jazz adds january 27, 2016
By Ann Porotti
milos. blackbird: the beatles album. mercury classics. Third release for guitarist milos karadaglic, classically trained in London– though born in Montenegro; the success of his public recitals, and DGG recordings puts him in the same break-out league as classical guitarist john williams. blackbird, with guitar arrangements by Brazilian sergio assad and orchestration from Tony- award winning arranger christopher austin, mixes up beatles whimsy with moodiness. no shortage of stellar guests: anoushka shankar, tori amos, steven isserlis, and gregory porter from Harlem voices. A’s for accessibility and accomplishment.
lisa hilton. nocturnal. ruby slippers. Lisa hilton just gets better; 16th release for the California pianist/composer/bandleader, and each time she adds on more intelligence to her band. antonio sanchez@drums; jd allen on tenor; terell stafford, trumpet & flugel; gregg august on bass. hilton’s playlist divides into her own five-part midnight sonata, plus dynamic originals and an elusive cover of the pixies, where is my mind?
wes montgomery. one night in indy. resonance. Singular performance of guitar master wes montgomery and legendary Chicago pianist eddie higgins, captured on tape @ the Indianapolis jazz club, january 1959. spruced up by resonance records, featuring walter perkins@drums, a mystery bassist, and a familiar and satisfying jazz songbook. all good.
alister spence. trio:live. self. “Inventive and spellbinding” live performance from improvisor/pianist alister spence brings together his famed Australian trio: lloyd swanton on double bass, and toby hall@drums/ glockenspiel. A fixture of Sydney’s ambient/friendly-avant garde jazz world, spence integrates folkoric instruments with techno sampling in his diverse work for film, theatre and concert hall.
florian hoefner. luminostity. origin. Third release for the Bavarian-born pianist, finds florian hoefner escaping the tumult of NYC for composing tranquility in St. Johns, Newfoundland. apparently, he took along his bassist sam anning and drummer peter kronreig, and lured in saxophonist seamus blake to collaborate. all originals, highly energetic, and melodic.
jeremy pelt. #jiveculture. highnote. Everybody likes trumpeter jeremy pelt, with his stunning technique–equal on ballads or jams, and his leader emphasis on group statement. the recent #jiveculture starts with pelt’s desire to record with legendary bassist ron carter; billy drummond, his drummer, delivers the message and the result is half classic bop, half beautiful rule breaking. with young danny grissett on piano.
ray vega & thomas marriott. return of the east west trumpet summit. origin. Encore meeting of two trumpet guns, Nuyorican ray vega–veteran of tito and mongo’s bands–with Seattle-then-maynard horn player thomas marriott, changes the set-up of the 2010 summit by adding in B-3 player george colligan and and inviting back, drummer matt jorgensen. mostly classics from jazz who’s who: lee morgan’s totem pole, curtis fuller’s the egyptian, erroll garner’s misty.
bill o’connell. heart beat. savant. New York City pianist/bandleader and Latin jazz advocate o’connell directs a full ensemble, playing mostly originals: with conrad herwig, trombone; steve slagle, soprano, alto, flute; luques curtis, bass; melvis santa, vocals; and a quartet of drums, bata, congas from richie barshay, clemente medina diego lopez, roman diaz.
pd9 township jazz project. live at the scarab club. eastlawn. Infectious, danceable South African Township tunes from July, 2013 concert in Detroit, MI celebrating the music of pianists abdullah ibrahim, chris mcgregor (brotherhood of breath), & multi-instrumentalist winston ngozi. Detroit’s eastlawn records‘ catalog showcases local music from the 20th century, using PD9(planet D nonet) as their house band. check this and them out.
nicolas bearde. invitation. right groove. Honey-voiced vocalist, former member of bobby mcferrin’s ensemble voicestra, nicolas bearde’s fourth recording for his own label settles into a soft, gentle exploration of American classics–eckstine’s i want to talk about you, jobim’s dindi, kaper’s invitation.
brian andres. this could be that. bacaloo. Sizzling, red-hot Latin big band from SF Bay area drummer brian andres dozen+ group. most cues except, my one and only love, are ferocious in their timing and energy; lots of guests drop by: vocalist venissa santi; percussion wizard alex acuna; fania-all-stars timbalist louie romero. Mexico City pianist christian tumalan, and German trumpet steffen keuhn–both from the award winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra– keep it piping hot.
george papageorge. snowstorm blues. self. Hammond B-3 set from organist george papageorge working with a rotating trio; vince fector and brian floody share the drums; matt chertkoff and randy johnson, on guitar duties. cocaine from jj cale; heaven from the gospel duo bebe & cc winans; charles earland’s don’t be so mean arlene.
Sunday, january 31, 2016 Update:
hiroya tsukamoto. confluencia. momo. Guitarist/composer hiroya tsukamoto, originally from Kyoto, Japan has made a second recording with his trio, interoceanico 3; they are hiroya on guitar; moto fukushima, bass; franco pinna@drums. The all-originals, crossover playlist covers a wide berth of influences—from the pulsing Americas sound of lejano, carnavalito18 to the minimalism of Japanese tranquility —sakhalin, tekyl feinuhan. stunning technique and intensity; jazz friendly.
hiroya tsukamoto plays a solo concert presented by The Prism Coffeehouse at C’Ville Coffee, February 12, 2016. The show starts at 7 pm, and there will be two sets. Advance tickets available at the Prism’s website, and can not be purchased at C’Ville Coffee.
