Jazz Recommendations – 2012 Releases

Tiny Reviews, featuring:  Andy Sheppard Trio Libero, Jonathan Edo Traits d’unions, and Jerker Kluge’s Deep Jazz The Meeting.

Three albums that couldn’t be more different from one another.  We’ve got a typical austere minimalist ECM album, a release from a Parisian ensemble that sound like a South African world jazz outfit, and an ensemble that loves the spiritual jazz of the sixties and unabashedly makes it love known by recreating that wonderful sound.

Let’s begin…

Andy Sheppard – Trio Libero

Andy Sheppard’s second recording date for ECM.  Along with Sheppard’s tenor & soprano sax, he rounds out a trio with bassist Michel Benita and drummer Sebastian Rochford.  It’s an interesting grouping.  Sheppard’s sound is totally in with the austere vibe of ECM musicians, whereas Benita is a jazz vet whose sound has ranged from the avant-garde to a Frisellian folk.  Meanwhile, drummer Rochford comes from the Acoustic Ladyland/Polar Bear new school of jazz.  If this was a fight, it appears that Sheppard wins the day.  It’s a laid-back recording that one would expect from a modern ECM issue.

Ultimately, I found this recording a bit underwhelming.  Part of it may be that I had very high hopes for this album, because I thought it was an inspiring pairing of these three musicians, each of whom I liked very much in other settings.  But it just didn’t seem to click between them; the music sounded a bit flat.  I’m hoping this is one of those albums that, down the road, my ears hear it differently and do a 180.  But I find this a doubtful possibility, and nothing about this music inspires me to revisit down the road.  But crazier things have happened, I suppose.

Released on the ECM Records label.

Available on eMusic.

Jonathan Edo – Traits d’unions

Likable outfit that brings a South African jazz sound, maybe a little South American influences, too, for a genial recording that’s very easy to tap the foot along to.  Buoyant sax, grounded piano, polyrhythmic attack, ethnic vocals occasionally, talkative bass, some unconventional guest instruments.  Just real nice jazz and a warm sound.  At just under twenty six minutes long, it’s more of an EP than a proper long-play album, but that might be to the benefit of someone who wants to sample this outfit before diving in head-first.  I think it’s only costs a couple bucks on (U.S.) eMusic, so if you like the embedded track, it’s a nice pickup.  I’ve been listening to it occasionally over the last month, and it’s no less infectious or warm to my ears than the first time I heard it.

Your album personnel:  Jonathan Edo (percussion), Sebastien Jacques (piano, claviers), Kevin Gervais (bass), Romain Perda (balafon), and Antoine Lobbe (sax).

Released on the Autoproduction label.  Jazz from the Paris scene.

Available on eMusic.

Jerker Kluge’s Deep Jazz – The Meeting

Nifty large ensemble recording, two feet firmly in the classic spiritual jazz of the sixties.  Mostly original pieces, but Jerker Kluge does cover Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Freddie Hubbard, too.  Bass clarinet absolutely sings, and harp adds some texture from the background.  Occasional vocals won’t bother people who don’t like vocals in their jazz.  Classic jazz sound.

Your album personnel:  Julia Fehenberger (vocals), Andrea Hermenau (piano, vocals), Florian Riedl (flute, alto sax), Till Martin (tenor sax), Ulrich Wangenheim (bass clarinet), Kathrin Pechlof (harp), Jerker Kluge (bass), Diony Varias (percussion), and Matthias Gmelin (drums).

Some track have vocals, some don’t.  As I’ve mention previously, I’m not always the biggest fan of jazz vocals (or maybe I’m just very particular about them, since there are some jazz vocals that rock my world), but this album would be far for the worse were it not for the vocals.  They absolutely add essential elements to the tunes; sometimes it’s a soulfulness, sometimes an abounding levity.  Gotta say, it’s been a month since I first heard this album, and I’m still thrilled to have stumbled upon it.

Released on the Perfect Toy Records label.  Jazz from the Munich, Germany scene.

You can stream the entire album on Kluge’s bandcamp page.

Available on eMusic.

That’s it for today’s article, and, well, this is where I usually tell you what number post of what number total posts come from the current batch of new releases, but I got all my posts a bit mixed up, and so I’m not entirely sure.  I also don’t think it really matters.  I feel like I started that whole thing originally as an organization device, one which I’ve since moved on from and made irrelevant.  So there.

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.

Boxer Livingstone Bramble never became a household name. But during his brief run in the sport, he presented one of the more intriguing styles of fighting. Equally capable of thriving in a slugfest, he also was an effective counter-puncher and able to jab and move with the best of them. Often, he did both during a fight, creating stylistic problems for his opponents, who were often more accustomed to seeing one-dimensional fight strategies. In his Lightweight title fights with Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Bramble traded bombs with Mancini in one round, then would spend the next counter-punching, and he’d switch between these styles repeatedly during a fight.  All of this springs to mind as I listen to the Beats & Pieces Big Band release Big Ideas. You just can’t afford to make assumptions of what you’ll hear from them round to round. It’s just best to keep your guard up and your ears open.

For instance, opening track “Bake” starts out counter-punching…

It begins with a few body blows just to get the heart rushing, but then quickly shuffles in and out of punching range, not boxing and not slugging, just finding its openings to do some damage.  The motion almost resembles dancing.  Maybe it is.

Now, let’s introduce your album personnel: Ben Cottrell (director), Anthony Brown, Sam Healey, Ben Watte (saxophones), Tim Cox, Simon Lodge, Paul Strachan (trombones), Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters (trumpets), Anton Hunter (guitar), Patrick Hurley (piano & Rhodes), Harrison Wood (bass), and Finlay Panter (drums).

Second track “YAFW (Part III)” just soars, even as piano jitters along.  Trumpets arch overhead, saxes buffet the wind from beneath, and guitar notes are the contrails marking the path.  In his fight with Tyrone “Butterfly” Crawley, Livingstone Bramble outboxed the boxer.  The details are fuzzy in my mind, but it was the 14th round and Bramble was gracefully circling the ring, peppering Crawley with jabs and right hands, forcing the light-hitting Crawley (who only had something like five knockouts in a thirty fight career) to assume the role of brawler, a situation which had him exhausted by the tenth round.  Meanwhile, Bramble kept along at the same speed, throwing shots, moving around the ring, unfazed by the late round, and as announcer (Gil Clancy?) observed that, for Bramble, the fight was “a walk in the park.”  That’s “YAFW (Part III)”… a sensation of a long exhausting journey that exudes a sense of exhilaration and ease.

And then some tracks, like “Jazzwalk” come right out looking for blood.  Whether it’s the rapid-jab of bass or the right hook-left cross of guitar and trombone, or the fierce stare of trumpets and snarl of saxophones, it’s a staredown that says someone isn’t leaving the album on both feet.  Nice to hear some ferocity.  Better yet, to feel it.

Overall, Big Ideas is a fascinating mix of traditional big band and modern composition, with some pop-rock elements fused into the foundation.  It’s got plenty of fight and mixes it up to keep you thinking.  Apparently, the group is mostly (or all) comprised of young jazzers, which makes this release even more promising in that they will only continue to grow and develop their sounds, both as an ensemble and individually, but that the big band format hasn’t lost favor for yet another generation of musicians.

Released on the Efpi Records label.  Jazz from the UK.

Stream the entire album on their bandcamp page, as well as purchase it there in a number of file formats (including lossless) at no additional charge.

Available at eMusic.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

For a guy who seems to channel music of the past, Eivind Opsvik is one of the more forward-thinking musicians out there.

Releasing the fourth recording in his Overseas series, bassist Opsvik lays on the Olde Countryside Folk Music with heavy use of the harpsichord, then rockets it into the present day with rock ‘n roll fuel and distortion.  The music lands on Planet Jazz, and the music looks like aliens straight out of the X-Files.  Not exactly easy to categorize Opsvik’s music, on this album or many of his other projects, but some artists embrace the word ‘experimental’ with a capital E.  Opsvik is one of those artists.  Probably better to approach his music that way; his music is extraordinarily Different, and avoiding any genre-based preconceptions will make it easier to accept his music on its own terms.  At least, that method has worked for me over the course of time.

Let’s talk about Overseas IV…

Your album personnel:  Kenny Wollesen (drums, cymbals, timpani, vibraphone, marching machine), Jacob Sacks (harpsichord, farfisa organ, piano), Tony Malaby (sax), Brandon Seabrook (electric guitar, mandolin), and Eivind Opsvik (bass).

It’s important to remember that music being experimental and avant-garde doesn’t necessarily preclude it from being catchy or blissful.   Depending on the characteristics of a particular piece of music, it may not end up that way, but it also shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion.  Opsvik seems to get this.

That’s also not to say that you can tap your foot along to all of Opsvik’s tunes.  Some, like “1786,” which opens with the sound of a minuet as performed by dancers on Dramamine, transitions into a staccato march of military rhythms, then slowly builds into a transcendent lesson on the beauty of repetition as sax solos slowly upward in tight cyclical patterns as the jam of rhythms buffet it upward ever higher into noisier, more chaotic elevations.  The tune ends with the band flying off into the setting sun, the sound of their music receding as they fade from sight.  It’s the highlight of the album, and arguably, one of the highlights of 2012 thus far.

Where Opsvik is most successful is when he distills all the disparate sounds and mad scientist visions down to a tiny but powerful liquid serenity.  The impact is still there, as are the unusual variations in tone and pitch, but it’s communicated in a way that lets the listener sit back, close their eyes, and just slowly drink it all in.  It’s one thing to create a Frankenstein monster, but it’s an entirely different thing to create one you can peacefully kick back and have a quiet beer with.  Opsvik’s music may be monstrous, but it makes for a good drinking buddy.

The song “White Armour” is a nice example of this…

Even though “White Armour” has its share of distortion and fury, it’s still got a lush languid sway to it, like a Springtime breeze that carries a bit of leftover Winter on its back… relaxing, but with a hint of danger as warning not to let your guard down just quite yet.

Overseas IV is an odd, outstanding album.

Make sure to check out other Opsvik recordings on his site.  Also, check out albums where he’s a sideman; pick any innovative modern jazz album from the last few years, and there’s a good chance that Opsvik’s name appears in the credits.

Released on the Loyal Label.

Music from the Brooklyn scene.

You can stream the entire album, and purchase it, on Opsvik’s bandcamp page.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3