Swamped!

March has brought me a plethora of new and inviting music, on a wide range of labels from countries near and far. It's time to attack some of them.

Sara Serpa has had a string of special releases in the past few years, and in February 2013 I wrote glowingly about her duet with Ran Blake, "Aurora" (Clean Feed 2012) and noted her earlier "Camera Obscura" (CD Baby 2010), also with Blake. At the time I noted that Serpa is hardly a classic jazz singer, so do not expect that. But she is a wonderfully eclectic singer with a simple voice that is wonderfully reassuring. Here on her newest release, with husband Andre Matos on guitar and bass, "Primavera" (Inner Circle Music 2014) they have composed twelve of 14 pieces.  The arrangements are once more simple and sparse, just the duo on most pieces, with some guest appearances including a lovely soprano sax solo on one piece by Greg Osby,  blending beautifully with her clear voice, range and dynamic patterns.  The words to describe the pieces are mellifluous, swaying, seductive, and soothing. Some pieces are in Portuguese, some in English, and some are wordless, but all wash over you with a calming effect. It's hard to say much more, these are such lovely little melodies that connect with Serpa's heritage at times, and with contemporary music at others. A tour de force. 

Ellen Rowe Quintet, "Courage Music" (PKO Records 2014) is a terrific set of ten modern jazz pieces, eight of which were written by Rowe, and the others by Ingrid Jensen and Cole Porter. Ingrid Jensen joins pianist and composer Rowe on trumpet and flugelhorn, with the others Andrew Bishop on tenor sax and clarinet, Kurt Krahnke on bass, and Pete Siers on drums. Paul Ferguson joins on the final piece, playing trombone; and the University of Michigan Chamber Jazz Ensemble plays on the tune "And Miles to Go (Part 2)". Rowe is an accomplished pianist, composer, and educator at the University of Michigan (GO BLUE!) who has worked with performers like Kenny Wheeler, John Clayton, and Tom Harrell, among others. The beauty in this recording rests with the wonderful compositions and arrangements by Rowe, which create some lovely layering and textures throughout. The harmonic pallet and the colorations form each performer serve Rowe well in bringing energy and light to her songs. The songs are each distinct, some very impressionistic and others hewing closer to the mainstream jazz tradition. All have a deep beauty that is a joy to listen to.  


Tim Hegarty, "Tribute" (Miles High Records 2014) is a straight-ahead, full-bodied set of ten songs played by a quintet of Hegarty on tenor and soprano saxes, Mark Sherman on vibes, Kenny Barron on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and Carl Allen on drums. With a group like that there is no reason to say much more of course; suffice it to say these are classic jazz tunes from Hegarty's teachers, some who he worked with and others who taught him through their recordings. Jimmy Heath, George Coleman, Monk, Coltrane and Bird are all mentioned in the notes. This is a robust, energetic CD that swings boldly on songs like Heath's "Gingerbread Boy", Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" and Coleman's "Amsterdam After Dark." Hegarty own contributions fit the form beautifully on this wonderful example of up to date mainstream jazz. 

Three down, many more to go for March. What a month! 

CD: Newport Jazz Gala!

For those of us who did not get to Newport to see the jazz festival, the new CD from ArtistShare at least provides a snapshot of some of the participants as they performed in some unusual combinations at the Newport Festival Foundation Gala on August 4, 2012. The CD is called simply "Newport Jazz Gala" (ArtistShare 2013) and it inlcudes nine entries by a host of musicians. These are not from the sets played for the public, some of which you can hear via NPR, but rather a unique portrait of jazz covering a wide range of sounds, instruments, and groups in a single setting. A brief walk-through of the songs and players should be sufficient to intrigue most readers of this post.

First up is Dianne Reeves singing "I'm in Love Again", accompanied on the piano by Peter Martin, a nice standard way to start the set. The sound quickly turns more improvisational with "Three's Free", a freely imporvised piece played by Anat Cohen on clarinet, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, and Jason Moran on piano. To start, Jensen introduces a phrase, then Cohen picks it up, followed by Moran. Then the trio begins to elaboraate upon the phrase, offering in turn solo riffs, and finally all three join in once the theme is fully established. A remarkably spry and lovely piece highlighted by the beautiful rich sounds from each master, but for my ears particulalry by Cohen playing across all three octaves of the clarinet.

Third up is "Aurora" a piece both written by and played by Rudresh Mahanthappa that is very much in keeping with the sound of the recently released "Gamak" (ACT 2013). His support is not identified but there are some traditional Indian percussion parts supporting him along with some electronic feedback and echoing. all in all a very modern and avant garde piece. "Merci" is next, a duet of Lionel Loueke and Jason Moran that is lively and fun. Loueke begins with any number of vocalizations including hums, clicks, and pos along side his guitar work. Moran enters as support a bit later first compling and then playing a melody line in support of the rhythmic play from Loueke and then taking over the melody while Loueke "plays" the percussion for the better part of three minutes. Finally, Loueke sings his part in his native language backed quietly by his guitar and Moran's piano. Lovely.

Lewis Nash on drums and Steve Wilson on sax cut it up with the "Jitterbug Waltz" next, followed by Edmar Castaneda playing two of his own compositions -- first soloing on "Entre Cuerdas" and then dueting with sax player Wilson on "Double Portion". Castaneda is probably the least known player on this CD; he is a 35 year old harp player from Bogota, Colombia now located in New York. His most recent CD has him leading a group which includes Gonzolo Rubalcaba on piano, Miguel Zenon on saxophone, and Hamilton De Holanda on mandolin. He plays what might be expected from the harp -- lush, long flowing melody lines and strong melodies that shift across the octaves to create intriguing expressive pieces. These are really outstanding contibutions to the CD from a wholly unexpected source, whether playing solo or comping behind a very interesting melody played by Wilson on the second piece.

Finally two last pieces. The first is just a great interpretation of the Beatles' "Come Together" by Anat Cohen on clarinet and Bill Frisell on guitar. Frisell of course did a complete CD a couple of years ago featuring John Lennon's music and this has the same combination of the familiar and the unexpected, with Cohen once again starring on the clarinet. So simple, so fun.  Finally, there is the ensemble of Frisell, Jensen, Moran, Nash, and Wilson playing, or in fact playing around with, "Blue Monk" a suitable closer to what must have been a great night.