Jan 14 2012
Jazz New Arrivals: Week Ending Dec 13, 2011 (Pt. 1 of 2)
Featuring Tiny Reviews of: Espen Rud, Charles Lloyd, “Sounds and Silence” Soundtrack, and Andy Miles.
This is Part One (of two) of my weekly Jazz Picks for emusic’s new arrivals section for the week ending December 13, 2011. December is typically not a great month for new releases in any genre, so you’ll notice that the columns are getting a bit sparse. You’ll also notice that in today’s article that there are no audio samples to listen to. Don’t blame me; there was nothing available online. Quite honestly, it made me want to just delete all the below recs and not include them in the blog, I was that disgusted. I believe very strongly in having some of the music available for you to hear as you discover it while reading about it on this site. But, anger aside, I’m running the recs, anyways.
Let’s begin.
Espen Rud – Dobbledans
I hate to refer to this album as a straight-ahead affair, because it consistently diverges from that. Much like a city skyline reflected on a flawless lake looks almost real until waves ripple the image, so does Epsen Rud‘s Dobbeldans mirror a conventional modern jazz album. Melodies that, at first glance, seem pretty straight-forward suddenly shimmer with the impressively light touch of bass clarinet. A tune that proceeds along pleasantly suddenly is transformed by the entrance of Eastern percussion on the tabla. Baritone sax and soprano trade gentle murmurs and cries. So close to conventional and so enjoyably out of reach. Recommended.
Your album personnel: Frode Nymo (alto & soprano sax), Atle Nymo (tenor sax & bass clarinet), John Pål Inderberg (baritone & soprano sax), Ivar Antonsen (piano), Jari Bakken (guitar), Terje Gewelt (bass), Jai Shankar (tabla), and Espen Rud (drums).
Released on the Curling Legs label.
Available on Emusic.
Various Artists – Music for the Film “Sounds and Silence”
A compilation of excellent ECM songs that were used in the documentary about ECM founder Manfred Eicher. A who’s-who of modern ECM soundscapers like Nik Bartch’s Ronin, Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Anouar Brahem, Marilyn Mazur and Dino Saluzi. All of these songs have appeared on previous releases except for two, with Eleni Karaindrou and Jan Garbarek. It’s really a beautiful compilation, and if you don’t have a ton of modern ECM in your library, this is a solid choice to get a listen to a lot of fantastic ECM musicians all on the same album.
Released on the ECM Records label.
Available on Emusic.
Charles Lloyd – Athens Concert
Charles Lloyd’s Athens Concert has received wildly divergent responses from fans. One camp thinks the pairing with vocalist Maria Farantouri is a sublime affair, whereas others hate the presence of anything that interferes with their enjoyment of Lloyd’s sax ensemble. Lloyd’s career is approaching that of living-legend, and his output has increased with age, both in terms of frequency of recording and the quality of those albums. Me, personally, I’m not usually a fan of vocals in my jazz, but I gotta say that it really worked for me here. Would’ve loved to have been there live for their performance. Ensemble includes the excellent Jason Moran on piano. Addition of a lyra as an instrument is pretty cool.
Released on the ECM Records label.
Available on Emusic.
Andy Miles – Then and Now
A very pretty album featuring the clarinet of Andy Miles, and backed by a solid lineup including the excellent Jon Goldsby on bass and Oliver Wenhold on cello. The album can get a bit light at times with the orchestration, and the occasional vocals don’t always do the album justice, but Miles’ delicate touch on clarinet is a joy to listen to, and the ensemble is really tight and makes it very easy to embrace this album, warts and all. Gotta recommend this one.
Released on the Fibonacci Records label.
Available on Emusic.
That’s the end of Part 1 (of 2) of that week’s jazz recs. Part 2 will appear in the day after tomorrow’s post, on Monday.
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.
© 2011 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.
| 
| MP3
| 
| MP3
| 
| MP3
| 
Jan 15 2012
Know Your ABCs: An Album, a Book, and a Cat
Here’s your new Sunday edition of Know Your ABCs…
Your Album: Tiny Resistors, by Todd Sickafoose
Your Book: Nevermen, by Phil Amara & Guy Davis
Your Cat: Moe Tippy Toes, a farm cat who’s ready to move up to the sofa set.
TINY RESISTORS, an Album by Todd Sickafoose
Your album personnel: Todd Sickafoose (acoustic & electric bass, piano, Wurlitzer, vibraphone, marimba, bells, celeste, accordion), Shane Endsley (trumpet) Ben Wendel (tenor sax, bassoon), Alan Ferber (trombone), Skerik (baritone sax), Adam Levy (guitar), Mike Gamble (guitar, effects), Allison Miller (drums, percussion), Simon Lott (drums, percussion), Andrew Bird (violin, whistling, loops), and Ani DiFranco (voice & electric ukulele).
Great albums have the effect of removing me from the spot where my feet are touching the ground, of creating a subtle shift in perception whereby everything looks a little bit different, a little more hopeful, a bit more happy, and kinda cool. I’m not talking about an out-of-body experience, but something transcendent about the moments that fall between the album’s first note and its last. It’s why I treasure music and why I spend way more hours than I probably should scouring new releases lists and streaming countless samples in the search for the next uplifting, challenging, and joyful album to include in my life. Tiny Resistors is one of those albums.
Bouncy strings, long high calls of trumpet, sax growls, trombone pronouncements, baritone sax back-alley muggings, forlorn piano lines, and the oddly identifiable whistling of Indie-darling Andrew Bird. Those are just some of the sounds that are added to the mix. It’s a complex soup with plenty of ingredients, but somehow they all work together (an excellent flavor profile, I believe, is how it would be phrased on Top Chef).
But no matter how Sickafoose dissects a melody and rearranges it into his own personal Frankenstein, he also knows how to shape one that’s simple, polish it, and let it shine…
Another aspect of this album I enjoy is how Sickafoose arranges the various instruments, layers them atop one another, hemming them in, and stringing them together. It forces me to engage the album on its own terms, and its depth is why I discover different facets of the album on subsequent listenings. It keeps me coming back to it…
… And it creates a celebratory mood that gets me smiling no matter what kind of day I’ve had. That is, I suppose, a pretty powerful effect to have upon a listener. It is, for me, and it’s why I still trumpet this album years after it came out. Just brilliant.
Released on the Cryptogramophone label. Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.
Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist and label.
Available at Amazon: CD
| MP3
*****
NEVERMEN, a Book by Phil Amara & Guy Davis
The Nevermen protect The City. They wear the fedoras and trench coats of the times. They’re equipped with a variety of handy technology. Also, it’s tough to kill them. One of their own has gone missing. As they protect The City from extortionists and arsonists and mob bosses and the leader of an undead army, the Nevermen search for clues as to their partner’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, the League of Crows, a society of professional thieves, have stolen the blueprints for the city’s power network. Cadaver, a crime boss who can detach every part of his body and function fully, is making a move on the other mob leaders. Manboulian leads his army of zombies through the city to plunder its riches and its ancient artifacts; he speaks only in poetic form and riddles. A former Neverman, who goes by the name of Murderist, has gone rogue in his search for the missing Neverman, crossing paths with them to the detriment of both. There is a mad scientist building a machine that will destroy time and everything else with it; he misses his son terribly. And then there is the Professor, who lives in a tower high atop a hill that overlooks The City and all its skyscrapers. He watches everything. The Nevermen begin to suspect that he has something to do with their missing partner, the increasing strangeness of crimes being committed, and maybe even their origin. The Professor has a child, an android seven feet tall and not unlike a skeletal angel; he is learning about life and, perhaps, ready to be his own man. All of these elements merge together as the story approaches its conclusion. Also, giant fighting robots and motorcycle chases, which is always pretty cool.
Phil Amara does the scripting. He appears to have worked almost exclusively for Dark Horse Comics titles, mostly on Aliens and Predator titles, and some Star Wars, too. Guy Davis handles the art. He first gained some recognition, when his title Baker Street was nominated for a Harvey Award. Later, he went on to work for Vertigo’s noir mystery title Sandman Mystery Theatre. More recently, he’s worked on the Hellboy spinoff B.P.R.D. Amara succinct deadpan voice matched seamlessly with Davis’s sharp sketch-pad lines and angles. In most comics, it’s easy to point to either the writer or artist as the major contributor to the feel or vibe of the story, but on Nevermen, it looks like a dead tie.
The story begins in black & white, which I typically don’t much care for, but in this instance, it fits the story perfectly, and later on when it moves to color, I found myself missing the old black & white format a bit. But the inking is in dark autumn colors and they enhance the noirish ambiance of the story to a tee. The earliest chapters to the story are very clipped, more like vignettes than actual storyline. I found myself re-reading them several times, certain that I was missing something. However, as the story unfolds, those vignettes become clearer, both in the way that they set the table for the complexities to come, but also in how they frame the style of the story, too. A brilliant effort, and one of those titles that flew under the radar, but deserves much better.
Put out on the Darkhorse Comics imprint. It was collected into a trade.
Available at Amazon: Paperback
*****
MOE TIPPY-TOES, a farm Cat ready for a sofa set
Obviously one of Moe’s parents was a manx, because Moe’s two siblings had no tail, just rumpies; they were adopted pretty quick. Moe has a full tail, domestic short hair, and all black except for tiny blocks of white on his paws. In the time we’ve had him, he’s gone from feral to homebody. He has become the sweetest cat around. Whenever a new cat comes to us, he takes care of them, grooms them, plays with them, and cuddles with them during naps. If an older bigger cat tries bullying a smaller cat, Moe comes to their rescue and chases the bigger cat off. It’s amazing what a love bug he’s become.
He’s fixed, up to date on all his shots, and tested negative for feline leukemia. He knows what a litter box is and how to use it. He’s not a noisy cat; I can’t recall him ever making a racket meowing like mad.
More information on Moe Tippy-Toes is available at the Mercer (KY) Humane Society at (859) 734-9500, mercerhumane.com. If you are unable to adopt, you may sponsor his adoption, or the adoption of any cat, by contacting the office.
Like this:
By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Know Your ABCs: An Album, a Book & a Cat • 0 • Tags: Cats, Jazz - Best of 2008