New Release Round-up,
Jazz New Release Round-Up - 4th February 2021
This week’s new release round-up opens with two explorations of the jazz piano approach; Mack Avenue’s Emmet Cohen brings us a record that is both forward-thinking and also recontextualises some of the older sounds associated with the instrument, while ECM pianist Shai Maestro continues where his 2018 trio debut left off by locking in with his trio for even more lyrical and emotive tunes. Electric guitarist Mike Bono showcases some of his favourite songbook tunes in a classic bebop style, while drummer and composer Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra produces an explosive free jazz-meets-big band project. Dutch jazz duo Yuri Honing and Wolfert Brederode come together with Avalon Songs, a collection of tunes evoking the misty Isle of Avalon as a metaphor for our uncertain future, while UK jazzers Binker & Moses’ latest release is a live album of rhythmic freeform jazz, originally recorded at the release party of their first record.
Future Stride from Mack Avenue’s Emmet Cohen really feels like a celebration of the history of jazz piano. Opening with ‘Symphonic Raps’, a 1920’s ragtime tune, Cohen begins the album with some of the earliest sounds to come from the instrument in this genre. However, it isn’t all stride tunes here; Cohen’s own tunes take us on many short detours from the quiet noir-ish tones of ‘Reflections at Dusk’ to contemporary bopping on ‘Toast to Lo’. The title track definitely bears some resemblance to the century-old genre it takes its name from, but with an off-kilter edge as the tempo speeds up and slows down between bars. Elsewhere the ballad ‘Second Time Around’ is a neatly lyrical tune, while ‘You Already Know’ takes us down a frantic post-boppy route. The record melds these old sounds with some of the more ‘futuristic’ approaches Cohen takes to his music, covering the more historical sounds without any pretenses of nostalgia.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Israeli pianist Shai Maestro’s second bandleader recording with ECM continues right where his acclaimed label debut left off; colourful and emotive playing, with a sensitivity to atmosphere. Maestro returns with his bandmates from 2018’s The Dream Thief - drummer Ofri Nemya and bassist Jorge Roeder - while American trumpeter Philip Dizack takes a handful of solo spots, as well as taking the spotlight for the introduction to ‘They Went to War’. While the record itself is comprised mostly of Maestro originals, the pianist signs off the record with a modern twist on the Ellington classic ‘In a Sentimental Mood’, as well as a tribute to Hank Jones and Charlie Haden with the original ‘Hank and Charlie’.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Electric guitarist Mike Bono plays some solid bebop guitar on Familiar Places, a collection of standards and tunes arranged for guitar trio. While perhaps not a familiar name to some, Bono’s collaboration credits include the likes of fellow jazz guitarist Julian Lage and neo-soul singer-songwriter Erykah Badu. Of course, being a trio, the arrangements are kept nicely sparse and low-key, Bono’s electric tone is warm and fat, while he trades his Gretsch hollow-body (pictured on the cover) up the nylon-string classical guitar on the trio’s version of Henry Mancini’s ‘Lujon’. Familiar Places features familiar tunes boiled down to their bare essential components, the interpretations lovingly arranged.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
From the explosive opening track ‘Premium Processing Fee’, you can tell you’re in for a wild ride with this release from Norwegian drummer and composer Gard Nilssen. Part free jazz, part big band, the roaring sound of the sixteen-piece band is positively uproarious from the get-go. Nevertheless it does, as the title suggests, reward a careful listener in some of its more subtle parts; solo spots, more low-key moments are also found amongst the mayhem. There’s definite influences from Charles Mingus and Sun Ra’s large ensemble projects, from the voicing of the horns to the melodic choices, the raw energy behind the Supersonic Orchestra making for a brilliantly exciting release.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Inspired by Celtic myth, saxophonist Yuri Honing and pianist Wolfert Brederode’s duo album takes its name from the Isle of Avalon, the island that houses the Holy Grail, King Arthur’s Grave and Excalibur. The album is less an exploration of Arthurian legend, the dense fog of Avalon rather a metaphor for post-pandemic life where things are still a real unknown, in the words of Honing. The selection of Honing & Brederode originals, as well as a tune each from Billy Strayhorn, Charlie Haden and Friedrich Holländer, create a dream-like record of obscured voices and misty melodies.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd’s collaborative history now spans over half a decade, the London pair’s self-described ‘semi-free jazz’ a mainstay in the capital city’s bustling jazz scene. Escape the Flames is actually comprised of a live recording by the duo at the launch of their 2017 record Journey to the Mountain of Forever, a re-interpretation of the album’s first side. With most of the tracks here clocking in at over ten minutes each - the opener a seventeen-minute improvisation - there’s plenty of room for the duo to go off on their own musical tangents. Binker’s saxophone style is punchy and highly rhythmic, no doubt a familiar sound for fans of the UK scene, while Moses holds down the groove even when the improvisations start to open up. On top of that, the audience’s enthusiastic responses to the tunes only makes me miss live concerts even more.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Joshua Lee - Jazz Content
