Yearly Archives: 2011

Featuring Tiny Review recs of:  Craig Taborn, MSMW, Taylor Ho Bynum, Vazytouille, Jan Kopinski’s Reflektor, The South Trio, Mark Weinstein, Erik Charlston, and Ultra High Flamenco.

*****

The following is kinda copied from the weekly article I write for emusic.com, giving a rundown of mini-reviews of interesting jazz new releases.  Once I get caught up on the older recs, I’ll post them once a week, adding some artwork and extra links and modifying the text a little bit.  When I write the mini-reviews initially, I’m under a serious time constraint, but now I’ve had time to listen more closely to the music and think about it, so some of the reviews will change, but some may not.  They were initially called “Jonah’s Jazz Picks”; the reason why is not a complicated story or a long one, but sufficient banal to just overlook.

This was the third installment of my recs.

Hey again, everybody.  This week’s drop seemed to be dominated by some unusual & intriguing sounding albums in a mix of nice straight-ahead fare.

Let’s begin.

Craig Taborn – Avenging Angel

Fans of the ECM label impatiently awaiting the next drop on emusic can tide themselves over with this solo outing of pianist/composer Craig Taborn.  Known for their tendency to produce introspective piano-led albums, ECM lets Taborn stretch out and build piano lines that challenge and engage; if you need an album to fall asleep to, this ain’t gonna be your best choice.  I don’t know if this album will appeal to Taborn fans, fervent or casual, who have fallen in love with prior albums, but I can’t imagine it will disappoint.  There are some beautiful moments recorded here.  For those who are unfamiliar with Taborn, one of the brightest stars on the jazz scene, it might be a decent idea to start with earlier albums like Light Made Lighter, which features the excellent Gerald Cleaver on drums and Chris Lightcap on bass, or Eldorado Trio, which features Louis Sclavis on sax & clarinet and Tom Rainey on drums.  Both of those trio albums will give the listener all the bite of Taborn’s sound, but in a trio environment that could make for an easier introduction to his music.

Here is a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

MSMW – Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind

Jazz jam band Medeski, Martin, and Wood have been collaborating with jazz guitar legend John Scofield, and presented here is a double-disc of a live performances from their 2006 tour.  Replete with their characteristic electric piano grooves, guitar effects, and a command of rhythm that effortlessly shifts between funk, rock, gospel, and jazz, MMW has incorporated Scofield’s science-leaning guitar equations and transmuted them into a strong and seamless element of their crazily infectious tunes.  Part of the joy of the ongoing collaboration between MMW and Scofield, who could be said to represent opposite ends of the what-is-jazz spectrum, is in how enthusiastically they embrace their respective sounds, resulting in a series of albums that sort of makes the whole jazz argument irrelevant.  Nearly two hours of music released on the Indirecto Records label.

Here’s a link to MSMW’s myspace page, where you can stream the album.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet – Apparent Distance

Avant-garde musician Taylor Ho Bynum leads an expanded ensemble in a four-part suite, commissioned through a 2010 New Jazz Works grant from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.  With a line-up of Bynum on cornet, Jim Hobbs on alto sax, Bill Lowe on bass trombone; regular collaborator Mary Halvorson adding her unique sound on guitar, Ken Filiano and Tomas Fujiwara rounding out the rhythm section on bass and drums, as typical of Bynum’s work, this is a difficult recording to corral.  It’s easy to say avant-garde and leave it at that, however, the phrase is increasingly used as a substitute for noisy and frenetic.  So, while the maniacal solos typical to Bynum compositions are there, so also is a Pharaoh Sanders world-groove on the second track “Strike”, and on the following track “Source”, Halvorson’s oddly melodic guitar lines tread close to latin and surf territories just before pulling back into the framework of the tune.  This album isn’t going to be for everybody, but between the talent of the personnel, the musicianship evident in the composition, and the vacillation between challenging experimentation and head-bouncing fun, this is the kind of album that a typically adventurous music listener is going to take a chance on… and probably should.  Released on the Firehouse 12 label.

Here’s a link to Bynum’s myspace page, which doesn’t seem to have any music from this album but has a whole lot of music from other albums.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Vazytouille – Vazytouille

Intriguing big band album from French music collective Zoone Libre.  This fourteen piece orchestra takes a modern approach to the big band medium without sacrificing any of the euphoric bombast inherent in its roots.  There is almost a musical de rigueur among modern big bands that they must come to the table adorned with rock sensibilities.  And while that approach has yielded some amazing results, there is plenty of territory still to explore in the big band compositions of the past.  Vazytouille adopts both attacks.  There are obvious indie rock strolls that yield some addictive juxtapositions of blue melodies and bouncy rhythms, as well as some guitar work with plenty of sharp rock ‘n roll teeth.  But it’s when the ensemble deconstructs conventional pieces and reassembles them into a new sound that still speaks of the past where they are most successful.  Fans of Darcy James Argue’s big band-rock fusion will surely enjoy this, as should, say, fans of classic pop-infused big band compositions of Phil Kelly.  And the thought I can’t shake off (and likely will later regret adding) is that fans of electro-pop ensemble Stereolab (and its line of descendants) might find this a nice spot to venture into jazz territory.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can get purchased.

Jan Kopinski’s Reflektor – Mirrors

Blending jazz with Polish folk music, on Mirrors, Kopinski has developed a sound that is uniquely his own.  Founder of 1980’s experimental improv-funk ensemble Pinski Zoo and a veteran of multimedia projects and movie soundtracks, Kopinski’s compositions are full of imagery and bare emotion, but intuitively leaves it up to the listener to determine exactly how it manifests.  Tenor & alto sax, viola, bass, piano, drums, and vocals.  Haunting melodies cutting through an ambient hush, austere sax darting over earthy rhythm sections, vocals melting icy piano chords, each tune is a scene and the album is a book, and its one that you should get on your shelf.  Highly recommended.  Released on the 33 Jazz label.

Here’s a link to Jan’s artist site, where you can stream some of the album.

You can download a free track from the album at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

The South Trio – Elegy For A Raver

Worthy of mention, even if it arguably leaves a trail of breadcrumbs too long to find its way back to the land of jazz.  The South Trio takes a recipe for jazz, but when the timer dings and the album is removed from the oven, it appears the trio has baked something closer to indie stadium rock.  Heavy on the electronic effects and the beats, this trio blasts its way through a series of tunes that are amazingly catchy despite the music’s indelicate approach.  The second half of the album shakes off much of the dissonance prevalent earlier on the album, and leaves the anthems behind for more accessible indie-inspired jazz tunes, similar to that of jazz bass wunderkind Ben Allison.  Elegy is another one of those albums that  transcends the question of what is jazz and makes a musical statement of originality far more important than under which genre its filed on the shelf.  Released on the Shift Records label.

ELEGY FOR A RAVER by thesouthtrio

Here’s a link to emusic for my extended review of the album.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Mark Weinstein – El Cumbanchero

Latin jazz innovator Mark Weinstein has a new album out, and just in time for those of us who live in places who see snow and single digit temperatures on the horizon.  Adopting compositions of Aruan Ortiz as his own family, Mark gives us an album of tunes as warm as any fireplace.  Giving a modern jazz flute twist to the traditional Cuban form of Charanga, Mark displays both his respect and love for the music.  While I can certainly rave about experimental music that engages me cerebrally and compels me to sit up and take notice, but I am equally adoring of a jazz album that lovingly presents a series of seemingly uncomplicated tunes which I can sit back and simply luxuriate in.  El Cumbanchero is one of the latter, and I am thankful for it.  Released on the Jazzheads label.

Here’s a link to Mark’s blog, which is pretty neat.

Here’s a link to Mark’s myspace page, where you can stream the album.

Here’s a free track from the album at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Erik Charlston – Essentially Hermeto

A strong Brazilian jazz album put out by Erik Charlston, a talented vibes and marimba player.  Charlston gives the jazz treatment to compositions of Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascal, and creates a series of terribly infectious tunes that grabbed me on the first listen.  Listening again to it a little over a month later, my enthusiasm hasn’t waned.  Perhaps coloring my opinion a bit is that I am positively addicted to the sound of vibes when the weather turns cold (as it is here), and their bright warm sound is so wonderfully contradictory to the brisk chill outside my windows.  Plus, it’s just a really good album.  Another excellent release by the Sunnyside label.

Here’s a link to Erik’s artist site.

A free track from the album is available on AllAboutJazz, courtesy of Erik & Sunnyside.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Also, let’s quickly mention…

Ultra High Flamenco – Bipolar

This likable flamenco album on which the ensemble lets their classical and jazz backgrounds bleed into their love of flamenco is all high-energy and pretty neat, to boot.  Violin, guitar, double bass, and percussion should take care of your flamenco fix.

Here’s a link to UHF’s artist site, where the album can be streamed.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

I’m gonna call that a wrap for this week.  As always, too many albums to mention, so little time and space.

See you next week.

Cheers.

Here’s some language to protect emusic’s rights as the one to hire me originally to scour through the jazz new arrivals and write about the ones I like:

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks”, courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2011  eMusic.com, Inc.

My thanks to emusic for the freelance writing gig, the opportunity to use it in this blog, and the editorial freedom to help spread the word about cool new jazz being recorded today.

Featuring Tiny Review recs of:  Goran Kajfes, Miho Wada, Marc Copland & John Abercrombie, John Stowell & Christopher Woitach, Dave Liebman & Richie Beirach, Daniel Zamir, Ajejandro Florez & Tibagui, Nils Petter Molvaer, Randy Brecker, and Kenny Werner.

*****

The following is kinda copied from the weekly article I write for emusic.com, giving a rundown of mini-reviews of interesting jazz new releases.  I’ll post them once a week, adding some artwork and extra links and modifying the text a little bit.  When I write the mini-reviews initially, I’m under a serious time constraint, but now I’ve had time to listen more closely to the music and think about it, so some of the reviews will change, but some may not.  They were initially called “Jonah’s Jazz Picks”; the reason why is not a complicated story or a long one, but sufficiently banal to just overlook.

This was the second installment of my recs.

Let’s begin.

Goran Kajfes – X/Y

This first album just blew me away.  Trumpeter Goran Kajfes lives two different lives… one as a creator of jazz from that golden axis of 60s world & 70s soul jazz, and the second as a modern soundscaper of Brian Eno and Bill Laswell ambient compositions.  The “X” portion of this album will take you back to a time of joyous music that embraces avant-garde boisterousness in the same hug as a disparate orchestra of ethnic instruments.

The “Y” portion of the album is all about the warm fuzz of synthesizers and plaintive cry of distant trumpet.  Somehow it all works together.  When I originally grabbed it, I figured I would treat them as separate albums as sometimes be in the mood to listen to just the “X” portion and other times the “Y”, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t yet broken them up into separate listening sessions.  Highly recommended.  On the Headspin Recordings label.

Sand Boogie by Goran Kajfes by Headspin Recordings
Perfect Temperature for Leaving Home, Pt 2 by Goran Kajfes by Headspin Recordings

Here’s a link to Goran’s site, where you can hear some of the music.

And here’s his myspace page, where you can hear more of the music.

Here’s a free download from the album at the AllAboutJazz site, courtesy of the artist.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Miho Wada – Para Ti

Naming her style “Japanese Punk Jazz,” Miho Wada finds a way to make jazz flute sound both romantic and badass.  Performing and training with a diverse group of musicians like Nigel Kennedy, Buena Vista Social Club, and Iggy Pop (among others), Miho sounds to be developing a very distinctive and enjoyable voice.  On this EP, she takes us through a series of tunes that displays her love of Cuban music and that have plenty of drive without blunting her light touch.  If you prefer a proper full length album, you can pick up her 2010 release Postcards To Your Bed.  Very cool.

Here’s a link to Miho’s Bandcamp page, where you can hear music from the album.

Here’s a free download from the album at the AllAboutJazz site, courtesy of the artist.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Marc Copland & John Abercrombie – Speak To Me

Marc Copland (piano) and John Abercrombie (guitar) are universally recognized as two of the jazz masters on the scene today, and they do nothing on this album to tarnish their legacy.  Taking their time to express their thoughts musically, they create a serene ambiance that’s thoroughly engaging.  It’s an “A” & “B” conversation that the listener is made to feel entirely welcome sitting in on.  Released on the solid Pirouet Records label.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

John Stowell & Christopher Woitach – Ghost In the Corner

Origin label vet John Stowell and fellow Pacific Northwest jazz vet Christopher Woitach bring their complementary guitar voices together to make a very intriguing album.  Reminiscent less of jazz and more along the lines of Bill Frisell’s The Willies Americana sound, John and Christopher create an album that evokes images of back porches on rainy days.  Should have plenty of appeal to jazz fans with a decent collection of Leo Kottke on their shelf.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Dave Liebman & Richie Beirach – Unspoken

Yet two more of the living jazz legends on the scene making an appearance in this column.  Dave Liebman (sax) and Richie Beirach (piano) have been collaborating for well over 30 years, dating back to their classic album Lookout Farm and then later to their formation of all-star ensemble Quest.  Unspoken is an album for the quiet moments after the city has gone to sleep and you’re still awake.  Hell, this album may even make a person feel like they’re being spoken to.  Album ends strong with the song “Hymn for Mom / Prayer for Michael.”  Released on OutNote Records.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Daniel Zamir – Missing Here

Probably known initially for his albums recorded for John Zorn’s Tzadik label’s “Radical Jewish Culture” music series, Daniel Zamir has now struck out on his own, and he sounds to have done so with a confident voice.  Missing Here has a lyricism that extends an invitation difficult not to accept.  Backed by a strong ensemble featuring superman bassist Omer Avital, Daniel’s soprano sax has a warmth to it, even when the notes have some bite to them.  I’m pretty sure this album was actually released late last year, but self-producing music ain’t an easy business, so I’m not gonna penalize him for not being technically a “new release”, especially not with the music being this good.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Alejandro Florez & Tibagui – Malandanza

Well, this is an interesting little find.  A mix of Colombian music and jazz, Tibagui adds Alejandro Florez’s guitar to create an intoxicating selection of tunes, sometimes languid, sometimes challenging, but genuinely enjoyable from first note to last.  Woodwinds, acoustic guitar, percussion, and bass.  Jazz fans of Diego Barber’s work should take note, and it should have some crossover appeal to fans of Calexico.  “Glass Dust” is a haunting tune that should probably be in everybody’s playlist, jazz and non-jazz fans alike.

Here’s a link to Alejandro’s site, where you can stream music from the album.

Here’s a free download from the album at the AllAboutJazz site, courtesy of the artist.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Nils Petter Molvaer – Baboon Moon

Known for his jazz experimentalism with electronics and his sparse airy sound, Nils Petter Molvaer adds to his solid discography with more of what’s gained him an avid following.  Dark textures, ominous percussion, and wavering sound effects highlight this atmospheric album.  Put out on the Thirsty Ear label, which puts it square on familiar ground for Indie fans.  Prior fans of Molvaer’s work on ECM will have nothing to worry about, you’ll be safe with this album for sure.

Here’s a free download from the album at the AllAboutJazz site, courtesy of the artist.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Randy Brecker with the Danish Radio Big Band – The Jazz Ballad Song Book

Randy Brecker’s trumpet fits right in with the crowd, and creates some beautiful moments of lush sound that just fly right along.  For those of you hesitant to buy Brecker stuff based on his output during the eighties, hearing Brecker play in a modern jazz setting, especially with orchestration, is a joy to hear and proves his fans correct when they praise his musicality.  Great stuff here.  On the Half Note label.

Here’s a link to the album’s myspace page, where it can be streamed.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Kenny Werner with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra – Institute of Higher Learning

Kenny Werner is an outstanding musician and his discography should be explored by every jazz fan.  There are some disparate sounds throughout, as his sense of adventure and experimentation have taken him in different directions.  This album sees some of that, but keeps it in the ballpark of mainstream to make it an album that should appeal across jazz and non-jazz lines of demarcation.  On the Half Note label.

Teaser House of the Rising Sun Institute of Higher Learning by Brussels Jazz Orchestra

Here’s a link to Kenny’s site, where you can stream some of the album.

Here’s a link to the BJO’s myspace page, where there’s a whole lot of music to stream.

Here’s a link to emusic, where the album can be purchased.

Enjoy and see you next week!

Those were the highlights of the jazz albums that hit emusic for the week ending 11/01/11.

Cheers.

Here’s some language to protect emusic’s rights as the one to hire me originally to scour through the jazz new arrivals and write about the ones I like:

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks“, courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2011  eMusic.com, Inc.

My thanks to emusic for the freelance writing gig, the opportunity to use it in this blog, and the editorial freedom to help spread the word about cool new jazz being recorded today.