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Itâs called Combo 66 because thatâs how old John Scofield is this year. Yet the American guitarist has also linked the number to the song Route 66 , the bossa-nova band Brasil 66 and mid-Sixties music in general. Thereâs even piano and organ to enhance the retro mood. Donât expect a nostalgic wallow, though. Scoâs electric guitar is as fuzzy as ever and all the tunes are originals. This is modern music.
(Chris Pearson for The Times [09/28/2018])
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Despite the duo formation, Danielsson and Fresu often manage to evoke a sweeping sound; full and resounding even in its most fleeting narrations. There is an overall laidback nature that saturates Summerwind but through the tranquility a subtle heat keeps things energized. The spartan album is a showcase for the first-class talents of Danielsson and Fresu.
(Karl Ackermann for allaboutjazz.com)
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The 1961 Joan Baez recording of âThe Lily of the Westâ. Roon of course doesnât have the lyrics, despite
having been published well over 100 years ago.
But a lovely recording nonetheless.
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The first ECM leader date for Shai Maestro (following his label debut with Theo Bleckmann on Elegy ) features the gifted pianist fronting his superlative trio with fellow Israeli Ofri Nehemya on drums and Peruvian bassist Jorge Roeder, and also playing alone. A solo interpretation of Matti Caspiâs âMy Second Childhoodâ opens the curtain on a programme of characteristically thoughtful Maestro originals, each one with a story to tell. âHearing the Shai Maestro Trio is like awakening to a new worldâ, All About Jazz has suggested. âExpressions of joy, introspective thoughts and heightened intensity all come to the fore.â Maestroâs differentiated touch is special; he can convey a range of fleeting emotions in a single phrase. A deconstruction of âThese Foolish Thingsâ, the albumâs sole standard, serves as a prelude to âWhat Else Needs To Happenâ, a sombre meditation on inner city violence and its aftermath. The Dream Thief was recorded at Luganoâs Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in April 2018, and produced by Manfred Eicher, and issued on the eve of a European tour with concerts in Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, France, and Switzerland.
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Ooooo This looks fun in MQA
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A rootsy blues album with an acoustic feel.
Tony Joe White is getting back to his roots, fifty years on from when he cut his first recordings. The swamp-rock veteranâs latest LP, Bad Mouthinâ , takes its name from the first song he ever wrote, a grimy country blues thatâs only just seeing the light of day after more than five decades in obscurity.
(âŠ) Unearthing those early compositions inspired White to likewise revisit his musical roots, and while five of the 12 tracks on Bad Mouthinâ are originals, the others consist of covers from the heroes of his youth. Hookerâs âBoom Boomâ is among them, as are songs made famous by Jimmy Reed, Lightninâ Hopkins, and Charley Patton. Thereâs even a cover of Elvis Presley, who recorded his own version of Whiteâs âPolk Salad Annieâ in 1973. â Rolling Stone
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Many have tried to combine jazz and classical music. Few have succeeded.
In âNew Eyes on Martin Lutherâ the ensembles have focused on the similarities instead of the differences, and have scrupulously avoided attempts at parody or postmodern extravagance.
Everyone is just doing what theyâre best at, and with the open tonality of the renaissance music, they have found the perfect meeting place and playground for it. Swedish soprano Jeanette Köhn together with a small ensemble (Johan Norberg guitar, Magnus Lindgren, flute and clarinet, Eva Kruse, bass) fronted by Nils Landgren, recorded their album âNew Eyes On Baroqueâ with Swedish Radio Choir under the baton of Gustaf Sjökvist (2013) released on ACT: â⊠how well the timbres of soprano saxophone, trombone and guitar suit the original melodies. The effect in Handelâs âGia nel senoâ and Purcellâs âWhen I Am Laid in Earthâ is gorgeousâ (The Observer, GB). âA strong direct quality about the music which is distinctly Nordic in characterâŠa superb piece of music making on the part of all involvedâ (Euan Dixon, Jazzviews).
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âACT seems to be on a mission to introduce the world to Europeâs rising new jazz-classical pianists,â the UKâs leading jazz critic John Fordham of the Guardian has noted. And jazz for piano has indeed always been part of ACTâs DNA. The labelâs roster includes pianists who have achieved international renown such as Joachim KĂŒhn, Esbjörn Svensson and Michael Wollny; and more recently the Austrian David Helbock has started to be recognized as the major talent he clearly is. Siggi Loch started the dedicated album series âPiano Worksâ to present the finest in solo piano playing, and Rainer Böhm with his album âhĂœdĆrâ becomes the latest pianist to enter this pantheon.
Born in Ravensburg in Southern Germany in 1977 and now based in Cologne, Böhm is considered by critics to be one of the countryâs outstanding jazz pianists, yet among the wider public he has not reached the level of recognition he deserves. He has made his mark through some excellent projects â with saxophonists Johannes Enders and Lutz HĂ€fner, and trumpeter Axel Schlosser, for example. In 2016 with drummer Bastian JĂŒtteâs quartet he won the award which is widely held to be the most important in German jazz, the New German Jazz Prize â and he won the Soloist Prize as well. He teaches at the conservatoires in Nuremberg and Mannheim, where he is one of their youngest professors.
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