Search Results for: le cube

Jun 7 2013

Tiny Reviews: Iiro Rantala, Francesco Cataldo, Le Cube, Timucin Sahin, Jason Marsalis, & Brad Goode

Tiny Reviews edition!

Featured album:  Iiro Rantala My History In Jazz

Plus:  Francesco Cataldo Spaces, Le Cube Frelon Rouge, Timucin Sahin Inherence, Jason Marsalis A World of Mallets, and Brad Goode Chicago Red.

*****

 

Iiro Rantala – My History In Jazz

Iiro Rantala - "My History In Jazz"The title on this recording isn’t coincidental.  Iiro Rantala is expressing his own personal relationship with Jazz, and like any other relationship in life, it involves elements that don’t necessarily fall under the Jazz umbrella.  That’s why classical compositions by Bach and pop standards like “September Song” are presented along with original pieces and renditions of songs like “Caravan.”

Rantala’s sound doesn’t sacrifice its typical austere grace as it switches up the source material, but there’s a noticeable shift in the overall sound from track to track, duly reflecting the disparate influences on his history in jazz.  Rantala’s takes on Bach’s “Goldberg Variation” possess a distant warmth, whereas the group’s rendition of “Caravan” echoes the original’s boisterousness.  “Eronel” has a friendly piano trio hop and bounce that would fit right into the jazz scene of the sixties, whereas the casual propulsion and lovely melodic drift of “Smoothie” is an outstanding example of how jazz musicians of the new century are putting their stamp on the artform.

Violinist Baldych guests on four of the tracks.  It’s nice to see him getting put to use since signing with the ACT Music label.  He’s a hell of a talent, and fits in just fine with the established pros that comprise the core trio.

Your album personnel:  Iiro Rantala (piano), Lars Danielsson (bass, cello), Morten Lund (drums), and guest:  Adam Baldych (violin).

Released on the ACT Music label.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

 

Other Albums of Note:

 

Francesco Cataldo – Spaces

Francesco Cataldo - "Spaces"An album with an ethereal presence.  Francesco Cataldo brings a variety of guitars to the table, not to mention a line-up of modern jazz all-stars.  Peaceful music that stays that way, even during those times when the tempo picks up.  Much respect for Binney, who has a distinctive big sound, but finds a way to really fit in well with the predominant serenity of this recording.

Your album personnel:  Francesco Cataldo (guitars), Scott Colley (bass), David Binney (sax), Clarence Penn (drums), Erik Friedlander (cello), and Salvatore Bonafede (piano).

Released on the Alfa Music label.  Available at eMusic.

 

Le Cube – Frelon Rouge

Le Cube - Frelon RougeSaxophonist Alban Darche‘s trio plays quirky music that sometimes slides into soothing melodic intervals.  Music that uses odd meters to stir up a playful bounce, but when they kick back with a casual swagger, like on the nifty “Cafe du Change,” they shine brightest.  Probably a good choice if you’re just getting into Jazz, and are into rock bands like Morphine.  Very likable.

Your album personnel:  Alban Darche (tenor, alto & soprano saxes), Sebastien Boisseau (bass), and Christophe Lavergne (drums).

Released on the Yolk Records label.  Available at eMusic.

 

Timucin Sahin – Inherence

Timucin Sahin - InherenceGuitarist Timucin Sahin leads a hyperactive quintet date.  Lots of voices speaking at once and over one another.  Even those times when the tempo decreases, there persists a sense of moving fast.  Jazz as car chase movie scene.  The fingerprints of Alessi’s trumpet stylings are all over this album.

Your album personnel:  Timucin Sahin (guitars), Tyshawn Sorey (drums), Christopher Tordini (bass), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), and John O’Gallagher (alto sax).

Released on the Between The Lines Records label.  Available at eMusic.

 

Jason Marsalis – A World of Mallets

Jason Marsalis - A World of MalletsOn this nifty recording, in addition to vibes, Jason Marsalis employs a variety of percussion instruments and generates an expanse of sound that ranges from foot-tappingly snappy to exquisitely melodic.  Nothing straight-ahead about this recording, though intriguingly, it interacts with the listener much in that way.  Thus, an album that’s both engaging and highly listenable.  Don’t be surprised if I have more to say about this album before year-end.

Your album personnel:  Jason Marsalis (vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, tubular bells, xylophone), Will Goble (bass), David Potter (drums), and Austin Johnson (piano).

Released on the Basin Street Records label.  Available at eMusic.

 

Brad Goode – Chicago Red

Brad Goode - Chicago RedTrumpeter Brad Goode definitely has his own singular voice on his instrument, and it’s been neat hearing him develop it over time.  He never seems to stop searching for the right equation to fully blossom.  On this recording, he mixes some modern nu-jazz with some traditional music forms, and then rounds out his sextet with a guitarist who doubles on sitar and fills another seat with rik & darbouka.  The album is a bit uneven, though tracks like “St. Louis Blues” and “Chicago Red” serve as evidence of Goode’s talent for making experimentalism sound very cool, and why his music should be heard and followed.

Your album personnel:  Brad Goode (trumpet), Bill Kopper (guitar, sitar), Jeff Jenkins (piano, keyboards), Bijoux Barbosa (electric bass), Paa Kow (drums) and Rony Barrak (darbouka, rik).

Released on the Origin Arts label.  Available at eMusic.

 

*****

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

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

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

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2013 Releases • 0

Oct 17 2018

Recommended: Alban Darche & L’OrphiCube – “The Atomic Flonflons”

 

There’s no grey area as to which era the music of Alban Darche belongs to.  The saxophonist’s sound is singularly modern.  But staring down at the spot Darche has his feet planted in present-day territory doesn’t pose an obstacle for looking back upon the lineage of music that brought him to that place.  Time and again, Darche coaxes the music of the past into his music of today.  And that’s certainly the case of his latest release with his L’OrphiCube ensemble.

The rustic folk music influence of The Atomic Flonflons speaks to music with roots running deep, as does its hot jazz excitability, tango sway and ragtime cheer.  Vocals and accordion provide a framework for the wind instruments to run wild, balancing free improvisation with the simple need of song structure for a melody to blossom to life.

A particularly welcome development is the contribution of Chloé Cailleton, whose vocals were also a huge factor in Collectif SPATULE earning the #5 slot on this site’s Best of 2017 list.

With all of his varied projects resulting in so many excellent recordings, I’ve been wanting to post an Alban Darche overview column for some time.  Let his newest tide you over until that whole thing shakes out.

Your album personnel:  Alban Darche (alto, soprano & baritone saxes), Chloé Cailleton (vocals), Nathalie Darche (piano), Didier Ithursarry (accordion), Stéphane Payen (alto sax), Olivier Laisney (trumpet), Christophe Lavergne (drums) and Sébastien Boisseau (double bass).

Released on Yolk Records.

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

Music from Saint-Nazaire, France.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2018 • 0 • Tags: , ,

Apr 22 2015

Rob Mazurek & Black Cube SP at Dreamland

 

Rob MazurekMost impressive about a Rob Mazurek live show is the way in which he’s able to generate a huge, dense sound while creating an intimate setting.  The music is often in your face, but that’s not necessarily how it’s presented.  Instead, somehow, Mazurek concerts end up possessing a noble elegance and riveting magnetism that diffuses a defensive reaction to potentially aggressive music.  Part of this has to be attributable to his talent at meshing a number of seemingly diverse influences into thick, warm blanket of sound easy to embrace, even at the peak of its volatility.  Another major contributing factor to this effect is the sincerity and genuineness of his music.  It comes from the heart and it’s often whip-smart cerebral.  His Sunday night show at Louisville’s Dreamland was a case in point.

Performing with Black Cube SP, a mixed cast of his São Paulo Underground (Guilherme Granado and Mauricio Takara) and Thomas Rohrer, Mazurek and crew were touring in support of the late-2014 recording Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost… a profound recording created shortly after the passing of Mazurek’s mother.  Rob Mazurek - "Return the Tides"With the album, Mazurek sought to create music that achieved a cathartic outpouring of emotion, serving as a rite of passage for both his mother and himself.  It was recorded in one take and initially not intended for release, but its sheer power and beauty convinced them to make it publicly available.  It is nothing if not sincere and genuine, and it’s this kind of soul-on-the-sleeve honesty that renders Mazurek’s music so compelling and his shows strangely intimate and personal, even as his ensemble generates sufficient force to tear down walls.

On Sunday night, those walls belonged to Louisville’s Dreamland, a venue that has been (slightly) re-purposed from its sole use as the theater for the Louisville Film Society to holding a regular array of concerts.  Once part church and administrative offices, the small stage is fronted by rows of pews, and the angles of the ceiling and walls and beams give the impression of a place where prayer has gone down before.  On this evening, Mazurek delivered some spirituality of his own.

Mazurek Dreamland 1

He opened with “Let the Rain Fall Upwards,” a long-form piece from Return the Tides, and returned later with the the album’s title-track.  True to form, Mazurek offered up both tracks in ways that made them sound simultaneously familiar and quite different.  Melodic fragments tugged the ear in the direction of memories of the recorded music, while diversions, improvisations and heart-displayed-to-the-world leaps of imagination nurtured the music into something completely new.

Mazurek split time between his cornet and a bedside table of electronics and effects.  He’d conjure up the low hum of thick drones, spike passages with wild keyboard phrases, and occasionally shout wordless harmonies into the mic.  He also added in a variety of percussive instruments… a responsibility shared by each of the quartet members.

Thomas Rohrer spent most of the show’s duration on the rabeca.  Native to Brazil, it sits like a viola and pours like a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo.  Expressive as hell with a dreamy delivery that can mimic the flow of water, Rohrer utilized its harmonic and rhythmic attributes nearly as often as its breathtakingly melodic talents.

The richness of their rhythmic approach shined through strong on their rendition of “Primitive Jupiter.”  Whereas the original, performed by Mazurek’s Pulsar Quartet, played it pretty straight with a jumping, but insistent tempo, Mazurek’s crew on this evening accentuated the beats to build up a danceable groove, but layered it with all kinds of nuance to where it was just as likely to make a cerebral connection as it would make the foot tap or the head bounce.

Mazurek Dreamland 2

Guilherme Granado and Mauricio Takara were the behind the steering wheel of that rhythmic attack.  Granado effected this via a mix of synths, keyboards, sampling and percussion.  His mad scientist work distilling grooves and spraying beats across the room incited motion even during the thickest of harmonic passages.  Takara was relentless on the drum set, whether working up a torrent of rhythm or dialing it way down to a sound more appropriate for a church environment.  He occasionally switched things up on cavaquinho, a Brazilian stringed instrument from the guitar family.

Mazurek and crew ended the show with “Skull Caves of Alderon,” from his 2013 octet recording, Skull Sessions.  It was an album that had him honoring both the post-bop experimental influence of his Chicago days and the Tropicalia folk-jazz sound from his time in Brazil.  Considering the expanse of influences that shape and form his music in the present day, on the evening of this show, it was a nifty choice with which to end the night.

Mazurek is still on tour.  Learn more on his site (LINK).

Rob Mazurek - "Return the Tides"Read more about Mazurek’s album Return the Tides: Ascension Suite & Holy Ghost, here on this site (LINK).  It was slotted as the Best of 2014 #2 Album of the Year.

And be sure to check out Dreamland for upcoming shows.  Musicians, this is a legit possibility for a tour stop.  Get in touch with them if you’re also hitting cities like Nashville, St. Louis, Indianapolis or Cincy.

Concert photos courtesy of Kevin Coultas.

***

By • Jazz in Kentucky • 0 • Tags:

Apr 12 2015

These are videos that I like: Rob Mazurek & Black Cube SP

 

Rob Mazurek - "Return the Tides"Today’s featured video is from Rob Mazurek & Black Cube SP, at an April 2015 show at Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum.  Mazurek and crew are currently on tour.  I can’t possibly recommend strongly enough that you go check them out.

They’ll be stopping here in Louisville next Sunday, April 19th, 2015.  Learn more about that show on this site (LINK).

And learn more about their latest release, Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost, also on this site (LINK).

Now, here’s that video…

Your video personnel:  Rob Mazurek (cornet, electronics), Mauricio Takara (drums), Guilherme Granado (keyboards, synths, sampler) and Thomas Rohrer (rabeca, electronics).

 

I hope your weekend is wrapping up nicely.

Cheers.

By • These are videos that I like • 0

Nov 17 2014

Recommended: Rob Mazurek & Black Cube SP – “Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost”

 

Rob Mazurek - "Return the Tides"Context can impart a lot of information… how a creative piece is viewed or heard and interpreted.  It can color the initial interaction with that piece, either before or after the fact.  Sometimes, though, the emotional honesty of a piece subsumes the context, to where what is felt eclipses what is thought.  It’s like a mainline to another person’s beating heart.  It’s an experience that is innate to art, yet rarely achieved so immensely as Rob Mazurek has on his newest release, Return the Tides: Ascension Suite and Holy Ghost.

Mazurek is right up front that this piece was inspired by and dedicated to his mother, who passed away just last year.  This music was composed in the aftermath of the loss.  Then, music in hand, he headed down to Brazil, gathered up his São Paulo Underground unit and a few other musicians from the scene (thus forming the Black Cube SP), and recorded his four-part suite in a one day session, unedited, just letting the music flow.

This is as powerful as music gets.  Thick waves of sonic dissonance come crashing down, leaving hard-charging grooves in its wake.  Melodic fragments are shouted out, wailed, plaintively howled.  The din is overwhelming, but never comes off as threatening.  The music is intense, but never comes off as violent or aggressive.  There are passages where spiritual jazz joins hands with a 70s trip-jazz-rock fusion, and it sounds like music from the past.  There are passages that tremble and shake rhythmically like something that could only come from the present day.  The music pulses and it drones and it chants and rises up like flame from a match.  This is Mazrurek putting himself out there for all to see.  More, perhaps, than he ever has before in his already impressive career.

It feels massively cathartic.

Your album personnel:  Rob Mazurek (cornet, electronics, voice), Mauricio Takara (drums, cavaquinho, voice), Guilherme Granado (keyboards, synths, sampler, voice), Thomas Rohrer (rabeca, electronics, soprano saxophone, voice), Rogerio Martins (percussion, voice) and Rodrigo Brandão (voice).

Released on Cuneiform Records.

Beautiful album cover art by Damon Locks, layout by Sheila Sachs.

Retail: Bandcamp (CD/MP3/Vinyl) | eMusic | Amazon: CD/Vinyl/MP3

 

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2014 Releases • 0

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