WTJU 91.1 FM

New Jazz Adds – 6/1/2021

Joao Donato, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad – Joao Donato (João Donato JID007) (Jazz Is Dead): “João Donato might be best known in record-head circles for his brilliant jazz-funk album Quem é Quem, but he’s an absolute living legend and an icon of Brazilian music. He’s also recorded and released albums on American labels and has had his songs performed and/or played with folks like Ron Carter, Ray Barretto, Astrid Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Cal Tjader, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Mongo Santamaria, Stanley Clark, Herbie Mann, Jack McDuff, the Village Callers and others.” (https://jazzisdead.co/joao-donato-1) The sound is light and playful on this set. Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of some songs on this disc. 

Nnennna Freelon – Time Traveler (Origin): “Six-time GRAMMY® Award nominee Nnenna Freelon is known worldwide as a compelling and captivating live performer. Recently, Nnenna starred in the critically acclaimed show Georgia on My Mind: Celebrating the Music of Ray Charles – no stranger to the music of the master singer – she toured with Ray Charles, as well as many other great jazz artists including Ellis Marsalis, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Earl Klugh, Take 6, and others.” (https://www.nnenna.com/about) Freelon has a beautiful and versatile voice. Click here to listen to samples of two songs on this release.

Greg Germann – Tales Of Time (Origin): “New York-based drummer/composer Greg Germann has spent the better part of the last 2 decades touring the world with Broadway shows, and then making his mark as a Telly Award winning film composer, utilizing his background in classical percussion and jazz to guide his hand. With encouragement from an important mentor, drummer Clarence Penn, Greg turned his attention to documenting a collection of his wide-ranging compositions for modern jazz quartet. With Penn producing, they pulled together a group of supreme improvisors including saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Luis Perdomo and bassist Yasushi Nakamura to tackle Germann’s rhythmically expansive & melodically rich works. Recorded in November of 2020, the compositions present a dynamic view of life during the Covid-19 pandemic. From the relentless post-bop opener, “Rush Hour,” to the reflective “Quarantine,” Tales of Time is Germann’s calling card for jazz fans worldwide.” (https://originarts.com/recordings/recording.php?TitleID=82823) This is a rather unique set the seems at times to be super mellow, but some terrific breaks and energetic solos offers some magnificent jazz. Click here to listen to samples of two songs from this disc.

Joel Harrison – Guitar Talk (Cuneiform): “Guitar Talk is a collection of intimate guitar duet recordings featuring Joel Harrison with Ben Monder, Steve Cardenas, Pete McCann, David Gilmore, and legendary bassist Steve Swallow. Joel Harrison penned nine of the original compositions in 2019. The other two cuts are solo efforts, a gem-like rendition of Eillington’s Reflections in D, and a haunting solo take on America the Beautiful. All tracks were recorded with two amps in a room, no overdubs. Harrison is in the left speaker in all duos.” (https://agsrecordings.bandcamp.com/releases) Terrific musicians offer the beauty of their artistry. Click here to listen to three of the offerings on this release.

Ojoyo – Ojoyo Plays Safrojazz (Sunnyside): “Saxophonist, penny whistle master, and composer Morris Goldberg is perhaps best known for his association with Hugh Masekela. In 1996 he formed the first version of Ojoyo, a group that features his often-celebratory compositions, folk-like melodies that, like the songs of Abdullah Ibrahim, pay homage to his roots in South Africa. The catchy rhythms which are often irresistible, Goldberg’s memorable themes, and the atmospheric ensembles are quite accessible yet, due to the leader’s alto and penny whistle solos and the contributions of his sidemen, music is creative and has its surprising moments. Ojoyo Plays Safrojazz, the 25th Anniversary reissue of Ojoyo’s first album whose sound has been greatly enhanced by remastering, features two overlapping groups. The first seven selections have Goldberg joined by trumpeter Chris Botti, keyboardist Tony Cedras, bassist Bakithi Kumalo, drummer Anton Fig, and percussionist Cyro Baptista with two guest appearances by guitarist Dan Carillo and one from Kofo on the talking drum. The final two performances have Goldberg, Fig and Baptista performing with trumpeter Diego Urcola, tenor-saxophonist Cecilia Tenconi, guitarist John Guth, keyboardist Richard Cummings, and bassist Chulo Gatewood.” (https://sunnysiderecords.bandcamp.com/album/ojoyo-plays-safrojazz)  Click here to listen to “Forward Motion” from this re-release of the wonderful music from South Africa.

Mario Pavone – Blue Vertical (Out Of Your Head): “Blue Vertical is to be the final recording by the legendary bassist and composer Mario Pavone, who passed on May 15 2021. Though in the final stages of a 17-year battle with cancer, Pavone pushed throughout April 2021 to make sure this music would be a part of his recorded legacy. On March 25 and 26 2021 he gathered his Dialect Trio with Matt Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey (an active group since 2014), and the addition of his longtime collaborator Dave Ballou on trumpet, to record the music that has become Blue Vertical. Blue Vertical is releasing simultaneously with the album Isabella on Clean Feed Records. In the interview “Mario Pavone Makes His Final Statement” by journalist Kevin Whitehead (recently featured in Downbeat Magazine), Pavone said: “I’m just happy to get these two releases done. It took every bit of energy, and the music is what got me through. I’ve had a great life and I’m so appreciative of all the players who jumped in and generously contributed, from the heart. I’m grateful, happy, satisfied with my life, ready to move to this next cycle.” The players are Mario Pavone (bass),  Dave Ballou (trumpet), Matt Mitchell (piano) and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) and Pavone wrote all of the songs on this disc. Click here to listen to an introduction and live music by Mario Pavone.

Le Perez – Live At Savanna Jazz (Self-produced): “Before winning Jazz Search West 2017, Le Perez had never set foot in a recording studio. A therapist by profession, Perez majored in social work and spent her career working in psych wards, jails, and chemical dependency units—all while maintaining a deeply ingrained love of music and lifetime membership to the “sing in your shower club.” But as she laughingly says: “I’m old!” It’s time for her retirement career. Perez was convinced by her friends and husband to enter Jazz Search West and she made it through auditions and several rounds before finally performing at Yoshi’s Oakland and winning the grand prize: a demo, recorded at Live Oak Studio. Despite noticing that most of the other contestants were much younger, Perez feels like her experience has given her an edge, especially when it comes to singing her way. She refuses to be pigeonholed into one category, calling herself a “blues-jazz singer” and taking advantage of her range.” (https://liveoakstudio.com/singer-le-perez-steps-into-the-spotlight-at-last/) The next step was is right here. Click here to listen to a live recording.

Anthony Pirog – In Side (Cuneiform): “Guitarist, composer, Joel Harrison has “created a new blueprint for jazz” (New Orleans Times-Picayune). A Guggenheim Fellow (2010) his ever-surprising body of work seamlessly connects multiple American traditions. Succinctly described by the New York Times as “protean… brilliant,” he is also an active film composer. Harrison is the founder and director of the Alternative Guitar Summit.” (https://agsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/in-side) This is what the title ambient is all about. “Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. A form of instrumental music, it may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.” (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=define+ambient+music) Click here for a couple of samples.

Emedin Rivera – Tropical Turbulence (Self-produced): “Percussionist Emedin Rivera is a highly respected and accomplished artist in a vast array of con-temporary music genres. Emedin’s unique rhythmic percussion clearly underscores the Latin-Caribbean-African influences. Emedin has performed with such accomplished artists as Stevie Wonder, Harry Belafonte, LaToya Jackson, Sting, Gregory Hines, and Ben E. King. He has also appeared on The David Letterman Show, Show Time at the Apollo, Dellaventura, The Harry Belafonte PBS Special, and Robert Wuhl’s World Tour…. Emedin is also an accomplished inventor. He invented a custom drum kit called Conga-Toms. Including an unbreakable bongo head that he calls Em-Rays and a shaker that sounds like a rain stick called the Cyclone Shaker.” (https://www.emedinrivera.com/) Click here and scroll down to listen to several songs on this disc. 

Bob Sabellico – Influence (Self-produced): “Imagine, a very young, remarkably talented guitarist from the outskirts of Philadelphia being plucked from a small nightclub and placed in huge arenas with some of the most famous musicians in the world. This is Bob Sabellico and the story is true. At 18 he was chosen to replace guitarist Randy Bachman in the Canadian band,  “The Guess Who,” at the height of their international fame.  This was to be only the beginning of a life long affair with the world of music.” (http://www.bobsabellicomusic.com/) This would be a good time to see how he’s doing! Click here to listen to the “Funky BS”.

Sons Of Kemet – Black To The Future (Impulse): “This is the fourth full-length release for the Shabaka Hutchings-led jazz quartet features guest appearances from Angel Bat Dawid, D Double E, Joshua Edelin, Lianne La Havas, Moor Mother, Kojey Radical, and Steve Williamson.”….”Sons of Kemet is led by tenor saxophonist, clarinetist and composer Shabaka Hutchings who, though he is far too modest to make any such claim himself, is the de facto standard-bearer for the new wave of musicians who have emerged on the London jazz scene since around 2015. The band is one of three Hutchings either leads or co-leads which are signed to Impulse!. The other two are the cosmic-fusion trio The Comet Is Coming and Shabaka & the Ancestors , who are based in South Africa. Hutchings founded Sons Of Kemet in 2011 with tuba player Theon Cross and the drummers Eddie Hick and Tom Skinner. Black To The Future is the band’s fourth album. It was recorded by the founding lineup (the drum chairs have shuffled around a bit over the years)—and it is a stone blinder. Among the chief attributes of Sons Of Kemet—and also of Shabaka & The Ancestors and The Comet Is Coming—is that, however sophisticated the music is on one level, it also resonates with the lived experiences of its audience. It is the junction of the conservatoire and the shaman. There is an edge to it, a sense of drama, of danger, and of healing, too, all of which are absent from so much jazz in 2021 and which have increasingly been missing since the times of first generation bop, hard bop and spiritual jazz, leaving a vacuum into which hip hop and other musics have moved.
Like all Hutchings’ albums, Black To The Future comes with a manifesto-cum-sleeve note. The key passage reads: “The meaning [of the album] is not universal and the cultural context of the listener will shape their understanding…[but] the overarching message remains the same: for humanity to progress we must consider what it means to be Black To The Future.” The narrative is laid out in the sequence of track titles: Field Negus / Pick Up Your Burning Cross / Think of Home / Hustle / For the Culture / To Never Forget the Source / In Remembrance of Those Fallen / Let the Circle Be Unbroken / Envision Yourself Levitating / Throughout the Madness, Stay Strong / Black. Spoken word features extensively and should there be any doubt about the album’s message, it is removed by the performance poets, MCs and rappers who are guest artists. These include Chicago’s Angel Bat Dawid, Philadelphia’s Moor Mother and London’s MC D Double E, Kojey Radical and Joshua Idehen. Instrumental guests include three of the younger stars emerging on the London scene: alto saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi and trombonist Nathaniel Cross. Another particularly welcome face is the pioneering tenor saxophonist Steve Williamson, who pre-pandemic was making a tentative return to the stage following a decade and more out of the public eye fighting depression. One of 2019’s live highlights was Williamson fronting his alma mater, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s, student Jazz Orchestra in a one-night-only performance titled “Celebrating Coltrane.” A decade and more on from graduating from the Guildhall himself, Hutchinson is frequently described as a “saviour of jazz.” What does he think about that? “I think it’s a good marketing technique to sell some papers or get some clicks,” he says. “But I’m just doing my thing. Actually I don’t think jazz was ever in a compromising position, it never really needed saviours.” Be that as it may, Black To The Future is a shot in the arm. (https://www.allaboutjazz.com/black-to-the-future-sons-of-kemet-impulse-records) Personnel: Shabaka Hutchings (woodwinds); Theon Cross (tuba); Tom Skinner (drums); and Eddie Hick (drums) and additional instrumentation: Shabaka Hutchings (tenor sax, clarinet, bass clarinet); Theon Cross (tuba); Eddie Hick (drums, percussion); Tom Skinner (drums, percussion); Steve Williamson (tenor sax); Ife Ogunjobi (trumpet); Nathaniel Cross (trombone); Cassie Kinoshi (alto sax); Kebbi Williams (tenor sax); and Joshua Idehen, Angel Bat Dawid, Moor Mother Kojey Radical, Lianne La Havas and D Double (backing vocals). Click here and scroll way down to listen to songs from this release.

Leni Stern – 4 (Self-produced): “Dance … finds Stern again leading her polyglot New York quartet with Argentine keyboardist Leo Genovese and the Senegalese rhythm duo of bassist Mamadou Ba and percussionist Eladji Alioune Faye…. Leni’s new album – aptly titled 4 – showcases the crystalline guitar, West African rhythms and multilingual songs that listeners know from her recent releases, with Leo’s improvisational fire and hints of South American lyricism added to the mix…. A New Yorker born in Munich, Leni Stern has been digging into West African rhythms and textures for years, studying in Mali and Senegal, performing with the likes of Salif Keita, and working closely with Senegalese bassist Mamadou Ba and percussionist Alioune Faye since her 2013 album Jelell. As suggested by its title, 4 is her fourth collaboration with the pair; it’s her 22nd album overall since 1986. The groove is the thing on 4, and nowhere more so than on “Habib,” with its tumbling percussion (showcased alone on the intro), rubbery interlocking bass lines and solo, and swerving synthesizer. Like other tracks here, it also benefits from Stern’s colorful thicket of guitars and stacked background vocals. And as a one-off bonus, it features a bluesy, liquid improvisation from her husband, fusion six-string ace Mike Stern. Leo Genovese, the Argentina-born keyboardist best known for his work with Esperanza Spalding, considerably expands the trio’s sound palette everywhere. His Japanese-influenced “Japalema” thrives on swirling keys, a piercing guitar outing, and a fleet-fingered piano turn that changes the temperature of the tune, which further evolves in surprising directions. He also contributes “Zamba 264,” its synth banks and quick-shifting chord structure somewhat reminiscent of Joe Zawinul’s work with Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate.” (https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/leni-stern-4-leni-stern/) A large WOW!  Click here to listen to songs on this disc.

Kopasetically,

Professor Bebop