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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Music Week [10 - 19]Monday, February 5, 2024 Music Week
February archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41777 [41743] rated (+34), 21 [16] unrated (+5). Very late start here, but I don't have much to say, so let's just get it out of the way. I published another Speaking of Which Sunday evening. Came out with more links than usual (141), but fewer words (4726), so I didn't do much commenting. Today I added another 1000 words of introduction, but only 5 more links. Look for the red stripe in the right margin. The new words try to explain why some of the things people say to frame what Israel and the US are doing in ways that further genocide and poison any prospect for peace. I'm about 100 pages into Greg Grandin's The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. I thought about quoting several sections that seem particularly relevant to the present, especially about how the notion of an expandable frontier, driven by new settlement, leads to racism at home, war abroad, and genocide for whoever gets caught in the middle. In America this is the dynamic of Jefferson's "Empire of Liberty," of Jackson's "Indian Removal," and of Polk's "Mexican War." Many people understand Israel (like America, South Africa, and Algeria) as an example of attempted Settler Colonialism, but few people have noted the significance of Ben Gurion's refusal in 1948 to declare or, even after defining armistices in 1950-51, define Israel's borders -- even though Ben Gurion had lobbied hard to get the UN to approve a partition plan with defined borders. I'm struggling to revise an old blog post I wrote about "reading obituaries" for possible inclusion in a book some friends are intent on publishing, and I'm tearing my hair out over my inability to focus on that task, or indeed on much of anything. That in turn has left everything else on hold. I figured I'd wrap up the EOY aggregate once I counted Robert Christgau's Dean's List: 2023. It's out now, and I've split it up into essay and list, but I haven't counted it yet. I also haven't updated the Consumer Guide database and added the links from the list file to the database. Later this week. I did add a few things to the EOY aggregate, like the Free Jazz Collective Album of the Year and individual critic lists for their writers who didn't vote in the Francis Davis JCP -- I've taken names, 11 of them, compared to the 7 who did vote. I'd also like to point out that Mark Lomanno is doing a very nice Month in Review series. It's perhaps a bit more mainstream than the monthly columns Phil Freeman writes for Stereogum and Dave Sumner for Bandcamp Daily, but is a very welcome development. I've been neglecting my 2024 music tracking file, but with both labels and release dates, it makes updating too easy to ignore. Also note that Paul Medrano is making an effort to track all 2024 New Jazz Music Releases, also in very usable format. I hope some readers here will find a way to help him out. I also want to recommend one of the very best EOY reports I've seen this year, Tris McCall's Pop Music Abstract 2023, which is basically a whole year's worth of well-written reviews. I added all of the albums cited to my EOY Aggregate (code: tmr:+), even after I realized that not all of them were positive reviews; e.g.:
Which was even more to the point than even my own B− review. But also take a look at his Lemon Twigs review, which does a marvelous job of putting into words what I was thinking when I simply jotted down C+. Rated count is significantly down this week, to which I can only say, "whew!" Two 4-CD boxes, though, that I actually bought, and possibly cut them some slack (certainly gave them more time) as a result. Still lots of technical glitches around the office and home, but I did get my main computer's speakers working, so I'm able to start playing downloads and Soundcloud and YouTube links again. One thing I didn't do last week was pay any attention to my demo queue, for for that matter to 2024 releases (although five snuck in anyway, including one A−). New records reviewed this week: Ben Allison/Steve Cardenas/Ted Nash: Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols (2022 [2024], Sonic Camera): Bass, guitar, and tenor sax, fourth album as a trio, also effectively a successor to Allison's Herbie Nichols Project, which recorded three albums 1996-2001, and returns here with arrangements of eight previously unperformed compositions by Nichols (1919-63). B+(***) [sp] Chuquimamani-Condori: DJ E (2023, self-released): Evidently the work of the California-born electronica producer who has mostly released albums as Elysia Crampton (her name give or take a Chuquimia), although credits here include Elly, Joshua Chuquimia Crampton, and PK Crampton. A back story almost as glitchy as the music, which somehow grows on you if you can resist the temptation to exit immediately. B+(*) [bc] City Girls: Raw (2023, Quality Control/Motown): Miami hip-hop duo, Yung Miami and JT, third studio album since 2018. B+(**) [sp] Isaiah Collier: Parallel Universe (2023, Night Dreamer): Chicago-based saxophonist (also flute, keys, vocals), has a couple albums, mostly talks his way through expansive r&b-based grooves, really breaks out when the sax finally breaks free. B+(***) [sp] Craven Faults: Standers (2023, The Leaf Label): British electronica artist, described as "enigmatic," favors analogue synthesizers, EPs since 2017 and albums since 2020. Nice and steady. B+(***) [sp] Charley Crockett: Live From the Ryman Auditorium (2022 [2023], Son of Davy): Country singer-songwriter, has been releasing trad-themed records at a furious pace since 2015, building up a songbook that he crafts into a fine best-of here. A- [sp] DJ Danifox: Ansiedade (2023, Principe): Daniel Veiga, based in Lisbon, draws on Afro-Portuguese styles like batida, talking over light, lilting beats, with bits of guitar amidst the percussion. B+(**) [sp] Evelyn Davis/Fred Frith/Phillip Greenlief: Lantskap Logic: Hidden Danger Lets Me In (2022 [2023], Clean Feed): Pipe organ, electric guitar, clarinet/alto sax; second group album, after Lantskap Logic in 2013, at which point they referred to themselves as Drone Trio. More ambient here, but set in a very old church. B+(*) [bc] DJ K: Panico No Submundo (2023, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Brazilian funk producer, (19) of his name at Discogs. Broken beats, heavy chants, metallic clunk and grind. B+(*) [sp] Chad Fowler/George Cartwright/Kelley Hurt/Christopher Parker/Luke Stewart/Steve Hirsh/Zoh Amba: Miserere (2023, Mahakala Music): Free jazz bash, recorded in Little Rock, with visitors from Memphis and points beyond -- Cartwright (alto/tenor sax, guitar) is the senior citizen and mentor to this bunch, with two more saxophonists (Fowler and Amba), piano (Parker), bass (Stewart), drums (Hirsh), and voice (Hurt). B+(**) [bc] Chad Fowler/Shanyse Strickland/Sana Nagano/Melanie Dyer/Ken Filiano/Anders Griffen: Birdsong (2022 [2024], 'Mahakala Music): Leader plays strich and bass flute; Strickland French horn and flute, with a vocal bit; the others violin, viola, bass, and drums, quite impressive (except for the vocal). B+(**) [sp] Jayda G: Guy (2023, Ninja Tune): Canadian DJ and producer, actual name Jayda Guy, moved from Grand Forks to Vancouver, then to Berlin, finally to London. Second studio album, also has a DJ-Kicks. B+(***) [sp] Tim Hecker: No Highs (2023, Kranky): Canadian electronica producer, ambient division, dozen-plus albums since 2001, wound up writing a PhD thesis on urban noise. Describes this as "a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue" -- a fair description of much of his own recent work, and much more interesting for the effort. B+(***) [sp] Abdullah Ibrahim: 3 (2023 [2024], Gearbox): South African pianist, has had a remarkable career since his 1963 debut Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar Brand Trio. Trio here with Cleave Guyton Jr. (flute/piccolo) and Noah Jackson (bass/cello). This offers two sets, the second live before a very appreciative audience. Nice stuff when you pay attention, but much of it slips by easily if you don't stay on top of it. B+(*) [sp] Jonas Brothers: The Album (2023, Republic): Successful boy band, formed 2006 by brothers Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas, sold 17 million copies through 2013, by which time they were pursuing solo projects. Regrouped for a 2019 album, and one more here. It seems to have sold well, but didn't show up in the first 500 lists I collected for my EOY aggregate. Attractive album, although I tired of the overblown finale. B+(*) [sp] Lia Kohl: The Ceiling Reposes (2021-22 [2023], American Dreams): "Sound artist," based in Chicago, plays cello, synths, kazoo, concertina, wind machine, piano, drums, bells, and live radio. B+(**) [sp] Jamie Leonhart: The Illusion of Blue (Side A) (2022, self-released, EP): Jazz singer-songwriter, has a previous album from 2008, very little info on this one, except that it seems to be released as two EPs, this one six songs, 22:34. B- [sp] Jamie Leonhart: The Illusion of Blue (Side B) (2022, self-released, EP): Kicks this one -- five songs, 24:25 -- off with a cover ("What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?"), followed by another covers ("Willow Weep for Me") and other less substantial songs I'd have to look up. B- [sp] Bonnie Montgomery: River (2023, Gar Hole): Country singer-songwriter from Arkansas, eponymous debut in 2014, fourth album. Claims a "big voice," but there's something a bit off, and big production does the opposite of helping. The more trad backdrops help a bit, but ultimately one just acquiesces, and accepts her as a pretty decent songwriter. B+(*) [sp] Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): Drummer, debut 2012, leads a large group here through hard bop that may be new to the young musicians, who at least keep it fresh. B+(**) [sp] The Paranoid Style: The Interrogator (2024, Bar/None): Singer-songwriter (and culture critic) Elizabeth Nelson's front group, several EPs and albums since 2013. The music is almost perfectly straightforward -- aside from flashes of superior guitar, that is -- so one gets the feeling that lyrics are decisive, but I'm too slow on their uptake to note more than their intelligence and erudition. Not sure if I can ask for more than that. A- [sp] Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente: Cometa (2023, Sunnyside): Brazilian jazz singer, studied in Boston, taught in New York, based in Los Angeles, more than a dozen albums since 1998, trio here with Fabio Torres (piano), Paulo Paulelli (bass), and Edu Ribeiro (drums). B+(**) [sp] David Tamura + Toadal Package: Final Entrance (2023, JPN): New York-based saxophonist (tenor/soprano, also keyboards), "plays noise rock and free jazz," also in a group called The JazzFakers. Backed here with guitar (Cosmo Gallaro), bass (Brenna Rey), and drums (James Paul Nadien). A bit too noisy for me, but that's probably the point. B+(**) [bc] Azu Tiwaline: The Fifth Dream (2023, IOT): Electronica producer, from Tunisia, second album. Deep, dark, dreamy too, but with a hard industrial frame, not as advertised "guiding us warmly towards trance-inducing hyper states of dance & delight," but strangely comforting anyway. A- [sp] Mark Turner Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard (2022 [2023], Giant Step Arts): Tenor saxophonist, one of the top ones to emerge in the 1990s, with major label releases on Warners, and much more recently on ECM. So I was surprised that this, unlike other albums on this new label, never showed up in my queue. Live set with Jason Palmer (trumpet), Joe Martin (bass), and Jonathan Pinson (drums). Lots of skill here, but not so much spark. B+(**) [sc] Wiki & Tony Seltzer: 14K Figaro (2023, Wikset Enterprise): Rapper Patrick Morales, prolific since 2015, with producer Antonio Hernandez. B+(***) [sp] Eri Yamamoto: Colors of the Night Trio (2022 [2023], Mahakala Music): Japanese pianist, moved to US in 1995, played on several William Parker projects, plus her own (mostly trio) records since 2001. This is another trio, with Parker on bass and Ikuo Takeuchi on drums. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Borga Revolution! Volume 1: Ghanaian Dance Music in the Digital Age, 1983-1992 (1983-92 [2022], Kalita): I've long understood that highlife was the superpowered pop music that evolved in Ghana in the 1970s, whence it spread to Nigeria and mutated into juju and other forms, and of course there was a connection to London, but I didn't realize there was a German one, or that it would be called "burger highlife." That's the focus here, featuring George Darko, Wilson Boateng, and Uncle Joe's Afri-Beat, shifting slightly toward electro-dance music. B+(***) [sp] Borga Revolution! Volume 2: Ghanaian Dance Music in the Digital Age, 1983-1996 (1983-96 (2023), Kalita): Further explorations in the Ghanaian diaspora, including a couple names likely to be recognized elsewhere (A.B. Crentsil, Pat Thomas). Advantage over Volume 1 is in the more sustained dance grooves. A- [sp] The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Live From the Northwest, 1959 (1959 [2023], Brubeck Editions): Four cuts from the Multnomah Hotel in Portland, plus three more from Clark College in Vancouver, WA, both in April, before Take Five came out, mixed with four standards up front (starting with a rather frothy "When the Saints Go Marching In"), two originals, then "The Lonesome Road." Fine piano, with Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass), and Joe Morello (drums). This is, of course, quite nice, but not much more. B+(***) [r] Duke Ellington: All the Hits and More 1927-54 (1927-54 [2023], Acrobat, 4CD): This seemed like a useful idea, chronicling the period when jazz was popular music through the longest-running, most consistent, and most often brilliant of the era's big bands, even if strictly following the charts has never been surefire. Also because the standard RCA compilations, up to and including the 24-CD Centennial Edition box, skip over the 1932-40 period, when Ellington recorded mostly for Brunswick -- sides that have only been collected on the French Classics label and, finally in 2010, a pricey 11-CD Mosaic box. This is evenly balanced among all of Ellington's labels, confirming the common judgment that the RCA sides from 1927-28 and 1940-46 were peak periods (along with much of his later work, including Newport in 1956 and many of the suites and tributes and small groups from then through the end of the 1960s), but also reminding us that the maligned 1930s and the Hodges-less early 1950s still produced copious brilliance. About the only complaint one might make is that the chart-focus favors singers, which Ellington had -- how to put this? -- rather idiosyncratic taste in. Comes with a substantial booklet with full credits. A [cd] Kantata: It's High Time Now (1986 [2023], BBE): Burger highlife band from Ghana, Lee Duodu the lead singer and Ogone Kologbo the guitarist, with sax, keyboards, bass, drums, and more percussion. Takes a bit of time to find the right gear, but finally gets there. B+(***) [sp] The R&B No. 1s of the '40s (1942-50 [2023], Acrobat, 4CD): As with the Ellington box, the booklet provides detailed credits and useful history. But the strict chart focus produces some anomalies, especially early on, when Paul Whiteman, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Ella Mae Morse, and Bing Crosby topped the r&b charts (the latter with, of all things we don't need another copy of, "White Christmas"). Indeed, up to 1945, the r&b charts seem to have been dominated with novelties ("Cow Cow Boogie" was one of the better ones, by Ella Fitzgerald with the Ink Spots). The transition comes awkwardly with two takes of "I Wonder," Cecil Gant's original and a cover by Roosevelt Sykes, taken from a badly worn 78. After that, the first thing you realize is how Louis Jordan dominated the decade (18 songs, compared to 5 each for Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and the Ink Spots; Fitzgerald shares 2 songs with the Ink Spots and one with Jordan; no one else has more than 2). Later years advance significantly toward rock and roll, without taking explicit aim -- for that, you'd be better served by the first disc of The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll 1946-1954 (3-CD, on Hip-O) or The First Rock and Roll Record (another 3-CD, Famous Flames) or the first disc of The R&B Box (6-CD, on Rhino, 1944-74, canon-defining), or Rhino's Blues Masters on jump blues (Volume 5: Jumb Blues Classics, and Volume 14: More Jump Blues). And, of course, if you went that direction, you'd need more Louis Jordan: MCA's original CDs The Best of Louis Jordan and Five Guys Named Moe: Vol. 2 are essential. How much more is hard to judge, but the 4-CD Properbox (Jivin' With Jordan) doesn't flag, and there's a similar 4-CD JSP box -- although I've heard that the 9-CD Bear Family box is de trop. A- [cd] Papa Yankson: Party Time (Odo Ye Wu) (1989 [2023], Kalita): Ghanaian highlife singer-songwriter (1944-2017), various spellings which may or may not include Kofi. B+(***) [sp] Old music:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Sunday, January 29, 2023 Music Week
Music: Current count 41743 [41697] rated (+46), 16 [19] unrated (-3). Over the weekend, I cobbled together another substantial Speaking of Which (130 links, 7048 words). Feels pretty hopeless, but did give me a couple days respite from a week of flopping haplessly, accomplishing nothing. Speaking of nothing, here's this week's catch. Five of six A- releases are jazz; four of six are 2024 releases. The best of the batch is the exception to both generalizations, which seems about right. They all seem rather marginal, but so do most things these days. Still, they're all interesting, very accomplished records, as are the next tier down. By the way, there's more "burger highlife" coming from the "mysterious bin-bags" that brought forth the Jewel Ackah record. No telling how far behind I am with various bookkeeping tasks. One thing I did manage to do was to add results from Brad Luen's The 13th Annual Expert Witness Poll to the EOY aggregate, all the way down to the singletons. Several things there I still haven't heard. New records reviewed this week: Deena Abdelwahed: Jbal Rrsas (2023, Infiné): Tunisian DJ/producer, moved to Paris at 26, although this, her second album (plus a handful of EPs), was recorded in Tunisia, and bears an Arabic title. B+(***) [sp] Acid Arab: Trois (2023, Crammed Discs): Paris-based electronic group, founded 2012 by Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalho, "a distinctive mix of deep club-based beats with arabic instruments and vocals." Third album, title is Arabic for such. B+(**) [sp] Don Braden: Earth Wind and Wonder Volume 2 (2023, self-released): Mainstream tenor saxophonist, followed a fairly classic arc from Criss Cross in 1991 to major labels to HighNote 2001-08 and winding up with a self-released covers project (first volume in 2018). Still an imposing saxophonist, but no one I can think of has managed to claim these songs for jazz. B [sp] Helena Deland: Goodnight Summerland (2023, Chivi Chivi): Canadian singer-songwriter, second album, title from her hometown in British Columbia, now based in Montreal, has a light touch. B+(*) [sp] Disclosure: Alchemy (2023, Apollo/AWAL): British synthpop duo, brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence, fourth studio album since 2013. B [sp] DJ Girl: Hellworld (2023, Planet Mu): Detroit techno producer Terri Shaska, second album. Some bits (especially vocal riffs) don't do much, but gets much better as the beats pick up (e.g., "When U Touch Me," featuring Lighght, but "Groover" works as well). B+(**) [sp] DJ Ws Da Ingejinha: Caça Fantasma Vol. 1 (2023, Delama): Funk brasilero artist, Wilson da Silva, from Belo Horizonte, can't find him on Discogs, and not making much sense out of this oddly disjointed mess. But stick with it and it may develop its own logic. B [sp] Dragonchild: Dragonchild (2023, FPE): Ethiopian saxophonist DA Mekonnen, a founder and leader of the Boston-based Debo Band, offers up a solo album. B+(**) [sp] Baxter Dury: I Thought I Was Better Than You (2023, Heavenly): Second-generation singer-songwriter, eighth album since 2002. Sounds rather like his father, except there's no mistaking him for genius. B [sp] Enji: Ulaan (2023, Squama): Mongolian singer Enkhjargal Erkhembayar, based in Germany, third album, draws on folk music with jazz musicians. B [sp] FACS: Still Life in Decay (2023, Trouble in Mind): Chicago group, several albums since 2017, related to Disappears, which had a nice run of albums, 2010-16. Similar industrial vibe here, a bit on the lumbering side. B+(**) [sp] Amanda Gardier: Auteur (Music Inspired by the Films of Wes Anderson) (2022 [2024], self-released): Alto saxophonist, based in Baltimore, third album, quartet with Charlie Ballantine (guitar, a major factor here), Jesse Wittman (bass), and Dave King (drums). I don't have any idea what the tie-in to the films might be, but something inspired her. A- [cd] Samuel Goff/Camila Nebbia/Patrick Shiroishi: Diminished Borders (2023, Cacophonous Revival): Drummer plus two saxophonists, free jazz with Nebbia adding some commentary. The lineup reminds me of Cosmosamatics, which worked to the same impressive effect, although this one tails off toward the end. B+(***) [bc] Vinny Golia/Max Johnson/Weasel Walter: No Refunds (2014 [2023], Unbroken Sounds): A live sax-bass-drums set from Seaside Lounge a while back, the bassist doing the mix and release. Golia plays clarinet, saxello, soprano and baritone sax. B+(**) [sp] Hands & Tongues: 3 Meta-Dialogues (2023, 4DaRecord): Three pairings of voice and instrument: Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg with 10-string microtonal guitar (Pascal Marzan); Bill Young with clarinet (Noel Taylor); Rodrigo Brandão with bass (João Madeira). Unable to decipher the words, there's very little to relate to here. B- [cd] Anders Jormin/Lena Willemark: Pasado En Claro (2021 [2023], ECM): Swedish bassist, debut 1984, on ECM since 2001, second album with the Swedish singer/violinist, who has a similar presume, including an ECM debut in 1996. With, below the title, Karin Nakagawa (25-string koto) and Jon Fält (drums). B+(**) [sp] La Sécurité: Stay Safe (2023, Mothland): Montreal "art punk" group, first album: "equal parts: jumpy beats, off-kilter arrangements, and minimalistic melodic hooks," also a nice balance between English and French. They remind me of vintage new wave, perhaps Martha & the Muffins spiked with Devo? A- [sp] Alex Lahey: The Answer Is Always Yes (2023, Liberation): Australian singer-songwriter, turns out layered, hooky pop, with a "wall of sound" effect. Third album. B+(**) [sp] Maurice Louca Elephantine Band: Moonshine (2023, Sub Rosa/Northern Spy): Egyptian composer, plays guitar, lap steel guitar, and synthesizer, in a group with saxophones, clarinet, tuba, vibes, bass, and drums. (Elephantine was the title of his 2019 album, and plays more prominently on the cover here; artist credit here from Sub Rosa sticker.) B+(***) [sp] Salvoandrea Lucifora Quartet: Drifters (2022 [2023], Trytone): Trombonist, from Sicily, based in Amsterdam, should count as his first album (although I've heard him before). Quartet with piano (Marta Warelis), bass (Omer Govreen), and drums (Marcos Baggiani). Two lp-side-long pieces, very sharp. A- [sp] Lyia Meta: Always You (2023, self-released): Malaysian singer-songwriter, based in Kuala Lumpur, identifies as jazz and sings in English as an impressive contralto voice. First full album, after an EP. Quite some accomplishment, yet nothing I much care for. B [sp] Stephan Micus: Thunder (2020-22 [2023], ECM): German singer-songwriter, on ECM since 1977, sings some and plays everything here, mostly exotic instruments like lute, sarangi, calabash, nyckelharpa, shakuhachi, bass zither, frame drums and various bells. Very ambient, other than the distant rumbling of brass, which helps. B [sp] Camila Nebbia: Una Ofrenda a la Ausencia (2023, Relative Pitch): Tenor saxophonist from Argentina, debut 2015, has been especially busy of late, here with a solo album, a format with pretty severe limitations. Still impressive, building up over time. B+(**) [sp] Lothar Ohlmeier/Tobias Klein: Left Side Right (2023 [2024], Trytone): Bass clarinet duo, with a little sax (tenor and alto, respectively) on the side. B+(**) [cd] [02-16] Omnigone: Against the Rest (2023, Bad Time): California ska-punk band led by Adam Davis, second album, the punk aesthetic pumped up with keyb and horns. B+(*) [sp] Pardoner: Peace Loving People (2023, Bar/None): Seattle post-punk (or some might say "not really punk") outfit, third album since 2017. B+(*) [sp] Reggie Quinerly: The Thousandth Scholar (2023 [2024], Redefinition): Drummer, has several albums, wrote all the pieces but one here, that by pianist Manuel Valera. Also with Matt Brewer (bass) and Samuel Torres (percussion), skewing Afro-Latin. B+(**) [cd] Naoko Sakata: Infinity (2023, Pomperipossa): Japanese pianist, based in Sweden, has several albums, not sure if this is meant as jazz, but is solo piano, boldly imagined, nicely turned out. B+(*) [sp] Samo Salamon/Vasil Hadzimanov/Ra-Kalam Bob Moses: Dances of Freedom (2021 [2024], Samo): Slovenian guitarist, has many fine albums since 2003, also plays some banjo here, with piano/keyboards and drums/percussion, both outstanding. A- [cd] Sigur Rós: Átta (2023, Krunk/BMG): Post-rock band from Iceland, eighth studio album, which you already know if you know Icelandic. B- [sp] Ches Smith: Laugh Ash (2023 [2024], Pyroclastic): Drummer, many side-credits since 2000, his own records fairly scattered (or, I suppose, "eclectic"). He composed this, with electronics and percussion, with a string section, and spots for voice (Shara Lunon), flute (Anna Webber), clarinet (Oscar Noriega), tenor sax (James Brandon Lewis), and trumpet (Nate Wooley), with Shahzad Ismaily (bass and keyboards). Some of this are as impressive as you'd hope for, but only scattered bits, nothing I feel compelled to pursue. So I won't be surprised when this shows up on EOY lists. B+(*) [cd] [02-02] Jimi "Primetime" Smith & Bob Corritore: The World in a Jug (2023, Vizztone/SWMAF): Blues guitarist-singer from Chicago, based in Minneapolis, third album (21 years after a second called Back on Track), mostly originals credited to Minford James Smith, with Corritore on harmonica. B+(***) [sp] Jim Snidero: For All We Know (2023 [2024], Savant): Alto saxophonist, many albums since 1989, straightforward trio here with Peter Washington (bass) and Joe Farnsworth (drums), playing eight standards. Splendidly, of course. A- [cd] [02-16] Jonathan Suazo: Ricano (2023, Ropeadope): Alto saxophonist from Puerto Rico, based in Boston, has a couple previous albums, aims for the whole "Afro-Caribbean experience" here, with lots of guests (he moves to tenor on the Miguel Zenón spot), including vocals. Too massive for my taste, but the sax is most impressive, and the rest is plenty authentic. B+(***) [sp] Surgeon: Crash Recoil (2023, Tresor): English electronica producer Anthony Child, was most active 1997-2000, with several long gaps since then. Fairly simple patterns run through at a relentless pace, reminds me of some game music themes, but exceptionally compelling. B+(***) [sp] Rob Sussman: Top Secret Lab (2023, Sus4music): New York-based trombonist, also plays keyboards, released an eponymous album in 2002, since then has mostly appeared in groups like Swingadelic and Funk Shui NYC. Ends with a pretty energetic "When a Man Loves a Woman." B+(*) [cd] Tomu DJ: Crazy Trip (2023, No Bias, EP): From California, has a couple previous releases, this a short album (7 tracks, 27:06), enticing beats scattered about a swishy ambient space. B+(***) [sp] Rian Treanor & Ocen James: Saccades (2023, Nyege Nyege Tapes): British electronica producer, working here with a Ugandan, who mixes traditional acoustic instruments with electronics. B+(**) [sp] Katie Von Schleicher: A Little Touch of Schleicher in the Night (2023, Sipsman): Brooklyn singer-songwriter, fifth album since 2012. B+(*) [sp] Bobby West: Big Trippin' (2023, Soulville Sound): Los Angeles-based pianist, possibly the same one Discogs credits with session work for James Taylor and Buffy Sainte Marie in the 1970s, and for R. Kelly in the 1990s. Second album, after a debut in 2021. Trio, nice touch on the occasional ballad, but likes them fast, with lots of frills. B+(*) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Jewel Ackah: Electric Hi-Life (1986 [2023], BBE): Highlife singer from Ghana (1945-2018), his name long imprinted on my mind thanks to a single Christgau review of his elusive 1989 album My Dear. Discogs credits him with 27 albums, and a birth date that doesn't jive with other sources. B+(***) [sp] Eddie Lockjaw Davis Quartet: All of Me (1983 [2023], SteepleChase): Tenor saxophonist, debut 1951, had a very productive decade with Prestige from 1958, was scrapping for dates after that, this from a stop in Copenhagen with locals (counting expat pianist Kenny Drew, backed here by Jesper Lundgaard and Svend-Erik Nørregaard on bass and drums). [Digital includes an extra track added to the 1994 CD, but the 2023 vinyl does not.] B+(***) [sp] J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan Volume 4: The Nippon Columbia Label 1968-1981 (1968-81 [2023], BBE): It's hard in America to get any sense of jazz in Japan, but this series seems to be having little trouble picking up superb examples, nearly all from musicians I never heard of. (The Lithuanian label NoBusiness has also been fruitfully exploring Japanese jazz, focusing on the avant-garde there.) Nippon Columbia was founded as Nipponophone in 1910, licensing Columbia trademarks as early as 1931, and changing the company name in 1946, but has always remained independent. Not clear how important jazz was to Nippon Columbia (or vice versa), but this ranges widely and impressively, through hard bop combos, big bands, and a lot of Miles Davis influences. B+(***) [sp] WaJazz: Japanese Jazz Spectacle Vol. I: Deep, Heavy and Beautiful Jazz From Japan 1968-1984: The Nippon Columbia Masters (1968-84 [2022], Universounds): Label is a Tokyo record store, owned by Yosuk Ogawa, who selected this material (and is credited by Discogs). B+(**) [sp] WaJazz: Japanese Jazz Spectacle Vol II: Deep, Heavy and Beautiful Jazz From Japan 1962-1985: The King Records Masters (1962-85 [2023], Universounds): A second volume, but only seems to be available as 2-LP, with Bandcamp limited to annoyingly short excerpts (with fades), accenting the eclecticism. B [bc] Mal Waldron/Terumasa Hino: Reminscent Suite (1973 [2024], BBE): Pianist, started in the mid-1950s supporting singer Billie Holiday, and may still be best known for that, but he produced major works for Prestige 1956-62, and moved decisively into avant-jazz later on, especially with Enja, ECM, and Soul Note. He cut this quintet set in Japan with the well-known trumpet player, each writing a side-long piece. A- [sp] Old music: Camila Nebbia/Patrick Shiroishi: The Human Being as a Fragile Article (2021, Trouble in Mind): Sax duo, alto and baritone for Shiroishi, tenor for Nebbia, latter speaks, samples and fx for both. B+(**) [sp] Tomu DJ: Feminista (2021, self-released): First album, eight songs running 41:49. B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, January 22, 2024 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41696 [41641] rated (+55), 19 [22] unrated (-3). I wrote a pretty substantial Speaking of Which over the weekend, including more on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and on why Israel wants to see the rest of the Middle East up in flames, figuring that will force the Americans into the fight, as opposed to their usual role, which is giving Israel arms, money, and advice (which they are freer than ever to ignore, although Netanyahu was more public than usual in slapping Biden down over the two-state fantasy). I've added a couple more links since initial posting (look for the red right-border stripe), and will probably add a few more before (or after) this gets posted. Also stuff there on Iowa and New Hampshire, as Republicans continue to embrace the criminality their leaders have been promoting at least since Nixon. I haven't made anything like a transition to knuckling down on the book yet. A big chunk of last week went to adding all of the Jazz Critics Poll ballots to my EOY aggregate. The result was, predictably enough, a massive surge for jazz albums in the overall standings:
I expect those standings to slide back down over the next week, although I'm still searching specifically for jazz lists. Since I finished with the ballots, I've already seen one change, where Jaimie Branch pulled back ahead of James Brandon Lewis -- the former has had quite a bit of crossover list support, but only came in 9th in the Poll. Matana Roberts, Lakecia Benjamin, and Irreversible Entanglements also do somewhat better away from the jazz critics. I haven't added Brad Luen's Expert Witness Poll results in yet, but did manage to pick up some individual ballots. A late expansion of Greg Morton's list led me to Brazilian singer Patricia Bastos this week. I also picked up two more A- titles from the extraordinary Hip Hop Golden Age list. I also happened on some pretty decent electronica while adding Mixmag's 169 albums to the aggregate. And when I got hard up for something to play at the moment, I dipped into the 2024 queue, usually (not always) finding items that are already out. I'll probably spend some more time wrapping up the EOY aggregate, and checking out some of the albums I'm only now finding out about, but should be winding that down this week. I also have a few things on the Jazz Critics Poll left to wrap up, and some mail I haven't gotten to. I also have a database update to the Robert Christgau website almost ready to go. New records reviewed this week: Agust D: D-Day (2023, Big Hit Music): South Korean rapper Min Yoon-gi, also known as Suga, joined K-pop boy band BTS in 2013, Agust D was the name of a mixtape he released in 2016, followed by a second mixtape in 2020 (D-2), and this, his first proper solo album. In Korean, so this waxes and wanes on the beats, which clearly have some money behind them. B+(*) [sp] Altin Gün: Ask (2023, Glitterbeat): Mostly Turkish psychedelic rock band, based in Amsterdam, fifth album since 2018. B+(*) [sp] B. Cool-Aid: Leather Blvd. (2023, Lex): Hip-hop duo from Long Beach, producers Ahwlee and Pink Siifu (Livinston Matthews), keeping it cool. B+(*) [sp] Ballister: Smash and Grab (2022 [2024], Aerophonic): Sixth group outing for saxophonist Dave Rempis's fiercest group, a trio with Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello/electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums). I'm probably losing all credibility on him. I'm certainly getting used to the rough stuff -- although even here, they set up sublime moments. A- [cd] Patricia Bastos: Vos Da Taba (2023, self-released): Brazilian singer-songwriter, from Macapá, just north of the Amazon delta, seventh studio album since 2002. Exceptionally delightful. A- [sp] Big O: In the Company of Others (2023, Vintage Soundz): London-based hip-hop producer, possibly Oliver Moore (Discogs offers the name, but only lists one album and one EP, the latter from 1996; on the other hand, Bandcamp shows no less than 44 releases, but most behind other leaders). Feat. guests everywhere, many with scratches by gman. B+(*) [bc] Black Milk: Everybody Good? (2023, Mass Appeal): Detroit rapper Curtis Cross, eighth albums ince 2005. B+(*) [sp] Blonde Redhead: Sit Down for Dinner (2023, Section1): Indie band from New York, tenth album since 1994, fronted by Kazu Makino, with brothers Amedeo and Simone Pace. B+(*) [sp] Apollo Brown & Planet Asia: Sardines (2023, Mello Music Group): Detroit hip-hop producer Erik Stephens, has dropped an album (or two or three) every year since 2009, this one featuring rapper Jason Green, who's been even more prolific for longer (since 2000) but has previously escaped my attention -- as has everyone else working out of Fresno. B+(***) [sp] John Butcher/Dominic Lash/Emil Karlsen: Here and How (2022 [2023], Bead): English avant-saxophonist, released half dozen albums in 2023 but this was one of the few I managed to find, a trio with bass and drums. B+(**) [sp] Rasheed Chappell & the Arcitype: Sugar Bills (2023, Project City Music Group): New Jersey rapper, sixth album since 2011, with producer Janos Fulop. This runs up against my distaste for "gangsta shit" (as HHGA rather circumspectly put it: "traditional hip-hop . . . a great emcee who is in turn with golden -age aesthetics") but this carries that deadly weight better than any album I've heard in years (maybe since Ghostface Killah?). A- [sp] Gerald Cleaver: 22/23 (2023, Positive Elevation/577): Normally a drummer, produces electronics here, with some voice (both him and Jean Carla Rodea) and sax (Andrew Dahlke). Runs 22 tracks, 169 minutes, on and on, one suspects the excess is the point. [LP selects 6 (of 22) tracks, for 32:26. Probably just a sampler, as if a taste is all you need.] B+(***) [sp] Declaime and Theory Hazit: Rocketman (2023, SomeOthaShip): Rapper Dudley Perkins, dozen-plus albums since 2001, with producer Thearthur Washington. Deep, out of this world yet very much within it, loses the thread of the music when he declares his belief in God, yet through some miracle keeps you connected anyway. A- [sp] Mike Flips/Nord1kone/Seize: Life Cycles (2023, SpitSLAM): The MC answered one question by pronouncing his name "nordic-one." Flanked here by two producers, Flips at least from UK. B+(**) [sp] Anne Foucher & Jean-Marc Foussat: Chair Ça (2022 [2024], Fou): Violin/electronics, and "Synthi AKS, piano, jouets & voix," which I guess explains the sonic range here, but not enough to describe it. B+(***) [cd] Jean-Marc Foussat/Daunik Lazro: Trente-Cinq Minutes & Vingt-Trois Secondes (2023 [2024], Fou): Title the sum of three constituent pieces, Credits: "méchanisme instinctif et résonnant" and "kaléidophone ténor." File under "drone" or "noise," but more interesting than that implies. B+(***) [cd] Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Jet Black (2023 [2024], Libra): Japanese avant-pianist, well over 100 albums, nice to hear her in a conventional trio setting, this with Takashi Sugawa (bass) and Ittetsu Takamura (drums). B+(***) [cd] [01-24] Peter Gabriel: I/O (2023, Real World): British singer-songwriter, started in prog rock band Genesis, released a series of eponymous albums 1977-82, this 10th album is first since 2011, but it incorporates earlier work going back to 1995, and comes in two mixes ("Bright Side" and "Dark Side"), each 12 songs and well over an hour. Pleasant enough, but interminable. B+(*) [sp] Geese: 3D Country (2023, Partisan): Brooklyn-based alt-rock band, second album, dubbed "art punk," compared to outfits like Black Midi, which might seem interesting until the time shifts and odd eruptions turn super-annoying. B- [sp] Gorillaz: Cracker Island (2023, Parlophone/Warner): Cartoon band, founded 2001 by Damon Albarn, who seems to have been the only regular, aside from illustrator Jamie Hewlett: the other principal musician here is Greg Kurstin, with a bunch of guests dropping in for one song each (Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, Tame Impala, Beck, etc.). Albarn's always had a good sense for hooks, but I grew tired of the mask some time back, and now it all just sounds anonymous (except the title cut is rather catchy). B [sp] Marina Herlop: Nekkuja (2023, Pan): Spanish singer, songwriter and pianist, fourth album, electroacoustic experiments, short (7 songs, 26:35). B+(*) [sp] Gregory Alan Isakov: Appaloosa Bones (2023, Dualtone): Singer-songwriter from South Africa, moved to Philadelphia when he was seven, wound up in Boulder, Colorado. Eighth album since 2003. Seems like a thoughtful but not especially engaging guy. B [sp] Ethan Iverson: Technically Acceptable (2024, Blue Note): Pianist, made a big impression with his early Fresh Sound releases, followed with a rare commercial breakthrough as the Bad Plus, left them in 2017, continues to write a very smart blog. Two bass-drums trios here -- Thomas Morgan/Kush Abadey and Simón Willson/Vinnie Sperrazza -- and a couple of covers (one I love, followed by a vocal I hate), ending with a three-part solo sonata. Appropriately titled. B+(*) [sp] Ja'king the Divine: Parables of the Sower (2023, Copenhagen Crates): Brooklyn rapper, half-dozen albums since 2021. His fascination with things oriental led to the album title Black Sun Tzu. Here he raps over a particularly sinuous "Caravan." [sp] Benjamin Koppel/Scott Colley/Brian Blade: Perspective (2023, Cowbell Music): Danish alto saxophonist, 30+ albums since 1998, has worked with this bass-drums combo since 2011. B+(**) [sp] Benjamin Koppel: White Buses: Passage to Freedom (2023, Cowbell Music): In 1943, as the Nazis were consolidating their occupation of Denmark, some 90% of Danish Jews managed to escape into Sweden, thus avoiding the Holocaust. That much is fairly widely known, but this draws on a lesser-known incident near the end of the war, when the Swedish Red Cross sent white buses to Theresienstadt, where another 425 Danish Jews were held, and affected their liberation. This narrates that story, along with some inspiring music, led by the Danish alto saxophonist. B+(***) [sp] Talib Kweli & Madlib: Liberation 2 (2023, Luminary): A sequel 16 years later, runs longer (45:51), is even harder to find. With politics that deserve wider airing, but thinned out with more ambient breaks. B+(***) [sc] Oliver Lake/Mathias Landæus/Kresten Osgood: Spirit (2017 [2023], Sfär): Alto sax, piano, drums. Lake is a bit erratic, but impresses more often than not. B+(**) [bc] Lalalar: En Kötü Iyi Olur (2023, Bongo Joe): Turkish group, second album. Vibe reminiscent of several Balkan rock groups. B+(***) [sp] Dave Lombardo: Rites of Percussion (2023, Ipecac): Drummer, born in Cuba but moved to California when he was two. Best known as drummer in the thrash metal band Slayer, but also in Fantômas (based on a French anti-hero, "waging an implacable war against the bourgeois society in which he moves"). I've run across him once before, when he joined DJ Spooky on a 2005 Thirsty Ear album called Drums of Death. Solo here, so more drums of death? B+(**) [sp] Van Morrison: Accentuate the Positive (2023, Exile/Virgin): Second release of a covers set this year, reminds you that while he used to be a pretty great songwriter, he's still a terrific singer. Advantage here is in the songs, moving from the country-folk roots of Moving on Skiffle to rhythm and blues and rock and roll, although he's loose enough on the concept to include the Mercer-Arlen title song, and to start off with a "You Are My Sunshine" that proves to be a high point. Elsewhere, lots of nits one can pick, but really too much fun for that. B+(**) [sp] Riley Mulherkar: Riley (2021-22 [2024], Westerlies): Trumpet player, from Seattle, a co-founder of the Westerlies, debut album, with Chris Pattishall (piano) and Rafiq Bhatia both credited with programming and sound design, on a mix of originals and vintage covers ("Stardust," "King Porter Stomp"). B+(***) [cd] [02-16] Estee Nack: Nacksaw Jim Duggan (2023, Griselda): Another rapper I'd never heard of, Alex Rosario, of Lynn, Mass., but Discogs credits him with 25 albums since 2015, and offers 11 distinct editions of this title (but no CD). Rather fractured, with a long riff on Dominicans in the drug trade. B+(*) [sp] Ndox Electrique: Tëd ak Mame Coumba Lamba ak Mame Coumba Mbang (2023, Bongo Joe): Traditional n'doëp community vocal group from Cap-Vert in Senegal, remixed by François R. Cambuzat and Gianna Greco (who also produced Ifriqiyya Electrique), who bring the beats, and some heavy machinery. B+(*) [sp] Noertker's Moxie: In Flitters: 49 Bits From B*ck*tt (2023, Edgetone): Bassist, recordings go back to 2003's Sketches of Catalonia, with a cover reminiscent of Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain (or maybe Billy Jenkins' Scratches of Spain, a superior album [imho]), but then expanded into multi-volume suites for Dali, Miró, and Gaudi. Here the inspiration is Samuel Beckett's Watt, a novel I bought long ago and never managed to read, but evidently of interest to jazzbos (it's the name of Carla Bley's record label). It's put to good use here, with Annelise Zamula (clarinet/flute), Brett Carson (piano), and Jordan Glenn (drums). No idea what's up with the asterisks. B+(***) [cd] Hery Paz: Jardineros (2021 [2023], 577): Cuban saxophonist (also flute, piano, suona), based in New York, first album, backed by drums (Francisco Mela) and percussion (Román Diaz, also credited for vocals -- basically a spoken narration, in Spanish). B+(**) [sp] Shaheed & DJ Supreme: The Art of Throwing Darts (2023, Communicating Vessels): Hip-hop duo from Birmingham, second album. Has an old school air, the words (doubled up?) coming so fast and hard they effectively are the rhythm. B+(***) [sp] Shakti: This Moment (2023, Abstract Logix): Indian supergroup formed by English guitarist John McLaughlin in 1975-77, was revived in 1997 for a series of "Remember Shakti" albums, and now again here, with McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain (tabla) returning, joined by Selvaganesh Vinayakaram (kanjira) and Shankar Mahadevan (vocals) from the 1990s, and Ganesh Rajagopalan (violin). B+(*) [sp] Louis Siciliano: Ancient Cosmic Truth (2023, Musica Presente, EP): Italian trumpet player, seems to have mostly worked on film music, aims for some kind of Miles Davis fusion here, and is mostly successful, for four songs, 22:42. B+(**) [sp] Antero Sievert: Dear Bossa (2023, JMI): Spanish pianist, second album, a "pan-Latin musical journey" with Pedrito Martinez (Cuban percussion), Edmar Castaneda (Colombian harp), and Elena Pinderhughes (Bay Area flute), plus bassist Corcoran Holt, and a bit of trumpet I'd like to hear more from. B+(***) [sp] Guilty Simpson: Escalation (2023, Uncommon): Detroit rapper Byron Dwayne Simpson, debut 2008, came up working with J. Dilla and Madlib, produced here by Uncommon Nasa (Paul Loverro). B+(**) [sp] Josh Sinton: Couloir & Book of Practitioners Vol. 2: Book W (2023 [2024], Form Is Possibility, 2CD): Solo baritone saxophone, the second a volume of Steve Lacy "etudes" -- Sinton led the Lacy tribute band Ideal Bread -- the first originals that are hard to distinguish from Lacy's models. B+(***) [cd] Alex Sipiagin Quintet: Mel's Vision (2022 [2023], Criss Cross): Russian trumpet/flugelhorn player, moved to US in 1990, has a steady stream of mainstream jazz albums since 1998. With Chris Potter (tenor sax), David Kikoski (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), and Johnathan Blake (drums). Two Sipiagin originals (including the unexplained title song), one from Potter, a Ukrainian folk song, and four modern jazz covers. Long (9 tracks, 71:18). B+(**) [sp] Sister Zo: Arcana (2023, All Centre, EP): New York-based electronica artist, has at least one previous EP, this one 4 exquisitely balanced rhythm tracks, 17:38. Remarkably satisfying. A- [sp] Chucky Smash: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (2023, King of the Beats): J. Samuels, part of a Bronx hip-hop trio called the Legion, which recorded some in the 1990s, with one more album from 2019. B+(*) [sp] Spectacular Diagnostics: Raw Lessons (2023, Rucksack): Chicago hip-hop producer Robert Krums. Has several previous "Raw" titles (Raw Unknown, Raw Studies). B+(**) [sp] Marnie Stern: The Comeback Kid (2023, Joyful Noise): Singer-songwriter, plays guitar and has a rep for that, fifth album since 2007, but ten years after her fourth. Pop overtones over something dense and mathy. B+(**) [sp] The Dave Stryker Trio With Bob Mintzer: Groove Street (2023 [2024], Strikezone): Guitarist, has long settled into the organ groove tradition, releasing a new iteration each January. Trio names on cover: Jared Gold (organ) and McClenty Hunter (drums), with the saxophonist joining in, even contributing a couple of songs. B+(**) [cd] [01-24] Sweeping Promises: Good Living Is Coming for You (2023, Sub Pop): Duo (Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug), met as students in Arkansas, moved to Boston, recorded a pretty good album there, relocated to Lawrence, Kansas, where they recorded this sophomore effort. B+(**) [sp] Emilio Teubal: Futuro (2021 [2023], Not Yet): Argentinian pianist, based in New York, first album 2009, mostly trio with bass (Pablo Lanouguere) and drums (Chris Michael or Brian Shankar Adler), with a few guests, like Sam Sadigursky (clarinet on three tracks) or Chris Dingman (vibes on three). B+(**) [sp] V Knuckles & Phoniks: The Next Chapter (2023, Don't Sleep): Boston rapper Rahim Muhammad, from the group N.B.S. [Natural Born Spitters], ten albums 2002-20, first solo album, produced by Phoniks (from Portland, ME). Old school vibe, some nice features. B+(***) [sp] Yungmorpheus & Real Bad Man: The Chalice & the Blade (2023, Real Bad Man): California hip-hop artist Colby Campbell, a dozen-plus albums since 2016, working here with producer Adam Weissman. B+(**) [sp] Yungmorpheus: From Whence It Came (2023, Lex): Another one, understated lyrics over minimal beats. B+(*) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Per 'Texas' Johansson: Alla Mina Kompisar (1998 [2023], Moserobie): Swedish reeds player, second album, plays tenor/baritone sax and clarinets here, with Fredrik Ljunkgvist (four saxes), Johan Lindström (pedal steel guitar), Dan Berglund (bass), and Mikel Ulfberg (drums). A- [sp] Kenneth Kiesler/University of Michigan Opera Theatre: James P. Johnson: De Organizer/The Dreamy Kid (Excerpts) (2006 [2023], Naxos): I'm inclined to file classical music by the performer, with the composer included in the title, but even there the cover makes this difficult, as I wound up flipping the larger type order, and ignoring a long list of smaller-type names. (I did give into the obvious and listed this under Johnson in the Jazz Critics Poll standings, but figured I should be more consistent here.) Johnson (1894-1955) is widely recognized as an outstanding stride pianist, but his ambitions as a composer are less well known. James Dapogny, a superb stride pianist in his own right, arranged these two short operas, the former with lyrics by Langston Hughes, the latter Eugene O'Neill. I've never liked opera, but I can't help but applaud union organizers. B+(*) [sp] Old music: Talib Kweli/Madlib: Liberation (2007, Blacksmith Music): Rapper, last name Greene, broke out with Mos Def as Black Star in 1998, with Hi-Tek as Reflection Eternal in 2000, released a solo album in 2002. I found this one down after failing to find Liberation 2 (2023) on streaming. This was given away as a freebie for a week, then withdrawn, so is similarly scarce. Short (30:12), but the production is dazzling, and the guy is a thinker: "I went to college, then I left/ That's when I got my education." (Unlike the college dropouts who simply couldn't wait to get rich.) A- [yt] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Sunday, January 15, 2023 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41641 [41584] rated (+57), 22 [23] unrated (-1). Seriously long Speaking of Which posted yesterday (5748 words, 135 links). The Joshua Frank piece, Making Gaza Unlivable, is important, as are the additional points I made last week and this. Also consider the Michael Kruse piece on Trump's long assault on the very notion of justice. It's painfully cold here in Kansas tonight, or at least that's how I'm feeling it. We haven't been out in several days. I still have to take the trash out tonight, and I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. I'm dreading both. [OK, trash went out. And dentist office decided to shut down tomorrow, so I'm off the hook.] Of course, it's worse north of here. I see where Trump is urging his supporters to vote in Iowa even if it kills you. Easy for him to say. But "voting to kill" has been a Republican tradition, at least since right-wing journo Jim Geraghty used it as a book title (2006, about the 2004 election). [PS: Trump won, but no reports yet on the collateral damage.] I've been trying to clean up some things, especially with the EOY lists. One big thing I did was to scan through the Pazz + Jop Rip-Off Poll ballots, and count a bunch of them (about 110, out of 338?). Most were names I recognized, mostly from having counted them before (90), but another 20 or so just struck me as interesting ballots. This is one way my subjective bias infects the standings, but the only rooting interest I had this year was for Olivia Rodrigo over Boygenius, and in that my selection didn't help at all. The more substantive biases in the aggregate are that I follow a lot of jazz critics, and also know many critics (or just fans) who follow Robert Christgau. I've also factored Christgau's grades into the point totals, so his more esoteric picks are generously represented in the totals. (As are my grades, as far as they get you.) Since I regard the EOY aggregate as a tool for prospecting unheard albums, those biases are mostly useful in finding other lists with intersecting tastes. Still, our picks don't have a lot of sway in the upper tiers of the aggregate, and many fall well down the list. I finally factored my Jazz and Non-Jazz lists into the aggregate, although I haven't picked up all the lesser grades yet. And while I've entered the top results from the Jazz Critics Poll, thus far I've entered very few individual ballots. I'll add some, plus whatever other jazz lists I find. After last week's bumper crop of underground hip-hop, pickings have thinned out a bit this week. Saving Country Music's album of the year (Gabe Lee) got an A- this week, but nothing else made the grade. Sara Petite came from Ye Wei Blog, but other albums I checked from there fell short. Also, note that three A- albums this week were in Old Music, but not very old. The tip for the South African record came from Christgau's January CG. The other two came in the mail well after I gave an A- to Bill Scorzari's The Crosswinds of Kansas (again, following up on a Christgau tip). Having the CDs helped, but only because the albums were so good in the first place. No idea how much more of this I'll bother with. I usually wait until the end of February to save off a "frozen" annual list, but my rated count this year is already up to 1549, which if not a personal record is pretty close. And I'm itching to move onto other things, so it's tempting to call it a year. Now, if only it'd warm up a bit. New records reviewed this week: 75 Dollar Bill: Singularity 06: Anchor Dragging Behind (2023, The State51 Conspiracy, EP): Guitarist Che Chen and percussionist Rick Brown, draw more on North Africa than on jazz in their instrumental pieces, of which this is one track, 18:42, pleasantly then intoxicatingly ambient. B+(***) [sp] Daniel Bachman: When the Roses Come Again (2023, Three Lobed): Guitarist, first albums self-released as Sacred Harp, and under his own name since 2011, started out in the American primitive school but has added a drone dimension. B+(*) [sp] Black Belt Eagle Scout: The Land, the Water, the Sky (2023, Saddle Creek): Alias for Katherine Paul, a "Swinomish/Iñupiaq singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Portland, Oregon." Sounds like a bon bon dipped in shoegaze. B+(**) [sp] Blockhead: The Aux (2023, Backwoodz Studioz): New York hip-hop producer Tony Simon, has a couple dozen albums since 2001, more production credits. Fifteen tracks here, features start with Billy Woods, Navy Blue, Quelle Chris, Aesop Rock, Koreatown Oddity, Open Mike Eagle. B+(***) [sp] Frank Carlberg Large Ensemble: Elegy for Thelonious (2022 [2024], Sunnyside): The leader claims "all compositions and re-compositions," the latter producing titles like "Wrinkle on Trinkle." An impressive piece of work, the orchestrations complex and occasionally striking, the vocal bits unnecessary fluff but fleeting. Feels like a major bid for the high ground in seriously serious music. But while multiple plays didn't increase my irritation, they did leave me uninterested. B+(**) [sp] [03-08] CASisDEAD: Famous Last Words (2023, XL): British grime rapper, started as Castro Saint, first studio album after a decade of singles, EPs and mixtapes. Some confusion over caps, which I could do without. Attractive groove album. B+(**) [sp] Cat Clyde: Down Rounder (2023, Second Prize): Canadian singer-songwriter, fifth album since 2017. B+(*) [sp] CESVR/Fleevus/Febem: Brime! (2020 [2021], Butterz/Beatwise, EP): Title signifies Brazilian Grime, six song, 20:15 EP, various sources show different covers, labels, artist order, but same batch of songs, with only Cesar Pierri (CESVR, co-founder of Beatwise Recordings) seemingly well established. Does sound like UK grime, but in Portuguese, a bit less stiff, much as the concept promises. B+(***) [sp] CESVR/Fleezus/Febem: Brime! (Deluxe Edition) (2020-23 [2023], Butterz/Beatwise): Tacks on five extra tracks, total 39:15. More, but not much better. B+(***) [sp] Christine and the Queens: Paranoia, Angels, True Love (2023, Because Music): French singer-songwriter Héloïse Letissier, "assigned female at birth," fourth album since 2014, "the second part of an operatic gesture," the title a nod to Tony Kushner's Angels in America, running 96:49 over 3-LP. B [sp] The Rob Dixon/Steve Allee Quintet: Standards Deluxe (2023 [2024], self-released): Tenor/soprano saxophone and piano, quintet adds trumpet (Derrick Gardner), bass, and drums. Singer Amanda King joins for first six tracks, getting a feature credit on the cover, as does Gardner, for the back six (five Dixon pieces, but a reprise of the opener "Caravan." That gives us two rather distinct albums: a better-than-average standards showcase (mostly because the songs are so sure-fire), and an upbeat and rather luxe postbop combo set. B+(**) [cd] [02-01] Jason Eady: Mississippi (2023, Old Guitar): Country singer-songwriter, originally from Mississippi, based in Texas, ten albums since 2005, in a steady, low-key career. B+(**) [sp] Easy Star All-Stars: Ziggy Stardub (2023, Easy Star): New York-based reggae collective/label, active since 1997. First one I've heard, but title (and cover) should have been a giveaway, as is a back catalog of Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodread, Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band, and Easy Star's Thrillah. So, a slightly amusing covers band? B- [sp] Mayer Hawthorne: For All Time (2023, P&L): Soul/funk singer-songwriter Andrew Cohen, took his middle name and added the street he grew up on, debut 2009. [sp] Anna Hillburg: Tired Girls (2023, Speakeasy Studios): Bay Area singer-songwriter, third album, has a nice flow. B+(*) [sp] Hope D: Clash of the Substance (2023, self-released): Indie band from Australia, or maybe just short for Hope Defteros. First album, rather catchy. B+(**) [sp] Hozier: Unreal Unearth (2023, Island): Irish singer-songwriter Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, third album since 2014. Seems like a good guy, with grand ambitions both musical and lyrical. Perhaps a little too grand, for my taste. B+(**) [sp] Mon Laferte: Autopoiética (2023, Universal Music Mexico): Singer-songwriter from Chile, based in Mexico, ninth studio album since 2011. This has some remarkable parts, mixed up in a pastiche that I can't begin to comprehend, but only start to doubt with the terminal dirge. But is that really the end? A- [sp] David Larsen: The Peplowski Project (2022 [2023], self-released): Saxophonist, from Spokane, several albums since 2019, credits scarce but cover photo shows him with a baritone, and Discogs photo adds a tenor (also note a previous album called The Mulligan Chronicles). Ken Peplowski plays clarinet, and suggested some Al Cohn tunes. B+(**) [sp] Gabe Lee: Drink the River (2023, Torrez Music Group): Nashville native, parents immigrants from Taiwan, fourth album since 2019. Anyone who doubts the power of the American melting pot is in for an object lesson here. A- [sp] Jim Legxacy: Homeless N*gga Pop Music (2023, (!)): Debut mixtape, from the London-based rapper/singer/producer. B [sp] Carin León: Colmillo De Leche (2023, Socios/Oplaai): Mexican singer-songwriter, plays guitar, third studio album since 2019, many more live albums. His style depends on you understanding the words, but even if you don't, he makes it clear that he does. B+(**) [sp] Nils Lofgren: Mountains (2023, Cattle Track Road): Debut at 20 as leader of Grin, one of the better country-rock outfits of the early 1970s, followed by an acclaimed eponymous solo album in 1975. I rated those highly, but didn't file any more of his solo albums until 2019 -- with no gap more than five years, looks like I skipped 25. Meanwhile, he played with Crazy Horse/Neil Young, and since 1986 with Bruce Springsteen. This sounds promising for a while, then runs low. B [yt] Machine Girl: Neon White Soundtrack Part 1: The Wicked Heart (2022, self-released): Electronica duo, Matt Stephenson and Sean Kelly, discography starts in 2012, with a debut album in 2014. As Neon White is some kind of video game, the music is designed not for dance but for speedrunning, giving it a cartoonish air, that can be extended indefinitely. This one proved the point by hanging on to 83 minutes, and dropping a notch in the process. B+(**) [sp] Machine Girl: Neon White Soundtrack Part 2: The Burn That Cures (2022, self-released): Of course, there's more: 33 more tracks, 66 minutes. B+(*) [sp] Melenas: Ahora (2023, Trouble in Mind): Spanish indie rock band, from Pamplona, third album since 2017, keyboard thick. B+(**) [sp] Memphis LK: Too Much Fun (2023, Dot Dash, EP): Melbourne, Australia DJ/producer/vocalist Memphis Kelly, Paul Kelly's daughter, several albums and more EPs since 2019. Five tracks, 14:01. Fun, but not too much. B+(**) [sp] Memphis LK: True Love and Its Consequences (2023, Dot Dash, EP): More fun, or maybe just faster beats. Five songs, 13:16. B+(***) [sp] Hailu Mergia: Pioneer Works Swing (Live) (2016 [2023], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Ethiopian keyboardist (also plays accordion and melodica), had a couple albums there before moving to America, where he drove a cab before (and probably well after) someone took an interest, reissuing old albums, adding new ones, setting up gigs like this one in Brooklyn. B+(**) [sp] Moka Only: In and of Itself (2023, Urbnet): Canadian rapper Daniel Denton, based in Vancouver, co-founder of Swollen Members, many albums since 1995. Easy underground beats. B+(***) [sp] The Mountain Goats: Jenny From Thebes (2023, Merge): Singer-songwriter John Darnielle, been at it a long time, reports are that this is a sequel to his 2002 All Hail West Texas and/or a "soft rock opera." Sounds like another batch of probably smart songs that skitter past too quickly for me to get a handle on, albeit with more ballast than usual in the background. B+(**) [sp] Nas: Magic 2 (2023, Mass Appeal): Rapper Nasir Jones, prolific since his 1994 Illmatic breakthrough, but seems like he's run dry on titles recently, since Nasir (in 2018) going with three volumes each of King's Disease and Magic. This one is strong, but short (31:54). B+(**) [sp] Nas: Magic 3 (2023, Mass Appeal): A third volume, following the 2021 EP and in short order after this year's Magic 2. Perhaps wrapping things up, this one runs a healthy 45:43. B+(**) [sp] The New Pornographers: Continue as a Guest (2023, Merge): Canadian indie group, debut 2000, with the departure of Dan Bejar the songwriting is down to Carl Newman, although singer Neko Case remains. B+(*) [sp] Nostalgia 77: The Loneliest Flower in the Village (2021 [2023], Jazzman): British jazz producer Benedic Lamdin, has nearly a dozen albums under this alias since 2004, not clear how nostalgic and/or jazzy they are, but this recalls the South Africans who were such a large part of British jazz in the 1970s. B+(**) [sp] Atle Nymo Trio: Circle Steps (2023, Arc): Norwegian tenor saxophonist, best known for the quintets I.P.A. (6 albums since 2009) and Chrome Hill (4 albums since 2008), also plays bass and contrabass clarinets, trio with bass (Mats Eilertsen) and drums (Michaela Antalová). B+(**) [sp] Joell Ortiz & L'Orange: Signature (2023, Mello Music): Brooklyn rapper, debut was The Brick: Bodega Chronicles in 2007, had his biggest success with Slaughterhouse. With producer Austin Hart, who usually works with underground rappers, whereas Ortiz is closer to gangsta (but getting out). B+(*) [sp] Pest Control: Don't Test the Pest (2023, Quality Control HQ): British punk/thrash metal/hardcore group, from Leeds, first album. Tolerable enough. B+(*) [sp] Sara Petite: The Empress (2023, Forty Below): Country singer-songwriter, from rural Washington via San Diego, seventh album since 2006, promises "the intersection of country twang and roots-rock bang." Delivers too, with an embrace of low-life and high-times. A- [sp] Pipe: Pipe (2023, Third Uncle): Punk/hardcore band from North Carolina, three albums 1994-97, now a fourth 26 years later. They describe it as "a scorching new album and a lament for affordable living." I put it on, stopped it after 20 seconds to ask whether I wanted to bother with this, then decided against trying to pick something else, and wound up glad I heard it through. B+(**) [sp] Andy Pratt: Trio (2023 [2024], Thrift Girl): Jazz guitarist, plays standards with some retro swing and Perez Prado to spice up the rhythm, sings some, can't quite cut it as a crooner but tries to slip by with a grin. Name threw me at first, reminding me of a much-hyped singer-songwriter from 1973, still active at least through 2015. B+(*) [cd] Prince Kaybee: Gemini (2022, self-released): South African house producer, I know very little about him, but this long (15 songs, 76 minutes) set has been identified as his fifth album. B+(**) [sp] Queens of the Stone Age: In Times New Roman . . . (2023, Matador): Rock band from Seattle, tempted me 25 years ago but proved too hard and too dull to sustain interest. I wouldn't bother now, but as of this writing, they're the top-rated unheard album in my EOY aggregate (71, but in AOTY's more metal-friendly aggregate they only rise to 64; second on my list is Hozier at 94, or 52 at AOTY). Not so heavy after all, but not much good either. B- [sp] Reneé Rapp: Snow Angel (2023, Interscope): American pop singer-songwriter and actress, first album (not counting a 2022 EP which expanded to 24:48 on a "Deluxe Edition"), songs co-written by guitarist Alexander Glantz, and often others. B [sp] Jason Rebello/Tim Garland: Life to Life (2022 [2023], Whirlwind): British piano and sax duo, the latter playing tenor, soprano, sopranino, and bass clarinet, both composing (with covers of Chick Corea and trad). B+(**) [sp] Ishmael Reed/West Coast Blues Caravan of All Stars: Blues Lyrics by Ishmael Reed (2023, Reading Group): Spoken word from the legendary novelist, backed by a band featuring David Murray (tenor sax) and Ronnie Stewart (guitar), with Art Halen (trombone), Gregory "Gman" Simmons (bass), Michael Robinson (keyboard), and Michael Skinner (drums). A- [bc] Seablite: Lemon Lights (2023, Mt. St. Mtn.): Indie pop band from San Francisco, second album, Wikipedia redirects to "Suaeda," a genus of seepweeds. B+(*) [sp] Caitlyn Smith: High & Low (2023, Monument): Country singer-songwriter, based in Nashville, third album. B+(*) [sp] Joe Stamm Band: Wild Man (2023, self-released): Country rock band, from Illinois, fourth album since 2018. B+(*) [sp] Willie Tea Taylor & the Fellership: The Great Western Hangover (2023, self-released): Alt-country singer-songwriter, from Oakdale, California, which claims to be the "cowboy capital of the world." B+(**) [sp] Tele Novella: Poet's Tooth (2023, Kill Rock Stars): Texas-based "indie psych" band, principally Natalie Ribbons and Jason Chronis, third album. B+(*) [sp] Hank Williams IV: Honky Tonk Habit (2023, Lone Star Reserve, EP): Original name Ricky Fitzgerald, his claim to great-grandson status follows the assertion that Lewis Fitzgerald was Hank's illegitimate son (b. 1943, when Hank would have been about 19). So not as clear as Coleman Williams (dba IV), who goes back through his father Shelton Williams (aka Hank III) and Hank Jr., who was three when his already-estranged father died. Still, he does a fair approximation of the voice, and his "Hank Williams Ghost" is an inspired, touching, and pathetic reprisal of "Living Proof." Five songs, 16:39. B+(*) [sp] Jaime Wyatt: Feel Good (2023, New West): Country singer-songwriter, second album. B [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Ary Lobo: Ary Lobo 1958-1966 [Limited Dance Edition No. 19] (1958-66 [2023], Analog Africa): Brazilian singer, from Belém in the northeast (1930-80), this picks up 15 early recordings, more upbeat and salsa-like than the samba and bossa nova that was becoming popular at the time. B+(***) [bc] Oscar Peterson: Con Alma: Live in Lugano, 1964 (1964 [2023], Mack Avenue): More from the Trio, with Ray Brown (bass) and Ed Thigpen (drums). B+(**) [sp] Yo! Boombox: Early Independent Hip Holp, Electro and Disco Rap, 1979-83 (1979-83 [2023], Soul Jazz): Only groups here I recognize are Funky Four Plus One More and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, but twelve others cop the same funky beats with the same sea-sawing round of vocals, all in long, 12-inch versions that take 14 songs to 101 minutes. B+(***) [sp] Old music: Native Soul: Teenage Dreams (2021, Awesome Tapes From Africa): South African duo, teens, programming amapiano beats that keep coming at you like game music, twelve pieces, 82 minutes. Christgau added Amapiano to the title, but I'm not seeing any hint of that on the cover scans. A- [sp] Bill Scorzari: Through These Waves (2016, self-released): Singer-songwriter from New York, turned from law to music after his father ("a preeminent New York Trial Attorney") passed. Second album (but first of three he sent me). Vocals sound like Dylan at first, but give him time and they're soon his own, as are the stories and views. A- [cd] Bill Scorzari: Now I'm Free (2019, self-released): Third album. Long, songs mostly about relationships, considered and carefully assembled, especially the long "Yes I Can." Took me quite some while, but may be his best. A- [cd] Bill Scorzari: Just the Same (2015, self-released): First album, last heard. He's got his basic sound, some harmonica, some songs that ramble but don't stick with you. B+(*) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Sunday, January 7, 2024 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41584 [41531] rated (+53), 23 [21] unrated (+2). Back on regular schedule after the holiday calendar confusion. The 18th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll came out quickly on January 2. Article links at ArtsFuse:
The complete results and all 159 ballots are on my Jazz Poll Website. After the fact, and not as part of the package, I wrote up a little Music Week: Jazz Poll blog piece. I offer a little bit of analysis there, not so much about the winning records but of the process of putting the Poll together. Obviously, I could have written a lot more, but I was frustrated by the lack of analysis tools. [PS: One mistake in that piece was citing Pyroclastic when I meant Tao Forms, for James Brandon Lewis's label. Both are small, artist-owned labels that extend significantly beyond their owner's albums, and in our Poll punch way over weight. Pyroclastic, whose ace publicist is Braithwaite & Katz, has 16 albums by 10 artists in our top-fifties. Tao Forms has 5 top-fifties by 3 artists, with two wins.] But one bit of data I did manage to include is a list of albums that made my Jazz A-list (80 new and 22 old albums) but didn't show up on any of the voters' ballots: 16 new and 3 old. On the other hand, I calculated that, even after enjoying the advantage of seeing voters' ballots weeks in advance of their publication, and having logged grades for 865 jazz albums this year, I still hadn't heard 34% of the 535 new albums that got votes, or 39.8% of the old. If/when I get time, I'd like to do some more analysis of the data. And, of course, I'd like to see what other people can do in terms of analyzing the data. At some point I hope to collect some of the mail and discussion based on the Poll. One thing I can point you to now is a Facebook post by Matt Merewitz (the publicist for the winning album), which I also collected notes from in my notebook. Several people have offered to help, which I much appreciate -- although I haven't had time yet to figure out what help I most need. At this point, the things that would be most useful for me are to take a critical look at the website, especially the early years, and note where information needs to be improved (or in some cases, provided in the first place). Also, send me questions. I started to write a FAQ file, but it's always harder to think of questions than it is to answer them. I'm usually pretty diligent about working off assigned tasks, but I tend to flounder when I have to figure out what to do myself. One thing I want to do more of is to compare our Poll against others. I haven't added much jazz data to my ever-growing EOY aggregate file, but will try to remedy that next week. In particular, I should then be able to generate a list of albums that appeared on other jazz lists but not on our ballots. Meanwhile, one poll I want to mention here is one just published this week by the Spanish jazz magazine, El Intruso (which I voted in). Short on albums, with only a top five, and long on categories (instruments, groups, functions -- for them, with no pretense of significance, I just pick a few names off the top of my head, figuring they deserve mention, but of course so do many others). The top six albums (our finish in brackets):
I often tack my grades onto lists like this one, but the only one here that didn't make my A-list was Jaimie Branch's, after two previous ones that did (perhaps one I should revisit?). Their poll tilts more toward European artists (two in the top six; the same two finished highest among Europeans in our poll, but at 19 and 24). That's no surprise, given that our share of American voters is still up around 80%, where theirs is a bit less than 40% (still a pretty large bloc). They also lean slightly more avant, although I can't say how much of that has to do with nationality as opposed to taste and interest. Of El Intruso's 62 voters, 31 also voted in our poll; 7 more were invited but didn't respond; leaving 24 not invited (some I knew the names of but hadn't gotten around to vetting, and probably didn't have email for, plus a few more I wasn't even aware of). Given that their ballots and credentials are included in the poll, I should have studied harder. I mentioned the EOY Aggregate file above. I've been trying to add specialized lists for hip-hop into it, as those records seem to be especially underrepresented in the lists collected by outfits like Album of the Year. By far the most useful list I've found is HHGA's The Best Hip Hop Albums of 2023. That send me looking for more than a dozen albums I was previously unaware of, eight of which I wound up adding to my Non-Jazz A-List just this week (stretching it out to 68 albums, still well short of the 80 on the Jazz A-List. Although it seems like list-making season should be over now, there are still a lot of lists I haven't gotten to (current total: 238; last year: 565). No chance I will come close to 2022, but I have yet to factor in the Jazz Critics Poll (aggregate and most individual ballots), and while I've picked up some ballots from PJRP on the fly, I haven't yet made a systematic trawl through their feed. I also haven't counted sources like Ye Wei Blog, or Saving Country Music. Nor have I looked through the many international lists at Acclaimed Music Forums. I haven't even glanced at Uncle Fester yet (and may not, given how metal-heavy his lists are). I'm torn right now because I have a lot of momentum toward wrapping up Music Year 2023, and readying the jazz poll for next year's round. On the other hand, I've resolved to spend the next month making a serious push toward writing the long-simmering political book. It's getting late to have any practical effect in 2024, and plenty of people will tell you that this is the year that will break democracy in America . . . if we don't rally and do lots of things to change people's minds. Those things seem clear enough in my mind to write without getting bogged down in research. So I figure I should give it a month, and see if what I come up with makes my friends think the effort is worth the trouble. I've been pacing myself with my weekly Speaking of Which posts -- the first under that name dating to June 18, 2021, the latest yesterday (110 of them, with 561,232 words, but there are more similar pieces going back to the early days of the notebook, the political pieces collected into four Last Days book files: 2000-09 (766k words), 2009-2013 (768k), 2013-2017 (675k), 2017-2020 (651k), so I can look back on 3.4 million words. Reducing them to 60k would be a daunting amount of work, but remembering enough basic ideas to rattle off 30k from the top of my head should be easy. From that point, I could use some help checking facts, adding fine points, and tightening up the prose a bit, but there's reason to think that help might not be too hard to come by. Getting the thing started is, and has always been, the problem. I won't start today, and I may not tomorrow -- it going to snow tonight, and I'm going to make meatloaf tomorrow -- plus I have some fairly urgent housekeeping chores I've been putting off. But sometime in the next week or so I am resolved to set out and start grinding down on it. One more pretty major correction: in my review of Don Fiorino/Andy Haas: The Accidentals (from Dec. 4, 2023) I wrongly assumed that Jay Dee Daugherty was the same person as the late Bush Tetras and Radio I-Ching drummer Dee Pop. Daugherty, who appeared with Fiorino and Haas at a tribute for Dee Pop (Dimitri Papadopoulos), is very much alive. New records reviewed this week: Alfa Mist: Variables (2023, Anti-): British nu jazz producer Alfa Sekitoleko, plays keyboards, fifth album since 2017. B+(*) [sp] Beneficence & Jazz Spastiks: Summer Night Sessions (2023, Ill Adrenaline): Rapper Rahim Muhammad, from New Jersey, eighth album since 2004, with earlier efforts going back to 1991. First I've heard from him, but he sounds familiar, reminding me of groups like Downtown Science and the Perceptionists. Jazz Spastiks is a group, based in Scotland, of jazz-oriented hip-hop beatmakers, with ten or so albums since 2010. They're terrific here. A [sp] Mykki Blanco: Postcards From Italia (2023, Transgressive, EP): Michael Quattlebaum, from Orange County, trans (gender, but everything is hard to pin down), started as a poet, then rapper, but sings here, six songs, 15:46. B+(*) [sp] Cautious Clay: Karpeh (2023, Blue Note): Singer-songwriter Joshua Karpeh, from Cleveland, studied jazz but leaned r&b on here is encouraged to explore those "jazz roots." He plays sax/reeds/flute, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, but gets help from label mates, like Immanuel Wilkins, Julian Lage, Joe Ross, and Ambrose Akinmusire. B+(*) [sp] Chembo Corniel Quintet: Artistas, Músicos y Poetas (2023, Chemboro): Puerto Rican percussionist, several albums since 2006, second Quintet, with "featuring" names on the front cover: Don Pancho Terry, Andrea Brachfeld, Felipe Luciano, and Ismael East Carlo -- but the quintet consists of Hery Paz (tenor sax/flute), Carlos Cuevas (piano/fender rhodes), Ian Stewart (electric bass), and Joel E. Mateo (drums). B+(***) [sp] Chino XL & Stu Bangas: God's Carpenter (2023, Brutal Music/1332): Rapper Derek Barbosa, released debut album in 1996, also has an acting career, working here with producer Stuart Hudgins. He's remarkably fast, not least because he has a lot to say, and the beats serve him well. A- [sp] Czarface: Czartificial Intelligence (2023, Silver Age/Virgin): Hip-hop "supergroup" -- Inspectah Deck, 7L, Esoteric -- twelfth album since 2013, all with comix covers and comic grooves, perpetual adolescence as proof of vitality: "better check your pulse if you don't feel it." A- [sp] Day Tripper: What a Day to Be Dead (2023, self-released): Atlanta rapper, originally from North Carolina, has several albums, one as far back as 2004 signed "DT & Osama." B+(**) [sp] Elzhi X Oh No: Heavy Vibrato (2023, Nature Sounds): Rapper Jason Powers, debut with Slum Village 2002, several solo albums since 2008. Oh No is Michael Jackson Woodrow, son of soul singer Otis Jackson and brother of Madlib/Quasimoto. Terrific flow here, lyrics dancing not just on the beats but surrounded by dazzle. A- [sp] Fatboi Sharif X Steel Tipped Dove: Decay (2023, Backwoodz Studioz): New Jersey rapper, third album, with producer Joseph Fusaro. B- [sp] Four Elements & Beyond: Clock the Chemistry (2023, Four Elements & Beyond): "Boom bap hip hop crew from New York," second album. B+(***) [sp] Derrick Gardner & the Jazz Prophets: Pan Africa (2022 [2023], Impact Jazz): Trumpet player, from Chicago, has several albums, brother is trombonist Vincent Gardner (plays here), with Robert Dixon (alto/tenor sax), George Caldwell (piano), Obasi Akoto (bass) and, most importantly, Kweku Sumbry (drums/African percussion). B+(***) [sp] Sam Gendel: Cookup (2023, Nonesuch): Saxophonist, offers "simultaneous synchronized sonic construction/deconstruction" of r&b/soul hits from 1992-2004, which is to say songs that I've probably heard but am unlikely to recall, especially toned down and flattened out like this. Includes one Meshell Ndegeocello vocal, in case radio needs something to fixate on. B [sp] Nabihah Iqbal: Dreamer (2023, Ninja Tune): British electronica producer, Pakistani descent, worked with Sophie as a singer, some vocals here, songs even. Second album, captivating. B+(***) [sp] Kid Abstrakt & Leo Low Pass: Still Dreaming (2023, Melting Pot Music): Los Angeles rapper, parents from Brazil and Nicaragua, a "young emcee with an old soul aims to give you nostalgic vibes and provide jazzy hip hop sounds," which he certainly does. The producer, from Amsterdam, helps out. A- [sp] King Kashmere X Alecs DeLarge: The Album to End All Alien Abductions (2023, High Focus): British rapper Obiesie Adibuah, aka Iguana Man, or some combination thereof. Debut EP 2002, this a double-LP (24 tracks, 58:43). B+(*) [sp] Kool Keith & Real Bad Man: Serpent (2023, Real Bad Man): Rapper Keith Thornton, started in 1984 with Ultramagnetic MCs, went solo in 1996 as Dr. Octagon, later as Dr. Dooom, Black Elvis, and most often as Kool Keith, with close to fifty albums so far. His producer here is Adam Weisman, who's grabbed co-credits since 2020 with Boldy James, Pink Siifu, Smoke DZA, and Blu. B+(***) [sp] Madlib/Meyhem Lauren/DJ Muggs: Champagne for Breakfast (2023, Soul Assassins): Producer Otis Jackson, rappers James Rencher and Lawrence Muggerud, all active more than 20 years, the latter since co-founding Cypress Hill in 1988. B+(***) [sp] Neak: Die Wurzel (2023, self-released): Chicago rapper, digs deep roots, all the way back to 1619. B+(**) [sp] Ivan Neville: Touch My Soul (2023, The Funk Garage): From New Orleans, "the greatest place on earth," second generation, son of Aaron Neville, joined his uncles in the Neville Brothers, cut a solo album in 1988, has a few more but this is the first since 2004. Agreeable funk sliding into ballad artistry. B+(**) [sp] Offset: Set It Off (2023, Motown): Rapper Kiari Kendrell Cephus, from Georgia, started in the group Migos, second solo album. Has a nice, steady flow. B+(*) [sp] Dolly Parton: Rockstar (2023, Butterfly/Big Machine): For those who still count, album number forty-nine, conceptual payback for getting elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, although we can argue whether it establishes her bona fides or makes a mockery of them. Thirty songs, 141:18, although there may be editions with more (or less?), six she had a hand in writing, the rest covers, many I never care to hear again -- some in any form, some in this one, although a few I can't help but find amusing (e.g., the 10:45 "Freebird"). None of which denies that in the most generic sense of the term, she's long been a rockstar. If she wasn't, she couldn't have begun to pull off this monstrosity. B [sp] Vinnie Paz: All Are Guests in the House of God (2023, Iron Tusk Music): Italian-born Philadelphia rapper Vicenzo Luvineri, started in Jedi Mind Tricks, solo debut EP 1996. B+(**) [sp] Prins Emanuel: Diagonal Musik II (2023, Music for Dreams): Swedish producer Emanuel Sundin, fourth album. B+(**) [sp] Purelink: Signs (2023, Peak Oil): Chicago-based electronica trio, very ambient. B+(*) [sp] Quantic: Dancing While Falling (2023, Play It Again Sam): English soul/funk musician/producer Will Holland, has operated under various aliases since 2001, but since moving to Colombia in 2007 has also released records as Combo Bárbaro, Los Miticos del Ritmo, and Ondatrópica, bringing some of the rhythm back here. B+(***) [sp] Raw Poetic: Away Back In (2023, Def Pressé): Rapper Jason Moore, from Virginia, several albums since 2014, most (like this one) with Damu the Fudgemunk, one with his uncle, Archie Shepp. B+(**) [sp] Recognize Ali: Back to Mecca II (2023, Greenfield Music): Ghanaian rapper Nii Ayitey Ajin Adamafio, has quite a few albums/mixtapes since 2014. B+(***) [sp] Jay Royale: Criminal Discourse (2023, self-released): Baltimore rapper Justin Johnson, part of Umbrella Collective, fourth album since 2015. B+(**) [sp] Shabazz Palaces: Robed in Rareness (2023, Sub Pop, EP): Hip-hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler, formerly of Digable Planets, albums since 2011. Seven tracks, 24:03. B+(*) [sp] Kavita Shah: Cape Verdean Blues (2023, Folkalist): Singer, at least per her degree, born in New York, parents Gujarati from Mumbai, majored in Latin American studies at Harvard and jazz voice at Manhattan School of Music (with Sheila Jordan); studied in Ecuador, Peru, China, and Brazil; "trained in styles ranging from opera to gospel to folk music in more than 20 languages." Subject here is Cesária Évora, and once again she is the perfect student. B+(***) [sp] Jae Skeese: Abolished Uncertainties (2023, Empire): Rapper from Buffalo, fourth album since 2020, tight with Conway the Machine, but this really gets interesting on the later guest shots -- Jillian Haynesworth on "Red Koolaid" over free jazz sax, and "1 of 1" with Kota Savia channeling Digable Planets. Loosens him up too. A- [sp] Jorja Smith: Falling or Flying (2023, FAMM): British singer-songwriter, father Jamaican, second album. B+(***) [sp] Cleo Sol: Heaven (2023, Forever Living Originals): British soul singer Cleopatra Nikolic, third solo album. B+(*) [sp] Cleo Sol: Gold (2023, Forever Living Originals): Fourth album, came out just two weeks after Heaven, and is a slightly more substantial effort (42:03 vs. 32:04), with slightly more Chic (or maybe just Sault?) reverberations. B+(**) [sp] Stik Figa X The Expert: Ritual (2023, Rucksack): Rapper John Westbrook, originally from Kansas but based in Fort Worth, Discogs style is "conscious," which I take to mean smart and coherent, which he most certainly is. The Expert is Irish hip-hop producer Cian Galvin, who earns his moniker. A- [sp] AJ Suede & Televangel: Parthian Shots (2023, Fake Four): Rapper from Seattle, debut 2015; Discogs lists several alias for the producer, including Ian Taggart. B+(*) [sp] Walter Wolfman Washington: Feel So at Home (2022 [2023], Tipitina's Record Club): Blues guitarist-singer from New Orleans, records start in 1981. Last record before he died in December 2022, feints toward easy listening until his guitar finds the right note. B+(*) [sp] Sam Wilkes: Driving (2023, Wilkes): Bassist, producer, has worked with saxophonist Sam Gendel, plays various instruments and sings some here. B+(*) [sp] Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 16: Phil Ranelin & Wendell Harrison (2023, Jazz Is Dead): Jazz didn't really die in the 1970s, but while Miles Davis and the fusioneers were filling arenas, and most of the real stuff went underground (mostly to be sustained on European labels), there were others struggling to maintain a populist connection, even if the business didn't validate them. The idea here is for the producers to seek out long-forgotten jazz-funk heroes and revive them with fresh grooves. The guests here were main guys in a protean Detroit group, the Tribe, playing trombone and tenor sax. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Cannonball Adderley Quintet: In Concert: Falkoner Centret, Copenhagen, Denmark, April 13, 1961 (1961 [2023], SteepleChase): Hard bop group, with brother Nat Adderley (trumpet), Victor Feldman (piano/vibes), Sam Jones (bass), and Louis Hayes (drums), playing a long set (8 songs, 4 by Feldman to 1 by the leader, 71:59). B+(***) [sp] Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (1957-1965) (1957-65 [2023], New Land): Jazz harpist (1932-86), probably the only one of note before recent years brought us Edmar Castañeda and Brandee Younger (sure, Alice Coltrane dabbled a bit). This box, which finished 7th in this year's Jazz Critics Poll, remasters her first six LPs on fresh vinyl. I can't speak to the sound quality, but having reviewed all of the albums (see below), I can say that the concept is more intriguing than the realization. B+(*) [r/yt] Danger Mouse & Jemini: Born Again (2003-04 [2023], Lex): Hip-hop producer Brian Burton and rapper Thomas Smith (also known as Jemini the Gifted One), released an album together as Ghetto Pop Life, then recorded this one, shelved until this release -- meanwhile, Danger Mouse achieved a measure of fame for his Beatles remix, The Gray Album. This really hops. A- [bc] Evan Parker: NYC 1978 (1978 [2023], Relative Pitch): British avant-saxophonist, first trip to America, six numbered pieces named for the venue (Environ), all solo, four on soprano, two on tenor. B+(***) [sp] Old music: Dorothy Ashby: The Jazz Harpist (1957, Regent): From Detroit (1932-86), started on piano but switched to harp by 1952, was the first jazz musician to establish herself on the instrument. First album, with Frank Wess (flute), Ed Thigpen (drums), and bass (Eddie Jones or Wendell Marshall). Aside from the occasional fancy frill, first thought is this could be guitar, so the real question may be how you feel about flute. B+(**) [yt] Dorothy Ashby With Frank Wess: Hip Harp (1958, Prestige): Their second harp and flute album, with Herman Wright on bass and Art Taylor on drums, playing three Ashby originals and four standards. Goes a bit soft. B [r] Dorothy Ashby and Frank Wess: In a Minor Groove (1958, New Jazz): Third album, Roy Haynes takes over drums, two originals to six covers. Very minor. B [r] Dorothy Ashby: Soft Winds: The Swinging Harp of Dorothy Ashby (1961, Jazzland): Fourth album, only one original ("With Strings Attached," which would be the title of her box), title from a Benny Goodman tune, backed by Terry Pollard (piano and vibes), Herman Wright (bass), and Jimmy Cobb (drums). B [yt] Dorothy Ashby: Dorothy Ashby (1962, Argo): Fifth album, first with just a trio, her harp with bass (Herman Wright) and drums (John Tooley). In some ways, the focus helps. B+(**) [yt] Dorothy Ashby: The Jazz Harpist (1957-62 [2012], Fresh Sound, 3CD): A remaster of her first five albums, which leaves it one short of the more recent (and much more expensive) With Strings Attached vinyl box. B+(*) [r/yt] Dorothy Ashby: The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby (1965, Atlantic): The first thing you notice here is a big improvement at bass, with Richard Davis taking over, although Willie Bobo adds some extra percussion. The trombones don't enter until the third track, and return for six (of ten) tracks. B+(*) [yt] Dorothy Ashby: Afro-Harping (1968, Cadet): With anonymous orchestra, "arranged and conducted by Richard Evans," who also wrote the "featuring" song on the cover, "Soul Vibrations." Evans seems to think that a little more groove will help, and it does, but only so much. B+(*) [sp] Dorothy Ashby: Dorothy's Harp (1969, Cadet): Richard Evans producing again, also wrote two pieces, as did the harpist, combined with seven covers that are light at best, or maybe the word I want is "treacly"? B- [sp] Dorothy Ashby: The Rubáiyát of Dorothy Ashby (1969-70 [1970], Cadet): "Original compositions in spired by the words of Omar Khayyam, arranged and conducted by Richard Evans." Ashby plays koto (pictured on the cover) as well as harp, and sings. This is supposed to be a pioneering world jazz album, but Davis keeps it a bit too pat. B [sp] Danger Mouse & Jemini: Ghetto Pop Life (2003, Lex): Rapper Thomas Smith had an EP in 1995, then this collaboration and its only-recently-released sequel, and that's about it -- while producer Brian Burton keeps recruiting new collaborators. This isn't quite as consistent as the sequel. B+(***) [sp] Grade (or other) changes:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Sunday, December 31, 2023 Music Week
Music: Current count 41531 [41474] rated (+57), 21 [21] unrated (+0). This usually comes out on Monday, but since I wanted to end the month and year properly, it's backdated to Sunday, December 31. Actually, most weeks end the night before I post, this six-day week is pretty close to being a seven-day one. The rated count reflects that. I've been burning through EOY lists at a fast clip. Indeed, all December has been a speed blur, averaging more than 50 records per week for five straight weeks. To help move this post up a day, I also posted Speaking of Which a day early. I threatened to add some late finds in an update today, and indeed have added a few (marked with a red right-border). Still, it's been impossible to write about recent news at much length. On the other hand, virtually everything I wrote about Israel and Gaza since Oct. 7 is still worth a read and thought. The 18th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll will be published in ArtsFuse later this week. I expect to send them two short essays tomorrow, one written by Davis, presenting the results. We also have this year's In Memoriam list more or less ready to go. It's sort of traditional, really going back to Robert Christgau's annual Pazz & Jop essays, to try to come up with a detailed analysis that lends an air of coherency and completeness to the year as summed up in a poll. But this has been a very frustrating, and a very puzzling, year, so it's been hard to reach clear, firm conclusions. Maybe a few weeks (or months) down the line, I'll gain enough perspective to venture more than wild guesses. But at least the website will make all of the totals available, and all of the 159 individual ballots that were submitted and compiled into the poll. One thing I do hope to do in the coming week is to add more explanation and more ways of viewing the data. I'll write more about that in coming days on the website, and in next week's Music Week, and possibly elsewhere. One more thing I hope is that many of the people who contributed to the poll will take a little extra time and spread the word around, and generate some buzz and discussion. Same for the people who so far are merely innocent bystanders, but who appreciate that the poll continues to exist and thrive. My lists are continually updated. I won't bother linking to them here (ok, here's an index), but they continue to grow the more I learn, and are invaluable tools in that learning. I haven't done all of my usual bookkeeping, but have at least set up the framework so that the next record I play goes into the January 2024 file. New records reviewed this week: Lina Allemano: Canons (2022 [2023], Lumo): Canadian trumpet player, wrote these pieces in canon form for "Trumpet and Creative Chamber Ensembles." Chamber seems to mean no rhythm to speak of, which mostly leaves you with trumpet tones. B+(*) [bc] Lina Allemano/Uwe Oberg/Matthias Bauer/Rudi Fischerlehner: SOG (2022 [2023], Creative Sources): Recorded in Berlin, which seems to be a second home for the Canadian trumpet player, backed here by piano, bass, and drums. The pianist is a major figure here. B+(***) [bc] Ray Anderson: Marching On: Solo Trombone (2022, Double Moon): Trombonist, a very busy guy from roughly 1980-2000, rarely heard from since. This is solo, nearly impossible to do well, but he's always been remarkably fast, and he understands as few others do the intrinsic humor of the instrument. B+(**) [sp] Ray Anderson & Bobby Previte: Double Trouble (2023, Double Moon): Trombone and drums duo, not sure how much they played together, but both recorded for Gramavision and Enja in the '80s and '90s, and both tended to go off the reservation, the drummer toward fusion, the trombonist avant-funk. B+(***) [sp] Jim Campilongo/Steve Cardenas: New Year (2023, Sunnyside): Guitar duo, former has a reputation for "roots rock," but is pretty demure here. B [sp] Laura Cantrell: Just Like a Rose: The Anniversary Sessions (2023, Propeller Sound): Nashville-born country singer-songwriter, now based in New York, recorded three promising albums 2000-05, this only her third since, coming nine years after No Way There From Here (her best). More solid songs here, especially "Holding You in My Heart," and a closer about "AWM." A- [sp] Ken Carson: A Great Chaos (2023, Opium/Interscope): Atlanta rapper, last name Frazier, third album since 2021, three more mixtapes. Trap beats, tight behind that. B+(**) [sp] The Cash Box Kings: Oscar's Motel (2023, Alligator): Founded in Wisconsin, a "Chicago-style blues band," led by Joe Nosek, with a steady stream of records since 2003 (this is number ten). Reminds me of Elvin Bishop, with less drawl and a bit less grin. B+(**) [sp] Crosslegged: Another Blue (2023, self-released): Singer-songwriter Keba Robinson, has a previous album. B+(*) [sp] Alabaster DePlume: Come With Fierce Grace (2023, International Anthem): British saxophonist Angus Fairbairn, spoken word poet who is singing more, eighth album since 2012. B+(**) [sp] DJ Maphorisa/Tman Xpress: Chukela (2023, New Money Gang): South African amapiano DJ Themba Sekowe, had a breakthrough album in 2019 with Scorpion Kings, with Kabza De Small (featured on the first track here). Don't know anything about Tman Xpress. Billed as an EP, but eight tracks, 48:46. B+(***) [sp] David Dove/Joe McPhee: Where's the Wine? (2023, C.I.A.): Houston trombonist, plays host to the avant sax/trumpet legend, with some spoken word, possibly (at least as far as the title line goes) just from the audience. Scattered, but some of this is very nice. B+(***) [bc] Silke Eberhard/Céline Voccia: Wild Knots (2021 [2023], Relative Pitch): Alto sax and piano duo. B+(**) [sp] The End: Why Do You Mourn (2021-22 [2023], Trost): I filed this free jazz/heavy metal under vocalist Sofia Jernberg, her soprano screech the icing on top of the sax and electronic squall of Mats Gustafsson and Kjetil Møster, steadied by the ponderous rhythms (Anders Hana on baritone and bass guitars, Børge Fjordheim on drums). But that's only the start, with much more weirdness to follow, including texts from Robert Creeley and Moki Cherry, and music from Sudan Archives. B+(**) [bc] Gunna: A Gift & a Curse (2023, YSL/300 Entertainment): Rapper Sergio Kitchens, from Georgia, released his first mixtape in 2013 as Yung Gunna, followed by several Drip Season mixtapes. Fourth studio album since 2019. B+(***) [sp] Kevin Hays/Ben Street/Billy Hart: Bridges (2023, Smoke Sessions): Piano/bass/drums trio, Hays has thirty or so albums since 1990, the others are either more- (Hart) or less- (Street) established veterans. B+(**) [sp] Headie One x K-Trap: Strength to Strength (2023, self-released): UK rapper Irving Adjei ("of Ghanaian origin"), has a half-dozen albums since 2017, with producer Devonte Perkins, first mixtape together. B+(**) [sp] Eric Hofbauer/The Five Agents: Waking Up! (2023, Creative Nation Music): Guitarist, debut 1998, impressed me early on with The Blueprint Project. This is his second Five Agents project, with Jerry Sabatini (trumpet), Seth Meicht (tenor sax), Tony Leva (bass), and Curt Newton (drums). Four titles concerned with the climate crisis, like "Nostalgia is a Form of Denial AKA the Polycrisis Blues." B+(***) [sp] Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements: Earthness (2023, Edition): Danish bassist, led the group Phronesis (eight albums 2007-18), has had several other groups -- Fellow Creatures (inspired by Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything) and Planet B. This is a trio with Noah Stoneman (piano) and Luca Caruso (drums). B+(***) [sp] Hotline TNT: Cartwheel (2023, Third Man): American shoegaze band, mostly a front for William Anderson, formerly of Weed. Second album. B+(*) [sp] Mick Jenkins: The Patience (2023, BMG): Rapper, born in Alabama but moved to Chicago as a child, released his first mixtape in 2012, album in 2016. B+(**) [sp] Arthur Kell Speculation Quartet: Live at Lunàtico (2022 [2023], Origin): Bassist, had a series of superb quartet albums 2005-12 but hadn't been heard from since, returns here with a new quartet, with two guitarists (Brad Shepik and Nate Radley) and drums (Allan Mednard). B+(***) [sp] Karina Kozhevnikova & Krugly Band: Polyphonic Circle (2022 [2023], Leo): Russian jazz singer, second album, Krugly Band is mostly the work of producer Alexey Kruglov, who plays alto sax. Between two Gershwin tunes and two Ornette Colemans, the repertoire focuses on bebop and vocalese, with plenty of spurious scat. I like the sax much more than the vocals, but I'm duly impressed by the singer anyway. B+(**) [bc] Alexey Kruglov: Synchronization of Time (2022, Leo): Russian alto saxophonist, large discography since 2002, including collaborations with two-thirds of the Ganelin Trio. Narration makes me nervous here, breaking up the occasionally remarkable but more often merely curious soundscape. B [bc] Lambrini Girls: You're Welcome (2023, Big Scary Monsters, EP): British punk band, from Brighton, six-track EP (16:25), although Discogs says there's a vinyl version with two extra live tracks ("Fuck Myself" and "Big Dick Energy"). B+(***) [sp] Janel Leppin: The Brink (2023, Shiny Boy Press): Cellist, solo here, holds your attention for eight tracks, 33:13. B+(*) [sp] Joe Locke: Makram (2021-22 [2023], Circle 9): Vibraphonist, many albums since 1987, starts with a quartet here -- Jim Ridl (piano/keyboards), Lorin Cohen (acoustic and electric bass), Samvel Sarkisyan (drums) -- and adds guests to cuts 2-5, going with oud and riq for the title track, brass for two, and reeds (Tim Garland) for the other. B+(*) [sp] Lage Lund Quartet: Most Peculiar (2022 [2023], Criss Cross): Norwegian guitarist, based in New York, dozen or so albums since 2006. Quartet with Sullivan Fortner (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), and Tyshawn Sorey (drums). B+(**) [sp] Maps: Counter Melodies (2023, Mute): British electronica producer James Chapman, sixth album since 2007, perhaps not as "counter" as he hoped. B+(*) [sp] MC Yallah: Yallah Beibe (2023, Hakuna Kulala): Ugandan rapper Yallah Gaudencia Mbidde, second album, cranks up the speed and intensity, even borrowing from the metal-fusion that has developed in and around Nyege Nyege Tapes. A- [sp] Lubomyr Melnyk: The Sacred Thousand (2022 [2023], Jeriska): Ukrainian pianist, lived in Paris in the 1970s, has albums back to 1979, mostly solo or duo piano, holds some kind of world speed record for "sustained speeds of over 19.5 notes per second in each hand." Two recordings of one composition here, 22:26 and 22:45, "dedicated to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who held out against the enormous Russian army for several weeks in the Azov Steel Plant of Mariupol." Tight rythmic patterns with cross-variations, not super fast but very steady. Minimalism and more. B+(***) [bc] Roscoe Mitchell Orchestra and Space Trio: At the Fault Zone Festival (2022 [2023], Wide Hive): Reeds player, past 80, best known for Art Ensemble of Chicago. Five pieces here, a varied program opening and closing with his Space Trio (bass sax, plus Scott Robinson on slide sax and vocalist Thomas Buckner), a trio with piano (Sarah Cahill) and violin (Kate Stenberg), and long pieces (12:34 + 28:52) for a full orchestra and chorus. All due respect, but I find the choral work pretty hard to take. C+ [sp] Paul Mottram: Seven Ages of Man (2023, Ubuntu Music): British composer, classical training, has done a lot of work for BBC series and specials, including the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Has a few albums, with titles like Solo Strings and Minimalism (two of each), but this suite built on top of a Shakespeare quote is exceptional. Front cover notes, rather off to the side from the artist/title block: "Jazz sextet and string orchestra featuring Tim Garland/Jason Rebello" (sax and piano). The strings are pretty conventional, but the sextet can (and often does) rise way above them. A- [sp] Tisziji Muñoz: Burning Down Hades (2023, Ra Kalam): Guitarist, born in New York, started as a drummer, many records since 1978. Also plays shenai, wood flute, and percussion here, with Yaka Don Pale (bass) and Ra Kalam Bob Moses (drums). B+(***) [sp] Marius Neset: Geyser: Live at Royal Albert Hall - BBC Proms (2022 [2023], ACT Music): Norwegian saxophonist, based in Copenhagen, regular albums since 2011, was commissioned to write this eight-part piece by BBC Proms, staging it live with the London Sinfonietta, conducted by Geoffrey Paterson, and his quintet, with Ivo Neame (piano), Jim Hart (vibes/marimba), bass, and drums. The strings are exceptionally lively, suggesting that the notion that classical music was once meant to be fun may have occasionally been true. The rest of the orchestra adds depth and color, leaving the serious soloing for Neame and Neset, who aim for rapture. A- Sam Newsome/Dave Liebman: Soprano-Logues (2021 [2023], Some New Music): Soprano sax duets, both started with other saxophones but have largely adopted the straight horn. Newsome's has some preparation. Liebman also credited with wooden flute and voice. B+(*) [sp] Sam Newsome & Jean-Michel Pilc: Cosmic Unconsciousness Unplugged (2022 [2023], Some New Music): Soprano sax and piano duo, some preparation to the sax, they have previous duo and trio albums together. Nice to hear some familiar standards in the rather austere mix here. B+(**) [bc] Pangaea: Changing Channels (2023, Hessle Audio): British techno producer Kevin McAuley, singles back to 2007 but only his second album. B+(***) [sp] Pizza Hotline: Level Select (2022 [2023], We Release Whatever the Fuck We Want): London-based electronica producer Harvey Jones, fourth album under this alias, also does business as El Choop (2 albums, 2016-19). Nine cuts, 47:22, at least for the edition I've listened to (looks like they vary). Beats really hit the spot for me. A- [sp] Polobi & the Gwo Ka Masters: Abri Cyclonique (2023, Real World): Singer Moïse Polobi, from Gaudeloupe in the former French Caribbean. B+(**) [sp] Amy Ray: If It All Goes South (2023, Daemon): Singer-songwriter, from Georgia, co-founded Indigo Girls in 1985, seventh solo album since 2001. Mixed bag of songs, but "A Mighty Thing" is a choice cut. B+(**) [sp] André Roligheten: Marbles (2022 [2023], Odin): Norwegian saxophonist (tenor/soprano/bass plus clarinet), has a couple previous albums (mostly in groups), This a quintet with pedal steel/guitar (Johan Lindström), vibes (Mattias Ståhl), bass (Jon Rune Strøm), and drums (Gard Nilssen). Has a delightfully upbeat, playful air. A- [sp] Kurt Rosenwinkel: Undercover: Live at the Village Vanguard (2023, Heartcore): Guitarist, originally from Philadelphia, played with Human Feel in the 1990s, own albums start in 1996, now based in Berlin. Quartet with Aaron Parks (piano), Eric Revis (bass) and Gregory Hutchinson (drums). B+(**) [sp] Scree: Jasmine on a Night in July (2023, Ruination): Brooklyn "experimental" trio: Ryan El-Solh (guitar/keybs), Carmen Rothwell (bass), Jason Burger (drums/kalimba) -- also credits producer Ari Chersky with "loops." Not much risk. B [sp] Titanic: Vidrio (2023, Unheard of Hope): Duo, based in Mexico City, of Héctor Tosta (as I. La Católica, piano/guitar) and Mabe Fratti (cello/vocals), with help on sax (Jarrett Gilgore) and drums (Gibran Andrade). B+(**) [sp] Lucinda Williams: Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart (2023, Highway 20): After sounding pretty ragged for several albums, here she struggles to recover from a pretty severe stroke, and comes out sounding remarkably centered. A- [yt] WILSN: Those Days Are Over (2023, Ivy League): Australian, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Shannon Busch, first album, after a 2019 EP, both voice and arrangements aimed squarely at Aretha Franklin, which isn't quite as ridiculous as you'd think. B+(***) [sp] Libby York: Dreamland (2021 [2023], OA2): Jazz singer, several albums since 2003. Very low key here, backed minimally by guitar (Randy Napoleon) and bass (Rodney Whitaker), with a bit of drums on three tracks. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Albert Ayler Trio: 1964 Prophecy Revisited (1964 [2023], Ezz-Thetics): Tenor sax trio, with Gary Peacock (bass) and Sunny Murray (drums). First five tracks (40:32), a live set a month before Spiritual Unity was recorded, were first released on ESP-Disk' in 1975. This adds five more tracks (35:58) from the same trio, dates unclear. B+(**) [bc] Albert Ayler: Summertime to Spiritual Unity Revisited (1964 [2023], Ezz-Thetics): Spiritual Unity, the trio album on ESP-Disk with Gary Peacock (bass) and Sunny Murray (drums), is Ayler's masterpiece, so it's tempting to say just leave it at that. This prepends two tracks from a Danish set that was later released as My Name Is Albert Ayler: a 8:46 "Summertime" and a 12:06 "C.T." Not especially great versions, but I guess they do set you up. A- [bc] Albert Ayler Quartets 1964: Spirits to Ghosts Revisited (1964 [2023], Ezz-Thetics): Two albums originally released on Debut, quartets with trumpet (Norman Howard or Don Cherry), various bassists, and Sunny Murray (drums), from Feb. 24 and Sept. 14. Spirits is an album I know as Witches & Devils, the title used by Arista/Freedom for their 1975 reissue (my personal introduction to Ayler). It is typical of Ayler's playful gospel-based chaos, and gets a bit of boost in the later album, Ghosts. B+(***) [bc] Albert Ayler: 1965: Spirits Rejoice & Bells Revisited (1965 [2023], Ezz-Thetics): Sensibly combines two ESP-Disk releases, the live set from Judson Hall (Spirits Rejoice, 32:53) with Charles Tyler (alto sax) and two bassists (Henry Grimes and Gary Peacock), and the half-album Bells (19:50, originally issued as a one-sided LP). B+(***) [bc] Albert Ayler Quintet: Lost Performances 1966 Revisited (1966 [2023], Ezz-Thetics): "From the Filmproduction in Munich & The Concerts Of Rotterdam & Helsinki." While most of the label's "Revisited" series have been pulled from Bandcamp -- more evidence of how US copyright laws are meant to keep you in the dark -- their project to release every scrap Ayler ever recorded is still on track, probably because these, at least, have been cleared by the Estate of Albert Ayler. Quintet with Don Ayler (trumpet), Michel Samson (violin), William Folwell (bass), and Beaver Harris (drums), from their much-bootlegged European tour. The first three studio tracks from Munich are magnificent. The live shots are a bit more ragged, but convey the excitement, and the uniqueness of the violin. A- [bc] Albert Ayler: More Lost Performances Revisited (1962-67 [2023], Ezz-Thetics): Three quintet tracks (22:14) from Newport Festival 1967, one 6:24 medley ("Love Cry/Truth Is Marching In/Our Prayer") from the John Coltrane Funeral (1967), and most importantly, a long 1962 Copenhagen piece, 21:27 with the Cecil Taylor Trio (piano extraordinaire, with Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Sunny Murray on drums). A- [bc] Miles Davis: Turnaround: Rare Miles From the Complete On the Corner Sessions (1972-73 [2023], Columbia/Legacy): One of those Record Store Day specials, easy enough to pull stray cuts from a 6-CD box and press them into blue vinyl. For reference, I have the original album, recorded in three sessions in June-July 1972, as a high B+, but gave the box, which adds sessions up to May 1975, at a generous and probably overwhelmed A-. This kicks off with a subdued outtake from the first session, then adds three slightly later tracks, closing strong with a July 1973 "Big Fun/Holly-wuud." This is all fairly typical of the period, of which we have much to choose from. B+(***) [sp] Phineas Newborn Jr.: A World of Piano! (1961 [2023], Craft): Memphis pianist (1931-89), father was a blues drummer, brother a jazz guitarist, played with B.B. King, and supported r&b acts recorded at Sun Records, before his debut as a jazz pianist in 1956. This is the first of several records for Contemporary, trios with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones on the first half, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes on the second. B+(***) [sp] Stanley Turrentine: Mr. Natural (1964 [2023], Blue Note): Tenor saxophonist, backed by McCoy Tyner (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums), joined by Lee Morgan (trumpet) on four (of five) tracks, and Ray Barretto (conga) on three. Shelved at the time, finally released in a 1980 closet dump, and finally resurrected in the label's fancy vinyl (Tone Poet) series. B+(**) [sp] Old music: André Roligheten: Homegrown (2016 [2017], Clean Feed): Norwegian tenor saxophonist (also soprano, bass clarinet), first album, after side credits back to 2009. With Adrian Loseth Waade (violin), Jon Rune Strøm (bass), and Erik Nylander (drums), playing severn originals and an Ornette Coleman. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week: None. Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, December 25, 2023 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41474 [41422] rated (+52), 21 [21] unrated (+0). The final number of voters in the 18th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll is 159. It took quite a bit of last-minute hustling to reverse what initially looked like a small decline and turn it into a record turnout. Next thing I have to do is to write an essay to introduce that data, and try to make some sense out of it. As usual, I keep stewing on it, leaving me little option but to panic tonight or (more likely, and more panicky) tomorrow. I do have last year's essay, which looks like it might be reusable as a template. I also have last year's other piece, with tables of past winners and a memoir/history of the Poll. We also usually do an In Memoriam, which I've barely started, but Andrey Henkin's Jazz Passings website already has much more than I need. I need to get all the writing done by the end of the week, plus clean up some details on the Poll website, so ArtsFuse can publish the results the following week (January 1-5). Results and ballots won't be available there until ArtsFuse is set to go, but the rest of the material is available for anyone who wants to take a peek. I'd appreciate the extra eyes, especially if you catch mistakes or have suggestions to make things clearer or more useful. I started collecting a few notes on EOY lists, before realizing that I don't have time for such indulgences right now. (Maybe after the 1st?) But here's what I had:
For my lists, I'll just refer you to the index. I'm continuing to update them as I find and hear more. This week's haul is, for once, mostly non-jazz. But I started off the week by exploring Joe Bebco's jazz ballot. Bebco is editor of The Syncopated Times, which is about the only outlet covering trad and swing jazz these days (or "real jazz," as I like to call it). Two of his records hit my A-list, and many more came close. Despite everything, I managed to scratch out another abbreviated Speaking of Which yesterday. It left me in a very bad mood, especially as I ponder the relationship between the year in jazz and the year in everything else. There is much to be said for listening -- to jazz, of course, or to pretty much any kind of music, which continues to evolve in humane ways that enhance thought, reflection, and/or body movement. One might also note that even if the business seems increasingly perilous, that isn't stopping people from making music and enjoying it. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this, but I while I usually end months on the last Monday, I like to extend the last week of December to the end of the month, so the year ends per the calendar. In this case, that means next Sunday (Dec. 31). I didn't want to hold this post back until then, so I'll probably just declare next week over a day early. At any rate, this week isn't end-of-month. New records reviewed this week: A.S.O.: A.S.O. (2023, Low Lying): Berlin-based duo, initials (they prefer lc but I don't) for singer Alia Seror-O'Neill, cover photo includes producer Lewie Day (looking askance), first album, easily tagged trip hop, but much more than just another example. A- [sp] Actress: LXXXVIII (2023, Ninja Tune): British electronica producer Darren Cunningham, tenth album since 2008. B+(**) [sp] Aluna: Mycelium (2023, Mad Decent): British dance-pop singer-songwriter, recorded a couple albums with producer George Reid as AlunaGeorge, released a good solo album in 2020 (Renaissance), tops that here. A- [sp] Avelino: God Save the Streets (2023, More Music/OddChild Music): London-based rapper, first album, claims the country from the streets up. B+(**) [sp] Baby Queen: Quarter Life Crisis (2023, Polydor): Pop singer-songwriter Arabella Latham, from South Africa, headed to London at 18 with 40 demo CDs, took her six years to get a contract and an EP, follows up here with her first proper album, then doubles down with a "Deluxe edition" (9 extra songs, a second disc adding up to 73:20). A- [sp] David Bandrowski & the Rhumba Defense: French Onion Superman (2021 [2022], self-released): New Orleans banjo player, band includes trumpet (Mark Braud), clarinet (Tom Fischer), trombone (Charlie Halloran), bass, and drums. Covers include "Johnny Too Bad" and "Dippermouth Blues," and sure, they're liable to slip into rhumba at any time, even when it seems least appropriate. B+(**) [sp] McKendrick Bearden: Bright as the Mines Out (2023, self-released): Singer-songwriter from somewhere South, that doesn't automatically signify country, had a group called Mothers, also a side-credit with Faye Webster, before this debut. B+(*) [sp] Benny Benack III: Third Time's the Charm (2023, La Reserve/Bandstand Presents): Singing trumpet player, third album, mostly standards, pianist Emmet Cohen is outstanding with several big solos, guitarist Peter Bernstein appears on a few cuts. A highlight is the duet with Bria Skonberg (she's another singing trumpet player) on "In a Mellotone." B+(**) [sp] Cigar Box Serenaders: Spasm (2022 [2023], self-released): New Orleans jazz primitives, eponymous debut in 2018, all play homemade instruments: from cigar boxes for the banjo, guitar, resonator, and violin; plus a "dresser drawer bass" and "wine box drum set," with Sarah Peterson vocals on three tracks (including a "Don't You Feel My Leg." B+(**) [sp] Jessi Colter: Edge of Forever (2023, Appalachia): Country singer, was married to Duane Eddy (1961-68) before her more famous union with Waylon Jennings (1969 to his death in 2002). Her debut album came out in 1970, with a second in 1975, but she got much more recognition for 1976's Wanted! The Outlaws, with Willie Nelson headlining. The records spaced out after 1984. This one sees her turning 80, produced by Margo Price, and mixed by her son, Shooter Jennings. B+(**) [sp] Dan Ex Machina: Ex's Sexts (2023, self-released): As a rock critic, Dan Weiss has such widely varied taste that I keep expecting his records so develop an eclectic (if quirky) syncretism, but here, especially, he falls back on punk, not as a formalist, but maybe just because he has a lot of anger to work out, or maybe his guitar has a mind of its own. Note that Spotify has a 10:26 title song not on Bandcamp. Lyric I noted: "I want to use my fucking power to destroy the more powerful." A- [sp] Mick Flannery: Goodtime Charlie (2023, Oh Boy): Irish singer-songwriter, eighth album since 2005. B [sp] Frog & Henry: England & Italy: 2020-2022 (2020-22 [2022], self-released): New Orleans trad group, "string and brass band," six albums since 2017 on their Bandcamp, the second namechecking spots in or near Europe. B+(**) [bc] The Garden of Joy: Bouncin' Around (2022 [2023], self-released): Another New Orleans trad-jazz (I'm tempted to say folk-jazz) group, promising much in their titles, and mostly delivering. Hunter Burgamy (guitar/banjo/vocals) seems to be the main guy here, with others coming and going. B+(**) [sp] Hannah Gill: Everybody Loves a Lover (2023, Turtle Bay): Jazz singer, 25, based in New York, first album (unless she recorded something as Hanna Gill and the Hours: Wikipedia has an entry for the group, suggesting she did, but Discogs doesn't list anything). Eleven standards from the 1920s through the 1950s, with a swing band led by Danny Jonokuchi (trumpet), with sax, trombone, piano, guitar, bass and drums. The upbeat pieces are really up. B+(***) [sp] Charlie Halloran and the Tropicales: Shake the Rum (2023, self-released): New Orleans trombonist, shows up in a number of trad jazz outfits, draws on all around the Caribbean for this ("calypsos, biguines and waltzes"). B+(***) [bc] Charlie & the Tropicales: Presents for Everyone! (2023, self-released): Charlie, of course, is trombonist Halloran, from New Orleans, well-positioned to catch whatever blows up from the Caribbean. I hate Christmas music, but this promised to be a bit different, with few obvious standards, and calypsos to open and close ("Party for Santa Claus" and "Postcard to Sparrow"). B+(**) [bc] Jaimee Harris: Boomerang Town (2023, Thirty Tigers): Austin-based singer-songwriter, second album. Slow to slower, gloomy till it doesn't matter any more, which helps. B+(**) [sp] Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr.: Congo Square Suite (2023, Truth Revolution): Alto saxophonist, born into New Orleans Indian royalty, where his father and namesake was a Big Chief, but this is the first time he's adopted the title (although he did don the regalia for the cover of his 1992 Indian Blues). Serious about the "suite" here, with his quartet giving way to a classical orchestra. Bottom line: the orchestral stuff (most of it) is, ugh, patently classical (if a bit on the grand side); the quartet, when they get a chance to play, is pretty good. B [sp] Malcolm Holcombe: Bits & Pieces (2023, Singular): Singer-songwriter from North Carolina, plays guitar, 18th album since 1994. B+(***) [sp] Ice Spice: Like . . ? [Deluxe] (2023, 10K Projects/Capitol, EP): Bronx rapper Isis Naija Gaston, produced a six-song, 13:08 EP under this title back in January, reissued in April with a seventh song, now reissued again, this time packed with eleven songs (including two takes of "Princess Diana"), but still only 22:07. The extra heft helps, giving time to let the clipped beats and words find their own magic. A- [sp] Wata Igarashi: Agartha (2023, Kompakt): Japanese techo producer, fifth album since 2012. B+(**) [sp] King Krule: Space Heavy (2023, XL/Matador): English singer-songwriter Archy Marshall, relased one album under that name, four more under this alias. B+(*) [sp] MJ Lenderman and the Wind: Live and Loose! (2023, Anti-): Singer-songwriter from North Carolina, initials for Mark Jacob, has been slotted country but rocks pretty hard here, but so does that other band he plays in, Wednesday. B+(**) [sp] Man on Man: Provincetown (2023, Polyvinyl): Roddy Bottum, played keyboards in Faith No More and guitar in Imperial Teen, formed this duo with boyfriend Joey Holman and released an eponymous album in 2021, back with a second album that's pretty explicit. They go for an '80s new wave sound, a bit on the heavy side. B+(***) [sp] Rainy Miller/Space Afrika: A Grisaille Wedding (2023, Fixed Abode): British singer-songwriter, produces brooding electronica, with occasional breaks and asides. Space Afrika is a Manchester-based duo, and several pieces have featured guests. B [sp] Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday 2 (2023, Young Money/Republic): Fifth studio album, resurrects the title of her triple-platinum 2010 debut (and her 2012 sequel, and mostly her 2014 follow up). Big-time operation, lots of writers and producers and some no-doubt-pricey samples, the basic digital edition running 22 tracks, 70:14, with four other variations (mostly bonus cuts, but also a 10-track, 32:05 "physical" -- which may solve the overkill problem, but probably doesn't). Still, much more idiosyncratic than expected, not least when she leans into those Trinidadian roots. B+(***) [sp] The New Wonders: The New Wonders (2023, Turtle Bay): New York-based trad jazz band, led by Mike Davis (cornet/vocals), named for Bix Beiderbecke's favored cornet model, backed by Roy Alexander (clarinet/alto sax), trombone, banjo, piano, bass sax, and drums. B+(**) [bc] NewJeans: Get Up (2023, ADOR, EP): South Korean girl group, second EP, six songs, 12:10. B+(**) [sp] Michel Pastre/Louis Mazetier/Guillaume Nouaux: Fine Ideas (2023, Camille Productions): French retro-swing trio: tenor sax, piano, drums. Pastre started out in 1996 with Tuxedo Swing Band and Paris Swing Orchestra, led his own big band on a 2001 album called Diggin' the Count, has a 2015 Charlie Christian Project. The others have similar backgrounds -- Mazetier is probably best known for Paris Washboard. B+(***) [bc] Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra: Take Me to the Ragtime Dance (2023, Rivermont): Eleven piece "ragtime-era orchestra" directed and conducted by Andrew Greene, couple previous albums. The instrumentals play like light classical music, with occasional circus airs, while the songs -- several celebrating America's entry into WWI -- take musical theatre back into the age of operetta. B [sp] Maisie Peters: The Good Witch (2023, Gingerbread Man): English singer-songwriter, second album. B+(**) [sp] Grace Potter: Mother Road (2023, Fantasy): Country-rock singer-songwriter, two early albums as Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (2002-04), third solo since 2015. Rocks hard, though the change-of-pace works just as well. Message: "you can't keep a good time down." A- [sp] Priya Ragu: Santhosam (2023, Warner): Born in Switzerland, parents Tamils from Sri Lanka, stage name shortened from Ragupathylingam. First album, story reminds one of MIA, sometimes the music does, too. B+(**) [sp] Regal86: La Onda: Groove In-Groove Out (2023, self-released): Techno producer from Monterrey (Mexico), Discogs lists three albums (not including this one, or others on his Bandcamp). Earns its reputation as "hardgroove," which while highly repetitive never wears out one's patience. B+(***) [sp] Logan Richardson: Holy Water (2023, Wax Industry): Alto saxophonist, from Kansas City, sixth album since 2007. B [sp] Molly Ryan: Sweepin' the Blues Away (2022, Turtle Bay): Jazz singer, mostly swing standards, fourth album since 2008 (including one featuring Dick Hyman, another with Bucky Pizzarelli), Bandcamp page also includes three Dan Levinson albums featuring her. Hard to find credits here, but turns out Levinson is her husband, playing tenor sax and clarinet here, and Rossano Sportiello is the pianist. B+(***) [sp] Smoking Time Jazz Club: Six Blues, Five Joys & a Stomp (2023, self-released): New Orleans-based trad jazz band, ten or more albums since 2012, nine members, Sarah Peterson the main vocalist, three horns (Charlie Halloran on trombone), lots of banjo. Thirteen songs, twelve from 1926-40 singles, mixed per title. A- [sp] Soggy Po Boys: It's Good to Laugh Again (2022, self-released): Another trad jazz group, but this one from New Hampshire. Seven pieces (two sessions with different bassists), guitarist Stu Dias the singer. B+(***) [sp] The Streets: The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light (2023, 679/Warner Music UK): English rapper Mike Skinner, appeared in 2002 with a breakout album. Beats are interesting enough, words are awkwardly hit and miss; e.g., "behind every great man, a girl rolls her eyes"; "work is so much more fun than fun"; "outside of the night club I don't know what to do/ inside it's too dark to care." B+(**) [sp] The Third Mind: The Third Mind/2 (2023, Yep Roc): Best-known member of this "supergroup" is guitarist Dave Alvin, but Jesse Sykes is the singer, and first named, followed in a banner on the cover that I perhaps should have taken as the artist list by Alvin, David Immerglück (guitar), Michael Jerome (drugs), Victor Krummenmacher (bass guitar/harmonium/melotron). B+(***) [sp] Leon Thomas III: Electric Dusk (2023, Ezmny/Motown): Possible that the III doesn't appear on the album, but I picked it up from a review, I'm old enough to associate the name with a jazz singer (1937-99) old enough to be his grandfather (but I'm pretty sure isn't). First album for this one, but he has a Wikipedia page as an actor and music producer. B+(***) [sp] Dlala Thukzin: Permanent Music 3 (2023, Dlala): South African dj/producer, "famous for his versatility of blending amapiano, afro tech, and gqom." Solid groove for five tracks, 33:01. B+(***) [sp] David Toop & Lawrence English: The Shell That Speaks the Sea (2023, Room40): Toop is an English author and curator as much as a musician, his first album New and Rediscovered Musical Instruments with Max Eastley on Brian Eno's Obscure Records (1975), his most famous the compilation Ocean of Sound, a soundtrack for his book of that name. English is an Australian in the same mold. Together, they made a darkly ambient album which never quite engaged my interest. B [sp] Tuba Skinny: Hot Town (2023, self-released): New Orleans trad jazz band, close to a dozen albums since 2009, got on my radar when Maria Mauldaur recorded Let's Get Happy Together with them (2021). Erika Lewis and Greg Sherman sing here, with Todd Burdick's sousaphone the gravity that holds them together -- also cornet, clarinet, trombone, guitar, banjo, washboard, and bass drum. B+(***) [bc] Marta Warelis: A Piece of Earth (2021 [2022], Relative Pitch): Polish pianist, has several co-credits with free jazz players, goes solo on this one. No details on how the piano was prepared, but I'm imagining some sort of variable-pitch table saw (aka "timbral possibilities" moving "in constantly interfering waves of energy"). B+(**) [sp] Westside Gunn: And Then You Pray for Me (2023, Griselda/Empire): Buffalo rapper Alvin Worthy, fifth studio album (plus a lot of mixtapes). Nominally a sequel to Pray for Paris (2020). Super long: 75:17. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Baikida E.J. Carroll: Orange Fish Tears (1974 [2023], Souffle Continu): Trumpet player, played in the Black Artist Group in St. Louis. First album as leader, of only five through 2001, omitting the initials after this one. Also plays flugelhorn and percussion, with Oliver Lake (alto/tenor sax, flutes, percussion), Manuel Villaroel (piano), and Nana Vasconcelos (percussion). Starts very hot, wanders when the piano drops out. B+(***) [bc] Dick Hyman: One Step to Chicago: The Legacy of Frank Teschemacher and the Austin High Gang (1992 [2022], Rivermont): Not the easiest cover to parse, starting up top with "George Avakian Presents," ending "featuring Kenny Davern · Dan Levinson (clarinets)," and also lists the band members, with Hyman's name prefaced by "transcribed and directed by." Adding to the confusion, the back cover credits the first six songs to Dick Hyman and His Frank Teschemacher Celebration Band, the next seven to Kenny Davern and His Windy City Stompers, and the finale to "Dick Hyman-Kenny Hyman and Their Combined Bands." Levinson plays clarinet in Hyman's band, but Hyman plays piano in both -- the only other musician to appear in both bands is Dan Barrett (trombone), but on only two of the former's tracks. Teschemacher (1906-32) started played clarinet and alto sax with his Chicago west-side high school chums, a legendary group including Bud Freeman and Jimmy McPartland. Classic jazz, expertly done. A- [sp] Old music: Molly Ryan: Let's Fly Away (2014 [2015], Loup-Garous Productions): Swing-era standards singer, cobbled this together from two sessions, consecutive days but "featuring" pianist Dick Hyman only appears on half the tracks, with Mark Shane on the rest. Other personnel varies, and arrangements are split between Dan Levinson (9) and Dan Barrett (5). B+(**) [sp] Molly Ryan: Swing for Your Supper! (2013, Loup-Garous Productions): Dan Barrett (trombone) does most of the arrangements here, 13-to-5 over Dan Levinson (clarinet/saxophones). Front cover lists Bucky Pizzarelli as "featuring," but Chris Flory plays most of the guitar (13-to-5, again). She has a fine voice for these songs, and the band -- mostly Arbors Jazz regulars -- is superb, so I'm a bit surprised that this doesn't quite take off. B+(**) [sp] Dlala Thukzin: Permanent Music (2020, Dlala): South African dance grooves. Cover adds EP, but at 37:53 from six tracks, we'll ignore that. The grooves are compelling enough, but the occasional vocals raise the excitement. A- [sp] Dlala Thukzin: Permanent Music 2 (2021, Dlala): Beats about the same, voices sparser and toned down a bit. Six tracks, 35:57. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, October 18, 2023 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41422 [41370] rated (+52), 21 [17] unrated (+4). I've been almost totally swamped in trying to compile the 18th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. Deadline for ballots was Friday, December 15. I'll admit I was pretty bummed when I went to bed with only 145 ballots counted: down 6 from 2023, down 11 from 2022, so my two years in the helm were beginning to look like a death spiral. What made this worse is that for the first time ever, I started thinking about how to expand the poll a month before the I needed to send ballots out. I had a list of contacts from a prominent PR guy. I collected the names from the DownBeat Critics Poll. Then I started searching for jazz publications and blogs, and found many more -- some pretty far-flung. I accosted contacts for leads and contact info. I had contacted over 200 possible voters in 2022, and figured 250 this year wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Then I stumbled. I barely got my initial invite mailing out in mid-November. And while I dashed off a few letters after that, all the way to deadline day, I never came close to my goal. In the end, I only got 25-30 new invites sent out, of which only half sent in ballots (as opposed to 75% from 2022's invite list). But that only came close to making up for the attrition, less than half of which I have any insight into (illness/death, job/career shifts, a lot of "no fucking time," a couple of snits). One possibly big problem is that it's impossible to verify that an email address works, or rather that it's impossible to distinguish a non-working email address from one that's simply being ignored, or simply being too vigilantly monitored by spam assassin robots. In a few cases, I tried to track down alternative contact routes (I've even tried Facebook messaging). Another source of attrition was the demise of JazzTimes. We've long had 10-12 of their writers voting, and a third or more dropped out this year. Along the way, my distaste for Substack has grown by leaps and bounds: I don't see any way to contact their users, even in the few cases where I currently subscribe. Ted Gioia is only the most prominent of several searches that dead-ended there. (He claims 84,000 followers there, a really extraordinary number. His top-100 list, which I've tracked for years in my EOY aggregates, is buried behind the wall there.) While a precious few are cashing in big time, and many more figure they have nothing to lose -- indeed, I can think of a few writers, like Christian Iszchak and Brad Luen, who have really blossomed with the platform -- the obvious result is atomization, breaking culture into tiny, isolated droplets. (Of course, this line got the engineer in me to thinking up different ways to structure it, to build collectives instead of tearing them apart, but the lure of money is hard to work around, perhaps even more so when there isn't any.) Still, I'm feeling better about the Poll today than I was back on Friday. I've extended the deadline, at least for a select few, to Tuesday night (or -- what difference does a few hours make? -- to Wednesday morning). Current ballot count is 154, so there's still a slight chance we'll hit the all-time record. More importantly, some of the late ballots have been real doozies. Just to mention one, Joe Bebco (editor of New Orleans roots rag, The Syncopated Times), managed the rare feat of voting for 16 albums no one else has voted for -- good chance I'll review most of them next week. The album list is up to 743 at the moment, and that's +32 from last year's record number. I figure I'll start writing my essay on Wednesday. As with last year's essay, I figure I'll start with some data crunching, then try to pick out what's most interesting in the various tables. Whether this will include a capsule summary of the top-ten and the minor list winners may depend on whether Francis Davis beats me to the punch. (He's suggested he might write such a piece, or maybe not, but if he does so, he's promised to do it early. Previous essays were structured that way, followed by his own list. In the past, I've usually been content to link to my list -- up to 75 jazz A/A- this week; the Max Koch album took over the Debut slot in my ballot.) Almost everything new this week, especially up top, comes from the jazz ballots. My non-jazz list continues to flounder (51 A/A- records, way down from last year). One problem is that I've had virtually no time to work on the EOY aggregate, which is stuck at 94 lists. I need to find time to update the Christgau database with his latest Consumer Guide (my previous grades: Buck 65: A-/A; CMAT: ***; Feelies: **; Megan Moroney: ***; Azuka Moweta: ***; Piconema: A-; Homeboy Sandman: **; not graded yet: Barbie, Dolly Parton, Tele Novela). Then it'll be easier to factor his grades into the Aggregate. I did manage to squeeze out a relatively cryptic Speaking of Which yesterday. I noticed a couple more things today that I should have noted, so I added them to the file, with some extra mark up (red border-right) to flag the changes. I may make a regular habit of this. New records reviewed this week: Ambrose Akinmusire: Owl Song (2023, Nonesuch): Trumpet player, debut 2008 on Fresh Sound New Talent, moved to Blue Note in 2010 made him a star. Trio with Bill Frisell (guitar) and Herlin Riley (drums). Rather pretty, for sure. B+(*) [sp] Lina Allemano Four: Pipe Dream (2021 [2023], Lumo): Canadian trumpet player, several albums, this with Brodie West (alto sax), Andrew Downing (bass), and Nick Fraser (drums). B+(***) [bc] Biig Piig: Bubblegum (2023, RCA, EP): London-based Irish alt-pop singer-songwriter Jessica Smyth, spent much of her childhood in Spain, short mixtape (7 songs, 17:58) after several EPs. B+(*) [sp] Vilhelm Bromander: In This Forever Unfolding Moment (2021 [2023], Thanatos): Swedish bassist, several widely scattered albums since 2008, although a 2016 title (Oh Lord Give Me Strange) seems most relevant here. Starts with what sounds like a prayer (vocal Marianne Svasek), then swells as the 12-piece orchestra kicks in, including an exceptional reeds section (Martin Küchen, Elin Forkelid, Alberto Pinton, and Christer Bothén), brass (Emil Strandberg and Mats Äleklint), violin, vibes, and rhythm. Two shorter pieces follow, each ending nice, 33:24 total. A- [sp] Filipe Catto: Belezas Sao Coisis Acesas Por Dentro (2023, Joia Moderna): Brazilian singer-songwriter, half-dozen albums since 2011, authorities divided on pronouns. More rock than MPB. More opera, too. B+(*) [sp] Ed Cherry: Are We There Yet? (2022 [2023], Cellar): Guitarist, played with Dizzy Gillespie 1978-92, his own first album in 1993. Quartet with vibes (Monty Croft), organ (Kyle Kohler), and drums (Byron 'Wookie' Landham). B+(**) [sp] Avishai Cohen & Abraham Rodriguez Jr.: Iroko (2023, Naïve/Believe): Bass and congas duo, the former well known since 1997, the latter a newcomer, both also credited with vocals (as is Virginia Alves). The background is interesting enough, but the vocals can turn into something of a joke ("It's a Man's World," "Venus," "Fly Me to the Moon"). B+(*) [sp] Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band: Dancing on the Edge (2023, Sophomore Lounge): Name leader debut, previously fronted Louisville band State Champion, stretches seven songs to 51:10 then spreads them out over 2-LP -- I've seen them called "slacker jams." B+(**) [sp] Marike van Dijk Nonet: Stranded (2022 [2023], Brooklyn Jazz Underground/ZenneZ): Dutch saxophonist (soprano/alto), nine-piece group spread out with only two more horns (a second sax, and a trombone), the extra rhythm players very much in flux. B+(**) [sp] Mike Dillon & Punkadelick: Inflorescence (2023, Royal Potato Family): Vibraphonist-percussionist, long list of credits in the jazz-pop-funk margins in groups like Critters Buggin, Garage à Trois and the Dead Kenny G's, also backing Ani DiFranco and Brave Combo. B+(*) [sp] The Go! Team: Get Up Sequences Part Two (2023, Memphis Industries): English jangle rock band (or is it "noise pop"?), kicks it up a notch or two. B+(***) [sp] Laura Groves: Radio Red (2023, Bella Union): English singer-songwriter, second album after a debut in 2009, with three evenly-spaced EPs in the interim. B+(*) [sp] Mats Gustafsson & Ensemble E: EE Opus One (2022 [2023], Trost): Norwegian baritone saxophonist, many groups and albums since 1992, also credited here sith "flute, spilapipa and conducting. The rest of the group make for an odd mix: Helga Myhr (hardanger fiddle), Sylwia Swiatkowska (bilgoraj suka), Susana Santos Silva (trumpet), Mariucha Bikont (vocal, tuba), Daniel Formo (organ, prepared piano), and Arne Forsén (prepared piano, clavichord, percussion). B [r] Mats Gustafsson: Hidros 9: Mirrors (2022 [2023], Trost): Ninth is a series of albums that started in 1997 with Hidros One, co-credited to a group called Nu-Ensemblen ("nine improvisers, tape and conductor"). This uses two nonets -- NyMusikk Trondheim and Avant Art Ensemble -- with the same array of violin, cello, bass (2), guitar, organ/prepared piano, bass drum, and drums/electronics, plus a half-dozen soloists. B+(*) [sp] Ron Horton: A Prayer for Andrew (2023, Newvelle): Trumpet player, part of a tight postbop collective that mostly recorded for Palmetto in the early 2000s, their interest in Andrew Hill comes as no surprise. Thirteen songs (7 by Hill, 6 by Horton), runs 78 minutes. No date given, but certainly before pianist Frank Kimbrough (in exceptional form here) died in 2020. With Marty Ehrlich or John O'Gallagher on alto sax, Marc Mommaas on tenor, Dean Johnson (bass), and Tim Horner (drums). A- [sp] The Human Hearts: Viable (2023, Open Boat): Franklin Bruno, a Mountain Goats sideman with some solo albums hardly anyone noticed from 1991, adopted this moniker c. 2012, with a Christgau-lauded LP (Another) and EP (Day of the Tiles) that I've never managed to stream whole, and didn't get much from the bits I did hear. This is another one, not fetching enough (although Jenny Toomey helps) to motivate me to put in the work to figure out what's really here, but not so lame as to exclude the possibility. B+(**) [sp] Terry Klein: Leave the Light On (2023, self-released): Alt-country singer-songwriter, originally from Boston (I think) but based in Austin, and sounds like the real deal. Fourth album. Third one (Good Luck, Take Care) is a good one, and this one comes real close. B+(***) [sp] Max Koch: Ten Bulls (2021 [2023], Jazzwerkstatt): German guitarist, first album, other names on the cover, in order: Bill Elgart (drums), Max Hirth (tenor sax), Stephan Deller (bass), Max Arsava (piano). Four Koch originals, one from Ornette Coleman. Sax impressed from the start, before I started wondering who the guitarist was. Terrific all the way through. A- [sp] Koma Saxo: Post Koma (2021 [2023], We Jazz): Berlin-based Swedish bassist Petter Eldh, fourth album under this group name, using Christian Lillinger on drums, with any of several saxophone/flute players (Mikko Innanen, Jonas Kullhammar, Maciej Obara, Otis Sandsjö), with Sofia Jernberg (vocals) on three tracks. Interesting sounds, but often they together awkwardly. B+(*) [sp] Marthe Lea Band: Herlighetens Vei (2023, Motvind): Norwegian tenor saxophonist, second group album, also credited here with flutes, piano, vocals, udungu, percussion. Joined by Andreas Røysum (clarinets; she also plays in his band), backed by fiddle, bass, and drums. The folk roots make for immediately engaging instrumental jazz, the vocals a bit more mixed. A- [sp] Helge Lien Trio/Tore Brunborg: Funeral Dance (2022 [2023], Ozella Music): Norwegian pianist, has a 1999 debut, and mostly (more than a dozen) trio albums since 2003, joined here by the tenor saxophonist, who writes four pieces to Lien's five (plus a cover of "Après Un Rêve"). B+(***) [sp] Antti Lötjönen Quintet East: Circus/Citadel (2023, We Jazz): Finnish group, led by the bassist-composer, fourth album since 2020, with Verneri Pohjola (trumpet), Mikko Innanen (alto/baritone sax, oboe), Jussi Kannaste (tenor sax), and Joonas Riippa (drums). B+(***) [sp] Tkay Maidza: Sweet Justice (2023, 4AD): Born in Zimbabwe, moved to Australia when she was five, rapper/singer, second album after several EPs. B+(**) [sp] Robin McKelle: Impressions of Ella (2023, Doxie): Standards singer, has a 1999 album before her 2006 Introducing. She hews close enough to her model here to faithfully recall the words Fitzgerald famously ad-libbed on "How High the Moon," but such fidelity flexes for a duet on "I Won't Dance" with Kurt Elling with some ad-libbed French I don't recall. After that, her "Embraceable You" stands on its own. Accompaniment is as impeccable as you'd expect from Kenny Barron, Peter Washington, and Kenny Washington. B+(***) [sp] Joe McPhee/Mette Rasmussen/Dennis Tyfus: Oblique Strategies (2018 [2023], Black Truffle): Tenor and alto sax duo, plus whatever it is that Tyfus -- original name Dennis Faes, a "Belgian illustrator, visual artist, radio-maker, musician and event manager" -- is doing (credits: "tape, percussion, voice," but the others also get credit for "voice"). B [bc] Joe McPhee & John Edwards: Tell Me How Long Has Trane Been Gone (For James Baldwin and John Coltrane) (2019 [2022], Klanggalerie): Tenor sax and bass duo, opens with speech on the title subject, then gets down to business. B+(**) [sp] Palle Mikkelborg/Jakob Bro/Marilyn Mazur: Strands: Live at the Danish Radio Concert Hall (2023, ECM): Danish trumpet player, probably best known for composing the 1989 Miles Davis album Aura, but his own discography goes back to 1967, not huge but steady ever since. Joined by guitar and percussion here, with Bro writing most of the pieces. B+(*) [sp] Nils Petter Molvær/Norwegian Radio Orchestra: Certainty of Tides (2023, Modern): Norwegian trumpet player, started in Masqualero with Arild Andersen, developing perhaps the most appealing form of late-1990s jazztronica. The orchestra fills a similar (albeit more ambient) role here, setting up his trumpet, eloquent as ever. B+(***) [sp] Roy Nathanson: 82 Days (2023, Enja/Yellowbird): Saxophonist (mostly alto but opens on baritone), best known for the Jazz Passengers (with the late Curtis Fowlkes) but has a few albums going back to 1987 with his name on the cover, with two recent Sotto Voce albums testing my patience with vocals (unlike, say, his 1987 cover of "Speedo," which is an all-time favorite). This started off as a 2020 lockdown-coping ritual, where he greeted 82 days with a standard played from his balcony, then on the 83rd got together with friends and "turned the ritual into a kind of free neighborhood music school." Not clear if this was recorded then or later. I love the sax, and hate the vocals (ok, not all of them, certainly not Cleo Reed's closer). B+(***) [sp] Nation of Language: Strange Disciple (2023, PIAS):l New wave redux band, from Brooklyn, Ian Richard Devaney the singer, third album. B+(*) [sp] Augusto Pirodda Septet: The Monkey and the Monk (2021 [2022], El Negocito): Italian pianist, several albums since 2003, three horns can mix it up, rhythm can break it up, Lynn Cassiers (voice & electronics) is the wild card. B+(**) [bc] Anthony Pirog: The Nepenthe Series Vol. 1 (2023, Otherly Love): Guitarist (also guitar synth), several albums since 2014, this one solo piece and eight duos with as many guests, also on guitar or adjacent instruments (electric bass, pedal steel, monomachine). B+(*) [sp] Adam Rudolph/Tyshawn Sorey: Archaisms 1 (2023, Defkaz): Percussion duo, Rudolph mostly working with hand drums. Number not evident on the packaging, but used consistently by label in its PR. B+(***) [sp] Thollem/Terry Riley/Nels Cline: The Light Is Real (2021-22 [2023], Other Minds): That's Thollem McDonas, mostly a pianist who more than dabbles in electronics, with a diverse discography since 2004, mostly collaborations, including several trios with guitarist Cline and various guests. This is built up from Tholem and Riley's voices (or voice samples), to which Cline later added guitar and effects. I find it a bit difficult. B+(*) [bc] Micah Thomas: Reveal (2022 [2023], Artwork): Pianist, has a couple albums, trio here with Dean Torrey (bass) and Kayvon Gordon (drums), on a thoughtful set of originals. B+(**) [sp] U SCO: Catchin' Heat (2019 [2023], self-released): Portland-based avant-fusion (I guess?) band, third album, with Ryan Miller (guitar, clarinet), Jon Scheid (bass guitar, tenor sax, cello, synths, vocals), Phil Cleary (drums, synths), plus guests on two (of six) tracks. B+(**) [sp] Brad Walker + Extended: Side by Side (2021 [2023], self-released): Tenor saxophonist, from New Orleans, backed by Extended, a trio of Oscar Rossignoli (piano/fender rhodes), Matt Booth (bass), and Brad Webb (drums). Strong and resilient. B+(***) [sp] Web Web x Max Herre: Web Max II (2023, Compost): Munich-based group, half-dozen albums since 2017, sax/flute player Tony Lakatos the best known player but Roberto Di Gioia (drums, bass, guitar, strings, organ, mellotron, harp, percussion, trumpet, backing vocals) is probably the main guy, joined here by co-producer and synths player Herre. B+(*) [sp] Hailey Whitters: I'm in Love (2023, Big Loud/Pigasus, EP): Country singer-songwriter, four albums since 2015, Raised seemed like a breakthrough. This adds six songs more , 17:41. B+(**) [sp] Mareike Wiening: Reveal (2023, Greenleaf Music): German drummer, based in New York, two previous albums, smart postbop quintet with Rich Perry (tenor sax), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Alex Goodman (guitar), and Johannes Felscher (bass), joined by Dave Douglas (trumpet) on three tracks. B+(***) [sp] Jack Wright: What Is What (2023, Relative Pitch): Saxophonist, b. 1942 in Pittsburgh, credits start in 1983, and have always been extremely fringe, but he's a very striking player, going solo here on soprano, alto, tenor, and soprano again. B+(***) [sp] Neil Young: Before and After (2023, Reprise): New recordings of old songs, mostly obscure ones (although the series of "Mother Earth/ Mr. Soul/ Comes a Time" breaks that mold), done very simply, which he can do any time he wants. B+(**) [r] John Zorn: Parrhesiastes (2023, Tzadik): Composer claims credit, band identified elsewhere as Chaos Magick, consists of Brian Marsella (fender rhodes), John Medeski (organ), Kenny Grochowski (drums), and Matt Hollenberg (guitar). B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Hasaan Ibn Ali: Reaching for the Stars: Trios/Duos/Solos (1962-65 [2023], Omnivore): Pianist, originally William Henry Langford Jr., only released one album in his lifetime (1931-80), titled The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan (1965), but recorded one in 1965 eventually released as Metaphysics: The Lost Atlantic Album. Since that release, the label has collected more previously unreleased scraps, with a 2-CD collection of solos in 2021, and now this: a 1962 trio with Henry Grimes (bass) and Kalil Madi (drums); three 1965 tracks backing vocalist Muriel Gilliam; and two solo tracks from 1962. Some impressive piano, sound far from ideal. B+(**) [sp] As-Shams Archive Vol. 1: South African Jazz, Funk & Soul 1975-1982 (1975-82 [2023], As-Shams Music): Ten mostly-long tracks (85 minutes), opening with Kippie Moeketsi, closing with Sathima Bea Benjamin. B+(**) [sp] Derek Bailey & Paul Motian: Duo in Concert (1990-91 [2023], Frozen Reeds): Guitar and drums duo, combines two sets, one from Groningen in 1990, the other from NYC in 1991. B+(**) [bc] Steve Davis: Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1 (2008 [2023], Smoke Sessions): Trombonist, played with Art Blakey late 1980s, twenty or so albums since 1995, digs up a trio session here with Jones on piano and Peter Washington on bass. B+(**) [sp] Bill Evans: Tales: Live in Copenhagen (1964) (1964-69 [2023], Elemental Music): Piano trio with Chuck Israels (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums), two sets from Copenhagen in August, 1964, plus a "bonus" -- a stray "'Round Midnight" from Aarhus in 1969, with different bass and drums. B+(**) [sp] Joy: Joy (1976 [2023], Cadillac): One-shot London-based jazz group: Jim Dvorak (trumpet), Chris Francis (alto sax), Frank Roberts (piano), Ernest Mothle (bass), Keith Bailey (drums). Upbeat, with a minor South African connecation. B+(*) [bc] Roland Kirk: Live at Ronnie Scott's 1963 (1963 [2022], Gearbox): Tenor saxophonist, also credited with stritch, manzello, flute, nose flute, and siren (but surely you knew all that), plays a set (4 songs, 37:53) with a crack local band: Stan Tracey (piano), Malcolm Cecil (bass), Ronnie Stephenson (drums). A- [sp] Malombo Jazz Makers: Malompo Jazz (1966 [2023], Strut): First iteration of a long-running South African jazz group, led here by Abbey Cindi (flute/harmonica), with guitar, drums, and occasional vocals. B+(*) [sp] Malombo Jazz Makers: Malombo Jazz Makers Volume 2 (1967 [2023], Strut): A second volume, appeared in 1971. B+(*) [sp] Amina Claudine Myers: Song for Mother E (1979 [2023], Leo): Keyboard player, from Arkansas, one of her first albums, dedicated to her mother (Mrs. Elnora M. Thurman), all original pieces, four on piano, four on organ, with Pheeroan akLaff on drums. B+(***) [sp] Old music: John Zorn: Nove Cantici Per Francesco D'Assisi (2019, Tzadik): Composed and produced by Zorn, ten songs -- I don't know which one didn't factor into the title -- played by three guitarists: Bill Frisell, Gyan Riley, Julian Lage. B+(*) [r] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, December 11, 2023 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41370 [41321] rated (+49), 17 [6] unrated (+11). Let's see how quickly I can knock this out. Speaking of which yesterday. Abbreviated intro and pretty much the same old news, but still came to 5184 words (114 links). Lots of records below, but fewer A-list than in the last couple weeks, so diminishing returns? Two came from jazz poll ballots, and two from Chuck Eddy's latest PJPR post. Deadline for the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll is coming up fast: Friday, December 15. I have 77 ballots counted. Hopefully we'll add at least that many more. It will be dispiriting (and a personal embarrassment) if we don't. Right now New Releases is a very tight two-album race. Total number of albums with votes is over 500. EOY Aggregate has grown slowly as I fall ever farther behind. Last I checked it was a dead heat between Boygenius and Olivia Rodrigo, with Caroline Polachek close in third. I'm updating my other lists as I go along, but have nothing much to report there. I filed the following as my Jazz ballot:
I should probably just give up on trying to vote in the three specialist categories, as I have little sense of them anymore. Good chance my vote is the only one for each of the three (although Ortiz does have votes for Serranias, which seems to be regarded as more authentic or paradigmatic (or whatever the word is). New records reviewed this week: Bar Italia: The Twits (2023, Matador): London-based indie rock band, a guitar-bass-drums trio with Nina Crisante doing most of the vocals. Fourth album, second this year (after Tracey Denim), which it stretches out a bit, in ways that may or may not improve. B+(***) [sp] John Blum/David Murray/Chad Taylor: The Recursive Tree (2022 [2023], Relative Pitch): Avant-pianist, has a rather thin discography, starting with a solo in 2002. The interest here, of course, is the tenor saxophonist, who lifts any encounter. He sounds a bit thinner here than on Plumb, probably due to having to navigate a more fractured landscape -- mostly piano, but the drummer chips in. A- [sp] ML Buch: Suntub (2023, 15 Love): Copenhagen-based singer-songwriter, initials for Mary Louise, plays guitar, second album. B+(*) [sp] Dave Burrell: Harlem Rhapsody (2023, Parco Della Musica): Pianist, debut 1969, now in his 80s, mostly avant-garde but has a particularly memorable solo album of Jelly Roll Morton. This, too, is solo, six improvs on oldies averaging 10 minutes, quite often fascinating. B+(***) [sp] Adriana Calcanhotto: Errante (2023, Modern/BMG): Brazilian singer-songwriter, MPB, 17 albums since 1990. A fine example, probably one among many. B+(**) [sp] Call Super: Eulo Cramps (2023, Can You Feel the Sun): British electronica producer Joseph Richmond-Seaton, fourth album. B+(**) [sp] Chory Thicket [Christy Doran/Ronan Guilfoyle/Gerry Hemingway]: A Breath of Time (2023, Auricle): Guitar, bass guitar, drums; improv trio, dates from 2016 but this is their first record. B+(**) [bc] Chouk Bwa & the Ängstromers: Somanti (2023, Bongo Joe): Haitian group, several previous albums, hard rhythms and chants. B+(**) [sp] Creation Rebel: Hostile Environment (2023, On-U Sound): UK-based reggae/dub group, basically Adrian Sherwood's Hitrun and On-U Sound house band, had a run of albums 1978-84, so I would expect some personnel turnover nearly forty years on, but they do have that sound. Not a vocal powerhouse, but voices too find the groove. A- [sp] Harold Danko: Trillium (2023, SteepleChase): Pianist, from Ohio, several dozen albums since 1974, this a trio with tenor sax (Rich Perry, from Danko's 1990s Quartet) and trumpet (Kirk Knuffke), playing Danko originals that have something to do with Stravinsky's "Rites of Spring" (as have two of his other albums). B+(**) [sp] DJ +1: Aromáticas (2023, También): Colombian electronica producer, "draws inspiration from the herbal teas his mother would make," so pretty ambient. B+(*) [sp] Nick Dunston: Skultura (2022 [2023], Fun in the Church): Bassist, based in Brooklyn, couple previous albums, this one makes use of samplers and electronics, mixing in scattered vocals and sax/clarinet (Eldar Tsalikov), a jittery combo. B [sp] Hilario Duran and His Latin Jazz Big Band: Cry Me a River (2023, Alma): Cuban pianist, based in Toronoto since 1995, with more than a dozen albums since then. Big band, Paquito D'Rivera among the star-laden cast. B+(**) [sp] Ekiti Sound: Drum Money (2023, Crammed Discs): Leke Awayinka, divides his time between London and Lagos, has a previous album (though searching for "ekiti sound" also a compilation of Emmanuel Omotuyi and His Osirigi Band, from 1975). B+(*) [sp] The Feelies: Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground (2018 [2023], Bar/None): The Velvet Underground emerged in 1967 as weird and arty, but after John Cale left, Lou Reed's band developed the basic guitar sound that became for model for most of the alt/indie bands from the 1990s on. The Feelies, from New Jersey, were one of the first to get on that bandwagon, with their jangly 1980 debut Crazy Rhythms. So this live set from White Eagle Hall in Jersey City work as their roots album, taking eighteen songs I know better than the back of my hand, and performing them as normally as humanly possible. B+(**) [sp] Alan Ferber Nonet: Up High, Down Low (2022 [2023], Sunnyside): Trombonist, debut 2005, mostly large groups since then, with four nonet albums plus a big band. B+(**) [sp] Funkwrench Blues: Soundtrack for a Film Without Pictures (2023, Need to Know): As best I can tell, this is Frank Swart, bassist and sometime producer, with no name credits but a bunch of side credits since 1991, mostly with folk singer-songwriters (e.g., a Nathan Bell record, this same label, that made my top ten in 2021). Aims for some kind of Miles Davis fusion here, and picks up enough top guests (including a couple of Davis alumni) to make it happen. B+(*) [sp] Muriel Grossmann: Devotion (2023, Third Man, 2CD): Austrian saxophonist, but born in Paris, based since 2002 in Spain (now Ibiza), debut 2007, one album each year since 2015, many titles (like this one) suggesting sincere spirituality, the main evidence being devotion to John Coltrane. Backed by guitar (Radomir Milojkovic), organ (Abel Boquera), and drums (Uros Stamenkovic). Raises the rafters. B+(***) [sp] Miho Hazama's M_unit: Beyond Orbits (2023, Edition): Japanese pianist, based in New York, seventh album since 2012, just composer and conductor here (Billy Test plays piano), leading a large ensemble -- 18 names on back cover, counting the two designated as "special guests" (Christian McBride and Immanuel Wilkins), but 13 seems to be the standard configuration, including two violins, viola, cello, and vibes. The compositions are complex, cosmic in sweep and grandeur, and expertly played. A- [sp] Lisa Hilton: Coincidental Moment (2023, Ruby Slippers): Pianist, has produced a steady stream of albums since 1997, adds Igmar Thomas (trumpet) to her long-running trio of Luques Curtis (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums). B+(**) [sp] Mary Lattimore: Goodbye, Hotel Arkada (2023, Ghostly International): Harp player, makes for a richly resonant if rather static form of ambient music. B+(*) [sp] Ingrid Laubrock: Monochromes (2022 [2023], Intakt): German saxophonist (tenor/soprano), based in Brooklyn, many albums since 1998. One 39:18 piece here, composed using taped sounds (trumpets, accordions, percussion, Harry Bertoia sculptures), plus Jon Irabagon (sopranino sax), Zeena Parkins (electric harp), and Tom Rainey (drums). B+(*) [sp] Lenhart Tapes: Dens (2023, Glitterbeat): Producer Vladimir Lenhart's "Belgrade Ethno-Noise outfit," aims at "re-tooling of submerged Balkan musics." B+(***) [sp] Gregory Lewis: Organ Monk Going Home (2022 [2023], Sunnyside): Organ player, hit on the idea of playing Monk tunes on organ in 2010, released five such albums on his own up to 2017, now returns with a sixth (and a label). With Kevin McNeal (guitar) and Nasheet Waits (drums). Wrote one original to go with seven (mostly lesser-known) Monks. B+(*) [sp] Mat Maneri Quartet: Ash (2021 [2023], Sunnyside): Viola player, father Joe Maneri was famous for his microtone works, he followed suit, with many albums since 1994. Quartet with Lucian Ban (piano), John Hébert (bass), and Randy Peterson (drums). B+(***) [sp] Lesley Mok: The Living Collection (2023, American Dreams): Percussionist, styles herself as a "sound artist," first album, rounded up a nonet here, with two brass (Adam O'Farrill on trumpet and Kalun Leung on trombone), two reedists (David Leon and Yuma Uesaka), piano (Cory Smythe), and strings (viola, cello, bass). This is a very ambitious, and mostly accomplished, piece of work. B+(***) [sp] Mozart Estate: Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! and the Possibilities of Modern Shopping (2023, West Midlands/Cherry Red): Latest alias for Lawrence Hayward, British singer-songwriter behind Felt (1982-92), Denim (1992-97), and Go-Kart Mozart (1999-2018). Corny or camp? B+(*) [sp] Nihiloxica: Source of Denial (2023, Crammed Discs): Second LP from a "Bugandan techno outfit" based in Kampala, Uganda, described as "Bugandan drums meets UK bass." The drums put it over the top. A- [sp] Maciej Obara Quartet: Frozen Silence (2022 [2023], ECM): Polish alto saxophonist, albums since 2009, third quartet album for ECM, here with Dominik Wania (piano), Ole Morten Vågan (bass), and Gard Nilssen (drums). Postbop, nicely poised. B+(***) [sp] Endea Owens and the Cookout: Feel Good Music (2023, BassBae Music): Bassist, from Detroit, based in New York, graduated from Juilliard, played in the Late Show's house band (co-produced by bandleader Louis Cato). First album, ten musicians plus singers (Jhoard, Shenel Johns) listed, but septet is probably it. B+(**) [sp] Jeb Patton: Preludes (2021 [2023], Cellar Music): Pianist, half-dozen albums since 2005, quintet with Mike Rodriguez (trumpet), John Ellis (tenor/soprano sax, flute, bass clarinet), bass, and drums. Eight original "Prelude in" titles followed by a cover of "Prelude to a Kiss." B+(**) [sp] Eddie Prévost/NO Moore/James O'Sullivan/Ross Lambert: Chord (2022 [2023], Shrike): Percussion, plus three electric guitarists. B+(*) [bc] Amy Rigby: Cut & Run (2022, Southern Domestic): A "ragtag collection of covers I recorded for my podcast or just to learn how they go, & some new songs that might not make the cut for my 'proper' album in progress." On the low end of lo-fi, should be throwaway stuff, but isn't. B+(**) [bc] Amy Rigby: Cut Two (2023, Southern Domestic): More rough demos and podcast scraps. B+(**) [bc] Say She She: Silver (2023, Colemine): "Female-led 8 piece" from Brooklyn, or maybe just the trio of singers (Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, Nya Gazelle Brown) up front, the band name a nod to Chic ("C'est Chi-Chi"). The music too, except when the lush vocal harmonies win out. B+(***) [sp] Slowdive: Everything Is Alive (2023, Dead Oceans): British shoegaze band, released three albums 1991-95, regrouped for another in 2017, and now this fifth one. Love the sound here. Not sure how much more there is. B+(**) [sp] Simon Spillett Big Band: Dear Tubby H (2023, Mister PC): British tenor saxophonist, several albums since 2006, compiled a Properbox and wrote a biography of Tubby Hayes, who is further honored here. This keeps getting brasher. B+(***) [sp] Elias Stemeseder/Christian Lillinger: Umbra (2022 [2023], Intakt): Piano and drums duo, plus guests on most cuts: Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet), Russell Hall (bass), DoYeon Kim (gayageum), with Brandon Seabrook (guitar) as a fourth on four tracks. B+(***) [sp] Sultan Stevenson: Faithful One (2022 [2023], Whirlwind): British pianist, parents from Barbados and St. Vincent, first album, half trio, half adding trumpet (Josh Short) and tenor sax (Denys Baptiste). B+(**) [sp] Loren Stillman: Time and Again (2022 [2023], Sunnyside): Alto saxophonist, born in London but raised in New York, released an album on Soul Note in 1997 (when he was still a teen), and pretty regularly since 2003. Trio with bass (Drew Gress) and drums (Mark Ferber), on his own pieces. Another strong album. B+(***) [sp] Two Shell: Lil Spirits (2023, Mainframe Audio, EP): Electronic music duo from London, half-dozen singles and EPs since 2019, nothing LP-length, but these five cuts (16:41) make for a very satisfying demi-album. A- [sp] Martina Verhoeven Quintet: Driven: Live at Roadburn 2022 (2022, Klanggalerie): Dutch pianist, married to guitarist Dirk Serries, who plays here, along with Colin Webster (sax), Gonçalo Almeida (bass), and Onno Govaert (drums). One 49:31 shot, aptly named. B+(***) [sp] Colin Webster Large Ensemble: First Meeting (2022 [2023], Raw Tonk): Saxophonist (alto here), based in London, has a huge number of albums since 2011. Large means octet here, two sets (66:55) from Cafe Oto, with two more saxophonists (Rachel Musson on tenor and Cath Roberts on baritone), trumpet (Charlotte Keeffe), electronics (Graham Dunning), guitar (Dirk Serries), bass (John Edwards), and drums (Andrew Lisle). Gets noisy, I'm tempted to add exquisitely (not my normal reaction). B+(***) [bc] Wilco: Cousin (2023, dBpm): Jeff Tweedy's band, back for their 12th studio album (since 1995), pleasant as usual. B+(*) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: John Butcher & Gerry Hemingway: Roulette - New York City (2005) (2005 [2023], Auricle): Sax and drums duo, both well established, recorded a couple days before a similar duo they released in 2008 (Buffalo Pearl). B+(**) [bc] Clairvoyance Is the Dance (2023, Huveshta Rituals): "Polish-Belgian tastemkaker Kreshik" compiled this 18-track sampler of "worldwide talents." Seems deliberately obscure. B+(*) [sp] Luis Russell: At the Swing Cats Ball: Newly Discovered Recordings From the Closet, Volume 1 1938-1940 (1938-40 [2023], Dot Time): Originally from Panama, he moved to New Orleans in 1919, then worked his way up to Chicago (1925) and New York (1929), both running his own band and using it to back Louis Armstrong (11 of 20 tracks here feature Armstrong; the last four are solo piano). Crudely recorded airchecks, sound so-so, not a major discovery. B+(*) [sp] Bernie Worrell/Cindy Blackman Santana/John King: Spherical (1994 [2023], Infrequent Seams): P-Funk keyboard whiz from the launch in 1970, did a solo album in 1978, several more in the 1990s and later, before he died in 2016. Fusion jam session here with drums and guitar. B+(**) [sp] Old music: Lenhart Tapes: Duets (2021, Novo Doba): Eight tracks of Afro-Balkan Ethno-Noise, seven with features singers (Mirjana Raic or Svetlana Spajic), the other featuring "Orchestra." B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, December 4, 2023 Music Week
December archive (in progress). Music: Current count 41321 [41262] rated (+59), 6 [2] unrated (+4). Running late, so let's make this quick. Massive Speaking of Which yesterday (7422 words, 173 links), mostly on the genocide Israel is committing, and not just in Gaza, but the death of Henry Kissinger occasioned many glances back into the many atrocities he helped along. There is also a Q&A related to Hamas, to which I've added a postscript, where everyone doubles down. There's a music review question there, too. The Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll is coming along nicely, with 48 ballots submitted and counted so far. Deadline is December 15, so a bit less than two weeks away. I meant to send out a reminder to the voters today, but got distracted by other work. Maybe tonight, for sure by tomorrow. One piece of work is that I wrote up a script to list out the albums that have received votes so far. As the guy counting the ballots, I've been in the enviable position of seeing all this prospecting work, so I thought I should share it. Albums are sorted alphabetically by artist, so you can't tell standings from the lists, but you are certain to discover things you weren't aware of. (At least, I certainly have. All four of this week's A-list jazz albums were unknown to me before the Poll started -- although two of them were recent promos sent to me, that haven't yet received any votes. Two non-jazz albums first came to my attention on Phil Overeem's latest list, which I still have a lot of catching up on.) I did create my EOY aggregate list file(s), to which I've added 35 lists so far. I usually wind up with more than 300 lists (last year 565), but there is no guarantee I'm going to go that crazy this year. My own EOY lists for Jazz and Non-Jazz continue to grow (currently 69 and 47 new A/A- albums, respectively). I meant to firm up my Jazz ballot for today's post, but didn't make it on time. Still, the top dozen-plus have been pretty stable recently, with additions landing well down. I'm probably missing some stuff, especially on indexing. I know I meant to do more maintenance work on the Poll website, yet I've done very little. Almost done with Viet Tranh Nguyen's Nothing Ever Dies, and I'm getting tired of it. I've long understood how memories of war are orchestrated to promote more wars, not least because I grew up with a counterexample: my father had no fond memories of his "service" in WWII, and while he had no quarrel with the mission, he was quite certain that his role in it was utterly superfluous (unlike the years before and after when he helped build the B-29s, B-47s, and B-52). Next up is the final chapter on "forgetting," which is long overdue. Not sure what's next to read, but I'm checking Norman Finkelstein's Gaza for reference. I've read a vast amount of material on every aspect of the conflict, so lots of things are instantly clear to me that seem to hopelessly befuddle others. One thing I will say is that the recent books I've read on 1848 impressed on me that we're not very far removed from an age where revolutionary change was only possible through violence -- in large part because it was always resisted with violence. The latter is often still the case today, which is a big problem for the world. New records reviewed this week: Aesop Rock: Integrated Tech Solutions (2023, Rhymesayers Entertainment): Rapper Ian Bavitz, Wikipedia counts 10 albums since 2000, but collaborations come close to doubling that. Usually quick with the words, but slows down a bit here. B+(**) [sp] André 3000: New Blue Sun (2023, Epic): First solo album by the OutKast partner, has gotten a lot of news as his flute album, but barely registers as such, having settled into pleasantly aimless ambiance. B [sp] Artchipel Orchestra With Jonathan Coe: Suspended Moment: The Music of Jonathan Coe (2021 [2023], British Progressive Jazz): Coe is a well-known British novelist, with a long interest in music, but I'm not sure how much he has actually recorded -- minimally a 2014 solo album called Unnecessary Music. The Italian group takes five of Coe's pieces here for a live concert, with Coe playing keyboards. The first is most impressive as jazz, after which they get more theatrical. B+(**) [bc] Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff: Magg Tekki (2023, Mississippi): Large (17 members) collective from Dakar, Senegal, mostly drums and vocals. B+(*) [sp] Richard Baratta: Off the Charts (2023, Savant): Drummer, has a couple recent Jazz in Film discs. Quintet here with Jerry Bergonzi (tenor sax), David Kikoski (piano), John Patitucci (bass), and Paul Rossman (congas). B+(**) [sp] Michael Bates: Metamorphoses: Variations on Lutoslawski (2022 [2023], Anaklasis): Canadian bassist, several album since 2003. Hard to parse the cover here, as credit could be for Michael Bates' Acrobat -- quintet with Marty Ehrlich (clarinet), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon), Fung Chern Hwei (violin), and Michael Sarin (drums) -- and Lutoslawski Quartet (a string quartet), with vocals (one track) by Anna Lobelian. B+(**) [sp] Antonio Borghini: Banquet of Consequences (2023, We Insist!): Italian bassist, albums since 2002, leads a Berlin-based sextet of Tobias Delius, Anil Eraslan, Rieko Okuda, Steve Heather, and Pierre Borel. Playfully juxtaposes multiple styles and elements. B+(***) [r] Bounaly: Dimanche à Bamako (2023, Sahel Sounds): Guitarist Ali Traore, from Niafounke in north Mali, recorded live at a wedding bash in Mali's capitol city, a haven for many refugees from the jihad in the north. With vocals, drums, and calabash, the recording a little crude but powerful. A- [sp] Danny Brown: Quaranta (2023, Warp): Rapper, actual last name Sewell, sixth album since 2010 -- not counting his recent JPEGMafia duo, which continues to confound me. This rolls on so easily I gave it three plays before I decided all I had to do was tack on a grade. A- [sp] VV Brown: Am I British Yet? (2023, YOY): British pop singer-songwriter, mother Jamaican, father Puerto Rican, 2009 debut was one of my favorite records that year, this only her 3rd since, and by far the most race-focused. There's probably a story there, quite possibly a grim one, that I feel bad for not taking the time to dig out. But I did catch: "the revolution will not be digitised." And: "this melanin is magical." B+(***) [sp] Buck 65/Doseone/Jel: North American Adonis (2023, Handsmade): Mixtape with raps by the first two, production by the later. Starts off as nimbly as the former, but loses a bit when the latter aims for more punching power, but winds up just heavy. B+(***) [sp] Butcher Brown: Solar Music (2023, Concord Jazz): Jazz-funk fusion group from Richmond, Virginia; ninth album since 2013. Many guests this time out. B [sp] Chicago Edge Ensemble: The Individualists (2023, Lizard Breath): Chicago group, third album, guitarist Dan Phillips is the composer (except for one joint piece, called "Mutualism in Action"). Joined by Josh Berman (cornet), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Krzysztof Pabian (bass), and Hamid Drake (drums). B+(**) [bc] Michael Dease: Swing Low (2023, Posi-Tone): Mainstream trombonist, has played tenor sax in the past, tries his hand at baritone sax here, with three originals and a bunch of covers, standards and jazz tunes, including a couple by fellow trombonists (Melba Liston, Julian Priester). With Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, trombone (Altin Sencalar 3 tracks), piano (Art Hirahara),' bass (Boris Kozlov), and drums (Rudy Royston). B+(**) [sp] Hannah Diamond: Perfect Picture (2023, PC Music): British pop singer-songwriter, second album. B+(*) [sp] Aaron Diehl & the Knights: Zodiac Suite (2023, Mack Avenue): Pianist, several albums since 2013, tackles Mary Lou Williams' 1945 cycle of twelve pieces inspired by the stars. She was one of the major swing pianists of the era, but her bid for high-art respect always struck me as a bit forced. Here, however, Diehl pushes it over the top, with what is billed as "the first fully-fledged professional recording of this incredible arrangement." Even ends with a ridiculous high soprano aria. B- [sp] Marcelo Dos Reis & Luís Vicente: (Un)prepared Pieces for Guitar and Trumpet (2022 [2023], Cipsela): Guitar and trumpet, electric guitar but feels densely acoustic. Seems marginal, but I find it captivating. A- [cd] Marcelo Dos Reis: Flora (2023, JACC): Guitarist, trio with Miguel Falcão (bass) and Luis Filipe Silva (drums). B+(***) [cd] Shuteen Erdenebaatar Quartet: Rising Sun (2021 [2023], Motéma Music): Pianist, from Mongolia, first album, has won a bunch of prizes since she landed in Munich. Quartet with Anton Mangold (alto/soprano sax, flute), bass, and drums. B+(***) [sp] Diego Figueiredo: My World (2023, Arbors): Brazilian guitarist, couple dozen albums since 1999, with several recent ones on this swing-oriented label: the connection appears to be through Ken Peplowski, who co-headlined an album in 2019, and who plays clarinet and sax here, along with Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Helio Alves (piano), Nilson Matta (bass), and Duduka Da Fonseca (drums). B+(**) [sp] Don Fiorino/Andy Haas: Accidentals (2023, Resonant Music): No hype sheet, can't even find mention of this on the web. Cover just has the title, so it's probably also meant as the group name, but I substituted the artists' names: a duo, the former playing electric fretless bass and guitar, the latter saxophones with effects. Haas has a longer discography, starting in a new wave rock group I liked in 1980, Martha & the Muffins. They do have one previous duo album, and several more as two-thirds of Radio I-Ching (Discogs lists one album, but I've listened to four, with 2009's No Wave Au Go Go the pick). The other third was Dee Pop, and I found a memorial for him (1956-2021). This wanders a bit, which can happens when you loose your drummer. But this is odd and interesting enough, and it delights me. Now if only I can find a cover scan. A- [cd] Five-Way Split: All the Way (2023, Ubuntu Music): UK jazz quintet, with original material by Quentin Collins (trumpet), Vasillis Xenopoulos (tenor sax), and Rob Barron (piano), plus bass (Matyas Hofecker) and drums (Matt Home). B+(*) [sp] Michael Formanek Elusion Quartet: As Things Do (2022 [2023], Intakt): Bassist, emerged as a strong leader in the 1990s, second album with this powerhouse group: Tony Malaby (tenor sax), Kris Davis (piano), and Ches Smith (drums). Strong out of the gate, aims for a soft landing. B+(***) [dl] Sullivan Fortner: Solo Game (2023, Artwork, 2CD): Pianist, from New Orleans, played in Roy Hargrove's group 2010-17, has led a couple albums on Impulse! This is solo, 20 songs, 79 minutes, mixed up a bit with electric keyboards, percussion, and some vocalizing. B+(*) [sp] Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet: Songs and Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog (2023, Cantaloupe): Moondog was an alias for Louis Hardin (1916-99), a composer, performer, poet, and inventor of musical instruments, largely self-taught, although he drew on Native American music from his childhood in Wyoming, augmented by everything else he ran across, including Latin, jazz, classical, and the minimalists he worked with in New York. I should look deeper into his work, especially given how enticing this improbable collaboration is. Brian Carpenter's 13-piece orchestra is bottom-heavy (bass clarinet, baritone and bass saxophone, bassoon, trombone, and tuba), which keeps the string orchestra centered. And the guest vocalists are mostly from the rock world (or wherever you would slot Petra Haden and Karen Mantler), so they never fall into the usual jazz-classical traps. Dedicated to Hal Willner, who would really dig this. A- [sp] Hamell on Trial: Bring the Kids (2023, Saustex): Ed Hamell, antifolk singer-songwriter from upstate New York, albums since 1989, some weird and many funny. This one seems exceptionally scattered, with some of the music sounding like he's found new toys, and some I simply don't quite get, but 37 seconds of Ruth Theodore on Tucker Carlson brought a chuckle, and there's probably more (including four more bits with her). B+(**) [sp] Lafayette Harris, Jr.: Swingin' Up in Harlem (2023, Savant): Pianist, been around a while (at least since 1992), but has no Wikipedia page, and it's hard to construct a discography from Discogs. But he does have friends: Peter Washington (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums), with Houston Person producing (but not playing). B+(*) [sp] Benjamin Herman: Nostalgia Blitz (2023, Dox): Dutch alto saxophonist, debut 1993, cites James Chance and John Lurie as early inspirations, as well as Parker, Hodges, and -- the one he both played with and covered brilliantly -- Misha Mengelberg. This is just freaky enough to cover all those bases. A- [sp] Nitai Hershkovits: Call on the Old Wise (2022 [2023], ECM): Israeli pianist, first album was a 2012 duo with bassist Avishai Cohen; fifth album, solo, quietly contemplative. B+(*) [sp] Anthony Hervey: Words From My Horn (2023, Outside In Music): Trumpet player, has appeared in Christian McBride's big band, this is his first album, produced by Ulysses Owens Jr., with alto sax (Sarah Hanahan), piano (Isaiah J. Thompson and Sean Mason), bass (Philip Norris, and drums (Miguel Russell). Impressive chops, mainstream ideas, so-so vocal. B+(**) [sp] Jungle: Volcano (2023, Caiola/AWAL): British electropop project, led by producers John Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, fourth album since 2014, lead vocalist Lydia Kitto. B+(*) [sp] Sean Mason: The Southern Suite (2023, Blue Engine): Pianist, from North Carolina, based in New York, first album, with trumpet (Tony Glausi), tenor sax (Chris Lewis), bass (Felix Moseholm), and drums (Domo Branch). B+(*) [sp] MIKE: Burning Desire (2023, 10K): Rapper Michael Bonema, alias choice made him hard to look up when he started c. 2017, but he's piled up six studio albums, five mixtapes, a dozen EPs. B+(*) [sp] Lisa O'Neill: All of This Is Chance (2023, Rough Trade): Irish singer-songwriter, fifth album since 2009. Folkish, darkly. B+(**) [sp] OMD [Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]: Bauhaus Staircase (2023, 100%): One of the new wave bands of the early 1980s to find a synth-fueled dance groove, originally a duo of Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), had a nice run until Humphreys split in 1989. McCluskey carried on until 1996, then reunited with Humphreys in 2006, finally releasing an album in 2010. Third album since, initials on the cover, what these days could be called "classic modernism." With music to match. B+(**) [sp] Ryoko Ono/Satoko Fujii: Hakuro (2023, self-released): Japanese saxophone and piano duo. Ono has a number of albums since 2012, and Fujii has well over one hundred. B+(***) [bc] PinkPantheress: Heaven Knows (2023, 300 Entertainment): British dance-pop singer Victoria Walker, first studio album after a breakout mini-mixtape and a well-regarded EP. Small voice, comfy in the soft beats. B+(***) [sp] Tineke Postma: Aria (2022 [2023], Edition): Dutch saxophonist (alto/soprano), eighth album since 2005, with Ben Monder (guitar), Robert Landfermann (bass), and Tristan Renfrow (drums), playing original pieces. B+(**) [sp] Mette Rasmussen/Paul Flaherty/Zach Rowden/Chris Corsano: Crying in Space (2019 [2023], Relative Pitch): Two saxophonists (both alto, but Flaherty also plays tenor), plus bass and drums, for a live set at Firehouse 12. B+(***) [sp] Ernesto Rodrigues/Dirk Serries/João Madeira/José Oliveira: Dripping (2023, Creative Sources): Viola, archtop guitar, double bass, percussion. B+(*) [bc] Aksel Røed's Other Aspects: Do You Dream in Colours? (2023, Is It Jazz?): Norwegian octet, the leader one of three saxophonists, with trumpet (another Røed, Lyder Øvreás), trombone, piano (Isach Skeidsvoll), bass, and drums. B+(**) [bc] Alex Sipiagin Quintet: Mel's Vision (2022 [2023], Criss Cross): Russian trumpet player, moved to US in 1990, has a substantial discography since 1998, a post-bop player with real chops. Quintet with Chris Potter (tenor sax), David Kikoski (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), and Johnathan Blake (drums). B+(**) [sp] Guido Spannocchi: Live at Porgy & Bess Vienna (2022 [2023], Audioguido): Italian alto saxophonist, several albums since 2017, this with Danny Keane (piano), Ruth Goller (bass), and Pete Adam Hill (drums). Very strong showing. B+(***) [sp] Haralabos [Harry] Stafylakis: Calibrating Friction (2023, New Amsterdam): Canadian composer, based in New York, bills this as "a muscular, pyrotechnic blend of progressive metal and symphonic classical music." Somehow not quite that bad. B+(*) [sp] Chris Stapleton: Higher (2023, Mercury Nashville): Country singer-songwriter, from Kentucky, fifth album since 2015. Strong voice, deep roots, simple ideas. B+(*) [sp] Earl Sweatshirt & the Alchemist: Voir Dire (2023, ALC/Tan Cressida): LA rapper, Theba Kgositsile, one of the more successful to come out of the Odd Future collective. First with Alan Maman producing, a short one: 11 tracks, 26:37. B+(*) [sp] Isaiah J. Thompson: The Power of the Spirit (2023, Blue Engine): Pianist, from New Jersey, second album, leads a quartet with tenor sax (Julian Lee), bass (Philip Norris), and drums (Damo Branch or TJ Reddick). B+(***) [sp] Tyvek: Overground (2023, Ginkgo): "Garage lo-fi punk band" from Detroit, self-released debut 2006, eponymous album on a small but real label 2009, somewhere along the timeline added a saxophone (Emily Roll), adding some overtones to the guitar thrash. Kevin Boyer sings. Reminds me of the early Buzzcocks. A- [sp] VHS Head: Phocus (2023, Skam): Blackpool electronica artist Ade Blacow, third album. Glitchy, but that's only a first approximation. B+(*) [sp] J.D. Walter: The Last Muse (2023, Arkadia): Jazz singer, eight or so albums since 2000, second this year (but the one I landed on by accident). Mostly standards, title song and two other originals, unclear on credits (but reportedly "stellar"). Like many male jazz singers, he has considerable technical skills, but sounds tortured. B- [sp] Jeppe Zeeberg: Occasionally, Good Things Do Happen (2023, self-released): Danish pianist, half-dozen albums since 2014. This is circus-y and/or cartoon-ish, or maybe just a stab at phantasmagorical, not that I care after a while. Near the end, a piano solo that finally puts weird to good use. B- [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Geri Allen/Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Lovesome Thing (2012 [2023], Motéma Music): Piano and guitar duo, a live set from the Philharmonie de Paris. B+(**) [sp] Axolotl: Abrasive (1981 [2023], Souffle Continu): French avant-jazz trio, recorded one more album after this debut, the group consisting of Etienne Brunet (alto sax/bass clarinet), Jacques Oger (tenor/baritone sax), and Marc Dulourd (guitar). B+(*) [bc] Graham Collier Music: Smoke-Blackened Walls & Curlews (1970 [2023], British Progressive Jazz): British bassist, his sextet an important group of the era. Previously unissued tape, the music a bit on the brooding side, meant to frame John Carberry's narration, which is not without interest, just not a lot. B+(*) [bc] Don Ellis: How Time Passes (1960 [2023], Candid): Trumpet player (1934-78), first recording as leader, a quartet with Jaki Byard (piano/alto sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Charlie Persip (drums). B+(**) [sp] Jean-Marc Foussat: Abattage (1973-81 [2023], Fou): Deluxe reissue of the French sound artist's early work, where he plays guitar, piano, "voix, objets, radio," etc., etc., fascinated with whatever he conjures up. B+(***) [cd] Ibrahim Hesnawi: The Father of Libyan Reggae ([2023], Habibi Funk): I don't see any recording dates, but reports are that Hesnawi (b. 1954) recorded more than 15 albums from the 1980s to 2000s, yielding nine tracks here, the riddims build up with electric keyboards, and vocals in English and Arabic. B+(*) [sp] Wynton Marsalis: Wynton Marsalis Plays Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens (2006 [2023], Blue Engine): This promises "technically flawless performances . . . transposing the timeless music of the 1920s to the 21st century." Hard to know where to begin here, or whether to bother. No one will mistake Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Victor Goines, or Jon Batiste for the originals, and the late-breaking vocals hardly try. B [sp] Mike Osborne: Starting Fires: Live at the 100 Club 1970 (1970 [2023], British Progressive Jazz): British alto saxophonist, one of the first important ones on the avant-garde, paired here with tenor saxophonist Alan Skidmore, backed by Harry Miller (bass) and Louis Moholo (drums). B+(***) [sp] Pet Shop Boys: Smash: The Singles 1985-2020 (1985-2020 [2023], Parlophone, 3CD): Fifty-five songs, most from worthy albums -- even such recent ones as Super (2016) and Hotspot (2020) -- the first two discs largely recapitulating the 2003 2-CD compilation, PopArt: The Hits, plus an extra 68:37 from the later period. A- [r] Todd Snider: Crank It, We're Doomed (2007 [2023], Aimless): Long-shelved album, recorded after The Devil You Know (perhaps his best studio album ever), "paradoxically [he] felt the album was both too much and too little, needing more but already too much." Some songs were salvaged for Peace Queer and The Excitement Plan, and several were re-recorded later, so much of this is semi-familiar. Perhaps reassuring to recall the doom we (mostly) survived, as opposed to the doom still to come. A- [sp] Old music: Don Fiorino/Andy Haas: American Nocturne (2018, Resonant Music): Radio I-Ching minus the drummer, saxophonist Andy Haas making do with a drum machine and electronics, while Don Fiorino plays guitar, glissentar, and lap steel guitar. B+(***) [bc] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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