The Mingus Suite is a little bit tribute to jazz legend Charles Mingus, a little bit extrapolation of the life and perspective of composer Adriano Clemente and a whole lot of the creative spirit of both musicians.  Rooted in the blues yet full of avant-garde swagger, this large ensemble work featuring the Akashmani Ensemble is true to the music and musician that inspired this project while still sounding very much rooted in the present day.  There’s some old-school swing with “Blues in Rags” and there’s some old-school experimentalism with “Inner Fires” and the way it keeps surging forward then suddenly receding into a contented peace.  There’s the lovely reveries like “Memories of Duke” and “For My Father” and the way they walk the dividing line between serene and funereal, and counterbalanced by the energetic chatter of the two-part “Urban Jungle” keeping things from ever getting drowsy.  And then there’s the song “Circus,” which hints at a whimsical nature, but the gorgeous harmonic development of woodwinds, bowed bass and piano envelops the affair with its serious beauty.

Mingus fans can’t go wrong with this one.  And, really, music this good, nobody should be unhappy loading this one up into their library.

Your album personnel:  Adriano Clemente (composer, piano), Francesco Lento (trumpet), Mario Corvini (trombone), Daniele Tittarelli (alto sax), Marco Guidolotti (baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet) , Riccardo Fassi (piano), Dario Rosciglione (double bass), Andrea Nunzi (drums) and guests: Roberto Ottaviano (soprano sax) and Raffaele Toninelli (bowed double bass).

Released on Dodicilune Records.

Jazz from the Lecce, Italy scene.

Available at:  Amazon | eMusic

Grand Line is an album crafted out of the materials of a swirling mist.  It has a presence, yet it’s one that is primarily ethereal.  From certain vantage points, it seems that contours and definition can be traced to an origin point, yet this is an album that is inherently formless.  What makes it so striking is the way Nakama allows certain patterns to emerge, and though they never seem to indicate how they are part of the greater whole, their self-referential nature creates a latticework of melodic phrases and rhythmic concepts… implying cohesion while existing in a state of chaotic randomness.

The hypnotic repetitions from piano on the expansive opening track “Doremingo + Taiko – Grand Line” are echoed in the cyclic phrasings on “Suffering + Daily Choices Fail Compilation,” while the violin lightning strikes from the opener share a common DNA with the flashing bursts on “Daily Choices – Metro.”  This, too, in how the sudden furious attack of drums on “Nanika – Decks” is played out again as a peaceful dream on “The Sun – Uzumaki” and the way a skittering bass on “Tsunagari – Split & Curve” is just one degree removed from the stalking cadence on “Kusama – Events.”  And these are just the immediately obvious examples of pattern recognition.  The more the album is played, the more it has to reveal.

Your album personnel:  Adrian Løseth Waade (violin), Ayumi Tanaka (piano), Andreas Wildhagen (drums) and Christian Meaas Svendsen (bass).

Released on Nakama Records.

Listen to more album tracks at the label’s Bandcamp page.

Jazz from the Oslo, Norway scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

Fissura is an album built on a foundation of conflict and contradiction.  The music possesses the lethal force of a live wire, yet also a hazy sonority that mutes any suggestion of aggression.  At times the music flails about dramatically, as it does on the title-track, but then there are tracks like “Haiku” and “O Bem do Mar” that reflect the inner peace of sunrise.  And this, too, is juxtaposed against the lumbering cadence of “Sisyphus,” a tune that adopts its own motion, its own tonal implications.

Bassist Gui Duvignau somehow gets them all to fit into the same stream of imagery, as if shaping dreams on the fly but with a precise choreography in mind.  This results in an appealing looseness of delivery and form, while behaving with a logic that often only becomes apparent in hindsight.  It also means that none of its edginess is sacrificed when the music enters a state of serenity.

A seriously compelling album.

Your album personnel:  Gui Duvignau (double bass, electric bass), Jonathan Orland (alto sax, clarinet), Julien Pontvianne (tenor sax, clarinet), Federico Casagrande (guitar), Thomas Caillou (guitar) and Thibault Perriard (drums).

Released on the Onze Heures Onze label.

Listen to more album tracks at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Jazz from the São Paulo, Brazil scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

There’s a powerful allure to Ensam that isn’t immediately apparent, but it’s the kind of thing that pulls you across the bar to buy the album a drink in something of a disembodied trance.  The trio of drummer Kevin Brady, bassist Dave Redmond and pianist Bill Carrothers keep to a straight-ahead sound, but phrase things in a way that maximizes the tonal effect to a very slow hypnosis.  Opening track “How the Other Half Lives” and title-track “Ensam” slide past at an unhurried pace, like the image of stars imperceptibly moving across the nighttime horizon.

Thankfully, they do kick the tempo up a notch on “Yoopers,” and the intentional messiness of the melody is a needed contrast to the elegance that defines this recording.  “Checkpoint Charlie” does the same, but it’s the song’s lurching cadence juxtaposed against a thick blues that sets it apart.  Vocalist Norma Winstone sits in for a few tracks.  Her voice is a nice fit for the trio’s smoky presence, but the best of her contributions comes up on the cheerful “Southern Smiles,” a tuneful piece that emits a warmth reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi.

This is an album likely to make an immediate impression, but it will come with time to reveal the nuance and details that earns it appreciation.

Your album personnel:  Kevin Brady (drums, percussion), Bill Carrothers (piano), Dave Redmond (double bass) and guest: Norma Winstone (vocals).

The album is Self-Produced.

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

Jazz from the Dublin, Ireland scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon