What a shame that I didn’t find this release three weeks ago, as it would have been perfect party music for the Halloween party I attended! Artists on this creepy album include Bobby “Boris” Pickett, Bo Diddley, Spike Jones, Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, and, of course, Cab Calloway Continue Reading
Jazz
Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
What a sublime work this is! I’m new to the work of Sarathy Korwar, a US-born, India-raised bandleader and master percussionist. This percussive gem is his latest work. From Sarathy’s Bandcamp site: “Playing as a 40-minute suite of hypnotic and transcendent drum improvisations, the album beats through a repetitive, circular Continue Reading
Baeshi Bang 배씨방 – Baeshi Bang
From their Bandcamp site: “Baeshi Bang is a French quintet presenting an original and modern instrumental interpretation of songs by Bae Ho, famous Korean singer from the sixties.” Bae Ho was a stylish South Korean crooner who sang with so much power that he would nearly rip out his vocal Continue Reading
Mukta – Indian Sitar & World Jazz
A new band for me, Muktar is from France, and their Bandcamp site introduces them this way: “French bassist Simon Mary and his band have performed on stages around the world. Generous and modern shamans, talented alchemists, Mukta occupy more than ever a special place on the chessboard of new world Continue Reading
Dan Krimm – Second Wind
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing fretless bassist and fellow Californian Dan Krimm’s album on my old blog, A Miscellany of Tasteful Music. Recently, Dan informed me that he has a new album coming out, and it’s one of the most elegant and relaxing listens I’ve had in a long Continue Reading
The Necks – Disquiet
The Necks, perhaps my favorite improvisational music trio, have a new release. From the Northern Spy Records Bandcamp site: “Meticulously recorded and sculpted, the four extended pieces on Disquiet see Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, and Lloyd Swanton pushing at the outer edges of their collective intuition, building and unraveling hypnotic Continue Reading
Saagara – 3 The Shackleton Versions
From Waclaw Zimpel’s Bandcamp site: “Saagara’s album 3 made itself right at home in the tak:til universe as soon as it was released to considerable acclaim last October, quickly becoming as much of a touchstone for the label’s Fourth World aesthetic as Jon Hassell, 75 Dollar Bill and Širom. A Continue Reading
Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu Plays Mulatu
Today is a joyful day because I finally get to listen to an album I’ve been eagerly anticipating for months. The Ethiopian musical genius Mulatu Astatke has released a new album featuring 11 tracks, showcasing the distinctive instrumentation that defines his unique sound. From his Bandcamp site: “Mulatu Plays Mulatu realises Continue Reading
Slava Lobanov & Peter Shalamov – Garden of Flowing Streams
From the Slawic Group’s Bandcamp site: “The debut jazz recording by the duo of Slava Lobanov (of Fuzziliers, Juice Oh Yeah, Pereuchyot, the Flash Fever) and young pianist Peter Shalamov, who met in Istanbul where they relocated to after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is inspired predominantly by iconic recordings Continue Reading
Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal, known as ‘The Sorcerer’, dies aged 89
In what has turned out to be a difficult week, we have received the news that we have lost another legend. Hermeto Pascoal, who collaborated with many of the greatest Brazilian musicians and even had a stint with Miles Davis’ bands, has passed away at the age of 89, according Continue Reading