Republic of Jazz: Feb 27, 2017

Monday, February 27, 2017

Flamenco Vivo, the Délice Network and an all-duck menu!

New Standard Duo (Robert Brooks & Eric Binder) - New Standard Duo (ROPEADOPE MUSIC 2017)

New Standard Duo is a hip, new take on the standard jazz duos of the yester-years. After years of playing together, New Standard Duo was officially named with this debut album.

Jazz Journalist/Historian Scott Yanow says, "Drummer Eric Binder and tenor-saxophonist Robert Brooks, both of whom are based in Illinois, have stretched the idea a bit on New Standard Duo. While their improvising has its freer moments, they also stick to the framework and rhythm of the songs. When one considers that there are no chordal or harmony instruments, the fact that listeners can tell where the two musicians are in each tune shows how successful the musicians are at making every sound count, implying the chords and filling in for the "missing" instruments."

As a saxophone and drum duo, Robert Brooks (saxophone) and Eric Binder (drums) specialize in exploring jazz standards in unique ways. Brooks and Binder began playing together as a duo at the University of Illinois while working on Doctoral degrees in Jazz Studies.

1. All The Things You Are 07:04

2. Giant Steps 04:03

3. Pumpkin 04:56

4. Night And Day 05:04

5. Resolution 05:08

6. Alice In Wonderland 05:34

Trio 3: Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman & Oliver Lake - Visiting Texture (INTAKT RECORDS 2017)

Among other things, Visiting Texture illustrates the principle of addition by subtraction. Its the first studio album by Trio 3 as an actual trio with Oliver Lake on alto saxophone, Reggie Workman on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums in more than a decade, since the excellent Time Being in 2006. The intervening years have seen the group work powerfully with some serious guest pianists: notably Geri Allen, Irene Schweizer, Vijay Iyer and Jason Moran.

But theres a specific character to the groups trilateral rapport, which finds full expression here. The working history among these musicians stretches back several decades, rooted in an ideal of collectivity and intuition: their motto has long been a group where music is the leader. Improvisation to a large degree is always having an element of surprise, Cyrille reflects. Even if were playing something thats arranged, we want to spark it so that theres always a certain magic happening as the music is being developed. The entirety of Visiting Texture adheres to that conviction, bound by a spirit of real-time discovery.

01. Bumpe 05:40

02. Bonu 06:08

03. Composite 06:40

04. Epic Man 07:47

05. Stick 04:56

06. A Girl Named Rainbow 07:00

07. 7 for Max 02:52

08. Visiting Texture 10:42

Trio Heinz Herbert - The Willisau Concert (Live) [INTAKT RECORDS 2017]

Eine der grossen Überraschungen am Jazzfestival Willsau 2016 war das Trio Heinz Herbert mit Ramon Landolt, Dominic Landolt und Mario Haenni. Primin Bossart schrieb in der Nordwestschweiz:

Die wunderbar verspielten und gleichzeitig hoch konzentriert agierenden Musiker Ramon Landolt, Dominik Landolt und Mario Hänni legten mit ihrem akustisch-elektronischen Instrumentarium, elaborierten Sound-Landschaften und rhythmisch-dramaturgischen Bögen eine erfrischende Jazz-Ästhetik für die Zukunft.

Der Livemitschnitt des Trios Heinz Herbert wird im März 2017 auf Intakt Records erscheinen: Trio Heinz Herbert: The Willisau Concert. Trio Heinz Herbert feiert die neue CD mit einem 4-tägigen Konzert vom 24. - 27. März 2017 im Walcheturm in Zürich.

1. Granulaire Liebe / LEI 18:08

2. Fragment Z / Brugguda 11:51

3. Hyper Down 11:45

4. Heinz Steps 8:38

5. Planet Cita K 8:29

6. Gumpi Ball 0:59

Greg Abate with the Tim Ray Trio - Road to Forever (WHALING CITY SOUND RECORDS 2017)

Fluent in both saxophone and the great language of bebop, Greg Abate has done nothing if not worked tirelessly across five decades to keep the flame of classic jazz lit. In the hands of a skilled musician like Abate - who made his new record, Road to Forever, with Tim Ray’s trusty trio featuring Ray, John Lockwood and Mark Walker - life and music intertwine on his saxophone. The sound of his brass is an extension of his heart, with no filter or contrivance. Abate’s emotions emerge in nearly every note. “I relate music to life as a parallel outlook,” says Abate in the liner notes of his new recording.

“Like many artists, life and music are working together in us to bring out creative ideas.” In fact, there are creative ideas across all of Road to Forever. “The Dancing Panda” has an agile, danceable groove and a slinky, sexy chord progression. “Farewell Phil Woods” is dedicated to Abate’s inimitable bandmate and collaborator, a talent the bandleader calls “a force of nature.” Abate’s alto sax, laid lightly atop Ray’s piano, resonates with a deep melancholia. But the blue mood is fleeting, as the next track, “Whaling City Sound,” boasts a chill, electric fusion of keys and bass that lifts the tempo with the trio’s inventive ideas. Abate is a musician that is born to play, to create, to collaborate. He is the consummate sharer of the stage, who respects talent and ability and knows that a high tide lifts all boats.

Indeed, Ray, Walker, and Lockwood elevate every project, and Abate provides them with a slate of perfect, largely straight-ahead, compositions for them to dig into. Recorded in a single session with virtually no rehearsals, Road to Forever is as pure as it gets, and a tribute to the power and glory of real bebop.

01. Road to Forever 8:06

02. City of 2-5's 5:39

03. The Dancing Panda 7:07

04. Take the Crowell Train 5:00

05. Farewell Phil Woods 8:26

06. Whaling City Sound 7:05

07. Red Fish Boulevard 5:46

08. Seasons 6:50

09. Buzzardology 6:56

10. Mr. Parker 7:44

Greg Abate, alto & tenor sax, flute

Tim Ray, piano

John Lockwood, acoustic bass, electric bass

Mark Walker, drums and percussion

Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita - Transparent Water (2017)

Omar Sosa seemingly can do no wrong.

Every album the jazz pianist releases is, if not exactly better than the last, arguably more profound. His exploration of Afro-Cuban music in all of its forms ends up sounding like an intense Yoruban meditation on life cycles and existence. His piano is not a musical instrument but a conduit to spiritual awareness. Live and on record, I'm often transported and seduced by his music, which reaches for the sublime and eternal. (Can you tell I'm a fan?)

And just when I thought "No, way, he can't keep raising the bar with every release!" along comes Transparent Water, a record co-credited to Senegalese kora master Seckou Keita.

The music instantaneously transports listeners from the very first notes. But in addition to journeys within, there are real world travels across the globe on this album. The cast includes: Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles; Silk Road member and Chinese sheng master Wu Tong; and Mieko Miyazaki on the Japanese koto. What could have been a multi-culti mess is instead a powerfully elegant statement of joy over shared musical discovery.

I'll leave you with this: While living with this album for some time before I tried to put words to my fascination, I often imagined Omar Sosa lifted up to the Yoruban spirits in the form of a swarm of butterflies. Such is the beauty of his musical spirit.

Dary

In The Forest

Black Dream

Mining-Nah

Tama-Tama

Another Prayer

Fatiliku; Oni Yalorde

Peace Keeping

Moro Yeye

Recaredo

Zululand

Thiossane

Omar Sosa: piano, keyboards, electronics, marimba, vocals

Seckou Keita: kora, djembe, talking drum, sabar, vocals

Gustavo Ovalles: bata drums, culo'e puya, clave, maracas, guataca, calabaza

Plus

Mieko Miyazaki: koto

Wu Tong: sheng, bawu

Mosin Khan Kawa: nagadi

E’Joung-Ju: geomungo

Dominique Huchet: bird EFX

Dmitry Baevsky - The Day After (JAZZ FAMILY RECORDS 2017)

“The Day After” présente Dmitry Baevsky au sommet de son art... Avec cet album, il continue son exploration musicale et prouve une fois de plus qu’il est sans doute l’une des voix les plus exaltantes du moment à l’alto.

Le saxophoniste et compositeur new-yorkais est entré en studio avec ce quartet inspiré pour enregistrer un sixième album en tant que leader. Le répertoire compte six compositions originales, dont l’explosif blues mineur « Rollin’», « Hotel Baudin » aux harmonies complexes, et la valse « Would You?» qui ouvre l’album.

Dmitry Baevsky nous livre un disque brillant... Le son profond et chaleureux qu’il tire de son saxophone, sa créativité sans fin et la complicité avec ses trois sidemen font de l’écoute de ces dix pistes un moment jubilatoire, à la hauteur de ses concerts sur scène. Fils unique d’un écrivain et d’une traductrice, Dmitry a grandi à Saint Petersbourg au milieu des livres... C’est à l’âge de 19 ans que la New School University de New York le remarque et lui offre une bourse... Quelques années après, il est entouré de Cedar Walton et Jimmy Cobb pour son premier album, “Introducing Dmitry Baevsky”.

Il s’est depuis fait un nom sur la scène internationale grâce à un son immédiatement reconnaissable et un jeu lyrique et puissant.... Dmitry a enregistré et joué avec une liste impressionnante de musiciens dont Benny Green, Peter Bernstein, David Hazeltine, Jeremy Pelt, Joe Cohn, Roger Kellaway, Eric Alexander, Harry Allen...

Nominé en 2016 dans la catégorie “Best Alto Saxophonist” du prix du public de Hot House Jazz Magazine à New York.

“ Dès son tout premier enregistrement, il s’est d’emblée imposé comme une importante nouvelle voix du saxophone alto. Avec un son puissant, une conception harmonique brillante et un sens du rythme inébranlable, le jeune homme attire par son lyrisme et intrigue par son originalité.”
THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

“Rien n’est fragile dans le jeu de Baevsky. Son timbre est profond et riche, avec une envergure semblable à celle des tenors ou altistes pre-bop, et un swing irrépressible attisé par toute une gamme d’idées et de chemins d’improvisation.”
THE NEW YORK JAZZ RECORD