Blue Isle Smooth Jazz

He may be nowhere near a household name in North America, but elsewhere– in particular in his native Norway–pianist Jon Balke’s influence continues to grow. That he’s better known for the music he writes–and the contexts in which he delivers it–shouldn’t be taken as a negative, either; only that, with projects like the brass-heavy Oslo 13, chamber-tinged Magnetic North Orchestra and culturally and stylistically cross-pollinated Siwan (ECM, 2009), the collaboration-minded Balke simply doesn’t opt for contexts where his own playing is front and center.

Read more from the original source:
Jon Balke Batagraf: Say And Play

Vocalist Lorraine Feather is first and foremost, a lyricist. The daughter of jazz writer, composer, and producer, m: Leonard Feather , she has released a mess of recordings, all of which feature finely crafted songs composed from the same brew that gave rise to Tippo, Mississippi’s m: Mose Allison and St. Paul, Minnesota’s m: Dave Frishberg …

Read more here:
Lorraine Feather: Tales of the Unusual

Time After Time, Yuka Mito’s second solo album, shines new light on oft-recorded songs from The Great American Songbook, adding three pop tunes and one original for a tasteful project from a Japanese vocalist with a love for jazz. Now based in New York, Mito divides her performance time between the Tokyo and New York jazz scenes. A gritty contralto and ever-so-slight accent makes her approach even more unique…

View post:
Yuka Mito: Time After Time

Relocating to New York City from Russia in the early ’90s, pianist Misha Tsiganov extended his studies at the Berklee College of Music and has since gained steam as a solo artist, session ace and TV composer, among other projects. With prominent Russian artists including bassist/Grammy Award-winner m: Boris Kozlov and trumpeter m: Alex Sipiagin also calling The Big Apple home, Tsiganov’s band abides by a no-nonsense, ’60s-era Blue Note campaign via these tightly arranged works, designed with alternating flows, hard-hitting rhythms and memorable storylines.

More:
Misha Tsiganov: Dedication

Despite the re-emergence of vinyl as a once-again acceptable medium, it’s still bigger in some countries than others. In Norway, there are now labels that are releasing vinyl-only editions, including the intrepid Rune Grammofon, which introduced its The Last Record Company a couple years back, with limited-run albums including guitarist Stian Westerhus’ Galore (2009) and equally experimental vocalist m: Maja S.K. Ratkje ’s Cyborgic (2009). Elephant9’s Live at the BBC, on Rune’s main imprint, is somewhat more modest–lacking TLRC’s 16-page art booklets and gatefold, but pressed on white vinyl, and it’s still great to see Kim HorthA y’s designs on a larger-than-life 12″x12″ single sleeve–though with a limited run of only 500 copies, it’s still got plenty of cachet, especially since E9 is one of the more exciting electric outfits to come out of Norway in the last half decade…

Read more:
Elephant9: Live at the BBC

A truly impressive recording by a jazz singer from a most unlikely place Songs For a Lifetime, Live is the debut by Jose Garcia, from Tecate, Mexico. A self-taught guitarist who grew up exposed to a variety of music including jazz, Garcia was invariably drawn to singers of music from The Great American Songbook. Concentrating on guitar and specializing in Spanish and Flamenco music, he has become a much in-demand professional musician in the Los Angeles area…

The rest is here:
Jose Garcia: Songs For A Lifetime, Live

After studying Boston’s Berklee School of Music, pianist m: Frank Harrison returned to his native United Kingdom, making a name for himself as a sideman, most notably in saxophonist m: Gilad Atzmon ’s band. But beginning with First Light (Basho Records 2006), he has offered up three piano trio outings, each with different personnel. On Sideways Harrison is joined by bassist Davide Petrocca and drummer m: Stephen Keogh , band mates who can lay down an insistent groove or drift through the subtle permutations of a ballad with exquisite grace…

View post:
Frank Harrison Trio: Sideways