New Release Round-up,
Jazz New Release Round-Up - 30th October 2020
For this week’s new release round-up, I’ve been enjoying releases from all about the loosely-defined ‘jazz’ field; young American vibraphonist Joel Ross delivers his sophomore Blue Note record with Who Are You?, pianist Rick Simpson reinterprets a Radiohead classic, while guitarist Rodrigo Bragança and pianist Benjamim Taubkin’s Sobrevoo sees the duo performing a set of gentle ambient jazz duets. Croatian jazz guitarist Ivan Kapec leads a quintet with the rumbling sounds of his baritone guitar on Crta, while South Korean jazz singer Malo performs classics from her country’s own songbook, and an electrifying live recording from Ella Fitzgerald resurfaces.
Following up his 2019 Blue Note debut KingMaker, American vibraphonist Joel Ross’s latest album is a continuation of the spirit of his past work while also an attempt to mature the sound further. Featuring past collaborators like saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Jeremy Corren and drummer Jeremy Dutton, bassist Kanoa Mendenhall also makes her debut in the group, and the album features several guest spots by harpist Brandee Younger. Inspired by narrative-driven records, Who Are You? has a distinct arc, many of the tunes being Ross’s own. Tunes by Coltrane and Akinmusire make appearances too, as well as those written by Ross’s bandmates, slotting nicely into this well thought-out structure.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
A collaboration between guitarist Rodrigo Bragança and pianist Benjamin Taubkin, Sobrevoo is a collection of quiet and understated ambient jazz duets. At times Taubkin’s piano rumbles underneath Bragança’s melodic playing, at times the guitar and piano lock into unison, bringing the key melodic moments to the forefront. Through liberal use of reverb and pleasantly-voiced piano chords, Sobrevoo makes for a washy record to spend a Sunday afternoon with.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Pianist Rick Simpson’s latest recording is a reworking of Radiohead’s (initially) polarising 2000 release, Kid A. The lineup features Simpson alongside Tori Freestone and James Allsop, both on sax, while the rhythm section is composed of Dave Whitford and Will Glaser on bass and drums respectively. Kid A Revisited is not simply the same songs note-for-note with a jazz ensemble; some tracks are so loosely interpreted you’d be hard pressed to name the Radiohead original, outside of perhaps the distinctive synthesiser melody on ‘Everything In Its Right Place’, this time played by Simpson on piano of course. The group retain the energy of the original songs, though; the ambient track ‘Treefingers’ is given a beautifully sparse reinterpretation, ‘A National Anthem’ becomes an aggressive bed for improvisation, and while ‘Idioteque’ is almost indistinguishable from its original, it retains the unsettling yet direct vibe of the original.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Seeing as we so rarely cover foreign-sung music here on Presto Jazz, this might pique some people’s interests. A set of covers by South Korean folk singer-songwriter Song Chang-sik, one of the country’s most popular musicians from the 1960’s-70’s, by contemporary Korean jazz vocalist Malo. The third in her ‘K-Standards’ series of albums on Decca, Malo celebrates her country’s history of music while also introducing many of her international fans to musicians they are likely unfamiliar with. The arrangements on here are kept fairly conservative for vocal jazz; a gentle guitar and drums backing with some saccharine piano, if that’s your bag then you may enjoy this foray into a lesser known songwriter - at least to us Brits - from the golden age of folk rock.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
This performance by Ella Fitzgerald was recorded in 1962 at the Sportpalast Berlin, a performance that fell two years after the recording of her ‘Ella in Berlin’ record, but went unreleased until earlier this month. Featuring classics like ‘Cheek to Cheek’ and ‘Mack the Knife’ as well as some lesser-known hits like ‘My Kind of Boy’, Fitzgerald and her trio deliver some brilliant the performances, and the roar of the crowd and occasional banter from Ella between each track make for a charming live recording that was no doubt even more enjoyable in person.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
