Apr 6 2012
Tiny Reviews: Erik Deutsch, Tore Johansen, & Marc Bernstein
Tiny Reviews, featuring: Erik Deutsch Demonio Teclado, Tore Johansen Double Rainbow, and Marc Bernstein Good People Music.
Three Tiny Reviews of three very different albums, all with something strong to hear.
Let’s begin…
Erik Deutsch – Demonio Teclado
Interesting new release from keyboardist Erik Deutsch. Very much in the neo-soul jazz family, though Deutsch’s sound has always had a healthy infusion of pop, even as part of the very cool but under-the-radar Colorado country-jazz ensemble County Road X. On this album, Deutsch lets the electric keyboards sing with plenty of compositions just ready to groove with anyone who’ll listen. Inclusion of steel guitar is a very nice touch on “Ms. Pelican” and ends the album with resounding proof that Deutsch deserves plenty of attention.
Your album personnel: Erik Deutsch (keys), Tony Mason (drums), Glenn Taylor (steel guitar), Brandon Seabrook (guitar), Jon Gray (trumpet), Ben Rubin, Jeff Hill (bass), and guest: Jens (tambourine; one track).
Plenty to like here for everyone, jazz and non-jazz fans alike. Those who still put Beck’s Odelay into the stereo on a regular basis might like what’s going on here, as would people who are into Ray Charles electric period. Just a real fun album that’s easy to bop along to.
Released on the Hammer & String label, which is Deutsch’s thing. Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.
Available at eMusic.
Tore Johansen – Double Rainbow
Nice release from trumpeter Tore Johansen. Very much in the style of Nordic jazz; atmospheric, relaxed, rainy-day jazz. Nice balance to the production; instruments each have their equal say, much to the benefit of the listener. Drummer Jon Christensen, who has played on some of the ECM label’s seminal modern albums, absolutely shines here; even when his playing gets more pronounced, he never surrenders his innate elegance.
Your album personnel: Tore Johansen (trumpet), Vigleik Storaas (piano), Jo Skaansar (bass), and Jon Christensen (drums).
Released on the Inner Ear label. Jazz from the Trondheim, Norway scene.
Available on eMusic.
Marc Bernstein – Good People Music
Intriguing release by multi-reedist Marc Bernstein, and featuring drummer extraordinaire Billy Hart. A quintet rounded out with drums, piano, and bass. Compositions with an inquisitive nature that gets the musicians in a searching frame of mind. Cool, evocative music… the kind of jazz that, when played, can make the mundane seem special just by way of it being the soundtrack to that particular moment. Highly Recommended.
Your album personnel: Marc Bernstein (saxophones & bass clarinet, Billy Hart (drums), Jacob Anderskov (piano), and Jonas Westergaard (bass).
NOTE: The above section is what I wrote for my eMusic Jazz Picks article, but over the last month, this album has become increasingly addictive, so I’ll be looking to write a full length review soon, to be pubbed either on AllAboutJazz or Bird is the Worm.
Released on the Blackout Music label. Jazz from the Denmark scene.
Available at eMusic.
That’s it for today’s article, and the first of two parts of the Tiny Reviews from this batch of new arrivals.
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.
© 2012 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.
Apr 6 2012
Jazz in Kentucky: Laurence Hobgood Trio w/ Ernie Watts
On Saturday, April 7th (2012), the city of Louisville will have the pleasure of welcoming the Laurence Hobgood Trio, with a guest appearance by Ernie Watts.
The show will be held at the newly renovated Theater @ Kentucky Country Day School at 7:30pm. Information on the Theater’s site can be found HERE.
The line-up: Laurence Hobgood (piano), Jared Schonig (drums), Matthew Rybicki (bass), and Ernie Watts (sax).
Pianist Laurence Hobgood is best known for his long-time collaboration with supreme jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, which resulted in a handful of Grammy nominations and a Grammy award for best vocal jazz record in 2010. Though if you lived in Chicago during the 90s and wandered into the Green Mill, there’s a good chance that you saw Hobgood playing with Ed Peterson. Hobgood also had a trio with (Pat Metheny’s drummer) Paul Wertico and Eric Hochberg. More recently, Hobgood has recorded on a couple Chicago musicians albums: guitarist John Moulder‘s Trinity and trumpeter Brad Wheeler‘s The Future Was Yesterday, both on the Origin label and both solid recordings.
(Hobgood, on Wheeler’s Future)
Hobgood also has several albums under his own name: Left to My Own Devices, Crazy World, and When the Heart Dances, all on the Naim Label. On When the Heart Dances, Hobgood’s piano is joined by jazz giant, bassist Charlie Haden, for a set of sublime pieces, with a guest appearance by vocalist Kurt Elling on a few tracks. If you’re looking for a quiet evening jazz album, you should probably pick this one up.
Hobgood’s latest project, POEMJAZZ, has him collaborating with three-term U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. Released on the Circumstantial Productions label, POEMJAZZ features Pinsky reading his poetry to Hobgood’s piano, with the emphasis on interplay between vocal and piano phrasing, as opposed to a conventional spoken word album.
Saxophonist Ernie Watts has been on the scene for the better part of fifty years, and appearing on the albums and stages of a disparate group of artsts ranging from Cannonball Adderley, Buddy Rich, Oliver Nelson, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orichestra to Frank Zappa and Aretha Franklin.
His current release Oasis is pretty terrific, released on his own label Flying Dolphin (run in partnership with wife Patricia). Oasis will have a Tiny Review coming up soon on Bird is the Worm, but likely will be receiving a proper review as well.
A free album track from Oasis is available at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist. Also, there’s some music to stream on Ernie’s site (linked to above).
Definitely encourage you to go. It should be a great evening of undistilled jazz from some giant names on the jazz scene. A wonderful opportunity to see great musicians live. Plus, live music is a wonderful experience in and of itself; it just makes life seem so much richer and vibrant.
Here’s a neat video of both Hobgood and Watts performing with Kurt Elling…
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By davesumner • Jazz in Kentucky • 0 • Tags: Jazz in Kentucky, Live Jazz