The first two albums from Mike Lebrun’s Beakerbox Records are pretty damn promising

The L.A.-based Beakerbox Records released its first two albums at the tail-end of 2017.  One of those recordings features label head Mike Lebrun, a Chicago expat who set down roots on the L.A. scene a couple years back.  Based on these initial offerings, it’s clear that Lebrun is opening things up to the West Coast sound.  It’s a promising development, especially when viewed as part of a vibrant scene that includes the World Galaxy Records label.  So, with that out of the way, let’s begin talking music.

Mike Lebrun – Shades

There’s some parallels to be drawn between Shades and another 2017 release, Paul Jones’s Clean.  Jones adapted electronic music and hip hop patterns into a jazz environment, and there’s a great sense of the same manifestation on Mike Lebrun‘s Shades.  Throughout, a pulsing tempo provides the melodies with shape and definition.  Modulating those tempos gives the melodies an elasticity that keeps the ear hanging on.  The repetition and quick jumps mimic a command to motion… perhaps to dance or perhaps something like it.  Even when he strings the melodies out on a track like “Clusterduck,” that flow is what sees the song to its end.  The album’s sole vocal track “Going Through the Emotions” is that effect at the opposite end of the spectrum, and would be right at home on the dance floor.

It’s appealing how brief many of these pieces are.  Shades is like a book of short stories.  An idea is presented.  The idea is pushed ahead just a little bit, just enough to provoke some thoughts on its many possibilities.  And then, quite suddenly, it’s over.  But how it goes down isn’t abrupt, and there’s never any real feeling of it being over too soon, like, say, the afterimage of an interlude.  It’s simply a series of succinct melodic statements told in rhythmic code.  Bonus points for weaving the Beach Boys’ “Surfer Girl” into the fabric of melodic patterns that repeat throughout the recording.

Your album personnel:  Mike Lebrun (tenor, soprano & alto saxophones, flute, clarinet, glockenspiel), Josh Johnson (alto sax), Daniel Szabo (piano), Anna Butterss (upright bass), Nick Mancini (vibraphone), Kevin Van Den Elzen (drums) and guests: Amber Navran (vocals), Aaron Serfaty (percussion).

Released on Beakerbox Records.

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

Music from L.A.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

Zephyr Avalon – Zephyr Avalon

I’m glad there’s still jazz albums being made like the self-titled release from Zephyr Avalon.  It’s the same kind of springtime grooves and sunshine melodies that put the soul into 1970s Ramsey Lewis and Earth Wind & Fire funk-jazz fusion recordings.  Harmonies that could melt ice in December come cascading down, one after the other, making every song as soothing as it is lively.  But this isn’t some tribute to old-school music.  With an updated cosmic jazz action as the backdrop to R&B motion and Hip Hop yearnings make this a snappy mix of modern sounds.  Avalon adds a vocal track and a spoken word to the instrumental pieces before ending the album with a straight-ahead piece that reveals the tradition rooted in the band’s past, and present.

Your album personnel:  Zephyr Avalon (electric & upright basses), Jonah Levine (trombone), Mike Lebrun (tenor sax, flute), Jacob Mann (piano, electric piano, synthesizers), Efa Etoroma, Jr. (drums) and guests: Genevieve Artadi, Harry Mack, Amber Navran (vocals).

Released on Beakerbox Records.

Music from L.A.

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

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic