Voices of Beauty, of Dreams, of Hopes

There's something so appealing about music from Latin America; whether it's the rhythms, the "Romance Language" lyrics, or the expansive melodies, how the music gets to one's emotional core. 

Photo: Lauren Desberg

Gretchen Parlato made quite a splash on the contemporary scene in the mid-2000s, her alto voice with a nasal edge moving easily through lyrics, her wordless vocals rising easily over rhythm sections, and her ability to mesh with other voices. Ms. Parlato has recorded with Becca Stevens, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Lionel Loueke, Terri Lyne Carrington, David Binney, and many others.  Six years ago, she have birth to a son and began a sabbatical from singing with a few exceptions to record with the trio Tillery (Ms. Stevens and Rebecca Martin), saxophonist Dayna Stephens, vibraphonist Joel Ross, the New West Guitar Group, and drummer Nate Smith.  

Ms. Parlato signed to Edition Records last year and now issued her debut for the label (and fifth as a leader).  "Flor" features original music, several delightful covers, and a reimagining of J.S. Bach's "Cello Suite No. 1: Minuet I/II”.  The album opens with "É Preciso Perdoar", a Brazilian song made famous in 1973 by João Gilberto (composed by Carlos Coqueijo and Alcyvando Luz) –– the track also introduces Ms. Parlato's tremendous trio that features guitarist Marcel Camargo, percussionist Léo Costa, and cellist Artyom Manukyan.  Both the guitar and cello serve as counterpoint to the vocals (in both English and Portuguese). The gentle flow is a mood-changer, stripping away one's burdens.  Gerald Clayton joins the band (on Fender Rhodes) for a sweet version of Anita Baker's "Sweet Love".  Listen to how the pervasive rhythms sweep the vocalist off her feet and she flies delightfully through the piece.

Photo: Lauren Desberg

Several songs speak to the wonders of parenthood.  "What Does a Lion Say" (composed by Chris Morrissey) finds the singer in her son's bedroom near the end of the day, interacting and showing love. Manukyan's cello tone is rich, full-toned, while Camargo's guitar (he also plays what sounds like a bandolim, a mandolin) creates sweet textures.  Husband Mark Guiliana can be heard laying down the dancing beat on "Wonderful", which also features a children's chorus (including their son Marley) plus the leader's overdubbed harmonies.  Ms. Parlato's lyrics serve as a prayer, to teach about love, self-realization, and gratitude.  

Photo: Lauren Desberg

The brilliant arrangement of Bach's "Cello Suite No. 1: Minuet I/II” opens with Ms. Parlato singing solo.  Camargo enters 100 seconds into the piece playing in tandem with the wordless vocal.  There's a short statement from the bandolim, then the cello enters playing in tandem plus the percussion and trap set. Close your eyes and let the music wash over you, its beauty stunning and revivifying.  Airto Moreira joins Ms. Parlato and the trio for "Roy Allen", a tribute to the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove (that he composed for his 1995 album "Family"). The 79-year old Moreira brings a lot of his percussive arsenal as well as his playful voice.  The leader sticks to the melody while Camargo plays several short solos, all the while the percussion creates a wonderland of sound.

"Flor" is a welcome return to the spotlight for Gretchen Parlato. She sounds refreshed, renewed, ready to continue to explore and mine the many veins in the world of music. We are the lucky recipients of her adventures.

For more information, go to gretchenparlato.com.  To hear more of "Flor" and to purchase the delightful album, go to https://gretchenparlato.bandcamp.com/album/flor. 

Give a listen to Ms. Parlato's take of the Anita Baker's song:

Photo: Rafael Piñeros

Vocalist and composer Roxana Amed, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been on the international music scene for nearly two decades.  I first became aware of her upon her the 2013  album, "La Sombra de Su Sombra", a duo date based on the poetry of Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-72) she recorded with pianist Frank Carlberg (with contributions from Christine Correa).  She 's issued six albums as a leader or co-leader since 2004.  Since moving to the United States in 2013, Ms. Amed has worked with Guillermo Klein, Emilio Solla, vocalist Sofia Rei, and pianist Andre Mehmari.  

Her new album, "Ontology" (Sony Music/ Latin), should open the eyes and ears fo many people. Ms. Amed produced the album, as well as having composed or co-composed 12 of the 14 tracks.  She sings in both Spanish and English, plays tribute to Wayne Shorter ("wrote the lyrics for his "Virgo") and Miles Davis (re-arranging the trumpeter's "Blue and Green" with Cassandra Wilson's evocative lyrics).  She adds lyrics to Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera's " Danza de la Moza Donosa", creating a lovely ballad then turns to wordless vocal for his "Danza Del Viejo Bojero".  On the first song, it's just her and pianist Martin Bejerano; on the second, the two add the thunderous drums of Rodolfo Zúñiga and the music flies forward not unlike Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk."  The playful interactions of the voice, keys, and drums

The pianist is featured throughout the program while Zúñiga shares the drum duty with Ludwig Afonso (the former on three tracks, the latter on six tracks). Also featured throughout the album is tenor saxophonist Mark Small (eight songs), bassists Edward Perez (three songs), Carlos De Rosa (two songs), and Lowell Ringel (three songs), plus guitarists Tim Jago (two songs) and Aaron Lebos (one song). Ms. Amed mostly keeps her voice front and center; she's quite articulate in both Spanish and English as well as dramatic but she keeps her emotions under control. Nothing seems forced or rushed. The title track features piano, saxophone, and voice with Berejano's solo far-ranging while Small adds bluesy phrases behind the vocalist.  Kendall Moore (who teaches at Sam Houston State University in Texas and plays trombone) composed, "Peaceful", a sweet ballad with Small's tenor in conversation with Jago's electric guitar. Notice how the tenor sax often shadows the voice, adding depth to her long notes.

There is so much music to explore here. Shorter's "Virgo" features strong performances from the leader, Small, and, especially, Berejano (pictured left).  While the tenor sax sounds wrap sensuously around the voice, the piano is, at times, lyrical, introspective, forthright, as it follows the storyline.  The pianist's tune "Chacarera Para La Mano Izquerida" ("folk dance for the left hand") is driven by the exciting work of bassist Perez and drummer Afonso as well as the composer's dancing piano.  Ms. Amed's joins in on the fun, letting her voice stretch for the higher notes. The pianist also contributed the up-tempo "El Regreso" ("The Return") which has traces of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" –– Berejano sets the pace throughout while Perez and Afonso push the music forward. 

"Ontology" closes with "Winter", an original (sung in English). The words speak of the stillness of the season, of the inevitability of loss, how the cold attacks the body, how we wait for "the winter to tear our eyes/ to break our bones".  Just voice and piano.  Berejano's solo is stunning, emotionally powerful, and Ms. Amed understands how the darker, colder, time of the year turns us inward, to protect ourselves in all ways.  There is a lot of music over the 73 minutes of "Ontology", much to listen to, much to absorb, yet the album does not feel too long.  You want to inhabit these worlds that Roxana Amed and the musicians create, you want to linger a while in these songs and you should.  Find this album – the music shines!

For more information, go to https://roxana-amed.com/. 

Here's a taste:

Immigrants Songs

In this heightened time of insecurity about immigration in the United States, we often forget why people risk their lives to come here. Whether their reasons include escaping harsh treatment or to follow dreams, mothers, fathers, son and daughters still cross numerous borders to build new existences.

In the instance of Žan Tetičkovič, his is a story of following his dreams from his native Slovenia to study music in New York City. The drummer and composer who goes by the name Jean John has self-released his debut American album.  Titled "The Port of Life", he started creating the 15 track-75 minute program on his arrival in the New World in 2011 to study at The New School.  The handsome booklet includes "The New Colossus" by poet Emma Lazarus which features the lines emblazoned on our minds "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Jean John returned home to  record the album with a septet that includes Alba Nacinovich (vocals), Lenart Crečič (tenor saxophone), Tomaž Gajšt (trumpet, flugelhorn), Jani Moder (guitar), Marko Črnčec (piano - he has an album for Whirlwind Recordings), and Myles Sloniker (acoustic bass) plus the Janus Atelier String Quartet (violinists Matija Crečič and Nejc Avbelj, violist Barbara Grahor, and cellist Zoran Bičanin).

The music tells of the composer's arrival in New York with the first two tracks including the instrumental "The Port of Life, Dusk" followed by "The Narrows Gateway" which is a sonic adventure of landing at Customs.  The first track features the entire ensemble on an uptempo piece that musically tells the story of the immigrant standing on the deck looking at his destination.  With the wordless vocal and uplifting melody, the music has the sound of the Pat Metheny Group as the rhythm section really pulls the band forward with the guitar and voice leading the way while the trumpet, saxophone, and string quartet color the melody.

The next 11 tracks comprise the "Acculturation Suite", a song cycle that blends sounds, voices, short tracks, longer cuts and powerful musicianship.  Opening with "Prelude", an introspective work played by the String Quartet, the Suite follows the drummer through his "Farewell" to the "Euphoria" of following his dream to "Collapse", the realization of how hard it is for someone to uproot himself and how alone he feels. The Strings return for "Intermezzo", a musical real to reflect on the journey and resettlement. The second half of the Suite includes "Alienation" (perhaps a pun) as the composer continues his search.  The music is not as dark as "Collapse", there seems to be light at the end of this tunnel.  Sloniker's powerful and melodic bass introduces "Adjustment"; joined by John's funky drums, the song moves forward on a slinky melody line with the saxophone and guitar leading the way. The leader introduces the last piece in the Suite, "A New Beginning", with a staggering drum solo that slows down and softens for the main melody.  The strings rise in on an circular line played by guitar and piano.  When the rest of the group enters, the music takes off on a celebration of the new "home", the composer nows has his feet on solid ground and his joy rises to the heavens. Once the festivities come to a close, the ensemble returns for the final track, "The Port of Life, Dawn". The voice and piano open as if praying and so does the String Quartet; the music is a reverie that, after five minutes, allows the rhythm section and guitarist to enter. As the music rises to its climax, all the instruments reenter in a triumphant "shout."

Jean John layers certain tracks with sounds and effects plus one particularly strong statement about immigration ("...our origin story") from President Obama, all the more powerful since his presidency ended.  On of the ironies of "The Port of Life" is the composer went back to Slovenia to record the album but the distance from his adopted home makes the music even more powerful.  The ensemble not only interprets the music but imbues much of it with their own desires and their appreciation for John's accomplishments.

Perhaps part of my enjoyment of this album comes from the numerous times I, a second generation American, have attended the Naturalization Ceremony in my home town, a day when immigrants become citizens. It's touching, life-affirming, and it's a bit humbling. "The Port of Life" is an impressive story of determination, of talent, of desire, and of fortitude.  Give it a listen.

For more information, go to www.jean-john.com.

Here's a taste of several tracks:





Vocalist, composer, and arranger Jihye Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, and came to the United States to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. And study she has done, learning from Ayn Inserto, private lessons from Maria Schneider and Terence Blanchard, and workshops with John Clayton and Robin Eubanks. Since graduation from Berklee, Ms. Lee is completing graduate work at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Jim McNeely.

With the help of Berklee Professor and trumpeter Greg Hopkins, she assembled a 19-piece orchestra (students and teachers) to record "April" (self-released), her first American album.  Much of the music Ms. Lee created for this project came in response to the sinking of the Korean ferry Sewol which took the lives of over 300 of the 476 passengers and crew; the majority of those who perished were teenage students.  Yet, the songs, while they have elegiac moments, are not filled with anger or long stretches of sadness. The album takes its title from the lovely opening track which is also the month of the tragic event that spurred the composer into action.  But the music, unlike the month T.S. Eliot described in "The Wasteland", as "the cruelest month" is filled with promise, with new life springing out of the earth, days are longer and beginning to be warmer; one hears joy in the dance created by Shannon LeClaire (alto sax) and Allan Chase (soprano sax) and no inkling of the tragedy to follow.

photo: Keith Davis

As this music tells its story, one person's reactions to events happening a world away in her native land, most of the tracks are not centered around solos, save for the longest  on the program.  "Sewol Ho" (12:52) moves away from its opening theme, building to a dissonant climax; then, five "voices" step up to tell their "stories" ranging from the duet of co-producer Hopkins (trumpet) and Jeff Galindo (trombone) to the conversation of Ben Whiting (bass clarinet) with Ms. LeClaire (clarinet) and, finally, Rick DiMuzio (soprano sax) takes the song out. Various instrumental voices move in and out of the melody on "Deep Blue Sea" and, in several instances, it's the sections that carry the melody. DiMuzio solos, this time on tenor sax, and he moves easily over the rhythm section and around the colors provided by the brass and reeds.  He returns to solo on tenor on the following track, "Whirlwind", a piece that is more uptempo and nervous, almost hyper. But he and pianist Alain Mallet are, at turns, calm in this storm as they convey how one can create an emotional oasis in times of heightened tension.

Sean Jones (pictured left) joins the ensemble for the final track, the lovely ballad "You Are Here (Every Time I Think of You)", how flugelhorn carrying both the melody and as the only solo voice.  The song opens with the reeds sans rhythm section playing the initial theme, the flutes frame Jones's melody, dropping away as he moves through the verse into his solo.  The reeds and brass take over for a chorus and Jones returns, this time taking flight as the sections move in and out behind him.  Stick around for the lovely coda - first, Jones goes it alone and then the ensemble, led by the reeds and brass return to take the piece out with Jones moving over the sound in a flurry of notes.

"April" is an impressive introduction to Jihye Lee, a composer and arranger (she studied vocal performance at Berklee and adds wordless vocals to several tracks here) who channeled her emotions to create this music that celebrates life, rarely pausing to mourn. How does one deal with loss of this proportion, a tragedy taking the lives of so many young people?  It's an unanswerable question yet the music serves as a balm.

For more information, go to jihyemusic.com.

Here's the last track from the album:

Musicians With Stories To Tell

French-born pianist/composer Romain Collin is a busy person.  Besides touring with his excellent Trio - Luques Curtis (bass) and Kendrick Scott (drums) - he has composed scored for a good number of short films and documentaries including one for the "Stand with Malala Fund" (watch and listen here).

There is a heightened sense of drama amidst the lyricism of this music.  Some of that comes from the maturity of the artists as he has travelled/played around the world with his mentors.  From the opening piano figure of "99", this is purpose and direction to this program.  Does not hurt one bit that Mr. Scott is the motor of this music - he knows when to push (and push hard), knows when to "dance" beneath the piano (check out his work on "Clockwork"), and does it all without stealing the spotlight. Young Mr. Curtis (a native of Hartford, CT) is most certainly the "glue" in this music, a solid presence along with the drummer.  He is the "push" on "Webs" while Scott acts as the time-keeper, his counterpoint to Collin's left hand a reminder of his melodic talents.

Act Records

One of the more powerful pieces on the disk is "Event Horizon", a simple yet handsome melody that plays beneath the voices of men who had been wrongfully imprisoned.  As the voices swirl in and out of the mix, the Trio plus cellist Laura Metcalf and vocalist Megan Rose create a prayer-like atmosphere and one hears different people comment on their experiences and life after release. Ms. Rose also adds her wordless vocals to the lovely "San Luis Obispo", yet another beautiful melody on the recording.

Act Records

In the midst of the serious stories (and placed in the middle of the program), is "Kids", a playful melody enhanced by the presence of fellow pianist Jean-Michel Pilc. Mr. Pilc does not add his keyboard talents but instead is employed as a whistler, creating a playful sound to the bouncing rhythm and melody (sounds like Collin on keyboard bass throughout.) Another guest is percussionist Mino Cinelu who joins the fray on the explosive "The Line (Dividing Good and Evil Cuts Through the Heart", a piece that continues to build throughout over the pounding drums, the deep notes of the cello until the climax - the solo piano epilogue is a gentle finish. The program ends with an wistfully impressionistic solo piano take on "'Round About Midnight", which opens with the pianist working his way towards the melody, finding it and then moving in and away from then back to Mr. Monk's classic lines.  Though the piece was recorded over 2 years before the recent events in Paris, this version serves as an elegiac reminder of the fragility of life.

If you pay close attention to "Press Enter", you'll notice that Romain Collin uses synthesizers to add strings and other sounds to a number of the tracks.  As opposed to other artists who overuse effects, these additions never get in the way and really do enhance the music.  Overall, this is powerful music, music for healing, for joy, whose darker moments are utilized to inform and teach.

For more information, go to www.romaincollin.com.

Listen to "Event Horizon":

Like many contemporary jazz artists, saxophonist and composer Nick Hempton has watched the recording industry "go south" over the past decade.  So, after 2 fine releases on the PosiTone Record label, the artist sent out the following release, titled "Catch and Release", in May of 2014:
"Nick and his band treated each track like a self-contained album. A new tune was composed and rehearsed; then recorded at a pop-up recording studio set up in New York’s legendary Smalls Jazz Club. The number was mixed and mastered, the artwork designed, the promotional materials drawn up, the whole package sent off to radio and press, and finally the finished product was put up for sale online. Every step, meanwhile, was documented through videos, photos, and blog posts. Six weeks later, the process began again." 

Yet, Mr Hempton did not feel complete without something to hold in his bands (sound files are useless that way.)   The result, naturally, is "Catch and Release" (Triple Distilled Records - note to those in the know - while "Triple Distilled" makes vodkas smoother, the CD is not a "smooth jazz" album).  The leader's rhythm section includes drummer Dan Aran and bassist Dave Baron (who has a brand-new CD that is well worth seeking out) plus pianists Jeremy Manasia (4 tracks), Tadataka Unno (3 tracks) and Rossano Sportiello (1 track).  3 of the cuts feature guest artists including a delightful turn by guitarist Peter Bernstein on the Horace Silver-influenced "The Third Degree." Hempton's tenor and the guitar roll easily over Manasia's piano while the rhythm section sets a pleasing medium tempo. "Nordberg Suite" is a sly take on the sound of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis (guest trumpeter Bruce Harris plays the Davis part, right down to the mute.)  Part of the fun is that, for a song that swings as much as this one, drummer Aran sits out this track.  He's definitely back for the rousing "Change for a Dollar" that features guest Jerry Weldon on tenor sax.  It's certainly a "blowing" extravaganza with a sprightly theme and 2 fiery sax solos.  Pianist Unno, who works with the likes of bassist James Cammack and drummer Winard Harper, takes his own excellent solo before the saxophonists "trade 4s".

Other highlights include the Monk-soaked blues "Target Practice" (dig how Aran and Baron set the pace and how both the saxophone and piano solos try to up the intensity) and the multi-sectioned "Catch Up" which starts out rubato before dropping into a medium tempo.  But, this time, there is more intensity from the rhythm section and the piece feels like a blues from the pre-"Love Supreme" John Coltrane Quartet.  Hempton switches to alto sax for the handsome "Montauk Mosey", a duo with pianist Sportiello, a tune takes its sweet time and features fine solos from both.

The album closes with the title track, which was the first of the 8 cuts Nick Hempton issued, is a delightful romp. Everyone plays in "full speed ahead" mode and ends this program on an up note (actually a lot of up notes.) The order of the CD does not match the order in which the tracks were released - not sure why but that does not really make a difference in one's ability to enjoy this music.  Catch ahold of "Catch and Release" - unlike fish, this music gets better with age.

For more information, go to www.nickhemptonband.com.

Here's the Hempton 4 live at Smalls: