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Entries from November 2011

Duduka Da Fonseca: Plays Toninho Horta

Guitarist/singer/songwriter m: Toninho Horta is a living legend, a leading figure of the Brazilian music scene and the focus of Plays Toninho Horta, a well-conceived tribute to a friend and fellow musician from Brazilian drum icon/Grammy nominee, Duduka Da Fonseca. With his featured Rio de Janeiro-based trio of bassist Guto Wirtti and pianist David Feldman, the veteran drummer offers a primarily gentle landscape, with light interpretations of nine Horta compositions…

Date: Nov 28th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Gowanus Reggae and Ska Society: GRASS on Fire: Gowanus Reggae and Ska Society Plays Catch a Fire

At first look, jazz seems to have little use for reggae. After all, isn’t the essence of jazz its flights of improvisatory fancy, while reggae’s trademark is that resolute, lockdown rhythm? But a solid point from which to take off and return is most helpful when flying, and reggae provides a rhythmic foundation more solid than most…

Date: Nov 28th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Rez Abbasi’s Invocation: Suno Suno

On the second recorded effort with his Invocation group after 2009’s Things To Come (Sunnyside), Rez Abbasi opts for more of a rock/groove vibe to underpin the guitarist’s modern jazz explorations with his fairly regular cohorts, saxophonist m: Rudresh Mahanthappa and pianist m: Vijay Iyer . Gone is Indian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia, who sang on much of Things To Come, lending them a decidedly Eastern character. But Indian and Pakistani accents still flavor much of this followup, even as it hums, rattles and roars with American flair…

Date: Nov 27th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Neil Cowley Trio: Radio Silence

In recent years, a number of piano trios have done an admirable job filling the void left by the untimely passing of EsbjA rn Svensson and, by consequence, his pioneering trio, e.s.t. The m: Tingvall Trio , more than most, along with m: Sebastian Liedke , m: Marcin Wasilewski and m: Colin Vallon , have all overseen efforts that encapsulate a similar style and spirit.

Date: Nov 27th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Human: Under the Holiday Star

Standing out in the 2011 Christmas season’s recordings, Under The Holiday Star is, in fact, a swinging big band session for any season. With crisp arrangements, it features crack solos, along with engaging vocals.

Date: Nov 27th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Volume 1

Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Volume 1 compiles an enormous amount of simply incredible music: three CDs and one DVD spanning five European performances that the trumpeter recorded in late 1967 with m: Wayne Shorter (saxophone), m: Herbie Hancock (piano), m: Ron Carter (bass) and m: Tony Williams (drums)–what was known, even then, as Davis’ second great quintet–as part of a “Newport Jazz Festival in Europe” tour produced by George Wein. (Most of the concert footage in Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed 1988 documentary Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser comes from this same tour.) The CDs cover concerts in Belgium and Denmark, plus a long Paris show; the DVD presents performances in Germany and Sweden…

Date: Nov 27th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews

Tony Jones: Pitch, Rhythm, and Consciousness

On this ruminative record–and, indeed, it is a record, released primarily on vinyl, with MP3 downloads available–saxophonist m: Tony Jones , violinist m: Charles Burnham and percussionist m: Kenny Wollesen show themselves wholly comfortable within the quiet sonic space about them. Jones is the lead voice–the lead traveler, as it were–working his way across a terrain that is at once wide open and timeless, and newly created by the musicians themselves…

Date: Nov 26th, 2011 · No Comments · Categories: Jazz CD Reviews