Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition - Agrima

October 24, 2017

Label/Year: Self produced, 2017

Lineup - Rudresh Mahanthappa: alto saxophone, electronics; Rez Abbasi: guitar; Dan Weiss: drums, tabla.

Fiery New York-based saxophonist/composer of Indian descent, Rudresh Mahanthappa, has risen to the jazz stardom by cultivating an impressive, unique sound that hallucinates and transfixes.

Besides the successful early partnership with pianist Vijay Iyer (Black Water; Mother Tongue; Codebook), a memorable collaboration with saxophonist Steve Lehman (Dual Identity), and an explorative original work with Charlie Parker's music as the central focus (Bird Calls), Mahanthappa formed the Indo-Pak Coalition, project with Pakistani-born guitarist Rez Abbasi and drummer Dan Weiss, an expert in Indian percussion.

Agrima, his freshest work, features this groundbreaking trio successfully resurfacing Eastern roots and traditions in order to fuse them with the most desirable improvised jazz. This is their sophomore album and a comfortable improvement regarding the debut CD Apti.

The airy, country-like atmosphere of “Alap”, the opening track, surprises due to an indolent predisposition that is not so habitual in Mahanthappa’s compositions. Restraining impetuousness in favor of a more cerebral approach, the saxophonist exhibits a distinguishable coordination with Abbasi on “Snap”, where they follow the steps of each other whether by echoing the theme’s melodic statement or engaging in ephemeral unisons. Abbasi’s textures fascinate, covered in distortion and often enriched with rock-ish riffs on the bottom register. As the guitar solo begins, Weiss switches the tabla for the drum kit, building a more robust foundation with the help of saxophone drones, which compensate the absence of harmony. Close to the finale, a cyclic harmonic progression runs on top of an animated rock pulse.

Predominantly folk, the westerner “Showcase” displays bluesy melodic phrases over a restricted harmonic movement. The band explores alternative sonorities as the time passes, opening up a space for Weiss’ polyrhythmic explorations.

“Agrima”, the title track, lives from electronic stimulus to incur on an indie folk rock whose syncopated rhythm variates more than once. Again, Abbasi romps off on an abrasive improvisation that reveals all his forthrightness and confidence.

There’s plenty of bite in the bandleader’s horn on the elastic “Rasikapriya”. An early entrancing tabla soon gives its place to a brawny rock drumming after a rare abstract middle passage.

The 14-minute “Revati” departs from Abbasi’s spatial intro, which resorts to harmonics, low-pitched notes, and synth-like surroundings, to guide us toward pop/rock harmonic zones using folk jazz dialects as vehicles.

Mahanthappa closes the record with the edgy “Take-Turns”, where the splendid timbres, vertiginous language, and irreverence that made him a stalwart in the bolder side of the jazz spectrum mingles with nifty guitar chops and occasional, never-obfuscatory electronic sounds.
There’s never a dull moment in this world fusion celebration.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Snap ► 06 - Rasikapriya ► 08 - Take-Turns

Mats Holmquist - Big Band Minimalism

October 24, 2017

Label/Year: Mama Records, 2017

Lineup includes – Mats Holmquist: composition, arrangements; Randy Brecker: trumpet; Dick Oatts: alto and soprano saxophone; Magnus Wiklund: trombone; Karlis Vanags: soprano saxophone; Gints Pabersz: tenor saxophone; Viktors Ritovs: piano; Edvins Ozols: bass; Artis Orubs: drums.

Admired Swedish composer/arranger demonstrated a huge musical sensitivity on his previous record A Tribute To Herbie + 1, in which he invited the saxophonist Dick Oatts to co-lead his New York Jazz Orchestra.

This time, with Big Band Minimalism, things are different. Although counting on the saxophonist for the great part of the improvisations, Holmquist adds veteran trumpeter Randy Brecker to extemporize ideas and ensures a sturdy support from the Latvian Radio Big Band.

The opening piece, “The Girl in the Tree”, is divided into three sections. The first one kicks in with overlapping horn-driven layers, suddenly discontinued so the bassist speaks briefly and freely until being fetched by the pianist. Catchy melodies and cyclic harmonic progressions integrate until entering in section two. Here, a renewed rhythm takes a more funk orientation, bearing a competent trombone solo by Magnus Wiklund on its arms. Section three gives us back the beautiful harmonies that now accommodate potent horn blows atop.

A gracious walking bass advances on “The Same Old Song”, a 4/4 mid-tempo piece that vibrates with punchy melodic lines over the emancipated fluidity offered up by the rhythm section. Oatts and Brecker accessed the desired space for individual statements with relish, repeating the dose on a couple of tunes dedicated to and inspired by the minimal music pioneer Steve Reich. They are “Stevie R.”, which also appeared in Holmquist’s previous album and brims with conversational loop-like phrases surrounded by friendly pop/rock atmospheres, and “To The Bitter End”, a 6/4 fantasy that progressively liberates, ending up in a sort of military melodic cadence led by trombone.

“Friends & Enemies” calls immediately our attention to a battle between the horn players and the drummer. They fight for the leadership with loud ostentation until an eventual sonic boom and before a smoother rhythm takes over, definitely imposing the ceasefire. The harmonic progression, a contrafact on Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments, sustains a hefty improvisation by Oatts on soprano.

“A Quick Ride in a Jazz Mobile” starts as a ternary woodwind feast that becomes denser as other instruments introduce minimalist short phrases. Flowing with a steady backbeat, this number benefits with a stirring intervention from the Latvian Big Band and the pair of soprano solos by Brecker and Karlis Vanags.

The minimalist concept used by Holmquist has powerful repercussions in the reverberation and fascination of the sound. The tasteful arrangements were given excellent treatment by the group of musicians on board of a vessel that navigates with a remarkable sense of orientation.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Friends & Enemies ► 06 - A Quick Ride in a Jazz Mobile ► 07 - To The Bitter End

Stefano Battaglia - Pelagos

October 22, 2017

Label/Year: ECM, 2017

Lineup – Stefano Battaglia: piano and prepared piano.

Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia aims at the (im)migration crisis that keeps escalating all over. In order to call the world’s attention to the problem, Battaglia addresses a handful of compositions plus a bunch of spontaneous improvisations with acute sensitivity. Pelagos, his first solo album, was conceived with piano and prepared piano and recorded at the Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy.

The song titles vary from specific locations where the problem is more visible to more generalist terms regarding migration in its different varieties.
If “Destino” and “Migration Mantra” are persevering supplications, the minimalist “Lampedusa” and the tense “Migralia” are sorrowful enough to make you inconsolable.

Wielding attractive melodies on the title track, the pianist manages to turn the lugubrious first movements into optimistic light on a few specific passages where the classical intonations are intensified.
Other songs fully immersed in the classical genre are the moderate-moving, lightly fingered “Brenner Tocatta” and the two beautifully polished variations of the Arabic traditional song “Lamma Bada Yatathanna”, whose Eastern connotations grow dim when submitted to a solo piano treatment.

Eastern musing is certainly preponderant on “Halap”, which is complemented with an exciting groove and sinuous melody, and “Exilium”, where a relentless chord shields whether swift, whether meditative Hamito-Semitic enunciations. The latter tune gets percussive in its final part, boosted by smothered sounds and exotic melodies dispensed by the prepared piano.

Assorted chimes, vibes, and timbres generate the percussive “Processional”, as well as “Hora Mundi”, whose descendant melodic cascades bestow an idiosyncratic tone that sounds dreamlike but restless at the same time. In a different way, “Dogon” and “Heron” bring to mind the rhythms and the struggle of the African people.

The pianist operates on another register by penning “Ufratu” with stronger spiritual undertones, giving it the form of a lyrical folk dance, which feels expectant but unwavering in its moves.

Exposing his sharp sense of individuality, Battaglia delivers a poetic, well-structured, and worthwhile body of work. Some listeners may wish that Pelagos had been expanded in terms of groove and textural dimension, however, its hypnotic rhythmic churns and heartfelt melodic spirals kept my ears glued to the sounds all along.

Favorite Tracks:
04 (CD1) - Lamma Bada Yatathanna ► 06 (CD1)- Halap ►04 (CD2)- Exilium

Tim Armacost - Time Being

October 19, 2017

Label/Year: Whirlwind Records, 2017

Lineup - Tim Armacost: tenor saxophone; Robert Hurst: bass; Jeff Tain Watts: drums; David Kikoski: piano.

American saxophonist/composer Tim Armacost has established an enviable path within the populated jazz panorama both as a leader, sideman, and co-leader of groups such as the New York Standards Quartet and Brooklyn Big Band.

His newest outing, Time Being, is the first on the Whirlwind Records and features Robert Hurst on bass, Jeff Tain Watts on drums, and pianist David Kikoski who joins the trio only on a few selected tracks.

The rich sound and vibrant timbre of the saxophonist is immediately patented on the opening tune, “Alawain”, a virile bost-bop excursion set up in trio where the levels of energy skyrocket. Hurst begins soloing upfront before falling into a hooky groove that sounds even catchier when in the company of Watts’ creative powerhouse drumming. On top of that, the bandleader weaves expressive phrases embellished here and there with Eastern colors.

The title track displays the dark-toned tenor working in synch with the bass. One can feel an apparent relaxation that finds resistance in the African arrhythmias of the fidgeting drummer, while the experienced bassist enjoys freedom, whether rambling with insouciance, whether swinging the old-fashioned way.

There are three distinct pieces baptized with the title Sculpture, each of them probing a sense of strange liberation within their structured experimentation. “Sculpture #1: Phase Shift” feels like a bop tune working in the guise of a modern improvisatory routine; “Sculpture #2: Tempus Funkit" swings more than funks, opting to ululate with tempo fluctuations; “Sculpture #3: All the Things You Could Become in the Large Hadron Collider”, the last track on the album, has a vibrancy that stems from a (de)conversation between Armacost and Kikoski, which occurs with the harmonic progression of “All The Things You Are” as a point of departure. In tandem, they extract dizzying effects from their winged yet remarkably coordinated interplay.

Moods and paces are constantly altered from one tune to another. Thus, if “The Next 20” delves into balladic zone, gaining contours of a jazz standard, especially by the action of Kikoski’s harmonic smoothness, “53rd St. Theme”, based on Monk’s “52nd Street”, calls for classic bop while tingling through slowdowns and accelerations in tempo.

The two non-originals are utterly exciting. Thelonious Monk’s “Teo” provides enough punch and accent, not only thriving with the unpredictable ideas that keep bursting from the bandleader’s instrument, but also with the eight-bar improvised exchanges between Watts and his peers. No less vigorous, Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman” is subjected to a delightful arrangement, starting with Hurst and Armacost echoing the phrases of each other while Watts pushes forward with consistency by employing his typically unhinged rhythms.

Tim Armacost knows how to pull emotions out of his playing. This record authenticates him as an adventurous composer, and the last pair of songs described above show how imaginative he can be when tackling a classic tune.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Alawain ► 08 - Lonely Woman ► 10 - Sculpture #3

Dan Bruce's Beta Collective - Earthshine

October 17, 2017

Label/Year: Ears and Eyes Records, 2017

Lineup – Dan Bruce: guitar; Russ Johnson: trumpet; Chris Madsen; tenor saxophone; Rob Clearfield: piano and Fender Rhodes; Clark Sommers: bass; Jon Deitemyer: drums.

Ohio-born guitarist Dan Bruce, a former mainstay of the Chicago jazz scene relocated to his hometown, releases his sophomore album, Earthshine, where he sculpts personal compositions with the help of high-caliber artists - Russ Johnson on trumpet, Chris Madsen on tenor, Rob Clearfield on piano and Fender Rhodes, Clark Sommers on bass, and Jon Deitemyer on drums.

Lustily built with well-developed sonic textures, the title track inaugurates the voyage to a contemporary jazz planet where the influences of the tradition are seamlessly blended to generate modern sounds. After the theme’s statement, there is a folk-tinged vamp pointing the way toward the bandleader’s improvisation, exotically colored with some modes of the jazz harmonic minor scale. A solemn collective passage leads us to the extraordinary phrasing of Johnson, who stands out through the use of gutsy intervals extended in pitch.

As an intrepid roamer, the shining trumpeter delivers harmonious melodic leaps within asymmetrical phrases on “Ice (No.2)”, a non-imposing yet catchy piece that also features Bruce’s acoustic stringed tapestry and an agile keyboard solo.

Bent with accentuated folk tones, “Reprieve: Reprise” is a Scofield-esque bluesy treat delivered in the traditional guitar trio format. Throughout Sommers’ bass solo, the guitarist joins Deitemyer’s warmly brushed drumming, assuming and assuring the required underpinning.

The bassist, a regular presence in groups led by Dan Cray and Kurt Elling, extemporizes once again on “Sofa”, a magnetic ternary piece filled with dark humor and pertinent harmonic progressions. This tune had been previously recorded on Bruce’s 2007 debut CD, A Single Thread.

If the straight-ahead predisposition heard on “Lapse” is arranged with a modicum of funk flavor while displaying a telekinetic interplay between Madsen and Clearfield, “Major_Chord” strikes with playful melodies, a cool bass groove, and a Latin-tinged piano solo. Before the reinstatement of the theme, horns and guitar take over in a collective assault followed by non-evasive drum chops.

Bruce smartly eschews overcomplicated procedures on Earthshine. He rather plays slick and tight, punching out inviting textures with an irresistible flexibility. The horn section, operating upfront, together with the participative rhythm section in the back, helped him set up an extremely pleasurable work.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Earthshine ► 05 – Sofa ► 06 - Major_Chord

Shawn Lovato - Cycles of Animation

October 16, 2017

Label/Year: Skirl Records, 2017

Lineup – Loren Stillman: alto sax; Brad Shepik: guitar; Santiago Leibson: piano; Shawn Lovato: bass; Chris Carroll: drums.

American bassist Shawn Lovato puts all his musical influences to work on his debut album, Cycles of Animation, a poised collection of eight modern compositions mounted with the precious help of a quintet that features Loren Stillman on alto sax, Brad Shepik on electric guitar, Santiago Leibson on piano, and Chris Carroll on drums.

The burning counterpoint on “Loose Noodle” is absolutely stunning, provoking a hair-raising sensation as if an electric current would have been running in our veins. The rhythm, unwavering and strong in spirit, is disseminated by Lovato and Carroll, while Shepik focuses on the narration of an enigmatic episode, meticulously described with realistic expression. The rhythmic regularity of Leibson’s comping soon winds down, becoming loose when Stillman starts improvising. It reappears later, steady and nearly ritualistic, to finish the tune and favoring a few impulsive trills packed by the saxophonist.

Initiating its journey by visiting the piano trio realm, “Static Phases Illuminated” unpretentiously mingles improvisation with written material, featuring indomitable guitar reflections surrounded by delay effect before synched phrases take the central spot.

The title that lends its name to the album, "Animated Cycle", is divided into three parts, all of them shaped with a piano-bass-drums configuration. The first part is introspective and sorrowful, the second one creates an intriguing setting that balances the lyrical and the percussive sides, and the third sounds ample and vague, slowly catching sight of an air bubble to breathe.

On the shape-shifting neo-bop adventure “Brain Drain”, Lovato’s bass is set free but ends up swinging aplomb while inviting Leibson to the party. The pianist takes consecutive rhythmic figures with him, but minutes later, offers his place to Shepik, who clears up with consummate rhythmic coordination. To finish, Stillman steps in and flies high, having a pushy, pulsating funk groove supporting his endeavor.

The jittery “7th Street Jig” exhales folk tradition through the playful melodic statement but grows in a more exploratory avant-garde atmosphere. After the bass rambles over sweeping piano twirls, and saxophone cacophonies over crisp bass sounds, we have a fleeting collective improvisation prior to the restoration of the theme. This posture feels contrary to the closing piece, “Unplugged Slug”, where an uncompromising languor starts gaining weight very early with the introductory bass solo and proceeds in its subsequent seamless transitions. Although dreamy, Leibson’s solo keeps us alert throughout, while Stillman never loses confidence in his unguessable sayings, regardless if he has the guitarist’s eerie drones or the pianist’s tart chords sounding at a lower level. By the end, Shepik scrutinizes multiple timbres within the volubility of his melodic ideas.

Cycles of Animation serves as a showcase for an organic mosaic of colors, rhythms, and textures. Resorting to clever structural vistas, Lovato penned engaging pieces that emphasize the collective and the individual alike.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Loose Noodle ► 04 - Brain Drain ► 08 - Unplugged Slug

Sam Newsome / Jean-Michel Pilc - Magic Circle

October 15, 2017

Label/Year: Self produced, 2017

Lineup – Sam Newsome: soprano saxophone; Jean-Michel Pilc: piano.

American soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome and French pianist Jean-Michel Pilc denote a great chemistry on Magic Circle, a duo album that explores classic jazz tunes and a couple of originals with a very personal vision.

“Autumn Leaves” starts by juxtaposing the intact melody as we know it (with a few punctual escapades by Newsome) against Pilc’s adventurous rhythmic experimentation, whose primary goal seems to find ways of sounding innovative without losing melodic sense in the accompaniment. After the improvisations, one can check up on Newsome’s timbral explorations over a 6/4 piano cadence.

Ellington and Monk were evoked with sharp-angled renditions of two pieces each. The former’s “In a Sentimental Mood” starts with fugue-like classical intonations and features Newsome’s varied timbres and techniques, including multiphonics and slap tongue, while Pilc, operating on several octaves of the piano, assumes the risk for the sake of freedom. The sonic scrutiny of “In a Mellow Tone” sounds playfully percussive, resorting to ringing sax vibes and popping sounds to impress. Introduced by piano, Monk's “Misterioso” has Pilc quoting the melody of “Crepuscule With Nellie”, another Monk’s tune, and cuts short the stroll with a typical bluesy ending. Its sweet n’ sour mood differs from the beautiful “Ask Me Now”, here subjected to a disconcerting ad-lib treatment permeated with rich interplay.

One of the two originals on the album is the title track, “Magic Circle”, which comes shrouded in melancholy, evincing ingratiating piano movements and rapid sweeps sparsely sounding acerbic.

Undoubtedly a high peak, “Giant Steps”, John Coltrane’s iconic composition, is mounted with unpredictable, slow-morphing shapes that include twisted strands of horn-driven melody over crisp and refractory piano textures.

Commanding their instruments with an admirable precision, Newsome and Pilc opt for spontaneous choices in their unattached musical approach, conveying a strong sense of freedom and openness.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Giant Steps ► 06 - Misterioso ► 09 - Ask Me Now

Satoko Fujii - Aspiration

October 12, 2017

Label/Year: Libra Records, 2017

Lineup – Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet; Natsuki Tamura: trumpet; Satoko Fujii: piano; Ikue Mori: electronics.

Prolific Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii became a reference in the extreme end of the avant-garde jazz. Not only her ambitious big band projects (New York, Tokyo, and Berlin) have deserved accolade all over the world, but also other collaborative works like the great album Duets, recorded with the inventive bassist Joe Fonda, have drawn very positive reactions among the lovers of the creative current.

On Aspiration, her latest album, she relies on a portentous frontline of trumpeters composed of Natsuki Tamura and Wadada Leo Smith, and complements it with the electronics wizard Ikue Mori. This unusual formation also marks the very first collaboration of the pianist with the latter two.

To introduce “Intent” there is a cutting, multiphonic trumpet, later joined by its equal, which operates in synch but an octave below. Fujii’s awe-inspiring chords and linear notes contextualize the pair of horns, which keep emitting beseeching cries, in an unpredictable contemplative-aggressive communion that feels as much sinister as marvelous. The tasteful electronic effects thrown in by Mori integrate perfectly with Fujii’s textural approach. This also becomes particularly noticeable on the title track, a showcase for the bandleader’s entrancing harmonic movements and melodic delineations, and “Floating”, a piece where the trumpets fiercely clash after an atmospheric start. The horns collapse, having Fujii’s meddling framework attempting to get between them. They end up agreeing at the end, reducing the turbulence considerably and following the same interstellar route with unflinching stability.

“Liberation”, composed by the quartet, is another segment where we can observe Wadada and Tamura embarking on mesmerizing blows as they explore the timbres of their instruments. The long high-pitched notes dropped by one of them go against the muted short phrases of the other, while Fujii, getting into action at a later time, sounds relentlessly spectral in her moves. The band skews any effusive liberating movement until the last section, which engulfs us with a stormy, deep-toned sonic efflux.

The last track is Tamura’s “Stillness”, whose initial deep tranquility awakes gradually, stirring dynamics while progressing toward a whirlwind of emotions. It is a wonderful track and the proper closure of this narrative work.

Aspiration is a challenging trip to the free-form imaginaries of a quartet that searches for the perfect poise in the abstractness and exactness of sounds.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Intent ► 04 - Aspiration ► 06 - Stillness

Eden Ladin - Yequm

October 11, 2017

Label/Year: Contagious Music Records, 2017

Lineup – Eden Ladin: piano, keyboards; Dayna Stephens: tenor saxophone and EWI; John Ellis: tenor and soprano saxophone; Gilad Hekselman: guitar; Harish Raghavan: bass; Daniel Dor: drums + guests Camila Meza: vocals; Yonatan Albalak: guitar.

Pianist Eden Ladin was born in New York and raised in Tel Aviv. He has been living in New York for nearly nine years and became a treasured sideman in projects led by great artists like Omer Avital, Wallace Roney, Ari Hoenig, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, and Myron Walden.

After all these years gaining experience and developing skills, it was more than time for him to express his own vision and self with the release of an album.

Yequm, meaning ‘universe’ in Hebrew, is a product of his musical sensitivity and evinces a very personal sound and tractable style. The ear-catching instrumentation is shaped with the help of first-rate bandmates like Dayna Stephens on tenor saxophone and EWI, John Ellis on tenor and soprano saxophone, Gilad Hekselman on guitar, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Daniel Dor on drums.

“Lonely Arcade Man”, originally written as an electronic track, opens the record with ecclesiastic organ plangency, living from a combination of serene melodies put out by Stephens’ EWI, Ladin’s soaring keyboard vibes and beautiful improvisation on the piano, and a syncopated rhythmic flux.

On the good-natured “Smell/Faded Memory”, Ladin revives some sensations from the past using nostalgic touches. A piano-guitar unison comes before Ellis’ solo but keeps echoing as he blows his soprano with impressive confidence.

“From the Frozen Cave” features a special guest: Israeli guitarist Yonatan Albalak, who also wrote it. The dark and often apprehensive tone affixed to this evanescent piece opposes to the brighter light emanated by the rest of the compositions, including the following “The One Warm Hearted Man Living in the Kingdom of Ice”, which blooms with strong cinematic spirit through a fruitful blend of classical, jazz, rock, and electronic influences. Stephens contributes with a gleefully expressive solo on tenor, followed by the bandleader, and all end with the jagged texture formed by Hekselman’s distorted guitar chords. Despite this finale, the guitarist adopts an understated posture until the sixth track, “Safta (Grandma)”, where he and Ellis embark on crisp, uncluttered soloing rides. Before that, a few embellished, scale-sweeping phrases had carved attractive Eastern figures in the ternary jazz core of the song.

Nonetheless, from that point on, Hekselman shines on “Times Square”, a Radiohead-style pop/rock song, “Gambit”, which is delivered with steadfast control, and also “Schlompi”, pushed forward with a naughty frolic and almost puerile happiness.

The appearance of another guest, vocalist Camila Meza (without her guitar), brings a celestial aura into the pristine “Dreams”, while the last track, “Autumn Song”, is probably one of the most beautiful on the album. The intricate tempo doesn't interfere with the lyricism of the tune whose melodic lines are simultaneously thrown in by Ellis and Hekselman. While assuring the song’s harmonic richness, Ladin shares with the saxophonist the time available for improvising.

Yequm is built on rich, amiable, and bracing sonic textures that enchant as they narrate both real and imaginary stories. Ladin’s openness to different styles is an asset in addition to the cohesiveness of a great band, which helped to tie everything together with plenty of light and color.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - The One Warm Hearted Man… ► 06 - Safta (Grandma) ► 11 - Autumn Song

Tomas Fujiwara - Triple Double

October 9, 2017

Label/Year: Firehouse 12 Records, 2017

Lineup – Tomas Fujiwara: drums; Gerald Cleaver: drums; Ralph Alessi: trumpet; Taylor Ho Bynum: cornet; Mary Halvorson: guitar; Brandon Seabrook: guitar.

The Double Trio project, put together by the virtuous Boston-born, New York-based percussionist Tomas Fujiwara, inhabits the contemporary jazz panorama with a laudable degree of excellence. The band, two mirrors of the same nature, comprises a pair of horns, masterfully handled by Ralph Alessi and Taylor Ho Bynum, a pair of hooky guitars, whose barbed sounds are the fruits of the imagination of Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook, and two drums, provocatively banged by Gerald Cleaver and the bandleader himself.

Triple Double features ten tracks that morph from catchy indie rock to sparkling avant-garde jazz and vice-versa.

One can admire the group’s suppleness right in the opening track. The ternary “Diving For Quarters” primarily strikes with a double six-string roam. A variety of snoopy sounds, from squeals to hollow tones to air notes, are thrown in by Ho Bynum, who forges an atmospheric mood before Alessi expresses his vastly articulated and melodious thoughts. He does so, having a beautifully dissonant guitar polyphony and double drumming exposure working underneath. I felt this tune as a delicate lament that gradually expands with the force of a rock song.

The lofty rhythmic patterns continue with “Blueberry Eyes”, in which Fujiwara takes on a march-like African cadence as he pushes his bandmates to create freely within the outlined structural blocks. His shimmering technique prone to syncopation can be further enjoyed on “For Alan”, a percussion duet homaging Fujiwara’s mentor Alan Dawson.

In order to subdue the vivid intensity, moments of sheer musing were prepared on pieces such as “Hurry Home B/G”, an ethereal pop song propelled by brushed drumming and tweaked by guitar effects, “Hurry Home M/T”, and “Love and Protest”. The latter composition counterbalances a dreamy vulnerability in its texture due to Halvorson’s tart slide guitar, which works in opposition to the effervescent drumming and melodic flights that relentlessly push us toward a shivering climax.

“Pocket Pass” and “Decisive Shadow” bursts with avid energy and verve. The former lifts off with swift guitar embroidery, rhythmic assaults, and improvised cogitations that later take the form of a horn polyphony; the latter is a trancelike exploration filled with mesmerizing sounds, scintillating solos, and ultimately telling power chords.

“To Hours” closes the session with pure fun, offering up powerful guitar pedals and surrounding voicings, unnerving flurries of rhythmic timbres, and staggering counterpoint, all in the same package.

Triple Double is a precious work, shinning more and more at every listening. It not only shows Fujiwara’s creativity at all levels but also elevates the new shapes of jazz through a refreshing originality.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – Diving For Quarters ► 07 – Decisive Shadow ► 10 – To Hours

Anat Cohen Tentet - Happy Song

October 5, 2017

Label/Year: Anzic Records, 2017

Lineup – Anat Cohen: clarinet; Sheryl Bailey: guitar; Nadje Noordhuis: trumpet; Owen Broder: baritone sax, bass clarinet; Nick Finzer: trombone; Vitor Gonçalves: accordion; Rubin Kodheli: cello; James Shipp: vibraphone, percussion; Tal Mashiach: bass; Anthony Pinccioti: drums.

Anat Cohen is a multifaceted clarinetist-composer who has been recently immersed in the Brazilian jazz scene. Two of her recent outings, Rosa dos Ventos and Outra Coisa, recorded with Trio Brasileiro and guitarist Marcello Gonçalves, respectively, confirm exactly that.
For her newest record, Happy Song, she changes direction, gathering a dynamic tentet whose members come from different parts of the world, a fact that suits perfectly her wide eclectic vision and multi-cultural approach to music.

The repertoire here consists of eight pieces ranging in color and style and telling the story of the clarinet under the guidance of musical director and longtime collaborator Oded Lev-Ari.

Opening this polychromatic tour is the title track, which is nothing else than a funky exercise delivered with a contagious groove and blues-inflected speeches. Cohen’s clarinet takes the leading role, always well supported by the funky chunks of Sheryl Bailey’s guitar and the well-shaped movements superiorly orchestrated by the unified collective.

“Valsa para Alice” is expressively poetic in its engrossing melody, featuring passionate solos by the bandleader, the vibraphonist James Ship, and the Brazilian accordionist Vitor Gonçalves. The latter’s dramatic intonations deserve the spotlight on “Loro”, a piece by the virtuous Egberto Gismonti, in which Brazilian folklore with all its enriching rhythms gives it an exuberant sense of uplift.

Evoking the traditional swing era, Owen Murphy’s cheerful “Oh Baby” is arranged with humor and character. It combines Duke Ellington's orchestrations with Joe Pass’ swinging fervency and rejoices with improvisations by Bailey, Cohen, trumpeter Nadje Noordhuis, and baritonist Owen Broder, intercalated by in-synch phrases and call-response maneuvers. By the end, is Pinccioti who shines with efficient rhythmic bite.

One of the most idiosyncratic pieces, “Anat’s Doina”, is split into three Eastern-tinged movements: Mayse, Der Gasne Nigun, and Foile-Shtick. The amply dramatic appeal is heavily reinforced by Rubin Kodheli’s cello, but expect other stunts like shifting rhythmic accentuations within the ternary time signature, compulsive Polka-like dances delivered with celebratory postures, and a smooth crossover jazz with strong Latin vibes.

Cohen and her peers also tackle “Trills and Thrills”, an emotional pop/rock ballad composed by Dev-Ari and driven by Bailey’s six-string weeping laments, and Neba Solo’s “Kanedougou Foly”, a piece propelled by exotic African percussion rhythms and where the melodic suggestions of the clarinetist find echo in the counteractions of the horn section. Cohen arranged this one herself.

Happy Song mirrors the forthright and sumptuous style of Anat Cohen, whose adaptability to multiple genres and settings is impressive. It’s remarkable how easily one can engage in this multiethnic celebration of the creative spirit.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Valsa Para Alice ► 03 - Oh Baby ► 06 – Trills and Thrills

Christian McBride Big Band - Bringin It

October 3, 2017

Label/Year: Mack Avenue Records, 2017

Lineup includes – Christian McBride: bass; Ron Blake: tenor sax, flute; Steve Wilson: alto and soprano sax, flute; Todd Bashore: alto sax, flute, piccolo; Carl Maraghi: bari sax, bass clarinet; Dan Pratt: tenor sax, flute; Freddie Hendrix: trumpet; David Lee: trumpet; Frank Greene: trumpet; Nabate Isles: trumpet; Steve Davis: trombone; Michael Dease: trombone; James Burton: trombone; Joe McDonough: trombone; Douglas Purviance: bass trombone; Rodney Jones: guitar; Xavier Davis: piano; Melissa Walker: vocals; Quincy Phillips: drums.

Every record put out by the world-class jazz bassist Christian McBride is well worth checking out. After digging Live at the Village Vanguard with his trio, the bassist returns to the big band format with Bringin’ It, an honorable follow-up to the 2011 Grammy Award winner The Good Feeling.

What does McBride bring us this time? Originals? Jazz standards? Elated post-bop classics? Well, the answer is yes to all of that, and he does it with an impressive cohort of artists and outstanding soloists, many of them retrieved from the first experience, including saxophonists Ron Blake and Steve Wilson, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, trombonists Steve Davis and Michael Dease, as well as pianist Xavier Davis and vocalist Melissa Walker.

“Gettin’ To It”, the first of three reshaped old originals by the bassist, flows with soulful energy, colored with Rodney Jones’ funk-oriented guitar chops and filled with lots of jabs and hooks thrown in by the improvisers. Hendrix sounds magisterial in his brave trumpet ululations and then Jones applies all his bluesiness to an individual statement, well backed by a trombone/baritone ostinato.

Freddie Hubbard’s “Thermo” is a triumphant, engaging post-bop vehicle for the soloists, who take us to the golden era of jazz without leaving aside the buoyant twists of modernity.

McBride’s remaining compositions, “Youthful Bliss” and “Used ‘Ta Could”, are both colorful but inhabit different worlds. The former, including a bass discourse with bright melody and groove, cultivates a post-bop idolization with occasional delicate ripples of soul and Latin for extra color, while the latter is a celebratory waltz with plenty of Mingus’ moods.

Another punch in the stomach arrives with McCoy Tyner’s “Sahara”, exuberantly set in motion by Quincy Phillips’ mallet drumming together with free-floating woodwinds, and then leaning on a 6/8 groove with vibrant horn unisons atop. Striking improvisations from piano and alto saxophone occur over modal harmonic progressions while Phillips finishes off what he had started, resorting to his classy rhythmic deftness.

Wes Montgomery’s groovy “Full House” starts with packaging all the original guitaristic steam in Jones’ well-measured solo, passing by Carl Maraghi’s magnetic baritone before the epic finale. The vivacity felt here opposes to the more tranquil vibes of the jazz standards “I Thought About You” and “ In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”.

The vocal warmness of Ms. Melissa Walker is quite something on Djavan’s Brazilian hit “Upside Down” (the original version is called “Flor de Lis”), and also polishes up “Mr. Bojangles”, a tune by the American country artist Jerry Jeff Walker, here brought up with interesting rhythmic details and a leisurely swing.

Suffused with striking arrangements and turning the ensemble's grandiose sense of unity to its advantage, Bringin’ It is a tour-de-force album that substantiates how a modern big band can sound so stalwart and effulgent at the same time.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Thermo ► 03 - Youthful Bliss ► 05 – Sahara

Or Bareket - OB1

October 3, 2017

Label/Year: Fresh Sound New Talent, 2017

Lineup - Shachar Elnatan: guitar; Gadi Lehavi: piano; Or Bareket: bass; Ziv Ravitz: drums.

Comfortably straddling traditional and modern settings, young bassist Or Bareket brings his roots and all the multicultural influences that surround him into his debut album OB1, affectingly dedicated to his late father.

Based in New York for quite some time, Bereket, who was born in Jerusalem and raised in Buenos Aires, establishes a fundamental, trusting connection with the members of his quartet: guitarist Shachar Elnatan, pianist Gadi Lehavi, and Shai Maestro Trio’s drummer Ziv Ravitz.

Drawing inspiration from different musical sources and marked by a 6/8 time signature, “Patience” bursts out of the gate in a kaleidoscopic cornucopia with a predetermined bass-piano unison statement and an unclouded, Jimi Hendrix-like guitar ostinato that brings a strong fusion charisma to the head. At some point, Elnatan and Lehavi exchange ideas with open ears, trapped in the enthusiastic percussive web acutely weaved by Bereket and Ravitz. The finale bolsters the innocuous encounter between funk-rock and Israeli folklore.

A bass pedal procures crystalline harmonics on “Snooze”s introductory section. Here, the easy melodies are set against a more complex harmonic sequence, yet everything is enveloped by a gentle groove.

Opposing to the consciously contemplative “Shosh” and “Misdronoth”, we have “Joaquin”, an outgoing, dance-fueled spectacle vividly designed with eclectic ideas, and the well-ventilated waltz “La Music y la Palabra” that takes off the ground with the further assistance of Brazilian accordionist Vitor Gonçalves, one of the two special guests on the album (the other one is the influential Japanese percussionist Keith Ogawa).

The piece “Elefantes” is split into two parts. While part one is prone to modulation and maintains a classical feel throughout, even when Bereket starts his poetic declamation, the part two finds its cruising speed with a stronger jazzistic touch and a steady rhythm but embodying the same lyrical spirit.

The album ends beautifully with “Shir Lelo Shem”, an expressionistic 3-minute solo recitation by Bareket, rounded with gleeful melodic intention.

While OB1 embraces a variety of styles and moods, it all works as an integrated whole that feels rich and breathable. This is an auspicious debut by a prodigious bassist who, additionally, reveals a persuasive sense of composition.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Patience ► 07 - Joaquin ► 09 - Shir Lelo Shem

Anouar Brahem - Blue Maqams

October 2, 2017

Label/Year: ECM, 2017

Lineup – Anouar Brahem: oud; Django Bates: piano; Dave Holland: bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

Tunisian oud player and composer Anouar Brahem is a widely reputed artist who has recorded extensively on the ECM label. Indelible works such as Barzakh, The Astounding Eyes of Rita, and especially Thimar, a memorable trio session with British multi-reedist John Surman and American bassist Dave Holland, are among his most accomplished works.

The top bass player mentioned above is part of the triumvirate that interact with Brahem in his latest outing Blue Maqams, a collection of mostly new compositions based on the Arabic modal music system that fits the unequal world chamber-jazz current he usually embraces. The other members are the British pianist Django Bates and the legendary American drummer Jack DeJohnette, who round out the real jazz rhythm section.

“Opening Day” brings interesting ideas en-route, taking us instantaneously to torrid, distant places through the oud-bass singalong. Bates’ point of departure fully corroborates with Brahem’s melodic phrase. It all ends up in a three-side parallel melodic movement whose fluency is disrupted through a sensitive bass solo by Holland.

The bassist’s amazing sound and virtuous sense of groove, always with DeJohnette’s sober-minded rhythmic measures alongside, constitutes the body of the songs. “Bom Dia Rio”, whose Portuguese title means ‘good morning river’, and “Persepolis’s Mirage” are typical cases of spectacular drifts delivered at unusual tempos. Masterfully layered, the former tune meditates through the oud sounds after jolting with a super 10/8 time signature. On the latter piece, marked by passages with 14 beats per measure, we can hear the exotic lute-like instrument, impeccably dominated by the bandleader, embracing deep-toned sounds while advancing in perfect consonance with the bass.

There’s a soulful contemplation attached to “La Nuit”, where piano and oud embark on a candid one-to-one conversation, reflecting conjointly until the bass and the drums become involved. It feels like a tranquil prayer of gratitude.

Denoting an inflation of the Western feel due to a delicate waltzing jazz approach, the title track changes radically when Brahem isolates himself, exploring his innermost musicality. After this retreat, the reappearance of the rhythm section sounds no less than magical.

Regardless the title and the rhythmic touch, the piano-less “Bahia” doesn’t sound particularly Brazilian, rather exhibiting an occasionally hummed 2-minute solo introduction by Brahem, who first recorded this piece in 1994 with saxophonist Jan Garbarek for the latter's album Madar.

Blue Maqams has no need to pound or poke, finding tranquility in the pragmatic acoustic formula and unblemished technique evinced by the quartet. In these disturbing times, nothing better than listening to music that is congenial, peaceful, and deeply felt. Anouar Brahem delivers all that and more.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Blue Maqams ► 06 - Bom Dia Rio ► 07 - Persepolis’s Mirage

Brian Landrus Orchestra - Generations

September 28, 2017

Label/Year: BlueLand Records, 2017

Lineup includes - Brian Landrus: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Alan Ferber: trombone; Ralph Alessi: trumpet; Igmar Thomas: trumpet; Marcos Rojas: tuba; Mark Feldman: violin; Jamie Baum: flutes; Tom Christensen: oboe, flute; Michael Rabinowitz: bassoon; Alden Banta: contrabassoon; Debbie Schmidt: horn; Brandee Younger: harp; Joe Locke: vibraphone; Lonnie Plaxico: electric and acoustic bass; Jay Anderson: acoustic bass; Billy Hart: drums, and more.

Brian Landrus, a true prodigy in the art of playing deep-toned woodwind instruments, governs an amazing orchestra on Generations, a solid work sparkling with thoughtful arrangements and unusually fetching sounds.

The band lineup includes illustrious artists known for their creative contemporary vein such as flutist Jamie Baum, trombonist Alan Ferber, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, tuba player Marcos Rojas, violinist Mark Feldman, vibraphonist Joe Locke, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and drummer Billy Hart, among many others.

“Jeru Concerto”, a well-worked opus divided into four movements, opens the record with a strength of character. On the first movement, there’s consonance in the musicians’ activity. However, nothing here is too obvious and the layered sounds make us search incessantly for the essence of the music. Before the soft narration of the second movement, voiced with contrapuntal splendor, there’s a one-minute interlude where Landrus shows his impeccable command of the circular breathing technique.
Oscillating between the pastoral and the metropolitan, the third movement continues to live in a sort of contemplation, even when the orchestration is intensified. It leads to the more extrovert fourth movement, where Landrus gives wings to his imagination as he draws phrases with an impressive tonal range from his potent baritone. The impetus is seamlessly refrained halfway to open up airy melodic spaces that regain an enthusiastic consistency on the final stretch.

The reggae accentuation of “Orchids”, whose foundation is reinforced by a diligent bass groove, gains extra coloration with the preponderant presence of Brandee Younger’s harp and the bandleader’s bass clarinet, working in conjunction with emotional horn designs.

Enigmatic and searching, “The Warrior” is a shifting piece whose storytelling is initiated with terse violin strokes in counterpoint with reed movements and occasionally supported by Locke’s soft textures. This phase lasts just until trumpeter Igmar Thomas steals the show, employing a few lines à-la Miles Davis over a mild swinging flow. Comprehending continual floating currents of instrumental skillfulness, the tune also goes through some triumphant phases enriched by bold rhythmic thrusts.

“Arise" and “Human Nature” are among the most satisfying compositions. The former, having Plaxico’s electric bass and Rojas’ tuba paving the ground, brings a panoply of reed instruments acting collectively over an invigorating rhythm; the latter uncovers its true nature by playing with light and darkness, dancing effusively through singable flute melodies, soaring violin streaks, and deep-voiced horn traces.

The final piece, “Every Time I Dream”, brings up Bobby Hutcherson’s exquisite moods attached to a fervent desire to sound free. Nonetheless, it lies within the structural limits imposed.

Since the surprising factor never ceases, the super intriguing Generations is not an easy album to assimilate all at once. Even after repetitive listening, our gratification is magnified whenever we plunge into its astonishing ambiances.
Brian Landrus proves to be an extremely skillful composer and a first-class multi-reedist.

Favorite Tracks:
06 - Orchids ► 09 - Arise ► 10 - Human Nature

Matt Mitchell - A Pouting Grimace

September 27, 2017

Label/Year: Pi Recordings, 2017

Lineup – Matt Mitchell: piano, Prophet 6, electronics; Jon Irabagon: soprano and sopranino saxophone; Ben Kono: oboe, English horn; Scott Robinson: bass saxophone, contrabass clarinet; Sara Schoenbeck: bassoon; Anna Webber: flutes; Katie Andrews: harp; Patricia Brennan: vibraphone, marimba; Ches Smith: vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, timpani, percussion; Dan Weiss: tabla; Kim Cass: upright bass; Kate Gentile: drums, percussion; Tyshawn Sorey: conductor.

One of the most adventurous pianists and inescapable presence in the scene is Matt Mitchell, who, besides his own work, is a fundamental piece in Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, Dave Douglas Quintet, Darius Jones Quartet, and Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Calls.

The cover of A Pouting Grimace, his latest work, exhibits an intriguing collage of figures that assume different forms, textures, and colors. This illustrates Mitchell’s compositional style and music. These forms sometimes live secluded; other times they collide with other forms, metamorphosing into a new creature with a totally different texture, consistency, and visual appearance.

The off-kilter sounds on the album respond positively to the high bar raised with his previous quartet-session Vista Accumulation. It is layered by an enthusiastic set of musicians who performed beautifully within the various formations envisioned by Mitchell for each tune.

Mitchell, alone, opens and closes the album with a soaring monochromatism that stems exclusively from electronic sound manipulations. This is just the skin of a body that transpires many more surprises when its guts are exposed.

The impressionistic “Plate Shapes” is a complex vortex of rhythms and sounds that advances moderately yet compulsively. It feels like a nonstop train running, hastened by Jon Irabagon’s sopranino runs and Sara Schoenbeck’s inquisitive bassoon. Expressing freedom, this trip is a paradise for the instrumentalists and true explorers who alternately dive into unisons, ostinatos, and impromptu ideas in the form of deft phrases and motivic figures.

The combination of Kim Cass' propulsive swinging bass and Kate Gentile’s vibrant drumming becomes best friends with Mitchell’s dazzling textures on “Mini Alternate”, a mutant piece featuring the charming yet cavernous sounds of Scott Robinson’s bass saxophone and the bandleader’s meticulous explorations. Ches Smith on glockenspiel and Dan Weiss on tabla enrich the scenario with quality vibes when the band gets suspended in a hectic groove before landing definitively on an enchanting percussive soil. Fragrances from the Middle East aromatize the air through Ben Kono’s flexuous oboe drives.

“Brim”, enthusiastically built up by a 12-piece ensemble, is one of a pair of pieces conducted by Tyshawn Sorey. The group decants a spiral of rampant rhythms and dancing polyphonies that stimulates the senses with its imaginative sounds imbued with cinematic avant-garde flair.

Mitchell, Cass, and Gentile, performing in a classic piano trio formation, launch “Gluts” into the orbit. During the mission, they come across with Anna Webber’s alto flute, Schoenbeck’s bassoon, and Katie Andrews’ harp. Interaction is urgent and indispensable.

Impressively aesthetic, “Heft” is a poignant piece delivered in quintet, whose dual nature encompasses dark and glittery tonalities. Full of spins and thrills, it starts with rhythmic splashes, at the same time that patterned high-pitched piano notes are thrown against the low-toned honks expelled by the bass saxophone. After a recurrent piano phrase of intervallic quality, Irabagon and Robinson embark on a powerful collective improvisation suffused with wild, bouncing attacks, which leaves the impression we have a much bigger band in action. The tune finishes calmly and gorgeously at the sound of contrapuntal piano and sopranino, and an unobtrusive percussion as their friendly company.

Mitchell loves to push boundaries, assuring a gravitational balance that starts in the mind and is transported to his nimble fingers with precision and resolve. Every inch of this uncategorizable music is cerebral, intelligent, and absolutely mesmeric.
You can put down this one on the list of 2017 mandatory albums.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Plate Shapes ► 03 - Brim ► 08 - Heft

Sam Bardfeld - The Great Enthusiasms

September 26, 2017

Label/Year: Brooklyn Jazz Underground, 2017

Lineup - Sam Bardfeld: violin; Kris Davis: piano; Michael Sarin: drums.

New York violinist-composer Sam Bardfeld has a natural inclination for avant-garde jazz, yet he has had other enriching experiences in his career such as recording with the rock star Bruce Springsteen (three albums) and Joel Harrison’s String Choir (one album). He’s also a member of The Jazz Passengers and was part of the Anthony Braxton’s prestigious Trillium J Orchestra.

After a 12-year discontinuity (his sophomore album Periodic Trespasses was released in 2007 on the Fresh Sound label), Bardfeld returns alongside Kris Davis, a master pianist in the art of creating dynamic/ecstatic textures, and Michael Sarin, a highly adaptable drummer and genre-bending jazz militant. Together, they render five Bardfeld originals and two covers, bringing The Great Enthusiasms into life.

The trio strides into action through the teasingly provocative “Fails While Daring Greatly”, which displays questioning and exclamative violin expressions hovering a fine piano-drums texture delivered at a 4/4 mid-tempo. Bardfeld strolls in the company of Sarin, but is later joined by the emulation of a walking bass movement put out by Davis. The latter also improvises with the rhythmic inventiveness that got her recognition.

“Resignation Rag” is made of similar material as the previous tune, except that, evoking an older musical style, Bardfeld draws more from the blues in his speech and Sarin becomes fairly playful in his responses. Davis also works dexterously with both hands during the time reserved for her individual expedition.

Full of shifting passages, “Winner Image” starts with wide-ranging violin melodies and soft cymbal caresses, assuming a dreamlike posture with the addition of an ethereal piano. The bandleader suddenly jumps into a spiral of fast, circular moves before giving total freedom to the pianist, who builds an unorthodox bouncy dance that only ends with the theme’s statement.

A beautifully flowing, emotionally charged rendition of “Because the Night”, a 70s pop/rock composition by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, comprises both scaled up accentuations and peaceful moments of relaxation. The album also features another Bardfeld’s American rock favorite, “King Harvest” by The Band.

The conclusive gesture, “The 37th Time I Have Spoken”, evinces a dual nature, mixing lyric and waggish tones as it progressively explores and spreads its concentrated inner energy. The theme is made of an emphatic juxtaposition of whispered strummed violin, delicate piano tact, and accurate percussive awareness.

Bardfeld is very much effective in the way he builds music, experimenting in accordance with his unique vision and taking advantage of the enthusiastic passion he feels for this particular genre. Rather than clashing, the trio advances collectively, finding an exquisite purity and climactic astonishment in their procedures.

Favorite Tracks:
02- Resignation Rag ► 04 - Because the Night ► 07 - The 37th Time I Have Spoken

Chris Speed Trio - Platinum On Tap

September 26, 2017

Label/Year: Intakt Records, 2017

Lineup - Chris Speed: tenor saxophone; Chris Tordini: bass; Dave King: drums.

As a result of the sparkling combination of emotional playing and brilliant technique, the saxophonist/composer Chris Speed has been widely solicited by multiple renowned artists who have no doubts when it comes to incorporate his talents in their personal works.

Speed has built his reputation not only with exciting projects from others - John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet, Jim Black’s Alas No Axis, Tim Berne’s Bloodcount, Dave Douglas group, but also with the robust bands he co-leads, Endangered Blood and Human Feel. Recently, his prominent voice also served to boost Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus, Craig Taborn Quartet, and Dave King’s Trucking Co.

On his newest release, Platinum on Tap, the charming, wispy tone of his saxophone spearheads an enthusiastic trio that includes bassist Chris Tordini, and drummer Dave King. Offering up eight originals and two covers, this impressive work clearly surpasses the trio’s previous release, Really OK (Skirl Records, 2014).

“Red Hook Nights” revolves around a catchy melody that rubs over a soft surface created by relaxed bass plucks and rhythmic brushing suppleness. The mixture ensues a melodious universe where both jazz standards and Americana are well accepted.

A symbol of superior triangular articulation is certainly “Arrival High”, a tune where Tordini’s bass groove is impeccably in tune with King’s intricate Afro churn filled with talkative and tremendously coordinated agglomerations of snare, tom-tom, and cymbal diffusions. Initially operating undercurrent, Speed changes posture after bringing the theme’s melody to surface. While improvising, he dispatches vehement, hasty phrases but maintains lucid and coherent chains of thought.

The saxophonist’s timbral explorations are patented on “Buffalo 15”, a light-hearted marriage between folk melody and rock pulse, “Crossface Cradle”, a highly motivic, blues-based post-bop tune that takes us to Coltrane ground and throws a few hooks à-la Sonny Rollins, and “Torking”, whose inquisitive melodic statement is turned into long multiphonic blows during the improvisation. Also, the frenzied “Crooked Teeth”, extremely playful in its carefree posture, encompasses high-pitched intonations and flutter-tonguing technique as part of its rebellious manners. This deflection into avant-garde territory finds a sequence with the closing tune, “Spirits”, a strenuous classic authored by the iconic saxophonist Albert Ayler.

A much more affectionate conduct is adopted in order to handle Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust”, as well as the title track, a relentlessly static dance that ruled by an odd meter and obeying to a formal AABA structure.

Three different individualities united by a strong chemistry find a magnetic way to communicate, creating dynamics that sound as natural as their own existences. Containing exceedingly well-crafted compositions connected to the jazz tradition but shaped with a unique modern touch, Platinum on Tap brings an irrefutable breath of fresh air to the chord-less trio formats.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Red Hook Nights ► 02 - Arrival High ► 06 - Crooked Teeth

Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet - Jersey

September 24, 2017

Label/Year: Motema, 2017

Lineup – Jason Rigby: saxophone; Fabian Almazan: piano; Chris Morrissey: bass; Mark Guiliana: drums.

American drummer Mark Guiliana combines an affirmative versatility, aesthetic sensibility, and puissant technique in every project he participates. Those features make him able to play in many different settings. Besides being an integral part of the urban jazz projects led by Donny McCaslin and Dave Douglas, Guiliana got broadened notoriety when he took responsibility for all the rhythmic work in David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar.

Despite the constantly busy schedule, the drummer found the time to gather his adjustable jazz quartet in 2015, in order to build the excellent album Family First, an acoustic mix of easygoing post-bop and irresistible pop/rock.

That’s exactly the line of action followed in his new outing, Jersey, which unfolds with strong melodic ethos while breathing deeply and methodically with an unyielding musicality.

For this record, Fabian Almazan sits down at the piano replacing Shai Maestro, while saxophonist Jason Rigby and bassist Chris Morrissey remain in their respective positions.

An upbeat drumming style, marked by tom-tom expansiveness and timely hi-hat staples, introduces “Inter-are”, a piece dank in smothered and highly-rhythmic low-pitched notes delivered by Almazan, who, once in a while, infuses fulminant, bright chords with his right hand. Rigby’s solo benefits from this particular mood and the tune resumes the initial percussive eruption after Almazan’s short and sweeping solo.

Evincing a strong propensity for touching balladry forged with catchy melodies, Guiliana presents us the title track, a soulful, sunshiny pop song earnestly written and passionately delivered with a reinvigorating in-and-out improvisation by Rigby; “September”, whose soaring drones emitted by Morrissey’s bass arco form a prayerful, modal atmosphere when combined with Rigby’s melodies and Almazan’s reverberating harmonies; and David Bowie’s poignant ballad “Where Are We Now?”, which closes the album in a crescendo, regardless its benevolent character and crystalline lyricism.

Morrissey’s “Our Lady” and Guiliana’s “Big Rig Jones” take disparate directions, considering that the former is an eventful cocktail of happy folk melodies, bracing harmonic passages, and Afro-Latin pulses, while the latter, also falling into post-bop orthodoxy, varies in intensity. It embarks on a storytelling that is nice and quiet when Morrissey has the word for a brief moment, but earns a sparkling flair when Rigby comes to the forefront, fueling the combustion with his incendiary dialect. A tender pianism softens the fervency for the finale.

Jersey, another great accomplishment by the Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, is here to fill your ears with achingly warm sounds and true emotions.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Jersey ► 06 - September ► 07 - Big Rig Jones

Hudson: DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski, Scofield - Hudson

September 21, 2017

Label/Year: Motema, 2017

Lineup - John Scofield: guitar; John Medeski: keyboards; Larry Grenadier: bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

In my mind, the word Hudson establishes an immediate link to the river that flows through eastern New York, which includes the Hudson River Valley and its adjacent communities. However, and from now on, it will also be associated to a super quartet composed of colossal jazz musicians, namely, drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Larry Grenadier, guitarist John Scofield, and keyboardist John Medeski. From different generations, they nonetheless share similar music tastes and the fun of creating together.

Their first album, equally entitled Hudson, brings not only originals but also curious renditions of tunes by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, The Band, and even Jimi Hendrix in a clear celebration of the music from the late 60s and early 70s.

The title track, the only piece credited to the collective, opens the record rooted in an off-the-cuff funky groove, coalescing with the surrounding noirish drones created by Medeski and generating an exuberant milieu for Scofield’s sometimes-lachrymose, sometimes-vigorous stringed chatters.
“El Swing”, the following tune, is a product of the guitarist’s mind and mirrors all his compositional adroitness and flair for fusion. The structure accommodates a migrant folk melody on top of a rock music web, which, despite closely knit, arrives reinforced by unabashed power-chords. This scenario is seamlessly linked to swing passages, where the tension accumulated is momentarily released with groove and laid-back discipline.

The subsequent four tracks allow us to picture the past with vivid colors of the present, starting with Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay”, here deeply immersed in warm Jamaican waters to acquire the intended reggae complexion. The melodic insinuations come almost exclusively from Scofields’s driving vocabulary.

After reviving “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell with idiosyncrasy and nostalgic devotion, the band crafts “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall”, another song by Dylan turned into a highly atmospheric concoction of folk, jazz, and blues, and where Medeski feels compelled to deconstruct a bit, employing vaporous abstractions that steal the spotlight from Scofield.

On Hendrix’s “Wait Until Tomorrow”, the blues elements remain strongly central, even if the rock contortions threaten to take over the setting. The Hendrixian side of Scofield doesn’t disappoint and packs an intense punch while Grenadier and DeJohnette respond accordingly. The former, introducing clipping bass slides and plucking the strings with pure enchantment; the latter, by sending in propulsive flares with a double purpose: embellish and push forward.

The drummer, a true living legend, not only brings three assorted compositions of his authorship into the game, but also sings on two of them. If “Song For World Forgiveness” embraces a conscious pop air after an enigmatic introductory section, “Dirty Ground”, co-written with the pianist/singer Bruce Hornsby, is reminiscent of the latter’s gospel-tinged pop/rock, whereas the optimistic “Great Spirit Peace Chant” is sketched out with indigenous woodwinds and vocals over regular tom-tom thumps.

Not as powerful as some of the projects in which the members of the quartet have been involved lately, Hudson still blooms with a sumptuous elegance and ostensible effortlessness proper of the masters.
To me, not every song reached the same level, but one can’t deny the involving sound and scorching vibrancy drawn by the amalgam of moody blues and several other styles.

Favorite Tracks:
02 – El Swing ► 05 – A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall ► 06 – Wait Until Tomorrow