Mateusz Pulawski Lunar Quartet - Changes of Seasons (2016)

In the for him unknown, the western city, Amsterdam, cycling along the canals with the moon vividly shining over him, Mateusz Pulawski has decided to embrace Amsterdam as his new home. In 2012 he had moved here for his passion- music. Some get touched by the people, some by the cleanliness of the city. Mateusz Pulawski not, he’s got carried away by the moon.

The moonlight that reflected in the canals of Amsterdam has inspired him to write the music about the healing of a broken heart.

Like a common thread there runs the moon through his music. Therefore the composer and guitarist Mateusz Pulawski founded the Lunar Quartet and with this group he released his debut album ‘Half Moon Heart’ in December 2014. Mateusz presented his album a.o. in the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium.

Discography:

Mateusz Pulawski Lunar Quartet ‘Half Moon Heart’ (2014)

Leah Kline ‘This Precious Life’ (2015)

Deborah J. Carter ‘Diggin’ The Duke!’ (2015)

Esther van Hees ‘…’ (to be released in 2015)

Finalist of the ‘Jazz Nad Odra 2012” competition in Wroclaw in Poland

Finalist of the ‘Jazz Nad Odra 2013” competition in Wroclaw in Polen

Semi-Finalist of the ‘Keep an Eye International Jazz Award 2014’ competition in Amsterdam

Incentive Prize in the ‘Keep an Eye International Jazz Award 2015’ competition in Amsterdam

Third Prize in the ‘Dortse Sena Jazzprijs 2015′ in Dordrecht

The most important venues in the Netherlands where Pulawski performed:

Bimhuis (Amsterdam), North Sea Jazz Club (Amsterdam), Lantaarn Venster (Rotterdam), Bird (Rotterdam), Paradox (Tilburg), Gitaarsalon (Enkhuizen), Brinkhuis (Laren), Cultuurschip Thor (Zwolle), Goois Jazz Festival (Bussum), Meerjazz Festival (Hoofddorp), Grachtenfestival (Amsterdam), Jazzdag (Rotterdam), Big Rivers Festival (Dordrecht), Jazz in de Gracht Festival (Den Haag)

Passion and irresistible experience. The music, settled in the acoustic jazz genre, is a pure flow of emotions reinforced by skillful play of the fellow musicians over a deeply grounded structure. Based on respect to the tradition, the mutual vision on music soars towards the freedom of expression and interpretation. That togetherness breaks all the existing limits and connects improvising musicians with listeners, enriching both sides.

Pulawski received musical training in Poland. At the beginning of 2012 he has got accepted to Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he currently studies jazz guitar. Mateusz is well known for his accompaniment skills therefore he gets asked to play with many singers. That’s how his fixed duo with a Belgian singer Esther Van Hees came into existence. Together they took part in the semi-finals of the Keep an Eye International Jazz Award 2015 and in 2016 their first duo album will be released.

Mateusz Pulawski, guitar

Gideon Tazelaar, tenor sax

Hendrik Mueller, bass

Stefan Franssen, drums

Special Guests

Evgenii Bondarev, trumpet

Esther van Hees, vocals, lyrics

1. The Secret of Herons

2. New Life Born in the Heart of the Heart

3. What Is Hard to Find (feat. Esther van Hees)

4. Juju

5. Noc nad Swidnica (feat. Esther van Hees & Evgenii Bondarev)

6. Change of Seasons

7. The Thought of Me Is There

8. Still into Bop

9. All Alone

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Cory Henry - The Revival (Live) 2016

The truly joyful noise of Cory Henry’s B-3 needs almost no accompaniment on this live solo album of gospel, jazz, and R&B classics, which were recorded and filmed with an audience at the Greater Temple of Praise in Brooklyn, N.Y. 

As a member of Snarky Puppy and an in-demand sideman, Henry plays any number keyboards, but the B-3 was his first instrument, and these performances display his great love of the mighty organ. By turns soulful, church-y, playful, restrained, and virtuosic, Henry takes full possession of well-loved songs, beginning with gospel tunes including “He Has Made Me Glad” and “Precious Lord,” and then he is joined by vocalist Jeffrey White on “Old Rugged Cross.” In this context, Henry's version of "If You're Happy and You Know It" takes on a gospel quality, as well, though he adds the irreverent line, "If you're happy and you know it, touch your neighbor."

Secular songs range from Coltrane's "Giant Steps" to The Beatles' "Yesterday" to Stevie Wonder's "All in Love Is Fair," but we can't stress enough how much Henry makes these songs his own. The very nature of the instrumentation—with mostly just B-3 and a little percussion on each song—takes each tune to a different place from the start, but Henry's arrangements masterfully bend the air and the percussive and harmonic qualities of the instrument in beautiful and eye-opening ways. 

And if you want to see how far back Henry's love of the Hammond goes, check him out as age four, at the beginning of a very enjoyable documentary about his career: Gotcha Now.

CORY HENRY

Bio

One of the finest Hammond B-3 organ players of his generation, Cory Henry was a child prodigy, playing both piano and organ by the time he was two years old, making his debut at the legendary Apollo Theater when he was only six. He has worked in the studio and toured with countless artists, including Yolanda Adams, Stanley Brown, Israel Houghton, P. Diddy, Kirk Franklin, Kenny Garrett (the 19-year-old Henry became a fixture in Garrett's touring band for three years), Donnie McClurkin, Boyz II Men, Michael McDonald, Bruce Springsteen, the Roots, and many others. He has also worked as a bandleader and producer as well as an in-demand sideman. Falling closer to the Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson side of the Hammond organ jazz genre than Jimmy Smith, with maybe a little Billy Preston tossed in, Henry at his best combines the best of both gospel and jazz in his playing. His albums as a bandleader include the 2010 holiday set Christmas with You, 2011's Leave You Alone, and 2012's Gotcha Now Doc. Since 2012, Henry has been a member of the acclaimed experimental jazz and funk ensemble Snarky Puppy, with whom he won a 2014 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance and a 2015 Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. In 2016, Henry released the gospel0infused solo effort The Revival. ~ Steve Leggett

Cory Henry, Hammond B-3 organ

Jeffrey White, vocals (04)

01. Lord's Prayer (Live)

02. He Has Made Me Glad (I Will Enter His Gates) [Live]

03. Precious Lord (Live)

04. Old Rugged Cross (feat. Jeffrey White)

05. NaaNaaNaa (Live)

06. That Is Why I’m Happy (Live)

07. If You’re Happy (And You Know It) [Live]

08. Giant Steps (Live)

09. All In Love Is Fair (Live)

10. Yesterday (Live)

11. I Want To Be Ready (Live)

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Omer Avital - Abutbul Music (Bonus Track Version) 2016

Omer Avital

Born in Israel to a Moroccan father and a Yemenite mother, now living in the U.S., the bassist, composer, bandleader, Omer Avital, is a major force in the New York music scene for over twenty years. Avital's genre-defying ensembles are pushing the boundaries of jazz expression with swing and spiritual sustenance in equal measure.

On this new album, recorded in Paris, Avital delivers a strong statement, with a powerful sound, joyful rhythms and oriental melodies that draw on gospel and soul. Avital is continually evolving contemporary jazz, rightly being called one of the most unique musicians of his generation.

01. Muhammad's Market

02. Three Four

03. Afrik

04. New Yemenite Song

05. Bed-Stuy

06. Bass Hijaz (intro to Ramat Gan)

07. Ramat Gan

08. Ayalat Hen

09. Eser (Middle Eastern Funk)

10. Zohar Smiles (Bonus Track)

11. Dr. Yon (Bonus Track)

12. Me and You Tonight (Bonus Track)

Omer Avital - double bass

Yonathan Avishai - piano

Asaf Yuria - tenor & soprano saxophones

Alexander Levin - tenor saxophone

Ofri Nehemya - drums

Produced by Omer Avital

Executive Producer - Pini Shavit

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Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra & Wynton Marsalis - The Abyssinian Mass (2016)

Label: Jazz At Lincoln Center

Source: Jazz St. Louis

“…immediately breaks into the top five musical experiences of my life.” - Jeffrey Rossman, CVNC

For one night only, conductor Damien Sneed will lead Wynton Marsalis,  the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and his 70-voice gospel choir, Chorale Le Chateau, in performing Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration, a hand-clappin’, tambourine slappin’ landmark composition of jazz, gospel, instrumentation, and vocals.

Wynton MarsalisSince Wynton Marsalis composed and recorded In This House, On This Morning two decades ago, he has remained committed to projecting a theme of universal humanism—and raising a joyful noise—while reflecting the form of the African American church service. Never has Marsalis coalesced the codes of sacred and secular expression more successfully than with the 2008 extended work Abyssinian Mass, commissioned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street in Harlem.

Chorale Le Chateau is a musical group developing a remarkable reputation for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance vocal literature to jazz, spirituals, gospel, and avant-garde contemporary music. Damien Sneed, the Artistic Director and Founder, selected each singer from his personal experiences as a performer, professor and conductor over the past twenty years. Members hail from various parts of the world and come from various performing arts institutions and venues such as The Juilliard School, The Metropolitan Opera, Howard University, Yale University, The City University of New York, Morgan State University, American Musical and Dramatic Academy and many more. Members include amateurs and professionals, Grammy Award-winners, college professors, and students. Chorale Le Chateau has been featured at the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater, Columbia University and the City University of New York.

CD 1:
01. Devotional (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 8:32)
02. Call To Worship (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 5:11)
03. The Lord's Prayer (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 4:13)
04. Processional We Are On Our Way (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 7:25)
05. Invocation And Chant (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 6:29)
06. Gloria Patri (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 5:05)
07. Prayer Pastoral Prayer (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (13:05)
08. Choral Response Through Him I've Come To See (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 2:21)
09. Anthem Glory To God In The Highest (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) ( 7:00)

CD 2:
01. Scripture Isaiah 56.7 (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (2:36)
02. Meditation Lord Have Mercy (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (4:59)
03. Invitation Come And Join The Army (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (4:41)
04. Offertory The Father (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (2:39)
05. Offertory The Son (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (3:21)
06. Offertory (You Gotta Watch) The Holy Ghost [Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau] (4:45)
07. Doxology (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (3:21)
08. Recessional The Glory Train (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (7:34)
09. Benediction (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (1:26)
10. Amen (Feat. Damien Sneed And Chorale Le Chateau) (8:18)

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Joachim Kühn - Beauty & Truth (2016)

Source & Label: Act

The Permanently Youthful Old Master

Joachim Kühn is a German pianist of world class, and a stand-alone figure in European jazz. He shows absolutely no signs either of slackening or of surrendering to his age - he is in his early seventies. Kühn's musical curiosity is as boundless as it always was, and his urge to keep creating new music is undimmed. It seems as if for him to stand still would be to go backwards. He lives in a finca in a remote part of Ibiza, overlooking the Mediterranean, where he is to be found either at the piano – he plays for hours every day - or dipping into his vast library of music. He has over 1,500 CDs, ranging from old recordings to up-to-the-minute releases.

For “Beauty & Truth” he and producer Siggi Loch have made a selection of new and old pieces, reaching out into unfamiliar repertoire, and recorded them with the new trio. “These are strong melodies which can be given a really distinctive shape, like for example “Blues For Pablo” by Gil Evans” he explains. “The secret of that piece lies in just five notes, but they are the key to unlock a whole musical cosmos.” There are also pieces which in their different ways are of personal significance to him. “Kattorna” by Krzysztof Komeda is a case in point: “I was present at the recording sessions for the album “Astigmatic” in Warsaw in 1965. The memory of having heard this piece just popped up in my head. Komeda and I met at that time in Warsaw. Both of us were playing with our bands at the famous 'Jazz Jamboree' in the National Philharmonic Hall. He explained to me his recording plans for the following day. I was curious, and he invited me to listen in. For me, Komeda was even at that time one of the great visionaries of European jazz.”

Kühn's original compositions on “Beauty & Truth” captivate the listener with catchy melodies with the character of earworms, which serve as jumping-off points for his improvising adventures. There is “Because Of Mouloud”, which has become something of a Joachim Kühn hit. There is also “Transmitting”, a spacious tune which hovers, trance-like. “Machineria” is a punchy virtuosi Etude - fugal, up-tempo, in which the pianist's left and right hands become enmeshed. This album also presents Kühn as an interpreter of the music of The Doors. A reggae-dub track by Stand High Patrol, which Eric Schaefer brought to the studio, is also part of the trio's repertoire.

Kühn, it is clear, would not be Kühn (his surname in German, incidentally, means bold or brave) if he wasn't adding something original and personal to existing templates. By re-harmonising or re-casting the rhythm and the meter of a tune, he transforms it, with complete assurance, in to a Kühn original. A good example is “Sleep Safe And Warm,” the familiar melody from Roman Polanski's film “Rosemary's Baby”, which is first played straight, and is then cloaked in completely new harmonies.

It was inevitable that Ornette Coleman, who died in June 2015, and played exclusively with Kühn from 1996 to 2000, would also figure prominently. The title track “Beauty And Truth” is a miniature for solo piano. It serves as a prologue to the album, both setting its tone and defining its concept, which is to get straight to the essence of what each composition is about, to discover its intrinsic truth, and to elicit the authentic beauty from it.

It can quite clearly be heard quite how much this new trio has energized Kühn and spurred him on. The bass of Chris Jenkins is stentorian and self-assured, yet stoical. It underpins and anchors the band. Drummer Eric Schaefer brings the same multiple virtues to this different context that make him such a success as a stalwart of the Michael Wollny Trio: his exceptional taste and judgement, his power and richness of invention, and a beautifully attuned and instinctive balance between refinement and earthiness. “For the past ten years,” says Kühn, “in the trio with Majid Bekkas und Ramon López, I was looking for an African-influenced sound. Now I am coming back after several years to the classic piano trio. The trio with Jean-François Jenny-Clark and Daniel Humair was in existence for 30 years. That really was the trio of a lifetime. The depth and the intensity we found were incredible. In Eric and Chris I have found a new dream team. It is very inspiring to play with them, and to do very different things.”
In the twelve pieces on “Beauty & Truth” a different Joachim Kühn can be heard: his piano-playing is powerful and clear, and musically he has a way of going straight to the heart of the matter. He is always solidly grounded in the groove, he plays with unconfined joy and with buckets of soul too. As he always did.

1 Beauty And Truth ( Cloeman, Ornette) 01:22
2 The End ( The Doors) 04:02
3 Because Of Mouloud ( Kühn, Joachim) 03:48
4 Sleep On It ( Stand High Patrol) 04:15
5 Intim ( Kühn, Joachim) 02:47
6 Transmitting ( Kühn, Joachim) 06:09
7 Summertime ( Gershwin, George) 03:23
8 Riders On The Storm ( The Doors) 03:35
9 Machineria ( Kühn, Joachim) 03:19
10 Sleep Safe And Warm ( Komeda, Krzysztof ) 02:58
11 Kattorna ( Komeda, Krzysztof) 03:53
12 Blues For Pablo ( Evans, Gil) 08:31

Joachim Kühn / piano
Chris Jennings / bass
Eric Schaefer / drums

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Massimo Faraò Trio - Io Che Non Vivo Senza Te (2015)

Label: Venus Records

Source: Jazzitalia

Studia pianoforte con il Maestro Flavio Crivelli. Nato a Genova il 16 Maggio 1965, comincia a collaborare con i musicisti locali, specialmente con il bassista Piero Leveratto.

Nel 1993 è invitato per la prima volta negli Stati Uniti a suonare con Red Holloway e Albert Tootie Heath con cui tiene molti concerti sulla costa occidentale.

Nel 1994 firma un contratto discografico con la Monad Records di New York e torna negli Usa come direttore musicale del gruppo della cantante Shawnn Monteiro composto da Keter Betts e Bobby Durham.

E' l'ideatore e direttore dei seminari internazionali We love Jazz e Gospel che si tengono a Genova dal 1993 e divenuti ormai uno degli eventi più importanti in Europa e non solo.

Ha fatto parte per diversi tours europei del quintetto di Nat Adderley, formato da Antonio Hart, Walter Booker e Jimmy Cobb

Dal 2001 fa parte del nuovo quartetto di Archie Shepp "Just in Time Quartet" insieme a Wayne Dockery e Bobby Durham.

Nel Novembre 2004 suona in Giappone presentando i suoi cd diventati best sellers.

Ha suonato nei seguenti paesi: Italia – Yugoslavia – Francia – Germania – Corsica – Svizzera – Ungheria – Austria – USA – Svezia – Danimarca – Norvegia – Finlandia – Dubai – Lussemburgo – Spagna – Giappone - Dubai

Ha all'attivo circa cinquanta incisioni con moltissimi musicisti italiani e stranieri.

Nel 2003 partecipa al JAZZ PIANO FESTIVAL di Lucerna.

Lo hanno più volte definito "il più nero dei pianisti italiani!".

Dal 2001 è direttore artistico dell'etichetta AZZURRA MUSIC per la divisione jazz.

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UP Paolo Pavan Pasqualino Ubaldini - Lines (2016)

Label: Self Released

Source: Cdbaby

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

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

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

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Alfredo Rodriguez - Tocororo (2016)

Label: Mack Avenue

Source: Latin Jazz Net

Each recording by Cuban pianist and composer Alfredo Rodríguez tells a story. His albums are not collections of musical pieces but tales told in a distinctive voice, with a distinct point of view and purpose. His 2011 debut, Sounds of Space, served as an introduction, as a way of saying “here are the people, the places, and the sounds that have surrounded me and made me who I am,” he explained then. In The Invasion Parade, his 2014 follow-up, Rodríguez revisited various Cuban musical traditions, seen through the prism of time, distance, and his new personal and musical experiences.

Tocororo - Alfredo Rodriguez - LJNNow, in Tocororo – his new album on Mack Avenue Records – Rodriguez’s story is represented by the national bird of Cuba. The Tocororo is a bird that if caged dies of sadness, reflecting not only the desire for liberty, but the necessity of it. Beyond that, though, is the story of everything else the bird represents: freedom, travel, and cross-pollination. In Rodriguez’s case, it represents the cross pollination of his Cuban culture with all of the cultures he has experienced throughout his musical journey. “What I wanted to do in this recording was to open myself up to the world, while honoring my roots at the same time,” he says. Rodriguez did just that and assembled an international band, representing the unique cultures of Ibrahim Maalouf from Lebanon, the French-Cuban duo Ibeyi, Cameroonian vocalist and bassist, Richard Bona, flamenco style singer Antonio Lizana, and Indian vocalist Ganavya Doraiswamy.

It was in 2009 that Rodriguez made the move to Los Angeles from Cuba—taking just a suitcase filled with music, a sweater, and a pair of jeans—after performing privately for Quincy Jones at the home of the Montreux Jazz Festival’s founder and director, Claude Nobs. After hearing the young pianist play, Jones, who now produces and manages the pianist, helped him understand that like Cuba’s national bird, the Tocororo, he couldn’t be caged.

“It wasn’t that I would’ve given up on music if I stayed in Cuba—I definitely would’ve continued to do what I love, but it just wasn’t the right environment for my music to flourish. Just as the Tocororo needs room to fly, my music needed the platform and opportunity to be heard by more people than would otherwise have been touched if I stayed. Because of its many restrictions, Cuba was my cage and it didn’t allow me to spread my wings and do what I love on a larger scale.” – Alfredo Rodriguez

“A mesmerizing display of technique, energy innovation and passion, practically levitating off the piano bench with the last note, and drawing roaring applause.” – JazzTimes

“It’s hard, in fact, to think of a jazz pianist since Art Tatum so capable of reaching across the complete range of the instrument’s expressive potential.” – Don Heckman

“Jazz Pianist Alfredo Rodriguez escaped Cuba for L.A. — now he’s a GRAMMY nominee.”
– LA Weekly

1. Chan Chan

2. Yemaya

3. Raices [Roots]

4. Gitanerías

5. Tocororo

6. Venga la Esperanza

7. Ay, Mamá Inés

8. Sabanas Blancas

9. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring

10. Kaleidoscope

11. Adiós Nonino

12. Meteorite

13. Ay, Mamá Inés [Remix]

 

Alfredo Rodriguez

Ibeyi

Ibrahim Maalouf

Richard Bona

Ganavya

Antonio Lizana

Michael Olivera

Reinier Elizarde

Ariel Bringuez

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Marc Copland - Zenith (2016)

Label: Innervoice Jazz

Source: Allaboutjazz

After releasing a series of excellent but under-recognized CDs on various small record labels—starting in the mid-1980s— pianist Marc Copland rose in prominence in 2006 when he took up residence on Germany's Pirouet Records. The highlight of his Pirouet days was a set of trio discs wrapped in a marketing package dubbed "The New York Trio Recordings." Modinha (2006); Voices (2007); and Night Whispers (2008), with a shifting set of band mates: Gary Peacock or Drew Gress on bass, Paul Motian or Bill Stewart drums, showcased Copland's skills to perfection. These discs attain the pinnacle of the very best piano trio offerings, ever, and they won for Copland some very well-deserved recognition. Copeland's sound in the piano trio is singular: he dips deeply into harmony, creating glistening chords and shimmering rhythms, a sort of diaphanous dream music so beautiful it's almost hard to believe.

Then there's Marc Copland teaming with horns, whether it's with saxophonist Greg Osby on Crosstalk (Pirouet Records, 2011), or with trumpeter Randy Brecker on Both/And (Nagel Heyer, 2006), the horn additions to his trio set-up changes his music, giving it a different momentum, more urgency, more grgariousness.

Zenith finds Copland with long time cohorts Drew Gress (bass) and Joey Baron (drums), teaming with trumpeter Ralph Alessi, for perhaps the best of the pianist's non-trio outings. It also finds him without the backing of a record company. Marc Copland has started InnerVoice Jazz, his own label.

Alessi, after releasing very successful records on the Clean Feed and CamJazz labels, has landed on ECM Records with Baida (2013), and in early 2016, Quiver. He is a consummate jazz man/improviser, with sideman slots in recordings, sitting in with Drew Gress on Black Butterflies (Premonition Records, 2005), plus set with Ravi Coltrane, Sam Rivers, Don Byron and Steve Coleman. He brings to Zenith a brashness and energy, a beautiful sense of abstraction.

"Sun at the Zenith" opens the disc with Copland's impressionistic melody. His piano is, as expected, gorgeous. The band floats. Alessi's open horn has a measured richness as it issues wandering lines that weave sinuously in and around the rhythm section. "Mystery Song," from the Duke Ellington songbook, 1931, doesn't sound Ellingtonian. It's a controlled tumult, a shifty, sneaky version, Copland's piano work sounding particularity inspired and on edge, with Baron and Gress injecting the sense of rolling, tumbling mystery.

The centerpiece, "Air We've Never Breathed," is a fourteen minute group improvisation, a sometimes playful, sometimes introspective rumination on Bill Zavatsky's poem, printed on the inside of the fold-out cover. "Waterfalls" is roiling rapids, an implacable rush of water. "Best Bet" brings in a beautiful ballad mood, and "Hurricane" begins gently, calm before the storm mode, then slow cranks things up to near gale force.

Zenith, Marc Copland's debut on his new label, meets all of the expectations his stellar work at Pirouet Records established.  Dan McClenaghan

1. Sun At the Zenith  8:26
2. Mystery Song  9:17
3. Air We've Never Breathed  14:00
4. Waterfalls  7:52
5. Best Bet  9:11
6. Hurricane  10:39  

Marc Copland piano
Ralph Alessi trumpet
Drew Gress bass
Joey Baron drums

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Joe Chambers - Landscapes (2016)

Label: Savant

Source: All Music

 Joe Chambers is an extremely versatile and tasteful master of all post-bop idioms. Chambers drives an ensemble with a light hand; his time is excellent and his grasp of dynamics superb. He's not a flashy drummer by any means, but he's a generous collaborator who makes any group of which he's a part as good as it can possibly be. Chambers worked around Washington, D.C., in his late teens. After moving to New York in 1963, he played with Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Giuffre, and Andrew Hill. In the mid-'60s, Chambers played with a number of the more progressively inclined musicians associated with the Blue Note label, such as vibist Bobby Hutcherson and saxophonists Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, and Sam Rivers.

In 1970, Chambers joined Max Roach's percussion ensemble, M'Boom, as an original member. During the '70s, Chambers played with a great many of jazz's most prominent elder statesmen, including Sonny Rollins, Tommy Flanagan, Charles Mingus, and Art Farmer. With Flanagan and bassist Reggie Workman, Chambers formed the Super Jazz Trio. In the late '70s, he co-led a band with organist Larry Young. Chambers recorded with bands led by trumpeter Chet Baker and percussionist Ray Mantilla in the early '80s. He also maintained his association with Roach into the '90s.

As a solo artist, Chambers has released a tidy number of albums including Almoravid (1973) with trumpeter Woody Shaw, New World (1976), New York Concerto (1981), Phantom of the City (1992), Mirrors (1998), and Urban Grooves (2002). Beginning with 2006's Outlaw, Chambers released a steady stream of albums for Savant Records with Horace to Max (2010), Joe Chambers Moving Pictures Orchestra (2012), and Landscapes (2016), featuring bassist Ira Coleman and pianist Rick Germanson. 

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Nolatet - Dogs (2016)

Label: Rotal Potato Family

Source: Allaboutjazz - Doug Collette

The wit in the name of Nolatet finds a direct reflection in the music they make. Yet together as a four piece unit, keyboardist Brian Haas (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey), vibraphonist Mike Dillon (Critters Buggin,' Garage A Trois), bassist James Singleton (John Scofield, John Medeski) and drummer Johnny Vidacovich (Charlie Hunter, Robert Walter), create a seamless sound that transcends comparisons to their previous work. No question Dogs is steeped, and deeply so, within the grand tradition of New Orleans, but even as Nolatet pay reverent homage to the Crescent City, they do so only fleetingly as they nod to their own previous work.

Thus, "Pops" hearkens to the atmospheric likes of Haas' work with JFJO even as Singleton's bowing calls to mind his trio outing with drummer Stanton Moore. Likewise, his jaunty intro to "Bongo Joe," as he's joined with Vidacovich in a parallel bounce, gives way to recurring stretches of melody, explored by Haas on acoustic piano, underpinned with their fused rhythm work. At moments like these---and there are more than a few of them here—it sounds like there were more than four musicians within NOLA's Esplanade Studios making this album.

In a marked contrast to his often jarring eccentricity, Dillon knows when to lay out and remain in the shadows of deep support, no doubt fully aware he gets his room to shine when it counts, as in his point counterpoint with Haas, again on grand ivories during the title song. No man in this band remains invisible or inaudible for long though and each has a savvy instinct for when to step up, as does Singleton here, after Vidacovich's brushes enact a gateway for him to enter.  Read more...

Pops

Bongo Joe

Dogs

Morphine Drip / Lento

There’s No Fire

Mellon Ball

Nails

Brian Haas: piano

Mike Dillon: vibraphone, percussion

James Singleton: acoustic bass

Johnny Vidacovich: drums

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Nik Bartsch's Mobile - Continuum (2016)

Source & Label: ECM

"This music draws its energy from the tension between compositional precision and the self-circumvention of improvisation. From self-implied restriction stems freedom. Ecstasy through asceticism.”


Swiss pianist and composer Nik Bärtsch was born in 1971 in Zurich, where he still lives. He took piano and percussion lessons from the age of 8 and subsequently studied at the city’s Musikhochschule and university, simultaneously freelancing in diverse bands, “playing everything from fusion to free-funk, and all kinds of extroverted jazz”.

As Bärtsch’s interest in composition grew and he immersed himself in the practices of John Cage and Morton Feldman, his attraction to live jazz waned: “I just didn’t see the sense of it any more, for me as an instrumentalist”. In 1997 he created an acoustic group, Mobile, which “develops integral musical concepts within a musical framework”.  Continuum, with an “extended” version of the Mobile ensemble is scheduled for Spring 2016 release on ECM.

The band Ronin (named after the freelance warriors in Japanese history who served no master) was born in 2001 out of Bärtsch’s desire for a group that could also work in the clubs and “play with more power”. The pianist has described the band’s work as “Zen-funk” and “ritual groove”: “Our music is somewhere between jazz and modern composition, progressive pop, ritual music, groove music in general”. Writer Michel Mettler has characterised the group’s aesthetic as “creating the maximum effect by minimum means”: phrases and motives are repeated, combined and layered, creating shifting, complex rhythmic patterns which typically build slowly over time with overwhelming dramatic impact.

Ronin has released three studio albums on ECM to date, Stoa (2006), Holon (2008) and Llyrìa (2010), as well as a double CD, Live (2012), which anthologises a suite of concert performances from their appearances around the world between 2009 and 2011, a collection which reveals its own inner logic and dramaturgy.

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Hendrik Meurkens - Harmonicus Rex (2016)

Label: Height Advantage

Source: Allaboutjazz - Dan Bilawsky

While the swing side of harmonica master Hendrik Meurkens' personality has basically been dormant for the past fifteen years, it hasn't disappeared. After highlighting his Brazilian jazz bona fides on record after record, Meurkens now returns to straight-ahead jazz on this instantly pleasing date.

Harmonicus Rex, despite it's humorously monstrous title, isn't a roaring beast. There are no high speed scenarios to speak of and no bash-and-crash displays to witness. This record's strength is in its ability to get the point across without all of that needless showboating. It's essentially a model for how feel and taste can trump tempo and dynamic excess in terms of establishing a swinging environment. And with a cast that includes drumming legend Jimmy Cobb and under-the-radar heavies like pianist Dado Moroni and bassist Marco Panascia, it's easy to see why this album projects that train of thought.

In observing Meurkens here, it becomes increasingly clear that he's a master conversationalist with some incredible ears and reflexes. That's something that's often overlooked in discussions of his work, but it's central to the success of his art. Whether trading solos with trumpeter Joe Magnarelli on "Mundell's Mood," responding to Moroni with brief and subtle gestures during "In Your Own Sweet Way," blending and balancing his sound against that of Anders Bostrom's alto flute, or playing off of the rhythm section when in the spotlight, Meurkens' foremost concern is how he relates to the other musicians and the music at hand.

Meurkens clearly relies on a recipe that calls for stirring all of the essential elements of a straightforward date together and cooking everything on low to medium settings. It's a formula for success. By exploring the mellow environs of ballads like "Afternoon" and "Darn That Dream," inviting a little heat and embracing the swing uplift on "SKJ" and "Up Jumped Spring," finding the sweet spots between those locales, and even taking a quick dip into bossa territory on "A Summer In San Francisco," Meurkens manages to create a complete picture that offers rich viewpoints to admire from wherever you happen to be standing. 

Mundell's Mood

Slidin'

In Your Own Sweet Way

Afternoon

SKJ

Falling In Love With Love

A Summer In San Francisco

Up Jumped Spring

Mean Dog Blues

Darn That Dream

 What's New

Hendrik Meurkens: harmonica

Dado Moroni; piano

Marco Panascia: bass

Jimmy Cobb: drums

Joe Magnarelli: trumpet, flugelhorn (1, 4, 5, 8)

Anders Bostrom: alto flute (2, 5, 7, 9)

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