Nearly an entire year of excellent new jazz recordings has left me feeling truly grateful, thinking it can’t get any better. Then November comes along and says, “Actually, it can. There’s more…a lot more.” Several of this month’s selections deserve serious consideration for inclusion for the upcoming year-end wrap-up, so even as the year winds down, in a way, it’s ramping up all over again. And on that promising note—let’s begin.
Tomin
A Willed and Conscious Balance
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
Some albums, from the very first time I hear them, trigger a compulsion in me—one that’s almost too forceful to ignore—to climb to the nearest rooftop and blast the music to the world. I’m utterly convinced that, upon hearing it, society will undergo an important, transformative change that will put it on the path to peace and happiness. Tomin Perea-Chamblee’s debut recording is one such instance. And while, yes, “user response will vary,” if the music’s spiritually intense melodicism, euphoria-inciting harmonics, and heartbeat-precious tempos are still triggering me after repeated listens, there’s gotta be some hope that the music might affect many of you in the same way—and, just maybe, have the transformative effect hoped for. Joining the multi-instrumentalist on this session (and, truly, multi-instrumentalist—Perea-Chamblee plays flute; alto and bass clarinets; trombone; euphonium; bells; Casio MT-70; and trumpet) are keyboardist Teiana Davis; cellists Clérida Eltimé and Lester St. Louis; trumpeter Linton Smith II; bassist Luke Stewart; and drummer Tcheser Holmes.
Naomi Moon Siegel
Shatter the Glass Sanctuary
Compact Disc (CD),
The latest from Naomi Moon Siegel is awash in colors—textured wildly, as if attempting to fill the wide open spaces of her new digs in Missoula, Montana. The trombonist—joined by pianist Marina Albero, guitarist Andy Coe, percussionist Christopher Icasiano, trumpeter Ray Larsen, and bassist Kelsey Mines—imbues this music with proportionate immensity, sometimes going with a big sound, and sometimes with something more measured that resonates with a big impact. Siegel doesn’t stick to just one form of expression; she shifts around the modern jazz landscape as needed, often reflecting the influence of her Pacific Northwest roots.
Vazesh
Tapestry
Compact Disc (CD)
The music on Tapestry is so drop-dead beautiful that it’s easy to overlook the undercurrent of tension in the sophomore release from the trio Vazesh. One source of this tension is simply the fear that something might shatter the tranquility generated by the trio of Iranian tar player Hamed Sadeghi, saxophonist/bass clarinetist Jeremy Rose, and bassist Lloyd Swanton. But another is the simmering moodiness that hangs over every moment. Released on the Australian label Earshift Records, it could easily get slotted in with some of the ECM Records new century folk-jazz recordings (i.e., Anouar Brahem). When Rose switches over to bass clarinet, the effect is hypnotic.
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet
The Way Out of Easy
2 x Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
The latest release from Jeff Parker consists of four selections, of recent vintage, from the guitarist’’s seven-year residency at the now-closed Los Angeles venue ETA. As each of these long-form selections attests, Parker’s time at ETA was conducive to exploration and stretching out. Parker’s quartet—which includes saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose—takes the music to a place where groove acquires the power to mesmerize, where repeated phrases melt into the complex fabric of improvisation, offering up the kind of performances where one loses track of time, immersed in the moment for as long as Parker allows the moment to last.
Alexi Tuomarila Trio
Departing the Wasteland
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
This album absolutely captivates me. I’ve been a fan of Alexi Tuomarila’s trio (with bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori) since their 2013 release Seven Hills, but none of that compares to their latest. Adding guitarist Andre Fernandes to the mix is like amplifying a diamond’s beauty with a ray of sunlight. And with guests on trombone, saxophones, and flute (Gil Silva, José Pedro Coelho, João Guimarães), the harmonic bloom brings a new fullness to the trio’s typical melodic resonance. There were so many tracks I wanted to embed as enticement to listen further, and it pained me to have to choose just the one. Simply outstanding.
Oaagaada
Music Of
Vinyl LP
The Finnish quartet Oaagaada runs wild and free, but there’s a gracefulness to their music’s motion, and it emerges as easily as when they’re kicking up dust as when taking off in flight. Saxophonist Sami Pekkola (who contributes shruti box to the excellent, meditative piece “Seagull Shapes”), trumpeter Tuure Tammi, bassist Tero Kemppainen, and drummer Simo Laihonen work a free jazz vein that could as easily slot into a ‘60s-era playlist as one comprised solely of music from the modern scene, pairing, as they do, their combustibility with either a shadow of the blues or post-bop’s angular aesthetic.
Phil Dawson ٤-tet
Don’t Waste Your Ancestors’ Time
Vinyl LP
Fashioning this music out of Afro-jazz and Brazilian influences in a contemporary jazz atmosphere, the new recording from Phil Dawson radiates a sunny vibe, equally adaptable to luxuriating within or moving about. The album has no shortage of grooves, but they’re multifaceted, expressing tones that are celebratory but urgent, enveloping yet insistent. Dele Sosimi, Tony Kofi, and Sam Leak are a few of the musicians to join the London-based guitarist on this session, as is Khadijatou Doyneh, whose spoken word contribution to the piece “Shifting Sands (Mainline)” exhibits both the power to enchant and topple anything in its path.
John Hollenbeck & NDR Bigband
Colouring Hockets
Compact Disc (CD)
It’s no surprise that a curious melodicism carries forward to John Hollenbeck’s post-Claudia Quintet work; but what has been a revelation is how seamlessly the drummer has adapted it to disparate projects. Case in point: Hollenbeck’s work with the NDR Bigband. His tendency to etch complex, nuanced devils into his details isn’t the least bit hampered by the expansive sound inherent in a large ensemble. Guests Patricia Brennan and Matt Moran (both contributing percussion such as vibraphones, marimba, and Glockenspiels) are a special treat, as is the work of conductor JC Sanford, whose work as trombonist and conductor you should also be checking out.
ADHD
9
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
The Icelandic quartet ADHD works in dualities. Their music generates a pleasant heat, accompanied by a deep sonority which adds an undercurrent of icy beauty. The melodies possess a lullaby-like quality, even when expressed with the strength to wake all sleepers. Shadows and light each play their roles as opposing forces, as dance partners. ADHD is pianist Tómas Jónsson (also on Hammond organ, melodica, and synthesizers), drummer-percussionist Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, guitarist Ómar Guðjónsson (including pedal steel and bass guitar), and saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson (tenor and soprano).
Bill Laurance & Michael League
Keeping Company
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
This album is pure tranquility. Bill Laurance and Michael League—founder of the ensemble Snarky Puppy—go to an entirely different place with this acoustic duo recording. With Laurance on piano (sometimes prepared) and League on fretless bass and oud, they dip their toes into expressions common to Middle Eastern music and modern straight-ahead jazz; but influence and roots don’t ever make an indelible impression, and seem kind of beside the point. What gets to the heart of this recording is two musicians locked in step, and generating the quiet intimacy of the simple act of creating music in the moment. As gorgeous as it gets.
Work Money Death
People of the Fast Flowing River
Vinyl LP, Vinyl Box Set,
The ensemble Work Money Death really knows how to tap into the classic spiritual jazz sound. Their music belongs to the air, to the soil, to the church, and to nature’s great wide open. The tone is celebratory, even when the music is charged with inner turmoil. The core quartet of pianist Richard Ormrod, bassist Neil Innes, drummer Sam Hobbs, and tenor saxophonist Tony Burkill are backed by an array of guests on wind instruments and percussion, adding all kinds of textures to a recording just bursting with it.
Greg Ward, Ziv Ravitz, Matthew Stevens & Leo Genovese
Full Cream
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
Plenty to like on this session from drummer Ziv Ravitz, guitarist-bassist Matthew Stevens, alto saxophonist Greg Ward, and pianist-keyboardist Leo Genevese. Performing together for the first time as a dedicated quartet, they flit about the modern jazz landscape—some grooves, some growls, some straight-ahead goodness—almost as if experimenting with different forms of expressionism just to discover all the different ways the musicians might interact…and the surprises that result.
Other Albums of Note:
London-based ensemble Kokoroko has a new EP of contemporary jazz out this month, released on Brownswood Recordings. The new Donder recording delightfully switches between spasmodic rhythmic episodes and melancholy melodic interludes (released on Belgium’s W.E.R.F. Records label). The Jamie Saft Trio offers up an album of Thelonious Monk renditions that snaps right into place with autumn’s bursts of colors and brisk mornings. La Plata, Argentina-based sextet H.u.M.o. offers up a promising debut EP of lovingly misshapen music, including two original pieces and renditions of works by Julius Hemphill and Steve Lacy. It’s an immaculate set of modern jazz from the trio of Scott Colley, Edward Simon, and Brian Blade (plus special guests), which becomes even more special when the strings make their grand entrance.
