jazz adds november 10, 2014
a week of 
‘s
nels cline + julian lage. room. mack avenue. Duets from contemporary guitar master improvisers: nels cline (ex of wilco), and young’un julian lage (26, from the late jim hall umbrella). composition–collaboratively original– expresses gratitude to mr. hall in every musical measure. sublime.
Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge – two stellar guitarists, playing Martin guitars from the ’30’s, recorded these tracks at Avalon Theater in MD in April. four are originals and the rest date back to the 20’s and 30’s, mix of instrumentals and tunes with Eldridge on vocals. Thanks to Peter for this one.
eric hofbauer. prehistoric jazz-volume 1: the rite of spring. creative nation. Popular flavor of 2014 is covering the rite of stravinsky, but the ” prehistoric jazz” part comes from conductor leonard bernstein trying to get some rhythm from his musicians. Boston-based, top tier guitarist eric hofbauer uses his quintet to shake the cobwebs out of birthing the universe; his is a wind ensemble rather than the piano trio of the bad plus. jerry sabatini, trumpet; todd brunel, clarinet, bass & b-flat; junko fujiwara,cello; curt newton@ drums.
eric hofbauer. prehistoric jazz-volume 2: quintet for the end of time. creative nation. Volume 2 uses the same excellent chamber quintet as the rite, but takes on olivier messiaen’s daunting quatuor pour le fin du temps. a devout Catholic, composer/pianist messiaen staged the first quatuor @ a camp in Silesia where he & other musicians (cellist etienne pasquier) were POWs. it would have been “degenerate art” to the nazis–but to musical history it is a lifeline to the living. meditative, avant-garde, from 1941.
rik wright. fundamental forces. hipsync. moody that switches to gently gut-bucket to meditative. Seattle-based quartet led by guitarist/composer rik wright with james dejoie spreading his reed skills over alto, bari, clari & flute; george harper, bass; greg campbell@ drums.
larry corban. the corbanator. nabroc. The aperturistic trio of corban–guitar, harvie s.–bass; steve williams@drums + one, james weidman, elegant on piano. mostly originals, stylishly varied, the secret ingredient in this mix is guitarist corban and the many ways he duets himself; though his solo on don’t lock the top is pretty pure.
eric johnson + mike stern. eclectic. concord. Two guitar heroes, jazzman mike stern and Austin-based rocker eric johnson compose & perform a collaborative playlist. blues respresented by red house, and benny’s man’s blues; sidemen include anton fig@ drums; chris maresh, bass; + vocalists leni stern, malford milligan. polished.
throttle elevator music. area J. wide hive. Our friends at wide hive are calling this garage band meets jazz, or maybe even coltrane. area j is second installment, the brainchild of producer gregory howe. San Fran. CA musicians include multi-instrumentalist ( bass, guitar, piano) matt montgomery; mike hughes @ drums; and the tenor tower kamasi washington. friendly.
jimmy greene. beautiful life. mack avenue. Tenor musican jimmy greene lost his six year old daughter ana in the school shootings at Newtown, Conn. with the support of norman chesky of mack avenue, and musicians–kenny barron, kurt elling, christian mcbride, lewis nash, cyrus chestnut–greene tributes his daughter’s life with songs, voices that she loved. Tender, quiet memorial of unimaginable loss.
brian charette. good tipper. posi-tone. Organ trio to like. brian charette enjoys the B3 and here shares the spotlight with avi thobard & yotam silberstein on guitars; jordan young& mark ferber @ drums; joe sucato, sax. what won me over was the cover of john barry’s you only live twice; now if i can just get charette to do a james bond playlist.
candido. the master. chesky. Conguero candido camero was born in Havana in 1921; that makes him 93 years old. Chesky records tributes this master of the three conga drums who has played with Billie, Dizzy, Machito, Duke, Charlie & Stan. large horn & percussion band, all originals (by Ray Santos) except lagrimas negras.
julie kelly. happy to be. jazzed media. Experienced West Coast vocalist polishes her irreverent great American songbook playlist ( you’re the dangerous type, the blues according to orpheus) and selects great collaborators: anthony wilson on guitar; bill cunliffe, piano/arrg. + joe la barbera@ drums & many horns.
marianne solivan. spark. hipnotic. Latin vocalist, conservatory trained, second recording shows she can let it rip ( ruben blades el cantante) and keep it close (tender as a rose). great supports: xavier davis, piano; gregory hutchinson @ drums; matthew parrish, bass. like julie kelly, her playlist engages with accomplished singing & subtle delivery.
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
