THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER Rafal Sarnecki - Cat's Dream |  |
- Rafal Sarnecki - Cat's Dream
- Noah Garabedian - Big Butter And The Eggmen
- Brooklyn Jazz Underground Releases - Seven By Seven
- New Releases: The Fat Babies - 18th & Racine; Jared Gold - Intuition; Kalaparush and the Light - Morning Song
- New Releases - Yusef Lateef - The Gentle Giant; Joe Magnarelli - Lookin' Up; Jason McGuiness - A Whitfield/Strong Tribute
- NEW RELEASES - WALT WEISKOPF - OVERDRIVE; ECCENTRIC SOUL; BAGAR AKA TRICKY D - EQUANIMITY
- New Releases: Zara McFarlane - Move (Atjazz Remix); Nathan Woodward; Fire! Orchestra - Enter
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:52 AM PDT
"Like Rosenwinkel, Sarnecki ventures far beyond the bebop and post-bop idioms of the past and into a freer - though still chordal - musical language. Sarnecki's original compositions merge the high-flown lyricism of Polish culture with an idiosyncratic, thoroughly disarming way of building long and winding musical phrases. He's clearly at the start of forming an improvisational syntax for himself, but it already shows originality and daring . . ." - Howard Reich, The Chicago Tribune
Cat's Dream is the third album from guitarist/composer Rafal Sarnecki, born and raised in Warsaw, Poland, and now based in Brooklyn, NY. The album was recorded in Brooklyn by Michael Perez-Cisneros (known for recording such albums as Kurt Rosenwinkel's Heartcore and Gilad Hekselman's This Just In). The mix was done by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording (Darlington is known for mixing such famous albums as If On a Winter Night... by Sting, Alegria by Wayne Shorter, for which Darlington received a Grammy Award, and Gershwin's World by Herbie Hancock).
Cat's Dream features eight new compositions from Sarnecki, arranged for a sextet comprised of some of the best and brightest young musicians on the NYC Scene, Lucas Pino (tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Rick Rosato (bass), Colin Stranahan (drums) and Bogna Kicinska (voice). Cat's Dream also marks Sarnecki's first album recorded with American musicians, and the first time he composed for voice. Sarnecki elaborated; "I wrote the music specifically for these musicians, and during the composition process I imagined every musician in the group performing the music and tried to hear how the parts would sound. We have all known each other for many years so I was able to feature their unique abilities and strengths within this music. I definitely felt very privileged to be able to record with such incredible musicians."
Each composition on Cat's Dream represents a different period in Sarnecki's life, and also a different stage of his development as a composer. On the album you can find extended forms ("For Anastazja" or "Plane Crashes and Conspiracy Theories"), typical short form jazz songs ("Ordovician Extinction", "Piazza Verdi"), as well as the first song with lyrics the composer has ever written (the title track, albeit in Spanish, "Sueño de Gatos"). Sarnecki's music is a result of being influenced by both traditional Polish songs, and American music he was exposed to on radio and in American films. Sarnecki explains further, "many American musicians consider my compositions very European in style, while in Poland and in the rest of Europe, my music is often described as very American. I like my music to have an American rhythmic character, and feel that introducing European melodic elements doesn't necessarily have to make the music groove less."
Sarnecki's music is fascinating in that many musicians perceive his compositions as being complex and challenging to perform (perhaps due to Sarnecki having a degree in Physics). However, the composer actually strives to make his music as user-friendly as possible, only using odd-meters if he is absolutely certain that it is necessary, for example. "Nevertheless the music on Cat's Dream is challenging to perform even for myself. I am really amazed by the ability of my bandmates to improvise with incredible freedom and expression over the complex metric structures of these songs," said Sarnecki.
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:52 AM PDT
In demand sideman, bassist/composer Noah Garabedian, who has worked with the likes of Ravi Coltrane, Josh Roseman, Ralph Alessi, Andrew D'Angelo, Myron Walden, Nir Felder, Julian Waterfall Pollack and The Amigos Band, is happy to announce his debut recording as a leader, Big Butter And The Egg Men, featuring his sextet of the same name.
The instrumentation of Garabedian's band was inspired by a prolonged Louis Armstrong phase, coupled with the bassist listening extensively to Henry Threadgill's bands Zooid, and Very Very Circus (several of the tracks on the album also reveal Garabedian's love for Bach, and Baroque music in general). He elaborated, "I wanted to create a band where the musicians could all comp for each other, without a traditional chordal instrument, and having a band that can potentially go from being an entire sextet improvising together, to a small duo or trio, was a very exciting prospect for me." Garabedian aimed to compose music that provide a spring board for the improvisers, and that would have a more natural transition between the composed passages and the improvised sections. He explains, "rather than writing in a conventional jazz structures (such as the blues, or AABA forms, etc), I wanted to experiment with several different melodies in a piece, different improvising sections throughout the composition, and a variety of textures within each song."
The Big Butter And the Egg Men Sextet, featuring Garabedian on bass with Kyle Wilson (tenor sax), Anna Webber (tenor sax), Curtis MacDonald (alto sax), Kenny Warren (trumpet) and Evan Hughes (drums), is made up of musicians who are also friends who have been making music together for a long time. Just to cite one example, Garabedian, now based in Brooklyn, and drummer Evan Hughes (both from Berkeley, CA) have known each other since they were teenagers. "Having that band quality is very important to me, especially in an age where so few steady working bands exist. The trust I have in the musicians is something that I value greatly; not only can I rely on them to perform my music at a high level, but I also welcome their input while we are work-shopping new compositions," said Garabedian.
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 10:52 AM PDT
In 2011 the members of the BJU (formed in 2006) composed new music for their first collaborative effort, the recording, A Portrait of Brooklyn. These performances marked the first time that the BJU members came together as an ensemble, and the result was praised unanimously, with Hank Shteamer of Time Out New York calling the BJU Ensemble, "a valuable collective that spotlights underrated local bandleaders", and Chris Smith adding in The Winnipeg Free Press that, "Brooklyn has a thriving jazz community, and an association of artists committed to building a greater awareness of original music coming from there - the Brooklyn Jazz Underground."
From its inception the BJU, a highly influential group that inspired the formation of other artist collectives around the world, including The Paris Jazz Underground, The Queens Jazz Overground and The LA Jazz Collective, has always placed a premium on original composition. The band's much-anticipated second recording, 7 X 7, offers a collection of seven compelling works conceived by each member of the septet, featuring David Smith (trumpet), Adam Kolker (tenor sax, bass clarinet), Anne Mette Iversen (bass), Rob Garcia (drums), and also featuring the addition of vocalist Tammy Scheffer, who plays a shifting role here as a vocalist and as a third "horn", pianist David Cook & drummer Owen Howard, empowering the ensemble alongside Rob Garcia with a dual drummer thrust.
While each piece exemplifies the character of the individual composer, the ensemble devised a cohesive element to lend unity to the entire recording: "The Shorty," a brief composition derived from each of the seven original works. The creative twist was that these variations were to be composed by a fellow BJU artist. "We literally drew names from a hat to pick which composition was to be our 'assignment.' Whether inspired by a melodic phrase, a harmonic structure or simply the vibe of the initial work, each 'Shorty' in turn, found its own character," explained Owen Howard (from the liner notes).
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:57 AM PDT
THE FAT BABIES - 18TH & RACINE
One of the coolest combos working in Chicago these days – a trad jazz group with a really wonderful sound – one of the few modern groups who can really illustrate the improvisational excitement of jazz back in the Windy City scene of the 20s and 30s! These guys have a freshness that you'd never find with other trad combos – maybe an energy that's generated by their youth, or the fact that in the 21st Century we're now so removed from the cliches of the trad revival, folks can start over again and really get things right. Whatever the case, their sound is great – an electrifying revival of modes we never thought we'd like this much from contemporary players. The lineup includes string bass, cornet, clarinet, alto sax, trombone, piano, drums, and banjo – and titles include "The Stampede", "18th & Racine", "I Can't Dance", "Stardust", "Oh Baby", "The Chant", and "Blueberry Rhyme". ~ Dusty Groove
JARED GOLD – INTUITION
Jared Gold's one of the few up-and-comers who really knows his way around a Hammond – not in a stock funk mode, but in the far-reaching, freewheeling style of great jazz organists like Larry Young or Lonnie Smith! This set's just the kind of cooker we've come to love from Gold – a trio date that has the keyboardist moving madly up and down his instrument – pulling notes out with effortless ease, and bringing them together in ways that few other players might dare! The group's got guitar from David Stryker and drums from McClenty Hunter – and like most of the best of the classic Hammond players, Jared lets his own feet handle all the work on bass. Titles include "Right Nowish", "As It Were", "Bedo's Blues", "Hoopin On Sundays", "The Crusher", and "Pro Zeca". ~ Dusty Groove
KALAPARUSH AND THE LIGHT - MORNING SONG
A beautiful later Delmark album from Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre – one that has all the vivid creative energy of his classic sessions for the label from the 60s! The setting continues McIntyre's work with The Light – a duo of tuba and drums, which makes for some mighty unusual sounds – an odd variant on the bass and drums you might normally hear in an avant trio like this – with lots of complex interplay at the core, and these soaring, searing solos from Kalaparush on tenor sax! His tone is wonderful – as deeply heartfelt all these many years later as it was right back at the start – a rare sound we'd rank right up there with Pharoah Sanders' voice on tenor. Titles include "Noon", "Let Us All Relax", "Here Comes The Light", "Mobo", "Against All Odds", "Evening", and "I Don't Have An Answer Unless It's God". ~ Dusty Groove
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:47 AM PDT
YUSEF LATEEF - THE GENTLE GIANT
One of the greatest Yusef Lateef albums on Atlantic Records – and that's saying a lot, given the high level of quality he was hitting at the label! The album's a perfect blend of the newly-funky Lateef style with some hipper, more sophisticated touches – a mode that hints at his bigger-concept recordings to come, but which is still pretty lean and clean overall – and damn funky on most of the best tracks! Yusef plays a host of hip flutes here, plus tenor and oboe – and an almost equal star on the record is Kenny Barron, whose electric piano lines really make the album something special. The album begins with a long take on Barron's "Nubian Lady" which begins the record – and Kenny also contributed the tighter grooving "Jungle Plum". Other tracks include "African Song", "Queen Of The Night", "Poor Fishermen", "Below Yellow Bell", and a strange version of "Hey Jude" that goes on for a long time, and really messes with the volume – listed on the cover with the note "Do not adjust the playback level on your audio equipment – readjust your mind!" ~ Dusty Groove
JOE MAGNARELLI - LOOKIN' UP
A storming set from trumpeter Joe Magnarelli – working here in an excellent quintet that also features equally great trombone from Steve Davis – a perfect partner from Joe in the front line! Davis has sharp phrasing that really matches Magnarelli's deft trumpet lines – and the pair get a soulful swing from a tight rhythm trio that features Anthony Wonsey on piano, Mike Karn on bass, and Jason Brown on drums – a group that brings in bold, strong tones right from the start – and still finds a resonant depth even on mellower numgers. Many tunes are originals from Joe, mixed with a few well-chosen classics – and titles include "44", "Third Set", "Inner Beauty", "Miles Mode", "In Walked Lila", "Blue Key", and "Easy Transition". ~ Dusty Groove
JASON MCGUINESS – A WHITFIELD / STRONG TRIBUTE
A sweet little 3-track EP spearheaded by producer/synth programmer Jason McGuiness – who enlists some of the leading players in the LA funk scene to pay tribute to Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and the psych soul era of Motown Records! Includes freshly-arranged, straight up incredible takes on "Smiling Faces Sometimes", "Cloud Nine", and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" – with vocals by Mix Master Wolf (Breakestra) and Stephanie Karr, Dexter Story on Rhodes and Hammond, Todd Simon on turmpet, Kamasi Washington on sax, T'Amir Sweeney on drums and more. ~ Dusty Groove
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:37 AM PDT
WALT WEISKOPF - OVERDRIVE
Bold, soulful sounds from tenorist Walt Weiskopf – a player who not only really knows his place as a soloist, but who also comes across as a great leader on a date like this! The whole group's got a focus that comes through right away – Walt's bold horn in the lead, but fused with these strong piano lines from Peter Zak, guitar from Yotam Silberstein, and vibes from Behn Gillece – instruments that really pull together a lot of sound and tones when used this well, creating a sense of force that really drives the album along. All tunes are originals by Weiskopf, save one – and the whole thing's got this unified vision from the start to the finish – a really great step forward for Walt. Titles include "Like Mike", "The Path Is Narrow", "Night Vision", "Waltz For Dad", "Four Horsemen", "Midwinter Night's Dream", and "No Biz". ~ Dusty Groove, Inc.
 ECCENTRIC SOUL – THE WAY OUT RECORDING CO (VARIOUS ARTISTS) BAGAR AKA TRICKY D - EQUANIMITY
Dean Bagar aka Tricky D was born and raised in Croatia where he trod the boards as a visual artist as well as playing a leading role in The Punk / New-wave scene of the early eighties. By late eighties moves to London where he discovered the power of Reggae Sound systems. The worsening political troubles and escalation of violence in Croatia left him a refugee in Berlin, but he still found the spirit to immerse himself in the blossoming "Daisy Age" and this is where he began his DJ / production journey. There he got involved in cult underground club "Eimer" and became an underground break-beat activist, and spearheaded one of the first German Drum´n´Bass live bands, Elektronauten, and still found time to open "Tricky Tunes" record shop and after spending some time in Jamaica where together with his friend Mez he did a recording session with local vocalists, decided to start his own "Tricky Tunes" label as well. In 2000 he released together with General Electrick and Dj Deckart a couple of singles and an album under the name "Fab Factory" where they explored and pushed the limits of 2step garage. All the while he honed his craft as a DJ and producer. He became a member of a visual-audio project "Digital Tattoo". Since 2006 he has travelled often to Colombia, where after regular collaborations with local talents, he went on to produce and manage the Los Transatlanticos project, released on BBE in 2012. On his debut as Tricky D the artist, he presents us with "Equanimity" introducing a different side of his musical productions, a fusion of downbeats, soul, dub, deep dubstepy / future garage beats and cinematic ambient layers, with a twist of Balkan Funk here… and there of tango … and cumbia. A beautiful adventure in music, mirroring those of his life. On the album Bagar features vocal talents from both sides of The Atlantic hemispheres … European and South American.
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Posted: 18 Jul 2014 06:15 AM PDT
ZARA MCFARLANE - MOVE (ATJAZZ REMIX)
'Move' was released digitally on the July 14th and is the third single from Zara McFarlane's highly acclaimed second album 'If You Knew Her'. Her instantly recognisable voice is truly on show as her vocal acrobatics stretch across both her melodies and her accomplished improvisations, accompanied by a sparse groove rife with tension and release. Zara weaves a tale of finding strength at a moment of uncertainty on which coasts over both Afro-Carribbean rhythms and a solid swing. The B-side is another track from the album, 'You'll Get Me In Trouble'. A playful take on temptation – completely captivating yet deceptively simple. the delivery is heartfelt - it is no surprise it went down such a storm on her recent Jools Holland performance. To complete the summery package a suitably deep remix from Atjazz with full toned subs and a laid back beat sure to make even the most stubborn of heads start to nod. Atjazz brings something new to the table, serving up 8-bit flavours to compliment the jazzy concoction.
Listen to Zara McFarlana Move (Atjazz Remix)
NATHAN WOODWARD
A young, newcomer to the scene, Nathan is an artist that doesn't waste a single note. His concerts pack an emotional punch and technical precision that continually dazzles. Traveling on average 51 weekends a year, Nathan has already become a name in some circles as a crossover Gospel, Smooth Jazz, and R&B artist. His career has already included work with clients such as the American Red Cross, The American Heart Association, MGM Resorts, Chick-fil-A, and numerous others. "Versatility" is what many have come to appreciate about Nathan. Whether in a small theater or large church, he continues to shine. With over a decade of traveling across the United States and around the world, Nathan's improvisational jazz style and passionate melodies will encourage the heart and stir the soul. Tracks include: Soho Twilight, Sea Breeze, Presence, Tuesday Rain, Tell Me Why, 2 O'Clock, The Promise, Schipol, Main Street, Sunrise, and Time Lapse (Bonus Track).
FIRE! ORCHESTRA - ENTER
One of the coolest, wildest performances we've ever heard from the Fire Orchestra – an expanded version of a core jazz combo that includes Mats Gustafsson on tenor – but which here has grown to a very bold lineup of musicians with a trio of voices as well! The album features one long piece – the mighty "Enter" – a strongly spiritual number that mixes soulful jazz expressions with freer improvisations, and some psych elements from time to time – a really amazing blend that holds up tremendously well, even throughout the double-length space of the recording. In addition to Gustafsson on tenor – and also conducting the group – the lineup features Jonas Kullhammar on baritone sax, Fredrik Ljungkvist on baritone and clarinet, Anna Hogberg on alto, Magnus Broo and Emil Strandberg on trumpet, Goran Kajfes on cornet, Sten Sandell on keyboards, Raymond Strid on drums, and the trio of Mariam Wallentin, Sofia Jernberg, and Simon Ohlsson on voices. ~ Dusty Groove
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