Marta Sanchez - SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) February 25, 2022 Whirlwind Recordings

Marta Sanchez’s creative voice is strikingly original – circling rhythms, elaborate forms and criss-crossing counterpoint distinguishes her sonic signature on the crowded New York contemporary music scene. Following three critically acclaimed quintet releases, the Madrid-born pianist-composer presents SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) on Whirlwind Recordings, an album driven by emotional candour and boundary-pushing compositions.

A talented cast realises her knotty, technical writing – frontline partners Alex Lore and Roman Filiu meet Sanchez, Rashaan Carter andAllan Mednard on backline duties.

SAAM riffs on the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on an album that’s an exhibition of Sanchez’s life in musical form: “It’s made up of all the elements of society from both countries [Spain and America] that impact my life and make me who I am.” Matters internal and external are realised in musical expositions of complex feelings. The pieces took shape in lockdown, as Sanchez exchanged fortnightly composition tasks with a pen- pal. “Those compositions express all the phases I was going through at that time. I was reflecting super deeply on what’s important, and how we might give some sense to life.”

Most of the album draws on those precisely realised emotions. The colouristic, texturally driven opener ‘The Unconquerable Areas’ describes parts of herself “that are still vulnerable. These weak parts of myself; even though I’ve been dealing with them for a long time, they’re still there.” Similarly reflective is ‘Dear Worthiness’, a “sad ballad that reflects on my self worth” – it features beautifully lithe melodies, but melancholy is never far away. ‘SAAM’ cuts through that smoothness, in a jagged, Schoenberg- inspired outburst full of intense feelings and dense clusters, built around an essential pain.

A different form of pain features in ‘The Eternal Stillness’ – mournful sighs and cries emanate from the saxophones, as layered textures shift underneath. Then something very different comes along – ‘Marivi’, featuring Ambrose Akinmusire and Camila Meza, offers a warm tribute to Sanchez’s mother, who died during lockdown. “I tell her things I could never tell her,” says Sanchez of the lyrics. “I loved my mum but it was really hard to tell her the deep things.”

‘If You Could Create It’ strikes a lighter tone, with cascading torrents of tenor sax sound, before ‘The Hard Balance’ offers reflection, both musically and personally – the track is finely balanced on an intricate polyrhythm, that reflects the difficulties of maintaining a work-life balance. ‘December 11th’ is the day Sanchez’s mother died, a personal tribute featuring an extended, heartfelt piano solo.

The album concludes with ‘When Dreaming is Only’, the most complex tune on the album; insistent piano rhythms and duelling saxophones give way to a band texture that’s bustling, brimming with energy. “Sometimes I just take the vibe, compose the atmosphere, and sometimes I focus on something super specific.” Sanchez’s ability to tap into emotional expression through detailed instrumental music is without parallel – this collage of moods and feelings is testament to that.

1. The Unconquered Vulnerable Areas

2. Dear Worthiness

3. SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)

4. The Eternal Stillness

5. Marivi

6. If You Could Create It

7. The Hard Balance

8. December 11th

9. When Dreaming Is The Only

Alex LoRe - alto saxophone

Roman Filiu - tenor saxophone

Marta Sanchez - piano

Rashaan Carter - bass

Allan Mednard - drums

Camila Meza - voice and guitar (5)

Ambrose Akinmusire - trumpet (5)

Charlotte Greve - synths (5)

Recorded by Chris Allen at Sear Sound

(March 15/16, 2021)

Mixed by Dave Darlington

Mastered by Dave Darlington

Produced by Marta Sanchez

Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

Liner Notes - Michael Formanek

Photography by Kimberley M Wang

Graphic Design by Dave Bush

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Taru Alexander - Echoes of the Masters (January 7, 2022 Sunnyside Records)

In the jazz community, there are individuals who come to the music as a birthright. There are countless musical families whose members continue to pass the gift of music on from generation to generation. Drummer Taru Alexander was endowed with music by his father, saxophonist Roland Alexander, and an extended family of professional musician mentors in his native Brooklyn, New York.

The younger Alexander celebrates the legacy of his father and his father’s peers on his new recording, Echoes of the Masters, a collection of pieces by well-known jazz composers performed by an outstanding group of musicians who came of age under the tutelage of legendary performers on the bandstand.

Taru Alexander was born into the music. His father, Roland, began taking him to gigs at 3 years old. The boy was entranced by the drums and began to pick them up naturally before he was 10. By the time he was 13 years old, Alexander was performing alongside his father and bass legend Reggie Workman, with whom he studied at Brooklyn’s famed New Muse School in Crown Heights. Further study with drummers Rudy Collins, Andre Strobert, Walter Perkins, and La Guardia Music & Art’s Justin DiCioccio prepared Alexander for life as a professional drummer.

A lifetime of musical experience has imbued Alexander with the skills, the knowledge, and the swagger to play jazz as it should be played. His credentials spread from bands led by Roy Hargrove, Gary Bartz, Carlos Garnett, and many more, so when he was considering who should join him on his new recording, Alexander wanted to include other musicians who had truly paid their dues.

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, pianist James Hurt has been a focal part of the New York jazz scene since he arrived in 1994. Among many ensembles, Hurt was a member of Roland Alexander’s band, where he met Taru Alexander. Hurt also performed with groups led by Abbey Lincoln, Sherman Irby, Russell Gunn, and many others.

Alexander met saxophonist Antoine Roney and bassist Rashaan Carter on a recording session led by saxophonist Michael Marcus in 2008. Alexander was so impressed that he made note to contact them when he was able to record on his own. Roney has been a stalwart leader and sideman in New York alongside fantastic musicians like Jacky Terrasson, Donald Byrd, John Patton, and his brother, Wallace Roney. Carter carries the history of the jazz bass on his shoulders having studied with Buster Williams, Reggie Workman, and Ron Carter. He continues to be one of the strongest players in New York.

During the pandemic, Alexander reached out to these stalwart musicians to be his band of certified players on his new album.

The recording launches into gear with a high octane take of the elder Alexander’s “Change Up,” a piece penned in the 1970s that bridges the gap between the earlier generation’s verve with the younger generation’s swagger. Taru Alexander’s drums propel the quartet with great solos from Roney and Hurt. Thelonious Monk and Coleman Hawkins’s “I Mean You” adds guest vocalist HANKA to the quartet for this swinging rendition of the classic tune, which is followed by Buster Williams’s “Deception” performed in a firey rendition.

Roland Alexander wrote “Kojo Time” for his son at the time of his birth and while the father was in Europe, the echo of a European ambulance signaling the to be drummer’s arrival can be heard in the theme. Alexander fell in love with McCoy Tyner’s “Peresina” from the pianist’s Expansions record, wearing it out after regular listens. The quartet honors the piece with an expansive reading with gorgeous features for the entire band. The recording concludes with Wayne Shorter’s “Pinocchio,” Hurt’s ambient piano leading to an up-tempo ensemble romp over Alexander’s persistent beat.

On Echoes of the Masters, Taru Alexander creates an aural tribute to his father, the great Roland Alexander, and the tremendous musicians who passed the tradition down to him and the future generations through their impact on the bandstand and their examples off of it. 

1. Change Up

2. I Mean You

3. Deception

4. Kojo Time

5. Peresina

6. Pinocchio

Taru Alexander - drums

Antoine Roney - tenor saxophone

James Hurt - piano

Rashaan Carter - bass

Hanka G. - vocalist (track 2)

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Marc Cary Focus Trio - Well Travelled (2021 The Harlem Sessions)

This is possibly my favorite live set from all my travels with The Focus Trio. Recorded in Europe in 2013 at Mariannes Jazz Room

1. Chundracones 09:02

2. Appointment in Ghana 11:39

3. 12 stories 07:27

4. Single Petal of a Rose 06:08

5. Minor March 09:16

6. My Love Is You 04:24

7. Proceedings 01:55

8. Trance 05:15

9. Bhoup 10:41

10. Audience Outro 01:50

11. Just in Time 06:55

Featuring Marc Cary, Sameer Gupta and Rashaan Carter

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Caleb Wheeler Curtis / Rashaan Carter / Mark Ferber - CURTIS CARTER FERBER (2021 Imani Records)

1. Doing Nothing Is Hard Business 35:15

Caleb Wheeler Curtis – alto saxophone

Rashaan Carter – bass

Mark Ferber – drums

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Rashaan Carter

Recorded May 16, 2019 at Studiocho, Brooklyn, NY

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Christopher Hoffman - Asp Nimbus (March 2021 Out Of Your Head Records)

1. Discretionary 04:03

2. Dylan George 06:00

3. Asp Nimbus 03:40

4. Angles Of Influence 03:33

5. Orb 02:49

6. Non-Submersible 04:25

7. For You 03:14

8. The Heights Of Spectacle 03:46

Christopher Hoffman - cello, compositions

Bryan Carrott - vibraphone

Rashaan Carter - bass

Craig Weinrib - drums

David Virelles - piano (track 2 only)

All Compositions By Christopher Hoffman

Recorded January 8 & 9 2020 by Lily Wen at Figure 8 Studios

Produced, Mixed & Mastered By Christopher Hoffman

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Christopher Hoffman - Asp Nimbus (Friday, March 26th 2021 Out Of Your Head Records)

“Somehow, he manages to contribute a unique, fresh voice in a field that is crowded with excellent recordings.” --Avant Music News

Christopher Hoffman - Asp Nimbus (OOYH 009): With Asp Nimbus, cellist Christopher Hoffman very intentionally sought to make a more straight-forward recording than his 2018 release, Multifariam. Multifariam was an electro-acoustic tour de force in the vein of Miles Davis’ electric years, MF Doom, and the horror/sci-fi composer John Carpenter. Hoffman played mad scientist, chopping and pasting studio recorded snippets from Gerald Cleaver, Tony Malaby, Christina Courtin, Craig Weinrib and a slew of others into what was a 16-track masterpiece. Asp Nimbus is not that kind of album. Inspired by Bobby Hutcherson's Oblique and Happenings, and Henry Threadgill's Everybody’s Mouth's a Book (Hoffman is a mainstay in a number of Threadgill’s ensembles of the past 10 years), Asp Nimbus was recorded in January 2020 with the goal of capturing the group dynamic and raw live energy of their quartet performances.

That is a surprisingly difficult feat to achieve in the studio, yet this album exceedingly succeeds in doing so. With the exception of the piano contribution of David Virelles on Dylan George there are no overdubs, and we hear the music exactly as it was performed. The recording presented a new kind of challenge for Hoffman as a soloist, as he previously tended to write music that was predominantly collective in nature. Since Asp Nimbus is a more traditionally jazz-oriented album, Hoffman is featured heavily as a leading voice. He absolutely shines when placed front and center, and this recording is sure to further cement his place in the top-tier of improvising cellist/composers active today.

Hoffman chooses the title of each piece to reflect the vibratory state that he finds in the music. For instance, the first track Discretionary reflects a growing attitude in the world today--the idea of acting on one's own authority or judgment. The second track, Dylan George, was written for his late brother who passed unexpectedly in 2016. By chance they overdubbed David Virelles’ part on Dylan George while on break during a studio session for a new Henry Threadgill composition. Hoffman considered it an added blessing to have Henry in the room listening while they recorded. To hear Chris speak of it, it is obvious that this piece in particular means a lot of things to him, and ultimately it's a tribute to Dylan.

Knowing that he wanted vibraphone when forming the quartet in Fall of 2018, Bryan Carrott was an immediate and obvious choice, as Hoffman has long loved his playing in Threadgill's Make A Move, on Dave Douglas' Witness, and as a part of The Lounge Lizards. Hoffman and drummer Craig Weinrib play together a lot, most notably in Henry Threadgill’s Double Up, and are frequently recruited in tandem as side-people by the likes of Jonathan Finlayson and Roman Filiu for their deep connection. Bassist Rashaan Carter and Weinrib have a similar special relationship, and together are a propulsive force throughout Asp Nimbus. Cello, vibraphone, bass, and drums are an atypical instrumentation for what Hoffman considers to be a more traditional jazz album (in fact, I can’t cite one recorded example of this exact instrumentation).

By default the combination will pull your ear towards chamber music and contemporary classical, and Hoffman’s work in film, whether intentional or not, surely contributed to the cinematic arc that is present over these 8 tracks and 32-minutes. There aren’t many recordings of any genre to compare it to, and whatever the inspiration was for Asp Nimbus the result is unique. That alone makes it an album worthy of repeated listening, but the masterful performance of these four world-class improvisers, and the compositional maturity on display is sure to demand attention as one of the finest recordings of 2021. Asp Nimbus is due out March 26, 2021 on Out Of Your Head Records in both digital and vinyl formats.

“...a great example of how advanced and complex in great hands can sound simply great.” --Jazz Music Archives

 

1) Discretionary

2) Dylan George

3) Asp Nimbus

4) Angles Of Influence

5) Orb

6) Non-Submersible

7) For You

8) The Heights Of Spectacle

Christopher Hoffman - cello, compositions

Bryan Carrott - vibraphone

Rashaan Carter - bass

Craig Weinrib - drums

David Virelles - piano (track 2 only)

All Compositions By Christopher Hoffman

Produced, Mixed & Mastered By Christopher Hoffman

Recorded January 8 & 9 2020 by Lily Wen at Figure 8 Studios

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Christopher Hoffman is a cellist and film-maker. He has the honor of performing in Henry Threadgill’s Pulitzer Prize winning ensemble Zooid as well as Double Up & 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg. Chris regularly performs with the Grammy nominated Anat Cohen Tentet, Anna Webber Septet (featured on her critically acclaimed Clockwise), Rudy Royston’s Flatbed Buggy, Michael Blake string band, Tony Malaby, and the Christopher Hoffman Quartet. He has worked with Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island) and has performed with Yoko Ono, Bleachers, Butch Morris, Marc Ribot, Christina Courtin, Spring Awakening, Anthony Coleman, Marianne Faithfull, Ryan Adams, Iron & Wine, Jeremiah Cymerman, Michael Pitt & many others He has performed at the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Newport Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, David Letterman, North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Saalfelden, SF Jazz, Chicago’s Symphony Center, Walker Arts Center and all over western Europe & the United States. christopherhoffman.com

Sameer Gupta - A Circle Has No Beginning (2018)

The energy we create is not only a connection on stage. It is a circle that connects the musicians on-stage to the audience as well. That energy returns after being processed by the audience back to the stage, for the musicians to take in and and build upon, then returning back to the listeners, creating a elevated focused cyclical energy around the creative musical moment we share.” (Pianist, Marc Cary) 

Our communities outside of musical experience today are also extensions of circles, connected by moments and influences that inspire us. Their sources offer to quench our thirst for knowledge. We are drawn to the source of these influences; they call to us from within ourselves. These influences and their sources, ultimately, help define us. 

We are in a place now where we often forget to acknowledge, or are indifferent to these influences. But if we reflect on and convey our history, and our influences on each other, we can get closer to these sources and learn how they have evolved us as a connected people. We can find and follow the circle’s path.

A circle’s path must return to where it once was, and when we return and recreate the familiar, we ideally have learned something; elevating ourselves, and working towards what we hope to create in the future. The result of this evolving positive focused energy is what helps hope, peace and compassion bloom. 

The goals and results of this focused cyclical energy can, unfortunately, also be terrifying in their potential for hatred and destruction. The Cree Indian activist-poet-musician Buffy Saint-Marie sings, “Blame the angels, blame the fates, blame the Jews or your sister Kate. Teach your children who to hate, and the big wheel turns around and around.” (Little Wheel Spin and Spin). If we can accept that this moment does not exist in a vacuum, then we realize that our place today is built on the connections to our past. For good or bad, the history and the connections are written, and now we must evolve from this point forward. 

To truly appreciate ourselves we must learn our history, so we can positively affect and contribute towards our collective evolution. Today we often lose sight of these connections and our own history, but as creative minds, we must acknowledge our sources and help the circle of evolution circle back with an elevated and enlightened perspective. Or else, we are giving less than the best of ourselves.

1. Little Wheel Spin and Spin 05:17

2. Taiwa 05:33

3. Innocence in Harlem 06:48

4. Come Take Everything (Intro) 03:37

5. Come Take Everything 06:44

6. Two Faces of the Moon 06:25

7. Tyagaraja Dreams in Brooklyn 07:07

8. With Blessings 08:44

9. Crows at Sunset (Intro) 02:19

10. Crows at Sunset 06:16

11. Run For the Red Fort 03:41

12. Prog-Raag Bhimpalasi 11:21

Sameer Gupta - Drumset, Tabla

Marc Cary - Wurlitzer, Synthesizer, FX

Jay Gandhi - Bansuri Flute

Arun Ramamurthy - Violin

Marika Hughes - Cello

Trina Basu - Violin

Rashaan Carter - Bass, FX

Guest:

Neel Murgai - Sitar (Tracks 5, 7, 11, 12)

Brandee Younger - Harp (Tracks 1, 2)

Pawan Benjamin - (Tracks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12)

Morley Kamen - Vocal (Track 1)