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New Jazz & Blues – 7/26/2022

New Jazz:

Ronnie Foster – ReboOt (Blue Note): Ronnie Foster – REBOOT (Blue Note): “The 2022 return of Ronnie Foster to Blue Note Records is an event of synergistic quintessence, completeness, and cool. The organ great’s dynamic new album, Reboot, arrives upon the 50th anniversary of his 1972 Blue Note debut Two Headed Freap, which featured his memorable tune “Mystic Brew” that would later reach the ears of hip-hop fans around the world when A Tribe Called Quest sampled the track as the foundation of “Electric Relaxation” on their 1994 album Midnight Marauders. The nine-song Reboot marks a fresh start for Foster, who has whipped up an omnidirectional brew of Hammond Organ Groove that, yes, pays homage to the past but more often reflects Ronnie’s restlessness for ushering in the new. Mightily hoisting the Blue Note organ torch, Foster gives thanks to the musical osmosis that was poured into him by all of the greats that preceded him. In the album’s liner notes, Ronnie makes sure to pay homage to one very important person in his life who passed away in 2021: “This album is dedicated to the memory of my brother, friend, Buffalo Homie and hero Dr. Lonnie Smith, who was one of the best in the world on the Hammond B3 organ.” (https://store.bluenote.com/collections/new-releases/products/ronnie-foster-reboot)  I regret I am not able to find a sample of Foster’s album.

Florian Hoefner Trio – Desert Bloom (ALMA): “Born and raised in Germany, trained in New York City and now based in Canada, jazz pianist and composer, Florian Hoefner, draws from a myriad of influences that culminate in his unique brand of modern jazz. Praised as a “composer-bandleader of insightful resolve” by the New York Times and a “harmonically daring pianist […] reaching toward new sonic territory” by Downbeat, Florian Hoefner has made his mark as an inventive creator and performer of exciting contemporary Jazz. With his quartet, the Florian Hoefner Group, he has released 3 albums on Origin Records that have received rave reviews around the globe. “Luminosity,” his latest release that features tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake, has been described as a “starkly picturesque album … that makes profound statements from quiet moments” by Downbeat and as a “total experience” by the New York Jazz Record. It has been nominated as Jazz Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards 2017. The Group also received the Stingray Rising Star Award after their performance at the Montréal Jazz Festival 2015.
As a member of the Germany-based collective, Subtone, he has released 5 critically acclaimed albums on labels including ENJA Records and performed on 4 continents including festivals such as Jazz Baltica (Germany), ACACIA Jazz Festival (Ethiopia), Jazz in Situ (Ecuador) and Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon (France) where the group was awarded the jury and audience awards. Florian’s work as a sideman has led to numerous additional CD releases including a collaboration with guitarist, Kurt Rosenwinkel on Fresh Sound Records. He has shared the stage with the likes of Joe Lovano, Seamus Blake, Rich Perry, John Riley, and New York Philharmonic clarinetist, Mark Nuccio. A two-time winner of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, Hoefner’s compositions and arrangements can be heard on many commercial albums by artists including Till Brönner, Jasmin Tabatabai and Peter Fessler. His big band compositions have been performed by the New York Jazz Orchestra, the Lucerne Jazz Orchestra, the German Youth Jazz Orchestra and the DanJam Orchestra.” Click on this link to listen to “Desert Bloom” from this release.

Katalyst/Adrian Younge/Ali Shaheed Muhammad  – jid 013 (Jazz Is Dead): “In the storied and woefully under-celebrated history of Los Angeles Jazz, community has remained the beating heart and driving force. In the 1960s, Horace Tapscott’s Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra and Union of God Musicians Ascension Association connected local jazz musicians. More recently, Los Angeles’ new Jazz Renaissance has flourished both on a local and global scale through steady collaboration and mentorship of the next generation. Take a close look at the current jazz landscape, and it soon becomes apparent that the Inglewood-based Katalyst Collective are the new torchbearers of this tradition. Founded in 2014, Katalyst Collective has never been one for labels. Rather than strictly a live act, they’ve acted as an incubator for a fresh crop of local talent, helping hone the voices and talents of individual members, while collectively advancing like a phalanx. Each “Kat” writes their own solo material, and everyone contributes and works together on each project, feeding off the communal energy. A cultural movement redefining the way we listen, feel & think about great music. All open minds welcome. Click here to listen to the music.  https://jazzisdead.co/Katalyst-013-Vinyl

Kneebody – Kneebody (Live at le Crescent): ““There isn’t a handy term or genre for the music that Kneebody creates. It’s a band thoroughly acquainted with 1960s free-bop, 1970s jazz rock, 1990s hip-hop and postmillennial indie rock; along with classical postminimalism. (I’m leaving something out, I’m sure.) Whatever the terminology, this group has an audience…
(New York Times) ““Putting a finger on a band like Kneebody is a bit like raising it to the wind. At any given moment, the group’s artistic inclinations can whip in an unpredictable direction.
(Wall Street Journal) Click here to listen to Kneebody.

Kirk Knuffke Trio – Gravity Without Airs (TAO Forms): “Kirk Knuffke: cornet, compositions;
Michael Bisio: bass; Matthew Shipp: piano: The exemplary & well-traveled cornetist Kirk Knuffke here introduces a bold new trio – with bassist Michael Bisio & pianist Matthew Shipp – on an intimate & expansive double album. Gravity Without Airs features the three world-class musicians on both Knuffke compositions and in open form, together creating a tour-de-force of poetry and verve. “Rhythmically precise, New Orleans funky and full of grace, Kirk Knuffke’s music is a reflection of his multifaceted personality: part musical sage, part jazz philosopher, a self-taught musician with wide interests, endless curiosity and an abundance of good humor.”
(DownBeat) This is Knuffke’s debut as a leader for TAO Forms, following on his being elemental part of James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet’s Jesup Wagon, one of the most acclaimed jazz releases of 2021. That album was eventually voted #1 Album of the Year in the JazzTimes Critics Poll & the international Jazz Critics Poll established by Francis Davis. Accolades for the cornetist’s own recent work as leader include NPR’s Jazz Album of the Year laurel for 2017’s Cherryco, his homage to Don Cherry – a prime influence. DownBeat praised the way that album showcased Knuffke’s “nonchalant versatility and ebullient melodic gifts,” while esteemed critic Francis Davis called it “nothing short of spectacular.”
On his guiding artistic impulse, Kirk Knuffke says: “I’m concerned with making beautiful music. Beauty is always first, though not in a precious way. It can be in a rough way, too.” A prolific, lauded record-maker, Gravity Without Airs fulfills his poetic aims as well as any recording he has made. This work finds Knuffke in the rare, even unique, trio format of cornet, piano and double-bass. His partners are two ever-estimable pillars of creative music, and the work they’ve created together here brims with melody and mystery.”  Click here for five of the songs on this set.

Caili O’Doherty – Quarantine Dream (PosiTone): “Dreams—some born of illness and isolation, others bound to artistic aspirations and hope for the future—cohere to form a reality for Caili O’Doherty. Leading a trio with bassist Tamir Shmerling and drummer Cory Cox and bringing saxophonist Nicole Glover into the picture as a special guest, this rising star pianist delivers a sophomore set buoyed by experience and driven by the possibilities it presents.Opening on Oscar Peterson’s “Blues for Big Scotia,” O’Doherty nods to an early inspiration with love and respect. Further on, her “WTF” references a common rhythmic comping pattern from an Art Taylor drum solo that resembles, in cadence and flow, the title acronym’s expanded form. Smiling solo-piano beauty “Al” pays tribute to one of O’Doherty’s family friends, fondly reflecting on how he introduced her to so many important recordings and documented her early gigs. And Duke Pearson’s “You Know I Care” takes a walk on the funky side, offering a broadened perspective on a master’s canvas.
Other guiding forces of note factor into the program—loose-flowing “The Last Trip to the Moon” grew from film composing work initially inspired by Antonio Sánchez’s Birdman score, “Salt & Vinegar” draws on a constructional concept supporting Kenny Kirkland’s “Chance,” Charles Tolliver’s “Truth” makes for a quietly contemplative closer—but none of those figures and touchstones overshadow or suppress this leader’s instrumental voice. While bowing to personal favorites and sharing meditative thoughts that sprang from a bout of COVID-19 (as on the title track), Caili O’Doherty works her own sound and sensibilities. She’s one to watch, now and in the future. (Dan Bilawsky) Click here to listen to the songs on this release.

Julius Rodriguez – Let Sound Tell All (Verve): “Let Sound Tell All Review by Matt Collar”
A true cross-genre phenomenon, pianist Julius Rodriguez is a gifted improviser and composer well-versed in the jazz tradition, but also at home in gospel, funk, and hip-hop settings. Rodriguez, who also goes by his nickname, “Orange Julius,” has backed jazz vocalist Carmen Lundy and, most notably, toured with rapper A$AP ROCKY in 2018. He brings this deep well of stylistic inspiration to his Verve debut, 2022’s dynamically realized Let Sound Tell All. There’s a post-modernism and sonic warmth to the album as Rodriguez blends organic live jazz and inventive studio production. It’s a combination perhaps best exemplified by the opener, “Blues at the Barn.” A hard-swinging blues in the McCoy Tyner tradition, it starts with Rodriguez and his trio with bassist Philip Norris and drummer Joe Saylor playing to an appreciative clapping crowd at what could be an outdoor festival before morphing EDM-style into what is clearly a vividly captured in-studio performance. Rodriguez plays with other mind-bending studio conceits throughout the album, finding ever more ear-popping ways to reframe his adventurous jazz. “Two Way Street” starts with a kinetic drum pattern against which tenor saxophonist Braxton Cook blows fiery lines with a guttural intensity that Rodriguez filters through a psychedelic soundboard, transforming the saxophonist’s every breath into a miasma of shrieks and spiraling laser tones. No less sonically adventurous is “Gift of the Moon,” a funky hip-hop-infused track in which Rodriguez lays down a dewy bed of synths and electric piano over which trumpeter Giveton Gelin plays a dreamlike web of trumpet melodies. More delicate moments pop up elsewhere, as on the languid “Elegy (For Cam).” Beginning with Rodriguez’s hypnotic piano and synth chords played over a woody, wave-like bass groove, the song culminates in a sparkling shimmer of gospel vocal harmonies from singer Hailey Knox. With Let Sound Tell All, Rodriguez has made an album that deftly bridges the gap between earthy live jazz and wizard-like studio craftsmanship.”  (Verve Records) This is a remarkable merger of jazz with high-style Stevie Wonder and funk with thought and unification. Click here to sample the songs on this release.

Adam Shulman – Just The Contrafacts (BFM Jazz): “The latest album from San Francisco born and now New York City based pianist Adam Shulman brings him together with a sextet of accomplished players including Billy Drummond-drums, Peter Washington-bass, Jeremy Pelt-trumpet, Grant Stewart-tenor saxophone and Cory Weeds-alto saxophone. Recorded at the holy grail of jazz recording studios, Rudy Van Gelder’s in Englewood, New Jersey the seven-track album features all new Shulman compositions written over classic forms and structure of standards from the great American songbook.
Here’s what Adam has to say: Just The Contrafacts was a project borne of the 2020 lockdown. I was stuck at home and unable to play with other human beings. As the months dragged on, I needed some kind of musical outlet. I started giving myself the exercise of writing contrafacts; that is writing new melodies over the chord structure of standard tunes from the Great American Songbook. It was something to keep my mind occupied and my creativity active in the absence of gigs. After writing a fair number of melodies, I thought it would be fun to write sextet arrangements and as I started doing this, I thought “why not make this into an album?”

Being a mental escape of sorts from the tedium and anxiety of the early lockdown period, I gravitated towards humor and whimsy in these pieces. The world for me was heavy enough and I was using music as a way to sooth myself by playing around and having fun. A lot of the titles of the tunes reflect this attitude. The title and cover also point to escapism to a different time and a tongue-in-cheek nod to film-noir. I hope, dear listener, that some of this fun and light-hearted-ness comes through and can serve as a balm for your soul in these strange times.” (https://adamshulman.bandcamp.com/album/just-the-contrafacts)  Click this list to listen to the songs on this release. 

Tierney Sutton – Paris Sessions @Xiomara Torres – La Voz Del M (Patois): “One need listen no further than “You Must Believe in Spring,” the opening track of Tierney Sutton’s Paris Sessions, to grasp that something quite special is taking place between the musicians. This collection of standards and originals recorded in duos and trios between the singer, guitarist Serge Merlaud, and bassist Kevin Axt is a bare-bones journey into the depths of musical intimacy. Recorded over two days at Val d’Orge Studio, these 12 tunes are the product of minimal rehearsal on the day before recording. The arrangements, such as they are, are simple, transparent; the considerable depth comes from the well of the song allowing itself to be expressed so nakedly. The aforementioned cut is a duet, with Merlaud’s nylon-string acoustic guitar introducing it. When Sutton enters, the emotional frame is already in place; she fills it with commitment and hope derived from earned wisdom, not wishful thinking. It’s a striking contrast to the dusky wordless vocals she provides to the guitarist’s own tunes, including “Asma,” where Axt’s bass bridges the center as singer and guitarist engage in an ethereal and sensual dialogue. Of the other standards here, “Beija-Flor” by Nelson Cavaquinho and Noel Silva is introduced by a long wordless duet with the guitar before Axt enters on an acoustic bass guitar and coaxes surprising harmonic nuances from the familiar bossa nova. The other bossa here, Bruno Martino’s “Estate,” is perhaps more conventional in articulation, but Sutton sinks so deeply into the grain of the lyric that she owns its emotional expression. Merlaud uses an electric guitar on “Body and Soul,” reflecting the multi-harmonic influence of Jim Hall. Sutton draws out the words slowly, purposefully, each syllable infused with a generosity absent of artifice or affect. She’s sung this song many times before, but not like this. The resonance in “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” is dialogic. Merlaud’s electric guitar doesn’t merely comp and fill, but is the other equal voice in a difficult conversation. Axt enters with gorgeous chord voicings providing an equanimity that illustrates the emotional dimension shared between the conversants. Sutton’s delivery is even, but far from detached. It affirms the beloved even as a glimpse of romantic pain is betrayed by the ends of her lines. Two of these cuts, “Don’t Go to Strangers” and “Answer Me, My Love,” will be familiar; they were recorded for and appeared on After Blue, but they fit this context just as well. Paris Sessions is a gem, so elegant, sparse, and intimate in its directness that it is as arresting as it is lovely.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/paris-sessions-mw0002714051) Click here to listen to the songs on this release.

Xiomara Torres – Latin Jazz Vocals (Reboot 9): “La Voz del Mar introduces the stunning singer Xiomara Torres (pronounced See-o-mar-a), who hails from one of Colombia’s most illustrious musical families in Guapi, Cuaca. Spearheaded by San Francisco vibraphonist and arranger Dan Neville (currently based in NY), the album was created in tribute to the recently departed maestro Diego Obregón, a revered marimba player, instrument builder and repository of música del Pacífico. While drawing on her deep traditional roots, she also finds inspiration in a panoply of contemporary styles including salsa, bolero, cumbia and vallenato. La Voz del Mar features guest artists including bassist John Benitez, harpist Edmar Castañeda, percussionist John Santos and trombonist Wayne Wallace, as well as some of the finest musicians in Cali, Colombia. Says Wallace, CEO of Patois records, This album embraces the past without compromising it and looks forward to what music in the diaspora can be without losing its roots. Recorded in a Cali studio built for Obregón, La Voz del Mar is part of an ongoing effort to share an extraordinary cultural heritage from a little-known region that’s overlooked even within Colombia. While La Voz del Mar only scratches the surface of the region’s musical riches, the album makes a compelling case that música del Pacífico stands alongside better known African diaspora blooms. (Editorial review) Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this set.  

Trio Solo – In Flower In Song (577 Records): “In Flower, In Song is the debut album from Trio Xolo, an improvising group composed of Mexican-American bassist Zachary Swanson, Baltimore-based saxophonist Derrick Michaels, and Lithuanian percussionist Dalius Naujo. With a telepathic ear toward musical interplay, Trio Xolo performs free-flowing stream of consciousness improvisations. The result is true, in the moment composition. The trio moves together dynamically as their voices simultaneously overlap and converge into one. In Flower, In Song was recorded live in one room and unveils a warm, organic sound: Swanson’s distinctive use of gut strings produce a dark, woody tone, Michaels draws robust color from a vintage saxophone, and Naujo expresses a nuanced control of energy and dynamics. Through explorations of melody, atmosphere, and texture, they can either embrace or dispel the traditional hierarchy of the trio format. At its core, Trio Xolo creates music that seeks to capture the essence of the moment through deep listening.” (https://577records.bandcamp.com/album/in-flower-in-song) Click here to listen to the final song of this set, Obsidian Eucalyptus.

WJ3 All-Stars – My Ship (Night Is Alive): “Featuring Willie Jones III (drums/bandleader), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax), Steve Davis (trombone), Isaiah Thompson (piano), and Gerland Cannon (bass), My Ship includes nine contrasting tracks that each convey their own unique emotion.” “With a love for jazz and a passion for service, Kathy Salem founded Night is Alive to combine her two biggest devotions into one. Following successful careers as an advertising executive for The Plain Dealer and noted lobbyist in Washington, DC, Salem founded Pecan Group in 2008. Night is Alive, an arm of the Pecan Group produces classical and jazz concerts worldwide and manages some of the most intriguing and inventive musicians of our time. Since officially starting her booking agency over five years ago, Salem has never diverted from her original mission of building the biggest jazz agency in the United States. Salem knew that the best way to build a reputation for booking was to build relationships; something she quickly accomplished. “It is not what you know but who you know and what they think about you!” From the start, Salem built her relationships around this sense of respect to not only the industry itself but the people employed within it…. While she loves the people she works with, her true favorites are the musicians she represents. Salem believes strongly that her performers are the most internationally known, respected and honored jazz musicians performing today. A music lover and musician herself, Kathy Salem is determined to spread the same passion and energy that her musicians put into every one of their performances too as many venues that she can book them into. (https://www.isrbx.net/3137973761-wj3-all-stars-my-ship-2022.html) Great music from end-to-end! Click here for samples of the songs on this set.  

New Blues:

Durham County Poets – Out Of The Woods (Durham County Poets): ““This band are a lot of fun on stage, they ooze energy which emanates out to their audiences at festivals and gigs, they have excellent song craft and musicianship, their stage craft is extremely polished and slick, for bands it can sometimes be hard to replicate what they do live and capture it for a recording, delightfully, The Durham County Poets have managed to bottle up all their magic on this album and when you press play, the genie is released in the form of ‘Hand Me Down Blues.’” (Great dark wander (Stevie Conner); “There’s something about the Durham County Poets that leaves you feeling that everything might be OK in the world after all. There’s a human spirit that lives in these people and their music is the medium that allows that spirit to roam free.” (Bill Hurley) Click here to listen to “Out Of The Woods”.

Wildcat O’Halloran Band – Here Lies A Fool (William Halloran Doves Nest Music): “Guitar-slinger Wildcat O’Halloran has been thrilling audiences in Western Massachusetts for over thirty years, and is currently promoting its 17th album “Here Lies A Fool”. (currently #19 in the Contemporary Blues radio charts).. building on the success of the previous: “Can’t Fall Off THe Floor” “Deck of Cards” ” NYC Chill”, “Hot Pulldown”, “Midnight Service Call”,”Party Up In Heaven”, and “Drinkin’ With the Harp Girls” each of which was played on over 200 stations, and called “crazy-fun” by the Boston Blues Society and “a great release” by the UK’s Blues Matters. Living Blues Magazine wrote: “Wildcat emerges as one of the most entertaining songwriters in contemporary blues…and his band doesn’t know the meaning of dull!” The band has opened for just about every major blues artist to visit Massachusetts, from Greg Allman to John Lee Hooker to The Stray Cats, and has been backup band for Bo Diddley and James Cotton. Recently, they opened for Duke Robillard at Greenfield’s Hawks and Reed Music Hall.
Often featured at Millenium Music Conference, and  longtime host of the  Sunday Blues Jam in Northampton, the Wildcat (guitar and vocals) will often be accompanied by “Dr.” Kathy Peterson(Bass), “Dr. Luscious”….Emily Duff (sax), Devin Griffiths (guitar, vocals) and drummer Mark Chouinard.” Click here to listen to “Blind Love” from this release.

Silent Partners – Changing Times (Little Village): “As natural as a steady pulse, Silent Partners make their debut on the Little Village label with Changing Times, a 10-song collection of blues that never misses a beat. Members Tony Coleman (drums and vocals), Russell Jackson (bass) and Jonathan Ellison (guitar and vocals) bring all the knowledge and feel of five decades of experience to nine original blues and a cover of The Crusaders’s “Never Makes Your Move Too Soon.” Individually, the band members have resumes of band stints with B.B. King, Albert King, Bobby Blue Bland, Johnnie Taylor, Otis Clay, Denise LaSalle, Matt “Guitar” Murphy and a host of other blues heavyweights. The band’s secret ingredient is a keen feel for the rhythm of each song and the ability to play only the notes that need to be played. The opening track of the CD “Ain’t No Right Way To Do Wrong” is a slow blues that never gets ahead of itself and slowly builds tension without restoring to the exaggerated dramatics of so many of today’s “blues” artists.“I can feel it,” Coleman says of each song’s rhythm. “I hear the patterns and play to it.” It is a simple, straightforward musical attribute, yet also uncommon and unexpected. Coleman, Jackson and Ellison share a camaraderie for the song, and celebrate each one by playing just what is called for. For instance, on “Proving Ground,” Jackson lays down a plopping bass line over Coleman’s drumming and Ellison plays a solid rhythm guitar, adding impressive solo licks that make their statement and then disappear, leaving the rhythm to carry the song. There also is punch from the Albert Collins-inspired stinging guitar licks on “Dancin’ Shoes” to Ellison’s pleading vocals on “Road To Love,” reminiscent of deep-soul singers James Carr and O.V. Wright taking you down a darkened hallway that only ends in heartbreak. This CD shines on the soul of blues, a truly refreshing version of modern blues music.” Click here to listen for a sample from “Silent Partners”.

Road To The Blues – Dave Thomas (Blonde On Blonde): “Dave Thomas has an international reputation as a blues artist. He is a veteran of the British Blues boom. He has played with The Blues Band and, by special invitation, for Paul McCartney. His guitar playing has been compared to BB King. He sings with true passion! One of the greatest living exponents of Chicago style blues harmonica, Wallace Coleman, describes Dave as “a true blues man”.  Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this release.

Hank Williams, Jr. – Rich White Honky Blues (Easy Eye Sound): “Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label and studio specializes in giving blues veterans another shot at cutting something down-and-dirty, and that’s precisely what the producer/guitarist does with Hank Williams, Jr.: he takes Bocephus all the way back to the blues at the foundation of his music. Working with a band featuring slide guitarist Kenny Brown, bassist Eric Deaton, and drummer Kinney Kimbrough (son of Delta house-rocker Junior Kimbrough, one of Auerbach’s idols), Auerbach keeps the session loose, dirty, and greasy, giving Hank Jr. plenty of space to snarl, boogie, and curse. Yes, the Parental Advisory sticker on Rich White Honky Blues is earned, but it’s impossible to imagine a listener younger than Auerbach being enticed by this gnarled blues as it’s the sound of a cranky old braggart who almost seems annoyed that he can still muster the energy to sing with conviction. Amazingly, that’s precisely what Hank Jr. does on Rich White Honky Blues. Since he’s not quite in the driver’s seat here — it’s his show but the Easy Eye Sound crew sets the course and the pace — the band can settle into a nasty groove and Hank can sing whatever he wants. Usually, he sings about himself, often in the guise of his invented persona “Thunderhead Hawkins,” and while that braggadocio can sometimes be wearying on his country records, it’s amusing, even infectious, here thanks to a band who seem to be having a whale of a time getting down with this ornery old git.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/rich-white-honky-blues-mw0003689976) Click here to samples.

Kopasetically,

Professor Bebop