These are songs that I like

Jul 8 2018

So, about this Bill Frisell guest spot…

 

It’s been a long time.  Nearly ten years, in fact, since I first discovered this album.  The details are a bit fuzzy, naturally, from all that time passing.  But I’m pretty sure I discovered this album simply wandering the halls of eMusic, looking for either cool modern jazz recordings or ambient shoegaze for those early mornings and late nights when the peaceful hours call for peaceful music.  Matt Brown‘s solo project Disinterested falls into the latter category.  As I gave it an initial listen, I thought I heard a Bill Frisell influence.  As it turned out, it was more than just an influence.  Brown had recruited his fellow Seattle resident to contribute to an album track on Behind Us.

That track is called “Blankets,” and it is a beautiful tune on a gorgeous album.  And the rest of the album is truly beautiful… but “Blankets” is the gem of the recording, and it makes me wistful that Frisell only makes that solitary appearance.  The woven melody of “Blankets” possesses an allure all its own, and resonates stronger than anything else on the recording.  It’s undeniable that the two musicians formed a connection, even if for just that brief time.

For almost ten years, I’ve given myself an infusion of this sonic tranquility.  It occurred to me that I should probably give the album a mention, since, y’know, I’ve got this website and all.  Consider yourselves informed.

Your album personnel:  Matt Brown (guitar) and guests:  Bill Frisell (guitar, loops), Nathan Skolrud (drums), Ross Simonini (percussion), Anna-Lynne Williams (voice), and Chris Stromquist (drum sample).

Released originally in 2007 on Dynamaphone Records.

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

Music from Seattle, WA.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

By • Beyond Jazz Reviews, These are songs that I like • 2

Mar 22 2018

Hip Conspiracy covered Kenny Garrett’s “Sing a Song of Song” and it’s yours free

 

The Hip Conspiracy performed a cover of one of my favorite songs:  Kenny Garrett’s “Sing a Song of Song,” from his 1997 release Songbook.  The sextet do a fine job with the tune, giving it their own voice while respecting the original.  For the life of me, I can’t understand why this composition isn’t covered more often.

Your album personnel:  Miles Meth (alto sax), Sean Levin (alto sax), Luke Okerlund (guitar), Thomas Mariano (piano, keyboards), Josh Miller (bass) and Mike Abbott (drums).

You can listen to and download it at Bandcamp.

It’s included on their 2016 release Odds and Ends, which, actually, is also offered as a free download.

And you can check out the original Kenny Garrett version, featuring a lovely contribution from pianist Kenny Kirkland, over on YouTube, and purchase it on Amazon.

By • These are songs that I like • 0

Jan 1 2018

So, let’s start out 2018 with Marzio Scholten, Kit Downes & Bill Frisell, because you’re probably hungover and could use something peaceful

 

Happy new year.  I’m just saying right now, before we go any further, 2018 sure as hell better be an improvement over 2017.  I’m gonna lay down some positive vibes with this post to get things moving in the right direction.

Speaking of things that are right, here’s something that proves there was still much to be grateful for in 2017.  Marzio Scholten put out a solo guitar album nearly one year ago.  We Never Left Town is full-on Americana folk, which isn’t really in this site’s wheelhouse, so I never really could find a spot to feature it… well, until today.  But genre aside, it’s a beautiful album, and also an interesting departure from his 2016 release, Here Comes a Riot.

You can check the album out on Bandcamp.  It’s also available at Amazon.

But just as we have things to be grateful for in our rear view mirror, the view ahead is no less sunny.  Kit Downes has a new album coming out, and ECM Records wisely kept the pianist in the fold after his contribution to Thomas Strønen’s Time Is a Blind Guide (who, coincidentally, is getting a new release in January, too).  Obsidian comes out later this month, and it features the ongoing collaboration between Downes and Tom Challenger.  Their organ-saxophone duo project already has roots running deep into the landscape.  It’ll be interesting to see how things get presented with the ECM touch.  Here’s a promo video…

Downes has an Obsidian EPK on his YouTube page.  You can pre-order it on Amazon.

And there’s no way that starting out a new year with Bill Frisell can ever be a bad thing.  Might be the best thing ever, as far as I’m concerned.  For a year in which I’m having to summon up every reserve of hope, it’s appropriate that we go with Frisell’s gorgeous composition “Throughout” to guide us into 2018.

You can find this song on Frisell’s 1983 release In Line.  Go buy it at Amazon.  It’s gorgeous.

Alright.  That should get us in good shape to start 2018.  Just as soon as your head stops hurting or you feel safe to step outside and see if 2017 is truly gone.  Good luck and be well.  Cheers.

By • These are songs that I like, These are videos that I like • 2

Jan 6 2017

Recommended: John Clark – “I Will”

 

At some point, it’s very likely you’ve heard the music of John Clark.  The French horn player has recorded and performed with musicians that hit every point along the vast spectrum of expressions that comprise the Jazz lineage.  The first time I heard Clark perform was a winter afternoon in Denver.  I brushed the snow off my jacket and felt the welcome embrace of heat just inside the doorway of Jerry’s Record Exchange, a great music shop on Colfax Avenue, just east of downtown and the 16th Street Mall.  Of the many excellent music stores in Denver back in the 90s, Jerry’s was my main stop when it came to feeding my music addiction.

Jazz had got its hooks in me years earlier, but the shop owner, John Loquidis, always had plenty of new artists and albums to recommend at me.  A NYC beat poet who could tell back-in-the-day stories about Sonny Rollins and Eric Dolphy, John was always happy to steer me to music that had brought him happiness, too.  He played music over the store’s stereo, and as I made my way to the new arrivals section, he put on a new CD.  It grabbed my ear immediately.  It had a cool locomotion for a cadence and it had hints of spiritual jazz to accompany its large ensemble classical influence.  I was hopping in place to the music, and only a little bit of my activity was to get the warmth back into my feet.  I was seriously digging this music.  And then all of the sudden, it hit me.  That melody I was hearing… it was John Coltrane’s “India.”

I turned to look at John, and as I approached the front counter, I asked, who is this?!  He picked up the CD case and said, “John Clark.  It’s his new album.”  He handed me the case for I Will.  As John told me that Clark was a bad-ass French horn player that all kinds of jazz musicians hired when they wanted some classical music influence, I noticed on the songlist that Clark also did a cover of Sonny Rollins’ “Airegin” and there was an intriguing 3-part “96th Street Sonata.”  John was in the process of mentioning an ECM Records release when I looked up and said, “I’m buying this.”  He chuckled and said I was the third person who’d bought the album after hearing it over the store speakers.  I had no difficulty believing that claim.  It’s been twenty years since I first heard it, and even now when I hit the play button, the music fills me joy and euphoria and hopefulness.

The rest of the album I enjoy just fine.  That three-part “96th Street Sonata” displays a punchy attitude, and keeps the focus on its cadence.   A rendition of “My One and Only Love” takes the aspirations of a ballad to heart.  “Bad Attitude” swings plenty, but throws some left hooks for good measure.  The rendition of “Airegin” is plenty fun, especially in the way Clark’s French horn and the tuba of guest musician Bob Stewart pinball notes off one another while straddling the line that separates melodic development and rhythmic support.  And the title-track “I Will” is a standout tune.  A mid-tempo piece that serves up some heat as it paints a gorgeous melodic scene, it possesses a blues streak that isn’t far removed from some of Mark Knopfler’s soundtrack works.

When I pop this CD into the player, I keep it in for the duration.  But there’s no doubt it’s that amazing rendition of “India” that keeps the dust from ever accumulating on this must-have recording.

Your album personnel:  John Clark (French horn), Bruce Ditmas (drums), Alex Foster (tenor & soprano saxes), Pete Levin (keyboard), Mike Richmond (bass) and guests:  Trevor Clark (sitar), Stanton Davis (trumpet), Chris Hunter (flute, alto sax), Ryo Kawasaki (guitar), Howard Johnson (bass clarinet), Bob Stewart (tuba) and Dave Taylor (trombone, bass trombone).

Released in 1997 on Postcards Records.

Jazz from NYC.

Available at:  Amazon

You can also buy the music directly from John Clark at his label site, Hidden Meaning Music.

By • Other Writing, The Old Stuff, The Safety Net, These are songs that I like • 2

Aug 4 2016

Kristina Dutton has some songs I like

 

Kristina Dutton largeI wander the internet looking for cool new music.  Yes, I have my routines.  I check out the new release bins at various retail sites.  I compile my lists and gradually whittle them down.  I listen to all the promos that hit my inbox/mailbox.  But what I most enjoy doing is just going onto an audio site and typing in a random keyword and seeing what comes up.  Mark Clifford’s Dirty Snacks Ensemble led to today’s column.

Kristina Dutton is a violinist from the Berkeley, California scene.  She doesn’t appear to have an artist site (well, aside from her Bandcamp page, and that’s what triggered this post), so there’s not much background I can give you.  But that’s okay, ’cause this post is about the music.

UPDATE:  Kristina Dutton does, in fact, have an artist site, and it’s really good.  Plenty of information on her various projects, including some mentioned below.  Here’s a LINK.

Her Bandcamp page doesn’t have a proper album, per se, but there’s a bunch of nifty songs for sale, and all of them coming from different and rather intriguing projects.  Here’s some of my favorites to get you started…

 

Rain by The Fen

This is the one that got me hooked to go through the rest of Dutton’s music.  The Fen, a duo of Dutton and guitarist Chris Rejman, and based on scant information available, appears to have created the song “The Rain” as part of a soundtrack to a movie by Kim Anno (more on that below).  The music does have a strong cinematic presence, and its formless melodicism that sometimes coalesces into gorgeous imagery in some ways reminds me of the music of Bill Frisell but also some of the alt-classical and post-jazz prevalent to the current music scene.

I’m not sure what the status of that movie is, but this song is included on a recording titled Sketches, Mid-West, and the album is no less gorgeous than the track that led me to it.  Here’s a LINK to check it out on Bandcamp.  At some point, I’m likely to write further upon it.

But for now, here’s that awesome tune…

Check it out on Bandcamp.

And here’s a thirty-second promo video for the movie this song was intended for…

*****

Violin/English Horn Duo with Kyle Bruckmann

I’ve featured the music of Kyle Bruckmann on several occasions, both on this site and back in my eMusic & Wondering Sound days.  Despite a busy listening schedule geared toward new releases, I still revisit his 2012 recording Cracked Refraction (LINK).  And I’ve got a work-in-progress column draft that features albums with literary themes, and it’ll include his 2014 release …Awaits Tristero’s Silent Empire.

Bruckmann makes his mark on both oboe and English horn.  He goes with the latter for this tune.  Dutton and Bruckmann develop the melody like a strand of vine, twisting over and upon itself to where it appears that multiple threads exist… and as a consequence, maybe they do.  It all begins with thoughtful pauses and careful assessments, then gradually becomes more fluid and free, and all the while maintains an essential focus.

Check it out on Bandcamp.

You can also check out more of Kyle Bruckmann’s music on Bandcamp, too.

*****

Violin/Koto duo with Kanoko Nishi

I love the koto.  It’s a stringed instrument that somehow always has an angelic voice even when the musician is playing it with a demonic passion.  It sighs like a cloud floating peacefully above the sun and it hums deeply like Mother Nature as the electricity of a rainstorm gradually subsides.

Here’s a picture of what one looks like…

Kanoko Nishi

On this duet, Dutton’s violin joins up with the koto of Kanoko Nishi-Smith (pictured above).

Considering that the song lasts a mere eight minutes, they traverse a remarkable range of tones and tensions… and all of it is beautiful.  This song, like many on Dutton’s page, leaves me wanting to hear more.

Check it out on Bandcamp.

And here’s a LINK to an interesting duo collaboration between Nishi and Aram Shelton on soprano sax.

*****

The Dirty Snacks Ensemble – Tidy Universe

Dirty Snacks Ensemble - "Tidy Universe"I mentioned this ensemble in the column intro.  Dutton plays violin on this compelling post-jazz recording.  I’m not going to write anything about the album here, but before too much longer, my thoughts on Tidy Universe will be revealed in my inaugural recommendations column on The Bandcamp Daily.  Instead, I’ll share the brief anecdote about how I first discovered an oddball track on Soundcloud titled “Dirty Snacks Ensemble,” and I featured it in a column much like this one, where I had wandered the internet one evening and found some neat songs to put the spotlight on.  In each instance, the musicians contacted me and inevitably asked, “How the hell did you even find my song?”  “Dedication” is my typical answer to that question (which also happens to be the truth), with a follow-up comment to get in touch with me if they ever put something more together to go along with their oddball track.  Clifford, in fact, did exactly that, and years later I’m absolutely gratified by how wonderful that recording is.

Here’s a track from that album…

And here’s where you can listen and purchase it on Bandcamp (LINK).

And I’m absolutely thrilled by the coincidence that today’s column happened on exactly the same kind of night wandering the internet that, years ago, led me to the music of Mark Clifford, which, tangentially, led to the music of Kristina Dutton.  Music discovery is one of those things that can remind each one of us how grateful we are to be alive for the opportunity to experience it, and when that act of discovery weaves into our own personal timelines, etching those moments into our memories, it’s as if that music was always with us, transcending time and consciousness and simply existing, all along.  We all get out of it what we choose to.  Those are some of my thoughts, which tend to be at the mercy of the potent mix of nostalgia and lovely music.

*****

Kristina DuttonAnd one last time, here’s where you can check out more of Dutton’s music (featured above) on Bandcamp (LINK).

And here’s the Bandcamp page (LINK) for her group The Fen, which got this whole column started in the first place.  It’s called Sketches, Mid-West, and it’s already something that’s growing into an addiction for me personally.  Maybe you, too.  Go check it out.

*****

By • Artist Overviews, I Listen To All Of This, These are songs that I like • 0

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