Vasil Hadzimanov Band featuring David Binney: Alive (2016)

Label:

Source: Allaboutjazz

Genre: Modern Creative / Jazz-rock

GAB's Rating: ★★★★★

Critical to the success of this live album by the VHB is the fact that this band is, at its core, a working band. If you have seen VHB live, you will recognize that this album faithfully relays both the showmanship and ingenious punch of this unit. Obviously, this installment of the VHB is a highly maneuverable vessel that is capable of executing a multitude of ideas, be it electronica, African, free jazz or rock ideas. The stage is the right place for this versatile band to record its music as even in a studio setting they need eye contact for the magic to occur.

Recorded during a tour throughout Serbia, Alive appropriately extends and distends jazz and various other forms. For a start, it avoids the Weather Report-styled arrangements which were typical of Hadžimanov's writing style. It opens with "Nocturnal Joy," a lengthy and thoughtful track which many sections make it unexpectedly very exciting. The first section is driven by pulsating keyboards, simple piano melodic lines and jungle beats which dimly have more in common with the band that Hadžimanov has played in parallel to VHB—Darkwood Dub than anything else. After an abrupt stop, there is an alto sax break where saxophonist Binney explores the far reaches of his instrument. This serves as an entrance into a more jovial and freer section.

"Zulu" is driven by a propulsive beat and a swirling African styled guitar. It's an exhilarating track even more so when Binney starts playing short, hypnotic, repetitive phrases. After a stormy start, the dynamics are slowed down and this section is driven by tribal drums, processed vocal chants and Binney's fierce soloing. Generally speaking, he has a galvanizing effect on the band and his saxophone shines like a beacon amidst the flurry of this ensemble work. All of this moves towards a dramatic ending in the form of a mesmerizing interplay between Hadzimanov and Binney. Both "Odlazim" and "Dolazim" are fluid tracks that are in constant motion and are more volatile in interplay. "Razbolje se Šimšir List" is a Bosnian folk song which the duo of Hadžimanov on acoustic piano and Binney on soprano sax has turned it into a lilting ballad.

The set closes with the lengthy "Otkriće snova," another electronic piece much in the manner of the opening song, but soon morphs into a fusion piece in the manner of "In a Silent Way." In recent years, Hadzimanov has experienced an upward trajectory as an educator, composer, pianist, and keyboardistr. As a result, his compositions are more mature and he has achieved a compositional excellence. He shines brightly both on stage and off, but he allows his band to shine too. His band is playing at the peak of its powers and he has a very balanced relationship with his sideman. What truly shines on this record are the compositions. Delicacy, dynamics, empathy, and a deep affinity is what emanates from these compositions. Alive is easily VHB's best album.  Nenad Georgievski

Nocturnal Joy

Zulu

Odlazim

Dolazim

Tovirafro

Razbolje Se Simsir List

Uaiya

Otkrice Snova

VASIL HADZIMANOV: piano, keyboards

DAVID BINNEY: alto sax

BRANKO TRIJIC: guitar

MIROSLAV TOVIRAC: bass guitar

BOJAN IVKOVIC: percussion, vocals

PEDJA MILUTINOVIC: drums

BUY IT @

 

Sean Wayland - Foodland (2016)

Label: Seed Music

Source: My Music Base

Genre: Jazz-Fusion/Soft-Rock

GAB's Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

Reviewers have said "Music Pours easily from Sean Wayland" : limelight CD reviews

"Superman plays for keeps" : Sydney Morning Herald CD review

His was a musical family, his father's love of jazz enabled Sean to hear the music of Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and others as a young child. His father's mother Muriel Cohen was a concert pianist and the first Australian to perform Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseax publicly. To this day Sean is still entranced by Debussy and Messiaen. Perhaps intimidated by living up to his family's talent, Sean chose to study the violin as a child. His interest in the piano increased and as a teenager he fooled around on the instrument. The fact that he was already an accomplished fiddler and had a busy schedule playing with school orchestras etc meant that he had little time to practise piano. In his final year of high school Sean met jazz pianist John Bostock. www.johnbostockmusic.com

At the time in Australia it was difficult to find out about jazz and John hipped Sean to the music of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane. After school Sean spent a couple of years at University studying Electrical Engineering, but the seed had been sown and he came to realise that his calling in life was to be a musician. Sean studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1992 and 1993.

He has had numerous piano teachers including Mike Nock, Roger Frampton, Judy Bailey, Paul Macnamara in Australia. In New York he has studied with Barry Harris, Kevin Hayes , Geoff Keezer, George Colligan, Sam Yahel and Bruce Barth. While at the Conservatorium he received the Jack Chrostowski piano award. In 1993 he was a finalist in the National Jazz Piano Awards at the Wangaratta Festival. In 1999 Sean recieved a grant from the Australia Council to study jazz piano in New York which helped him to relocate there.

Sean has worked for a number of internationally renowned musicians including : David Binney, Madeliene Peyroux, Ingrid Jensen, Cornell Dupree, Jesse Harris, Sheryl Bailey, Gerald Hayes, Dale Barlow, Justine Clark, Phil Slater , Jackie Orsascky, Steve Hunter, James Muller and Steve Mckenna...

1. Fried Chicken Modulation 05:53
2. Help Me 04:22
3. The Princess and the Pad 04:59
4. What is it 05:03
5. Foodland 05:13
6. Softly Softly 03:53
7. Thunderbirds 03:56
8. Salad 03:43
9. Im Back 03:58
10.Angourie 06:29
11.Solo piano Brooklyn Recording 06:38
12.Gerry Lopez 03:13
13.Onwards and Sideways 04:35
14.Scum Valley Demo 01:10

Sean Wayland (piano, organ, keayboards)
Nate Wood (drums)
Sam Minaie (bass)
Ben Eunson (guitar)
Kate Kaye - Es (vocals)
James Muller - (guitar solo)
Tim Miller (guitar Solo) 

BUY IT @ 

 

Rok Zalokar Trio - Vol. 2 (2016)

Label: Self Released

Source: Rok Zalokar

Genre: Modern Creative

GAB's Rating: ★★★★☆

Rok Zalokar is a pianist and composer from Slovenia, currently living in Rotterdam, leading his trio, playing in experimental pop group Kukushai, playing and singing folk songs with Dvojina(Dual) and much much more!

In 2011 he started his own trio to play  original compositions and they soon gained a national recognition on the alternative scene. The songs that the trio was evolving trough frequent live shows were captured at one point of their existence and the result was debut trio album Vol. 1.(ZARS, 2o13). Since 2008 he was exploring the fusions of rock, jazz & ethno music with a quartet Vsemogocni Mlin, part of their diverse musical universe was released on Arbitrarij ( ZARS, 2012).

His work did not go unnoticed, besides playing some festivals,  Rok was awarded with Jazzon, award for best Slovenian jazz composition and with his trio he won the Jazzon live competition.In the March 2016 he was awarded with prestigious Erasmus jazz prize.

" My musical journey started in the early childhood, I was just one of those kids who really took it seriously with exploring parents' LP and cassette collection. There were all kinds of music, one of them that I was also able to see live a lot, was folk music, so this got me into playing the accordion. The piano and the guitar followed since there was so much different music that I wanted to experience. All those different "musics" along the way were the source of influence for me, and jazz, or more openly - improvised music, offers me a good way to express, connect and evolve those influences. Most of my today's work is oriented or derived from that and playing mostly original music feels like the best choice!"

1. Heart wants to be good 08:30
2. The alternative realities of my father 08:47
3. I hope, soon 05:06
4. I'm... 00:38
5. ...from... 04:41
6. ...old school 04:19
7. Same river 06:53
8. Prelude for towel, sheet and plastic bag 02:03
9. Spartacus 05:57
10.Homebound 09:25
   

Jože Cesar - drums
Dejan Hudoklin - bass
Rok Zalokar - keys 

UP Paolo Pavan Pasqualino Ubaldini - Lines (2016)

Label: Self Released

Source: Cdbaby

Lines is the second album just realised by "UP"(Ubaldini-Pavan).As the former one this is a self-produced work and will be published under CC license.
The Album was thought to be a trip across countries and cultures made in the whole freedom. The focus of this work, lasted about one year, was to call to mind all that sounds, sensations ,vibration we chance upon it walking through the life, without any sort of barrier or boundaries.

1. Lines 05:21
2. Nije 05:20
3. Talking about Petra 04:34
4. Outlines 05:19
5. Border Line 05:17
6. Sign 04:39
7. Handala 04:59
   

Pasqualino Ubaldini - Guitar, Bouzouki, Oud, Fretless Bass
Paolo Pavan - Piano, Keyboads
Francesco Merenda - Drums
Andrea Colella - Double Bass
Davide Roberto - Percussion
Michele Villari - Clarinet
Davide Marinacci - Tenor Sax
Natalino Frija - Soprano Sax Ciaramella Abruzzese  

BUY THIS ALBUM

 

Bill Laurance - Aftersun (2016)

Label: GroundUP Music

Source: The Guardian

Genre: Electronic Jazz/Crossover

Snarky Puppy pianist Bill Laurance has let the solo persona he introduced on painterly and cinematic journeys such as 2014’s Flint and last year's Swift off the leash with Aftersun. It’s an uninhibited jam on more succinct materials, featuring his Snarky Puppy rhythm-section partners Michael League and Robert Searight and the exciting St Louis-based Ghanaian Weedie Braimah, whose hand drums provide fireworks that light up the set. There’s a contemporary Headhunters feel in the wah-wah sounds and choppy time swaps of the opening Soti, while the gentle piano hook of The Pines invokes Robert Glasper – and a fast rhythmic undertow, contrasting with the languid theme, sets a creative pattern often revisited on the session. The flute-like theme and African drums sound of Bullet have a ritualistic grip; the title track is a brooding anthem; A Blaze is an irresistible hook with a Caribbean feel. For all its sense of players’ freedom, though – and some flying piano breaks from the leader – Aftersun might still have too smooth a sheen for some jazzers, but there’s no doubting Laurance’s creativity as a very unusual kind of world musician. John Fordham

01. Soti (5:24)
02. The Pines (6:23)
03. Time To Run (8:19)
04. Madeleine (4:57)
05. Bullet (4:04)
06. Aftersun (5:59)
07. First Light (4:55)
08. Golden Hour (4:39)
09. A Blaze (7:57)

Bill Laurence - keys
Michael League - bass
Robert "Sput" Searight - drums
Weedie Braihma - percussion

BUY THIS ALBUM

 

Daniel Karlsson Trio - At the Feel Free Falafel (2016)

Source & Label: Brus & Knaster

The Daniel Karlsson Trio have since their album debut Das Taxibåt in September 2013 established themselves as one of the most interesting constellations in Swedish jazz. Not least through the magnificent hat trick brought home by their sophomore release Fusion for Fish, released in August 2014. The album ended up winning the Swedish Radio’s Jazz Group of the Year Award 2014, Swedish jazz magazine OJ’s Golden Disc 2015 as well as the Swedish Jazz Grammy 2015. Ears have been opened abroad as well, their music met with press accolades and frequent airplay in Germany, but also in the UK and Ireland.
This does not mean that the trio are resting on their laurels. New music has been recorded through the Fall of 2014 and the Spring of 2015 on the island of Runmarö in the Stockholm archipelago and then honed to perfection at the brus & knaster studio in Stockholm. The result is now ready to be sent off into the world.
On this, their third outing, there’s a also new member in the band. Double bass player Kristian Lind has moved to Turkey and has been replaced by his namesake Christian Spering, an outstanding musician and an exceptionally well known name for those in the know of the Swedish jazz scene. As always the new album contain a collection of exciting original compositions by Daniel Karlsson. Nine new songs (we had to drop one title on the LP version) with a more or less pronounced lucullic theme apparent in the song titles. Soundwise there is no reason to worry, the trio’s distinctive characteristics are very much in place, only even more so this time around. A slew of analogue synthesizers and a rare instrument in jazz settings, the Mellotron, frequently adding to the soundscape. This is not a first in jazz however, Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi years of the early 70s featured Mellotron on both the Crossings and Sextant albums.
The preeminent guitarist Andreas Hourdakis makes cameos on two tracks just as on Fusion for Fish and Daniel’s sister, Rebecka Karlsson, baroque violinist, is also featured on one track.
And as on Fusion for Fish the brilliant artist Richard Johansson has lent us one of his out of this world oil paintings for the cover.

1 Chilly Chili 5:41
2 The Daily Döner 5:30
3 Rolls For Rolling 5:44
4 Folke Bengtsson Won A Trip 5:00
5 Two Blocks Away 4:07
6 Sambal Cymbal 4:23
7 Viggo's Veggie 4:21
8 La Baguette (Kampsången) 3:18
9 Recycling Society 7:59

Daniel Karlsson - Crumar Organ, Mellotron, Roland D50, Piano
Christian Spering - Double Bass, Tar Shehnai
Fredrik Rundqvist - Drums, Percussion
Andreas Hourdakis - Electric Guitar (tracks: 7, 9)
Rebecka Karlsson - Violin (tracks: 2)

BUY THIS ALBUM 

 

James Beckwith Trio - Vortex Sessions EP (2016)

Label: Self Released

Source: Cdbaby

JBT (James Beckwith Trio) is a new project formed by Dankworth Prize winning composer & jazz pianist James Beckwith. From England, having spent many years in Canada, and currently studying Composition at Trinity Laban, James draws from a wide range of geographical influences in his writing. The group’s style: strong lyrical tunes with warm, full harmony, is described as sounding akin to and influenced by Gerald Clayton, Tigran Hamasyan, and Robert Glasper. With inspiration ranging from New York contemporary jazz harmonies, Middle Eastern & Asian folk melodies, and hip hop inflected groove, this dynamic trio’s performances are not to be missed.

On bass is Joe Downard. Currently bassist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and performed at Ronnie Scott's Late Show, and the main show with the Engines Orchestra. A highly sought after young player in multiple genres and music scenes; Joe effortlessly grooves over the multiple genres that JBT play. On drums is Harry Pope, MMus Jazz from Trinity Laban and also drummer with the internationally touring World Service Project. This percussive sideman has recently completed a number of sessions for television adverts and has performed notably with the RSNO, Tom Cawley, and Chaos Orchestra.

1. Tachymeter
2. Figurative
3. Californication
4. Permanent Resident
5. Goose (Take 1)
6. Goose (Take 2)
7. Took My Shield & Sword

James Beckwith // Piano & Keyboards,
Joe Downard // Bass,
Harry Pope // Drums

BUY THIS ALBUM 

 

Jason Miles & Ingrid Jensen - Kind of New (2015)

BY S. VICTOR AARON / somethingelsereviews

It’s one thing to make a Miles Davis tribute album; lots of good musicians have done this. It’s quite another to pay homage to Miles by exploring his most mysterious, impenetrable period — the classic fusion era of the early 70s — and create entirely new compositions inspired by this period.

Jason Miles has successfully done this…twice, now. While such a concept has been attempted before — the Wadada Leo Smith/Henry Kaiser venture Yo Miles! comes most immediately to mind — the award-winning producer, keyboardist, arranger and composer Miles approaches this task not by aping his old friend whose first name matches Jason’s last one, but bottling his aura and pouring it out on contemporary grooves. 2005’s start-studded Miles to Miles: In the Spirit of Miles Davis was just that.

Similarly, that’s why Kind Of New (out now by Whaling City Sound Records) is more than just a play on words with Davis’ best known masterwork; it, too, is fundamentally different from the Yo Miles! records in that it doesn’t strive to “go retro” in the sonic sense. At the same time, New is positioned much closer to those Bitches Brew and A Tribute To Jack Johnson opuses than Miles to Miles and that is due in large part to adding a key partner for this project: Canadian-born trumpet player Ingrid Jensen. Berklee product Jensen has made her mark since the 90s primarily as a post-bop trumpet and flugelhorn specialist but before all that she was jamming to Bitches Brew. The Kind Of New provided her an opportunity to go all in returning to one of her earliest influences.

So yes, Jensen plays the crucial “Miles Davis” role in this endeavor, but that doesn’t mean she plays her trumpet just like Davis. Adopting the Prince of Darkness’ moody sense of melodicism, she plays mostly contemplative, which makes the occasional outburst of notes more impactful. On “The Faction of Cool,” she responds to the cool, easy strut but allowing the melody come to her and maneuvers pretty easily around a rhythm section constructed by Amanda Ruzza’s fat bass line and a crisp snare stroll by Jensen’s husband Jon Wikan.

Nearly every song in this collection, in fact, has some variation of a cocky strut to it and a woodwind foil (usually provided by Jay Rodriguez), but beyond these strong Davis signifiers, Jason Miles and Ingrid Jensen rely on their own instincts. Thus, if they wanted a baritone sax to counter Jensen’s lines as they did in the chugging, uptempo funk of “Super City,” what does it matter that Davis preferred tenor and soprano sax foils? It works, and works great.

“Shirley,” named after favored Davis vocalist Shirley Horn, slows down the groove for a moment for this fetching ballad that actually would have been a nice fit inside of Tutu or Amandla, two Davis albums Jason Miles was involved with. Each of Jensen’s notes seem to hover a bit before dissolving, phrasing herself like a veteran singing. “Seeing Through The Rain” is another strain rendered delicately by Miles’ flowing electric piano with a soprano sax counterpart this time, from Jeff Coffin, and a mildly African vibe.

“Close To The Action” is a harder, jungle groove that finds Jensen conversing with tenor sax, soprano sax and bass clarinet all coming from Jay Rodriguez. “Kats Eye” is a Sly and Robbie type Afro-Caribbean groove that features Jensen’s sensitive muted trumpet skills.

Three live tracks were sprinkled throughout this mostly studio creation, which didn’t disturb the vibe of the album at all, revealing that the years Miles and Jensen spent trying out material on the bandstand before committing them to tape paid off with crisp, consistent performances no matter the setting. “Ferrari,” a tune Miles co-wrote with Michael Brecker, actually leads off the Miles to Miles album but this rendition is rawer (in a good way) as Miles’ dirty Rhodes conjures up Jarrett’s boss Cellar Door Sessions performances from 1970. “Street Vibe” is tough, rubbery bass-driven funk fueled by a James Brown break beat. And then there’s (officially) the one Miles Davis cover: a sublime reading of “Sanctuary,” that captures the free spirit of the original Bitches Brew track perfectly, especially the splotches of color Miles adds with his electric piano. Following that after some silence is an Easter egg, a concert performance of “Jean-Pierre.”

With fusion jazz having strayed so far from the roots laid down by Miles Davis, a record like Kind of New is a refreshing reconnect with the innovations he introduced some forty-five years ago. Jason Miles and Ingrid Jensen show us the genius of Davis with pointed musicianship but also didn’t leave out Davis’ most critical ingredient: his attitude.

Jason Miles: keyboards

Ingrid Jensen: trumpet

Jay Rodriguez: tenor, baritone, soprano sax, bass clarinet (2, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12)

Jeff Coffin: tenor, baritone, soprano sax (7)

James Genus: bass (7)

Jerry Brooks: bass (5, 11,12)

Amanda Ruzza: bass (2, 3, 8)

Adam Dorn: bass (7)

Nir Felder: guitar (9)

Gene Lake: drums (4, 7)

Brian Dunne: drums (3, 7)

Mike Clark: drums (5, 11, 12)

Jim Wilson: drums (2), percussion (1, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12)

Steven Wilson: drum programming (9)

Cyro Baptista: percussion (7)

Interlude

The Faction of Cool

Super City

Shirley

Film Noir Interlude

Ferrari

Seeing Through the Rain

Close to the Action

Kats Eye

Street Vibe

Twilight Interlude

Sanctuary

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

Domi