What Are You Listening To? October 2019
- Thread starter JazzyRandy
- Start date
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Jonathan Finlayson - Moment and the Message (2013)
Kneebody - The Line (2013)
I describe this as letting some bonafied Jazzed musicians do their thing over a sound mix created by a keyboard wizard who mixes in a lot of effects and, for lack of a better word, noodling into the backdrop. Although, as is often the case with these albums, the backdrop alters the soundscape so much from what Jazz listeners are accustomed to that it is hard for the sound(s) to remain in the background -- the keyboard wizardry plays as much in the foreground as the horns, drums, and anything else.
Similar (though also different) to what Donny McCaslin started doing around this same time. Also similar to what Me'shell Ndgecello did around this time. I took JazzySon to a concert she performed at Duke University back around this time, and she had a keyboard guy (the same here) who was basically the star of the show. JazzySon (at around 12/13 years old) was blown away, watching the guy lose his mind and go spastic while playing with the dozens of keyboards/tools/instruments that surrounded him. It was a great show. But I digress.
The band includes some musicians known in the Jazz community, such as Ben Wendel (sax), Nate Wood (drums), and Shane Endsley (trumpet).
Worth a listen if you like this kind of stuff, or if you're feeling experimental.
I describe this as letting some bonafied Jazzed musicians do their thing over a sound mix created by a keyboard wizard who mixes in a lot of effects and, for lack of a better word, noodling into the backdrop. Although, as is often the case with these albums, the backdrop alters the soundscape so much from what Jazz listeners are accustomed to that it is hard for the sound(s) to remain in the background -- the keyboard wizardry plays as much in the foreground as the horns, drums, and anything else.
Similar (though also different) to what Donny McCaslin started doing around this same time. Also similar to what Me'shell Ndgecello did around this time. I took JazzySon to a concert she performed at Duke University back around this time, and she had a keyboard guy (the same here) who was basically the star of the show. JazzySon (at around 12/13 years old) was blown away, watching the guy lose his mind and go spastic while playing with the dozens of keyboards/tools/instruments that surrounded him. It was a great show. But I digress.
The band includes some musicians known in the Jazz community, such as Ben Wendel (sax), Nate Wood (drums), and Shane Endsley (trumpet).
Worth a listen if you like this kind of stuff, or if you're feeling experimental.
David Gilmore - Energies Of Change (2015)
Jaimeo Brown - Transcendence (2013)
At its core, this is a drums/sax/bass album of the sort that JD Allen prefers. Being headlined and composed by the drummer here (Brown,) this includes wordless vocals of the seeking/spiritual sort, bluesy and/or funkadelic-ish guitar flourishes.
Taken as a whole, this will sound unlike most anything you listen to lately. But it is one of those albums that reward despite that unusual combination of influences and contributions. The vision of Brown truly holds this together.
At its core, this is a drums/sax/bass album of the sort that JD Allen prefers. Being headlined and composed by the drummer here (Brown,) this includes wordless vocals of the seeking/spiritual sort, bluesy and/or funkadelic-ish guitar flourishes.
Taken as a whole, this will sound unlike most anything you listen to lately. But it is one of those albums that reward despite that unusual combination of influences and contributions. The vision of Brown truly holds this together.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Bertram Turetzky - A Recital Of New Music (1964)
Vinyl Rip Of The Day.
The ARSC Journal recently profiled Advance Recordings, one of the key avant garde labels in America. This motivated me to track down their first release. Turetzky was (and still is, at age 86) one of the major innovators on the bass. This album presents six contemporary pieces that demonstrate how versatile this seemingly limited instrument can be in the hands of a master. The above collection on Spotify has all of them and many more.
on the Sam-O-Meter.
Vinyl Rip Of The Day.
The ARSC Journal recently profiled Advance Recordings, one of the key avant garde labels in America. This motivated me to track down their first release. Turetzky was (and still is, at age 86) one of the major innovators on the bass. This album presents six contemporary pieces that demonstrate how versatile this seemingly limited instrument can be in the hands of a master. The above collection on Spotify has all of them and many more.
on the Sam-O-Meter.
Miguel Zenón - Identities Are Changeable (2014)
The music here (quartet and big band) is kick ass Jazz. If anyone has picked up the mantle of smoothest most professional sax player from Joshua Redman, it is Zenon. Notes never sound out of place, whether he's playing fast or slow, hard or soft. He owns this.
The way the interviews are dropped into the mix makes the insertions less of an interruption of the music than a part of the composition. I don't listen to this a lot, so I still appreciate listening the people talking about their lives. I've heard other albums like this, with voice/speech playing at the same time as the music, and I'd usually rather hear the music or vocals separately. Here, neither every feels like an interruption of the other. They both belong here.
Zenon did avery good great job composing this. The music simmers in the background while the people are speaking, and builds to a leading voice when the people are not speaking. That took a lot of effort and planning, and goes to show how important this project was to Zenon.
NPR: Jazz Night In America said:
The music here (quartet and big band) is kick ass Jazz. If anyone has picked up the mantle of smoothest most professional sax player from Joshua Redman, it is Zenon. Notes never sound out of place, whether he's playing fast or slow, hard or soft. He owns this.
The way the interviews are dropped into the mix makes the insertions less of an interruption of the music than a part of the composition. I don't listen to this a lot, so I still appreciate listening the people talking about their lives. I've heard other albums like this, with voice/speech playing at the same time as the music, and I'd usually rather hear the music or vocals separately. Here, neither every feels like an interruption of the other. They both belong here.
Zenon did a
Wayne Escoffery - The Only Son of One (2012)
Lots of passionate composition and playing here. To me, it sounds very inspirational. Not religiously, but in the sense of I Can Go Take That Hill type of inspiration.
Lots of passionate composition and playing here. To me, it sounds very inspirational. Not religiously, but in the sense of I Can Go Take That Hill type of inspiration.
Ambrose Akinmusire - When The Heart Emerges Glistening (2011)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Charlie Doesn't Surf - s/t (2019)
Julian Lage - Arclight (2016)
Great fun guitar trio album.
Great fun guitar trio album.
John Escreet - Sabotage and Celebration (2013)
English young lion pianist whose youth is obvious from the enthusiastic risk-taking that is all over this album. In addition to some keyboard experimentation, Escreet includes a string section, some big name buddies (David Binney and Chris Potter,) the occasional vocalist and/or guitarist, and a brass section. It's like he thought this was going to be his only shot at releasing an album and he figured he might as well include everything he every wanted to do.
All over the musical map, and all kinds of fun.
English young lion pianist whose youth is obvious from the enthusiastic risk-taking that is all over this album. In addition to some keyboard experimentation, Escreet includes a string section, some big name buddies (David Binney and Chris Potter,) the occasional vocalist and/or guitarist, and a brass section. It's like he thought this was going to be his only shot at releasing an album and he figured he might as well include everything he every wanted to do.
All over the musical map, and all kinds of fun.
Daniel Rosenboom - Book Of Omens (2013)
Rosenboom is a trumpeter with the right connections -- aiding and abetting him on this album are the acclaimed eclecticist Vinny Golia, as well as the acclaimed electric bassist Tim Lefebvre.
Golia is a mostly outside-the-box saxophonist who squonks nearly as much as he plays melody, but he's actually not difficult to listen to. This album goes double electric with an electric guitar joining the plugged-in bass, and it shoots for a lot of atmospheric stretches. Considering the season we're in, this would make a really nice album to play during an October dinner party with the right guests.
There are times I think of this, put it on, and take it off after a few minutes. It is not an album for all times. Yet, there are also times I put it on and lose myself in it. It depends on my mood.
For those counting at home, this is a quintet outing: trumpet, sax (sometimes contra-alto clarinet), electric guitar, electric bass, drums.
Rosenboom is a trumpeter with the right connections -- aiding and abetting him on this album are the acclaimed eclecticist Vinny Golia, as well as the acclaimed electric bassist Tim Lefebvre.
Golia is a mostly outside-the-box saxophonist who squonks nearly as much as he plays melody, but he's actually not difficult to listen to. This album goes double electric with an electric guitar joining the plugged-in bass, and it shoots for a lot of atmospheric stretches. Considering the season we're in, this would make a really nice album to play during an October dinner party with the right guests.
There are times I think of this, put it on, and take it off after a few minutes. It is not an album for all times. Yet, there are also times I put it on and lose myself in it. It depends on my mood.
For those counting at home, this is a quintet outing: trumpet, sax (sometimes contra-alto clarinet), electric guitar, electric bass, drums.
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Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Claustronaut - The Kosmiche Bop Continuum Vol. 2 (2019)
Very weird experimental music. I like it. It's got a good beat, and I can bug out to it.
And no, I haven't heard Vol.1.
Very weird experimental music. I like it. It's got a good beat, and I can bug out to it.
And no, I haven't heard Vol.1.
Jason Palmer - Places (2014)
Palmer may be my favorite Jazz trumpeter of the last few years. Great songs, and masterful, imaginative playing. I've yet to be disappointed with an album.
Palmer, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, put a twist on the Jazz tradition of releasing albums that are a Jazz versions of that generation's (or previous generations') popular music. Think Gershwin or Sinatra, etc. Palmer has released albums featuring the music of Minnie Riperton, Janelle Monae, and Anita Baker. The first two are fantastic. I'll be getting the third VERY soon.
Palmer may be my favorite Jazz trumpeter of the last few years. Great songs, and masterful, imaginative playing. I've yet to be disappointed with an album.
Palmer, a professor at the Berklee College of Music, put a twist on the Jazz tradition of releasing albums that are a Jazz versions of that generation's (or previous generations') popular music. Think Gershwin or Sinatra, etc. Palmer has released albums featuring the music of Minnie Riperton, Janelle Monae, and Anita Baker. The first two are fantastic. I'll be getting the third VERY soon.
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Miles Okazaki - Trickster (2017)
The guitarist of choice for Steve Coleman over the last few albums, Okazaki, joined by electric bassist Anthony Tidd (another Coleman regular) delivers an obtusely funky Jazz album. Adding pianist Craig Taborn doubles down on the obtusity of the music. This is great listening, but it works much more successfully with deep listening.
Despite a dearth of melody, I like this a lot. It's tricky to catch melodies here, but I find them in the bass playing moreso than the guitar or piano. The guitar and piano kind of skitter about, repeating and alternating statements, in a mathematical way, without being tied to melody. I can't help but wonder what it would have sounded like with other instruments joining in here and there. The sparseness of some of the tracks is definitely part of its appeal, but that spare sound also make me wonder if the space could have been successfully filled. A minor quibble.
The guitarist of choice for Steve Coleman over the last few albums, Okazaki, joined by electric bassist Anthony Tidd (another Coleman regular) delivers an obtusely funky Jazz album. Adding pianist Craig Taborn doubles down on the obtusity of the music. This is great listening, but it works much more successfully with deep listening.
Despite a dearth of melody, I like this a lot. It's tricky to catch melodies here, but I find them in the bass playing moreso than the guitar or piano. The guitar and piano kind of skitter about, repeating and alternating statements, in a mathematical way, without being tied to melody. I can't help but wonder what it would have sounded like with other instruments joining in here and there. The sparseness of some of the tracks is definitely part of its appeal, but that spare sound also make me wonder if the space could have been successfully filled. A minor quibble.
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Tom Harrell - Five (2012)
Awwwww man! I forgot about Tom when, two posts up, I proclaimed Jason Palmer as my favorite trumpeter of the moment. I guess I have two favorite trumpeters of the moment.
Auctioneer: "I have two. Do I hear three? Can I get three? Three, three, three?"
Awwwww man! I forgot about Tom when, two posts up, I proclaimed Jason Palmer as my favorite trumpeter of the moment. I guess I have two favorite trumpeters of the moment.
Auctioneer: "I have two. Do I hear three? Can I get three? Three, three, three?"
Matt Brewer - Mythology (2014)
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
Erth - Petricor (2019)
