David DeJesus - Drive (2016)

Label: Self Released

Source: David DeJesus

Genre: Contemporary Jazz

GAB's Rating: ★★★★★

Saxophonist David DeJesus has been on the New York City Jazz scene since the late 90’s and has established himself as a key player in numerous bands in various genres. In Jazz, David has performed with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars, and Jimmy Heath’s Big Band along with many others. In Latin Jazz and Salsa, David has shared the stage with Ruben Blades, Larry Harlow, Gilberto Santa Rosa, and Tito Rodriguez Jr. Currently, David is a member of the Grammy Award winning Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the Grammy nominated Bobby Sanabria Big Band, and the Legendary Ron Carter’s Great Big Band. On top of his busy performing career, David has long been involved in education and is currently a proud professor at Purchase College just outside of the city.

DRIVE is the debut album by NYC saxophonist David DeJesus featuring the stellar band of Donald Vega on piano, Luques Curtis on bass, E.J. Strickland on drums, and Tristen Napoli on trumpet.

1. Drive
2. The Search Goes On
3. Emergence
4. The Knife Test
5. Home
6. Endgame

David DeJesus - saxophone
Donald Vega - piano
Luques Curtis - bass
E.J. Strickland - drums
Tristen Napoli - trumpet 

 

 

Doug Webb - Bright Side (2016)

Source & Label:

 Genre: Hard-bop

GAB's Rating: ★★★★★

The sky is the limit when tenor saxophone virtuoso Doug Webb turns his attention toward the "Bright Side" on his seventh release for Posi-Tone. Everything swings steadily as Webb plays with remarkable technical precision and a manifest knowledge of his materials. His tone is robust and extraordinarily well-centered, his articulation sharp, and his command of the tenor saxophone complete. Nevertheless, he is more than a mere technician, for his artistry is also considerable and this album is a crowning achievement for an artist who is as substantial a musician as jazz has ever produced. Along with the able assistance of an all-star group of label mates -- who are of course all leaders in their own right -- including organist Brian Charette, guitarist Ed Cherry, drummer Steve Fidyk, and special guest trumpet sensation Joe Magnarelli, Webb has fashioned a shining diadem of melodic jewels across a wide spectrum of styles and sounds! Critical listeners and casual fanatics everywhere will shine with intense delight as Webb soars onward and upward to new heights with "Bright Side."  

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Kenny Garrett - Do Your Dance! (2016)

Label:

Source: London Jazz News

Genre: Post-Bop

GAB's Rating: ★★★★★

Multi-instrumentalistKenny Garrett likes to make people dance, and on Do Your Dance! he wants people to do whatever dance they like. He's produced a record of largely optimistic, energetic music to help you along.

Two drummers help him out, Ronald Bruner on four tracks and McLenty Hunter on five, on four of which he's also joined by percussionist Rudy Bird. Vernell Brown plays piano and Corcoran Holt bass on all tracks bar one, Persian Steps, on which Garrett plays piano and flute. On most of the tunes Garrett plays alto sax, playing soprano only on one, Waltz (3 Sisters).

They are joined joined on Wheatgrass Shot (Straight to the Head) by rapper Mista Enz, son of co-producer Donald Brown. Over a opening piano rhythm, the rap feels integral to the music rather than something bolted on after the event. This is jazz, with spoken words. The jazz is good, too: it's not that the words are covering anything up. 

 Mista Enz has a few lines at the end of Do Your Dance!, too. Most of the tune is a rocky riff with an appropriately fast beat over which Garrett lays down a choppy solo. Then, a coda to the main tune, they slow down, Enz entreating us to dance.

Garrett seems to invoke his influences throughout this album. The first track, Philly, starts with some sombre piano chords before tearing into a fast hard bop piece worthy of Blakey, with whom Garrett played early in his career. It is hard not hear Coltrane in Garrett's saxophone here, and Vernell Brown sounds uncannily like McCoy Tyner, who coincidentally came from Philadelphia.

The Coltrane influence is also present in Chasing the Wind, the closing track. This is a fast tune reminiscent of Giant Steps or Miles Davis' Seven Steps to Heaven, and Garrett plays it with speed and fluency, producing a dazzling cascade of notes. Bruner keeps his cymbals swinging, driving the rhythm forward; Vernell Brown lays down another exciting piano solo. A great hardbop finish!  Patrick Hadfield

1. Philly
2. Backyard Groove
3. Wheatgrass Shot (Straight to the Head)
4. Bossa
5. Do Your Dance!
6. Calypso Chant
7. Waltz (3 Sisters)
8. Persian Steps
9. Chasing the Wind

Kenny Garrett - alto sax, piano, flute
Ronald Bruner - drums
McLenty Hunter - drums
Rudy Bird - percussion
Vernell Brown - piano
Corcoran Holt - Bass

Mista Enz - rap 

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Allison Burik Quartet - Mythos (2016)

Label: Self Released

Source: Allison Burik

Genre: Modern Creative Jazz

GAB's Rating: ★★★★☆  

Allison Burik grew up in the Kansas City jazz scene, where the tradition of jazz is so deeply rooted that it can be heard in the musicians playing there today. She has performed there as the headliner in her own ensemble, the Allison Burik Quintet, and also in a myriad of other ensembles including the New Jazz Order Big Band and the Black House Collective Composers Ensemble. She has performed as a featured artist at venues such as the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts and Take Five Coffee+Bar. In October of 2015, Burik went on tour with the Vid Jamnik 5tet in the Lorraine region of France and also performed in the Nancy Jazz Pulsations Jazz Fest. Burik released her first album, Lakeside, fall of 2014 and recently released a duo album entitled Umbrella Pine with guitarist Magdalena Abrego in September 2015. Over the years Allison has studied with notable instructors including George Garzone, Frank Tiberi, Bobby Watson, Shannon LeClaire, Tia Fuller and Dan Thomas. Today she is pursuing her degree in performance at Berklee College of Music under a full scholarship, while living and gigging in Boston.

1. Antlers 04:53
2. Wendigo 07:35
3. Kitsune 06:22
4. The House of the North Wind 08:43
5. Hugin and Munin* 04:12
6. Dragon Song 04:42
7. Out of Arcady 04:59
    

Allison Burik - Saxophone, vocals, compositions
Magdalena Abrego - Guitar
Seulgi Hwang - Bass
Willis Edmundson - Drums

*Special Guest George Garzone - Tenor Sax 

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Kyle Nasser - Restive soul (2015)

Label: Aisa 

Source: Cdbaby

“Nice! Lots of terrific playing... my compliments to the musicians.”  Peter Erskine

Saxophonist Kyle Nasser was a student of Economics and Political Philosophy at Harvard University when his life was changed by an encounter with Hank Jones. The legendary pianist, then in his late 80s, visited Cambridge to teach and play a concert with the Harvard Jazz Band, making a profound impact on the young saxophonist. “Seeing him in peak form and expressing joy through music at such an advanced age was really deep,” Nasser recalls. “We took him out to dinner, ended up playing a three-hour session, and then he asked us to take him home so that he could get in some practicing before bed. That left a huge impression and reinforced that I should do this. I didn’t have any old investment banker friends that seemed very happy.”

Nasser graduated from Harvard and switched paths, leading him to another revered institution: Berklee College of Music. He’s now reaching another landmark along that path with his striking debut, Restive Soul, out March 25, 2015 A trace of the saxophonist’s former pursuit remains in the title, which was drawn from a quote by French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville ascribing his pursuit of politics to his own “restive and insatiable soul.” The album displays the keen intellect that landed Nasser at one of America’s most hallowed schools, along with the passion that steered him away from a potentially lucrative career in business to pursue his lifelong love of music.

The compositions that comprise Restive Soul combine fervent jazz playing by Nasser’s quintet – Jeff Miles (guitar), Dov Manski (piano), Chris Van Voorst (bass), and Devin Drobka (drums) – with elements from Nasser’s intensive study of western classical music. But this is no Third Stream hybrid, wearing its “classical” inspirations on its sleeve; instead, Nasser seamlessly assimilates counterpoint and long-form harmonic development into electrifying modern jazz pieces. Those concepts were then workshopped on the bandstand over the course of several years during the band’s regular Tuesday-night gigs at Brooklyn bar The Fifth Estate.

“I became obsessed with counterpoint at Berklee,” Nasser says. “You have to take traditional counterpoint courses, and it hit me that this is what I had been looking for and missing in a lot of the jazz that I’d been listening to and playing. I got the impression that a lot of people were writing tunes because they wanted to blow over them as opposed to having a conscious compositional direction to the piece. I wanted to make a quintet sound like an orchestra.”

The album opens with “For Rick B.,” a theme-and-variations tribute to Nasser’s most important teacher, New Bedford-area saxophonist and pianist Rick Britto, who passed away while Nasser was in the midst of writing the piece. No mournful elegy, the piece instead builds from a piquant sax-and-guitar melody over a surging rhythm. It’s followed by the floating, dream-like “Angelique,” a shimmering showcase for the rhythm section.

The title track illustrates that restlessness of spirit that drives an artist like Nasser with its persistent rock groove, driven by Miles’ serrated guitar. The dark-tinged cinematic feeling of “Shadow Army” is captured in its evocative title, while “Gyorgi Goose” refers to both avant-garde classical composer György Ligeti and a stuffed animal that Nasser received from his mother – twin inspirations evoked by the tune’s simultaneous dissonance and playfulness. The melody of “Radiator Lady” hints at the song hauntingly crooned by one of the memorable oddities in David Lynch’s Eraserhead,

“Trip To Lester’s” is an homage to Harvard professor emeritus and marijuana activist Lester Grinspoon, who would hold court for graduates at his home. Nasser’s piece conjures the atmosphere of those sessions and their crisscrossing, disjointed but stimulating conversations. “Whitestone” and “Ecstatic Repose” are impressionistic pieces, the former an attempt to capture the sunset vista of New York City as seen from the Whitestone Bridge, the latter a depiction of how the mind can be frenetic while the body is at rest. The album draws to a hopeful close with the folk-like melody of “Rise.”

While it wasn’t until the end of his tenure at Harvard that Nasser determined to pursue jazz as a career, his love for it began at the age of six. Kyle’s parents frequented a local restaurant in his native New Bedford, Massachusetts, that featured a live jazz band. He was immediately enthralled by the saxophone player, who ended up becoming his first teacher. Too small at the time to hold the saxophone, he started out on the clarinet, leading initially to a more classical education before he joined his junior high jazz band.

After graduating from Harvard and Berklee, Nasser moved to New York City in 2010. He has shared the stage with jazz luminaries such as Jim Hall, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas and Ben Monder, among others. He’s also toured the U.S. and South America with his own music and with the collective quartet Beekman, which recently released its own debut album.

1. For Rick B.
2. Angelique
3. Restive Soul
4. Shadow Army
5. Gyorgi Goose
6. Radiator Lady
7. Trip to Lester's
8. Whitestone
9. Ecstatic Repose
10. Rise

Kyle Nasser - saxophone
Jeff Miles - guitar
Dov Manski - piano
Chris Van Voorst - bass
Devin Drobka - drums

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Sebastián Mazzalupo - El Gran Escultor (2016)

Source & Label:

Nació en Buenos Aires en 1974.
Compositor, arreglador y docente; un saxofonista en todas sus formas, tocando desde el saxo alto al tenor, pasando por el soprano y el barítono, sin perder en ningún momento su identidad musical, con una presencia imponente que lo distingue por el liderazgo genuino y profundo de su sonido.
Sebastián, un incansable buscador, inquieto en su recorrido, comenzó a sus dieciséis años sus estudios de saxofón. Transitó diversos géneros musicales como el rock, funk, electrónica, tango y folclore; hasta erigirse como músico de jazz.

Egresó de la Escuela de Música de Buenos Aires (EMBA) como saxofonista, y fue esa búsqueda personal que le permitió encontrarse con grandes maestros del instrumento de su país como Carlos Michellini; Gabriel Santecchia; Ricardo Cavalli; Manuel Miranda; Carlos Lastra; Pablo Rodríguez y Marcelo Peralta, además estudió improvisación con Juan Cruz De Urquiza y Guillermo Romero.

A lo largo de su carrera, Mazzalupo ha tenido la posibilidad de ingresar a la comunidad jazzística local al tocar y grabar junto a grandes artistas como Carlos Lastra, Claudio Risso, Daniel Kovacich, Sergio Verdinelli, Guillermo Delgado y Hernán Merlo, Daniel Piazzolla, Richard Nant, Gustavo Musso, Mariano Sívori, Alejo Von Der Pahlen, Ernesto Zeppa, Cirilo Fernández y Ezequiel Piazza, entre otros.

Algunos de los proyectos en los que participó: Inmigrantes Big Band (música rioplatense), Giusti Funk Corp, Afreak Band (música africana contemporánea con repertorio original), Bruselas Big Band (música original compuesta por su director Emanuel Brusa), Dúo Monteleone & Mazzalupo (música original), El Heladero (disco “Cajas” editado por Notorious en 2003), Ernesto Zeppa Grupo (disco “Intuición” editado por PAI records en 2011).

Su primer trabajo de composiciones propias dentro del jazz quedó plasmado en el CD “Buenos Modales” (PAI Records, 2008) de LaTroupe cuarteto, grupo que integró junto a Sebastián Valsecchi, Ernesto Zeppa y Gonzalo Fuertes.

Actualmente transita una nueva etapa creativa y desafiante que se entrecruza con su continuo perfeccionamiento. El inicio del 2016 lo encuentra en New York enriqueciéndose con inspiradoras jornadas de estudio junto a algunos de los más influyentes saxofonistas y educadores actuales del mundo del jazz: Chris Cheek, Donny McCaslin, Joel Frahm, Garry Dial y Guillermo Klein.

Con un enfoque innovador, Sebastián Mazzalupo lanza su segundo disco como líder y forma un nuevo cuarteto para el que convoca a Miguel Marengo, Juan Bayón y Carto Brandán, músicos que aportan su toque distintivo y profesional para este proyecto. A fines de 2015 grabó el “El gran escultor”, cuyo lanzamiento se anuncia a mitad de 2016 en los mejores sitios de jazz de Buenos Aires.

1. Bonito 08:47
2. Ya veremos 06:45
3. Recitado 05:04
4. El gran escultor 05:36
5. Idas y venidas 06:55
6. Que sera que sera 05:46
7. No te alteres 07:30
8. Casi una de amor 04:22

Sebastián Mazzalupo: sax
Miguel Marengo: piano
Juan Bayón: bass
Carto Brandán: drums

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Tom Tallitsch - Gratitude (2016)

Source & Label: 

 Saxophonist Tom Tallitsch shares his feelings with an abiding sense of " Gratitude" on his fourth release for Posi-Tone. Joining Tallitsch on the date is the wonderfully solid rhythm section of pianist Jon Davis, bassist Peter Brendler, and drummer Rudy Royston. Special guest and fellow label mate Brian Charette drops in to add some additional organ flavor to two tracks. Gratitude features an exciting program of original compositions, along with Tom's new arrangements of a few classics, and the whole session swings quickly into action and shines with bright moments. As both a saxophonist and a band leader, Tallitsch has clearly shifted his musical vibrations onto another level and this set of stunning performances should encourage jazz enthusiasts to Tallitsch's musical message of "Gratitude" with amazement and delight. 

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Bart Defoort Quintet - Inner Waves (2016)

Label: W.E.R.F.

Source: Jazz Around

Après « Moving » (en quartet avec Erik Vermeulen au piano), « The Lizzard Game » (avec déjà Hans Van Oost à la guitare) et « Short Stories On Our Journey » (en quintet avec le saxophonsite italien Emanuele Cisi et Ron Van Rossum au piano), voici le quatrième album personnel de Bart Defoort. Pour ce nouvel album WERF, le saxophoniste ténor du Brussels Jazz Orchestra et complice de Diederik Wissels pour l’album Streams a réuni un quintet.  Au piano, Ewout Pierreux, le compagnon de Tutu Puoane (albums « Breathe », « Ilanga » et Bert Joris and Tutu: « Live at De Roma ») et membre du Tuesday Night Orchestra. A la guitare, Hans Van Oost, l’un des membres de l’équipe réunie par Fabien Degryse pour un Hommage à René Thomas mais aussi membre du quintet de Koen Nyset du trio de Johan Vandendriessche. A la contrebasse, Christophe Devisscher, qui a longtemps fait partie du quartet du vibraphoniste Pascal Schumacher (« Bang My Can », « Here We Gong ») et vient d’enregistrer à son nom « A Fischeman’s Tale », avec Frank Deruyter au saxophone. A la batterie, Tony Vitacolonna, actuel batteur du BJO (« The Music of Enrico Pieranunzi », « Brel » avec David Linx) et fondateur de DelVita avec le tromboniste Peter Delannoye. Au répertoire, une nouvelle série de compositions originales : huit du leader et Still du guitariste. De longues plages de 6 à 9 minutes qui laissent de larges espaces pour les solos : guitare sur Late Night Drive ou Still, piano sur No More Church et Late Night Drive. Tout au long de l’album, on retrouve la sonorité ronde et chaleureuse du ténor, que ce soit sur tempo rapide (Bright Side, Make That Move, Inner Waves avec ce thème exposé à trois, sax-guitare-batterie, avant que n’interviennent piano et contrebasse), sur des ballades à la mélodie langoureuse (No More Chruch, Too Late To Tell You, Still) ou sur un mid tempo volontiers bluesy (Late Night Drive, Light Red To Dark Blue, The Yearning Song avec une intro piano-contrebasse). Du travail d’orfèvre.  Claude Loxhay 

01. Late Night Drive 07:03
02. Light Red to Dark Blue 07:14
03. No More Church 08:24
04. Bright Side 09:24
05. The Yearning Song 07:11
06. Make That Move 05:45
07. Too Late to Tell You 07:01
08. Inner Waves 06:26
09. Still 06:10

Bart Defoort - saxophone
Ewout Pierreux - piano
Hans Van Oost - guitare
Christophe Devisscher - contrebasse
Tony Vitacolonna - batterie

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MARCUS STRICKLAND'S TWI-LIFE - NIHIL NOVI (2016)

Source & Label: Blue Note

MARCUS STRICKLAND TEAMS WITH PRODUCER MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO ON "NIHIL NOVI"

Nihil Novi, the remarkable Blue Note/Revive Music debut by Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life, is set for an April 15 release. The album is available for pre-order now on CD or digital download. Fans who pre-order the download will immediately receive the lead track “Drive,” which is also available today as a single on streaming services. Strickland has also announced tour dates including an NYC album release show presented by Revive Music at (le) poisson rouge on April 12.

“People have to be careful when they call something new,” says Strickland. “I think about what’s around me instead of trying to create something new. Everything is inspired by something else. Ecclesiastes says: ‘There’s nothing new under the sun.’”

The saxophonist may wax philosophical when he gets talking about Nihil Novi (a Latin phrase that translates to “nothing new”) but make no mistake, this is music for your heart and your feet as well your mind. Along with producer Meshell Ndegeocello, he draws upon a world of music from J Dilla’s beat making to Bartók’s Hungarian folk music. From Fela’s propulsive Afrobeat to Mingus’ freewheeling jazz truths. This is music of the people and for the people. The diversity of influences and progressive approach to production are reflective of Revive Music’s mission to elevate music by breaking with purist ideals and discussions of genre to create transcendent sonic experiences.

Since the turn of the century, the Miami-native has made indelible imprints on the modern jazz scene playing with such titans as Roy Haynes, Dave Douglas and Jeff “Tain” Waits and reinvigorating the genre with his own band Twi-Life. Beginning with his 2001 debut, At Last (Fresh Sounds/New Talent), he’s also been steadily building an impressive body of work. Last year Marcus appeared on Blue Note/Revive Music’s acclaimed statement of purpose, Supreme Sonacy Vol. 1, on which he and singer Christie Dashiell delivered a spellbinding makeover of Janet Jackson’s 1986 quiet-storm classic, “Let’s Wait Awhile.” The New York Times review singled out the track, writing that it “approaches the high bar for simmering R&B covers set by the Robert Glasper Experiment.”

Nihil Novi picks up some of the sonic cues from Supreme Sonacy, but with production help from Ndegeocello, Strickland paints an even more expansive musical canvas. The latest incarnation of Twi-Life is the centerpiece: trumpeter Keyon Harrold (known for his work with such R&B and hip-hop artists as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z and Common), bassist Kyle Miles, drummer Charles Haynes, organist Mitch Henry, and keyboardist Masayuki Hirano. Nihil Novi also includes appearances from singer Jean Baylor, bassists Pino Palladino and Ndegeocello, keyboardist James Francies, drummer Chris Dave, guitarist Chris Bruce, and pianist and fellow Blue Note artist Robert Glasper.

Consisting entirely of original songs, Nihil Novi was born of Strickland’s passion for beat making, which has shaped both the way he composes and how he improvises. It also inspired him to recruit Ndegeocello as the album’s producer. “Because of all the layers and textures involved, I wanted someone who was very experienced at producing and creating this kind of music,” Marcus explains. “Meshell is genre-less; she doesn’t go by genres. She goes by who she is as a person. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m not interested in affixing myself to a particular genre; I want to express who I am musically as a person.”

 

 

 

 

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