Monday, March 29, 2021

Kohsuke Mine - First (April 30, 2021 BBE Music)

PRE-ORDER ITEM : The 2LP & CD will be available on April 30, 2021. If you wish to secure yourself a copy, order now to avoid disappointment. Please note any orders containing pre-order items won’t be shipped until all items are available, so please order this separately to avoid delays.

BBE Music present the latest in the acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass Series: Kohsuke Mine ‘First’, the debut album by one of the leading artists in the new wave of modern jazz that swept Japan in the late 60s and early 70s. ‘First’ epitomises the shifting sound of the Japanese modern jazz scene of the time, characterised by rich textures and tones, kinetic rhythms, punctuated by urgent, angular melody lines.

Reissued for the first time since original 1970 release, Mine is joined by master keyboard player Masabumi Kikuchi on electric piano, and two American players – bassist Larry Ridley and drummer Lenny McBrowne – to deliver one of the strongest debuts in the J Jazz canon. ‘First’ announced the arrival of a serious talent, one who was to be a hugely influential figure in the Japanese jazz scene across the decade that followed and beyond. ‘First’ established an artist who built a reputation for standout albums spanning spiritual jazz, post-bop, modal and funk-fusion. All of that started here, on this exemplary album.

‘First’ is issued on CD, digital and vinyl. The vinyl edition is presented as a double album, cut at 45rpm by the Grammy-nominated Carvery, with full original reproduction artwork, including obi strip. Both CD and vinyl comes with a 4500 word sleeve note and interview with Kohsuke Mine by Tony Higgins, plus artist portraits by Shigeru Uchiyama.

J Jazz Masterclass Series is curated by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden for BBE Music.

1. Morning Tide
2. Love Talken
3. Straight No Chaser
4. McPhee
5. Little Abbi
6. Bar 'L' Len

Rodrigo Pinheiro & Pedro Carneiro - Kinetic Études (April 2, 2021 Phonogram Unit)

1. Étude 1: on shadows and resonances
2. Étude 2: on velocity and acceleration
3. Étude 3: on energy and rotation
4. Étude 4: on impact and orbit
5. Étude 5: on resistance and mass
6. Étude 6: on inertia and collision

Rodrigo Pinheiro, piano
Pedro Carneiro, marimba with quarter tone extension

Recorded by Pedro Carneiro at Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa (OCP), Algés, Portugal on January 30, 2021
Mixed by Rodrigo Pinheiro and Pedro Carneiro
Mastered by Rodrigo Pinheiro

Matt Panayides - Field Theory (April 9, Pacific Coast Jazz)

COMING OUT APRIL 9th, 2021! This album features the music this group has been playing together since 2018. With compositions by the band leader and guitarist Matt Panayides, the group features Matt Vashlishan on Wind Synth, Rich Perry on Tenor Sax, Robert Sabin on bass, and Mark Ferber on drums. The album will come out this Spring

Contemporary jazz composer/guitarist Matt Panayides explores new sonic landscapes on Field Theory.

On FIELD THEORY, guitarist and composer MATT PANAYIDES explores new sonic landscapes by mixing electric and acoustic sounds in a set of modern, highly original post-bop compositions.

FIELD THEORY is a departure from Panayides' previous releases, Conduits (2016) and Tapestries of Song (2011), which were both acoustic, modern jazz projects. The music on FIELD THEORY is complex and modern yet exciting and accessible. The contrast between the electric guitar and EWI with the upright bass and tenor sax creates rich textures.

Although Panayides' approach to composition is influenced by the harmonic language of modern jazz composers like Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, he set out on his own path, writing tightly structured arrangements with dissonant harmonizations containing ample space for improvisation. Panayides says, ''For me, the ideas for compositions come as if from another place. They will appear at any time, sometimes while practicing or on a gig. But the ideas can also come in a dream, or while driving, or standing in line. The trick is to capture these little musical nuggets as best I can so I can organize them later. This entire album was conceived in this way.

''FIELD THEORY'' is a contemporary jazz album that does not completely abandon traditional forms. Panayides invites the listener in with music that is at once familiar, yet largely unexpected, with pops of contrasting colors that weave together images of sound that tell stories not unlike a great abstract painting.
1 Kite Flying
2 Disturbance
3 Closer Now
4 Field Theory
5 Looking Round Corners
6 Energy Mover
7 2.27.20
8 Penta Folk I Arrive
9 Penta Folk II Coalesce
10 Penta Folk III Ascend
11 Penta Folk IV Depart
12 Self Narrative

Matt Panayides on guitar 
Matt Vashlishan on Wind Synth
Rich Perry on Tenor Sax
Robert Sabin on bass
Mark Ferber on drums

Dino Piana - Al gir dal Bughi (2021 Parco della Musica Records)

Il nuovo disco della Parco della Musica Records  è un doveroso e affettuoso omaggio al trombonista Dino Piana, definito da Enrico Rava, che ha fortemente voluto il progetto insieme al figlio Franco, “uno dei più grandi jazzisti italiani, uno dei più amati e dei più richiesti in Europa, uno dei padri storici del jazz moderno in Italia e fonte d’ispirazione per tutti i giovani trombonisti negli anni a venire”. Il titolo “Al gir dal bughi” (al giro del Boogie) nasce dal racconto del loro primo incontro durante una jam session avvenuta più di sessant’anni fa, in cui cominciarono suonare e Piana fece il primo assolo rivelandosi “qualcosa di straordinario, con una fluidità e una logica che ci lasciarono basiti. Un altro pianeta”. Da quel momento è nata una amicizia che arriva fino a oggi e che trapela anche in questo disco, prodotto dalla Parco della Musica Records e Jando Music, in cui vengono interpretati alcuni standard immortali del jazz da Bernie’s Tune a Polka Dotz and Moonbeams e Everything Happens to Me. Dino Piana, Enrico Rava e Franco Piana sono accompagnati da una sezione ritmica d’eccezione capitanata da Roberto Gatto alla batteria con Gabriele Evangelisti al contrabbasso e Julian Oliver Mazzariello al pianoforte.

1. When Lights are Low
2. Bernie's Tune
3. Polka Dotz and Moonbeams
4. Rhythm a Ning
5. I'll Close My Eyes
6. When Will the Blues Leave
7. Everything Happens to Me
8. Dear Old Stockholm
9. Line for Lions

Dino Piana valve trombone
Enrico Rava flugelhorn
Franco Piana flugelhorn
Julian Oliver Mazzariello piano
Gabriele Evangelista double bass
Roberto Gatto drums

Satoko Fujii - Step On Thin Ice (2021 March Libra Records)

1. Step On Thin Ice 09:02
2. Winter Sunshine 02:17
3. Mirror Surface 08:56
4. Chasing 04:04
5. Arpchords 04:32
6. Kazaoto 06:04
7. Sakimawari 05:44
8. Walking Wagtail 02:51
9. Spring Is Right There 04:34

Improvised and recorded by Satoko Fujii at her piano room

Jason Branscum - Beyond the Walls of the World (May 28, 2021)

This is an album of alien fairy tales. It was recorded neither for Martians nor children, but for those held captive by the darkest enchantments of modernity; namely you and me. I crafted this music to draw us out of the mundane world in which we now live, into fantasies in lands both real and imagined, finally arriving at the magical land in which we now live. We shall begin our fantasy not in cottage or castle, but in our own abode of disillusionment, escaping to places Tolkien described as filled with, “both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords.”

1. When the Sky Is Big
2. Urban Nature Walk
3. Sycamore
4. I and the Village
5. Obsidian Lies
6. The Ninth Baktun 09:44
7. Magnolia
8. Lelands
9. Lucy with Levi and Catherine
10. Ginko
11. Six Demon Bag
12. Oak
13. The Ground or the Hearth
14. The Missing Coil
15. Maple
16. Nooks and Crannies
17. When the Sky Is Big

Musicians:
Jason Branscum - trombone
Brandon Coleman - guitar
Aaron Jacobs - bass guitar
Tom Buckley - drums

Except:
When the Sky Is Big:
Jason Branscum - trombone
Marc Fields - trombone
Justin Dawson - acoustic bass
Dan Dorff - drums

Trees:
Jason Branscum - trombone
Josh Kline - saxophone
Justin Dawson - acoustic bass
Tom Buckley - drums
Dan Dorff - drums

Strings:
Kanako Shimasaki - violin
Mariko Shimasaki - violin
Martin Hintz - viola (tracks 6 and 9)
Shelby Thompson - viola (tracks 4, 13, 11, and. 16)
Phillip Goist - cello

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Brandon Coleman at the Golden Mean in Cincinnati, OH
All compositions by Jason Branscum
All soundscapes conceptualized, performed, and produced by Jason Branscum and Brandon Coleman
Strings arrangements by Brandon Coleman (tracks 4, 6, 9, and 13) and Jason Branscum (tracks 11 and 16)

Jerry Kalaf - Leaning To The Left (March 2021)

1. Let Me Out 02:58
2. The Namesake 03:22
3. Messengers 05:27
4. Sal 04:46
5. Common Ground 05:28
6. Ariel 05:10

Composed by Jerry Kalaf
Drums and Percussion - Jerry Kalaf, Scott Breadman
String Orchestra - Rick Marvin
Piano and Synth - Rick Marvin, Rich Eames, Louis Durra
EVI - Judd Miller
Electric Guitar - Barry Coates
Acoustic Guitar - Gary Solt
Bass - Carl Sealove, Domenic Genova, Ken Wild
Tenor Saxophone - Rob Lockart, Doug Walter
Euphoniums - Ken Kugler