 New Keith Jarret, Manhanthappa...and San Diego's own Nate Jarrell (who will be on TNJT Monday 11/7 at 6:40 PM PT)...among some other great progressive, duo, debuts, and other great New Jazz Music! And being played for the first time on Jazz 88 on The New Jazz Thing, Monday, November 7, 2011 from 6-8 PM PT.
REZ ABBASI’S INVOCATION (FB, @RezTone)– “SUNO SUNO” (Progressive session, led by this
guitarist, with an all-star band of progressive artists).
AllABoutJazz (Something Else!): More important, in particular as it relates to this album, must have
been the impact of Coltrane—especially in the way this group often works
toward an almost unbridled release without losing musical coherence. That was the risk as Coltrane struggled through his spiritual awakening on the career-defining A Love Supreme,
and it remains so here—as Abbasi tries to blend his native country's
praise song forms and jazz. Invocation's exultations, in particular on
the more overtly Qawwali-influenced numbers like “Thanks for Giving" and
“Onus On Us," walk the same fine line—and they emerge with a statement
of similar artistic breadth, religious wonder and musical intrigue.
EMMET COHEN (@EmmetCohen)– “IN THE ELEMENT” (Debut release by this 20-year old pianist,
mostly trio stuff, with trumpeter Greg Gisbert guesting on 3 tracks).
AllAboutJazz.com (Edward Blanco): At the ripe old age of 21, jazz piano prodigy Emmet Cohen has already racked up an impressive list of awards among them, Downbeat's
Best Jazz Soloist and Best Jazz Combo (for the Emmet Cohen Trio),
placed first in the Kathleen T. and Philip B. Phillip's Piano
competition at University of West Florida and was selected as a finalist
for the 2011 American Pianist's Association's Cole Porter Fellowship.
MIKE DiRUBBO (FB, @MikeDiRubbo) & LARRY WILLIS – “FOUR HANDS, ONE HEART” (Sax/piano
duet recording, doing mostly standards).
JazzWrap (Stephan Moore): This is the first album on DiRubbo's own label and its a great way to begin. Four Hands, One Heart is
a wonderful contemporary album that merges both the talent of a
legendary pianist and the already accomplished and well respected
saxophonist. This is great stuff that deserves everyone's ears...
HARRIS EISENSTADT – “CANADA DAY II” (Drummer, leading a quintet, with a
mix of contemporary and straight-ahead originals).
AllAboutJazz.com (Mark Corroto): If you believe most recordings by drummer/composers are positive statements, then Harris Eisenstadt's Canada Day II is more than a glass half full. It is a brimming cup of music. The disc follows 2009's Canada Day, on Portugal's Clean Feed label, with the same lineup. The glue here is the perpetual groove, be it applied by the drummer,
bassist, or vibraphone as on "To Be," someone is always carrying the
freight. That makes for better solos and a crisp accessible sound.
KALI Z. FASTEAU (FB)– “AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE” (Progressive, pianoless trio,
recorded in the 90’s, newly released).
Squidco: "A recording of three musicians with superlative and fascinating
careers. The musical lineage of multi-instrumentist and composer Kali.
Z. stems from her musician grandparents hosting sessions with the
Gershwin brothers and Kali's college and graduate studies of world music
and jazz. Her musical trajectory then flows through her marriage and
musical partnership with the great multi-instrumentist and composer Don
Rafael Garrett (he recorded 4 albums with John Coltrane), and decades of
living in 16 countries, leading ensembles of wonderful musicians,
recording some 18 albums of her world jazz, and performing on more than a
dozen instruments.On this recording, these extraordinary artists deliver their unique
powers to the collective sound, combining their creativity in fiery
sessions recorded in the first days of 1992. An Alternate Universe, finds these musicians roaring along the high energy road.
KEITH JARRETT – “RIO” (Double-disc solo piano improvisation concert, complete
with humming).
The Guardian (John Fordham): The story goes that Jarrett was on the phone to ECM boss Manfred Eicher
barely before the applause had died down, convinced this was his best
gig in years – and he's right. Warmer and less abstract than his
still-remarkable 2006 Carnegie Hall solo show, a constantly changing
(and totally improvised) soundscape of rocking African and Latin vamps,
fragile love songs, guitar-like blues and sparingly deployed free jazz, Rio represents Jarrett at his most exuberant.
NATE JARRELL (FB) – “THE NEXT CHAPTER” (Local guitarist, in an edgy outing, with a
mix of originals and jazz tunes).
San Diego Reader (Robert Bush): The Next Chapter is an excellent example of modern electric jazz guitar, which, in it's best moments, veers slightly to the left of center. Creative stuff, highly recommended.
RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA (FB, @RudreshM)– “SAMDHI” (Typically progressive outing from this
Indian saxophonist).
AllAboutJazz.com (Mark F. Turner): About halfway through the aptly named "Killer," it becomes apparent that saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa's Samdhi
is up to something just a little different. Amid the track's impossible
changes and blistering tempo, the saxophonist's alto undergoes
acoustic-electric alterations that are processed through a laptop. Samdhi is the product of Mahanthappa's receiving a Guggenheim
Fellowship in 2008, which allowed him to explore the fusion of
electronic music, ancestral Indian music and jazz. It spawned a new
group with a number of early dates and the results are striking. From start to finish, the music never abandons its flavor. Stimulating,
open-minded, and never pretentious, this is Mahanthappa's most
accessible release to date.
JEREMY MONTEIRO – “COMPOSITIONS: GOLDEN YEAR INAUGURAL, VOL.1”
(A variety of guest artists, performing his original compisitions).
AllAboutJazz.com (Ian Patterson): Jeremy Monteiro has come a long way since starting out as a professional
jazz pianist when not quite seventeen, back in 1977. As a leader, he's
recorded over twenty albums, though it wasn't until Homecoming (Jazznote, 2007) that he released one of all-original compositions. Released as part of his fiftieth birthday celebration, the original
material here stretches from his much vaunted Montreux appearance in
1988 to a performance in Borneo in June, 2010. Whether playing a blues, a
lilting samba or soul-inflected jazz, or heating up the keys on a
straight-ahead workout, Monteiro's music always swings.
OSCAR PEREZ NUEVO COMIENZO – “AFROPEAN AFFAIR” (Straight-ahead
originals, with a Latin vibe, 3 vocal tracks).
MARK WEINSTEIN (@altoflute41)– “EL CUMBANCHERO” (Latin grooves, with strings).
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Pat Launer's Center Stage
