Tiny Reviews: Luis Gonzalez Sextet, Dudley Owens/Aaron Wright Band, Tillman Herpisbohm, Larry Willis, & Cello4qt

Tiny Reviews, featuring Luis Gonzalez Sextet New York City Suite, Dudley Owens/Aaron Wright Band People Calling, Tilman Herpichbohm Jilman Zilman, Larry Willis This Time the Dream’s On Me, and Cello4qt Suite Para Cello y 3djazz (Claude Bolling).

*****

Luis Gonzalez Sextet – New York City Suite

The inspiration for this album springs from Luis Gonzalez‘s time spent in New York City, so it makes sense that a city as diverse as NYC would result in an album that hits on many of Jazz’s varied sub-genres. There’s some modern straight-ahead piano jazz here, and a bit of free jazz, some chamber jazz, some swing and some bop.  And rather than function as a compilation of different sounding tunes, Gonzalez finds a way to get them to mesh in one big melting pot of an album.  A very happy surprise to run into this fine recording.  Highly recommended.

Your album personnel: Luis Gonzalez (piano), Joan Sola-Morales (bass), Cesar Martinez (drums), David Morata (violin), Dolors Vidal (cello), and Gerard Sibila (clarinets).

Released on the PSM Music label.  Jazz from the Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain scene.

You can stream, and purchase, the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: MP3

Dudley Owens/Aaron Wright Band – People Calling

An album firmly entrenched in the bop tradition, though it shifts around a bit between be-, hard, and post bop idioms.  Some have the fluttering-light hard swing of earlier forms, others with the soulful groove of a mid-sixties hard bop recordings, and others break into the spiritual and freer elements that were to come later.  It was the band’s intention to have this music recall some of the jazz associated with the protest movements of the past, and at times, the music presents an ominous yet hopeful tone that reflects the quintet’s goals.  But intentions aside, this is just a solid album that is gonna appeal to both old-schoolers and new-schoolers alike.

Your album personnel:  Dudley Owens (tenor & soprano sax), Willerm Delisfort (piano), Aaron Immanuel Wright (bass), Clif Wallace (drums), and guest:  Justin Stanton (trumpet).

Released on the Origin/OA2 Records label.

Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artists and label.

Available on eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

Tilman Herpichbohm – Jilman Zilman

Even with two alto saxes taking up spots on this interesting quartet date, it’s actually relatively straight-ahead, at times sounding more traditional than modern.  Plenty of quirky moments that keep things fun, and plenty of tuneful moments that keep things, well, also, fun.  Worth noting that Herpichbohm and Bossert also appear on Rebecca Trescher‘s Sud, an album that gets a mention in my Best of 2012 (thus far) list.  Between that album and this one, that’s a hell of a lot of solid jazz.

Your album personnel: Tilman Herpichböhm (drums, percussion), Julian Bossert (alto sax), Johannes Ludwig (alto sax), and Peter Christof (bass).

Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist and label.

Artist site Link.  Released on the Edition Metropol Musik label.

Available on eMusic.

Larry Willis – This Time the Dream’s On Me

A  jazz vet who shows no inclination to stop making beautiful music in the current day.  This, a solo piano set, drifts nice and easy on the water’s surface.  Pianist and piano, long-time friends, working as one.  Fans of Larry Willis have reason to celebrate.

Your album personnel:  Larry Willis (piano).

Released on the Highnote Records label.

Available on eMusic.

Cello4qt – Suite Para Cello y 3djazz (Claude Bolling)

Cello-led quartet date, and not some chamber-jazz routine either.  This is a stab at jazz with cello leading the charge, and it’s pretty successful, too.  I’m a sucker for cello, anyways, but this is a pretty album that has some bounce to it, as well.

Your album personnel:  César Jiménez (cello), Juan Ramón Veredas (piano), Juan Baca (bajo), and José Luís Gómez (batería)

Released on the Karonte Cambayá label.

Available on eMusic.

*****

The Luis Gonzalez New York City Suite review and the Dudley Owens/Aaron Wright Band People Calling review are original to Bird is the Worm.  However, portions of the other reviews were originally used in my Jazz Picks weekly article for eMusic, so here’s some language protecting their rights as the one to hire me to write about new jazz arrivals to their site…

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks,“ reprints courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2012  eMusic.com, Inc.

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