Jazz Releases

CD review – Billy Jenkins - I am a Man from Lewisham

From the bluesy growl of the opening title-track, through a series of rousing, eccentric instrumentals, to the closing 'Throw Them Blues in the Recycling Bin' featuring the Voice of God Collective Junior League Choir, this is quintessential Billy Jenkins: teasingly satirical, genre-melding, passionate, deeply rooted in South East London.

CD review – Stefano Battaglia / Michele Rabbia Pastorale

Pianist Stefano Battaglia is something of an old hand at the percussion–piano freely improvising duo, having collaborated in the early 1990s with Tony Oxley and Pierre Favre, and with his current partner, fellow Italian Michele Rabbia, on an earlier ECM release, Re: Pasolini. On these eleven pieces, which range from deft interpretations of prearranged material (the musical prayer 'Antifona Libera', the wisps of melody that inform the title-track) through Maghrebi-influenced improvisations ('Cantar del Alma', 'Sundance in Balkh')...

Gig review – Martin Carthy - Tuesday 2 March

The world of traditional folk music, characterised by trickery, down-to-earth wit and magic, that is illuminated by a Martin Carthy concert is perhaps best exemplified by the plot of one of the most striking songs he included in this mesmerising two-hour performance: 'Willie's Lady'.

CD review – Jason Adasiewicz's Rolldown - Varmint

Locating the vibrant, freewheeling music on this, Rolldown's second album, by identifying its roots in the freer 1960s Blue Note recordings (Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, Sam Rivers et al.) and in its home city Chicago's improvised music scene (Art Ensemble, AACM, Sun Ra) provides a useful shortcut for those new to the band, but might leave them unprepared for the thoroughly contemporary nature of Jason Adasiewicz's compositions, which bristle with all the viscerally affecting energy of the current avant-rock scene in which he used to operate.

Gig review – Mike and Kate Westbrook - Thursday 25 February – 606 Club

'Allsorts' is the title of the Westbrooks' latest duo album (see CD Reviews), and the two sets of music they are currently playing on a short UK tour are comprised mainly of songs that appear on that asc CD. Like the album, their first set began with Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler's 'Stormy Weather', its touching vernacular exploitation of the pathetic fallacy making it a perfect vehicle for Kate's subtly dramatic delivery.

Classic Releases

Leonard Bernstein

Mass (1971) Jubilant Sykes, baritone (The Celebrant) Morgan State University Choir; Peabody Children’s Chorus Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop Naxos By now, almost all our readers must have heard of this sensational recording and the string of awards it has garnered in the classical industry. After a long period of benign neglect, Leonard Bernstein’s acclaimed (or notorious?) masterwork has [...]

Lewis Spratlan

In Memoriam Soloists, Valley Festival Orchestra and Amherst College Concert Choir Lewis Spratlin conducting Streaming: Quartet for Piano and Strings Yvonne Lam. Violin; David Kim, viola; Christian-Pierre La Marca, cello; Xiang Zou, piano Navona Records “Sun, Sun, you bring us light. Never can we pay for the blessings that you give to us.” Thus begins a Mayan prayer to the Sun [...]

Alberto Ginastera

String Quartets (Complete) Ensö Quartet, with Lucy Shelton, soprano (Quartet 3) Naxos Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) listed three periods in his development as “Objective Nationalism” (1934–1948), “Subjective Nationalism” (1948–1958), and “Neo-Expressionism” (1958–1983). His best known works, the ballets Panambí and Estancia, are from the first period, in which he consciously used the folk music of his own [...]

Vivian Houle: Treize

Vivian Houle, vocalist Treize Drip Audio Mandrake (with Peggy Lee, cello) Molehills mumps (with Lisa miller, piano) Paperthin (with Coat Cooke, saxophone) Gratte-moi le dos (with Kenton Loewen, drums) Quiet eyes (with Ron Samworth, guitar) It’s not the moon (with Chris Gestrin, analog keyboards and live sampling) Betters and bads (with Jesse Zubot, violin) Finely tuned is my heart (with Jeremy Berkman, [...]

Tom Johnson on New World

Tom Johnson Rational Melodies New World CD 80705-2 When he was a critic at the Village Voice in the 1970s, Tom Johnson (b. 1939) was one of the first writers to apply the term ‘minimalism’ to music. As time has moved on, many composers originally associated with minimalism have branched out stylistically; while certain gestural signatures may remain, [...]

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Radio Magico News

Pat Metheny Talks About His Orchestrion Project

Friday, 29 January 2010 17:14

"This project represents a conceptual direction that merges an idea from the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the technologies of today to create a new, open-ended platform for musical composition, improvisation and performance," said Pat Metheny in November of 2009 about his latest musical project.

Tags: Pat Metheny

Irka Mateo "Anacaona"

Sunday, 24 January 2010 23:45

IRKA MATEO
Anacaona
(c) (p) 2009 Irka Mateo

Reviewed by Serge Kozlovsky

How could the album “Anacaona” by Irka Mateo be characterized? What is this music – latin/world with strong Brazilian flavor or authentic Dominican folk or contemporary jazz? The answer will be “Yes” for all above mentioned genres and it still wouldn't describe Irka Mateo’s album completely because “Anacaona” is more than just a combination of various styles. This is the music about which one wants to call: “True music”. The reason of my assertion is the deep sincerity which is felt in Irka Mateo’s singing.

Tags: Irka Mateo

Chris Potter - "Unspoken"

Friday, 15 January 2010 15:43

Chris Potter - "Unspoken"

Twenty-seven year old reed man Chris Potter made a big splash on his 1992 debut as a leader for Criss Cross. He showed remarkable promise not only in tenor sax work, but also on alto, soprano, bass clarinet and alto flute. On this one he sticks to tenor and soprano, but his playing is no less fluent and capable. An all-star lineup joins the former Steely Dan and Joe Henderson sideman for this date: John Scofield on guitar, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. All four are in top form for this album, which manages to be warm, smooth, inviting, and adventurous all in one package.

Jeff Beck - "Beckology" [3 CD Box]

Monday, 23 November 2009 17:36

Jeff Beck - "Guitar Deluxe!"
This three CD set is a great but not perfect representation of guitarist Jeff Beck's exciting mix of blues, rock, jazz and funk. Like a tomcat on the prowl he, scratches, cries and wails, always landing on his feet with his impeccable sense of time.

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Jazz Fusion Giants

Tuesday, 10 November 2009 11:50

Fusion or, more specifically, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that developed in the late 1960s from a mixture of elements of jazz such as its focus on improvisation with the rhythms and grooves of funk and R&B and the beats and heavily amplified electric instruments and electronic effects of rock. While the term "jazz rock" is often used as a synonym for "jazz fusion", it also refers to the music performed by late 1960s and 1970s-era rock bands when they added jazz elements to their music such as free-form improvisation.

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Jaco Pastorius - "The Birthday Concert"

Thursday, 05 November 2009 18:30

On Jaco's 30th birthday (December 1st, 1981), he held his own "surprise" party at Mr. Pip's in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This recording documents the birthday party concert with 11 tracks. The Peter Graves Orchestra and other Jaco favorites were brought together as The Word of Mouth Band for this spirited performance. Peter Erskine contributes liner notes for this release and is also the album's producer.

Tags: Jaco Pastorius

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