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Jazzwise Editor's Choice, June 2024 (new albums) |
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snobb ![]() Forum Admin Group ![]() ![]() Site Admin Joined: 22 Dec 2010 Location: Vilnius Status: Offline Points: 29003 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posted: 22 May 2024 at 6:41am |
Fonstret 9-13 ‘In the epic 45 minute re-imaginings of songs such as ‘African Bossa Nova’ and 'rooh (the soul)' there is a subversion of form that makes the original material a rich acorn from which springs the giant beauty of the title, to be possibly interpreted not so much as a towering height that induces an exciting vertigo as a breadth of structural variety that makes the music a thrilling ride.’ Jamie Baum Sunnyside/Bandcamp ‘Jamie Baum’s fifth recording with her incredible Septet+ ensemble sees the New York-based flute player and composer dipping her toes for the first time into the world of spoken word and art song. Seven of Baum’s 10 compositions here respond to works by eminent 20th and 21st-century female poets – Adrienne Rich, Marge Piercy, Tracy K. Smith, Lucille Clifton, and Naomi Shihab Nye. A constellation of vocal luminaries joins Baum on this audacious sonic journey, with Theo Bleckmann, Sara Serpa, Aubrey Johnson, and Kokayi infusing each song with a unique timbral and emotional resonance.’ Joonas Haavisto/Kestutis Vaiginis Eight Islands Records ‘There's a crystalline stillness to this music in its use of space, wispy but insistent melody, and sacral tone, but dig deeper and you'll find an assertiveness and confidence to the duo's playing, both solo and with each other, that lifts this from 'good' to 'remarkable'.’ Gary Husband Self-release/BFD Records ‘If there’s an album that Husband’s work most resonates with, it’s probably Jarrett’s The Melody at Night, with You which shares a similar sense of longing yet isolation, love yet out of reachness. A special recording indeed.’ Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer Mack Avenue ‘The whole album is beautifully recorded with a vivid impression of being in the room with the two bassists, whose joint empathy for their main instrument is perfectly summed up on an absorbing version of ‘Days of Wine and Roses’.’ Jasmine Myra Gondwana ‘Jasmine Myra’s music is reasonably considered spiritual jazz, a presumption invited by her presence on Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana label, whose lingua franca is meditative minimalism and softly blissful elevation. She doesn’t, though, quite fit the genre’s cliched signifiers. Her flute on this second album’s title track isn’t, for instance, pastoral but it has a swaying rhythmic root. The song feels ceremonial, and Myra’s alto is languidly relaxed, her tone burry, warm and light, a comforting, cushioning, counselling sound expressing her music’s essence.’ Ron Miles Blue Note ‘It’s hard to process that Ron Miles is no longer with us. In our present world of disharmony, his generous soul is much needed. Miles, Blade and Frisell are kindred spirits: each great listeners, each wear their virtuosity lightly, each creates more space than they fill. And it’s in those spaces between that the magic distils.’ Julie Sassoon/Lothar Ohlmeier/Mia Ohlmeier Jazzwerkstatt ‘Inside Colours Live feels like the opening of a new chapter in this subtly independent musical family’s story.’ Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers Red Hook Records ‘Smith’s trademarks - the glowering sustains; carefully controlled descents and glinting muted timbres - are particularly effective against an equally vivid but often more economic style from Myers... A sumptuous offering from two masters.’ Jack Walrath Cellar Live ‘Jack Walrath has been living and playing jazz in NYC since 1970, working with a host of luminaries, not least Charles Mingus. Over the course of more than 30 albums as a leader he’s carved out a formidable reputation as performer and composer, working in exactly the kind of tough swinging post-bop that has its spiritual home in Spike Wilner’s legendary Smalls club. This recording captures him on front of an eminently simpatico line-up, running through some of his extensive back catalogue of compositions with panache and gusto and a decent helping of hip, sardonic NYC front.’ Vasilis Xenopoulos/Paul Edis Quartet Ubuntu Music ‘Xenopoulos places himself firmly in the ‘straight-ahead’ stylistic category and has never concealed his admiration for Dexter Gordon and Hank Mobley, this showing every time he plays. This new group which has been out on the road recently stays broadly with that unfussy mindset and it’s a pleasing success.’ Edited by snobb - 22 May 2024 at 6:43am |
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