Sunday, January 11, 2015

1 Sem 2015 - Part Two

RdT
Antídoto




By Souza Lima
Trio reforça sua atuação baseada no equilíbrio entre a improvisação e a composição.
Guto Brambilla (baixo), Fernando Baggio (bateria) e Walter Nery (guitarra). Essa é a formação do RdT, grupo criado há seis anos que lança em agosto o segundo cd, intitulado Antídoto. Neste cd, o trio evolui em suas composições trazendo músicas dos três integrantes, tornando um trabalho mais heterogêneo. Inicialmente o grupo era conhecido como Rapazes do Trio, nome também do primeiro cd lançado em (ano 2008),bastante elogiado pela crítica especializada não só do Brasil, mas também de outros países, como o site europeu Jazz Rytmit, que considerou um dos melhores cds do ano. Para o grupo, "a mudança do nome marca uma transição para uma nova fase de maior cumplicidade e amadurecimento do trabalho".
Os músicos, também professores do Conservatório Souza Lima, definem o som que executam como música instrumental contemporânea, voltada para o equilíbrio entre a improvisação e a composição. A influência vem dos grandes nomes do jazz europeu e norte-americano, além dos compositores brasileiros, seguindo portanto, a tendência do jazz atual com elementos da música brasileira.
Os temas presentes no cd Antídoto trazem uma linguagem atual da música e do cotidiano vivido numa grande cidade. Um trabalho com uma sonoridade e estilo bem particulares, que acompanha a música que acontece agora nos outros grandes centros, como Nova Iorque, Boston, Los Angeles, Paris, Londres. Ou seja, uma música contemporânea, moderna, que preza por experimentações, sofisticações, improvisos, mas acima de tudo, pela estética da composição como elemento chave.


Marcin Wasilewski Trio w/ Joakim Milder
Spark Of Life



By John Kelman
What do you do when you've released three albums as a trio (more, if you include albums released in Poland, prior to coming to the label) for a producer who traditionally seems to like shaking things up after that magic number? For Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski and his longstanding trio—first coming together in their teens, they've been together more than two decades, and first recorded for ECM with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko for a triptych of evolutionary albums that began with 2002's Soul of Things and concluded with the far maturer Lontano (2006)—there have been two moves in 2014: first, show up as Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young's band (along with saxophonist Trygve Seim ) on Forever Young, and now, follow that appearance with another set under the trio's own name, but with guest saxophonist Joakim Milder in tow. Spark of Life is another stellar collection from a trio predicated on the value of longevity and leveraging the opportunities this now late-thirty-something trio has been afforded to build a language all its own.
The Swedish-born Milder is no stranger to either the Polish scene or to ECM, though it's been 17 years since he last made an appearance on the label on one of Tomasz Stańko's most lauded sessions since the trumpeter's fruitful return to the label in 1994, 1997's Litania: Music of Krzystof Komeda. Here, in a smaller, more intimate context, the saxophonist helps make Spark of Life an album that, while rich with the profound lyricism that has imbued Wasilewksi's trio since it first emerged in Poland as the Simple Acoustic Trio, with its own tribute to the great film and jazz composer, Komeda (GOWI, 1995), simmers at a higher temperature...even, at times, approaching (if not exactly reaching) a full boil.
Not that Spark of Life doesn't possess the same elegance, the same rarefied, song-like melodism of previous albums including 2008's January and 2011's Faithful, nor does it fail to capitalize on the innate strength of the trio, which performs six out of Spark of Life's eleven tracks on its own. Wasilewski's "Austin," is as soft and lyrical as the trio has ever been, an inviting opener that creates a strong sense of continuity with what's come before. And if "Austin" seems redolent of the American music town for which it might be named, despite it actually being a dedication to fellow pianist Austin Peralta, Wasilewski's "Sudovian Dance"—which follows and introduces Milder to the mix—turns to a more appropriately Baltic sense of folkloric melody, even as bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz
and drummer Michal Miskiewicz begin to turn the heat up during the saxophonist's solo, hinting at more muscular interaction to come.
Still, Wasilewski's title track—presenting in two variations, first with Milder, but closing the album with a trio-only take—demonstrates that Milder does more than simply light a fire. A rubato tone poem where Miskiewicz's textural support is particularly noteworthy, Milder engages in a piece where interpretation and tone are everything. The saxophonist demonstrates similar developmental patience on his own irregularly metered "Still," while on a by now de rigueuer look at a Komeda piece, in this case, "Sleep Safe and Warm," the saxophonist demonstrates his attention to detail on a track that simmers with a slow-burning pedal point before breaking the tension into its familiar changes, with Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz treading a very fine swinging line between the implicit and the explicit.
While Wasilewski contributes five of the album's compositions, the trio makes clear that its musical touchstones range far and wide on a series of covers that range from a luxurious look at "Do Rycerzy, do Szlachty, do Mieszcan," from the Polish rock group Hey, that features Milder at his sparest and most refined, to a trio reading of Jazz Police's "Message in a Bottle. Heavily deconstructed and reconstructed, Kurkiewicz delivers his most potent solo of the set, while Wasilewksi demonstrates just how many rounded surfaces he can find in the relatively square corners of such a simple construct—having, in the past, found similar freedom in the music of Björk and Prince. And while he's long been a personal reference for Wasilewski, Spark of Life is the first time the pianist has taken the leap to actually perform a song by Herbie Hancock. In this case, the bright and bubbly "Actual Proof"—performed often by Hancock but first heard on the Headhunters' Thrust (Columbia, 1974)—and here turned into a more liberated and open-ended version that comes as close to incendiary heat as this trio gets, also providing Miskiewicz a rare moment in the spotlight.
ECM has, in its 45-year history, created a number of particular emphases amongst its massive breadth of musical offerings, and one of them has been to take that most conventional of jazz ensembles, the piano trio, and push it into different directions that respect the tradition of American greats like Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock and, looking further back, Lennie Tristano, while encouraging it to incorporate music of other genres and cultures as, at the same time, it strives to assert a clear sense of modernity. Of the young piano trios it has encouraged over the years, the Marcin Wasilewski Trio may well be its longest-standing, and for good reason. Clearly, Wasilewski, Kurkiewicz and Miskiewicz are capable of working in other contexts—Wasilewski and Kurkiewicz, for example, working together on drummer Manu Katche's first two ECM dates, 2006's Neighbourhood and the 2007 followup, Playground—but it's equally clear that it's in the context of this trio that these three young Poles find the most freedom to explore as they please.
With the addition of Milder on roughly half of this 74-minute program, the Marcin Wasilewski Trio has managed to retain its core strengths while adding something new to avoid any pitfalls of predictability. If the at once sublet yet intense Spark of Life is any evidence (along with Forever Young), it's a sure thing that this simpatico trio still has plenty up its collective sleeve to ensure no risk of that ever happening.
Track Listing: 
Austin; Sudovian Dance; Spark of Life; Do Rycerzy, do Szlachty, do Mieszcan; Message in a Bottle; Sleep Safe and Warm; Three Reflections; Still; Actual Proof; Largo (from Sonata #2 for piano); Spark of Life (var.).
Personnel:
Joakim Milder: saxophone (2-4, 6, 8); Marcin Wasilewski: piano; Slawomir Kurkiewicz: double bass; Michal Miskiewicz: drums.


Itiberê Orquestra Família 
Contrastes 



By Editio Princeps
A Itiberê Orquestra Família comemora seus 10 anos de existência com o lançamento de seu terceiro CD, intitulado "Contrastes". Integralmente composto por músicas inéditas, de autoria do baixista/multi-instrumentista Itiberê Zwarg (com exceção da faixa "Feitinha para Nós", escrita por Hermeto Pascoal exclusivamente para a Orquestra), este é o trabalho mais maduro da Orquestra Família, apresentando seu já tradicional repertório eclético, interpretado por formações camerísticas de duos, trios e quartetos, além da orquestra completa, seguindo sempre a escola Hermeto Pascoal de liberdade total de criação, arranjos complexos e rompimento de fronteiras estéticas e estilísticas.
Tracks:
1. Interiores 9'43; 2. Clássico Romântico Moderno 5'33; 3. Depois da Arrebentação 5'12
4. Batera 3'46; 5. Atualidades 7'34; 6. Flora Lis 2'35; 7. É Pra Você, Arismar 5'40
8. Na Calada da Noite 4'37; 9. Feitinha pra Nós 8'08; 10. Já Fui 4'27
11. Do Chão à Cumeeira 13'37.
Todas as faixas de autoria de Itiberê Zwarg, exceto por "Feitinha pra Nós", de Hermeto Pascoal.
Personnel:
Itiberê Zwarg: Piano, melodica, voz, baixo elétrico, Direção Musical, composição, arranjos e regência; Carol Panesi: Violino, piano, voz; Beto Lemos: Viola caipira, rabeca, zabumba, violão; 
Mariana Zwarg: Flauta, piccolo, voz, percussão; Karina Neves: Flautas, percussão: 
Letícia Malvares: Flautas; Ana Carolina D'Ávila: Flautas, cavaquinho, guitarra, voz;
Ajurinã Zwarg: Bateria, percussão, sax soprano; Ranier Oliveira: Piano e acordeon.
Extra:
Produção Executiva: Felipe Ábido e Mariana Maia; Produção Musical: Itiberê Zwarg; Gravado, mixado e masterizado em março e abril de 2009 no Tenda da Raposa - Rio de Janeiro - RJ; Gravação: Daniel Vasques e Carlos Fuchs; Mixagem: Daniel Vasques, Carlos Fuchs e Itiberê Zwarg; Masterização: Carlos Fuchs.


Zéli Silva
Una



By JazzB
O baixista, arranjador e compositor Zéli Silva é conhecido na cena instrumental brasileira pelo virtuosismo e sofisticação nas composições e arranjos.
Tem vasta experiência no jazz e na música brasileira. Sua música tem como referências, além do jazz, o samba, o choro e o cancioneiro brasileiro. O músico faz desses elementos uma música criativa e comunicativa, rica em melodias, ritmos e harmonias.
Zéli fez parte do grupo Terra Brasil, com o qual foi indicado ao Grammy Latino pelo CD “Atlântico”. Atuou ainda ao lado de Zé Menezes, Rosa Passos, Badi Assad, Virgínia Rosa, Nuno Mindelis, Oswaldinho do Acordeon, MPB-4, entre muitos outros.
Os arranjos e o talento dos músicos improvisadores são destaque em sua música, registrada em 4 CD’s: “Voando Baixo” (2002), “Em Movimento” (2006), “Duo” (2010), com o saxofonista Vitor Alcântara, e “UNA – Zéli Silva Convida”, que apresenta hoje.
“UNA” tem o conceito de união de gerações de instrumentistas e está representado pelas participações especiais de João Donato, Arismar do Espírito Santo, Lulinha Alencar, Léa Freire, Chico Pinheiro, Cléber Almeida, Renato Consorte, Gil Reyes, Da Do e Tatiana Parra.
Vitor Alcântara (sax), Fernando Corrêa (guitarra), Moisés Alves (piano), Zéli Silva (baixos acústico e elétrico), Gabriel Guilherme (bateria).


Albert Heath/ Ethan Iverson/ Ben Street
Tootie's Tempo




By Manuel Grosso Galvan 
The great Albert Tootsie Heath on drums, Ben Street on bass and Ethan Iverson on piano had made one of more lovely album of the year. Have a very special type of sound, is not simple retro is pure vintage. Tootie is part of the history of jazz, and this record confirm the reasons. A collection of songs from "The Charleston" to the incredible Motian's "It should have happened a long time ago", from a great version of "How Insensitive" to"Violets for your Furs", and not forget a incredible solo "Tooties Tempo" five magic minutes of pure drumming feeling. Is the soundtrack of another times, thanks to Iverson to get it. I's so nice, so beautiful that you can't believe it. Only one suggestion; the next time please put the booklet inside, print not digital
PS. If you like this very special album, please hear "Live at Smalls" from 2009 with the same musician

Saturday, January 10, 2015

1 Sem 2015 - Part One

Annie Lennox
Nostalgia



By Matt Collar
Annie Lennox's 2014 covers collection, Nostalgia, finds the former Eurythmics vocalist soulfully interpreting various pop, jazz, and R&B standards. In many ways, Nostalgia works as a companion piece to her similarly inventive 2010 album, the holiday-themed Christmas Cornucopia. As with that album, Lennox eschews predictability by picking an unexpected set of songs and producing them with detailed care. While Nostalgia certainly fits nicely next to any number of other standards albums by veteran pop stars, it does nothing to diminish Lennox's distinctive style. On the contrary, working with producer Mike Stevens, Lennox has crafted an album that brings to mind the sophisticated, contemporary sound of her original studio releases while allowing her to revel in the grand popular song tradition. Moving between evocative piano accompaniment, orchestral numbers, moody synthesizer arrangements, and even some rollicking small-group swing, Lennox takes a theatrical -- yet always personal -- approach to each song, finding endlessly interesting juxtapositions and stylistic combinations to explore. She references Miles Davis' plaintive take on the Porgy and Bess classic "Summertime," tenderly evinces a combination of Billie Holiday and Sade on "Strange Fruit," and draws on both Aretha Franklin and Screamin' Jay Hawkins for "I Put a Spell on You." Elsewhere, tracks like "I Cover the Waterfront" and "Mood Indigo" bring to mind similar recordings from Carole King and Bryan Ferry. Ultimately, even without Nostalgia's impeccable production, in the end it's Lennox's burnished, resonant vocals that steal the focus here, and just like the songs she's picked, their beauty will likely stand the test of time.


Jason Moran
All Rise : A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller



By Steve Leggett
Yeah, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller is a tribute to the great stride pianist, but in Jason Moran's hands, it's not what one would expect. This album isn't full of stride piano, but it is full of Fats Waller's larger persona as a performer. Waller mixed jokes and comic routines, and did whatever he could to connect with his audience in his act, and if his piano playing was the hinge, it sat on a door that opened straight to the dancefloor. This album had its beginnings when Moran was commissioned by the N.Y.C. performing arts venue Harlem Stage Gatehouse to create a tribute to Waller as part of its Harlem Jazz Shrines series. Moran came up with a unique combination of piano, vocal jazz, and dance that used Waller's signature songs as springboards. Collaborating with singer Meshell Ndegeocello, wearing a large papier-mâché mask of Waller's head created for him by Haitian artist Didier Civil, and adding interpretive dancers, Moran called his conceptual tribute The Fats Waller Dance Party, and All Rise is the studio-recorded rendition of the project. It's a stunning mix of piano jazz with moody, winsome late-night vocals, and it has plenty of get-up-and-go when it's time for it. If it doesn't sound much like Waller, one could imagine Waller would love it, and his signature songs are well represented, including "Ain't Misbehavin'," which Ndegeocello sings with a wistfully sultry edge, "The Joint Is Jumpin'," which is just that, a joyous and yet graceful romp, and a ethereal take on "Ain't Nobody's Business," which in Moran and Ndegeocello's hands becomes a dark, moody, and elegantly defiant statement in modal jazz. This set manages to be reverent to Waller's original recordings, but since facsimile was never the goal, it also manages to create a completely new veneer for them, and the end result is a marvelous tribute that still retains its own shape and coherency.
Track Listing: 
Put Your Hands on It; Ain't Misbehavin'; Yacht Club Swing; Lulu's Back in Town; Two Sleepy People; The Joint Is Jumpin'; Honeysuckle Rose; Ain't Nobody's Business; Fats Elegy; Handful of Keys; Jitterbug Waltz; Sheik of Araby / I Found a New Baby.
Personnel: 
Lisa Harris: vocals; Charles Haynes: drums, vocals; Stephen Lehman: saxophone; Tarus Mateen: bass; Jason Moran: Rhodes, piano, Wurlitzer; Charles Haynes: drums, vocals; Meshell Ndegeocello: vocals; Josh Roseman: trombone; Leron Thomas: trumpet, vocals; Nasheet Waits: drums


Kenny Barron & Dave Holland
The Art Of Coversation



By Shaun Brady at JazzTimes
There are conversations meant solely for the ears of those involved, full of jocular camaraderie and inside references. And then there are those designed to be overheard, where the dialogue is meant to engage and enlighten anyone who is listening in as well as the speakers themselves. With a musical relationship dating back nearly three decades, pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Dave Holland could certainly engage in the former, but The Art of Conversation is a vivid example of the latter. These 10 tracks all showcase the profound mastery of two artists who share an easy rapport and elegantly restrained expressiveness.
The warmth of their collaboration beams through on Holland’s opening, “The Oracle,” where Barron spins buoyant melodic variations around his partner’s buoyant bassline; and on their brisk tandem spin on Charlie Parker’s “Segment,” which contains the disc’s most engaging back-and-forth. But the album features a wide range of moods: the wistful lyricism of Barron’s “Rain,” on which Holland leads with the heartfelt melody; the simmering groove of Holland’s “Dr. Do Right”; and the presciently elegiac “Waltz for K.W.,” a dedication to Kenny Wheeler recorded six months before the trumpet great’s death. Monk, as always, is a touchstone, with a breezy take on “In Walked Bud” and the sharp-angled, Monk-meets-Ellington stroll of Barron’s “The Only One.” Holland’s achingly beautiful “In Your Arms” is an indelible highlight, with both articulating simultaneous melodies with breathless delicacy.


Dave Holland
Prism



By Dan Bilawsky 
Bassist Dave Holland first became a leader-on-record with Conference Of The Birds (ECM, 1973), a now-classic outré quartet session. That initial leader date portrayed Holland as a restless seeker, willing and eager to explore the inner workings of group dynamics and the outer reaches of convention, and he's done little to alter that perception of himself in the intervening years. Holland has, with band after band and album after album, continually broadened his outlook, creating a vast and enviable body of work along the way. Now, he celebrates four decades of leadership by introducing another potent foursome to the world.
On Prism, Holland reunites with three musical spark plugs from his past: guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who appeared on the bassist's Extensions (ECM, 1989), drummer Eric Harland, who worked side-by-side with Holland in The Monterey Quartet and then joined him for Pass It On (Dare2 Records, 2008), and pianist/Fender Rhodes man Craig Taborn, who's shared the stage with the bassist on a number of occasions over the past few years. As individuals, these gentlemen rank high on many a critic and fan's list of players; together, they form the most exciting and awe-inspiring quartet to debut on record this year.
The music this band delivers on Prism is like a vortex, sucking in everything within earshot. Interlocking patterns, excoriating lines, killer grooves and blazing solos are par for the course. Democracy prevails in all aspects, as each band member contributes music, muscle and more along the way. "The True Meaning Of Determination" is the perfect example of this one-for-all and all-for-one philosophy. Holland draws focus with his bass introduction, melodic delivery is a joint venture between two band mates, Eubanks' guitar singes everything in sight, Taborn takes the spotlight and has a blast chopping up the time with Harland, and everybody comes together to drive it home. It's nine-plus minutes of pure, heart-pounding bliss, and it doesn't even stand above the other tracks; nearly every performance here has a similar endorphin-producing effect. The band does operate in other areas, from the bluesy and soulful ("The Empty Chair (For Clare)") to the contemplative and free floating ("Breathe"), but they retain a group identity no matter where the music takes them. They sound best when they burn, but they still sound like the same unit when they simmer or stay put.
Prism isn't simply a great album by a great band; it's as good as jazz records come. Four months may separate this album's release and the close of 2013, but this one may have already sealed it up for "Album Of The Year" honors.
Track Listing: 
The Watcher; The Empty Chair (For Clare); Spirals; Choir; The Color Of Iris; A New Day; The True Meaning Of Determination; Evolution; Breathe.
Personnel: 
Dave Holland: bass; Craig Taborn: piano, Fender Rhodes; Kevin Eubanks: guitar; Eric Harland: drums.


Pedro Araujo
Raiz



By Jota Carlos – produtor e crítico musical 
Em pouco mais de dez anos de carreira, grande parte dedicada à música instrumental, com dois discos autorais e o reconhecimento de músicos consagrados, Pedro Araujo vem conquistando seu espaço entre os grandes nomes da guitarra brasileira.
No seu segundo disco, RAIZ, Pedro interpreta composições inéditas e faz releituras de músicas do cancioneiro popular da sua terra natal, São Luís do Maranhão. Sendo também arranjador, Pedro usa de variadas formações instrumentais para colorir os arranjos dando às canções atmosferas diversas, destacando-se “Cheiro do Jasmim”, um arranjo orquestral, e “Tsunami”, arranjada pra big band.
Do disco, inteiramente instrumental, participam músicos como Rui Alvim, Cassius Theperson, Dudu Viana, Danilo Sinna, Eduardo Neves, Carol Panesi, e muitos outros...
“Suas composições têm algo de refinamento, linhas melódicas bem definidas e apreciação pelo detalhe nos arranjos. Raiz, o presente álbum, é recheado de motivos sonoros, um passeio pelo universo de ritmos e canções que apontam para o caminho de maturidade do artista.”