Charlie Watts, the legendary bedrock of the Rolling Stones, has passed away today at the age of 80. He speaks about his experiences drumming in this video. Rest in peace, Charlie.
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I’m delighted to share a piece from my old friend, the Siberian composer and multi-instrumentalist Roman Stolyar. This nearly 20-minute improvisation was recorded live on July 30, 2021 at the MMMESSS studio in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The piano-playing is quick, sharp, with each keystroke coming at you like waves of noise. A great example of Russian free jazz.
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Denmark’s SteepleChase Records has a brilliant catalog worth exploring, featuring not only homegrown talent like Niels-Henning Ørsten Pedersen and Pierre Dørge but also internationally known stars like Lee Konitz, Cedar Walton, Sun Ra and the inimitable Chet Baker among others. This particular album is led by pianist Duke Jordan, and it is one of the smoothest sounding albums I’ve heard in a while. This is going to be playing a lot on the turntable this winter.
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Inana is the fourth album by Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar which came out in 2011. The trumpeter starts the album with eight tracks dedicated to Inanna, the Mesopotamian goddess of sex, beauty, war and political power. ElSaffar mixes microtonal jazz with Arabic scales such as maqam, which seems to be naturally suited to improvisation. It’s an evocative album – warm, passionate, and exquisitely recorded. Sadly, there is only one track available to hear on the Bandcamp site, but I attach another track available on Youtube here. Personnel: Amir ElSaffar – trumpet, vocal, santour Ole Mathisen – tenor and soprano saxophone…
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The ever-brilliant Aloha Got Soul Records is about to release a lost masterpiece of exotica. Arthur Lyman played vibraphone and marimba, and with these tools, nature sounds and some fine musicians backing him up, he managed to conjure up images of life in the South Pacific and Hawaii, which had just become our 50th state in the United States. This album was originally recorded on Broad Records in 1980, but it seems to have been forgotten, which is surprising given the explosion of exotica, easy listening and lounge music which occurred during the 1990s. As of today (July 23, 2021),…
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Anna Michaels is not the Toni Morrison-kind of poet I can’t get into. Rather, she has the power of a street storyteller, the sort of person who you can engage at a New York or Los Angeles coffee shop talking about her experiences across the world, her observations of American life both as a local and a foreigner in some sense, and at her best, her words can be rather spellbinding. She is the sort of person I would utterly enjoy a coffee with. It’s quite a treat to know that she has paired up with Yordan Kostov’s band, one…
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We’ll have to rely on a different way of hearing the tracks on this phenomenal comp released by Soul Jazz Records and Mr. Bongo. Consider heading over to Sounds of the Universe’s page to sample tunes from one of the best and widest-ranging comps I’ve had the pleasure of hearing in some time now. From Sounds of the Universe’s website: All of the music featured here on this new Soul Jazz Records collection was created by Brazilian artists living and working in the USA in the 1970s. The album brings together some of these finest works and comes complete with…
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How do such wonderful musicians get lost in the mists of time? It boggles the mind, though I must say I’m happy to be living in an age of crate-divers and those who have the same passion of discovering music as I do. This particular artist, Salah Ragab, a military man who also was a swinging jazz maestro, is well-known to Sun Ra aficionados, but only to a few outside this select group. It’s a shame, as this particular album gathers songs which mix together big band music, cha-cha-chá, Raqş sharqī, and melodramatic music which would fit well in an…
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May you, the reader, have a wonderful Fathers Day. We’ll be reviewing again tomorrow. For now, enjoy Leon Thomas grooving.
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In normally more partial to listening to old, stripped down 60s soul than I am to hearing modern R&B, but this gem out of Tanzania, by way of the U.K., caught my ear in a most pleasant way. Our friends at Delicious Tunes do yeoman’s work spending time all over Africa, getting to know and working with musicians of astounding quality and getting them a proper release. Tofa Jaxx is one of these gems. Tofa’s vocals are sultry, and he can hold is own with any of modern heavyweights populating the top 40 charts, but what is especially interesting is…