Those times that Kenji Herbert spins moonlight with other string instruments is the selling point on his The Way the Light Falls.  The guitarist presents the perfect dancing partner for harpist Maeve Gilchrist and violinist Alex Hargreaves, and the slow melt of their graceful waltz into a calm pool of serenity is the kind of thing that should really never end.  The folk and chamber influences provide a little bit of elegance and a rustic charm, and it’s why the album displays a well-rounded personality.

But also providing some essential balance are those tracks when it’s a quartet with saxophonist Dan Blake, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Devin Drobka.  The flow of the album doesn’t change, nor does its prevailing serenity, but that little extra bit of edge keeps dreamy music from ever getting sleepy, not unlike how talkative rapids don’t temper the peacefulness of the river.  The heavy tranquility of “Unravel” and “Orchids” wouldn’t resonate nearly as strong were it not for the heat of “Dropka” and “Door.”

Contributing even more tonal color to the mix are Herbert’s collaborations with vibraphonist Yuhan Su and vocalist Julia Easterlin.  Where the former adds some lovely textural counterpoint to the guitar’s enchantment, Easterlin’s wordless vocals add thick harmonic washes as contrast to the deft use of extended pauses and silence.

Really, just a beautiful album.

Your album personnel:  Kenji Herbert (guitar), Dan Blake (soprano saxophone), Chris Tordini (bass), Devin Drobka (drums) and guests:  Maeve Gilchrist (harp), Alex Hargreaves (violin), Julia Easterlin (voice) and Yuhan Su (vibraphone).

Released on Inner Circle Music.

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

Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | CDBaby

This is an album with more emotion than its heart can contain.  And it’s a big heart we’re talking about, one that beats with a pulse of bold pronouncements, of majestic imagery, and of melodic cries that radiate all kinds of power and sincerity, and this is true whether cooed gently or shouted up to the skies.  The septet Moonbow comes out strong on their debut album, showing a controlled ferocity while roaming free and wild through wide open fields of genres and influences and forms of expression.

And, yet, even with all of the changes on When The Sleeping Fish Turn Red And The Skies Start To Sing In C Major I Will Follow You Till The End, there’s hidden within each tune a simple song and a sense of something traditional.  “Start to Sing” woozily drawls out some blues and “Fish” breaks into an interlude that hints at a bop theme burrowing underneath all of the loose play with tempo and disregard for the permanence of structure.  Or how about the drum solo that stops the huge wave of dissonance on “In C Major” in its tracks, and shifts the tonal qualities from anthemic indie-rock howls to the thoughtful ruminations of a late night jazz club.

But even with that thought in mind, this is music that reveres the voice that holds nothing back.

This is one of the most exciting albums I’ve heard all this year.

Your album personnel:  Danielle Dahl (alto sax), Mads Egetoft (tenor sax), Maciek Kadziela (alto sax), Lucas Leidinger (piano), Anton Jansson (guitar), Tomo Jacobson (double bass) and Kresten Osgood (drums).

Released on ILK Music.

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

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic

This is an album with an ethereal presence.  Andras: The Book of Angels Volume 28 is the Nova Express Quintet utilizing their instruments as wind currents for shaping sound.  Tracks like “Yofiel” and “Huzia“ send a single autumn leaf of melody upward higher and higher and then let it fall gently earthward before starting the cycle all over again.  “Sabiel” is the stirring of forces in the minutes before the arrival of the storm.  But even when that storm shows up, as it does on “Meresin” and “Ramiel,” it’s a sensation of a furious dance, of motion with purpose, and not one of chaotic elements.

The multifaceted percussion of Cyro Baptista synced up with drummer Joey Baron modulates the intensity to pair with the melodic sighs of vibraphonist Kenny Wollesen and pianist John Medeski; sometimes they calm things down to marry a delicate patter with a delicate expression of melody, and sometimes the duo ramps the intensity up and leverages the power of contrast.  Bassist Trevor Dunn spends time with each camp, and it’s when he matches with Medeski switching over to organ, there’s an undercurrent of electricity that gives a charge even to those passages that seem more content to drift than drive ahead.

Worth mentioning that these are all veterans of the John Zorn – Tzadik Records universe, and they put that experience to work, showing an easy comfort with Zorn’s particular aesthetic, and bring a crackling energy to an album of compositions more suited to contemplation.  That combination of dreamy ambiance and focused desire is potent.

Your album personnel:  John Medeski (organ, piano), Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone), Trevor Dunn (acoustic & electric basses), Joey Baron (drums), Cyro Baptista (congas, percussion) and John Zorn (compositions, arrangements).

Released on the Tzadik label.

Available at:  Amazon | Direct from Tzadik

This Is Jazz Today

Bundesjazzorchester & Niels Klein – Groove and the Abstract Truth (Double Moon)

Over the years, I’ve highlighted various volumes in the BuJazzO series, but that still doesn’t do justice to all of the solid music issued by Germany’s Youth Jazz Orchestra, an organization dedicated to promoting the new generations of jazz musicians.  The current installment featuring Niels Klein is a case in point.  They step up and out with a big sound and harmonies as warm as the day is long.  There’s a pop music sensibility to this music, dishing out passages that border on hooks, and which retains a permanence that holds even when instrumental soloists dig into complex expressions of improvisation that have little to do with pop music at all.  But it’s the vocalists, both as chorus and soloists, that elevates this session up to a level that approaches a certain euphoria.  The voices provide a fullness and also a delicate touch, and whether they launch themselves dramatically into a burst of focused speed or take to thrilling aeronautics, there’s always the sensation of soaring above.  And of that particular piece of turf they occupy along the borders of jazz and pop, where this iteration of the orchestra on this session sits firmly on the jazz side of that border, by point of comparison, it could be said that the Polyphonic Spree occupy its opposite position on the pop music side.  A seriously enjoyable recording.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon – eMusic

Tim Stine Trio – Tim Stine Trio (Astral Spirits)

There’s an oddball poetry to this trio session from guitarist Tim Stine, bassist Anton Hatwich and drummer Frank Rosaly.  Melodies fall and collapse with the staggered pace and sudden precision of a game of Tetris.  That Stine uses an acoustic guitar adds a rustic charm to music that might otherwise dive too deep into the cerebral.  The rhythm section is locked in with Stine’s unusual flight patterns, and the way they are still able to develop a relatable rhythmic message under those constraints is more than a little impressive.  It’s easy to imagine that the origin of each song is a simple tune, long before the trio began reshaping it into warped imagery.  A strange, but easy-to-like personality to this one.

Your album personnel:  Tim Stine (acoustic guitar), Anton Hatwich (bass) and Frank Rosaly (drums).

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Amazon – Bandcamp

Earprint – Earprint (Endectomorph Music)

There’s a strong propulsion system that carries this album from first note to last, but it’s the way that the Earprint quartet of trumpeter Tree Palmedo, tenor saxophonist Kevin Sun, bassist Simón Willson and drummer Dor Herskovits use the melody as a way to generate imagery that acts as an appealing counterbalance to all the hyperactivity of the driving tempos.  So even though these tunes speed right along on their way, there’s always an opportunity to sit back and check out the view.  It’s a nifty bit of contrast, and really kicks the album up a notch or three.  And it’s an effect that pays extra dividends when the quartet slows down the pace and coaxes the melody out front… taking advantage of the same form of contrast, but flipped on its head.

Your album personnel:  Tree Palmedo (trumpet, ocean drum), Kevin Sun (tenor sax, clarinet), Simón Willson (bass) and Dor Herskovits (drums).

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

Hearts & Minds – Hearts & Minds (Astral Spirits)

The bass clarinet has traditionally delivered a curious type of lyricism, as if a flawed soul were attempting to sing an aria.  On the trio session from Hearts & Minds, bass clarinetist Jason Stein, pianist Paul Giallorenzo and drummer Frank Rosaly just skip all that business and, instead, show how the instrument can be a tool for the proliferation of raw energy.  Every melody carries with it the scars and fractures of a rough life and tempos are more often spurred forward through sheer force of will than the development of a flow.  Add to the mix some generous helpings of electronic effects, and what shows up at the front door is a brusque personality that occasionally reveals a more personable side (see: track “Streaming”).

Your album personnel:  Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Paul Giallorenzo (synthesizer, Pianet) and Frank Rosaly (drums, electronics).

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

Enjuti – Schönheit durch Zerbrechlichkeit (Traumton Records)

It’s a split personality from the quartet Enjuti.  There are times they dive deep into contemplative waters, slowly exhaling a melody and letting it drift slowly away.  But then there’s those passages when the quartet enters a harsh industrial type of atmosphere and all the introspection gets blown away.  The thing of it is, sometimes fragments of those melodies drift into the center of the dissonant chaos, and that sense of the hurricane and its eye occupying the same tiny spot is pretty thrilling in its way.  And sometimes that little spark of a melody triggers a larger conflagration, and the chaos of the storm takes on a shape and form, and while the result is never going to be described as tuneful or songlike, it possesses a certain enchantment, much in the way that crosswinds can twist the rain and whip it around hypnotically.

Your album personnel:  Andreas Völk (guitar, effects), Laurenz Gemmer (piano), Kenn Hartwig (bass, effects) and Thomas Sauerborn (drums, percussion).

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon – eMusic

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