Thursday, December 2, 2021

Fernando Molinari - Reaching Inside (December 10. 2021)

Regarded as one of the new references for Fusion/Prog Rock. As a solo artist, Molinari won ‘Best Instrumental Artist’ in the 2017 Samsung E-Festival instrumental (The biggest instrumental music contest in Brazil) and has recorded/performed with great artists including; Greg Howe, Marco Minnemann, Kit Tang, Dor Levin Project B, Rio Palmieri, Bjoernar Frantzen, Inner Space and many others.  

1. Focus 05:24
2. Mercurio 04:38
3. Hidden 04:46
4. Internal Sun 05:12
5. Desert Flower 04:46
6. Ocean Wind 03:59
7. Maybe Tomorrow 02:25
8. Control 04:27

Produced by: Fernando Molinari

Fernando Molinari - Bass and Bass Synth.
Marco Minnemann – Drums
Arthur Rezende – Drums (Internal Sun and Desert Flower)
Davi Filho – Guitars (Focus, Mercurio, Hidden and Maybe Tomorrow)
Brunno Henrique – Acoustic and Eletric guitars (Control, Desert Flower and Ocean Wind)
Kit Tang – Guitar (Internal Sun)
Daniel Felix – Eletric piano, Keyboards and Effects
Ruriá Duprat – Keyboards (Hidden)
Herbert Medeiros – Keyboards (Ocean Wind)

Mixed by Marcio Augusto
Mastered by Paulo Anhaia

Art design - Jonathan Canuto

Written by Fernando Molinari
Davi Filho and Fernando Molinari - Focus and Hidden
Stereophonics – Maybe Tomorrow

Sam Gendel - AE​-​30 (December 8, 2021 LEAVING RECORDS)

AE-30 is both a film and audio album of the 2021 Sam Gendel x Roland AE-30 / Aerophone / Pro Digital Wind Instrument documentary. In August, musician Sam Gendel and filmmaker Marcella Cytrynowicz traveled to Iceland and filmed Gendel performing the instrument in unique locations outdoors around the country - most locations remote and accessed only via their friend Viktor, a search-and-rescue volunteer for Iceland who expertly navigates the country's challenging terrain in his modified Toyota Land Cruiser. The full documentary film and audio companion album will be released December 8th 2021 via Leaving Records.

1. BLKSND
2. 1% BATTERY
3. ÞÓRSMÖRK
4. PIPA 1
5. 3FLUTES
6. VIKTOR’S BLUES
7. SOME MEADOW
8. LANDCRUISELIFE
9. MADE FROM SHEEP
10. UGLY PUDDLE
11. CELLO PERFORMANCE
12. PRESETS
13. SOME DRUM PATCHES
14. ORCHESTRA KIT + SHAKUHACHI
15. NATURE BOY

All sound Sam Gendel
performed on Roland AE-30 Aerophone Pro Digital Wind Instrument

Image Marcella Cytrynowicz

Dal Sasso Big Band (feat. David El-Malek, Géraldine Laurent & Sophie Alour) - John Coltrane's Africa/​​Brass Revisited (jazz&people)

En 1961, John Coltrane enregistrait son tout premier disque pour le label Impulse et signait, à cette occasion, un album unique dans sa riche discographie car il est le seul que le saxophoniste ait jamais enregistré en big band : « Africa/Brass ».

À la tête d’un orchestre largement dominé par les cuivres (« brass », en anglais), puisant son matériau dans le blues, le folklore, les spirituals et la mémoire des chansons associées à l’esclavage, Coltrane interprétait une série de compositions, arrangées par Eric Dolphy, qui renvoyaient au continent originel — l’Afrique — et, par-delà, faisaient écho à l’expérience afro-américaine dans son ensemble. Soixante ans après, fort du succès de sa relecture de « A Love Supreme », l’arrangeur Christophe Dal Sasso et son Big Band, élu « Groupe de l’année » aux Victoires du Jazz en 2020, ont revisité ce répertoire méconnu pour la première fois sur la scène du festival Jazz à La Villette à Paris.

Croisant les saxophones inspirés et fougueux de Sophie Alour, Géraldine Laurent et David El-Malek, ce véritable all-star du jazz hexagonal restitue au fil de ce double album toute la puissance spirituelle de l’œuvre, fidèle à la portée universelle du message humaniste que John Coltrane avait inscrit au cœur de son disque.

« Les concerts hommage sont rarement aussi exceptionnels que les musiciens qu’ils entendent célébrer. Plus rares encore sont les enregistrements de concerts à la hauteur de l’hommage, surtout quand il s’agit d’une figure aussi imposante que John Coltrane. John Coltrane’s Africa/Brass Revisited est une exception inhabituelle à cette règle » — Ashley Kahn, auteur de A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature (extrait du texte de pochette).

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In 1961, John Coltrane made his very first record for the Impulse label and signed, on this occasion, an album unique in his rich discography because it is the only one that the saxophonist has ever recorded with a big band: "Africa/Brass".

At the head of an orchestra largely dominated by brass, drawing its material from blues, folklore, spirituals and the memory of songs associated with slavery, Coltrane performed a series of compositions arranged by Eric Dolphy, which referred back to the original continent - Africa - and, beyond, echoed the African-American experience as a whole. Half a century later, on the strength of the success of his rereading of “A Love Supreme”, master arranger Christophe Dal Sasso and Big Band, elected “Group of the year” at the Victoires du Jazz in 2020, have revisited this underexplored repertoire which they performed for the first time on the stage of the Jazz à La Villette festival in Paris.

Crossing the inspired and fiery saxophones of Sophie Alour, Géraldine Laurent and David El-Malek, this true all-star of hexagonal jazz restores throughout this double live album all the spiritual power of the work, faithful to the universal scope of the humanist message that John Coltrane had written at the heart of his record.

“Tribute concerts are rarely as exceptional as the musician they mean to celebrate. Rarer still are recordings of concerts that live up to the homage, especially when it’s as towering a figure as John Coltrane. John Coltrane’s Africa/Brass Revisited is an exceptional exception to this rule, a refreshing, and updated surprise”, writes Ashley Kahn, author of A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album, from the liner notes of this release. 

1. Tunji (feat. David El-Malek) 12:03
2. Greensleeves (feat. Sophie Alour) 12:49
3. Blues Minor (feat. Géraldine Laurent) 10:55
4. Africa (feat. David El-Malek) 15:06
5. Liberia (feat. Géraldine Laurent) 10:06
6. You Don't Know What Love Is (feat. Sophie Alour) 06:12
7. Song of the Underground Railroad (feat. David El-Malek) 12:51
8. Naima (feat. David El-Malek) 08:39

Arrangements de Christophe Dal Sasso, sur une idée originale de Vincent Bessières

Julien Alour, Quentin Ghomari, trompette et bugle
Jerry Edwards, Daniel Zimmermann, trombone
Dominique Mandin, saxophone alto et flûte
Géraldine Laurent, saxophone alto
Sophie Alour, saxophone ténor, clarinette et flûte
David El-Malek, saxophone ténor
Thomas Savy, clarinette basse, saxophone baryton
Pierre de Bethmann, piano
Manuel Marches, contrebasse
Karl Jannuska, batterie
Andy Berlad Catelo, tambour gwo-ka
Christophe Dal Sasso, flûte, direction

Enregistrement réalisé par FIP Radio France le 11 septembre 2020 à La Villette - Grande Halle, Paris, dans le cadre du festival Jazz à La Villette, pour l’émission « Live à Fip » du samedi 12 septembre 2020

Alexis Valet (feat. Ben van Gelder & Bojan Z) - Explorers (jazz&people)

S’affirmant comme une voix passionnante parmi ceux qui font revenir le vibraphone au devant de la scène, Alexis Valet présente un album captivant aux formats variables et aux pistes multiples, marqué par la participation éblouissante de deux figures européennes majeures, le pianiste Bojan Z et le saxophoniste Ben van Gelder. Fidèle à son titre, "Explorers" donne à entendre ce que le jazz contemporain a de plus inspiré lorsqu’il est sublimé par le sens de l’invention et la magie de l’interaction.

"Ce tout nouveau projet est une vraie révélation."
(Jazz'halo)

"Explorers” confirme qu’Alexis Valet est l’un de ceux avec qui il faut compter"
★★★★ (Jazz Magazine)

"La interpretación de Valet suena sincera, con naturalidad y cautivadora, explorando nuevos caminos para este peculiar instrumento."
(La Habitación del Jazz)

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Asserting himself as an exciting voice among those who are bringing vibraphone back to the front of the stage, Alexis Valet presents a captivating album with a shifting format exploring multiple directions, marked by the participation of two major European figures, pianist Bojan Z and saxophonist Ben Van Gelder. True to its title, "Explorers" gives us an idea of what contemporary jazz inspires the most when it’s driven by a sense of invention and the magic of interplay.

1. Casual Polyglot 03:09
2. Plaza de la Alfalfa 05:13
3. L'Ile aux Fleurs (feat. Bojan Z) 06:28
4. Any Sunday with Her (feat. Ben van Gelder) 07:02
5. Dixie's Dilemma 05:06
6. Voyager I 02:49
7. Explorers (feat. Ben van Gelder and Bojan Z) 04:53
8. Fall (feat. Bojan Z) 04:57
9. Dr. Jackle (feat. Ben van Gelder) 05:50
10. Hats and Cards (feat. Ben van Gelder and Bojan Z) 06:41
11. What's Next? (feat. Bojan Z) 04:53

Alexis Valet, vibraphone
Lucca Fattorini, double bass
Antoine Paganotti, drums

+

Ben van Gelder, alto saxophone (on 4, 7, 9, 10, 11)
Bojan Z, piano (on 3, 7, 8, 10, 11)

All compositions by Alexis Valet, otherwise noted.

Recorded at Studio Libretto by Erwan Boulay on January 16-17th 2021.
Mixed by Erwan Boulay.
Mastered by David Darlington.
Add Christelle Raquillet on flute on track 11.

Photography: Audrey Radas
Graphic design: Olivier Linden

Thomas Curbillon - Place Ste​-​Opportune (jazz&people)

Accompagné par la crème du jazz hexagonal, le guitariste et chanteur Thomas Curbillon dévoile un premier album au charme irrésistible, qui enchaine les paroles heureuses et tendres avec la richesse des solos, dans un disque aux textes malicieux, paré d’arrangements somptueux… Émaillé de clins d’œil à Salvador, Aznavour et Nougaro, « Place Ste-Opportune » réconcilie la chanson française avec le swing.

"Le résultat est enchanteur"
— Jazz News "Indispensable"

“Ses mots ne sonnent jamais creux et vont droit au cœur”
— Jazz Magazine "Révélation"

"Du travail soigné, élégant, gorgé de swing et de sensibilité, propre à séduire fans de jazz et amoureux de la chanson française."
— Les Dernières Nouvelles du jazz

"Charmant, merveilleuse. You can almost taste the Gauloises. Feel the laidback swing in the arranging. Crooning in French, what's not to like from the deftly bruised tones of Thomas Curbillon?"
☆☆☆☆ — Marlbank

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Backed by the best of French jazz (Eric Legnini, Stephane Belmondo ...), guitarist and singer Thomas Curbillon unveils an irresistible first album, which connects happy and tender songs with the richness of solos, in an album with mischievous lyrics, adorned with sumptuous arrangements… With nods to Henri Salvador, Charles Aznavour and Claude Nougaro, “Place Ste-Opportune” reconciles "chanson francaise" with swing. 

1. Léa est lasse 04:32
2. Place Ste-Opportune 03:24
3. Petite Fleur 03:47
4. Et bailler, et dormir 03:19
5. Oxymore 03:15
6. Berçons 04:17
7. La Môme Bling-Bling 06:02
8. Sale gosse 04:17
9. Berceuse à Pépé 03:36

Thomas Curbillon, chant, guitare
Eric Legnini, piano
Thomas Bramerie, contrebasse
Antoine Paganotti, batterie

+

Stéphane Belmondo, trompette et bugle sur 2, 3, 6 et 9

Arrangements de Pierre Bertrand sur 1, 3, 5 et 6
Album réalisé par Daniel Yvinec

The Shuffle Demons - All In

'All In' is the exciting new all-instrumental album from Canada's renowned Shuffle Demons who celebrate 37 years in music with their 10th CD! Featuring compositions by four of the five band members, the music ranges from brilliantly composed contemporary jazz to groovy funk jazz reminiscent of the JB Horns or Average White Band, all played with the inimitable Shuffle Demons style and unique sound. With standout solos and dynamic group playing, this album adds a new instrumental-only twist to the Shuffle Demons repertoire and is one of their best albums to date.

1 All In (5:59) (Mike Downes) • Melodic Contemporary Jazz
2 One Step Ahead (4:37) (Richard Underhill) • Jazz Funk
3 Wait, What? (4:15) (Richard Underhill) • Hard Swinging Jazz
4 Watch Your Step (5:48) (Richard Underhill) • Jazz Funk
5 Five’s Company (5:47) (Matt Lagan) • Contemporary Jazz
6 COVID Blues (3:58) (Stich Wynston) • Hard Swinging Contemporary Jazz
7 Walk the Walk (5:02) (Richard Underhill) • Jazz Funk
8 Strange Days (5:27) (Richard Underhill/) • Doom Jazz
9 Inside Out (6:46) (Richard Underhill) • Jazz Funk
10 Let’s Play (6:37) (Matt Lagan)  • Contemporary Jazz

Recorded and engineered by Jeremy Darby and Julian Decorte at Canterbury Music Company, Toronto, October 2-4, 2020.
Produced, mixed and mastered by Jono Grant at Victory Drive Music 
Cover Art by ‘J.’
Layout and design by Matt Lagan

The cover art was painted by artist ‘J’ who was a camper in Trinity Bellwoods park. To help the homeless in our city, $1 from the sale of each CD will be donated to https://www.sschto.ca/ 

The Shuffle Demons:

Richard Underhill - alto and bari saxes 
Kelly Jefferson - tenor saxophone
Matt Lagan - tenor saxophone
Mike Downes - acoustic bass
Stich Wynston - drums