New Jazz Adds – 11/19/2019
New Jazz Adds – 11/19/2019
Karrin Allyson Sextet – Shoulder To Shoulder Centennial Tribute To Women’s Suffrage (eOne): It’s time for another reminder about inequality in the land of the free and the Karrin Allyson Sextet is a terrific way to start. The group features Karrin Allyson (vocals), Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Mindi Abair (alto sax), Helen Sung (piano), Endea Owens (bass) and Allison Miller (drums) with guests Mariea Antoinette (harp), Antonia Bennett (vocal), Regina Carter (violin), Olivia Culpo (vocal), Kait Dunton (organ, Rhodes), Denise Donatelli (vocal), Kurt Elling (vocal), Emily Estefan (vocal), Roberta Flack (quotes), Pauline Jean (vocal), Madeleine Peyroux (vocal), Kate Reid (vocal), Rapsody (rap), Veronica Swift (vocal), Ragan Whiteside (flute) with guest readers Harry Belafonte, Rosanne Cash, Peter Eldridge, Lalah Hathaway and Julie Swidler and strings by Abigail Young and Arianne Urban (violins), Yael Hyken (viola) and Ashley Garritson (cello) and the First Women’s Chorale. This is a major statement and a certified Professor Bebop “Wax Devoid of Cracks”! Click here to listen to samples of this disc.
Jon Batiste – Chronology Of A Dream: Live At The Village Vanguard (Verve): “My compositions on ‘Chronology of a Dream’ focus on thematic development within short form structures with memorable melodic themes,” Batiste wrote of the release on Twitter.” (https://lab.fm/genres/jazz/jon-batiste-releases-live-album-chronology-of-a-dream/) Batiste wrote all but two of the songs on offer and those songs are “Soulful” (Roy Hargrove) and “Story” co-written with Hargrove, who sang on “ORDR”. Accompanying musicians are Joe Saylor (drums), Negah Santos (percussion), Phil Kuehn (bass), Tivon Pennicott (tenor sax), Patrick Bartley (alto sax), Giveton Gelin (trumpet), Jon Lampley (tuba, trumpet) and Louis Cato (guitar on “BLACCK”). This is hip connected solidly to NOLA and funky enough to make you think you are there! Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Kenyatta Beasley Septet – Frank Foster Songbook (ArtvsTransit): Trumpet player Kenyatta Beasley was born in New Orleans and like several other players of his age was heavily influenced by Frank Foster, who had been a member of Count Basie’s band and who introduced Beasley to the many jazz pathways that were available to him. Beasley’s desire was to honor Foster’s composing and style and he chose the live venue to best accomplish that task. The players include Vincent Gardner (trombone), Mark Gross (alto sax), Keith Loftis (tenor and soprano sax), Alvester Garnett (drums), Dezron Douglas (bass) and Anthony Wonsey (piano) with special guests Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Carla Cook (vocals), Mark Whitfield (guitar) and Eric Wyatt (tenor sax). This performance was recorded live in June of 2012 according to the disc, but other sources suggest 2013 is correct. Nonetheless, there are several wonderful tributes to Foster by the players on this release. Click here to listen the performances on this disc.
Big Boy Brass – Breaking The Buskers Code (Self-produced): This is the second release for the Big Boy Brass based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At this time, they are a nine piece band featuring Connor Devin (sousaphone), Matthew Woodson (drums, percussion), Dominic Mascaro (trombone), Sam Yoder (trombone, guitar), Tim Zettlemoyer (trombone), Ben Ewing and Vincent Shickora (trumpets) and Paul Berry and Nick Franks (tenor sax). They have a good sound and level of energy. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Tammi Brown – Taxonomy Of Pleasure (Self-produced): “The Lost American JazzBook’s, “Taxonomy of Pleasure” features the extraordinary jazz and gospel singer Tammi Brown. Tammi has performed with everyone from Quincy Jones to Stanley Jordan and from Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir to Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra. She is the new voice of the JazzBook, original songs written in the style of the American art song tradition—the jazz standard. It’s inspired by everyone from Billy Strayhorn to Thelonious Monk to Antonio Carlos Jobim. JazzBook’s first album won “Jazz Vocal Album of the Year” from the 14th Independent Music Awards. “The music is creative and timeless. It is elegant and eloquent in how it inhabits the musical landscape. A fresh addition to the American Songbook. Truly original and beautifully done.” (Jeffrey Wood, Studio Director, Fantasy Studios) The Lost American JazzBook’s, “Taxonomy of Pleasure” features the extraordinary jazz and gospel singer Tammi Brown. Tammi has performed with everyone from Quincy Jones to Stanley Jordan and from Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir to Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra. She is the new voice of the JazzBook, original songs written in the style of the American art song tradition—the jazz standard. It’s inspired by everyone from Billy Strayhorn to Thelonious Monk to Antonio Carlos Jobim. JazzBook’s first album won “Jazz Vocal Album of the Year” from the 14th Independent Music Awards.
“The music is creative and timeless. It is elegant and eloquent in how it inhabits the musical landscape. A fresh addition to the American Songbook. Truly original and beautifully done.” (Jeffrey Wood, Studio Director, Fantasy Studios) This is an amazing, if sometimes difficult, collection of songs and performances and it is worth every minute and every listening! Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Dave Douglas – Engage (Greenleaf Music): “ENGAGE is a direct descendant of UPLIFT, the 2018 set of compositions dedicated to positive action. We will be following up with all the organizations and causes invoked in that piece. And engaged in community and activism. People showed up in 2018, and our hope is that this trend will continue. We are going to need to be engaged to make the changes that will save our environment, our equality, our sciences and humanities. My hope is that everyone, in every field, will be involved and engaged in this work. Writing and performing these pieces is a reminder to myself not to get mired in the negativity — to stay positive and engaged through music daily.
We’re digging into that optimism musically in these pieces. The compositional rule was simply to build them all out of major triads. Each of the twelve pieces approaches that in a different way, and they were built for this collaborative and communicative ensemble with Anna Webber (alto and bass flutes, tenor sax), Tomeka Reid (cello), Jeff Parker (guitar), Nick Dunston (bass), and Kate Gentile (drums).” (https://davedouglas.bandcamp.com/album/engage)
There is a fair amount of variety in this set and plenty to enjoy. Click here to listen to several of the songs on this release.
Kit Downs – Dreamlife Of Debris (ECM): Beautiful compositions for the interactions of these wonderful musicians: Kit Downs (piano, organ), Tom Challenger (tenor sax), Lucy Railton (cello), Stian Westerhus (guitar) and Sebastian Rochford (drums). Downs composed six of the songs and co-composed “Blackeye” with Tom Challenger. The outlier is “M7” which was composed by Ruth Goller. Beautiful sounds and interactions throughout. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Avram Fefer Quartet – Testament (CleanFeed): “Avram Fefer’s new Clean Feed release, Testament, is the kind of project that excites and entices even on paper. First there’s Fefer, the saxophonist and composer who has been an important contributor to the adventurous New York scene for the past quarter-century, and whose collaborators have included Bobby Few, Archie Shepp, the Last Poets, Sunny Murray, Tony Allen, Reggie Washington, Roy Campbell and many others. Joining him are two of his closest and longest-running comrades, who are also among the finest improvising musicians of their generation: Eric Revis, the powerhouse bassist whose experience boasts both the far reaches of the avant-garde and his veteran role as the anchor of the Branford Marsalis Quartet; and drummer Chad Taylor, a co-founder of the Chicago Underground ensembles and the percussive choice for visionaries like Pharoah Sanders, Peter Brötzmann and Marc Ribot—the Downtown guitar stalwart and a coup for everyone from John Zorn to Tom Waits, Robert Plant and Elvis Costello—could properly be called Testament’s X factor. Following two acclaimed trio projects featuring Revis and Taylor, 2011’s Eliyahu and 2009’s Ritual, Fefer was interested to hear how Ribot’s inimitable presence might inform his unit’s telepathic, spiritually-informed chemistry, and how the guitarist might interpret the leader’s explorative yet groove-conscious original music.” (https://cleanfeed-records.com/product/testament/) It’s a wonderful and often wild ride! Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Jan Garbarek / The Hilliard Ensemble – Remember me, my dear (ECM): “Made shortly before the dissolution of the Hilliard Ensemble in 2014, this live recording first appeared in the fall of 2019. It thus has the quality of a swan song for the unique collaboration of the Hilliard Ensemble and saxophonist Jan Garbarek, which still sounds fresh many years after it was first developed. The way the cool textures of the Hilliard’s singing and Garbarek’s saxophone bring together the disparate worlds of medieval music, contemporary music including Baltic minimalism, and jazz remains fascinating.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/remember-me-my-dear-mw0003312271) In addition to Jan Garbarek’s soprano sax, the Hilliard Ensemble’s singers are David James (countertenor), Rogers Covey-Crump (tenor), Steven Harrold (tenor) and Gordon Jones (baritone). Click here to listen to samples from this recording.
Jonathan Kreisberg – Capturing Spirits – JKQ Live! (NFN): Guitarist/composer Jonathan Kreisberg is a unique and amazing guitarist. This disc is a live performance and with the exception of “Body And Soul” the rest of the set are Kreisberg’s original works. The other players on this recording are Martin Bejerano (piano), Matt Clohesy (bass) and Colin Stranahan (drums). The group bonded wonderfully and they swing with beauty and electricity! Any guitar lovers either know his work or should find this release immediately! Great flow and imagination. Click here to listen to an introduction to this disc.
Maciej Obara Quartet – Three Crowns (ECM): Alto saxophonist Maciej Obara has been recording as a leader since 2007 and has numerous releases to his credit. The quartet features Obara on alto sax, Dominik Wania (piano), Ole Morten Vaagan (bass) and Gard Nilssen (drums) and presents eight compositions, six of which are Obara’s compositions. His alto is wonderful and flows throughout the disc which presents a goodly amount of swing influence as well. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Ralph Peterson’s Gen-Next Bigband – Listen Up! (Self-produced): “Onyx Productions, the music label founded and spearheaded by iconic drummer, bandleader and Berklee professor Ralph Peterson Jr., is proud to announce the November 12th release of Listen Up!, the second album from Peterson’s Gen-Next Big Band. Following in the Jazz Messenger tradition of mentorship, the Gen-Next Big Band features an exciting lineup of some of Berklee College of Music’s brightest young musicians and employs Blakey’s signature two-drummer format. These young Berklee students are granted the opportunity to work alongside Peterson and special guest trombonist Kuumba Frank Lacy, two Jazz Messenger alumni.” (https://lydialiebman.com/index.php/2019/10/04/new-release-ralph-petersons-gen-next-big-band-to-release-listen-up-on-november-12th/) The band performs songs by Curtis Fuller, Bobby Watson, Hoagy Carmichael, Freddie Hubbard, and Wayne Shorter. The student musicians are Robert Vega-Dowda, Yuta Yamagichi, Milena Casado Faquet, Will Mallard and John Michael Bradford (trumpets); Brandon Lin, Stephan, Dean Scarlett and Ethan Santos (trombones); Eric Nakanishi, Craig Jackson, Solomon Alber, Tim Murphy, Gabe Nekrutman and Morga Faw (saxes); Joe Melnicore (flute); Chloe Brisson (vocalist); Christian Napoleon and Samuel Bolduc (drums); Youngchae Jeong and Nikos Chatzitsakos (bass) and Manfredi Caputo (percussion). Click here to listen to “Time Will Tell” from this release.
Kopasetically,
Professor Bebop
