Tim Berne, Chris Speed, Reid Anderson, Dave King - Broken Shadows

June 15, 2021

Label: Intakt Records, 2021

Personnel - Tim Berne: alto saxophone; Chris Speed: tenor saxophone; Reid Anderson: bass; Dave King: drums.

Formed in 2017, Broken Shadows is a powerful chord-less quartet dedicated to tunes from archetypal avant jazzers such as Ornette Coleman, Julius Hemphill, Dewey Redman and Charlie Haden. The combo - fronted by saxophonists Tim Berne and Chris Speed, with Reid Anderson and Dave King (the rhythm machine of The Bad Plus) filling the bass and drums chair, respectively, is found in spirited form throughout 12 covers, ten of which had been included in a 2019 LP released on the Newvelle Records. Legacy is valued.

It all starts with “Street Woman”, a riveting Ornette Coleman piece whose subsurface tension adrenalizes the saxophonists to deliver freewheeling blows that roar with timbral splendor. They constantly interact with each other, usually embarking on unisons for a start, and then setting knotty phrases and potent riffs against the fibrous matrixes provided by bass and drums. “Toy Dance” and “Ecars” are contagiously swinging rides that follow both angular and sinuous melodic trajectories. The former is blissfully folk in nature while the latter is a freebop incursion.

Reid steps forward on Coleman’s “Comme Il Faut”, where he wallows in nimble movements with chromatic slips and improvisation, and also on Haden’s “Song For Che”, taking the folk intonations and gestural brushwork exhibited by his associates to a solitary bass perfection.

If the Redman-penned “Walls-Bridges” is rhythmically aggressive with the horns channeling all their creative energy into the solos, “Una Muy Bonita” requires sophistication in the latinized groove and rhythmic nuance.

Two Hemphill hymns are added to the track list: “Body”, a grooving and funky effort, and the cherished “Dogon A.D.”, a beautiful 11/8 statement with scratchy arco bass, parallel saxophone playing, and a cool beat upgraded with syncopation.

Because the excitement rarely slows down, it feels great that Coleman’s “Broken Shadows” concludes the record as a melodically arresting lament underpinned by brushed drums and a quiet bass flow that includes pizzicato and bowed techniques.

Rising and expanding with brief yet fraught soloing, this is energy music of the first order.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Street Woman ► 07 - Dogon A.D. ► 12 - Broken Shadows

Andre Matos - On the Shortness of Life Vol. I-IV

June 13, 2021

Label: Self released, 2021

Personnel - Andre Matos: guitar, effects w/ Guests - João Lencastre: drums; Andre Carvalho: double bass; Dov Manski: synth; Sara Serpa: vocals; Gonçalo Marques: trumpet; Noah Preminger: tenor sax; Demian Cabaud: double bass; Richard Sears: piano; Jose Soares: alto sax; Leo Genovese: piano; Nathan Blehar: tenor sax; Julian Shore: piano; Aaron Krusiki: bass clarinet.

After finishing his solo tetralogy with Casa (Robalo, 2021), the Portuguese guitarist/composer Andre Matos, who is based in New York since 2008, creates another four volumes, this time consisting mostly of short duo tracks that explore diverse perspectives of texture and space. Recorded last April, On the Shortness of Life has the guitarist working on top (and around) improvised segments sent by colleagues of long standing, guiding us across vast planes of music whose essence can be folk-like, experimental, avant-garde or ambient, and, in certain cases, a combination of some of these elements. All of this is delivered with a sensitive awareness of the frequencies of the two instruments involved and where they each fit.

The resolute direction taken by the pianist Richard Sears on “Sunrise” is shrouded by the beautiful soundscapes of Matos. This pair is responsible for a more mysterious collage of sounds on the concluding “Sunset”.

Two other pianists were called to participate in the experiment, namely Leo Genovese and Julian Shore on the warped “Quieter Pursuits” and the wistful “Dentro de Água”, respectively. Both titles evoke sounds of nature whether through cinematic effects, white noise or bubbly complementary ornaments. They usually follow quiet yet intriguing routes.

“Invested in Something” denotes hopeful guitar drippings that agglomerate around a long, crying note delivered by trumpeter Gonçalo Marques who unfolds it patiently without losing a bit of that tormenting beseech.

The nimble keyboardist Dov Manski deliberately embraces dark pitches on “Do Além”, with the tension being appeased by smooth layers of electric guitar. In turn, the tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger infuses both sheer melody and momentary outside playing on “Walking Around”, emphasizing the Americana influence in its concluding melodic part. The guitar comping is phenomenal.

“Vindima” is struck by muscular distortion and a folk-tinged slide guitar, which turned up as a consequence of the apt underpinning offered by the Portuguese drummer João Lencastre. The latter brings out his commanding touch of cymbals and toms on “Mucifal”, where Matos oozes a lustrous sound. Yet, the space between them gets strongly rooted in the American sound on “Colares”.

While finding the right feel for each track, Matos shows how subtly brilliant and spaciously melodic his guitar playing can be. “Smalls” and “Antidote”, both with saxophonist Nathan Blehar, and “Flowers” with bassist André Carvalho, convey a wise tranquility, whereas the vocalist Sara Serpa pushes things a bit more into the edgier side on three tracks. With “Remembrance”, it’s the circular breathing of Aaron Krusiki on bass clarinet that motivates a wonderful, in-depth guitar processing.

This is a lucid improvisatory work by a guitarist with a strong identity who decided to donate all sales of the record to the International Rescue Committee.

Favorite Tracks:
15 - Invested in Something ► 18 - Mucifal ► 19 - Walking Around

Ches Smith and We All Break - Path of Seven Colors

June 10, 2021

Label: Pyroclastic Records, 2021

Personnel - Ches Smith: drums, percussion, vocals; Miguel Zenón: alto saxophone; Matt Mitchell: piano; Nick Dunston: bass; Sirene Dantor Rene: vocals; Daniel Brevil, Markus Schwartz and Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene: tanbou, vocals.

The singular drummer/percussionist and composer Ches Smith fell in love with the drumming rituals of Haitian vodou music in 2000 and, since then, has been exploring and maturing it. His We All Break project began as a quartet in 2015, but now has doubled its members into a perfect octet lineup that includes all the original co-conspirators - pianist Matt Mitchell and tanbou players/singers Daniel Brevil and Markus Schwartz - plus the valuable additions of alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, bassist Nick Dunston, Haitian singer Sirene Dantor Rene and percussionist/singer Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene. This expansion allowed Smith to work on a broader range of musical territory on Path of Seven Colors, in which he pushes the envelope by brewing a potent cauldron of Haitian vodou rhythms and contemporary jazz.

The singing gets even more exposure on this album and the lead-off track, “Woule Pou Mwen” points the way after a precursory piano figure that joins the intervallic and the limberness. If this piece is based on the Kongo rhythm, a secular form of social dancing, then “Here’s the Light” erupts in the classic Port-au-Prince style bas line, merging the Afro-Haitian rhythmic colors of the Yanvalou (a sacred dance) with jazz influences that range from Keith Jarrett’s post-bop to Ornette Coleman’s harmolodics.

The latter tune thrives with improvisations from Mitchell and Zenón, who share and alternate the spotlight with eminent sagacity. The pair also delivers in the cutting-edge three-section “Women of Iron”, a fantastically orchestrated instrumental, whose Napo rhythm (coming from the Nigerian Yoruba roots and associated with military conflict and liberation) is complex and encouraging. I simply marveled at the playing of Zenón here.

“Leaves Arrive” kicks off with extended chantings that incorporate Brevil’s lyrics as well as one traditional song, climaxing in polyrhythmic expression and contagious statements from bass and saxophone. Inversely, “Raw Urbane”, marked by the propulsive Djouba rhythm (associated with cultivation and farming) stresses counterpoint and spiky accents before shifting to the Abitan dance type, occasion when soulful vocals and Zenón’s folk decoration step to the fore.

The title cut has a strong presence for it starts off with more atmospheric mood and unfettered sense of space prior to affix a strangely hypnotic pulsation.

Confident as ever, Smith proves to be a drummer of categorical rhythmic detail. His thought-provoking explorations combine precise articulation and an inexhaustible eclectic vitality.

Favoriter Tracks:
04 - Women of Iron ► 06 - Raw Urbane ► 07 - Path of Seven Colors

Sinikka Langeland - Wolf Rune

June 9, 2021

Label: ECM Records, 2021

Personnel - Sinikka Langeland: kantele, vocals.

I’m completely captivated by the entrancing, meditative music of the Norwegian folksinger and kantele player Sinikka Langeland. Having collaborated with known jazz personalities in the past - including the bassist Anders Jormin, trumpeter Arve Henriksen and saxophonist Trygve Seim - Langeland goes solo on Wolf Rune, her sixth outing on the ECM Records.

Here, she plays three different kantele instruments (a zither-family table-harp with rich tones), being more rooted in the incantatory and poetic tales of the Finnskogen folklore tradition than in jazz. Yet, a contemporary feel inundates these 12 tracks made of rune songs, folk hymns and dances, and mystic religious chants. Each of them works its own magic, generating a marvel of sounds that search for the elemental beauty in nature.

Langeland’s impeccable voice and the special 39-string concert kantele can be heard on the hypnotic “Row My Ocean”, in which she sings a text by contemporary Norwegian poet/playwright Jon Fosse; the tranquil “The Eye of the Blue Whale”, whose active low notes sustain the glowing upper sweeps and her own lyrics; “When I Was a Forest”, a mysterious and liturgical chant articulated with the words of the 13th-century mystic/philosopher Meister Eckhart; and “Don’t Come to Me With the Entire Truth”, where the 1961 poem of the same name by Olav H. Hauge soars above the bucolic nature of the music.

On the stunning “Winter Rune”, Langeland adds the 5-string kantele to the concert one, making a case for an ambient spaciousness that develops into occasional abstract textures that she sculpts (briefly using the bow) and molds with quill-plucked grace. When her voice is embedded in the last section, it comes with a pleasurably shivering sensation.

Configured like a lullaby-ish folk pop tune, the traditional “Polsdance From Finnskogen” merges the ancient and the contemporary, while “The Girl in the Headlands” is a trollspringar (Norwegian folk dance) carrying grace and emotion. The record ends with the title cut, a 1808 rune song wrapped in mythology and mysticism.

Conjuring incantatory landscapes and moods, this is a record of immense beauty that touches the heart and quiets the mind.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Row My Ocean ► 08 - Winter Rune ► 10 - The Girl in the Headlands

Jonas Cambien Trio - Nature Hath Painted the Body

June 8, 2021

Label: Clean Feed Records, 2021

Personnel - Jonas Cambien: piano, organ (#6,11), soprano saxophone (#4); Andre Roligheten: alto and soprano saxophone, bass clarinet; Andreas Wildhagen: drums.

Jonas Cambien, a classical-trained Belgian pianist living in Oslo, formed his resourceful trio - with Norwegian musicians Andre Roligheten on reeds and Andreas Wildhagen on drums - in 2016, the same year they made their recording debut with A Zoology of the Future. Their third breakthrough, Nature Hath Painted the Body, was recently made available on Clean Feed Records and comes packed with capable arrangements that allow for free interplay, biting tones, rhythmic tautness, and a thrilling intersection of angles, shapes and colors.

A warped 33-second introduction leads us to “1000000 Happy Locusts”, an exultant dance of curiosity and discovery, working as a heady blend of folk, avant-garde and classical that spread throughout its structural sections. Cambien shows how dynamic his piano playing can be when combining two concurrent melodic threads in his solo recital. He’s later joined by Roligheten’s soprano curlicues and punchy accents.

The reedist doesn’t eschew melody on the infectiously percussive “Harrieschoppers”, and even adds a bit of flutter tonguing technique on the bass clarinet to go along with the mechanical flux delivered by piano and drums.

Whereas “Mantis” sports a groovy piano pattern and galloping percussion at the base of its folk storytelling, “The Origins of Tool Use” takes the world music into an abstract realm, boasting not just a primitive Afro atmosphere generated by prepared piano, but also a frisky posture achieved by brazen organ as well as popping and chanting woodwinds.

Contrasting with the mercurial shifts on “Freeze”, which plays with hushes and outbursts, “Yoyo Helmut” has this danceable rock-fueled rhythm going on, all along.

The album concludes with “Helium”, whose manifest organ progression finds Roligheten on the edge of pitch, prior to Wildhagen’s anticipation of the three time feel that ensues. At that time, the bass clarinet tracks the crisp path of the piano, supporting simultaneous saxophones lines.

It’s stimulating what Cambien proposes in this album.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - 1000000 Happy Locusts ► 03 - Harrieschoppers ► 11 - Helium

Dahveed Behroozi - Echos

June 7, 2021

Label: Sunnyside Records, 2021

Personnel - Dahveed Berhoozi: piano; Thomas Morgan: double bass; Billy Mintz: drums.

San Jose-based pianist Dahveed Berhoozi merges jazz and classical streams in a peculiar way, pushing the envelope through a sui generis contemporary material that echoes a strong improvisational feel. For this album, his second, he is backed up by two New York stalwarts of the rhythm, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Billy Mintz, with whom he has been intermittently playing since his graduation from the Manhattan School of Music.

For the opening track, “Imagery”, the trio invests in ripe elliptical patterns, crafting a consolidated, if melancholic sound that falls into place through Behroozi’s exquisite hybrid pianism (the classical influence is notorious), Morgan’s immensely spacious drive that ties everything together, and Mintz’s incredible command of the cymbals, which spark with a myriad of colors.

The closer we get to the sound, the most we are able to appreciate the spirit of this ingenious music. “Gilroy”, which was titled for the Californian town where the bandleader teaches, plays like a three-way oratorio with consistent ideas that repeat, intensify and dance together. Later on, the trio exudes a stylish samba feel with hints of hip-hop out of its deconstructed concept. Following the short bass story that occurs on top of a piano pedal, the piece ends with wide-ranging keyboard sweeps.

Intriguingly oblique, “Chimes” is a mystery unfolding that seems not to be interested in a balanced articulation. No one better to create this type of effect than Morgan and Mintz, who patrol each musical section with both loose autonomy and collective sensibility.

Whether humble or exalted, the trio sticks to their thing. The deliriously dense “Sendoff” strikes out in a freer direction, and its zany motion contrasts heavily with pieces like “Royal Star”, a fragile 3/4 statement with conspicuous brushwork and floral inspiration, and “Tricks”, where odd lyricism wrestles with several gravitational forces to generate a perceptible polyrhythmic feel.

Though a little meandering, Echos is an album of systematic ambiguity and a few pleasurable surprises.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Imagery ► 03 - Gilroy ► 08 - Tricks

Ariel Bart - In between

June 3, 2021

Label: Ropeadope Records, 2021

Personnel - Ariel Bart: harmonica; Mayu Shviro: cello; Moshe Elmakias: piano; David Michaeli: double bass; Amir Bar Akiva: drums.

The up-and-coming Israeli harmonica player and composer Ariel Bart has been getting noticed not only through salient New York collaborations - with the trombonist Steve Swell on his album The Center Will Hold (2020) and the bassist William Parker on Migration Of Silence Into And Out Of The Tone World (2021) - but also with her personal work. Wedding European jazz tradition and Middle Eastern particularities, In Between, her debut record, is more straightforward than oblique, showing the bandleader’s adherence to balmy musical contexts.

“Spiritual Wars” resulted in a gentle undulating flow permeated with beautiful folk melody. The harmonica commands our attention during the warmhearted improvisation, and then it’s the piano that colors things nicely before the mild effervescence of the snare drum becomes salient.

Bart is consistently expressive on “Colors Palette”, deserving a comparison with Toots Thielemans as she rides the crest of involving harmonic waves sustained by an attractive rhythm.

“Stranger on the Hill”, an emotion-filled waltz expressed with a mature language, includes sublime moments of multiphonic harmonica, pedaling and arco bass, and resolute percussion. In turn, the lulling “Deep Down”, equally coping with a triple meter, is concise, melodic and soulful.

Mayu Shviro introduces the title cut with unaccompanied cello, and that song concludes the album as a smooth, somewhat yearning Middle Eastern reflection in five.

In Between is the vehicle that transports us to Bart’s personal sonic world. It might not have the immediate thrills of the avant-garde scene but follows a coherent line of thought, signaling a promising future for her in the jazz universe.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Spiritual Wars ► 02 - Colors Palette ► 03 - Stranger on the Hill

Julian Lage - Squint

June 2, 2021

Label: Blue Note Records, 2021

Personnel - Julian lage: electric guitar; Jorge Roeder: double bass; Dave King: drums.

It’s frequent to find a variety of styles - jazz, folk, blues, country - in the music of virtuosic 33-year-old guitarist Julian Lage, who makes his debut as a leader on the Blue Note label with Squint. The album - whose program includes nine Lage originals, one jazz standard (the gracefully waltzing Mandel/Mercer's “Emily”) and one classic country song (Billy Hill’s “Call of the Canyon”) - was built with his current working trio, featuring bassist Jorge Roeder and the former-The Bad Plus drummer Dave King. It’s the long-waited follow-up to Love Hurts (Mack Avenue, 2019), whose rich repertoire included tunes by Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Ivers/Lynch, Roy Orbison and Jimmy Giuffre.

According to the bandleader, his tactic for this album was to make positive, beautiful music, and he succeeded with cohesiveness and an authentic trio sound that, happy to note, is never too polished.

“Etude” is a relaxing solo guitar introduction to the album, instantly drawing us in, but without disclosing what the rest of the record entails. Its discreetly brilliant melodic impressions lie on folk and contemporary classical elements.

The blues style is very present throughout, and if “Boo’s Blues” is a mature, easy listening tune with chordal mastery (momentarily presented like a progression of evolving chromaticism) and a swinging Kenny Burrell-delivery, then the following piece, “Squint”, adds a hooky Led Zeppelin-like rock twist to the genre.

Lage's beautiful composition “Day and Age”, retrieved from his first solo album, World’s Fair (2015), is equally bluesy, stirred by a country jazz undercurrent where the smooth texture and fascinating melody become one. This is breezy, amiable stuff that extends to “Quiet Like a Fuse”, which places a delicious guitar riff at the center with sparse bass accompaniment and subdued drums in the background. There's also the Scofield-esque “Twilight Surfer”, in which a rockabilly vibe stumbles on smooth jazz funk.

The casual pop groove with bluesy melodic accents of “Saint Rose” has Lage raising his hat to Wilco’s frontman Jeff Tweedy at the same time that alludes to his Californian hometown, Santa Rosa. But there’s another dedication on the album - “Familiar Flower” borrows the sophistication of saxophonist Charles Lloyd, with whom Lage has been playing in recent years. Sinuous guitar discourses flow comfortably on top of persistent bass pedals and clattering drums.

The arresting and eclectic Squint was crafted with nuance, clarity and precision, and the results are sophisticated and vibrant.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Squint ► 07 - Day and Age ► 08 - Quiet Like a Fuse

Hearth - Melt

May 27, 2021

Label: Clean Fedd, 2021

Personnel - Susana Santos Silva: trumpet; Mette Rasmussen: alto saxophone; Ada Rave: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Kaja Draksler: piano.

Slovenian pianist Kaja Draksler, Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and Argentine saxophonist/clarinetist Ada Rave join forces in a new all-female avant-garde quartet with a fabulous command of timbre and texture. The name of the group, Hearth, came up as a blend of the words earth and heart, and the music on Melt clarifies why. The album consists of an improvised six-piece program recorded live at Portalegre Jazz Festival in Portugal.

You can almost trail a path into nature when listening to “At Daybreak”, a collage of curious sounds - many of them drawn from extended techniques and shaping up as fluttering reiterative figures - that will enable you to picture skies, birds, forests and mountains in your head. Among all these, and some more whispering and hissing sounds and percussive elements, a human voice stands out saying: “silence! too much talking” and “how far do you want to go?”.

I could hear the sea and the wind at the end of “Turbulent Flow”, which starts with dreamy piano playing infused with moderate tension, working as a platform for agitated saxophones and trumpet in a collision course. There’s more harmonic adherence on this piece than on any other, but on top of that, Draksler offers us an impeccable solo piano moment that is as much tonally blurred as it is colorful.

The opener, “Fading Icebergs”, has these notes of different durations and pitches coming and go at their own rhythm. They are deliberately and contrapuntally mounted to throb a pulsation that screams for life.

With three distinct parts, “Tidal Phase” has each musician reacting to the surroundings. Without delay, there’s buzzing, spiraling and frantic activity living all together; the middle section consists of undying piercing notes that resist to the propulsion of a popping saxophone and piano punctuation; and all ends with a reflective abstraction with the horns generating notes of warning that decay in pitch.

The experimental integrity of the group erupts with obscure intertwined forms on “Diving Bell”, which, clocking in at 14 minutes, is the longest track on the record. The horns here are raucous, snorting and grunting as they build a cadence that contrasts with the constellation of scintillating piano notes that grow from sparse to abundant. At some point, Rasmussen embraces palpable melody while Draksler shifts cluster chords with vigor. Conversational woodwind/brass interplay concludes the circuit.

Because the music of Hearth is technically unblemished and aesthetically admirable, I hope this is the first of many records to come.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Tidal Phase ► 05 - Diving Bells ► 06 - Turbulent Flow

Wadada Leo Smith with Milford Graves and Bill Laswell - Sacred Ceremonies

May 26, 2021

Label: TUM Records, 2021

Personnel - Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet; Bill Laswell: electric bass; Milford Graves: drums, percussion.

To celebrate his 80th birthday, the distinguished avant-garde trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith releases a 3 CD box set, Sacred Ceremonies, in the company of the experimental electric bassist Bill Laswell and the late free-jazz drummer Milford Graves. The recording, which took place at Laswell’s studio in New Jersey, is the product of three separate one-day sessions, with the first two volumes emerging as duos (trumpet/drums and trumpet/bass) and the third, the main focus of this review, in the trio format.

“Social Justice - a Fire for Reimagining the World” gets the ceremonies under way with percolating tribal drums and magnetizing cymbals that sound like a symphony to me, warped bass sounds devised with incantatory mysticism, and ultra-precise trumpet phrases that appeal more than moan while dancing on top of a reverberating groove occasionally modulated by wah-wah effect.

With these three extraordinary explorers, the improvisation can go anywhere as they discover as they go. Sometimes magical and ravishing, sometimes intriguing and dark, the music immerses the listeners in angular forms that are consistently good from start to finish.

“Myths of Civilizations and Revolutions” stresses the polyrhythmic artistry of Graves, whose work never overshadows the ever-surprising Laswell. The latter's command of the fretboard generates a blend of astute underpinnings with chromatic tension, offbeat textures and momentary silvery melodicism. His lockstep hypnotic vamps explore certain timbral-shadings that often makes his bass sound like a guitar, as we can hear on “Truth in Expansion”. Here, his two-minute solo intro involves us completely in the mood before merging experimental funk with post-rock and fusion chordal work. The close interplay, incorporating clear yet irregular drum patterns and cutting trumpet lines, creates an astounding range of emotions.

The closing piece, “Ruby Red Largo - a Sonnet” has a trembling, mantric-like bass drawing from a variety of ethnic traditions with Smith’s trumpet soaring high and mighty atop. Underneath all this, Grave’s beautifully tuned percussion provides not only solid ground but also a profusion of color.

Structural elements are connected with atypical exhibitions of sentiment, turning these unique meetings into amazing and unshakeable sonic worlds of their own. The album is dedicated to Graves, who passed away in February this year.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Social Justice - a Fire for Reimagining the World ► 03 - Truth in Expansion ► 07 - Ruby Red Largo - a Sonnet

Dave Holland - Another Land

May 25, 2021

Label: Edition Records, 2021

Personnel - Dave Holland: bass; Kevin Eubanks: guitar; Obed Calvaire: drums.

Dave Holland is a mighty bassist who is equally at home in world fusion and post-bop environments as with avant-garde ensembles. Another Land is a blistering fusion work delivered with a new trio that includes the versatile guitarist Kevin Eubanks, a longtime associate whose first collaboration dates back to 1990 (Holland’s quartet album Expansions), and drummer Obed Calvaire, a member of the SFJazz Collective since 2013, who joins him on record for the very first time.

The album’s nine instrumentals - four by Holland, four by Eubanks and one by Calvaire - will keep you engrossed in a kaleidoscopic musical sphere molded with startling emotional honesty.

Eubanks’ “Grave Walker” invites you to cut a rug at the rhythmic consistency of a pungent funky bounce strengthen with thoroughly imposing accents. A calmer passage emphasizes Holland’s lilting phrasing, and then there’s bluesy guitar licks fusing with tenacious rock washes, causing a radiant energy to build up.

Penned by Holland, the title cut is a soothing charmer grounded in a bass figure that gives a measured pace to the route, fortifying it with modal impression and groove. The acoustic guitar invests in an irresistible folk jazz intonation, precipitating Holland into a picturesque storytelling that stimulates the imagination.

Alluding to a deplorable year, “20 20” kicks off on a sad note, bolstered by a morose arco bass, but soon metamorphoses entirely by juxtaposing Jimi Hendrix-inspired chops with the exquisite curves of the Miles Davis Quintet and the weeping bends of the blues genre. A concluding rocking vamp brings Calvaire’s astute stretches to the fore. The drummer’s compositional traits are fully expressed on “Gentle Warrior”, which, propelled by a bass figure in five, soars into a higher plane with inward funk disposition, African folk magic and an ecstatic, rock-powered guitar solo that evokes… Hendrix once again.

The funk-rock feast continues with titles such as “Mashup”, which burns with groove before climaxing in a vamp in five, and “The Village”, which seamlessly handles changes of meter.

Holland’s allegiance isn’t to genre but to musical excellence. Whatever the context his group plays in, their sense of unity and enjoyment becomes evident, not just while riding the great themes but also when departing from the written notations to embark on thrilling improvised stories.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Another Land ► 03 - Gentle Warrior ► 07 - The Village

Charlie Porter - Hindsight

May 24, 2021

Label: OA2 Records, 2021

Personnel - Charlie Porter: trumpet; Nick Biello: alto and soprano saxophone; Orrin Evans: piano, keyboards; David Wong: upright bass; Kenneth Salters: drums; Mike Moreno: guitar; Behn Gillece: vibraphone; Damian Erskine: electric bass; Jimmie Herrod: vocals; Rasheed Jamal: rap vocals; Majid Khaliq: violin; Bassekou Kouyate: ngoni; Mahamadou Tounkara: tama.

Possessing a refined compositional style and immersive sound, trumpeter/composer Charlie Porter reflects on the present times through a mix of mainstream and neo-bop that deftly combines familiarity and surprise. Hindsight, Porter’s third album as a leader, finds him navigating great textures and ambiances with a core quartet - featuring pianist Orrin Evans, bassist David Wong and drummer Kenneth Salters - that, more often than not, is expanded with special guests.

The uplifting “Tipping Point” is a Wynton Marsalis-esque incursion delivered with manic swinging glee and asking for rapid lines and kinetic expression. Altoist and co-producer Nick Biello, acquiesces to that, launching the improvisations with unremitting energy. He’s followed closely by Porter, who glides over the chords with unremitting energy, and Evans, who astounds with brilliant outside piano playing. Before the closing theme statement, Salters is given a chance to show that his drum chops are intact.

Both the title track and the waltzing “Requiem” are ballads. The former is enriched by Behn Gillece’s vibraphone work and the cool airiness of Porter’s muted trumpet, while the latter is a tribute to the victims of covid-19.

Guitarist Mike Moreno brings flexibility to the group on five pieces. On “Walking the Plank”, where a friendly Latin announcement gives place to a pragmatic post-bop spirit, he engages in unisons with the bandleader. Both improvise with gusto on the hyped fusion “Things Fall Apart”, which weds jazz, funk and hip-hop with the help of Pink Martini’s affiliated vocalist Jimmie Herrod, violinist/lyricist Majid Khaliq and rapper Rasheed Jamal.

Draped with an inspired slick arrangement and Afro rhythmic underpinning, “In Short Supply” is definitely a highlight, featuring Malian musicians Bassekou Kouyate on ngoni and Mahamadou Tounkara on talking drum (tama). Evans’ alluring keyboard plays an important role here and the musical affinities of the group are filled out with solos from soprano, trumpet and guitar.

Following “Paradise Lost”, which alternates between a 4/4 swinging motion and confident waltzing steps, “For Ellis”, written for Porter’s newborn son, celebrates via chants of praise by the Hallowed Halls Gospel Choir, having the light-emitting trumpet complementing it.

The record addresses present concerns about the world but also hope in the future as seen by the lens of a formidable post-bop practitioner who knows how to recycle tradition for the sake of fresh contemporary music making.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Tipping Point ► 06 - In Short Supply ► 08 - Paradise Lost

Anna Webber - Idiom

May 20, 2021

Label: Pi Recordings, 2021

Personnel (disc one) - Anna Webber: tenor saxophone, flutes; Matt Mitchell: piano; John Hollenbeck: drums.
Personnel (disc two) - Anna Webber: tenor saxophone, flutes; Nathaniel Morgan: alto sax; Yuma Uesaka: tenor sax, clarinets; Adam O’Farrill: trumpet; David Byrd-Marrow: horn; Jacob Garchik: trombone; Erica Dicker: violin; Joanna Mattrey: viola; Maria Roberts: cello; Liz Kosack: synthesizer; Nick Dunston: bass; Satoshi Takeishi: drums; Eric Wubbels: conduction.

Idiom, the spectacular follow-up to Clockwise (a JazzTrail favorite of 2019), vouches that New York-based saxophonist and flutist Anna Webber ranks at the top of the list in the pantheon of modern creative music. Using tone and multiphonics as the central elements in this work, Webber merges heroic contemporary jazz with the classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries. This is a double album composed for different group formats, with the disc one comprising five pieces written for her Simple Trio (featuring Matt Mitchell on piano and John Hollenbeck on drums), and the disc two boasting an impressive lineup of 12 New York musicians that give the best sequence to the six spiffily arranged movements of “Idiom VI”.

The trio sets a vertiginous atmosphere for “Idiom I”, which concatenates patterned 'vented’ fingering flute and piano counterpoint. There’s a precise piano-driven rhythm that it’s so Mitchell’s, and a stately composite of percussion elaborated by Hollenbeck. The latter’s masterful drumming hits the spotlight on “Idiom IV”, a flawless triangular coordination enriched by Webber’s coiled tenor work.

More straightforward as a result of a reachable sense of harmony, the conversational “Forgotten Best” prepares the way to “Idiom V”, which, ascending the listener into a state of grace via air notes and flute extended techniques, is followed by “Idiom III”, a virtuosic dance-rock workout built with circular breathing and evincing pervasive musical influences from Iannis Xenakis and Morton Feldman.

Webber structures these conceptual ideas and musical complexities into a logic development that never ceases to amaze. I would describe Idiom VI, the biggest brain teaser on the album, as a twist of contemporary big band materialized from dyad multiphonics and attentively designed sonic undercurrents. “Movement I” has both the horn and string players generating buzzing sounds that alternate with resolute rhythmic accents. Wild saxophone and space-age synth statements ramp up the enlivening energy provided by the rhythm team of bassist Nick Dunston and drummer Satoshi Takeishi.

“Movement II” starts off with sculptural Threadgill-like forms, becoming deliberately warble through skittish bursts of strings, staccatos and noise, and polyrhythmic during a fine solo by trombonist Jacob Garchik. “Interlude 2 & Movement III” is cleanly and tenderly introduced before plunging into syncopated cadences and then calling out for Yumi Uesaka, who delivers an invigorating contra-alto clarinet solo. “Interlude 3 & Movement V” employs murmuring drones and long notes to build a wall of dazzling, slightly sinister ambient; it features unruffled trumpet melody by Adam O’Farrill, who later interacts with one of the sax players.

Boldly conceptual, Idiom is a hell of a record, whose meticulously blended sounds ricochet into eternity.

Favorite Tracks:
01 (disc one) - Idiom I ► 03 (disc two) - Movement II ► 04 (disc two) - Interlude 2 and Movement III

James Francies - Purest Form

May 19, 2021

Label: Blue Note Records, 2021

Personnel - James Francies: piano, keyboards, vocals; Burniss Travis: bass; Jeremy Dutton: drums; Immanuel Wilkins: alto sax; Joel Ross: vibraphone; Mike Moreno: guitar; Bilal, Peyton, Elliot Skinner: vocals; DJ Dahi: drum programming; Francesca Dardani and Sulamit Gorski: violin; Marta Bagratuni: cello; Tia Allen: viola.

The Houston-born, New York-based pianist/composer James Francies has been earning critical acclaim not only backing the saxophonist Chris Potter in his Circuits Trio, the drummer Jaimeo Brown and the vibraphonist Stefon Harris but also conceptualizing his own project where he cuts deep on forward-thinking jazz and groove, meaningful message and a plethora of musical genres. The follow up to his debut full-length album Flight (Blue Note, 2018) is Purest Form, an eclectic set of compositions with many interesting paths to cross among a flux of style that feels both very tight and very loose, thoughtful and adventurous. Similarly to his previous outing, Francies summoned the groove-adept rhythm section of bassist Burniss Travis II and drummer Jeremy Dutton to shape most of his compositions. Yet, on good time, he enjoys the presences of guest artists such as vibraphonist Joel Ross, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and guitarist Mike Moreno, as well as several vocalists.

The nearly 2-minute opener, “Adoration”, sets the tone, featuring a poem written and narrated in Spanish by James’ wife, Brenda Francies, over slightly distorted soundscapes and religious chants. But it’s on the kinetic “Levitate” that the trio blooms in full force, pointing to rhythmic digressions and keen harmonic movements where a wide-ranging piano solo and laser-focused keyboard beams erupt.

Immersed in celestial poise and joyful emotion, “Transfiguration” is propelled by an exuberant trap beat and boosted by Wilkins’ burnished solo. The alto saxophonist excels on the irresistible odd-metered rendition of the standard “My Favorite Things”, here dressed in new clothes and including conversational lines bouncing back and forth between Francies and Ross. A transitional 4/4 vamp accommodating a sax-vibraphone ostinato leads to a danceable final section during which Moreno’s guitar is in the lead, adding colorful dimension.

“Where We Stand” is another highlight, showcasing the rhythmic virtuosity of Dutton who engages in skittering beat fluxes and colorful cymbal splashes. The improvisations are by Ross, who applies his cultivated technique in the interest of the tune’s spirit, and Francies, whose soloing capabilities comes to the fore.

The vocal tracks are diverse, with “Eyes Wide Shut” being my absolute favorite as it exposes a heavier texture when compared with other numbers. The riffing, rock-solid backing of the quartet (with Moreno on board) handles well the mix of poignancy and energy delivered by the alternative R&B singer Bilal. Eclecticism reigns, and if “Blown Away” chills you out via Peyton’s voice and a mellow boom trap beat, then the drum-less “Rose Water”, co-written with and featuring the contemporary vocalist Elliott Skinner, drives us into the pop music universe.

Francies is a force to be reckoned with, and if you seek other influences in jazz, this might be a project to invest your time in.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Transfiguration ► 06 - My Favorite Things ► 12 - Eyes Wide Shut

Ralph Peterson - Raise Up Off Me

May 18, 2021

Label: Onyx Records, 2021

Personnel - Ralph Peterson: drums, percussion; Luques Curtis: double bass; Zaccai Curtis: piano, keyboard; Jazzmeia Horn: vocals (#7,8,13); Eguie Castrillo: percussion (#6).

The recently deceased drummer/composer Ralph Peterson will be always remembered as a shrewd, confident player who was utterly expressive in the stories he intended to tell. Peterson died from cancer on March 1st, and Raise Up Off Me is an inspiring last album filled with optimism and empowering message. Most of the tracks here are explored in the trio format alongside two of his protégés, the brothers Zaccai and Luques Curtis on piano and bass, respectively. The trio, which had recorded Triangular III in 2016, is joined by special guests on specific tunes.

There are two dazzling originals at the top of the track list. Whereas the title cut denotes an optimum balance between relaxation and tension, reaching both spiritual and emotional states on occasion; “The Right to Live” is a post-bop number configured with untethered drum eruptions before earning a dancing quality in the B section that is hundred percent Brazilian. This is an influence that is also mirrored on “Fantasia Brazil”.

The acclaimed singer Jazzmeia Horn shines on three pieces: “Tears I Cannot Hide”, a Peterson ballad for which she wrote the lyrics; John Hicks/Betty Carter’s “Naima’s Love Song”, which gains a soft Latin touch while proceeding at a solid stride; and on her own “Please Do Something”, a lavishly and ferociously swinging ride where she’s seen at the peak of her vocal abilities. The latter tune appears as a bonus track on the LP and digital releases only

“Four Play” is an uptempo blues burner fetched from pianist James Williams’ 1984 album Alter Ego, whereas Bud Powell’s “Bouncing With Bud” features a lively, lilting brushwork from Peterson, who takes his buoyancy to a much softer level on Zaccai’s ballad “I Want To Be There With You”.

Definitely a highlight, and with the Puerto Rican percussionist Eguie Castrillo on board, “Blue Hughes” is conveniently accented according to the breezy calypso waves that propel it. Being subjected to a fresh arrangement here, this tune had been recorded in 1985 by the Blue Note Records-founded group OTB (Out of the Blue) of which Peterson was a rhythmic pillar in conjunction to the bassist Robert Hurst.

Peterson’s last goodbye exemplifies the empathetic force of his music and playing.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Raise Up Off Me ► 06 - Blue Hughes ► 13 - Please Do Something (bonus track)

Nortonk - Nortonk

May 17, 2021

Label: Biophilia Records, 2021

Personnel - Gideon Forbes: alto saxophone; Thomas Killackey: trumpet; Stephen Pale: bass; Steven Crammer: drums.

Formed in 2017, Nortonk is a heated avant-garde quartet composed of young players: Gideon Forbes on alto saxophone, Thomas Killackey on trumpet, Stephen Pale on bass and Steven Crammer on drums. All four members brought compositions for this first record and the group’s name is a nod of gratitude to drummer Kevin Norton, their former teacher at the William Paterson University in New Jersey.

Advocating dynamic interplay over stalwart rhythmic underpins, the unit provides precise synchronism and fierce melodic impulsivity on the lead-off track, “Chutes and Ladders”. Working over the obliquely broken rhythms of Pale and Crammer, Forbes has the word here, being joined by Killackey at a later time for an animated conclusion.

Like the previous piece, it was Forbes who penned “Spiders”, where the tension is treated in a different manner. Sax and trumpet echo long notes that soar above an interlaced net that pulsates with magnetic bass work and suitable brushwork. This more relaxed type of setting also befits Pale’s “Herzog”, in which the group embraces a mournful solemnity within poetic tonal registers.

Conversely, Killackey’s “Duuzh” and Crammer’s “GLaDOS” are marked by a considerable urgency in their explorative paths. But whereas the former swings categorically and unabashedly, the latter is lavishly motivic, keeping the momentum flowing with rhythmic accentuations and elastic solos by the horn players.

With one piece following logically to the next, the group knows exactly when to magnify or mitigate the energy in order to perform changes in pace and mood. Spasmodically reaching special places, they boast their own sound on each occasion.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Chutes and Ladders ► 03 - Duuzh ► 06 - Herzog

Matt Panayides - Field Theory

May 13, 2021

Label: Pacific Coast Jazz, 2021

Personnel - Matt Panayides: guitar; Rich Perry: tenor saxophone; Matt Vashlishan: wind synth; Robert Sabin: bass; Mark Ferber: drums.

New York-based guitarist and composer Matt Panayides might not be as active as a leader as we would like, but his originals are always consistently contemporary and attractive, attributes that should be enough to keep listeners from both sides of the jazz spectrum engaged.

His third outing, Field Theory, features two musicians he previously recorded with - the notorious tenorist Rich Perry and the drummer Mark Ferber - as well as two recent collaborators - the wind synth player Matt Vashlishan (a member of Dave Liebman’s Expansions Group) and the bassist Robert Sabin. This ensemble has been playing in New York venues since 2018, the year of its formation, and, together, they paint an agreeable picture, often mixing the jazz language and rock-derived elements in an aurally transparent way, regardless how many sound effects they employ. The opener, “Kite Flying”, is a straight-ahead groover that careens with shredding guitar licks and captivating flights from guitar, EWI and saxophone. Its energy is effectively transferred to “Disturbance”, a playful strutter whose vamped melodic idea and rhythm shift in tone and meter, respectively.

Whereas the fluid “Energy Mover” denotes a bop flair and harmonic saturation, “Field Theory” engages in a complex 7/4 meter, stressing some rock glamour and faultless unisons. There’s an improvised passage in which guitar, saxophone and EWI scorch along the edges, but not as much as on “2.27.20”, whose eerie quality comes from sketches of a sine wave randomly chosen and played by the musicians for exactly three minutes.

The sonic linearity of Panayides’ guitar is bent with a pitch-distorter effect in the introduction of “Closer Now”, a tuneful piece carried out at a comfortable waltzing tempo. You’ll easily find moments of pleasure not only here, but also during the unextended suite “Penta Folk”, whose four parts include episodes of dawning tranquility, pop and folk connotations, fusion panache with asymmetric form, and streamlined cinematic feel.

Panayides finds himself in these pretty catchy tunes, each of them skillfully incorporating the past and the future, the familiar and the unexpected.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Closer Now ► 04 - Field Theory ► 10 - Penta Folk III: Ascend

Theo Walentiny - Looking Glass

May 12, 2021

Label: Self-released, 2021

Personnel - Theo Walentiny: piano.

Influenced by Keith Jarrett and Paul Bley, the 24-year-old pianist Theo Walentiny puts together a set of seven piano improvisations in his solo debut album, Looking Glass.

The promising musician, who has been based in Brooklyn since 2014 and co-leads the Aurelia Trio with equally up-and-coming associates - the bassist Nick Dunston and the drummer Connor Parks - envisions to reveal his true self through improvisations based on sceneries painted by his imagination. As he puts it, on those occasions, he and the piano become one.

The immersive first track, “Fanfare For Looking Glass” whets our appetite by opposing tension-filled left-hand underpinnings and softer yet deep reflections that take place over the middle and right end of the keyboard. The movements create a sense of awe by themselves, but when combined, they release an impressive torrent of emotions that push the pianist to excavate more textures and melodic lines. It’s a gripping starting point.

However, this bold posture seems to faint on tracks such as “Behind Tall Grass” and “Grey They Billow”, the former being a melancholy meditation that barely includes the element of surprise, and the latter containing minimally narrated parts that weakens the communication by drowning itself in extensive, profound rumination.

“Film II” regains the nerve by grabbing a catchy cadenced flux measured with a steadfast harmonization, pointillistic detail and whimsical smears that intensify the angular perspective of the viewer. It’s not hard to identify contemporary classical and experimental jazz portions over the course of a tensile stretch rich in mood fluctuations.

“The Everlasting Rain Moves” creates an irregular framework over which patterns and cycles mutate with logic, whereas “Of Worlds Other Than” conjures a restless dream with as much inert configurations as whirling spirals.

The now poetic, now rousing ambiguities of the narrative became intermittently interesting. That being said, I’m still curious to see what Walentiny’s next step will be.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Fanfare For Looking Glass ► 02 - The Everlasting Rain Moves ► 05 - Film II

Flatland Quartet - Songs From the Urban Forest

May 11, 2021

Label: Gold Lion Records, 2021

Personnel - Jon Raskin: baritone and alto saxophone, vocals; Darren Johnston: trumpet, vocals; Ross Hammond: electric guitar; Jon Bafus drums.

The Sacramento-based Flatland Quartet has one foot in the folk music and the other planted in free improvisation, and Songs From The Urban Forest, their explorative debut work, is here to prove it. The group boasts a two-horn frontline with the saxophonist Jon Raskin (from Rova Saxophone Quartet) pairing up with the Canadian-born trumpeter Darren Johnston, while the favorably atypical textures at the base come as a result of the long-standing rhythmic alliance between guitarist Ross Hammond and drummer Jon Bafus.

“Joe Hill’s Last and Final Will” opens the record with a sort of mantric vibe that is well rooted in the American blues and folk traditions. The lyrics are from Joe Hill himself, a Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter who was executed in 1915 for a murder he probably didn’t commit.

Different instrumentation plays a crucial role here, with the group trying other formats to encourage sonic diversity. Take for instance “The Aural Dialogues”, a continuous two-horn exchange that starts overtly percussive as a consequence of extended techniques (slap tongue, multiphonics, air notes), and then becomes fluently conversational with occasional contrapuntal activity before finishing with a series of rapid lines. It’s the antithesis of “Light and Sound on the River”, a guitar-percussion duet whose six-string noodling, brooding tones and changeable rhythm result in country noir ambiance.

All the same, the most powerful chapters of this journey are the ones where the four members are fully involved, loading them with sharp-witted melodic phrases, texture and pulse. As a case in point, “Cries From the Central Valley” lays disconsolate alto supplications and wailing trumpet calls on top of a deep-rooted country music that, after a while, flirts with rock and roll, in the line of the Bakersfield sound. Expect a temperature rise before the calm steel guitar conclusion.

“The King of Boulevard Park” is fantastically built with a 5/8 drum figure that, demarcating from the slowed-down guitar work, creates a fine polyrhythmic feel. Modal chords and staccato comping with splashes of twirling licks open the door for a wild guitar improvisation, and all ends up in a free jazz romp with Raskin’s untamed baritone totally into it.

“Valley Clouds in Winter” concludes the session with a lamenting glance while mixing indie-rock, folk, and free improv. En route, there’s plenty of syncopation and entanglement in the rhythm that leads to a final straight-eight rock progression sustaining overlapped ostinatos.

All sales of this record goes to the Sacramento Food Bank, which is another good reason for you to get it.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Cries From the Central Valley ► 05 - The King of Boulevard Park ► 06 - Valley Clouds in Winter

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

May 10, 2021

Label: Luaka Bop, 2021

Personnel - Sam Shepherd: piano, harpsichord, celesta, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3, Oberheim 4 voice, Oberheim OB-Xa, Solina String Ensemble, Therevox ET-4.3, EMS Synthi, ARP 2600, Buchla 200e, string writing, string arrangments; Pharoah Sanders: tenor saxophone, voice; London Symphony Orchestra: strings.

The legendary tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, an icon of the free jazz and an advocate of spiritual communion in music, works with the British electronic musician/producer Floating Points (Sam Shepherd) and the notable century-old London Symphony Orchestra on Promises, which signals his first release in more than a decade. This 46-minute nine-movement suite reveals a quiet nature and an irresistible sense of longing and veneration for the heavenliness.

The first movement sets the tone with a beautiful sequence of sparse chords timely arpeggiated with harpsichord, piano and synth. We recognize some ethnic influence that drowns us into the immensity of a luminous, intimate and transcendental stasis. This soft texture becomes a template throughout the record, where shifting layers of orchestration and incredibly apt electronics drape it, providing a different feel for each movement. There’s something hypnotizing in this minimalistic yet constantly deepening procedure that brings Philip Glass to mind.

Clearly enjoying the ambiance, Sanders contributes tenor pleas expressed with calmness, gratitude and empathic spirituality. The tapestries under his feet become thicker with instrumentation, and if there’s a slight dissonant charisma building up tension on “Movement II”, then the following tracks are intelligently embroidered with strings, synth, organ, vocals, and lovely electronic hooks.

Now, no movement reaches the heights of “Movement VI”, a fascinating journey graced with a hair-raising orchestration whose emotional response can easily bring tears to our eyes. In an opposing manner, “Movement VII” accommodates a larger quantity of insistent drones and keyboard patterns, leading Sanders to blow his tenor with the ecstatic circularity and fervent intensity, hallmarks of his style. Here, he has a myriad of electronic elements fluttering around him.

Although less possessed by the giant saxophonist’s improvisational flair, Promises is easier to consume than his free jazz romps of other times. It’s a beautiful work, fruit of an inter-generational collaboration that should be welcomed by each and every jazz, classical and ambient music fan.

Favorite Tracks:
05 - Movement 5 ► 06 - Movement 6 ► 07 - Movement 7