Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble - NOW (April 9, 2021 International Anthem)

“Time is just the difference between knowing now and knowing nothing. Because if you know now fully, it’s past, present, and future.”

— Mattie Humphries, 1968

Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble’s new album "NOW" was created in the final throes of Summer 2020, following months of pandemic-induced fear & isolation, the explosion of social unrest, struggle & violence in the streets, and as the certain presence of a new reality had fully settled in. Set up safely in the garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio, the music was recorded in only a few takes, capturing the first times members of BME had ever played or sang the tunes. For Locks, the impetus was more about getting together to commune and make art than it was about producing an album. In his words: “It was about offering a new thought. It was about resisting the darkness. It was about expressing possibility. It was about asking the question, ‘Since the future has unfolded and taken a new and dangerous shape... what happens NOW?’”

...about Black Monument Ensemble...

Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Galvanized by Locks’s conceptualizing, poeticizing, and guiding vision, the contributors come from all facets of the diverse wellspring of Black artistic excellence in Chicago, bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to uplifting, anthemic, and highly animated musical performance.

BME is a genuinely multi-generational collective; ages of the members range from 9 to 52 years old. In addition to Locks, current and consistent BME members include: instrumentalists Angel Bat Dawid, Ben LaMar Gay, Dana Hall, and Arif Smith; singers Phillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Rayna Golding, Tramaine Parker, Richie Parks, Erica Rene, and Eric Tre’von; and dancers Raven Lewis, Cheyenne Spencer, Mary Thomas, Bryonna Young, Tiarra Young, and Keisha Janae.

Locks has a stated interest in work that explores “The Black Nod” which, as he explains, is “an unspoken acknowledgment that happens often out in the world – a sort of ‘I see you’ moment exchanged between Black people.” His work with BME attempts to do the same. Fronted by a jubilant choir, the ensemble embraces a kind of civically engaged, artistic approach to activism originally heard in the 1960s from bands like the Voices of East Harlem and on albums like Max Roach’s We Insist; or originally seen in the photography of Kwame Brathwaite and the art of Emory Douglas. Merging influence from the subsequent half-century of artistic & technological evolution, Locks employs a cyber-punk palette of disparate implements (including beatbox, boombox, telephone, and megaphone) to make narrative compositions of mined sound, beats & archival speech (a la Madlib or Supa K) which are brought to life by the ensemble in electric, improvisational performance. It’s a truly multi-dimensional sound that spans mediums, genres, and generations; past, present, & future.

...about Damon Locks...

Damon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist, musician, and deejay. Known for decades of varied projects in Chicago’s underground music & art scenes, Locks’ CV starts in the late 1980s with the band Trenchmouth, and is highlighted by work with The Eternals (co-led by Trenchmouth bandmate Wayne Montana), Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, collaborations with Nicole Mitchell, Ben LaMar Gay, and many others. In recent years Locks has traversed almost every media discipline… including sound/animation work using unheard Sun Ra recordings from Experimental Sound Studio’s archive (with Terri Kapsalis, Wayne Montana, and Rob Shaw); various collaborations with contemporary dancers & choreographers including Onye Ozuzu, Ayesha Jaco (of Move Me Soul), and Anna Martine Whitehead (on presentations & workshops with the Detroit Justice Center); participating in artist residencies at The New Quorum in New Orleans (alongside Nicole Mitchell, Lisa E Harris, Wadada Leo Smith, and others); teaching work with incarcerated artists for the Prison and Neighborhood Arts/Education Project at Stateville maximum security prison; and producing cover art for dozens of albums, including several International Anthem releases by Makaya McCraven, Hear In Now, Irreversible Entanglements, and more.

Players:

Angel Bat Dawid – clarinet

Ben LaMar Gay – cornet & melodica

Dana Hall – drums

Damon Locks – samples & electronics

Arif Smith – percussion

Singers:

Phillip Armstrong

Monique Golding

Tramaine Parker

Richie Parks

Erica Rene

Eric Tre’von

Lyrics & Compositions by: Damon Locks

Recorded August 27th-28th and September 29th, 2020, at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago.

Engineered & Mixed by: Alex Inglizian

Mastered by: David Allen

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Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus (May 14, 2021)

Long before Marc Ribot made a name for himself as a pioneering force in NYC's downtown music scene, and as guitarist for luminaries like Tom Waits, Wilson Pickett and The Lounge Lizards, he began his guitar studies as a teenager with close family friend, the Father of Haitian classical guitar, Frantz Casséus. In 1946, Frantz came to NYC from his native Port-au-Prince, Haiti with the ambition to compose a distinctly Haitian classical guitar music, to fuse the European classical tradition with Haitian folk elements as Heitor Villa-Lobos had done with his native Brazil’s and as Béla Bartók had done with Hungarian folk songs. His three recordings, Haitian Folks Songs (1953), Haitian Dances (1954) and Haitiana (1969) were released on Folkway Recordings (and since reissued by Smithsonian Folkways) and his compositions have been covered by artists worldwide including the song “Merci bon dieu” by Harry Belafonte.

In effort to preserve Frantz’s musical legacy, Marc edited a collection of Casseus' solo guitar compositions, and performed those same pieces on his 1993 album "Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus". This remastered and expanded edition, with three additional bonus tracks recorded in 2020, marks the first time Marc's interpretations of this work is available on vinyl. Also available again on CD.

From the original liner notes:

The pieces on this record are the work of my friend and teacher, Frantz Casseus. They were written over a period of approximately 40 years, from 1940 to 1980, most of which were spent in New York City, where Frantz emigrated in 1946. The music, however, remains consistently engaged with Haiti, where, in Port au Prince, 1915, Mr. Casseus was born. I believe Frantz saw it as his task to help create a national music for Haiti, and that as a composer, he used Haitian folk material in the same sense as Villa Lobos used the folk music of Brazil, Chavez that of Mexico, or Bartok that of Hungary. A formidable guitarist himself, Frantz originally recorded his own work. The four pieces of the “Haitian Suite” first appeared on a 1954 Folkway release. “Dance on Sunday”, “Dance of the Hounsies”, and “Simbi” appeared on a 1968 recording for the now defunct Afro-Carib label. Although I studied guitar with Mr Casseus, my own development (or perhaps regression) took me far from these studies. However, after complications from an early hand injury made it increasingly diffi cult for Frantz to play guitar, he and I began to discuss the possibility that I would record his work. This record is the most comprehensive recording of Frantz Casseus’s music for solo classical guitar.

In addition to the pieces mentioned above, it contains five compositions previously published as sheet music but never recorded by Frantz (Rara, Prelude #2, Serenade Lointaine, Valse and Romance) and six pieces (Romance 1978, Untitled, Chanson, Improvisation, Merengue and Prelude #1) previously unpublished in any form which Frantz, before his death in June 1993, had expressed a desire to have recorded. I made this recording with the hope that it will help reawaken an interest among listeners and classical guitarists alike in this beautiful but neglected body of work”. Marc Ribot, 1993

100% of the publishing proceeds benefits the "Frantz Casseus Young Guitarist Program" in Port-au-Prince Haiti, and other projects that promote the work of Frantz Casseus.

1. Simbi

2. Rara

3. Prelude #2

4. Haitian Suite: Petro

5. Haitian Suite: Yanvalloux

6. Haitian Suite: Mascaron

7. Haitian Suite: Coumbite (Merci Bon Dieu)

8. Prelude #1

9. Merengue

10. Improvisation

11. Chanson

12. Congo 03:16

13. Dance (On Sunday)

14. Serenade Lointaine

15. Valse

16. Untitled

17. Romance

18. Dance of the Hounsies

19. Romance 1978

20. Meringue Frangeul [Bonus Track]

21. Sobo [Bonus Track]

22. Nan Guinan [Bonus Track]

Marc Ribot - guitar

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Jaubi - Satanic Nafs (with The Gaslamp Killer & Mophono REMIX) / March 26, 2021 Astigmatic Records

Eastern mysticism re-imagined

by Jaubi & The Gaslamp Killer collab

In Islamic philosophy, each person has an aspect of the Self called the “Nafs” which is divided into multiple layers. Every day, a person enters into a spiritual battlefield with their dark side, their lowly desires, and Satan. Satanic Nafs is thus the lowest level of the self, due the love of oneself and evil desires. Achieving spiritual transformation involves a constant struggle against the lower nature of the self (Satanic Nafs). This struggle led JAUBI to discover the complex Qur’anic and philosophical concept of “Nafs”, which became the major conceptual driving force behind the all-new and original music.

The spiritual journey began when London flautist/saxophonist Tenderlonious and Polish Pianist Marek Latarnik Pędziwiatr (EABS/Błoto), both amongst the torchbearers of the new European Jazz scene, visited JAUBI in Lahore, Pakistan during April 2019. The six musicians collectively poured their personal turmoil of experiencing death, divorce, unemployment, drug addiction and religious disaffiliation into the recording sessions that served as a spiritual path to transcendence and artistic purity.

‘Satanic Nafs’ serves as a teaser for Jaubi’s debut album entitled ‘Nafs At Peace’ which itself is a musical exploration of Qur’anic verses and Islamic philosophies through a prism of Spiritual/Modal Jazz, North Indian Classical Music and Hip-Hop. The Nafs journey is strengthened with remix on B side done by Los Angeles legends The Gaslamp Killer and Mophono. Single artwork was designed by Australian artist A.Kid, also known for his work with Brownswood Recordings.

7 inch single “Satanic Nafs” will be released on 26th of March 2021 by Astigmatic Records. The pre-order starts from 5th of March on Jaubi’s Bandcamp page.

1. Satanic Nafs

2. Satanic Nafs (The Gaslamp Killer & Mophono Remix)

A Side

Written by Ali Riaz Baqar (A.Baqar)

Zohaib Hassan Khan - Sarangi

Kashif Ali Dhani - Tabla, Vocals

Tenderlonious - Flute

Latarnik - Moog Voyager

Recorded by André Viervoll at Newtone Studios

Mix: Rhys Downing

B Side

Written by Ali Riaz Baqar, The Gaslamp Killer & Mophono (A.Baqar, W. Bensussen, B. Illgen)

Drums: Gene Coy

Recorded by Mario Caldato Jr. at MCJ Studio

Mix: Mophono

Both tracks mastered by Paweł Bartnik - Heavyweight.pro

Executive Producer: Łukasz Wojciechowski

A&R: Łukasz Wojciechowski, Sebastian Jóźwiak & Oliver Reeves

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Samuel Strouk - Nouveaux Mondes (2021)

Au XXIe siècle, il existerait encore des contrées

à explorer, des plages musicales à fouler, si

l’on en croit ce compositeur vagabond

Eriger des ponts pour abattre les chapelles, casser les codes, les formules récurrentes, redessiner la mappemonde musicale...

Tel était le fil rouge de cet album qui fait cohabiter les modes de jeu de la musique classique, contemporaine, et du jazz. Deux mondes aux antipodes l’un de l’autre : l’écriture face à l’improvisation, le solfège face à la tradition orale, un certain académisme contre un soi-disant anarchisme. «J’ai baigné dans ces univers, ce sont deux facettes de ma personnalité. Les dissocier équivaudrait à me diviser. Je voulais créer une zone de rencontre, trouver un entre-deux», résume Samuel Strouk.

Quatuor à cordes, trio jazz, pourquoi choisir quand on peut les réunir sur une même scène ? C’est ce qu’a réalisé l’audacieux guitariste parisien, qui n’a de cesse d’inventer sa propre grammaire musicale. Cela fait quelques années que cet artiste sans frontières ni oeillères, directeur musical et artistique, fouille cette veine à la recherche de partitions apocryphes : avec son album Silent Walk (2017), il proposait un quintet sans batterie naviguant entre jazz et musique classique ; avec Loco Cello (2019), il invitait le jazz manouche dans la musique de chambre.

Dans ce nouvel album, Samuel Strouk poursuit ses recherches en «confrontant la batterie, ses couleurs et ses riches fréquences, au quatuor à cordes». Un autre monde, en effet. Le titre de l’album prend un pluriel pour illustrer les divers cheminements de ce compositeur adepte des carrefours en tous genres. «A travers ce titre Nouveaux Mondes, je voulais traduire l’alchimie née de la rencontre entre ces deux univers qui fait émerger de nouvelles bulles d’expérience, un langage musical à défricher. Je désirais aussi exprimer mes réflexions d’homme, le fait de vivre dans une époque sans cesse bousculée par les crises et les révolutions - musicale, à travers l’émergence du hip hop, de la musique électronique - écologique, numérique… Quelle place trouver face à tous ces bouleversements ?»

On l’aura compris, pour ce musicien diplômé du C.N.R. de Paris, guitariste tout sauf classique, il n’existe pas de jeux interdits.

Ses Nouveaux Mondes s’écriront donc au-delà des portées. Épaulé du Quatuor Elmire et d’une section jazz composée du bassiste Guillaume Marin et du batteur Damien Françon, Samuel Strouk développe sa vision d’un «jazz d’inspiration symphonique».

Si le filon a déjà été creusé - Samuel Strouk évoque avec des étincelles dans les yeux l’album Focus de Stan Getz et l’Hymne au Soleil des frères Belmondo -, il se méfie des aplats qui se superposent, des collages et des fusions à froid. Les écueils à éviter ? «Ne pas tomber dans l’apposition et ne pas faire jouer le musicien à contre-emploi. Bref, ne pas jouer swing, mais être swing !», relève celui qui se voit avant tout comme un metteur en scène. «On pourrait presque dire que cet album, c’est The Big Lebowski qui rencontre Louis XIV», s’amuse-t-il.

Les Nouveaux Mondes du «Stroukonaute» s’ouvrent sur un «Prélude», une guitare buissonnière parmi les cordes de violons, d’alto et de violoncelle, des voix étrangères qui s’accordent. Première note d’intention : le contrepoint n’exclut pas le dialogue. Ni les voix dissonantes, à l’image du titre «Nouveau Monde», une suite en deux temps et beaucoup de mouvements, dans laquelle la guitare jazz joue les funambules sur un fil drum’n’bass et sous un déluge de cordes, le quatuor posant le premier cadre tel un adagio de Ravel, avant que la section rythmique jazz et groove ne prenne le relais, «comme s’il s’agissait de son négatif photo». Il en va de même avec «Hermano Tony», «la première pièce que j’ai composée pour un quatuor à cordes et guitare», un diptyque qui se joue des mesures.

On prend de la hauteur, et même un ticket pour l’espace, avec «Proxima Centauri», une fresque futuriste influencée par la musique modale, où «chaque note est un monde en soi», et dans laquelle les sirènes de cordes et le swing le disputent à une batterie pop et funky, les silences aux syncopes.

La vie dans les étoiles. En filigrane, le compositeur émet l’idée que les musiques dites savantes sont avant tout populaires, pour peu qu’on daigne s’affranchir des pesanteurs stylistiques pour parler aux foules, emportées par la fougue. Le style Strouk.

Il y a là des mondes moins rebelles. «Alap», titre dans lequel le quatuor se grime en tampura (instrument d’accompagnement qui joue le bourdon dans la musique indienne), est le prélude de la pièce «Lazimpat Rag», un crochet en clair-obscur à Katmandou, où vécut quelque temps le compositeur. Musique de chambre avec vue sur le Moyen-Orient, «Romantic Lebanon» fait le grand écart entre «un adagio dans le style de Gustav Mahler puis et une plongée dans l’univers de John Coltrane.

C’est un Liban idéalisé, ma vision d’un pays déchiré par les guerres, les catastrophes... C’est une prière», décrypte Samuel Strouk. «Regard Purs» s’inspire de ces «regards d’enfant pleins de naïveté, cette humanité si proche mais insaisissable et qui disparaît inexorablement». L’album se clôt sur «Lost Birds», une ballade folk au creux de l’épaule, une dernière envolée. Par ces Nouveaux Mondes, Samuel Strouk démontre qu’il n’existe d’autres frontières que celles que l’on s’impose.

Samuel Strouk

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Jon De Lucia - Zoom Workshop III March 12th at 12 noon EST!

Book Sale and Zoom Workshop III: Technique with Bach Loops

Well, after ten years we are moving to a new place. I've amassed quite a bit of stuff over the years and now would be a great time to pick up a print edition of Bach Shapes One, or any of my CD releases, at up to half off. This is also to clear the way for the FIVE, count 'em, FIVE new releases coming out this spring, starting with Bach Shapes: The Etudes on March 31st in four transpositions. More on that later!

Next bit of news, I am going to do my next Zoom workshop on Friday March 12, from noon to 1:30 EST. Sign up below by scrolling down to the calendar, clicking on the date, then time. Register to get a recording even if you can't make it. Some feedback from the last two sessions:

"There are precious little tidbits in these videos"

"That was fun! It’s inspiring to hear your analysis"

"I really get a lot from these talks"

It's great to be able to interact and take questions. The topic for this meeting will be Technical Practice. To discuss this I'm going to be referring to a chapter in the new book called "Bach Loops." These are short looping technically challenging parts, directly out of Bach's music and sometimes altered. I will address:

* Outlining, the methods of teacher Abby Whiteside, which I discuss here: Jazz Ideas 6: Outlining

* Inclusive intervals, ways to approach wide intervals

* Releasing tension through repetition

* How I practice this in my daily routine

* Doubling on clarinet and/or flute

* Basic image, imagining the music before you play it

* Whatever else comes up!

Sign up now for free

Just click on the date on the calendar, then the time, and you’ll enter an email and be all set! Even if you can’t make it live, I will send the recording and handouts afterwards.

The workshop will be free but with a suggested donation of $10-20, and will run 1.5 hours. Looking very much forward to it!

Sign up includes a coupon towards the Etudes eBook, and any relevant PDFs!

Reserve a spot!

XYQuartet & John De Leo: "StraborDante. Viaggio musicale in nove tappe nell’Inferno di Dante" da oggi sul nuovo portale della Farnesina

Dante jazz e rock, con XYQuartet & John De Leo: il viaggio nell’Inferno si trasforma in musica, voce e immagini in uno spettacolo visionario e immersivo.

Una produzione inedita, nata durante l’emergenza e la chiusura dei teatri grazie al sostegno della Regione Veneto e del Ministero degli Affari Esteri, presentata oggi alla Farnesina

Il ricco immaginario dell’Inferno dantesco prende vita in tutta la sua grandezza, in uno spettacolo multimediale, nato in occasione delle celebrazioni per il VII centenario della morte di Dante Alighieri del 2021: StraborDante, un’opera musicale tra jazz, rock e noise con musiche originali di XYQuartet, ensemble di spicco del panorama jazzistico europeo, interpretate da John De Leo con le immagini in multivisione di Francesco Lopergolo.

Uno spettacolo pensato per portare Dante Alighieri nel mondo attraverso gli Istituti Italiani di Cultura, grazie al progetto promosso dal Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale - Direzione Generale per la Promozione del Sistema Paese - nell’ambito dell’iniziativa “Vivere all’italiana in musica”. Il progetto è disponibile da oggi, giovedì 4 marzo, sul nuovo portale “Italiana” uno strumento a disposizione del MAECI per la promozione della lingua, della cultura e della creatività italiane nel mondo, presentato nel corso della conferenza stampa odierna, in diretta dalla Farnesina.

Con StraboDante la discesa agli inferi del Sommo Poeta va in scena con un’inedita performance, prodotta nel corso della residenza artistica dell’associazione culturale nusica.org (svoltasi a novembre 2020) realizzata al Teatro Salieri di Legnago (VR), nell’ambito del progetto A Casa Nostra – La rinascita dei Teatri per i Cittadini del Veneto. 

StraborDante è un viaggio musicale in nove tappe in cui appaiono gli incontri, i dialoghi, le suggestioni e le straordinarie invenzioni che popolano il cantico più evocativo della Divina Commedia. Con il sound degli XYQuartet di Nicola Fazzini (sax alto) e Alessandro Fedrigo (basso elettrico) - autori dei brani originali Oscura, Limbo, Pozzo dei Giganti e Canto Invisibile che descrivono i luoghi tra i gironi infernali e di un prezioso lavoro di arrangiamento di composizioni Trecentesche- Saverio Tasca (vibrafono) e Luca Colussi (batteria).

Musiche interpretate dall’inconfondibile timbro e dalla straordinaria presenza scenica di John De Leo, a dare voce alla drammaturgia di Vincenzo De Vivo. A condurci sin dentro la voragine infernale, infine, la multivisione di Francesco Lopergolo; immagini suggestive in cui i musicisti sono completamenti immersi.

Il legame intrinseco tra musica, sonorità, poesia e immagine, indagato dallo stesso padre della lingua italiana, è protagonista del progetto di ricerca del quartetto, tra rigore compositivo e lo spazio libero dell’improvvisazione. Momenti di pura energia che nascono dalla grande intesa tra i protagonisti sul palcoscenico. Superando i confini tra spettacolo teatrale e concerto, StraborDante ci porta sin dentro la parola e la visione di Dante, restituendo tutta la straordinaria vitalità e attualità di quest’opera immortale.

StraborDante 

John De Leo - voce

Alessandro Fedrigo - composizioni e basso elettrico / XYQuartet

Nicola Fazzini - composizioni e sax alto / XYQuartet

Luca Colussi – batteria / XYQuartet

Saverio Tasca – vibrafono / XYQuartet

Vincenzo De Vivo – testo e drammaturgia

Francesco Lopergolo - multivisioni

Franco Naddei - live electronics 

ARTESUONO Recording Studios

Stefano Amerio – registrazioni missaggio e mastering audio

Lorenzo Crana, Giulio Gallo – assistenti

Registrazioni video

Luca Milanese, Enrico Piva 

con la collaborazione di Fondazione culturale Antonio Salieri

Federico Pupo – direttore

Francesca Tonegato – servizi di segreteria generale e biglietteria

Chiara Battistella – servizi di biglietteria e servizi per le scuole

Emanuele Sarria – servizi di biglietteria e servizi per le scuole Mas Servizi

Masabumi Kikuchi - Hanamichi (April 16, 2021 via Red Hook Records)

The final studio recording from the late Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi,

Hanamichi is the culmination of a lifetime of musical exploration and discovery

Debut release by Red Hook Records features masterful, definitive performances 

“[Kikuchi] was continually searching for his ‘voice’ that he couldn’t articulate with words. It wasn’t until a few years before he died that his ‘voice’ found him!” – Gary Peacock

Six revelatory tracks by the late Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi are featured on Hanamichi, the debut release by Red Hook Records, due out April 16, 2021, in digital, LP, and CD formats. Recorded over a two-day New York session on a magnificent Steinway, the music marks a divergence from the mostly free improvising Poo (Kikuchi’s nickname), who died at age 75 in 2015, practiced during his final years. Kikuchi’s radiant playing sparkles with melodic exploration and expression in renditions of lesser-known tunes and popular standards.

As Kevin Whitehead writes in these excerpts from the album’s liner notes:

“I don’t have any technique,” Kikuchi protested to the New York Times’ Ben Ratliff, a year and a half before recording Hanamichi. More accurate to say he’d developed his own. He played with fingers curved, hands moving crablike or poised banana-bunched. Sometimes his palms drooped below the keyboard, and sometimes he played with hands crossed or overlapping. You can hear the resultant sonic knots on “Improvisation” and the first “My Favorite Things”: churnings from which instant melodies suddenly arise.

For Hanamichi, producer Sun Chung nudged him toward playing tunes, in addition to his free improvisations. That proved to be a good idea. Poo didn’t bring music or a setlist, calling selections in the moment. One is a personal standard, a staple of  his sets since 1970, the ballad for his daughter “Little Abi.”

You can measure how radically Kikuchi transforms Mabel Wayne’s brisk Spanish waltz “Ramona” by the seven-second gap between the first and second notes of the melody once he finally gets around to it. Languid tempo lets him build, and the final melody statement in a new key is freighted with accumulated feeling. That tempo lets us hear Kikuchi’s command of pedaling and of overtones at the margins: the high thin sheen of ringing harmonics that persists through changing chords.

While some pianists who ride sustain pedal overplay, Kikuchi pares back, choosing notes with extra care for clarity. Humming piano harp is a shifting backdrop to present action, not a heavy curtain descending on it. Kikuchi’s “Summertime” announces the melody with playfully ambiguous barroom tremolos and distorts the graceful timing of Gershwin’s internal cadences. All those dynamics he minds are on display: piano rings in many ways, across the registers — another zone of dynamic variation. In the performance’s back half, an overflight of chattering birds/dissolving high chords unhatches Poo’s eerie buzzard voice. Other pianists sing along with their right hands; Kikuchi’s keening would beam in from beyond, an independent voice. On Hanamichi, his utterances are few and surprisingly on point, intensifying musical effect.

Two radically different “My Favorite Things” confirm Hanamichi’s improvisatory spontaneity: two days, two perspectives. Taking his time on the longer take, Kikuchi finds implications in the melody and harmony that skirling modal versions gloss over. As on “Abi” he strikes hammered-anvil chords, dynamic alloys of timbre, harmony and attack. They signify, and remind us, that Masabumi Kikuchi’s piano music is not about rippling over the keys but making the instrument sound.

Ramona (L. Wolfe Gilbert and Mabel Wayne) 06:40

Summertime (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin) 11:23

My Favorite Things I (Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers) 05:08

My Favorite Things II (Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers) 06:30

Improvisation (Masabumi Kikuchi) 05:36

Little Abi (Masabumi Kikuchi) 05:52

Masabumi Kikuchi - piano

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Masabumi “Poo” Kikuchi (October 19, 1939 – July 6, 2015) was a Japanese jazz pianist and composer. Born in Tokyo, he studied music at the Tokyo Art College High School. He worked with a diverse range of musicians, including Lionel Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Mal Waldron, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, and Gary Peacock. His vast discography covered a wide range of styles, ranging from straight-up post-bop and vanguard classical to fusion, synthesizer, and digital dub. After winning a DownBeat magazine contest for overseas musicians, he won a full scholarship for Berklee College of Music, playing piano for Sonny Rollins’ Japanese tour before departing for the United States. He gained renown as a leader, sideman, and featured guest, recording albums and touring with jazz music’s top players. Over the decades he experimented with electric music, synthesizer, improvisation, and new forms. In 1990 he released the Bill Laswell-produced Dreamachine and began his significant, longtime collaboration with drummer Paul Motian. He continued to play and release new music until his death in 2015.

Red Hook Records is a new label launched in 2020 by former ECM producer Sun Chung. Red Hook Records is a place for encounters, where musicians have opportunities to interact with creative minds, share insights, explore and carve new adventurous ways of creative wayfaring. Red Hook aims to dissolve musical boundaries through the interweaving of musical genres and the exploration of intercultural collaborations. Among the label’s upcoming releases are new projects by trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith, drummer Andrew Cyrille, and electronic musician Qasim Naqvi.

Masabumi Kikuchi – Hanamichi

Red Hook Records – Catalog Number 1001

Release date April 16, 2021

Red Hook Records

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The Justin Rothberg Group – Hurricane Mouse

Very happy to release my 3rd solo album. So proud of all the work we did as a band leading up to this release. All the rehearsals, shows and hours spending time together is what you're hearing when you listen to this record.. You're hearing a real band that spent time together developing this. This wasn't something thrown together just for a record. Everyone had a little creative input.

1. Hurricane Mouse 07:09

2. Justin Rothberg - Tom G 07:08

3. Hotel, Show, Repeat 05:58

4. Hot Dog Ranch 08:04

5. Bad Apple 03:15

6. Green Room 09:05

7. G-Sus Band 05:40

8. The Layoff Song 07:20

9. South Beach Banjo 04:36

10. Piece of Mind 07:32

11. Beach on Xmas 02:42

12. Old Gift Card 06:28

Justin Rothberg - Guitar, mandolin, compositions

Todd Groves - Woodwinds, mixing/mastering

Jon Price - Bass

Hiroyuki Matsuura - Drums

Andy O'Neill - Percussion

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The Grasso-Ravita Jazz Ensemble – Jagged Spaces (2021)

Their set, which also features saxophonist Benny Russell on tenor and soprano, pianist Greg Small, and drummer Nuc Vega, covers a variety of moods and grooves, and includes some heated straight-ahead jazz.

Guitarist Skip Grasso and bassist Phil Ravita have recorded a set of original and fresh new jazz, high-quality material that can be adopted by today’s jazz artists. They gathered a particularly strong quintet and the results are the nine new originals that comprise Jagged Spaces. With tenor and soprano-saxophonist Benny Russell, pianist Greg Small, and drummer Nuc Vega all adding their musical personalities to the quintet, the Grasso-Ravita Jazz Ensemble on Jagged Spaces performs four songs by Grasso, two apiece by Ravita and Russell, and one from Small.

The set begins with Grasso’s “Jagged Spaces,” which has a singable melody along with fluent and unpredictable soprano, guitar, piano and drums solos. It serves as a fine introduction to the group. The relaxed jazz waltz “Her Life Incomplete,” “Songhai” (highlighted by Benny Russell’s tenor solo which is both soulful and explorative), and the minor-toned straight ahead blues “Blue Sunshine” (which has a particularly speedy bass solo by Ravita) keep the momentum flowing.

One piece flows logically to the next one yet each stands out as a potential future standard. “Circles” is mildly funky and has thoughtful piano and passionate soprano solos. “All About Cynthia” is a warm tender ballad while “Latin For Leandro” has a bit of urgency in its theme, leading to inspired guitar, tenor and bass solos. The last two pieces, “The Homecoming” and “Chasing Shadows,” conclude the project with optimistic and quietly joyful playing.

All of the five musicians are skilled improvisers who are active in the Baltimore/Washington area. Skip Grasso is a freelance guitarist and has recorded with the Don Junker Big Band and the Hank Levy Alumni Band in addition to occasionally performing as a solo guitarist. Bassist Phil Ravita has performed in a wide variety of settings with nationally known artists. Benny Russell has led an all-star orchestra (the New York Association), worked with the Next Legacy Orchestra, produced concerts, and written several notable commissioned pieces for large ensembles. Pianist Greg Small, who is also a talented trumpeter, has worked with many local artists at numerous jazz festivals while drummer Nucleo Vega is also in great demand for his tasteful and supportive playing

Together, these five musicians on Jagged Spaces have not only recorded the debut of their promising group but are introducing nine new pieces that deserve to be heard and savored by jazz listeners.

1. Jagged Spaces 06:46

2. Her Life Incomplete 05:32

3. Songhai 06:51

4. Blue Sunshine 06:45

5. Circles 08:09

6. All About Cynthia 07:57

7. Latin for Leandro 09:05

8. The Homecoming 04:56

9. Chasing Shadows 04:28

Skip Grasso- Guitar

Phil Ravita - Acoustic Bass and Electric 6-string Bass

Benny Russell - Tenor saxophone, Soprano saxophone

Greg Small – Piano

Nuc Vega - Drums

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Michaela Steinhauer – Changes & Choices (2021)

On Changes & Choices, jazz singer-lyricist-composer Michaela Steinhauer performs a fascinating program of originals that range from memorable melodies to stretches of free improvising. Teamed with alto-saxophonist Alexey Kruglov and pianist Roman Stolyar, Steinhauer covers a wide range of styles and grooves while constructing a consistent narrative.

Michaela Steinhauer is a storyteller with a flexible voice who displays a wide range both in notes and emotions. She is also a talented improviser who constantly challenges herself and her instrumentalists.

Ms. Steinhauer’s latest project, Changes & Choices, is a conceptual album in which the songs, connecting free tonal improvisations with a narrated story, form a drama about a seasoned lady reminiscing about the past, letting go of the memories and emotions, and finding inner peace. It was recorded in Moscow in a trio with alto-saxophonist Alexey Kruglov and pianist Roman Stolyar. The singer wrote all of the music except for Ivory Stone’s “Abandoned Chapel.”

Alexey Kruglov and Roman Stolyar are both very well known in the free jazz music world. Kruglov has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Jimmy Heath, Christian McBride, Joe Lovano, Gary Bartz, Joachim Kuhn, and Viacheslav Ganelin among many others. He has performed at quite a few festivals, leads Krugly Band, and has released more than 70 albums. Stolyar has worked with Dominic Duval, William Parker, Vinny Golia, Oliver Lake and others, leading at least ten albums of his own.

The three musicians have years of experience playing together and, during Changes & Choices, they shift between styles with ease. “Me, Myself and I” starts quietly and then becomes a playful tune with Steinhauer displaying her wide range, particularly after the piano solo. She is dramatic on “Why Is She Still Here” (one of several songs with a memorable melody) and sings freely on “She’s Dancing.” The warm ballad “Choices” is followed by Kruglov’s adventurous alto playing which sometimes recalls Eric Dolphy on “Abandoned Chapel.” Here as throughout the program, Stolyar contributes both stimulating accompaniment and creative solos.

“Moving” has a catchy theme, “Nothing New Under The Sun” features some particularly assertive and passionate singing which becomes quite free, and the joyful “The Other Day” has Steinhauer’s spirited scat-singing before the episodic “She Smiles” concludes the thought-provoking program. Throughout Changes & Choices, the interplay between the three musicians is colorful and inventive.

Born and raised in Germany, Michaela Steinhauer began singing as a child, played piano from the age of nine, and performed with a pop/rock band that she co-founded when she was 16. She always loved to both improvise and compose music and was drawn towards jazz. In 1999 she moved to Moscow where she studied with some of the top Russian jazz musicians. She recorded her debut album, performed on a regular basis throughout Europe, worked as a vocal educator, and did all of the composing (in addition to writing the stories and screenplays) for four musicals

In 2014 Michaela moved to New York, studying at Queens College and earning a Master’s degree in jazz studies before returning to Germany in 2018. In her career she has recorded eight albums, using such sidemen as Craig Handy, Wallace Roney, Orrin Evans, and Hendrik Meurkens.

The adventurous yet accessible and intimate Changes & Choices introduces the multi-talented Michaela Steinhauer to a worldwide audience as she perfectly balances improvisation with compositions, storytelling with unpredictable flights that feature her beautiful voice and her skilled sidemen.

1. Me, myself and I 7:22

2. Why is she still here 5:44

3. She’s dancing 6:54

4. Choices 6:20

5. Abandoned chapel (words and melody Ivory Stone) 6:10

6. Moving 6:58

7. Nothing new under the sun 3:49

8. The other day 7:31

9. She smiles 4:57

Michaela Steinhauer - Vocals, Lyrics, Music, and Storyline

Alexey Kruglov - Alto Saxophone

Roman Stolyar - Piano

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Jonathan Kane And Dave Soldier – February Meets Soldier String Quartet (2021 EEG Records)

Legendary NYC composers, band leaders, multi-instrumentalists and long time collaborators Jonathan Kane and Dave Soldier join forces with two of their most enduring projects—the trance-blues ecstatic minimalism of Jonathan Kane’s February, and the groundbreaking experimental string quartet innovations of Soldier String Quartet. With collective experience that include Swans, La Monte Young and Rhys Chatham for Kane, and John Cale, Bo Diddley and Kurt Vonnegut for Soldier, this pair has got stories.

February Meets Soldier String Quartet weds overtone-drenched drones with Delta and Chicago blues, trance, minimalism, jazz, no-wave, Haydn, and the great American songbook. It’s music that reconciles hypnosis with the physicality of a sweat-drenched juke joint. These are sounds for dancing, meditating, having sex, or banging your head against the wall. 

Jonathan Kane is a downtown NYC legend, as co-founder of the no-wave behemoth Swans, and the rhythmic thunder behind the massed-guitar armies of Rhys Chatham and the three-hour blues excursions of minimalist godfather La Monte Young—and as one of the hardest-hitting drummers on the planet. His critically acclaimed trance-blues releases February, I Looked At The Sun and Jet Ear Party, power guitar-driven minimalism into the blues, and the blues into guitar-driven harmonic maximalism. His live band Jonathan Kane’s February has performed internationally to kinetically charged audiences. Kane has also worked with The Kropotkins, Transmission, Circus Mort, John Zorn, Gary Lucas, The Kane Bros. Blues Band and Jean-Francois Pauvros. He appears on over 75 records.

Dave Soldier’s many projects include the Thai Elephant Orchestra consisting of 14 elephants in northern Thailand, the cult Delta punk band the Kropotkins, The People’s Choice (The World’s Most Unwanted Music), the Soldier String Quartet, the Brainwave Music Project, and coaching children to compose their own music in Harlem, Brooklyn, and Guatemala. He has performed as violinist, guitarist, and composer/arranger with Bo Diddley, John Cale, Kurt Vonnegut, David Byrne and others, appearing on over 100 records, including 20 featuring his compositions for classical and jazz musicians. Soldier, as Dr. David Sulzer is also a professor at Columbia University Medical Center in the Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Pharmacology. His book Music, Math and Mind on the physics and neuroscience of music will be published in February by Columbia Press.

1. Hate To See You Go. 9:16. Walter Jacobs – Arc Music/BMI

Little Walter’s Chicago blues classic becomes a full on trance-blues dance floor workout.

The relentless riffs begin and never let up, blooming in full force with a luscious orchestral string section and a slashing Albert Ayler-inspired violin solo.

2. It Was A Very Good Year. 8:06. Ervin Drake – ASCAP

Popularized by Frank Sinatra, this staple of the great American songbook takes the listener on an instrumental journey through a life as seen through the lens of two NYC Downtown Music practitioners.

3. Requiem for Hulis Pulis. 16:09. Jonathan Kane – Mythco Music/BMI

A long form trance-blues voyage that takes minimalism to the crossroads where John Lee Hooker, Gavin Bryars, Muddy Waters, Steve Reich and Shostakovich come together to discuss what’s for dinner.

4. Vienna Over The Hills. 11:15. Dave Soldier – Rigglius Musc/ASCA

A gauzy dream-cum-nightmare of the worlds of Mozart, the Pastorale symphony, Mahler, Fritz Kreisler, Arnold Schoenberg, Klimt, Anna Freud and the Vienna Woods after it tore itself limb from limb.

Jonathan Kane – Drums, Guitars, Bass

Dave Soldier – Strings

Available on SPOTIFY

Zoe Scott – Shades Of Love (2021)

“With Shades of Love, vocalist Zoe Scott artfully blends shades of jazz and bossa nova into a vivid musical portrait of love, longing and romance. . . .

These songs are sung from the heart.”

“You can’t help but connect with this album . . .”

—JAZZIZ

Shades of Love is a meticulously curated collection of 12 hit songs, reimagined, by international recording artist, Zoe Scott, and produced by Bossa Nova stalwart and 10X Grammy and 2X Emmy winning, Moogie Canazio.

Zoe honors the authentic style and original sound cultivated by Bossa Nova originators João Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, enlisting the talents of Bossa Nova legends, guitarist-arranger Torcuato Mariano, and Daniel Jobim, grandson of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Daniel is a featured performer on two of his grandfather’s most iconic songs; dueting with Zoe on “Wave,” and playing piano on “Quiet Nights.”

Along with these two beloved Bossa Nova classics, Zoe reimagined iconic songs originally recorded by Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, The Beatles and more, including: “I’ll Stand By You,” made famous by Chrissie Hynde; “This Girl’s In Love With You” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, recorded by Herb Alpert; “7 Lives,” an intimate anniversary gift written by Brazilan, Zé Ricardo, to his wife.

Shades of Love is Zoe’s love letter to Brazil’s iconic music. This is the music the world needs now: an invitation to be transported to a place and time where feeling love is an artform.

About Zoe

In her past life as an indie rocker in black leather, Zoe Scott never imagined recording an album like Shades of Love. Bossa nova is a radical departure for British- born Zoe Scott, “I remember the hard edges of it all. I loved it at first — the angst, the power, the energy, but simultaneously, I recall how boxed in I felt,” says Zoe, “I remember the moment I felt ‘this isn’t me anymore’ and I started a journey of self-discovery and healing. With that came new artistic expressions and new ways to see, and receive love. When I first heard Antonio Carlos Jobim, I was swept away. “I felt his soul through his music; through Bossa Nova and that was it. I had to make this album.”

Pressing inward, Zoe plunged heart first on a mission to find, and express the freedom, sensuality, and romance she was drawn to through Bossa Nova. Each of the 12 songs on Shades of Love is a vignette; a chapter in her life’s book, and an expression of what she calls, “feeling in.

In her journey from performing original indie rock to Bossa Nova covers, she embraces an expansive, openhearted vulnerability she had never experienced before, and in the process, connected her craft with who she was becoming as a person. “Bossa Nova taught me that there is life in the quiet spaces. I find peace, love, and joy there. It’s my hope this album opens the doors to the hearts of anyone who listens.”

1. Quiet Nights (Antonio Carlos Jobim and Gene Lees) 3:46

2. I’ll Stand By You (Chrissie Hynde, Thomas Kelly, and William Steinberg) 4:08

3. This Girl’s In Love (Burt Bacharach and Hal David) 3:49

4. 7 Lives (Ze Ricardo and Carla Rigolin Hassett) 3:55

5. Wave (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 3:35

6. The More I See You (Harry Warren Mack Gordon) 3:05

7. Baby It’s You (Burt Bacharach, Mack David, Barney Williams) 3:05

8. Once I Loved (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Demoraes and Ray Gilbert) 4:18

9. My Cherie Amour (Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby, and Sylvia Moy) 3:31

10. In My Life (John Lennon and Paul McCartney) 3:02

11. Triste (Antonio Carlos Jobim) 4:09

12. You Know I’m No Good (Amy Winehouse) 4:01

Zoe Scott - Vocals

Torcuato Mariano - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Synths, B3, Orchestra Arrangements

Paulo Calasans - Fender Rhodes

Andre Vasconcelos - Bass

Felipe Alves - Drums

Daniel Jobim - Acoustic Piano (1), Vocals (5)

Bill Brendle - Synth (10), Orchestra Arrangements (4, 9)

Tim Pierce - Electric Guitar (2, 12)

Rodrigo Sha - Clarinet (4)

Marlon Sette - Trombone (6)

Jesse Sadoc - Flugelhorn (7)

Steve Tavaglione - EWI (8)

Felipe Melanio e Viny Melanio - Bass Guitar (2, 9, 11)

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Hugh Manwell – Hugh (2021 Onza Records)

Born out of his studies at Juilliard in the mecca of Jazz, New York City, Hugh Manwell crashed on the scene in 2014 creating his own lane for his unique, contemporary sound. A live multi-instrumentalist and producer, Hugh Manwell intricately blurs the line of Jazz, Funk, and Soul while remaining true to his own raw, uncut sound. Hugh's style has been compared to a mixture of artists such as Robert Glasper, J Dilla, Miles Davis, BadBadNotGood, and Jackie Mclean, and more.

With his debut project, Hugh, Hugh Manwell delivers 4 genre blending Contemporary Jazz songs on NYC based record label, Onza Records. The 4 track EP showcases his multi-instrumental playing capabilities. On the short project, Hugh shows his strengths playing Drums, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, and Saxophone on each song. From the upbeat disco-esq House Of Glass to the slowed down psychedelic grooves of The One And Only, you're sure to find something that satisfies your hunger. The album pulls inspiration from artists such as Robert Glasper, J Dilla, Miles Davis, BadBadNotGood, Jackie Mclean, and more.

1. The One And Only 02:35

2. House Of Glass 03:00

3. Slow It Down 02:40

4. Bricks 03:05

Hugh Manwell on Alto Saxophone, Keyboards, Bass, Guitar and Drums

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James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet - Jesup Wagon (May 7, 2021 Tao Forms / Aum Fidelity)

TAO Forms is =very= excited to [soon!] present the entirety of this astonishing new work from the fertile creative mind of tenor saxophonist–composer James Brandon Lewis. Performed by the Red Lily Quintet, an exceptional & singular inter-generational ensemble, this album speaks to the forever-evolving continuum of the jazz tradition.

Voted Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist in the 2020 DownBeat Magazine International Critic’s Poll, James Brandon Lewis supercharges his remarkable evolution with Jesup Wagon, a brilliant and evocative appreciation of the life and legacy of turn-of-the-19th century African-American renaissance man George Washington Carver. The album – to be released on May 7, 2021 – consists of seven pieces that create a portrait of stunning clarity and depth.

There is so much special about this recording, James’ 9th, starting with [on the way in] the lavish artwork, including a reproduction on the cover of Carver’s own tantalizing drawing of the Jesup Agricultural Wagon, which is shown in a photograph on the back cover, rendering a dialogue of representation and abstraction that Lewis models in the music. And while liner notes are generally more relied upon than celebrated, Jesup Wagon’s are delivered by the great UCLA American historian Robin D.G. Kelley, who in 2009 released the definitive Thelonious Monk biography 'Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original'. His notes, printed lovingly on an ochre background, contain much historical detail about Carver, particularly as they relate to the tunes. The fact that Kelley was willing to write them tells you something about the power of the music on the album, which Kelley calls “a revelation.”

If “revelation” is a word commonly used to describe master saxophonists like John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and Dewey Redman, then it fits easily in the horn of James Brandon Lewis, who is a keen student of those and many other elders. But while boundless energy characterizes his playing, it is also grounded by a deep sense of narrative, which is why he is attracted to histories, like Carver’s, or to theories like his own Molecular Systematic Music, used on his superb previous 2020 Intakt album, 'Molecular', or to artistic genres such as surrealism, modeled by Lewis on the stunning 'An UnRuly Manifesto' from 2019.

Helping James get it all out on Jesup Wagon is the Red Lily Quintet, anchored by the tectonic rhythm section of bassist William Parker and drummer Chad Taylor, and rounded out by cornetist Kirk Knuffke and cellist Chris Hoffman. Parker, who James says “has looked out for me ever since I arrived in New York City,” is a genius of the stand-up bass who performed with grand-master Cecil Taylor for 11 years straight. He is also a renaissance man in his own right. Chad Taylor, “one of the most melodic drummers I’ve ever played with,” James says, is a Chicagoan who has gifted to New York some of the energy and drama the windy city is known for. Kirk Knuffke is one of New York’s rare cornet players, using that instrument’s impish tone to explosive effect on dozens of records by New York jazz heavies. Chris Hoffman made his bones playing Henry Threadgill’s demanding music in a few of the great alto saxophonist’s bands, and has worked with artists as diverse as Yoko Ono, Marc Ribot and Marianne Faithful.

James grew up in Buffalo, which he calls a “groove town” of “hard workers” like Grover Washington Jr., Charles Gayle, Rick James, and Ani DiFranco, among them. Starting out on clarinet when he was 9, James moved to alto sax at 12 then tenor at 15. He attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he studied jazz fundamentals, then enrolled at Cal Arts in Southern California, working with greats like Wadada Leo Smith, Charlie Haden, and Joe LaBarbara. Notching his MFA there, he did a residency at the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music where he worked with trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianist Angelica Sanchez and saxophonist Tony Malaby, among others. It was in Banff where he dove into the world of free jazz, continuing in that vein at an Atlantic Center for the Arts residency led by iconic New York City pianist Matthew Shipp.

Shipp and a few others lured him to New York City in 2012, where he quickly fell in with the cutting-edge artists, including drummer Gerald Cleaver and William Parker, that populate the jazz scene there. His second album, 'Divine Travels', released in 2014, featured the latter two musicians. Two albums he made in duets with Chad Taylor – 'Radiant Imprints' (2018) and 'Live in Willisau' (2020) – demonstrated that James had no hesitation dancing on the same wild turf that John Coltrane entered with his latter-day records featuring Rashied Ali on drums, although James says the inspiration was more Dewey Redman and Ed Blackwell’s duet, 'Red and Black in Willisau', recorded live in 1980. “Chad and I bonded over that one,” James says. Either way, it’s heady company.

Lewis also has an affinity for the spoken word, demonstrated on Jesup Wagon by a few timely placed short recitations. “Music is enough. But the older I get it’s important for me to have the listener hear my speaking voice,” he says. “Makes it more organic. I like to tell a story with an album.”

Poetry is just one of Lewis’ many obsessions, which also include painting, hip-hop and philosophy. “All of the people I admire have that kind of depth,” Lewis says. “William Parker, Oliver Lake, Yusef Lateef, all these amazing artists. George Washington Carver was a musician, a painter, a prolific writer, in addition to what most people know about him. Having a broad range just makes the cast iron skillet more seasoned.”

And now, in our pandemic era, James soon delivers Jesup Wagon, essentially a collection of tone poems – or, as Duke Ellington might have called them, “tone parallels” – Duke being the instigator of this type of programmatic jazz.

Poetry in music is what we get in this new masterpiece from James Brandon Lewis, who may well be crowned a master himself in the not-too-far future.

1. Jesup Wagon

2. Lowlands of Sorrow

3. Arachis

4. Fallen Flowers

5. Experiment Station

6. Seer

7. Chemurgy 09:52

James Brandon Lewis: tenor saxophone, composition

Kirk Knuffke: cornet

William Parker: bass, gimbri (on tracks 2 & 7)

Chris Hoffman: cello

Chad Taylor: drums, mbira (on track 6)

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Walter Smith III - Still Casual (July 23, 2021 Whirlwind Recordings)

When Walter Smith III released his fourth album Still Casual in 2014, people listened, and the album was heralded as one of the top releases of the year. Now, fans of the saxophonist and composer can experience the tenorist’s wide-ranging release in a fresh new format on Vinyl *for the first time* on this special 2xLP, 180 gram limited edition printing in gatefold artwork.

Smith’s discography is pleasingly joined-up. As In Common 2 follows In Common, Still Casual references his 2006 solo debut Casually Introducing. The title might be another one of Smith’s trademark riffs, but the album is as committed to exploration as any other. Over the course of ten original tracks, Smith covers a swathe of musical and emotional ground.

The players assembled for Still Casual speak volumes for the quality of Smith’s company. Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire joins Smith for explosive soloing on ‘Fing Fast’ and ‘Something New’. In Common co-convenor Matthew Stevens provides reflective harmonic support and muted solo colours alongside the understated backings of Taylor Eigsti. Together, Harish Raghavan and Kendrick Scott provide moments of tension and intrigue from the backline, adding suitable punch to the opener ‘Foretold You’.

Chronologically, the album precedes the In Common projects, and comes right as Smith hits his stride as a composer and arranger. From the elaborate (‘About 360’, ‘Processional’) to the personal (‘Greene’ is dedicated to saxophonist Jimmy Greene, whose daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook school shootings in 2012), Smith shines across fast-flowing vernacular and reflective, tender tones. Still Casual showcases a group stretching themselves in a way that never seems hurried, delving into a powerful collective energy to test their limits instead.

1. Foretold You (Preview Only) 00:48

2. Kaleidoscope (Preview Only) 00:47

3. Something New (Preview Only) 01:15

4. Apollo (Preview Only) 01:25

5. Greene (Preview Only) 02:53

6. Processional (Preview Only) 01:19

7. Fing Fast (Preview Only) 01:19

8. July (Preview Only) 01:19

9. About 360 (Preview Only) 01:19

10. Goodnight Now (Preview Only) 01:19

Walter Smith III - tenor saxophone

Taylor Eigsti - piano

Matthew Stevens - guitar

Harish Raghavan - bass

Kendrick Scott - drums

Ambrose Akinmusire - trumpet

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