Jazz Recommendations

Mark de Clive-Lowe & the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra – Take the Space Trane

Interesting release by producer and electronics wiz Mark de Clive-Lowe, who teams up with the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra and offers up a mix of modern nu-jazz and traditional big band.

Most notable about this recording is the way Lowe handles the divergent elements that comprise this intriguing release.  Whereas he isn’t the first to tackle the fusion of modern jazz, traditional jazz, electronica, hip hop & R&B beats and rhythms, most attempts tend to result in a blend of the varied elements.  But on Take the Space Trane, that doesn’t happen.  The music here isn’t a collective sound.  Each of the elements shout their voices into the mix and stand out from the others.  It’s an amalgamation of different conversations, belted out simultaneously, that result in an engaging convergence of ecstatic music that finds room for those aspects that echo the music of the past and those that are forward-thinking, without either crowding the other out.

Potentially, it could make for an ideal introduction for new-schoolers to get a taste of what has come before, and, perhaps, serve as an acceptable introduction to old-schoolers of what’s going on the scene today.  So, bonus points awarded to Clive-Lowe for creating something different that could, also, reach across genre borders.

Your album personnel:  Mark de Clive-Lowe (electronic drums, keyboards, effects, production) and the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra:  Johan Plomp (conductor), Martijn de Laat, Ray Bruinsma, Robvan De Wouw, Rik Mol (trumpets), Ron Oligschläger, Louk Boudesteijn, Vincent Veneman, Martin van de Berg (trombones), Marco Kegel, Bart Wirtz, Simon Rigter, Cyrille Oswald, Rik van den Bergh (saxophones), Martijn Vink (drums), and Aram Kersbergen (bass).

Released on the Tru Thoughts Records label.

Download a free album track, courtesy of the artist and label, by hitting the Download button on the audio player just above.

The nifty album cover by Roland Lefox.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

Stephane Kerecki Trio – Sound Architects

The new release by bassist Stephane Kerecki isn’t easy to nail down.  Though from the Paris scene, there’s a strong NYC element to this Jazz.  Added to that, the quintet shifts back and forth between eras of influence… some tracks, like “Song for Anna” have a strong modern bent, while others, like when Bojan Z switches over to Rhodes on “Lunatic,” harken back to a 1970’s fusion period.  And then there’s the identity issues of tunes insinuating a presence of serenity, then loosing both Malaby and Donarier on saxes, and giving the impression of something far more volatile… just to sweep the rug back out for a return to a quieter nature.

The album’s mutable identity should be considered a strong characteristic, making the music here a source of intrigue.  Kerecki’s name has been popping up lately on a lot of recordings that have hit my radar, so I wanted to get a mention in about one of his own recordings, hopefully getting his name on the radar of others.  Also, the song “Bass Prayer” is worth the price of admission alone.  A soulful beauty not unlike some of the Keith Jarrett American Quartet releases on Impulse back in the 70s.

Your album personnel:  Stéphane Kerecki (double bass), Matthieu Donarier (tenor & soprano saxes), Thomas Grimmonprez (drums), and guests:  Tony Malaby (tenor & soprano saxes) and Bojan Z (piano & Fender Rhodes).

Released on the Outnote Records label.

Jazz from the Paris, France scene.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

An aggressive album that finds a myriad of ways to express it.  Drummer Jeff Davis leads a trio through a series of tunes that rarely telegraph a punch.  Rhythms get delivered in heavy flurries, and melodies are alluded to in bits and pieces, and usually with a twist.  Leaf House is Jazz album masquerading as hard-boiled detective novel.

Your album personnel: Jeff Davis (drums), Eivind Opsvik (bass), and Russ Lossing (piano).

But it’s not all mystery, nor does the album lack trends and characteristics.  Opening tune (and title-track) “Leaf House” displays the furious bursts of cadence that suddenly cliff dive into silence.  A song may seem like it’s over, but then Eivind Opsvik’s bass bounds back onto the scene, with Davis’s drums to back him up.  And then there’s second track “Faded,” which attempts to instigate a concussion, but then suddenly Lossing enters with a shimmering blanket of piano beauty.  “Catbird” is a bit more reserved, and it gives the impression of dancers executing a jitterbug on a steep flight of stairs.

The forceful nature of this music is a result of the trio’s group play.  Even when they engage in animated conversations with one another, notes flying like stream-of-conscious poetry, it’s readily observable that they’re all on the same page, all moving in the same direction, with a view on the same horizon.  That the trio has managed to get volatile music wound up so tight seems directly attributable to the energy they emit.  And when they generate a head of steam, as they do on “Transitional Whales,” starting slow then accumulating strength and speed over the course of the tune, the trio transmits a sense of the unstoppable.  It’s a pretty nifty effect on an album charged heavy with electricity.

Released on the Fresh Sound New Talent label.

Jazz from NYC.

Stream three album tracks on the Audio page of Davis’s site.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | CD

Something to add…

We each of us have our different ways of connecting with music… our different approaches and methods, our unique preferences and sensibilities.  But Leaf House, at least for me, was yet another example in the rewards of patience.  There’s nothing wrong with hitting the stop button on an album and coming back to it some other time, especially if it’s one that you sense something redeemable about the music that qualifies as worth returning to.  I did that several times with Leaf House. I liked it well enough on my first two listens, but never really engaged with it much.  Several times after that, covering a span of [number] months, I slotted this album into my stereo, usually with adverse reactions.  There was one time I recoiled from it, so strong was its effect on me.  And then, on a day like today, I put the album in and sit transfixed by its monstrous beauty and thoughtful creativity, and so glad that I never gave up on it.

Some albums are like that.  This was one of those for me. I just wanted to share that observation, because I don’t think any of us can be reminded of the value of patience with art nearly enough.

Nostalgia is a potent activator, and childhood memories a strong influence on the present.  As much as any other source, those connections at an early age with art form as strong a bond as anything, and they often manifest later with an emotional urgency that compels a person to communicate them to others.

So, it’s no wonder to read that the inspiration of bassist Nilson Matta in recording his new release Black Orpheus dates back to his childhood reaction at hearing the soundtrack to the play Orfeu da Conceição, by the playwright Vinicius de Moraes, and later, the music composed for Black Orpheus, the movie version of the play by Antonio Carlos Jobim (with lyrics by de Moraes).

This is uplifting music.  This is music light on its feet that takes to the sky with powerful flaps of wings.  There is a joy and celebration to this music that, when one considers the tragedy surrounding the original story of Orpheus & Eurydice and the film’s Orfeu & Eurydice, it seems disconnected from the music’s source material.  But keep in mind, this music is about an adult’s memory of childhood connections with music… a bond that transcends the original agendas of storytellers.  It becomes Matta’s story.  This type of transference is why stories never die.

Your album personnel:  Nilson Matta (bass), Guilherme Monteiro (guitar), Klaus Mueller (piano), Alex Kautz (drums), Fernando Saci (percussion), and guests:  Randy Brecker (trumpet); Anne Drummond (flute), Laura Metcalf (cello), Anat Cohen (clarinet), Kenny Barron (piano), Reinaldo Silva (percussion), Leny Andrade (vocals), Alfredo Cardim (piano), Erivelton Silva (drums), Jorjao Silva (percussion), and Gretchen Parlato (vocal).

The album begins with as powerful an opening statement as you’ll ever encounter.  An epic, yet restrained chorus that simmers with tension.  Strings, trumpet, piano, bass and flute create waves of striking beauty and warmth.  When the tempo transitions up a notch, it’s the grandeur of navigating a path over rolling hills across a sweeping landscape, and no less epic than the opening moments.

Much of this music has a festive attitude, jaunty even, but with melodies that take their time expressing themselves.  It imbues the music with a casual grace in the midst of rhythms that inspire motion.

A couple vocal tracks, each with a seaside sway, a cadence like waves gently slapping the shore.  Instrumental tracks have a linear shape to them, but some start out with a wandering solo without boundaries before the ensemble joins in and re-establishes the collective direction.

A strong rhythmic presence is balanced nicely by the velvety touch of strings.  And though he’s definitely a member of the tempo setting squad, Matta’s bass hits the higher registers with a lyricism that takes his sound up into melodic territory.

An outstanding album of striking beauty.  Matta did his inspiration proud.

Released on the Motema label.

The cool album cover is by Rebecca Meek.

Jazz from NYC, though the recording has some roots in Rio de Janeiro.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3