• Music

    Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music

    Over the past 10 years or so, something incredible has been happening in London.  Jazz has come back into fashion, and has taken in influences from all over, be it hip hop or world music.  Yussef Dayes is, arguably, the leading light in this Nu Jazz movement.  This is his debut album after scores of incredible singles and remixes, and so far, the album is living up to the hype.

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    Gianni Marchetti – Milano: Il Clan Dei Calabresi

    Thanks to killer reissue labels like Four Flies Records out of Italy, we can experience the easy/cheesy listening sounds of 1970s Italian movie soundtracks.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Four Flies’ 45s series continues to pay tribute to the golden age of Italian film music, this time with the first 7-inch release ever of two super-groovy themes from Gianni Marchetti’s soundtrack to Milano: Il Clan dei Calabresi (known in English as ‘The Last Desperate Hours’), a 1974 poliziottesco film directed by Giorgio Stegani. “M2”, on side A, is a re-versioning of a timeless classic – Quincy Jones’ “Ironside” theme –…

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    Jorge López Ruiz – Un Hombre de Buenos Aires

    I have to say that, until a few days ago, I knew nothing about Jorge López Ruiz, but after reading this writeup and listening to the funky exotic jazz on this album, I’ve become a fan.  From the Bandcamp website: “Jazz, funk, and bossa vibes kiss each other, all wrapped up in JLR’s trademark cinematic feel. In his colourful Un Hombre de Buenos Aires, recorded in 1978, JLR puts the political outcry of his early 70s works aside and focuses on his love for the city of Buenos Aires. Jorge López Ruiz gets far less credit than he deserves. His…

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    Szilárd Mezei Trio – Ink​á​bb (Rather)

    Serbian-Hungarian multi-instrumentalist and composer Szilárd Mezei is perhaps the most adventurous musician coming out of Hungary these days, and that’s saying a lot, considering the great quality of improvisers who have come from that country (think of the legendary A.E. Bizottság, for example).  This is a trio album from 2008 where he plays viola while Ernő Hock handles the double bass and István Csík plays drums.  Unique.

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    Samo Salamon, Emanuele Parrini & Vasco Trilla – Eating Poetry

    Another dear friend of the blog, Samo Salamon from Slovenia, brings along a few friends for a well-done, gorgeously recorded improvisational album.  Joining Salamon on this disc are Emanuele Parrini on violin and Vasco Trilla on drums and percussion.  From Samo’s Bandcamp site: “A great improvising trio session of three fantastic improvisers from three different European countries. Samo Salamon (Slovenia) has this time played exclusively acoustic guitars – 6 and 12-string string. Especially the 12-string guitar is a hugely underrated instrument in the improvising context. Naturally, names such as Ralph Towner or Marc Ducret come to mind, but still Salamon…

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    Lucy Khanyan Quartet – Komitas Through the Eyes of Lucy Khanyan Quartet

    Soghomon Soghomonian, the priest, ethnomusicologist and arranger who would be later known to millions of Armenian music aficionados as Komitas (Vardapet), is a figure who looms large in the history of the country’s music scene.  Avant-garde pianist Lucy Khanyan does great justice to some of the works of Komitas, interpreting them in more of a jazz setting which sounds completely natural.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Hip Holland Hip : Modern Jazz In The Netherlands 1950 – 1970

    The Netherlands is a country so incredibly rich with music, yet they do an awful jon promoting it.  Welcome, then, to the wild world of Dutch jazz, courtesy of Belgian label Sdban Records. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Delve into the Dutch jazz scene of the 1950s and 1960s with a selection of classic and rare hard bop and cool jazz tracks from artists like Herman Schoonderwalt, the Diamond Five, Wessel Ilcken and Tony Vos. Holland never sounded this hip before! “Jazz is garbage and a caricature of the modern orchestra; it is garbage arranged by half-grown musicians for the…

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    Cathrine Legardh, Sigurdur Flosason – Stilhed & Storm

    Nordic jazz tends to be very warm in my experience.  This collection of original tunes by Danish singer Cathrine Legardh and her sparring partner on this album, alto saxophonist Sigurður Flosason, make an album with songs of love, live and even dogs.  It’s a mellow listen, something hotter than cool jazz, but measured in its playing.  A gorgeously relaxing disc. One additional note: I’ve picked up a few titles from the label that released this disc, Storyville Records.  They handle new music and reissues with great care and are a label absolutely worth supporting.

  • Music

    Leisure Time 閒暇 – Normal Music

    Taiwanese band Leisure Time 閒暇 produce a music that sits in that hazy area between real and fake jazz.  I think the quote the band used by the legendary Donald Fagen of Steely Dan sums up their sound best: “There was sort of cheap music, tv music, movie music. By cheap I mean, not really in a disparaging way but it’s written to support something else. […] And so, I both like real jazz and fake jazz, and also, fake fake jazz.” Real of fake, it’s pleasant listening.