Apr 3 2015

This Is Jazz Today: Jeremy Udden & Nicolas Moreaux, Old Time Musketry, Daniel Herskedal & more!

 

BitW square avatarWe got hit with another strong week of new jazz releases.  And it’s not just the albums listed in today’s column that provide the measure of the week’s depth, but the quality of those albums that weren’t able to squeeze onto the column.  Some good stuff ahead of you today.

A whole bunch of today’s recommendations head out to the fringes of jazz territory, mostly to a place where electronics and effects play a major role in the music.  But if that doesn’t float your boat, no worries, because there’s a couple here today that will take you for a ride on the wayback machine, to a time when jazz was easily recognizable and familiar and warm to the touch.

So hey, let’s begin…

*** Pick of the Week ***

 

Jeremy Udden & Nicolas Moreaux – Belleville Project

Udden, Moreaux - "Belleville Project"Both bassist Nicolas Moreaux and saxophonist Jeremy Udden possess an enormous talent at meshing jazz and folk into dreamy reveries of country roads, forest streams and small town languor. What began as a correspondence between two artists who’d decided they’d found a bird of the same feather in one another eventually became rehearsals, live performances, and culminated in the recording, Belleville Project… named after the French town where the recording happened.

Read more about this album on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

Released on Sunnyside Records.  Visit the artist site & artist site.

More listening | Buy:  Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon

 

*****

*** This week’s featured albums ***

 

Einem.Art – Lamara (Double Moon)

Einem.Art - "Lamara"Nifty contemporary fusion recording that dips into the past and present, both.  Quartet led out by trombonist Max von Einem build some fun grooves.  Lots of personality on this one.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  eMusic | Amazon

Read more about this album on Bird is the Worm (LINK).

*****

Old Time Musketry – Drifter (NCM East)

Old Time Musketry - "Drifter"Sophomore release from the jazz-folk quartet Old Time Musketry a big step up to a new plateau.  Strong lyricism delivered more crisply and woven tighter around the rhythms.  Mix of accordion, melodica, and woodwinds provides a whole bunch of warm & fuzzy harmonies that you’ll pray never end.

Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp  eMusic  CDBaby  Amazon

*****

Daniel Herskedal – Slow Eastbound Train (Edition)

Daniel Herskedal - "Slow Eastbound Train"So gorgeous, it’s stunning.  Tubist (yes, tubist) Herskedal is yet more evidence that the cumbersome tuba can make the most graceful music.  His core trio (tuba, piano & percussion) are joined by a chamber string orchestra for some beautifully ambient third-stream and folk-jazz music.

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

*****

Jeff Cosgrove/Frank Kimbrough/Martin Wind – Conversations With Owls (Self-Produced)

Jeff Cosgrove - "Conversations with Owls"A pleasantly subdued avant-garde session from this drums, piano, bass trio.  The strongest moments are when the trio just barely restrains a burst of controlled ferocity.  Album includes an inspired take on “My Favorite Things.”

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

*****

Donny McCaslin – Fast Future (Greenleaf)

Donny McCaslin - "Fast Future"Saxophonist McCaslin continues his exploration of a modern electro-acoustic jazz medium, with some mixed results.  Huge surges of a Big Sound are sometimes undone with grand theatrics, though often this is eclipsed by a deep vocabulary and the eloquence to wield it.  McCaslin is definitely a guy with his own point of view, and it’s pretty exciting to watch him fearlessly pursue it… you gotta respect that.

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

*****

Bjorn Jansson – Genklang (Reach-Up)

Bjorn Jansson - "Genklang"Evocative session from saxophonist Jansson, who adds some bass clarinet in the right spots.  Swedish quintet gets in a nice mix of modern jazz, Nordic folk, and all-around moody goodness.  Easy to like.

Artist site | Listen | Buy: eMusic – Amazon

*****

Klabbes Bank – Z (Hoob)

Klabbes Bank - "Z"The Klabbes Bank ensemble dive into an electronica-jazz approach only hinted at on previous recordings.  Their sharper melodicism is replaced by a fuzzier, more ambient sound.  A compelling turn from the talented cast.

Artist site | Buy: eMusic – Amazon

*****

BenReddik – Gjemsel (Norcd)

BenReddik - "Gjemsel"Rather charming music from the Nordic septet BenReddik.  Heavy with the brass and woodwinds, and led out by a vocalist, they’ve got a nice easy-going nature to their tunes and keep things light.  Curious music that grows more embraceable with time.

Artist site | Buy: eMusic – Amazon

*****

Avishai Cohen – From Darkness (Sunnyside)

Avishai Cohen - "From Darkness"Bassist Cohen generates a lot of conversation from this trio session.  The dialog features some intense melodicism to accompany the friendly chatter.  You really can’t go wrong with a Cohen album.

Artist site | Buy: eMusic – Amazon

*****

Jose James – Yesterday I Had The Blues (Blue Note)

Jose James - "Yesterday I Had The Blues"Excellent Billy Holiday-tribute from vocalist James, in a quartet with pianist Jason Moran, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Eric Harland.  This one takes you back… whether it’s the Nat King Cole-like confident ease or the classic Blue Note Records album cover… it brings the lineage of jazz vocal sessions right into the present day.  Unfussy, unshowy, and terribly affecting.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

*****

Polar Bear – Same as You (Leaf Label)

Polar Bear - "Same As You"Easily the most engaging aspect of Polar Bear’s latest foray to the fringes of jazz is the way they sit, simultaneously, at extremes of electric liveliness and kicked-back serenity. It’s easy enough to focus on just one quality, but not without feeling the touch of the other. Way cool.

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

*****

David Fettmann Trio – Ruby Project (Double Moon)

David Fettmann - "Ruby Project"Very fun trio session from alto saxophonist Fettmann, organist Guillaume Naud and drummer Jonathan Blake.  This straight-ahead session is elevated by the trio’s high-energy enthusiasm and their incisive lyricism, with no skimping on either melody or rhythm.  An album with plenty of excitement and a real enjoyable way of talking.

Artist site | Buy:  eMusic – Amazon

*****

Mark Helias Open Loose – The Signal Maker (Intakt)

Mark Helias - "The Signal Maker"Appealing modern set from bassist Helias, saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Tom Rainey.  Melodies are frayed at the edges, form doesn’t always hold, and rhythmic attacks come from many angles.  But at its core, this is whip smart music delivered with an appealing ease.

Artist site | Buy:  eMusic – Amazon

*****

Hirofumi Asaba – Easy Like (Self-Produced)

Hirofumi Asaba - "Easy Like"Real nifty classic jazz sound for guitarist Asaba’s debut.  His quintet swings, light on their feet, melody always in hand.  Guitar and vibes make a very nice pairing, provide some nice bounce and warmth.

Artist site | Buy: eMusic – Amazon

*****

Arturo Serra – Nebulosa (New Steps)

Arturo Serra - "Nebulosa"Likable straight-ahead date from vibraphonist Serra.  His quintet maintains a brisk pace and a sunny attitude.  Plenty of hard bop goodness to cheer anyone’s day.

Artist site | Buy: eMusic – Amazon

*****

 

Have a great time digging through the list!

And remember, it’s simple:  You like what you like.

Cheers.

***

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 0 • Tags:

Apr 2 2015

These are videos that I like: Daniel Herskedal – “The Mistral Noir”

 

Daniel Herskedal - "Slow Eastbound Train"Today’s featured video is from tubist Daniel Herskedal, performing the song “Mistral Noir” from his new album Slow Eastbound Train.  The album has, at its core, a trio of tuba, piano and percussion, and is aided by a chamber string orchestra.  It’s a beautiful recording, bringing together jazz, classical and folk.

Expect to read more about this album in this week’s This Is Jazz Today column, plus a separate write-up at a later date.

For now, enjoy the album’s opening track…

 

And if you’re already hooked on this music, you can go right now to the artist’s Bandcamp page (LINK) and purchase the album immediately.

I hope your week is wrapping up nicely.

Tomorrow, you’ll have the new edition of This Is Jazz Today.

Cheers.

 

By • These are videos that I like • 0

Apr 1 2015

Recommended: Einem.Art – “Lamara”

 

Einem.Art - "Lamara"The quartet Einem.Art rolls out all kinds of personality on their debut, Lamara.  It’s a contemporary fusion recording that takes the fusion part of that equation rather seriously.  There’s the hyper-serenity of “Like Waterfalls,” which speaks with an In a Silent Way jazz-rock fusion.  There’s the electro-acoustic funk of “Killerberg” that speaks to the modern approach to a retro 70s sound.  There’s the post-bop of “Interruptica” that shifts in and out of an electric contemporary jazz groove and “Say What? – What!” that also conveys a modern post-bop, but exploits the benefits of its groove by utilizing it as an undercurrent of motion.

“Manifestor’s Dream” brings a bigger, more intense sound to its space jazz theatrics.  “Boilers” takes a similar approach, but is fueled by an indie-rock rhythmic attack.  The brisk pace of “Like Shapes” juxtaposed against an easy-going melodic delivery is evidence of the quartet’s ability to take a strongly lyrical route.  The ballad “Pure” sticks to straight-ahead jazz territory, but shades the edges of the song with bold colors of other influences, whereas the album finale of “Waltz For Gregor” has the quartet revealing that a standard jazz ballad may just lie at the heart of everything they do.  It’s an elegant way to end an album that is wildly effusive pretty much all the time.

The quartet is led out by trombonist Max von Einem.  His contributions, whether as soloist or in accompaniment, serve to drive the quartet back to jazz center whenever they threaten to bolt off to the horizon.  His counterpart is keyboardist Lucas Leidinger, who is often the rocket fuel that sends the quartet hurtling up, up and away.  The bass and drums duo of Juan Camilo Villa and Rodrigo Villalon frame every influence and direction so that changes can be viewed simultaneously in the moment and in the larger picture of album cohesion.  They are the reason why this album gives the sense of standing firmly on a patch of solid ground that is constantly in motion.

As far as debuts go, this one holds some promise for more adventurousness on future recordings.

Your album personnel:  Max von Einem (trombone), Lucas Leidinger (keys, piano), Juan Camilo Villa (bass) and Rodrigo Villalon (drums).

Listen to more of the album on Soundcloud.

Released on Double Moon Records.

Jazz from the Cologne, Germany scene.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon

 

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 0

Mar 31 2015

Recommended: Jeremy Udden & Nicolas Moreaux – “Belleville Project”

 

It’s only natural, logical even, that bassist Nicolas Moreaux and saxophonist Jeremy Udden would one day collaborate.  They both possess an enormous talent at meshing jazz and folk into dreamy reveries of country roads, forest streams and small town languor.  Moreaux’s excellent 2013 release Fall Somewhere and Udden’s equally excellent 2009 release Plainville captured these qualities in full, expressing a potent serenity on the back of strong melodies and a conversational chatter for a cadence.

What began as a correspondence between two artists who’d decided they’d found a bird of the same feather in one another was given momentum by the Doris Duke and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation French-American Jazz Exchange Grant… funding which allowed the musicians to travel, hire, record and turn their long-distance exchange of ideas into an in-person collaboration.  It began with rehearsals and live performances, and it culminated in the recording, Belleville Project… named after the French town where the recording happened.

They surround themselves with musicians who have made a home in similar territory.  Saxophonist Robert Stillman’s Archaic Future Players grabbed hold tight of the jazz-folk equation with their 2012 release Station Wagon Interior Perspective… a tribute to folk musician John Fahey.  Pierre Perchaud‘s 2013 release Waterfalls, with Moreaux and saxophonist Chris Cheek, melts hearts with thick melodies and a seaside ease, and works a hazy European style of jazz that hints, at times, of a folk music form.  And in addition to being a collaborator on some of Udden’s previous Plainville projects, RJ Miller‘s 2013 release Ronald’s Rhythm was a captivating mix of Brian Eno ambient minimalism, jazz and folk.  All of these projects, including those of Moreaux and Udden, all sound quite distinct from one another, and from anything else for that matter, but they all hover over territory where folk and jazz share a border and the expressions have plenty in common.  These were the right people for this project.  They’ve been there before, doing this kind of New.

The echoes of both Plainville and Fall Somewhere resonate throughout the album.  “MJH” opens things up with the intermingled sighs and yawns of saxophones and the talkative charisma of banjo and the rustle & hush of brushes and drums.  It’s got a melody made for humming, built from the materials of heartbreak and hopefulness.

The song “Belleville” crackles with life, and it’s one of the few instances of a raised temperature on the recording.  But by retaining a loose, ambling motion, it locks right into place with the other album tracks.

“Jeremy” is back to the folk sound.  The susurrus of steel-string guitar lays a comforting blanket, a haze, swaying to and fro while propelling the song forward in collaboration with drums.  Saxophones sing out the melody just overhead.

“Epilogue” gets back to languorous, peaceful expressions.  Sax, out front, coos the melody.  Electric guitar twitters in the background, sometimes slipping into the foreground… its melodic accompaniment is essential, adding some depth and detail to sax’s simple, gorgeous statements.  The song very much has a sound reminiscent of Moreaux’s Fall Somewhere.

“11” has a melody that melts as it plays.  There’s a slow, almost sleepy expressiveness to it.  Set against a brisk shuffle tempo, it’s a nifty bit of subtle contrast that goes a long way, perhaps unnoticed.

The perky “Bibi” ambles along, in no hurry, but its conversational style is pointed and direct.  Likewise, “Nico” also toys subtly with the cadence, slipping abrupt motions into an otherwise laid-back tune.

The album ends with two brief tunes.  The toy piano of “Albert’s Place” contrasts sweetly with the wavering tones of organ.  “Healing Process” closes things out with a rare instance of elevated heat.  Electric guitar and crashing drums highlight the grand finale.  It’s a nice, fun way to bring down the curtain on an album whose every breath is one of calm serenity.

Your album personnel:  Jeremy Udden (alto sax, pump organ, Prophet 5 synth), Nicolas Moreaux (acoustic bass, toy piano), Robert Stillman (tenor sax, pump organ, piano), Pierre Perchaud (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo), RJ Miller (drums) and guest: Pete Rende (CS-60 keyboard, Prophet 5 synth, pump organ, organ).

 

Released on Sunnyside Records.

Jazz from the NYC and Paris scenes.

Available at:  Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 2 • Tags: , ,

Mar 29 2015

Recommended: Ben Goldberg – Orphic Machine

 

Ben Goldberg - "Orphic Machine"Sneaky avant-garde is a phrase that’s been thrown out there to describe the music of Ben Goldberg.  His style is strikingly unconventional, and he seems to abide by cryptic rules of engagement when it comes to his creative vision and the listener’s ear.  Whether it’s a modern post-bop style or something more traditional, or, in other instances, immersions into klezmer, folk, blues, classical or music that simply falls under the heading of experimental, Goldberg deftly crafts his inspirations into something immutably tuneful.  No matter how many walls a listener might have to scale to engage with Goldberg’s challenging music, he always manages to leave plenty of plateaus and footholds along the way so that, surprisingly, it feels like a walk in the park.  It’s not an easy to thing to make an avant-garde project wholly embraceable, but Goldberg pulls it off time and again.

No better example of this can be found than his newest release, the 2015 recording, Orphic Machine, which features an all-star line-up of trumpeter Ron Miles, pianist Myra Melford, vibraphonist Kenny Wollesen, drummer Ches Smith, bassist Greg Cohen, tenor saxophonist Rob Sudduth, guitarist Nels Cline, and violinist Carla Kihlstedt, who also has an outstanding turn at singing words taken from a book about poetry.

Not actual poetry.  Just words about writing and reading poetry.  A treatise on the subject, with not a bit of actual poetic verse to be found.  And yet, Goldberg’s ensemble brings it to life in a way that takes it out of the classroom and sends it out running free and wild.  This is the equivalent of novelist John Barth scripting an epic story by including instructions on how to write an epic story.  It illustrates that art is what we view it to be, and the ability to frame something didactic into something majestic is just a creative inspiration away.

As Kihlstedt’s voice, like a plume of smoke, sings about “the function of poetry” and “the act of care” and the “autonomic systems of which consciousness is a contingency,” the ensemble matches her enthralling vocal turns with passages of New Orleans traditional, blistering guitar rock, angular post-bop, Motown R&B and more.  They are walking down the halls of the traditional and the past while humming a new tune for the new day.

On this album, quiet lullabies grow into grand celebrations, get-up-and-dance grooves transition to electric guitar burns, and the strong pulse of bass and crash of drums disperse for lighthearted passages and sunny jaunts.  For as challenging as this project is, there is an irrepressible charm that is as winning as it gets.

It’s the kind of thing that should be clunky or cheesy or disingenuous or simply fall flat on its face.  But Goldberg’s ensemble brings an immaculate lyricism to the affair that is simply magnetic, not to mention unabashedly fun.

The words are taken from a book by Allen Grossman (The Sighted Singer: Two Works on Poetry for Readers and Writers), a former professor of Goldberg’s from back in the day.  Sadly, Allen Grossman recently passed away.  But what a lovely thing to do, to give new life to old words, and expressed in a way, perhaps, the original creator never envisioned.

An absolutely striking album, supremely enchanting, and when measured in terms of difficulty of challenge, an outstanding achievement.

Go buy this album.  It’s one of the best purchases you’ll make all year.

Your album personnel:  Ben Goldberg (clarinets), Ron Miles (trumpet), Rob Sudduth (tenor sax), Myra Melford (piano), Nels Cline (electric guitars), Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone, percussion), Greg Cohen (bass) and Ches Smith (drums, percussion).

Released on Goldberg’s label BAG Productions in collaboration with Royal Potato Family.

Jazz from NYC.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon

*****

Ben Goldberg - "Unfold Ordinary Mind"Explore more of Goldberg’s music on his Bandcamp page.  The first album I’d recommend is his excellent 2013 release, Unfold Ordinary Mind. Read more about that recording on this site (LINK).

 

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 2

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