Saturday, March 4, 2017
Heads of State - Four in One (SMOKE SESSIONS RECORDS 2017)
HEADS OF STATE, FEATURING FOUR OF THE MOST RESPECTED and admired jazz artists of our time releases its first recording Search for Peace. A band over 50 years in the making, Gary Bartz, Larry Willis, Buster Williams, and Al Foster had performed together countless times in different combinations and contexts over their storied careers, but it wasn’t until September 2014 that they appeared as a quartet.
The occasion that night was a tribute to McCoy Tyner, and the results were so inspired and the response so overwhelming that they knew right away they had something worth keeping. As pianist Larry Willis puts it, “I don’t think there are any bands that are doing quite what we’re doing right now.” Now, their unique chemistry and musicianship is documented on Search for Peace. It features selections by John Coltrane (“Impressions”), Jackie McLean (“Capuchin Swing”), Benny Carter (“Summer Serenade”), Billy Strayhorn (“Lotus Blossom”) and, of course, the moving title track by Tyner (“Search for Peace”) Gary Bartz contributes two compositions (“Uncle Bubba” which Gary performed with McCoy and “Soulstice”) and there are two standards (“Crazy She Calls Me” and “I Wish I Knew” which Tyner famously recorded with Coltrane).
It is a well-chosen and balanced set, but the selections are somewhat beside the point; this all-star quartet makes everything sound like magic.
01. For in One 7:18
02. And He Called Himself a Messenger 4:26
03. Dance Cadaverous 10:02
04. Moose the Mooche 5:28
05. Aloysius 6:37
06. The Day You Said Goodbye 7:55
07. Milestones 4:48
08. Keep the Master in Mind 5:57
09. Someone to Watch Over Me 8:12
10. Sippin’ at Bells 3:56
11. Freedom Jazz Dance 6:39
Giulio Stermieri - Stopping (AUAND RECORDS 2017)
Si completa con Giacomo Marzi al contrabbasso e Andrea Burani alla batteria il trio che il pianista Giulio Stermieri organizza per “Stopping”, il lavoro che lo vede protagonista di una scaletta composta da sette rivisitazioni. Al centro del suo discorso pianistico troviamo la figura di Paul Bley, omaggiata in tre passaggi, al fianco della quale si rintracciano tributi ad altri grandi del passato, come Paul Motian, Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter e Ornette Coleman.
Stermieri riesce però a rendere il programma in maniera personale, grazie a un amalgama sonoro che sposta l’esperienza d’ascolto lontano dalle consuetudini e dalle riletture fini a sé stesse. Ne è esempio lampante Ida Lupino, brano che trova la propria soluzione melodica solo nel finale dopo una lunga esposizione di Stermieri, angolare e introspettiva.
01 King Korn
02 You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
03 Una Muy Bonita
04 Ida Lupino
05 52nd Street Theme
06 Once Around the Park
07 Ictus
Giulio Stermieri piano
Giacomo Marzi double bass
Andrea Burani drums
Felice Clemente Quartet - Mino Legacy (2017)
IL NUOVO ALBUM DI FELICE CLEMENTE DEDICATO A MINO REITANO
cofanetto con cd, dvd e libro
Esce venerdì 3 marzo, nei negozi italiani e nel mondo e sulle più importanti piattaforme digitali, il nuovo album di Felice Clemente Quartet MINO LEGACY (Crocevia di suoni records/IRD/The Orchard). Un’intensa opera musicale, dove le radici del jazz s’intrecciano con naturalezza alla canzone italiana.
MINO LEGACY non è solo cd, è progetto prestigioso e articolato, dove l’album è all’interno di un cofanetto contenente anche un libro e un dvd.
“MINO LEGACY è una dedica maturata e cresciuta in me col passare degli anni e col tempo è diventata sempre più necessaria. Ora l’ho voluta realizzare attraverso il linguaggio musicale che più mi appartiene, ovvero il jazz, ripercorrendo la poetica e la carriera artistica di mio zio Mino nelle composizioni più significative che lo hanno reso famoso in tutto il mondo. L’obiettivo è quello di evidenziare ed esaltare la sua creatività compositiva, dandole nuova linfa vitale e l’opportunità di testimoniare la sua eccellenza artistica alle nuove generazioni” Felice Clemente
Jazzista, sassofonista, clarinettista e compositore, Felice Clemente con “MINO LEGACY”, suo dodicesimo lavoro discografico, rende omaggio a chi, come il nonno Rocco e suo zio Mino Reitano, lo ha portato a fare della musica la propria passione e professione. L’album attinge infatti a brani celebri del grande repertorio di Reitano, per rileggerli e reinterpretarli come veri e propri standard nati dalla musica popolare. L’UOMO E LA VALIGIA, UNA RAGIONE DI PIU’, LA MIA CANZONE, SOLO inedito di Fabio Nuzzolese a introduzione di MA TI SEI CHIESTO MAI, ERA IL TEMPO DELLE MORE, EDUARDO, MEGLIO UNA SERA… (PIANGERE DA SOLO), SE TU SAPESSI AMORE MIO, VORREI, sono i titoli della particolare tracklist dell’album, che chiude con l’inedito di Felice Clemente e Fabio Nuzzolese MINO LEGACY, che dà nome a tutto il progetto.
Ad accompagnarlo in questa nuova avventura, alcuni musicisti d’eccezione come Fabio Nuzzolese al pianoforte, Giulio Corini al contrabbasso e Massimo Manzi alla batteria.
IL LIBRO
Nel libro, PROFILO CRITICO DI … MINO REITANO lo storico della canzone Andrea Pedrinelli rilegge Reitano partendo dalle sue parole, raccolte negli anni, analizzando i suoi album ufficiali, la vita, la carriera e la rilettura jazz di Felice Clemente.
DIETRO LE QUINTE DI… MINO LEGACY è un video che ripercorre la genesi dell’album, attraverso un’ampia intervista a Felice Clemente, contenente immagini rubate in studio d’incisione e il videoclip del brano “Era il tempo delle more”. Inoltre, per testimoniare l’arte di Reitano, una sintesi inedita del suo tour estivo 1985 fra classici e proposte per nulla scontate.
There’s always a starting point in a musician’s career: there’s a beginning and there are some people shining light on your personality and on your destiny too.
Mino Legacy is a dedication to the ones who passed down to me the passion for music and let me become a professional musician and make the music be my life, that is my grandfather Rocco and my maternal uncle Mino Reitano.
This dedication has matured and grown up with me since many years and it has become more and more needed as time goes by. I wanted to make it real thanks to my favorite musical language, the jazz music, remembering his poetry and artistic career in his most significant and important compositions which made him famous all over the world.
The goal to achieve is highlightning and bringing out his compositive creativity, giving to it a new life and the chance of being witness to new generations of his artistic excellence.
Fabio Nuzzolese, composer and pianist, did a great job in the arrangement of the compositions, as he was respectful of the originality and clarity in Mino’s lyrics, giving them a new jazzy and elaborated guise in writing and performing. The final result is a very deeply enjoyable, touching, fascinating music able to put together light music and jazz one naturally, extensively, no artificial filters or prejudices.
All this project has been possible thanks to Marco Bassi, a great friend of mine and a cultured, passionate, musical and art critic who has supported me from the very first day and thanks to all my excellent travel companions and polished musicians Fabio, Massimo and Giulio who shared this experience passionally and with enthusiasm. Thanks to Andrea Pedrinelli too, great expert and musical critic, author of Mino’s life and artist career book.
I strongly hope that Mino’s compositions and poetry will keep on ringing and living as they have been doing for many years.
01. L'uomo e la valigia 3:55
02. Una ragione di più 8:09
03. La mia canzone 5:01
04. Solo 1:23
05. Ma ti sei chiesto mai 4:47
06. Era il tempo delle more 5:19
07. Eduardo 6:32
08. Meglio una sera...(piangere da solo) 5:07
09. Se tu sapessi amore mio 5:54
10. Vorrei 4:07
11. Mino Legacy 6:21
Felice Clemente tenor and soprano sax
Fabio Nuzzolese piano
Giulio Corini double bass
Massimo Manzi drums
Kneebody - Anti-Hero (MOTEMA MUSIC 2017)
With a constantly evolving sound that incorporates electronic music, rock and hip-hop, Kneebody has established themselves as one of the most forward-looking groups in jazz. Following their groundbreaking 2015 collaboration with IDM innovator Daedelus, the GRAMMY-nominated quintet bring raw energy, churning backbeats, and unrestrained exploration to their latest offering, Anti-Hero.
01 For the Fallen
02 Uprising
03 Drum Battle
04 Antihero
05 The Balloonist
06 For Mikie Lee
07 Profar
08 Carry On
09 Yes You
10 Austin Peralta
Ben Wendel (sax)
Shane Endsley (trumpet)
Kaveh Rastegar (bass)
Adam Benjamin (keyboards)
Nate Wood (drums)
Igor Gehenot - Delta (IGLOO RECORDS 2017)
After two albums as a trio for the Igloo label ("Road Story" in 2012 and "Motion" in 2014), the charismatic young Belgian pianist called on a solid rhythm section, the young Swedish double-bassist Viktor Nyberg and the Luxembourg drummer Jérôme Klein. To complete this high-flying quartet, he brought in the bugle-player Alex Tassel, a leading figure on the French scene both in terms of electric and acoustic jazz. Winner of an Adami Jazz Talents award in 2011, Tassel has shared stages with major names such as Daniel Romeo, Rick Margitza, Jacques Schwartz-Bart, DJ Cam and Baptiste Trotignon.
"In good company, Igor Gehenot brilliantly negotiates the milestone of the third album and continues his personal evolution by playing on the forms. His imagination, his melodic sense and deep sensitivity, however, are still intact. This new production has no trouble reaching the same level of success as the first two. (...) His music still bears the mark of a deep nostalgia, even evoking Nordic tones of which the Munich label ECM is the incarnation. The overall sound is moving, especially on the magnificent “Sleepless Night”, perfect for nocturnal meditation. “Moni”, “Abysses” and “Johanna” extend this dreamlike atmosphere where the rhythm seems to play behind a veil while the pianist sketches some saturnine chords and the bugle-player flirts with both silence and weightlessness." (P. Dulieu)
Intro
December 15
Moni
Sleepless Night
Step 2
Abysses
Starter Pack
Johanna
Drop by
Igor Gehenot Piano
Jérôme Klein Drums
Viktor Nyberg Double Bass
Guest
Alex Tassel Flugelhorn
Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher People - Weather or Not (WHALING CITY SOUND 2017) 2 CD
Disk 1
01. Teen Town
02. Palladium
03. Mr. Gone
04. Young and Fine
05. A Remark You Made
06. Black Market
07. Sightseeing
08. Punk Jazz
09. Scarlett Woman / Boogie Woogie Waltz
10. Elegant People
11. Birdland
12. Directions
Disk 2
01. Maestro Ron
02. Just Glad to be Anywhere
03. Kojak
04. Road Trip
05. Joaquin and Pinky
06. We Are So Free
07. The 70's Song / aka Patrice Rushen
08. Only In Dreams
09. Paul & Sid's Blues
10. I'm Simply Waiting
11. When I close My Eyes
12. St. Marteen
13. The Caribbean Song
14. Her Last Words (R.I.P.)
15. It's A Good Day
16. When I close My Eyes (and go to a place I have never been before) (part 2)
Gerry Gibbs - drums, percussion, electronics, voices
Alex Collins - piano, rhodes, organ, vocals
Hans Glawischnig - acoustic, electric bass
Christina Dahl Quartet - Childish (STORYVILLE RECORDS 2017)
On her new album she brings the unique quartet consisting of one of our very best guitarists, Niclas Knudsen, the internationally acclaimed bassist Jesper Lundgaard and a great talent on the drums, Esben Laub von Liljenskjold. Together, the four musicians have developed a playful and free language, where everyone has a leading role as soloists.
Bouncing Balance
Choice of voice
Crossing Bridges
Childish
Circles
Waves of wind
Endless Enternity
Niclas Knudsen - guitar
Jesper Lundgaard - bass, fretless fender bass/double bass
Esben Laub von Lillienskjold - drums
