Saturday, February 3, 2018

Los Rumberos de la Bahia - Mabagwe (A Tribute to "Los Mayores") 2018


“Rumba is like el ajiaco, like Cuban gumbo: a blending of rhythms, songs, and dances that delights the heart and takes away your pain." Jose Luis Gomez

Rumba can be played anywhere—at the kitchen table, on some buckets in the patio, on a desktop—whenever and wherever rumberos decide to start playing clave and want to sing about what’s going on their lives.

That’s the way it’s long been in Cuba, and that approach was transplanted fairly seamlessly to the US as Cubans came to places like New York, Miami, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The rumberos would coalesce around a few notable Cuban elders and create a new community for a style rich in possibility, but with a legacy that goes back decades.

These American rumba moments, entwining Afro-Cuban religious ceremonies with secular celebrations, brought together Michael Spiro and Jose Luis Gomez in San Francisco in the early 1980s. Michael was a young professional musician working his way into the Bay Area Latin music scene, and Jose Luis was a newly arrived Cuban emigre and former basketball coach obsessed with the rumba of his native country.

They played together for years, and later came to “share” a Cuban elder who instructed and inspired them, Regino Jimenez Saez. Regino was one of the few Cubans who was able to obtain a visa to come to the US to perform and teach, and he soon became one of Michael and Jose Luis’ mentors. When he passed in 2004, Michael and Jose Luis vowed they would record an album to honor him.

Then life happened and a decade passed. But the two friends, along with producer/percussionist/vocalist Jesus Diaz (who’s played with everyone from Carlos Santana to Sheila E) finally came together as Los Rumberos de Bahia to pay tribute to “los mayores,” the elders who sustained and guided them. With the release of Mabagwe (“Remembrance” in Yoruba; release: March 23, 2018), the provide us with a wide-ranging exposition of the power of rumba and the gifts of the elders to our musical community.

“The album was recorded by rumberos from three different locations: Cuba, the US, and rumberos who recently emigrated to the US from the island,” notes Spiro. “There are all these different sounds and arrangements and influences, the way there are supposed to be in rumba. I think our core trio had enough expertise and energy, you could take the record to Cuba and people would say, yes, this is how it should sound!”

"I've been friends with Michael Spiro and Jesus Diaz since I came to the US 35 years ago, and we continue to share the stage professionally and participate together in rumbas and Afro-Cuban religious ceremonies,” Gomez explains. “The level of respect we have for each other, and the professionalism we have in our work always exceeds my expectations. Any time these two guys want to jump into some project, I'll be there."


The rumba runs far deeper than the party music and social dancing most people outside of Cuba associate with the style. Its breadth can embrace all the diverse spiritual traditions and rhythms of Afro-diasporic Cuba. It’s where Cuban music began, where Spanish decimas intersect with Yoruba-inspired call and response choruses to yield something radically new yet grounded in everyday life.

“Rumba for me is arguably the most important form of Afro-Cuban music, the first form of Cuban music that led to everything else, like son and salsa,” Spiro reflects. “It’s not African, not Spanish, it’s Cuban music, and not from a single African origin like some of the traditions. It’s where all the Cubans can give their cultural input.”

The balm for emotional and spiritual loss is remembrance and celebration, and Gomez, Spiro, and Diaz have gathered some of the strongest rumberos in the US and Cuba. The songs they selected for the elders range from classics (“Oye mi omelé” made famous by Los Munequitos de Matanzas) to new rumbas composed for Saez (“Elegía a Regino”). They encompass the many rhythms that often make their ways into rumbas, giving voice in pieces like “Lo que me dijo Changó” to the different orisha (spirits) who make themselves known throughout Afro-Cuban music and culture.

Spiro comments, “Cubans tell the stories of the day via rumbas. It might be something as simple as “shake your booty” to something as nuanced as triple entendre political commentary. Some are very poetic and metaphorical and tied to religious practices, and some are just “check my drums out, they’re kicking ass.’” Intersecting secular and spiritual topics are found throughout this recording, just like the style’s frequent mélanges of rhythms and medleys in “Potpourri de boleros.”

Spiro and Gomez wanted to capture this variety and depth as they put together their homage. They purposefully chose diverse kinds of rumbas and a wide range of rhythms and sentiments. “Rumba is as varied and different in its forms as any other music. If you don’t know any better, you wouldn’t necessarily know all the subgenres of say, rock or jazz. Rumba is the same,” Spiro remarks. “If we were going to have 10 tunes on the record, we decided we needed a certain number from this form of rumba, and a few of that form, and so forth. We wanted a fair amount of original stuff, but then also a couple of pieces that were standards or classics but with our take on it. The connecting thread was that they all had to pay tribute to our masters and mentors.”

The result does more than honor the elders; it gives an earthy, beautifully recorded window into a Cuban style worth getting to know in depth. It is performed here by musicians who have spent a lifetime exploring its subtleties and power.


Darshan summons the Divine Feminine w/ inspired rap & lush vocals on Raza


Mystical Mix-Tape: Darshan Gives a Shout Out to the Divine Feminine with Inspired Rap, Lush Vocals, and Global Sensibility on Raza

White-robed mystics gather in a field to sing and recite sensuous poetry. They summon the divine feminine, whom they refer to as the Sabbath Bride. Over time, this sense of spiritual creativity and these prayerful texts come to provide the template for the traditional opening sequence to Friday night services, known as Kabbalat Shabbat.

Centuries later, two artists of the same faith also long to sing a new song. They dive into to the communal pool of poetry and prayer to engage the wisdom of the past in a creative musical conversation.

“Those earlier mystics took an active role in their tradition, creating a musical montage of sacred texts, including selections of older canonical works as well as their own poems,” muses NYC-based MC EPrhyme (Eden Pearlstein). “This mystical mix-tape of sorts became the standard liturgy for generations to follow.  Because they are so densely symbolic, Kabbalistic lyrics  are notoriously hard to translate or incorporate into popular form or fashion. But we decided to take the leap.”

The leap from esoteric liturgical tradition to gritty rap and world grooves may seem huge, but it’s a natural one for New York’s Darshan. Jewish-soul singer, multi-instrumentalist, and recently ordained cantor Basya Schechter (Pharaoh's Daughter) and neo-Hassidic underground rapper ePRHYME spent two years working on Raza (Chant Records; release: March 9, 2018). With oud and flow, with exultant choral arrangements and spitfire lyrics, Raza transforms the traditional prayers and mystical poetry recited on Friday night into a work of sacred pop art.

“These songs have a lot of entry points. Although, some of the lyrics are in Hebrew and even Aramaic, which you may not understand if you didn’t grow up Jewish, you can dig into the meta-poetic raps, sink into the cyclical trance, or dance to the deep rhythms” reflects Schechter. “There are a lot of diverse elements at play on this album, from ukulele inflected singer-songwriter choruses to Middle Eastern taksims, classic breakbeats, North African rhythms, and free-form improvisation. While the vibe of the music is very urban and even electronic at times, the roots of the music come from mystical artists whom you might consider the hippies of their age.”


White-robed mystics gather in a field to sing and recite sensuous poetry. They summon the divine feminine, whom they refer to as the Sabbath Bride. Over time, this sense of spiritual creativity and these prayerful texts come to provide the template for the traditional opening sequence to Friday night services, known as Kabbalat Shabbat.

Centuries later, two artists of the same faith also long to sing a new song. They dive into to the communal pool of poetry and prayer to engage the wisdom of the past in a creative musical conversation.

“Those earlier mystics took an active role in their tradition, creating a musical montage of sacred texts, including selections of older canonical works as well as their own poems,” muses NYC-based MC EPrhyme (Eden Pearlstein). “This mystical mix-tape of sorts became the standard liturgy for generations to follow.  Because they are so densely symbolic, Kabbalistic lyrics  are notoriously hard to translate or incorporate into popular form or fashion. But we decided to take the leap.”

The leap from esoteric liturgical tradition to gritty rap and world grooves may seem huge, but it’s a natural one for New York’s Darshan. Jewish-soul singer, multi-instrumentalist, and recently ordained cantor Basya Schechter (Pharaoh's Daughter) and neo-Hassidic underground rapper ePRHYME spent two years working on Raza (Chant Records; release: March 9, 2018). With oud and flow, with exultant choral arrangements and spitfire lyrics, Raza transforms the traditional prayers and mystical poetry recited on Friday night into a work of sacred pop art.

“These songs have a lot of entry points. Although, some of the lyrics are in Hebrew and even Aramaic, which you may not understand if you didn’t grow up Jewish, you can dig into the meta-poetic raps, sink into the cyclical trance, or dance to the deep rhythms” reflects Schechter. “There are a lot of diverse elements at play on this album, from ukulele inflected singer-songwriter choruses to Middle Eastern taksims, classic breakbeats, North African rhythms, and free-form improvisation. While the vibe of the music is very urban and even electronic at times, the roots of the music come from mystical artists whom you might consider the hippies of their age.”


“We had a strong relationship with Tamer,” explains Schechter. “We wanted his sound on the more expansive mystical pieces. It was an instrumental corollary to what Eden was doing in his raps, providing a looser thread to break out of the structured form of the melodies.” Tamer’s masterful Kanun playing defines the vibe on numerous tracks throughout the album such as “These are the Journeys.”

Once they got into the studio, the groove became more anchored through Shanir Blumenkranz’s (Yemen Blues, Abraxas, Zorn) driving bass and Aaron Johnston’s (Brazilian Girls) unwavering pulse, moving effortlessly between kit and live-triggered 808.  They also joined forces early on with producer Frederik Rubens (Brazilian Girls, Avishai Cohen, Forro in the Dark), who gave the album a well-honed electronic edge (the synthwave pleasures of “Let there Be Light”). Together, the core group embraced everything from Manu Chao-tinged reggae (“Sing a New Song”), to North African gimbri-driven trance (“Arrives the Bride”). Perfectly placed guest spots from keyboardist Jason Lindner (Bowie, Now Vs. Now), guitarist Gabriel Gordon (Natalie Merchant), cellist Noah Hoffeld (Natalie Merchant, Krishna Das), and multi-reedist Jessica Lurie (Zion80), expand the sonic palette even further.

Miraculously, these wide-ranging influences never lose their focus throughout the album: welcoming the bride and renewing one’s connection to the Divine through poetry, creating community through song, honoring the deeper layers of text and tradition. “Our main difficulty was cracking the nut of these mystical texts,” says Pearlstein. “With her melodic arrangements, Basya is trying to speak through the poems, or let them speak through her, in a way that unpacks their inner essence. My lyrics aim to convey my own personal experience  of an often self-reflexive and soul searching conversation with these prayers and practices. In our own ways we’re both attempting to distill some of the core elements  embedded within these highly  coded poems in order to make them accessible--and danceable.”

“Raza’ means secret in Aramaic, and it’s the title of a selection from the Zohar included in Kabbalat Shabbat,” says Schechter. “The main metaphor is that of the above and below, time and eternity, feminine and masculine, all uniting on the Sabbath.”

This dynamic combination of erotic and esoteric, sensuous and sacred, personal and divine lies at the heart of how Darshan expresses their experience of the Sabbath. Darshan’s interpretations of these classic texts make this tension palpable, turning traditional prayers  into something contemporary people can relate to, be moved by, and ultimately move with.


Aka Moon - Now (OUTHERE MUSIC 2018)


Since the group was founded 25 years ago, the career of Aka Moon has been punctuated by a myriad of original musical encounters. After their initiatory journey with the Aka Pygmies in 1992, an unappeased desire has always nourished the research of the three accomplices: the wish to share the knowledge, experience and secrets of other musicians from all backgrounds. Today, the necessity of the original trio is again expressed in NOW with the exceptional playing quality that has been acquired and refined over the course of numerous concerts. For although Aka Moon was undeniably born with a unique sound, the group has always made it evolve, absorbing, in particular, rhythms from the Orient, Africa or India.


The staunch friendship that binds these three musicians lets an artistic urgency resonate, borne by the joy of improvisation, lightness of interpretation as well as great depth of expression. NOW confirms this cohesion thanks to an ongoing counterpoint in which three mysteriously complementary worlds intertwine, revealing their own originalities and styles.The titles of the compositions (Nomadism, The Visitor, Spiritual Exile...) evoke the themes of travel and the fascination of elsewhere, as well as an artistic and human commitment always in the forefront.

01. Persevering
02. The Visitor
03. Nomadism
04. Now
05. The Year of Fire Horse
06. 2Moro or 2Day 5
07. Old and New Dreams
08. Spiritual Exile (For Ezgi)




Remember, This Weekend's Epic $5 Album Is...


Chris Gall Trio - Cosmic Playground (GLM 2018)


Cosmic Playground, a barrier-free place of fantasy on an unexplored planet. Without limits and presets to play a game in one way or another. If you don't want to travel that far, you can also listen to the new program of Chris Gall's third trio album "Cosmic Playground", whose two predecessors appeared on the label Act.

Accompanied by bassist Henning Sieverts and his brother Peter on the drums, Chris Gall is able to create a grandiose collection of different soundtracks for wonderful films that only appear in the listener's head and are guaranteed not always the same. Titles such as "Arthur Dent Knows" or "follow the Milky Way, then turn left" have been released. Music that unfolds its magic the longer you listen to it. John Lennon's "Across the Universe" also hovers on his way to the star-picture Ursa minor. After his impressionist-like solo CD debut "Piano solo" and almost 250 concerts as a guest pianist with the world music band Quadro Nuevo, Chris Gall, who graduated from the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, has now returned to the Acoustic Piano Trio.

The biggest English jazz magazine Jazzwise: "Chris Gall's trio debut provides evidence that Jazz is alive and kicking in Germany" – and this is what Chris Gall still does today: hymnal hook-lines, powerful bass lines and fast-paced drum grooves. Wonderfully fresh jazz, free from the commercial corset, open, playful and boundless!


1 Cosmic Playground 4:26
2 Arthur Dent Knows 5:03
3 Sea Lion Woman 4:02
4 Across the Universe 6:12
5 Hymn 6:44
6 Follow the Milky Way, Then Turn Left 5:31
7 Gentle Snap (feat. Chris Gall, Henning Sieverts & Peter Gall) 6:54
8 Drumsticks & Fintertips 5:44
9 Seven Beat Strut 4:56


Tour
07.02.2018 Rosenheim, Le Pirat      
09.02.2018 Bad Aibling, Buchhandlung Librano      08.02.2018 Weinstadt, Weinstadt Jazztage
10.02.2018 Rohrbach, Incontri


Pericopes+1 - Legacy (AUAND RECORDS 2018)

Just over two years after releasing their debut trio album, These Human Beings (Alfa Music), Pericopes+1 return with an inventive and compelling sophomore release, Legacy. Throughout 2015-16, These Human Beings earned Pericopes+1 attention from jazz greats and international media alike. Dave Liebman described the album as “wonderful music with a very diverse repertoire, played flawlessly,” and Downbeat Magazine praised them as “exhibiting power and intention, a good indication for this young group.” The album opened doors to new international stages and resulted in five tours throughout Europe, the UK and USA.

Legacy finds Pericopes+1 embracing a new musical palette inspired by alternative and popular culture of the past several decades: dynamic grooves, rhythmic focus, Rhodes and electronic effects enhance clever compositional devices without distorting Pericopes+1’s acoustic sensibilities. As the title suggests, Legacy is intended to pay respect to the iconoclastic artists who bravely followed their creative vision in light of extreme uncertainty.

The concept for Legacy began to emerge naturally at rehearsals and soundchecks during tours for their These Human Beings release. The timing coincidentally parallelled the deaths of popular artists who not only influenced Emi, Alex and Nick’s musical interests, but past and future generations too: David Bowie, Prince, Chuck Berry and Lemmy Kilmister (to name a few) set trends and pioneered musical genres that challenged the labels that were often imposed by mainstream media.

Pericopes+1 capture a variety of moods, styles and aesthetic qualities that allow the listener’s imagination to connect the pieces.

With the obstacle of being a transAtlantic band (Nick in New York City, Emi in Italy and Alex in Paris), Pericopes+1 set aside time to practice and refine ideas for this album. First in rural Pennsylvania (USA), and later during a master class / residency at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), at the beginning of their Autumn 2016 tour.

With old school charm, they ‘road tested’ new repertoire on the bandstand before arriving at Artesuono studios in Udine, Italy to record Legacy.

Pericopes was born as a saxophone-piano duo in Italy in 2007 by Emi Vernizzi and Alex Sgobbio, releasing three albums, winning the Italian TopJazz award, Padova Carrarese Prize and Umbria Jazz Contest before collaborating with American drummer Nick Wight. The trio extension is called Pericopes+1. They’ve toured the USA, UK, Germany, Austria, France, Czechia, Slovenia, Croatia, Holland, Belgium and shared festival appearances with Stefano Battaglia (Trieste Loves Jazz Festival) and Nils Petter Molvaer (Jazz on5 Festival). They have also played at Sunside (Paris), Jazz Dock (Prague), Stockwerk (Graz), Shapeshifter Lab (NYC), Gateshead International Jazz Festival (UK), Fano Jazz by the Sea (IT), BurgJazz Festival (Munster), Jazz of Wine and Peace Festival (IT) and Scotland Sound Festival (UK).


1 - (intro) (Emiliano Vernizzi) 1:58
2 - Zardis (Alessandro Sgobbio) 5:00
3 - Markveien (Alessandro Sgobbio) 4:38
4 - November Tears (Alessandro Sgobbio) 6:11
5 - Legacy (Emiliano Vernizzi) 8:04
6 - Grossetto (Alessandro Sgobbio) 4:31
7 - Reverences (Nick Wight) 4:38
8 - Red Sand Town (Alessandro Sgobbio) 7:58
9 - Wie Die Blumen (Alessandro Sgobbio) 5:49
10 - Major's 10 (Alessandro Sgobbio) 3:25


Music composed by Alessandro Sgobbio, except (1-5) by Emiliano Vernizzi and (7) by Nick Wight

RECORDED AT ArteSuono recording studios, Cavalicco (Italy) on November 2016 by Stefano Amerio
MIXED AT Indiehub studios, Milano (Italy) on April 2017 by Gabriele Simoni
MASTERED AT Indiehub studios, Milano (Italy) on May 2017 by Gabriele Simoni

PRODUCED BY: Emiliano Vernizzi and Alessandro Sgobbio
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Marco Valente
COVER PHOTO BY: Ilaria Magliocchetti Lombi
INNER BAND PHOTO BY: Jeffrey Galvezo Sales


New album en tour by Eric Vloeimans (CHALLENGE RECORDS 2018)


New album en tour by Eric Vloeimans

Just released: The album Levanter by trumpet player Eric Vloeimans, clarinettist Kinan Azmeh and pianist Jeroen van Vliet. The title refers to the warm, strong, eastern wind that regularly blows accross southern Europe. 

Eric invited the Syrian clarinet virtuoso Kinan Azmeh for this project. The two met some years ago on an 'Imagining Europe' collaboration. Jeroen van Vliet, Boy Edgar winner of 2014, with whom Eric has been performing for more than twenty years, is the pianist who caresses the keys.

This trio will take you along on a musical adventure, flying on a magic carpet of sound, a journey accross the borders of jazz, classical and world music. Hop on and be transported on the warm billows of Levanter.


More info...

Eric Vloeimans Live Tour:

February:
3    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theaters Tilburg    Tilburg
23    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theater Griffioen    Amstelveen
24    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theater Ludens    Voorburg

March:
1    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Fulcotheater    IJsselstein (Ut)
2    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    De Nieuwe Kerk    Den Haag
3    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Philharmonie Haarlem    Haarlem
4    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Stadsschouwburg De Harmonie    Leeuwarden
7    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theater De Leest    Waalwijk
8    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theater De Maaspoort    Venlo
9    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Schouwburg Het Park    Hoorn
10    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    DE KOM, stadstheater en kunstencentrum
11    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    C.C. De Speeldoos    Baarn
14    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    DeLaMar Theater    Amsterdam
15    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theater Speelhuis    Helmond
16    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    De Toonzaal    Den Bosch
17    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Jazzclub Mahogany Hall    Edam
18    Eric Vloeimans’ Levanter    Theater De Stoep    Spijkenisse
© 2018 - NewArts International / Challenge Records Int

Chris Dave: Chris Dave and The Drumhedz (BLUE NOTE 2018)



You already know the Drumhedz. You just don't know that you know the Drumhedz.  They've been playing on your favorite albums for years, setting the tone or keeping time at the best shows you've ever seen, making the young stars sound like legends and the legends sound like gods, quietly stacking Grammys without ever delivering an acceptance speech, and moving onto the next gig with the simple satisfaction of a job well done. They're the session players and the road warriors, or, "Cats that were looked over, but they're bad," in the words of the Drumhedz bandleader Chris Dave, who's drummed for everyone from Adele to Bieber and Dolly to D'Angelo. "They all have stories like mine." Sure enough, the group's self-titled debut LP showcases a family of musicians whose credits coil like ivy around nearly every pillar of modern sound, getting together to do things to music they couldn't on anyone else's project.

"I never knew what it was going to sound like when we all got together," says Chris. "But I could picture it, like, 'This album is gonna take place in a portal. You're getting away from Earth, from all the bullshit. You're safe, but now you're in our world.'"

It's a place without genre, where elements of funk, soul, gospel, hip-hop and jazz mix until they're an indistinguishable surging mass of solid groove. But this isn't a jam session and Chris isn't much for solos. His compositions are like his drumming: precise but tweaked just so, syncopated to allow the merging of multiple ideas, and flexible enough to triumph in all manner of tunings. As for this interstellar world's residents, well, how much time do you have? There are nearly 50 Drumhedz in here, spanning core crew like Pino Palladino (bass), Isaiah Sharkey (guitar), Cleo "Pookie" Sample (keys), Sir Darryl Farris (vocals) and Keyon Harrold (horn), to old familiars like James Poyser (the Roots), Stokley Williams (Mint Condition) and Shafiq Husayn (Sa-Ra), to fresh guests like Anderson .Paak, Bilal, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Phonte Coleman.


"People say you can't have all of these sounds in one place," says Chris, "but how we hear things, it's just music. You like it or you don't. This is a 'why can't you?' album."

It's the album the Drumhedz founder has been building toward his entire life. Chris first reached for the sticks at 3, hoping to hit skins for his brothers' funk group. He was denied, but found his second chance at church, on percussion initially. At home dad would listen to soul and jazz, mom gospel, and his two brothers would listen to funk bands. When he started practicing in his room, "it became like a video game," as he obsessively tried to emulating the styles he was hearing. By the time Chris hit middle school, he was drumming for Houston choirs, backing singers like Kim Burrell and Yolanda Adams. All of which made him a shoo-in for the revered High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. And thanks to a student exchange program, he'd soon be cribbing beats from boarders—non-4/4 stuff from Japan and India. Chris kept building his chops, and playing out, and graduated with a full ride to Howard University in D.C.

"But after first semester, I was trying to figure out what I'd even do with a degree," says Chris. He didn't have to wonder long. "Mint Condition was doing a black college tour and I cut class to see it. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were there, so my friends and I went up to them, like, 'Yo, you should sign us.' We didn't even have a band. But Jimmy's like, 'I'll listen to y'all for five minutes.' I don't even know what we played, but next thing you know, Mint Condition is calling me to be their drummer."

Chris dropped out to open for Janet Jackson, and the work started pouring in soon enough. Lionel Richie. Mary J. Kenny Garrett. Living with Stokely in Minneapolis, he made his own Dilla-inspired beats and worked on songwriting. In studios, on tour and in private, he was perfecting his style. Early on, he met the Time, and explained to Jellybean Johnson that he learned his part on "777-9311." The band's response: "What the fuck? You know that was a drum machine, right? You're not supposed to be able to play that." Chris's need to sponge up all he heard paid off—from 2009 to 2012, he worked on three Grammy-winning albums across three genres: Maxwell's BLACKsummer'snight, Adele's 21, and the Robert Glasper Experiment's Black Radio. In the personnel credits for those LPs, you'll find the foundation of the Drumhedz.

"I always wanted to be in a group," says Chris, and he was to a degree. "Me and Rob started the Experiment living together in New York, after Maxwell. But he was also signed solo, so after we did the Adele stuff, me, Pino and Poyser were like, 'Let's just play sometime.' We booked a random gig in London and it sold out. Then we started doing festivals, as Chris Dave and Friends, and out of that, we start casually, some-kind-of-way touring, like, 'How are we doing this when we don't have a record out?'"


So in 2013, they drop the Chris Dave and the Drumhedz Mixtape (GLOW365), a free 23-track set of "nod your head to this" type grooves swirling up all the genres these guys were working in. Some of the material was culled from old recordings—like when Chris, Glasper, and Mos Def rocked Houston's Red Cat all night—and other bits were new, but it was all overture for the album to come. It took a while, but in late 2015, Chris blocked out a month and change at Kingsize Soundlabs in Los Angeles (his primary home now). He spent a few days prepping the studio like he would his kit before a gig, then put out the call and the Drumhedz flocked from their various dimensions to help build a portal that'd transport the rest of us to their world. Chris recalls giving Goapele lyrical direction for "Atlanta, Texas": "You're not a woman, you're the sun." They'd record constantly. He'd cut it down later. The flow was most important.

"I want to play at nighttime at the festivals, not 'you can catch me at Carnegie Hall for $200 a ticket or don't talk to me,'" says Chris. "We just want to party. It's a getaway."

Sure enough the LP opens with a liftoff sequence, gives way to the astral rap of "Universal Language," where KRNDN rhymes and Sy Smith coos, then opens up with "Dat Feelin'," a go-go paced march through the center of the galaxy—you can almost picture space dust and hurtling asteroids as brass blows and drums pop. But despite the celestial bent, these are very human songs. There's .Paak detailing the struggle on "Black Hole," conflicted emotions taking musical form on "Sensitive Granite," the flirty jaunt of "Whatever," and Bilal and Tweet getting their Marvin and Tammi on, in five-four, during "Spread Her Wings." Because for all their otherworldly ability, the Drumhedz are who they are because of connection. At the end of the day, they're the cats who came together. And now that they did, you might be a Drumhed too.


Hanne Boel - Unplugged 2017 (STUNT RECORDS 2018)


The Danish singer Hanne Boel first made her breakthrough in the late 1980s, and has since released no fewer than 20 recordings, in addition to winning a slew of prizes and awards. Now, in 2017, she has just stepped down from her positions at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, where she served as Professor and Prorector since 2009. Hanne is once again making waves, as the singer known for her distinctive combination of soul and jazz elaborates:

“I’ve just fallen in love, or perhaps rekindled my love. I’m rejuvenated in doing what I really love, namely singing together with great musicians for an audience that wants a good experience and maybe a little bit to think about.”

In this new live release, Hanne Boel shines in a rare musical setup with her regular acoustic trio - guitarists Jens Runge and Jacob Funch - supplemented here by Anders Bach on keyboard, Jacob Andersen on percussion, and the string quartet LiveStrings.

The material was recorded during concerts at Musikkens Hus in Ålborg and Koncertsalen in Copenhagen, on the 11th and 12th of February 2017, respectively. It has long been a dream of Hanne’s to give her audience this listening opportunity, which features completely new versions of material from her extensive back catalogue, including reinventions of “Don’t Know Much About Love,” “Black Wolf,” “Light in Your Heart,” and “Starting All Over Again.” From the light and airy acoustic trio setup, the music unfolds to a larger, more saturated concert experience, the well-known repertoire reborn in delectable acoustic versions that are given time and space to evolve patiently. Less “pop radio” than in past releases, this is music for the discerning and affectionate ear.

It’s exciting to hear what Hanne Boel has in store for listeners the next time she goes into the recording studio (said to be Spring 2018). In the meantime, we can enjoy this exceptionally beautiful live recording as we wait in eager anticipation.

Hanne Boel (vocal)
Jacob Funck (acoustic guitar)
Jens Runge (acoustic guitar)
Anders Back (keyboards)
Jacob Andersen (percussion og LiveStrings)
Bettina Marie Ezaki (violin)
Benedikte Damgaard (violin)
Andreas Bernitt (bratch)
Live Johansson (cello

Mephiti - Mephiti (EL NEGOCITO RECORDS 2018)


For his band Mephiti, Bogaerts can depend on guitarists Bert Cools and Ruben Machtelinckx, two exponents of a generation of string adepts who have worked themselves beyond the classic examples that elaborate on the blues. The sharpness of Bert Cools, on semi-acoustic and electric guitar, and the thoughtful and recognizable playing of Machtelinckx (electric) form a stream of dreamy, lyrical sounds, with the occasional strong outburst. Complemented with the klanklės handled by Lithuanian musician Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė, it becomes a thick varied abundance, where regularly hints of folk traditions pour through. The rustling game of drummer Stijn Cools gives it all a wayward edge.

1. Shilly 03:22
2. Hymne I 05:49
3. Hanneke 04:24
4. Krevelstraat 07:55
5. Hymne II 09:07
6. Lenaé 03:56
7. Oude steenweg 04:25
8. Kat kreupel 04:37

Erik Bogaerts - Alto Saxophone
Ruben Machtelinckx - Guitar
Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė - Kantele [kanklės]
Bert Cools - Guitar & Synth
Brice Soniano - Double Bass
Stijn Cools - Drums

Dicte + Hempler - Uppers (STUNT RECORDS 2018)


It’s a road-movie of a record that Danish singers and songwriters DICTE + HEMPLER have put on the street. The title track calls for a tightening of the seat belt which, in combination with the music’s palpable rock’n’roll elements, offers a promising introduction on a journey with two soloists who have created an album that hypnotizes.

Since 2010, DICTE + HEMPLER have sold out Danish venues for an annual concert series called “The Dark & Stormy Sessions,” where they are traditionally backed by guitarist Mika Vandborg. In 2012, it crystalized into a live release from a concert in Copenhagen, but “Uppers” is their first true studio album, and a tale of two souls who found common ground in taste and authenticity. It lulls-in a mood of smoke and reckless abandon, with road signs pointing to Nashville and Memphis passing by, as we move, transported by Vandborg’s yearning guitars, on an album of songs with sterling stories that reverberate in a musical space where sparks fly.

And oh, how they fly. But also with some classic, blue song-writing that is given the opportunity to stand strong on its own, intimately and sensitively presented. Both voices offer the full spectrum, from whispers to the grandiose, and both are one with the songs and shared expressive form, which feels like vibration in bittersweet blues tones that tease and please and will not leave one alone.

This allows us into Dicte’s vocal delivery, that now, more than ever, has the vibrato of a saxophone. UPPERS was recorded in Kæv Studio, with Kæv Gliemann behind the console, and DICTE + HEMPLER are in agreement that with the new album, they have become one. Together, they have created a common language that has a dazzling timelessness. A form of expression that is loving and alluring, carried by a collection of carefully selected songs, including those from Claus Hempler’s great inventory of unpublished, captivating music. Music that bursts with stories that are the be all end all for them both.


Claus Hempler is a rare gem. Often labeled a “crooner” since having delivered the elegant “Charm School For Popsingers” just before the turn of the millennium, where the singer from Fielfraz showed the moves that made him Denmark’s leading man of delivering songs with style on stage. As was the case with Leonard Cohen’s tribute album, “På Danske Læber (on Danish Lips),” where Hempler’s declaratory version of “Everybody Knows” was an indisputable highlight. A rendition that created hunger for more. The self-titled “Hempler” album from 2005 was a return to the roots of classic rock’n’roll (not unlike Fielfraz), and the album brought him the Steppenwolf (Music Critics’) Prize in the Best Vocalist category, an award he also received at that year’s Danish Music Awards. Hempler continues to receive top billing in connection with DR’s new television drama series, “Herrens Veje” (The Way of the Lord), where he sings the theme song.

Dicte Vestergaard Madsen made her triumphant return to the forefront of Danish music in the Spring of 2016, when her first album in five years, “Perfume,” was lauded as a revival of the pure pop form that took subjects like love, resignation, and the role of a divorced mother of teenage children, and displayed them honestly, delivering them straight to the heart of the listener. Two of the songs on the record, “All I Want Is You” and “Stronger,” are among the biggest hits of her career. We have known Dicte since her breakthrough with “Her Personal Pain,” where she mastered a host of genres, from pop to soul to blues to jazz, and as her fairy-tale-yet-down-to-earth charisma introduced the Danes to a voice they took to gladly, and in droves. Dicte has a faithful and expanding fan base, and her acclaimed 2012 appearances on TV2’s star-studded program “Toppen af Poppen” brought her to a growing audience, where her successful version of rapper Johnson’s “Teriyaki” is regarded as an unforgettable moment in the series. Just another example of Dicte demonstrating her superior ability to take a hit and make it even greater.