Tettero - Don't Explain (November 13, 2021)

“Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion”. Martha Graham

'These songs have been part of my life for a long time.

Some go back to my early childhood, while others came later as I started to explore my own taste in music. Somehow these songs also came to represent a significant memory of a person or an event in my life.

The Tettero Band goes way back. We played many nights in the legendary Jazz Cafe Alto at the start of this century: exhausting 5 hour long sets that gave us the opportunity to really play and develop our sound both as individuals and as a group.

On those nights we would mix our sets with prearranged music as well as with completely open jams. It could be a drum or bass groove getting the music going or Charlie or I would play a set of changes and we would all jump on it.

Slowly but surely the jam parts started to invade our rehearsed repertoire and we came to realize that by mixing up freedom and structure within an arrangement it was possible to get the best of both worlds. Furthermore we saw that the Saturday night crowd, which could be hard to please, responded to the new direction the music was taking with enthusiasm.

So when the crux of this recording started to take shape in my mind, freedom within structure became the adage. I got hold of the members of the Tettero band, asked Peter Bjørnild to produce and Frans de Rond to record.

Listening to the recording as I am writing these words, I realize that this album is probably the most personal album I have made so far. It is puzzling to me since all the songs are standards and not my own originals. But that’s music, it never ceases to astonish.

It has been a most fulfilling experience making this album together with a group of people I really trust on a professional level and furthermore really like a lot on a personal level. I am very proud of the result and am so very grateful to everyone involved in making this new Tettero album.'

Folker Tettero

1. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

2. Make Sure You're Sure

3. I want to be Happy

4. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise

5. Hackensack

6. Three Views of a Secret

7. Good Bait

8. Don't Explain

9. How Deep is the Ocean

Folker Tettero - guitar

Charly Zastrau - piano

Klaas van Donkersgoed - drums

Dave Breidenbach - bass

Recorded by Frans de Rond

Produced by Peter Bjørnild

Recorded at MCO, Studio 2 Hilversum, The Netherlands

PREORDER

Jeppe Gram - The Doldrums (October 2021 Storyville Records)

The Danish drummer Jeppe Gram has long been a prominent figure on the Danish jazz scene. The Doldrums features nine new compostions and is his fourth album as a composer & bandleader. For this project Gram has brought together three generations of musicians who are all key figures on the Copenhagen jazz scene.

Tenor Tomas Franck is orignally from Sweden but has been one of the greatest personalities on the Danish jazz scene for decades.

The middle generation is represented by cornet player Tobias Wiklund who moves freely between modern artistic expression and a more traditional sound, and Anders Fjeldsted who has played with acclaimed local and international jazz musicians and in 2017 was one of the recipients of the Bent Jædig-Award. Jacob Artved and Ollie Wallace represent the younger generation, but are already well established musicians and are celebrated as two of the greatest young talents on the contemporary Danish jazz scene.

The mix of musicians from Gram's life from past to present is an essentiel part of the album and he describes the music as instinctively relatable for the musicians, regardless of the age differences. Musically, The Doldrums is centered around variations on the blues: both the lamenting feeling and, in a more music-theoretical sense, the blues as a form or shape with great inspiration from Gram's own jazz heroes, such as Kenny Garret, Joshua Redman and Charlie Haden. “This album is my way of saying THANK YOU to all the music and all the people who meant a lot to me back thenand still continue to do so today - musicians who have helped me develop into who and where I am today.

1. The Shooter 07:25

2. Once, Maybe Twice 05:12

3. Come And Go 06:24

4. For The Love Of The Old Beat 08:03

5. Pastoral 03:03

6. Later Blues 05:48

7. Other Windows 06:20

8. Where And When 04:04

9. The Doldrums 04:59

Jeppe Gram - Drums

Ollie Wallace - Alto Saxophone

Tobias Wiklund - Cornet

Tomas Franck - Tenor Saxophone

Jacob Artved - Electric Guitar

Anders Krogh Fjeldsted - Bass

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UŽUPIS - DIRT (October 21, 2021 WolleSonic)

The first studio album from UŽUPIS began as a way to record some of my hand-built instruments which I call Wollesonics. I built these instruments specifically for an all percussion production of Macbeth directed by master magician Teller. To accompany the "Weird Sisters", I built a 10-foot “Diddley Bow” out of music wire, 2 x 4’s and styrofoam ice buckets. I built a zither with exposed threaded rods to give Lady Macbeth a ghostly soundscape while she washes her bloody hands. I built a “Slide Vibe“ that bends pitches by dipping metal bars into water to sonically portray Macbeth's dissent into madness. In addition to the Wollesonics, I brought my set of 15 large sheep bells I acquired from the Campanacci Floris bell making family of Tonara, Sardinia.

We came into the famed Figure 8 studios with no set songs. The forms and textures and songs grew out of the instruments. Crack engineer and sound swami Phil Weinrobe experimented with hydrophones, electronics and triggers that blended extremely well with the Wollesonics. With Will Shore’s intuitive, sensitive production and masterful vibe playing and Dalius Naujo’s unconventional poetic drumming, we ended up with more than enough music to make DIRT -the premiere full length album from UŽUPIS!

- Kenny Wollesen

1. SLIDE INTO NOTHING

2. RAIN CAROUSEL

3. DAL LIUS 04:34

4. WEIRD SISTERS

5. TIME AND TIDE FLOW WIDE

6. STREET RIDERS

7. DRAMA IN UŽUPIS STREET

8. CRYSTAL SUBWAY SCENE

9. COMPASS

10. MALADROXIA

11. PAST LIFE

All songs by Užupis

WILL SHORE - electric vibraphone | vibraphone | marimba

Wollesonics | percussion | effects | moog

DALIUS NAUJO - drums | synth drums | Wollesonics | voice

percussion

KENNY WOLLESEN - vibraphone | marimba | Wollesonics

percussion | synth drums

Produced by Will Shore

Recorded by Phil Weinrobe at Figure 8 Studios

Mixed by Phil Weinrobe & Will Shore at Figure 8 Studios

Mastered by Diego Calvino at 3:3:2 Studio

Additional effects by Dave Harrington

Art & design by Užupis

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Dave Young - Mantra (October 2021 Modica Music)

The basic group was a sextet augmented by John Johnson (alto sax, flute) Les Ault (flute) and Ewen Farncolme (B3 organ).

The original compositions are largely from 5-10 years ago. Waltz for Blue is dedicated to Blue Mitchell who I played with on several occasions at Bourbon St jazz club in Toronto in the 80's.

Ode to the Southwest was originally recorded with Cedar Walton but this version I especially like with the B3 overdub.

I would like to thank all the musicians -Kevin,Perry,Reg,Brian,Terry,John,Les and Ewen - for their exceptional talents in bringing this music "alive" during a difficult time.And many thanks to my friend and producer Roberto Occhipinti for making us all sound great! Photos by Dan Nawrocki.

1. Green St Caper 06:21

2. The Gypsy 06:10

3. Waltz For Blue 06:22

4. Evidence 03:57

5. Mantra 05:16

6. Opus De Funk 05:59

7. Ode To The Southwest 07:47

8. We Three As One 06:16

9. Myako’s Waltz 06:13

Dave Young - Bass

Kevin Turcotte - Trumpet

Perry White - Tenor Sax and Bass Clarinet

Reg Schwager - Guitar

Brian Dickinson - Piano

Terry Clarke - Drums

John Johnson - Alto Sax and Flute

Les Allt - Flute

Ewen Farncombe - Organ

Produced By Roberto Occhipinti for Modica Music

Recorded and Mixed by Sydney Galbraith

Recorded at Modica Music Studio, August 2020

Artwork and Graphics by Gabriel Altrows

Photos by Daniel Nawrocki

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Kate Pass Kohesia Ensemble - Silver Lining (October 2021)

Most of the compositions on this album were written for a show called “Shahnameh: Songs of the Persian Book of Kings” which was performed at FRINGE WORLD in 2020, and won the Martin Sims Award. This award was intended to fund a tour, but with travel restrictions we decided to record an album instead – a silver lining!

“Silver Lining” was the first composition I wrote in Perth’s very short lockdown at the start of 2020. This song, and the album, is an expression of gratitude for living in Perth, and for all the opportunities and good fortune I’ve had over the past 18 months, despite a lot of anxiety, uncertainty and disruption. I’m so grateful to have a wonderful community of people to share music with, and to have music in my life.

1. Black Mountain 04:18

2. Golden Crown 06:45

3. Little Black Fish 04:35

4. Silver Lining 06:46

5. Follow the Rain 02:08

6. Edge of Reason 06:25

7. Listening to Trees 07:44

8. Shifting Sands 06:39

9. Nava 05:34

10. Silver Lining (Radio Edit) 05:05

Kate Pass - double bass

Esfandiar Shahmir – daf and ney

Marc Osborne – saxophone

Ricki Malet – trumpet

Chris Foster – piano

Reza Mirzaei - saz

Mike Zolker – oud

Daniel Susnjar - drums

Produced by Kate Pass

Recorded by Kieran Kenderessy at Loop Recording Studio in February 2021

Mixed by Kieran Kenderessy

Mastered by William Bowden (King Willy Sound)

Artwork by Reza Mirzaei

Graphic Design by Gelareh Pour

PREORDER