strongest on their debut Against the Tide. There’s a few surges of intensity, and while there’s nothing wrong with those passages, you’ll probably welcome a return to something closer to tranquility. Good stuff.
Your album personnel: Robert Sudall (piano), Grant Russell (bass) and David Lande-Sudall (drums).
More listening and for sale on Bandcamp.
Rodríguez/Castillo – Nuevas Oposiciones (Self-Produced)
A strangely enchanting session from Julián Rodríguez on tenor ukulele and Nacho Castillo on acoustic guitar. Their Rodríguez/Castillo project brings together influences of folk, tango and free jazz, and its most endearing quality is how uneven and misshapen its constructs of influences become. A lazy seaside ambiance suddenly scatters like marbles inside a hurricane, and when the resulting disassemblage unexpectedly coalesces into a fluid line of warped melody, the results of Nuevas Oposiciones can be as startling as they are subtle.
Your album personnel: Julián Rodríguez (tenor ukulele) and Nacho Castillo (acoustic guitar).
More listening and for sale on Bandcamp. FYI, it’s offered as NYP (Name Your Price).
Harry Wilson – Harry Wilson (Self-Produced)
This self-titled album from vibraphonist Harry Wilson is plenty cheerful. It’s got a sharp pop music attitude to shape its swing, and so even when the tunes speed right on by, they’re easy to grab hold of and go along for the ride. The addition of ukulele and the way it helps vibes shape the flow of lyricism is a nice wrinkle; it also leads to some irresistible passages. A real easy-to-like session. Noteworthy: Wilson was a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra on their 1979 recording Sleeping Beauty… an album that’s always owned a soft spot in my heart.
Your album personnel: Harry Wilson (vibraphone), John Buck (bass), Brian Barbre (drums), Steve Rabson (piano), Larry Hinkle (ukulele) and guests: Karen Young, Mark D (vocals).
More listening and for sale on Bandcamp.
*****
Oct 9 2016
Today’s Bandcamp List: Strange Meetings, Curtis Macdonald, Liilaa, KOKO and Clark-Jones-Pottie
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.
Strange Meetings – Strange Meetings (Produção de Música Contemporânea)
This captivating 1997 album is culled from sessions back in ’96, then pieced together in the studio. A trio of guitarist Jan Weber, multi-reedist Maurício Mirá and bassist Celio Barros slip through an entire spectrum of imagery, and all of it falling somewhere within the bounds of ambient music. Sometimes it’s with a vague World Jazz form of expressionism, sometimes with an ambient drone, and others where the music would’ve fit in quite nicely on an ECM Records compilation. All of it is seriously intriguing. A good Sunday afternoon choice, when you’re feeling worn out from a long, exciting weekend.
Your album personnel: Jan Weber (guitar, classical guitar, 12-string guitar, percussion), Maurício Mirá (clarinet, alto sax, winds, reeds, percussion) and Celio Barros (double bass, acoustic bass guitar).
More listening and for sale on their Bandcamp page.
Curtis Macdonald – Scotobiology (Self-Produced)
There’s a real shadowy presence that hangs over this trio set from alto saxophonist Curtis Macdonald, acoustic bassist Christopher Tordini and drummer Craig Weinrib. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to utilize the word ‘ambient’ to describe the music, except for the fact that there’s a perpetual state of unease in all of the expressions, and so the concept of attaining serenity is sort of neutralized if you can’t ever truly let your guard down. That said, whether developing parallel ideas or locked into the same image, there are moments of an hypnotic nature, and it’s the kind of thing that carries over even into the tracks where the tempo moves with a bit more immediacy.
Your album personnel: Curtis Macdonald (alto sax), Christopher Tordini (acoustic bass) and Craig Weinrib (drums, cymbals).
More listening and for sale on their Bandcamp page.
Liilaa – Dog Farm (Simlas Produksjoner)
There’s a strange flow to this punctuated free jazz set, as if a morse code machine attempted to coo a love song. The Liilaa trio of double bassist Nina de Heney, alto saxophonist Björn Almgren and drummer Henrik Wartel keep the momentum always headed forward, but the little curls of melodic thoughts and the stream-of-conscious rhythms mesh in all the right ways, and it’s why the music never gets so tangled that it’s forced to come to a standstill. When de Heney contributes some arco to the proceedings, the atmosphere possesses a strange beauty, and serves as a nice bridge between longer passages of controlled fury. Released originally in 2012, and it’s part of a larger drop of prior recordings recently uploaded to a Bandcamp page by Simlas Produksjoner, a Norway-based label specializing in improvised music that utilizes live electronics.
Your album personnel: Nina de Heney (double bass), Björn Almgren (alto sax) and Henrik Wartel (drums).
More listening and for sale on their Bandcamp page.
KOKO – Live in Bogotá (Self-Produced)
This 2012 live performance from KOKO, a duo of vibraphonist Taiko Saito and pianist Niko Meinhold is seriously enchanting. The collisions between their rhythmic crosscurrents are plenty riveting when they adopt similar flight patterns, but it’s when their individual melodic paths join in unison when that enchantment really takes hold. The various influences seem purposely vague, as it isn’t so much the language they’re speaking at any one time that’s of interest, but the flow of the conversations.
Your album personnel: Taiko Saito (marimba, vibraphone) and Niko Meinhold (piano).
More listening and for sale on their Bandcamp page.
Clark | Jones | Pottie – Frisell (Self-Produced)
I’m a sucker for any ensemble that wants to dig into the Bill Frisell songbook. The trio of guitarist Neil Clark, bassist Alisdair Jones and drummer Ambrose Pottie offer up their versions of three Frisell compositions, “Blues for Los Angeles,” “Tell Your Ma, Tell Your Pa” and “Variation on a Theme” (check out Frisell’s Gone, Just Like a Train and Ghost Town for the originals). The spirit and sound of the originals are present in the trio’s renditions, but thankfully they use them as an excuse to go off in their own direction rather than as some reverential tribute album. Plenty likable.
Your album personnel: Neil Clark (guitars), Alisdair Jones (bass guitars) and Ambrose Pottie (drums).
More listening and for sale on their Bandcamp page.
*****
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations - 2016 releases • 0 • Tags: The Bandcamp List, The List