Life is often wild and crazy with all sorts of mayhem right outside your window, on your screens, and in your ears. When the craziness moves indoors and becomes personal, one looks for escapes to give a sense of normalcy. We saw that in the pandemic where virtual concerts, streaming movies, and myriad television shows became even more of the "norm".
On a personal level, my life got crazy this Summer with the need for Open Heart Surgery in July and, just this past week, contracting a case of COVID. I thank the Doctors, Physicians Assistants, and nurses for their care over these past few months. I thank the higher powers for the music that has gotten me through the surgery, illness, and continued recuperation.
Haven't posted much but I have been listened to a lot of great music. Now, I plan to make several posts about the best of those albums (in no particular order).
As far as I am concerned, any new release by Miguel Zenón is cause for joy. Since his debut album as a leader (in 2002), he has grown as a composer, arranger, and alto saxophonist. The native of San Juan, Puerto Rico also spent 14 seasons with the SF Jazz Collective and has recorded with a slew of artists from Kurt Elling to Charlie Haden to Fred Hersch to Antonio Sanchez and many more. His long-tenured quartet includes pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and drummer Henry Cole, all of whom save Cole (who joined the ensemble in 2006) is as impressive as any working group playing today!
His latest release on Miel Music, his 15th as a leader or co-leader, is "Musica De Las Americas", a recording that illustrates how "American music" is an on-going fusion of elements from all corners of the American continent (North, Central, South and the Caribbean) and is tied to the rhythms that traveled in slave ships from Africa but also to the indigenous tribes the Spanish discovered when they arrived in the 15th Century. Zenón composed all the pieces, not only giving the listener a stunning listening experience but also infusing this music with history. For instance, the opening track "Tainos y Caribes", tells the tale of two indigenous tribes who live in peace in the Caribbean and northeastern South America respectively who were wiped out within several decades after the arrival of the Conquistadors. The powerful music, built upon the the polyrhythmic attack of Cole plus the thunderous piano and thrumming bass, paints a portrait of vibrant societies.
Photo: Jimmy Katz
Four of the eight tracks feature guest percussionists. The silky smooth "Navegando (Las Estrellas Nos Guian") adds the five-person Los Pleneros De La Cresta who add not only exciting rhythms but also vocals to the story of the Indigenous tribes that traveled the waters of the Caribbean and Atlantic in handmade boats following the stars. Percussionist Paoli Mejias pairs with Cole to create a vibrant backdrop for the powerful "Opresión y Revolución" (listen below), which draws on elements of Haitian Voodoo music to tells its story of uprising and self-rule (though the Haitians have paid an extremely steep price ever since). Victor Emmanuelli brings the Bomba drum (barril) into "Bambula", a song that illustrates how the drum the song is named for created a rhythmic pattern that once can hear in musical styles of Cuba, the Caribbean, Central America, New Orleans, and today's reggaeton. "Antillano" closes the album, celebrating the Antilles with young conga master Daniel Diaz helping to propel the playful bounce and sway of the music.
Throughout "Musicas De Las Americas", Miguel Zenón and the band play with fire, abandon, and joy. They build off each other's lines and emotions to create music that stands out for its spontaneity, celebrating the many and varied cultures of the American continent. This is music played by a band that deserves to be seen and heard in person––go to https://miguelzenon.com/ to find out more and see where this most accomplished ensembles is appearing. You'll also see that the saxophonist is playing with other ensembles over the next few months, all of which looks exciting. If you don't get out to see them, this wonderful new album will brighten your life!
Here's the Quartet with percussionist Paoli Mejias on "Operesión y Revolución":
Photo: Anna Yatskevich
Pianist and composer Pablo Ablanedo moved to the United States from his native Argentina in the early 1990s to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. After graduating, he stayed in the US forming an Octet in 1999 filled with New York City-based artists to play his original music. Like his fellow Argentine Guillermo Klein, his music fuses influences from his homeland with the Black Creative Music he has come into contact over his 25+ years since moving. Over the course of four albums, Ablanedo has impressed listeners and reviewers with his ability to make music jumps with originality.
In 2019, Newvelle Records brought Ablanedo back into the studio with most of the musicians who helped to create his 2001 debut album "From Down There" for a follow-up. The results, "Christeza", was issued as part of the label's Fifth Season and now is available as a download from the label's Bandcamp page (see below). Take a look at the personnel––many have gone on in the two decades since uniting for the first album to have international careers as both leaders and sideman. One thing that stands out for this listener is the immediacy of Ablandeo's compositions, whether it's the percussive ballad "La Señal" that opens the eight-song program (the digital version has a "bonus track") or the playful call-and-response of "Karmavaleando" or the gentle swaying of "Winter Variations" (note how the intensity picks up throughout the piece), the melodies and the rhythms are well-defined and build off each other.
While the compositions stand out, there is brilliant musicianship throughout as well. There's a touch of Thelonious Monk in Ablanedo's introduction to "Plaisantriste" which unwinds to a delightful clarinet solo from Anat Cohen. Do also listen to the smashing support of bassist Fernando Huergo, drummer Franco Pinna, and guitarist Ben Monder. Ms. Cohen also stands out on "Ti Mi Do" as does violinist Jenny Scheinman. There's a tinge of Aaron Copland in the deliberate melody line and chords behind the front line and pay attention how the rest of the group enters behind the soloists. The spotlight is on Ben Monder for "Bipolarious"––after the sharp-edged intro, the guitarist dances atop the ever-intensifying rhythm. The title track has a mysterious, rubato, opening as if getting ready to go into "Sketches of Spain", especially when trumpeter Diego Urcola takes the lead; his long-held sparse notes keeps the mystery alive throughout the piece
The digital download closes "Christeza" with a rhythmic take on Kenny Dorham's "Una Mas". The brilliant rhythm section of Pinna and Huergo lead the way with tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh (the only other member of the ensemble on the track) playing the theme as well as a powerful solo. But, it's the bass and drums that makes this track stand out. A delightful finish to a wonder-filled album. Pablo Ablanedo does not record very often but when he does, it's so rewarding to listen. Kudos to the great band, to the composer, leader, and pianist, and to co-producers Elan Mehler and JC Morisseau for such fine modern music!
Over the past year, the vinyl-only, subscription series, record label Newvelle Records has been issuing digital versions of albums from its first four "seasons". While the digital releases go a long way to capture the impressive "sounds" of the Lps, one does not get the brilliant art work that accompanies each package. Nevertheless, the lesser expensive alternative is a great way for music lovers to learn about the great work that Artistic Director Elan Mehler and engineer Marc Urselli of NYC's East Side Sound are capturing.
Noah Preminger has two releases on the label including "Some Other Time" released in Season One (2015). It's a ballads album that features the tenor saxophonist playing alongside guitarist Ben Monder, bassist John Pattitucci, and drummer Billy Hart. This is not a typical standards collection; yes, there are pieces from Billy Strayhorn "My Little Brown Book"), Duke Ellington ("Melancholia"), Victor Young ("A Ghost of a Chance"), and Jimmy Campbell's "Try a Little Tenderness" but there's also Bob Dylan's "Boot of Spanish Leather", "Porcelain" from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and "Una Limosnita por Amor de Dios ("An Alm for the Love of God") composed by guitaristAgustín Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944). Preminger contributes "Semenzato", a piece that is not only quite melodic but features a great bass solo plus the saxophonist's strong give-and-take with Hart.
There's a touch of Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster in Preminger's tone on pieces such as "Ghost of a Chance" that also features splendid bass playing and smart brushes work. That breathy and bluesy sax sound permeates the Leonard Bernstein piece that gives the album its name. Here, the interactions of all four musicians stand out with kudos to the wonderful rhythm guitar of Monder plus the high-energy saxophone coda. The guitarist's "atmospheric" sound is a delightful foil to Preminger's attack––note how Monder weaves in and out of the melody on the opening of "Melancholia" as well as his "ringing" chords behind the bass solo.
"Some Other Time" is a timeless set of music. How impressive is this quartet of contemporary musicians that they can take material that is over 70 years old and mix it with much newer works and the results are so ageless. This album is a welcome addition to growing discography of Noah Preminger, a series of fascinating and adventurous musical experiences.
From Newvelle's Season 3 comes "Half Light", an impressive and imagistic collection of pieces created by tenor saxophonist and composer Andy Zimmerman. Based in Chicago, IL, he doesn't have a big discography but is involved in an on-going project with his father, award-winning storyteller Jack Zimmerman. The saxophonist also appears on the first Newvelle release, Frank Kimbrough's "Meantime". His release finds him in the company of pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Matt Penman, and trumpeter Dave Douglas. There are moments throughout the 11-song program when it feels like all four are playing melody. One rarely hears Douglas as a sideman these days but he's an excellent second "voice" in much of this music––he stands out on "Sunset and The Mockingbird" (a Duke Ellington piece from "The Queen's Suite") especially on his interactions with the leader. Although the liner notes calls these pieces "sketches", the music shines. Zimmerman's pellucid sound has a lightness akin to alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. There are no wasted notes, no need to impress with long, technically amazing solos–the melody, the story, is all.
There are no weak moments on the album. Whether the song is a shimmering musical poem ("The Bay Area"–listen below), an aural painting ("Clearing"–watch below), celebrating a sweet melody with a Latin feel in the rhythm ("Lena's Dance"), or reimagining George Gershwin's soulful ballad ("Bess You Is My Woman Now"), Andy Zimmerman and company play with love, conviction, joy, respect, and an understanding that music can do many things for listeners including offer solace in bitter times. "Half Life" is a gem and will offer you, as it has for me, a creative respite.
For more information, go to www.andyzimmermanmusic.com. To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://newvellerecords.bandcamp.com/album/half-light.
Here's "The Bay Area":
Watch the quartet in the studio:
Pianist Billy Lester is not well-known in the great big music world yet that should stop from checking out "From Scratch" his album that appeared in Newvelle's Season 4. Joining him in this 14-song program are bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Matt Wilson. The Lp version contains nine songs while the digital release adds four more songs and one alternate take. All standards, this music is anything but standard. The piano is front-and-center throughout while Reid offers delightful counterpoint and Wilson is the engine that can and does gleefully swing or gently strolls through the music. Listen below to the 1917 James F, Hanley classic "Back Home In Indiana"–the piano, bass, and drums lock in from the start and never let go. The same can be said for Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays" in that the Trio "hits it" from the onset and never lets go.
Photo: Anna Yatskevich
Lester, who studied with Sal Mosca (a Lenny Tristano disciple), has a bright sound as well as witty take on approaching on performing a tune often splintering the original melody and building his solo out of those melodic and/or rhythmic splinters. There's a dollop of Thelonious Monk on the previously unreleased "These Foolish Things" and traces of Duke Ellington in the opening minutes of the piano solo "Darn That Dream" which later has a playful stride section. That's the joy of this music––Billy Lester can play what he wants when he wants and no two versions of any song in his repertoire can be subtly (or even not-so-subtly) changed each time he sits at a piano. Check out "From Scratch" for a musical adventure par excellence.
For more information, go to www.billylestermusic.com. To hear more and to purchase the music, go to
Ben Monder has been a part of the Creative Music scene for over three decades performing and recording with the likes of Paul Motian, Lee Konitz, David Bowie, Marshall Crenshaw, and the Maria Schneider Orchestra (among a whole slew of artists). He's issued, at least, 13 CDs as a leader or co-leader and appeared on dozens more. There was a time that the writer thought his sound was close to that of Bill Frisell but, in actuality, Monder's style is very much his own, his attack is different, his use of electronics, solo style, all different. However, both he and Frisell are consummate believers in the power of melody.
Which brings us to his latest solo effort. "Day After Day" (Sunnyside Records). It's a double album set, the first CD recorded in April 2018 on which Monder plays solo while the second disk was recorded over two days in early October 2018 with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Ted Poor. All songs on both albums are "standards" (of a sort), many from the 1950s and1960s, as well as a solo reading of Olivier Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivium" , a choral piece composed in 1937. And, it fits right in. The melody, as faithfully played by Monder, sits comfortably next to songs such as Johnny Mercer/Johnny Mandel's "Emily" and Guy Wood and Robert Mellin's "My One and Only Love."
Photo: John Rogers
While the acoustic side is quite gentle throughout, the trio album opens what sounds like a straight-forward reading of Jimmy Webb's "Galveston." Well, it opens fairly conservatively but three-quarters of the way through, Monder steps on the high-volume pedal and lays down a fiery solo, one that ignites Poor's drums right down to the finish. "Dust", from the pen of Danny Kirwan during the final months of his work with Fleetwood Mac, is a lovely medium-tempo ballad that the trio plays acoustically (Poor uses his brushes). There's a beautiful guitar and drums (note the impressive cymbal work by Poor) reading of George Harrison's "Long, Long, Long" (from the 1968 "The Beatles" or, as most people know it, "The White Album") and a "swinging", brought sunshine, take of Richard Carpenter's "Only Yesterday." John Barry's "Goldfinger" sounds like Black Sabbath and features a deft shredding of the melody, especially during the delightful solo. Nice take of David Gates's "Guitar Man" (Gates wrote all the music for Bread, a group he led from 1968-73) with delicious plucking throughout.
The second disk closes with the title track, the song that Pete Ham wrote for Badfinger. The original version features the slide guitar work of George Harrison. Monder's version, recorded for multiple electric guitars and effects (and sans rhythm section), deconstructs the piece, resulting in a fascinating and slow, mostly rubato, performance of the melody. Such a psychedelic close to the entire program, one that does not truly resolve but fades slowly. It took this listener several times through to find the melody: yet, the piece draws the listener in on the power of the long, drawn-out chords and roaring notes.
"Day By Day" is a handsome portrait of the many sides of guitarist Ben Monder. At times playful, other times contemplative, always thoughtful, the songs, many of which many listeners should recognize, pull their power from our memories as well as the guitarist's creative arrangements and impressive musicianship. Listen closely!
"The Travelers" (Shifting Paradigm Records) is the debut album from the Lapis Trio, an acoustic group composed of Casey Nielsen (guitar, compositions), Dan Thatcher (bass), and Tim Mulvenna (percussion). Based in the Chicago area, the group has been together since 2014 and are dedicated to playing Nielsen's compositions. Both Thatcher and Mulveena are busy musicians with the former currently holding down the bass chair in Lucas Gillan's Many Blessings while the latter has worked with Ken Vandermark, the late Fred Anderson, and John Abercrombie. Nielsen also leads a "standards" trio plus is quite busy teaching both jazz and classical guitar. He's also worked and recorded with vocalist Christy Bennett.
The music on the Trio's debut album, lovingly recorded and mixed by the guitarist's brother Dana (best known for his work on albums by Smashing Pumpkins, the Avett Brothers, and Neil Young), covers much territory. The program can best be described as a pleasurable of classical, folk, pop, Brazilian, and jazz influences. Thatcher is quite the supportive as well as adventurous bassist and a fine soloist (check out his work on "Scatalogical Humor" for his smart solo and delightful counterpoint). Mulvenna's main work is on cajon (as pictured above) but he also adds other hand percussion and cymbals.
The sound of the group is somewhat reminiscent of the trio recordings guitarist Tim Sparks made for Tzadik but the compositions are quite different. Nielsen creates a lovely melody for "Culver City" - listen to the depth of his sound, the clarity of the melody and the notes he plays. There's plenty of improvisation but first pay attention to the "stories" the band creates. If you pay attention, you'll soon sway with the rhythms of "Clavé" and it's hard not to dance to the "popping" percussion on "The Fischer" yet don't miss the excellent bass counterpoint, the well-developed melody line. and Mulvenna's witty work.
"The Travelers" has such a light feel one cannot help to his or her spirits raised as you "travel" through the seven-song program. Lapis Trio is a refreshing change as those of us in the northern half of the United States move into Springtime. The charity of the sound and the richness of the compositions plus the delightful musicianship makes the Trio's debut album an aural treat!
Here's the title track recorded in a live setting:
"Hungry Ghosts" is the second recording from Typical Sisters and the first to be issued on Outside In Music. The trio - Gregory Uhlmann (guitars), Matt Carroll (drums), and Clark Sommers (bass) - first played together in Chicago in 2009 and has stayed as a working unit although the guitarist moved to Los Angeles in 2010. He returned to Chicago to record the band's 2016 self-titled debut album (issued of ears&eyes Records). Although the three musicians have busy careers as sidemen, this project and music is quite important to them. One of the more attractive elements of the group is how the songs have all sorts of influences yet stand on their own.
Pieces such as "Goner" and "Excavate" have great power. In the case of the former, it's the hard-edged guitar and, in the latter, it's the powerful rhythm section. When Uhlmann jumps into his solo on "Excavate", Sommers and Carroll push him forward with thunderous playing. The title track hearkens back to the sound of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac around the time of "Oh Well" and the album "Then Play On." The influences of the blues can be heard and felt on "Portrait Of a Fast Moving Object" - Uhlmann pushes against the steady drone of the rhythm section with his hard-hitting solo
(and overdubbed rhythm guitars).
I grew up listening to the great guitarists of the 1960s and 70s but also paid attention to groups such as Pell Mell (from Portland, Oregon) and the guitar music of Tom Verlaine. While Typical Sisters often "rock out" on this album, there are pieces where the melody is just important. There's a folky feel to "Benjamin" and a gentleness to the album closer, "Young and Foolish" (an original tune, not the "pop" song from the mid-1950s). Stand-out work from Clark Sommers (a lovely "thick" yet "buttery" tone) and Matt Carroll (his ballad playing is so subtle) plus the excellent guitar work of Gregory Uhlmann make "Hungry Ghost" a pleasure to listen to over and over.
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