Tiny Reviews: Drye & Drye, Busk, Cirrus, Ale Moller & Bohuslan Big Band, and Bill Carrothers

Tiny Reviews edition!

Featured album:  Drye & Drye Open Letter.

Plus:  Busk Nur Eins, Cirrus Meli Melo, Ale Möller & Bohuslan Big Band Pegasus, Bill Carrothers Love and Longing.

*****

Drye & Drye – Open Letter

An enjoyable bop session from the father-son team of Howard and Brian Drye, who each bring an equal share of compositions to the table… all original, and all themed around the influences in their lives, both musical and personal.  Tunes possess a driving force, a definitive linearity, regardless of whether they’re speeding right along or taking a casual stroll through the countryside.  While this is a straight-ahead jazz recording, some tracks, like “Blues for Jimmy” are straight out of the past, whereas a track like “Ossification” has a tone that’s clearly modern, yet never endangers the album’s cohesion.  Strongest moments are when melodies spring from the heart of lovely harmonic development.

Your album personnel:  Howard Drye (baritone sax), Brian Drye (trombone), Jeff Hermanson (trumpet, flugelhorn), Mike McGinnis (clarinet, alto & soprano saxes), Dan Fabricatore (bass), and Vinnie Sperrazza (drums).

Released on NCM East.

Available at:  Bandcamp | eMusic | CDBaby | Amazon: CD/MP3

Other Albums of Note: 

Busk – Nur Eins

Trio of Anders Filipsen on piano, Thomas Rehling on bass, and Lasse Ehn on drums.  Released on the ILK Music label, and this is exactly the kind of piano trio session one would expect them to release… an uneasy serenity, strategic utilization of silences, and moments of spontaneous acerbity.  Sunday morning music for the avant-garde fan.

Released on ILK Music.  Available at:  eMusic | Amazon CD | Amazon MP3

Cirrus – Meli Melo

Cirrus is the quartet of Eva Haugen (vocals), Inge Breistein (saxophone), Stein Inge Brækhus (drums), and Theodor Onarheim (bass).  Quiet tunes for quiet rooms.  Out of Norway, so there’s gonna be some expectation of serenity, but this album has got some bite to it from time to time… but it’ll get its teeth into you very calmly.  An album with some personality.  Neat stuff.

Released on Norcd.  Available at:  eMusic | Amazon MP3

Ale Möller & Bohuslan Big Band – Pegasus

Multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller and the Bohuslän Big Band straddle the dividing lines between big band jazz and European folk and throw in little electronic eccentricities here and there.  Music that’s more often to stretch out for a sweeping grandeur, even when the moments are quiet and reserved.  Music that will keep a listener’s interest, either via its beauty or its differentiation from conventional big band albums.  Plenty of nice sections, but especially those contributions of trombonist Karin Hammar.

Released on Prophone Records.  Available at:  eMusic | Amazon MP3

Bill Carrothers – Love and Longing

Bill Carrothers has a quiet energy on piano, one which often expresses itself like a firefly… a tiny light that can be seen from far away, enchanting in the way it dances through the air.  On his newest, Carrothers presents a set of solo tunes, including a few where he adds vocals (with some dramatic effect at times, not unlike the evocative effect of a Tom Waits love song).  It’s a nice laid-back affair, an informality that increases the intimacy of the recording.  For an alternate facet of Carrothers’ music, try his trio recording To the Moon, reviewed on Bird is the Worm.  Also, there’s a nice interview of Carrothers on NPR’s A Blog Supreme.

Released on La Buissonne.  Available at:  eMusic | Bandcamp | Amazon MP3

*****

The Drye & Drye review is original to Bird is the Worm, but portions of the other reviews were originally used in my Jazz Picks weekly article for eMusic, so here’s some language protecting their rights to that reprinted material as the one to hire me to write about new jazz arrivals to their site…

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks,“ “New Arrivals Jazz Picks,” and “New Arrivals Jazz Picks,” reprints courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2013  eMusic.com, Inc.

As always, my sincere thanks to eMusic for the gig.  Cheers.