jazz adds january 11, 2016
By Ann Porotti
paulien. chez moi. brik. Everyone involved should take a bow for this delightful confection. paulien, with her slightly recessive, delicate-yet crisp technique; a softer more languid edith piaf. and the musicians– elegant, unforced, making every phrase count: matty metcalfe, accordion; rick olivarez, guitar; tony nalker, piano + bob bowen, bass, tony martucci@drums. and let’s not forget the producer, gerard brikkenaar van dijk. Drop the needle; each one is a winner!
morwenna lasko & jay pun. the hollow. kukicha. A very lovely offering that features local jazz men, bassist pete spaar and drummer devonne harris, delivering the dynamic rhythms that headliners violinist morwenna lasko and guitarist jay pun deserve. guests are everywhere and superb: guitarist stephane wrembel, accordionist thomas lasko, vocalist ezra hamilton. strong 100% original playlist.
various. piano in the house. nucleo. Crossover material. nine Brazilian pianists perform solo compositions in Sao Paulo, 2014; two classical cues– amilton godoy plays ernesto nazareth’s odeon, karin fernandes performs heitor villa-lobos valsa da dor. the rest are more jazz-esque with an unmistakable flourish of Brazilian nuance.
gregg belisle-chi. tenebrae. songlines. Debut recording from Seattle-based guitarist gregg belisle-chi features an originals-only playlist with vocalist chelsea crabtree voicing on several cues. he’s a youngster, but his studies with guitar masters keith ganz, john stowall, and steve cardenas have made him fearless and forward-looking. tenebrae means shadows, darkness–that come from gradually extinguishing candles, light— with that in mind, give it a listen.
clark gibson. bird with strings: the lost arrangements. blujazz. Altoist/educator clark gibson revives the famous 1947 charlie parker performance with a 25 piece orchestra. gibson’s suite includes neal hefti’s progressive composition, repetition, that parker claimed in his own style. also included are john lewis’ scootin, gerry mulligan’s gold rush, and george russell’s ezz-thetic. ambitious.
galen weston. plugged in. blujazz. Toronto guitarist galen weston debuts with tributes to all his inspirations: wes montgomery, george benson, brazilian samba licks, mark knopfler. extremely friendly CD with Toronto session players: david woodhead on electric bass; al cross@ drums; matt horner on keys; richard underhill, alto; rick lazar on percussion.
amp trio. m(y)our world. self. Young Texas- primarily North Texas State- musicians plus NYC players round out this band of the young and energetic; addison frei on piano, matt young@drums, perrin grace, bass -they are the core + add on tahira clayton, vocals; brad king, guitar; drew zaremba, organ, nick rothhouse, percussion.
dave rempis. cash and carry. aerophonic. Every year like clockwork, these guys, known these days as the rempis percussion quartet release another whirlwind, aka recording. classy, polished musicians enjoying their free-improvising; they are ingebrigt haker flaten, bass; double drums from tim daisy + frank rosaly; led by the emperor of saxaphone (alto, tenor, bari) squacking, dave rempis. in looking for answers as to why it pleases me, i read “rawboned…sounding like the heated folk expressions of Ethiopian saxophonist getachew merchurya…”. hell, yeah! nighttime listening.
blue muse. live. dophinum. Jacksonville, FL. septet that plays classic jazz standards with a twist– hear their versions of smile, infant eyes and icarus. blue muse are sarah lee, saxes; jonah pierre, piano; jarrett carter, guitar; tony steve, vibes; ernie earlum & cody wheater, bass; evan peterson, drums.
kim nazarian. some morning. kimj. Founding member of New York Voices, vocalist kim nazarian’s album deepens her previous collaborations: with paquito d’rivero on betty carter’s classic tell him i said hello; with gary burton & jamey haddad on ivan lins some morning; and trombonist/arranger/producer jay ashby on cole porter’s what’ll i do.
ernie krivda. requiem for a jazz lady. capri. Veteran tenor reflects on the jazz glory days of Cleveland, OH clubs; his quartet includes Detroit musicians marion hayden on bass, and renell gonsalves@drums + Cleveland rising star, pianist lafayette carthon. krivda’s tone is full of vibrato, rugged — as he explores gospel, funk and blues in his many originals. great lakes gumbo, questions, i’ll close my eyes — testify to krivda’s unique sound.
guapo. obscure knowledge. cuneiform. Minimalist, three-part composition from experimental rock quartet, celebrating twenty years; guapo features david j. smith@drums; kavus torabi on guitar; emmett elvin, keyboards; james sedwards, bass.
