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New Jazz Adds – 5/5/2020

Will Bernard – Freelance Subversive (ropeadope): “…one of the most potent, if under recognized, guitarists on the post-Frisell/post-Scofield scene.” – Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times; “Will Bernard is one of the best-kept jazz-guitar secrets on the planet.” – Dan Ouellette, Billboard. He has also performed and or recorded with Dr Lonnie Smith, Tom Waits, Ben Sidran, Dr John, Booker T.Jones, Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, Butler/ Bernstein and the Hot Nine, George Porter Jr., Zigaboo Modeliste, Global Noize, Greyboy Allstars, Galactic, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Mike Clark, Idris Muhammad and others. (https://willbernard.com/biography/) For this new recording he has gathered some of the hottest players around: Ben Zwerin and Jeff Hanley alternating songs on bass; Eric Kalb (drums); Moses Patrou (percussion); Eric Finland (Hammond B3 and M3, Clavinet, Wurli (1,2,3,5,7,10); Ben Stivers Hammond B3, Farfisa, Rhodes, OB6 (3,4,7,8,11); John Medeski Hammond B3, Wurli, (6,9); Skerik (tenor and baritone sax on one); and Jay Rodriguez tenor and bari sax, flute (5,7,10). Super playing throughout! Click here to listen to the first track on this disc.

Nir Felder – Nir Felder II (ropeadope): “Nir Felder is an American jazz guitarist, composer, and songwriter. He grew up in Katonah, New York, and attended the Berklee College of Music. Before leading his own band, he played with Greg Osby, Esperanza Spalding, Jack DeJohnette, and Meshell Ndegeocello.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nir_Felder) This appears to be his second or third release. Sadly, I an unable to offer more information as we received no literature with the release and I cannot find anything online. There is a bass and keys in evidence. Felder’s playing is sensational, often flowing and soaring in luscious waves. Click here to listen to “Fire In August” from this disc.

Naama Gheber – Dearly Beloved (Cellar Live): “NAAMA GHEBER is a New York-based jazz vocalist inspired by the emotionally direct compositions of Rodgers and Hart, Fields and Hugh, Cole Porter and other great composers and lyricist of the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Possessed with an urbane and elegant voice, Gheber’s sensitive interpretation and crisp phrasing have become recognizable elements of her signature style and timeless appeal….Gheber recorded her debut album featuring vibraphonist Steve Nelson, pianist Ray Gallon, bassist David Wong and drummer Aaron Kimmel.” (https://www.naamagheber.com/about) The set opens with “Dearly Beloved” and floats through “So In Love”, “’S Wonderful”, and “Since I Fell For You”, continuing in the heart of the great America songbook. Her voice and the arrangements are luscious throughout. Click here and scroll down to the songs on this release.

GoGo Penguin  – GoGo Penguin(Blue Note): “GoGo Penguin have been hailed as the “Radiohead of British Jazz”, but they draw equally on rock, jazz and minimalist influences, alongside the intricacy of Aphex Twin or Four Tet to create their punchy, experimental, but always beautiful music.” (https://gogopenguin.co.uk/)  The band members are Chris Illingworth (piano), Nick Blacka (bass) and Rob Turner (drums). Their playing is beautiful and precise throughout and often hot ! Click here to check out   a live version of a song on this disc, “F MAJ PIXIE”.

Hot Club du Nax – Love Is Where You Hang Your Hat (Self-produced): Introducing the Hot Club du Nax: Isobel Cope (vocals), Tomas Novak (violin), Arian Kindl (solo guitar), Lukas Bamesreiter (rhythm guitar) and Dario Michele Gurrado (double bass) and a wonderful set of songs including a traditional song “Joseph Joseph”, and originals by Novak (2), Kindl (2) and Cope (3) mixed together with some wonderful standards from Oscar Pettiford (Tricotism), Cole Porter (All Of You) and Sherman and Weiss (That Sunday That Summer). Sooooooo fine! Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.

Rob Luft – Life is the Dancer (Edition): “British guitarist Rob Luft returns with Life Is The Dancer, his second album following acclaimed debut Riser (2017). With the same line-up Life Is The Dancer confirms all the praise and promise of an artist of the moment and commands attention for its brilliance and originality. Rob Luft is a superstar in the making – a virtuoso, a band-leader, a composer of vibrant, original music and a captivating communicator.” (https://robluft.bandcamp.com/album/life-is-the-dancer) The players are Rob Luft (guitar), Joe Wright (tenor sax), Joe Webb (Hammond organ,  piano), Tom McCredie (bass) and Corrie Dick (drums) with guests Byron Wallen (trumpet) and Luna Cohen (vocal) joining in on “Life Is The Dancer” and “Expect The Unexpected”. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.

Charles Owens Quartet – As One (ropeadope): “Tenor Saxophonist Charles Owens is back in the mix, this time with a new twist. He dropped into Montrose Studios with his RVA compadres Devonne Harris, Andrew Randazzo, and Kelli Strawbridge to record AS ONE on 2 inch tape. Electric bass and piano mark a new turn, with six recognizable covers and two original tracks. This is the feel of finely tuned friends creating music together for the sake of beauty. Charles knows his horn, and the powerful groove of Randazzo and Strawbridge give him the time to play, with Devonne Harris dropping signature accents on the Wurlitzer. We get the feel of a (very) chill 70’s Jazz lounge, with the jukebox glowing on a Saturday night.” (https://www.isrbx.net/3137766758-charles-owens-quartet-as-one-2017-2019.html) Andrew Randazzo (bass) and Kelli Strawbridge (drums) are a solid rhythm section. Click here and scroll down to listen to the songs on this disc.

Jim Robitaille Trio – Space Cycles (Whaling City): “The Jim Robitaille Trio performs original music and arrangements that express a wide scope of emotional elements and rhythmic dialects, generating atmospheres realized with a complete dynamic range from moving ballads to compositions displaying explosive energy. The trio features the original music and arrangements of guitarist Jim Robitaille, performed along with bassist Bill Miele and drummer Chris Poudrier. The Jim Robitaille Trio’s new recording on WCS entitled Space Cycles, documents the trios ability to deeply listen to one another and create an empathetic and authentic interplay, culminating in an impassioned journey within the interpretation of each song.” (https://www.jimrobitaille.com/epk) Beautiful and hip music from end to end. It is wonderful beautifully fresh interpretations of songs like “Here, There And Everywhere” as an invitation to the original songs on this disc. Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of the songs on Spaces Cycles and other releases.

Nina Simone – Fodder On My Wings (Verve): This collection of songs by Nina Simone has an interesting approach. The songs are largely offered in a calypso style and sometimes in French. In fact, the recordings were made in France. There are a few folk style songs and some commentaries like “I Sing Just To Know I’m Alive”, “I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them” and “Color Is A Beautiful Thing” and some oddities like “Alone Again Naturally”. Click here to listen to “I Sing Just To Know I’m Alive”.

Dimitrije Vasiljevie – Us (ropeadope): “DIMITRIJE VASILJEVIC is a New Orleans based, award-winning jazz pianist and composer who has been hailed as “a strong jazz player with an impressive vocabulary and a powerful modern improviser who shows promise that he will be a new voice in modern jazz” (Tony Germain – Berklee College of Music). His music, “iridescent and captivating, a cascade of weaving twists and turns” (All About Jazz), represents an innovative combination of the gentle flavor of European jazz with intricate musical landscapes full of exotic rhythms and sophisticated harmony. Vasiljević got his Bachelor Degrees both from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, his Master’s degree from NYU Steinhardt in New York City and his doctorate (DMA) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before he accepted the position of a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans in 2017, he taught jazz piano at both NYU Steinhardt in NYC and UIUC in Urbana, IL.” “Dimitrije is a rare example of a musician whose qualities – sensibility, virtuosity, harmonic and melodic invention – all converge towards the same point: a music of deep and rewarding beauty.” – Jean-Michel Pilc (http://www.dimitrijevasiljevic.com/bio) Click here to listen to an introduction to this disc by Dimitrije Vasiljevie.

Walt Wagner Trio – trajectory (Semaphone): “About a year ago, the opportunity came up to play at world-renowned Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle. With bassist Dan Dean and drummer Ben Smith, we became The Walt Wagner Trio, and after playing to packed, fired up audiences at that first gig, we decided we’d like to make a go of it.
Each of us feels that playing together in this group has been a high point in our long careers, and that’s motivated us to invest lots of rehearsal time. Further encouraging us, we wound up playing a total of five shows at Jazz Alley so far! So what we have now is one tight, tight trio.” (https://waltwagner.com//#news) They have this DOWN!Righteous! Click here and scroll way down to “Music / Trajectory” to listen to the songs on this disc.

Cory Weeds Quartet – Day By Day (Cellar Live): While several of the promos for this  release list both alto sax player Cory Weeds and pianist David Hazeltine, it is actually Weeds’ release. Certainly the reason for that is these two players blend wonderfully and have actually performed together many times. Surprisingly however, this is only the second time they have recorded with each other. Each one contributed a new composition to the set as well and Hazeltine arranged all of the performances. Ken Lister (bass) and Jesse Cahill (drums) make up the rhythm section. A solid outing! Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.

Kopasetically,

Professor Bebop