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New Jazz News – 4/6/2021

Yazz Ahmed – La Saboteuse (Naim): “Bahraini-British performer, Yazz Ahmed, is transforming what jazz means in 2017. This trumpet and flugelhorn-playing artist has worked with Radiohead and These New Puritans, experiments with electronic effects, and combines sounds from her shared heritage to author a new narrative for the genre. Part of the new wave of artists credited with stirring up the sound, including Kamasi Washington, Yussef Kamaal, Sons of Kemet and The Comet is Coming, Yazz Ahmed is thrilled by the possibilities of making something new. “I feel like I’m a part of modernising jazz and connecting it with audiences today,” Yazz says. “It’s exciting.” (https://yazzahmed.bandcamp.com/album/la-saboteuse-2) The full release is now available and the mixes and performances are quite wonderful throughout. Click here to listen to several songs from this exceptional blend.

Gary Bartz; Ali Shaheed Muhammad And Adrian Younge – 6 – (Jazz Is Dead): “Jazz is a conversation—an exchange of ideas between players, as well as between band and audience. Aside from pointing out, via the title’s wry joke, that the genre is very much alive, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge’s Jazz is Dead series has also revealed that jazz is a vital dialogue spanning generations and genres, and in each entry the duo’s hip-hop, funk, and soul roots engage with venerated players like Roy Ayers, Doug Carn, and Marcos Valle. The most recent entry pairs the duo with reedsman Gary Bartz, and it’s their headiest to date. Bartz has long been in dialogue with pop music forms—all the way back to his classic NTU Troop band of the ‘70s—so the octogenarian keeps step no matter what sound comes his way, grappling and assimilating without breaking a sweat. His horn slots readily into the simmering groove and scratching wah-wah guitar of “Blue Jungles,” while his melodic sing-song solo is every bit as dreamy as the shimmering keys and backing coos on “Day By Day.” No disrespect to all the mighty drummers behind Bartz back in the day, but it’s a real treat to hear Bartz weave in and around Muhammad’s head-knocking drums. The breaks are crunchy and sweet on standouts like “Spiritual Ideation” and “Distant Mode,” with Bartz revisiting the sort of warm, buttery tone that turned him into a jazz-funk star. Streetwise rhythm and smooth melody in a beautiful exchange.” (https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/gary-bartz-ali-shaheed-muhammad-adrian-younge-jazz-is-dead-six-review) The main word is mellow though carrying some interesting shifts. Check it for yourself! Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of several songs that will give you the ring of this thing.

Jon Batiste – We Are (Verve): “WE ARE is a career-changing album from musician and activist Jon Batiste. WE ARE celebrates Black American culture and music while exploring themes of lineage, authenticity, excellence and evolution. This album is about honoring roots and traditions, while looking forward to the future and constantly evolving. Featuring Mavis Staples, Zadie Smith, PJ Morton, Trombone Shorty, Kizzo, Autumn Rowe, Steve Jordan, and many more…” (https://www.amazon.com/WE-ARE-Jon-Batiste/dp/B08SYWV8V7) “In May 2020, pianist and vocalist Jon Batiste released the song “We Are” in support of the Black Lives Matter protests. A year later, he expanded that song into the vibrantly cross-pollinated full-length album We Are. While jazz is always at the core of Batiste’s work, on We Are he dips back into the genre-bending pop and R&B-influenced sound of his Stay Human ensemble (whom he famously performs with on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert). He’s assisted by a bevy of production collaborators, including Jahaan Sweet, POMO, and Ricky Reed. We also get appearances by Mavis Staples and Quincy Jones, as well as Batiste’s father, Michael Batiste, and grandfather David Gauthier, all of whom add layers of authenticity and biographical texture to the album. While universal in tone, We Are is beautifully inspired by Batiste’s life growing up in New Orleans. The record opens with the title track, a passionate, gospel-accented anthem featuring the St. Augustine Marching Band from his high school. We also get “Boyhood,” a funky ode to the Big Easy that finds Batiste and fellow New Orleans natives PJ Morton and Trombone Shorty celebrating how the families, food, and culture of their hometown shaped their lives. Batiste sings, “I said I’m far from home but I always represent/I thought I had so much time, I don’t know where it went/But now that I’m grown I know what it all meant/No place like New Orleans.” Using the best of the past to build toward a better tomorrow is a stirring notion that pervades the album, both musically and thematically. He draws upon the vigorous grooves of New Orleans funk pioneers the Meters with “Tell the Truth” and crafts a buoyant, psychedelic-soul vibe with the help of author Zadie Smith on “Show Me the Way.” One of the most vivid encapsulations of his old-meets-new sound on We Are is “I Need You,” an electric amalgam of boogie-woogie blues and vintage hip-hop attitude — like an impossible combination of Little Richard and OutKast. Batiste’s genre-mashing reinforces the album’s theme of intergenerational wisdom, and it’s also wonderfully fun.” (https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-are-mw0003474215) This is a terrific work! This is a certified Professor Bebop “Wax Devoid Of Cracks”! Click here and scroll down to listen to the songs on this disc.

Kris Davis – Diatom Ribbons (Pyroclasic): “Pianist-composer Kris Davis was named 2017 Rising Star Pianist/2018 Rising Star Artist in Downbeat magazine and dubbed one of the music’s top up-and-comers in a 2012 New York Times article titled “New Pilots at the Keyboard,” with the newspaper saying: “One method for deciding where to hear jazz on a given night has been to track down the pianist Kris Davis.” To date, Davis has released twelve recordings as leader. Her 2016 release, Duopoly, made The New York Times, Pop Matters, NPR, LA Times, and Jazz Times best albums of 2016. Davis works as a collaborator and side person with artists such as John Zorn, Terri Lyne Carrington, Craig Taborn, Tyshawn Sorey, Eric Revis, Michael Formanek, Tony Malaby, Ingrid Laubrock, Julian Lage, Mary Halvorson and Tom Rainey. Davis received a Doris Duke Impact award in 2015 and multiple commissions to compose new works from The Shifting Foundation, The Jazz Gallery/Jerome Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is the Associate Program Director of Creative Development for the Insitute Jazz and Gender Justice at Berklee College of Music.” (https://krisdavis.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Kris-Davis-Bio.pdf) “When she was composing the pieces for Diatom Ribbons, pianist Kris Davis was musing about diatoms and larger themes of nature and science. She was also looking for opportunities to explore new musical relationships with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and vocalist Esperanza Spalding (both Grammy winners) and ground-breaking turntablist Val Jeanty. Carrington, Jeanty and Spalding first worked with Davis on a series of tribute concerts to the late Geri Allen, and there were sparks right away. “We did ten concerts of Geri’s music,” Davis says, “so we were diving into her world. And then Cecil Taylor passed away not long after and I started revisiting all my favorite albums of his. Around this time I was also preparing to play some Monk compositions for the Monk Centennial. Between these concerts and playing/transcribing music by Olivier Messiaen, Henry Threadgill and Youssou N’Dour—there were all these influences going on here.” (https://krisdavis.bandcamp.com/album/diatom-ribbons) The players backing Davis on this disc are Esperanza Spalding (voice), JD Allen (tenor sax), Tony Malaby (tenor sax), Ches Smith (vibes), Nels Cline (guitar), Marc Ribot (guitar), Trevor Dunn (bass) and Val Jeanty (turntable) and Terri Lyne Carrington (drums).  Click here to listen to samples of three song on the disc.

Steven Feifke Big Band – Kinetic (Outside In Music): “Heralded a “masterful pianist” by JAZZIZ Magazine, Yamaha Artist Steven Feifke is an award winningbandleader, composer, and arranger. A two-time semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz PianoCompetition, Feifke appears on over 30 records, and his writing work has graced stages and screensaround the world, with features ranging from the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra with Sean Jones and John Faddis and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Ken Peplowski,… He currently sits on faculty at The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.” (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e0642715d5db85e0fb2e46/t/60469076d13766536556b1cc/1615237238326/Short+Bio+%28100+words%29.pdf) This set offers great variety and style. Veronica Swift also provides vocals on “Until The Real Thing Comes Along” and “On The Street Where You Live”. Click here to listen to Feifke and band with Swift on “Until The Real Thing Comes Along”.

Nerija – Blume (Domino): “Nérija is Nubya Garcia (tenor saxophone), Sheila Maurice-Grey (trumpet), Cassie Kinoshi (alto saxophone), Rosie Turton (trombone), Shirley Tetteh (guitar), Lizy Exell (drums) and Rio Kai (bass). Blume is a truly breath-taking collection of compositions that perfectly encapsulates everything Nérija. Vibrant, engaging, infectious and truly current, Blume takes you on a sprawling wonderful journey, arriving at what is a majestic body of work of their personal and collective experiences and inspirations over the last half decade or so.” (https://nerijamusic.bandcamp.com/) The music was released 2019 and though it has received some strong praise, it is difficult to locate any new information. Mellow grooves.  It does appear to be availably digitally through Bandcamp. Click here to listen to “Nascence”.

Nubya Garcia – Nubya’s 5ive (Domino): “Garcia was born in 1991 in Camden Town, London to a Guyanese mother, a former civil servant, and a British Trinidadian filmmaker father, the youngest of four siblings… Garcia followed her three older siblings to the local Saturday music center at the age of 5, where she first learned the violin and later played the viola in the London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO). Garcia has said her home life with her stepdad, a brass player with a vast collection of instruments, and her mother a keen collector of all genres of music from reggae and Latin to classical and soul, coupled with the music activities at school, Camden School for Girls, meant she was saturated with music of all genres. Garcia began learning the saxophone at the age of 10, with Vicky Wright. She became a member of the Camden Jazz Band, directed by jazz pianist Nikki Yeoh, before joining the junior jazz program at the Royal Academy of Music. She also attended the workshops of Tomorrow’s Warriors under the direction of Gary Crosby. While still in high school, she received a scholarship for a five-week summer program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. During her gap year she studied with former Jazz Messengers member, Jean Toussaint…. In 2017, Garcia released her debut EP Nubya’s 5ive.… The players supporting her on this release are Joe Armon-Jones (piano), Moses Boyd (drums), Daniel Casimir (bass) and Femi Koloeso / Drums (1, 3, 6),  Sheila Maurice-Grey  Trumpet (1) and Theon Cross (Tuba 3, 6). Click here to listen to the songs on this releases.

Conrad Herwig – The Latin Side Of Joe Henderson (Half Note): “Following in the vein of many of Conrad Herwig’s previous releases, including 1996’s Latin Side of John Coltrane and 2008’s Latin Side of Wayne Shorter, 2014’s Latin Side of Joe Henderson finds the trombonist performing live at the Blue Note in N.Y.C. as he leads his group through a set of Henderson originals done in a Latin style. As with all of Herwig’s other Latin-infused projects, Latin Side of Joe Henderson features a superb ensemble who are well equipped to delve headlong into these adventurous, high-energy arrangements. Featured alongside Herwig here are such luminaries as tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber, pianist Bill O’Connell (who also contributes some arrangements), percussionist Richie Flores, drummer Robby Ameen, and bassist Ruben Rodriguez. An adept improviser and arranger, Herwig never fails to bring something new to even the most well-worn jazz standard, and Latin Side of Joe Henderson is no exception. To these ends, we get a bright, languid, and funky version of “Recorda Me,” a fluid, harmonically layered take on “Afro-centric,” and an inspired reworking the Henderson classic, “Blue Bossa.” Ultimately, Latin Side of Joe Henderson is both a loving homage and a visceral, in-the-moment live concert. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.

Zara McFarlane – Arise (Brownswood): “The album features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London scene: Moses Boyd on drums, Binker Golding on tenor sax, Peter Edwards on piano, Max Luther on double bass, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, Nathaniel Cross on trombone, Pete Eckford on percussion and an unusually restrained turn on clarinet from Shabaka Hutchings. Shared between all of them is a tendency to find the common points between different musical ilks: from US hard bop jazz, to dub and London-rooted hybrids and permutations, the band on Arise reflect the musical diversity of their home….Zara’s music is seductive and earthy. As a performer she is uniquely engaging, deftly combining the intricacies of jazz with a deep soulfulness, melding multiple influences from reggae to pop, folk and blues with both her originals and choice of covers….” ( https://elusivedisc.com/zara-mcfarlane-arise-lp/) “https://elusivedisc.com/zara-mcfarlane-arise-lp/  Click here to listen to “Peace Begins Within” from this release.

Tony Monaco / Henrix Meurkens / Reid Hoyson / Mark Lucas  – Strollin’ (Reid Hoyson): The blend is created by Tony Monaco (B-3), Hendrik Meurkens (harmonica), Mark Lucas (guitar), Reid Hoyson (drums) and George Jones (congas). They originals by group members were offered by Mark Lucas (“A Room Above”), Hendrik Meurkens (“Mundell’s Mood” “Slidin’” and “Mean Dog Blues”) and Tony Monaco (“Happy Sergio”, “Aglio E Olio” and “Roz Da Cat”)   Click here to listen to the songs on this release.

Pino Palladino & Blake Mills – Notes With Attachments (Impulse): “Do not be put off by the cover. It might suggest inaccessible, up itself, bone-dry cerebralism, but the reality is contrariwise. Around a third of the music is vaguely reminiscent, in spirit if not in execution, of the 1949-1950 Birth Of The Cool sessions conducted by Miles Davis with arrangers Gil Evans, John Lewis, Gerry Mulligan and Johnny Carisi. Much of the rest sounds like a sci-fi twist on traditional Senegambian music. The protagonists here—bassist Pino Palladino and producer / arranger / guitarist Blake Mills—are infrequently seen on All About Jazz pages. Mills, the younger of the two, gained notice in 2020 with his co-production of drummer Ted Poor’s You Already Know (Impulse!), which shares some of Notes With Attachments aesthetic, though it realizes it with a smaller lineup (Poor and alto saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo with an occasional string section and the odd flourish from Mills’ guitars). Mills’ production touch is subtle and understated and in this respect he reminds one of Daniel Lanois in his early years. Palladino is a London-based session musician who has spent forty years touring and/or recording with high-end rock, funk and jazz artists, including The Who, Keith Richards, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Questlove, Elton John, John Mayer and Herbie Hancock. One of Palladino’s best known associations has been with neo-soul singer D’Angelo on the latter’s Sly and the Family Stoned-out albums Voodoo (Virgin, 2000) and Black Messiah (RCA, 2014). On the face of it, Palladino’s partnership with Mills is an unlikely one, but, like they say, opposites attract. On Notes With Attachments the duo are seamlessly on the same page. The diverse group of thirteen musicians, who are heard in various combinations over the eight tracks, include drummer Chris Dave, saxophonists Sam Gendel and Marcus Strickland and keyboard player Larry Goldings. The aforementioned Ted Poor pops up on one track playing prepared piano, as do You Already Know string players Rob Moose and Andrew Bird. The range of instruments to be heard is particularly rich in saxophones (a wide range of acoustic versions plus a Poly-Sax and a Mellotron simulation), keyboards and synthesizers, Senegambian percussion and string instruments, and, of course, basses. Low-end frequencies are to the fore, from Palladino’s various acoustic, electric and synthesized instruments through a bass saxophone, a bass clarinet, a baritone guitar and a bass harmonica. Click here to listen to “Ekute” from this disc.

Dan Willis & Velvet Gentlemen – The Monk Project (Belle Avenue): “The music, mood and worldview of Thelonious Monk is presented by Dan Willis, who plays a wide variety of woodwinds to create a plethora of sonic portraits. He teams up with various incarnations of musical meeting with guitarist Pete McCann, keyboardist Ron Oswanski, bassists Evan Gregor-Kermit Driscoll, and drummers John Mettam-Ian Forman. The quirkiness of Monk’s moods are in full view here, with Willis’ rich tenor dancing with McCann for a rich duet that finally leads into a group clippety clop of “Hackensack”, with his reed  popping to Oswanski’s Rhodes on a dreamy “Eronel”. A collection of puffy reeds are blown with electronic noodling on “Crepuscule With Nellie”. A stretched out “Criss Cross” features some rich electric bass work from the hands of “Evan Gregor” and hints of Weather Report take place when Willis takes on the EWI and blows up a clever “Think Of One”. Bring the party hat for the celebration.”(https://www.jazzweekly.com/2020/09/dan-willis-and-velvet-gentlemen-the-monk-project/) Click here for a teaser from this disc, just to give you the idea.

Kopastically,

Professor Bebop