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Music Week [40 - 49]

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44357 [44332) rated (+25), 27 [32] unrated (-5).

I made the cutover in reasonable time on Monday, but didn't get anything written until late, so this will be posted late. Big thing I've been doing is a fairly massive reorganization of what I refer to as the woodpile. We did a major renovation of the kitchen/dining area roughly 15 years ago, and it produced a lot of scrap wood that's been piled up in the basement ever since. Moreover, there is quite a bit of wood in the garage: one wall as a rack for stick lumber, and the opposite wall has a cage that I built that holds 4x8 sheets (plywood, MDF, underlayment, paneling, etc.), and there are lesser scraps of everything. As the woodworking tools are mostly in the garage, I wanted to move the wood from the basement to the garage and a nearby shed. That's involved building more storage for odd bits. I've averaged several hours a day on this for a couple weeks. Progress is slow, as everything gets harder the older one gets. But I'm hopeful of getting the wood sorted and moved by the end of the week. Next step beyond that will be building a kiosk that can be used as a staging area for recycling. Other storage projects are likely to follow, as well as a serious effort to sort the tools and hardware. And books and CDs, which are by far the largest categories.

Meanwhile, I've sent out a round of invitations to the Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll: Mid-Year 2025. I'm still way behind on cleaning up the website, and perhaps more urgently on checking the mailing lists, which I suspect are missing a number of 2024 voters. I have three ballots counted so far, but another 10-12 sitting in my inbox. Deadline is June 30, so we still have a fair amount of time. I'm already finding new records I wasn't aware of. [PS: Trying to close this Tuesday evening, I have 10 ballots counted, with 2 more uncounted, and a similar number of promises, plus 2 notes from usually reliable voters regretting (or perhaps just thinking) they'll skip this round. Thus far we have votes for 106 albums (75 new, 31 old), 29 of which weren't previously in my tracking file, which previously stood at 502 jazz albums. The 2024 jazz tracking file wound up with 1572 albums.]

Two upgrades this week from Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide. I already had the Buck 65 and Willie Nelson albums at A-, and Tune-Yards at B+(*). I still have more work to do there (Arcade Fire, Ghost Wolves, Girl Scout, Justin Golden, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Bruce Springsteen). I've added the MY lists at AOTY into my Metacritic file, but haven't yet gone looking for more trouble. One list I'm aware of but haven't catalogued yet is the set from RiotRiot: Albums (30-11); Albums (10-1); and Songs.

I got rained out on Tuesday. We had a pretty severe storm blow through around 5 AM, which took down a lot of small limbs. The rain finally let up when I got up around 9, so after breakfast I opened the garage/shed up to work, but wound up spending a couple hours just picking up limbs, cuting them up, and packing them into the newly emptied trash can. I quit when I ran out of space, having not even started on the back yard. I broke for lunch, counted a few ballots, kept meaning to get back to it, until I heard thunder and had to pack everything back up. Still raining as I write this.

Tomorrow's going to be disrupted by a dentist appointment, and whatever I feel like doing after as opposed to coming home to work. I did manage to listen to some stuff today, kicking off with three straight A- albums under old music. They're not in Music Week yet, but are in the June archive if you care to go there (link up top). What I will do is refer you to the Loose Tabs draft file, which has two long sections, one on Israel as a revolutionary experience, another on the "abundance" political pitch.

So much shit is happening in the world these days that it's hard to just ignore it all, especially when it's so easy to see the delusions people in power are acting on. There is absolutely no sense to be made out of Israel's attack on Iran, nor is there any sense to be made out of Trump's willingness to take credit for starting the war. Netanyahu is effectively demanding that Iran finally fulfill his prophecy and build and use the nuclear weapons he claims he's trying to safeguard against. Still, the only realistic defense against nuclear war is peace, which is the one option Netanyahu is unwilling (or unable) to consider. Sure, it's possible that Iran will never take the bait, but who's going to admit that just proves how wrong Netanyahu has always been.

The real message that Israel is sending is their intention to do things so horrific that other nations will be so repulsed they may be driven to unthinkable measures just to stop them. The last time any nation has worked so hard to turn the world against them was Germany and Japan in starting WWII. (Even there, it is sobering to note that it wasn't genocide against Jews that motivated the UK, USSR, and USA to fight Germany and Japan, but direct attacks against their own imperialist interests.) It will be much harder for Israel to provoke devastating reaction this time, because most sensible people are wary of entering into war, especially to stop an arsenal of nuclear weapons. That seems to be part of their calculation for aggression.

When we look back at all this, we should realize that BDS was an opportunity to peacefully but firmly remind Israel that there must be limits to abusing the powers of a nation to inflict suffering on one's own people and others. It failed because Israel was able to organize corrupt support from the US and Europe, and in doing so, especially with "blank check" support from Trump and Biden, has only fed the arrogance of Israeli politicians, including some who were until recently regarded as criminals within Israel -- not a coincidence that America installed another escaped criminal as president.

PPS: Just as I was getting ready to post this late Tuesday evening, the internet went out, pushing this post into Wednesday. It stayed out all night, but was working by noon today. By then, I took a look at what I had written, and decided to add a few more words on Israel and Trump. One more point: both are convinced that the harder they get hit, the more their people will rally to their support -- a conceit that makes they especially reckless, especially given their inability to see that Iran's leaders understand that just as well. It was, after all, Hitler who turned Stalin and Churchill into heroes, erasing their long and lamentable histories of misrule.

New records reviewed this week:

Aya: Hexed! (2025, Hyperdub): British electronic music producer, last name Sinclair, second album under this name, released a previous one as Loft. Leans into metal toward the end. B [sp]

Hannah Cohen: Earthstar Mountain (2025, Bella Union/Congrats): Singer-songwriter from San Francisco, based in New York, fourth album since 2012. B+(*) [sp]

Michika Fukumori: Eternity (2023 [2025], Summit): Japanese pianist, moved to New York in 2000, fourth album since 2004, a trio with Steve Whipple (bass) and Adam Nussbaum (drums). Opens with seven originals, then stretches out with some covers (Kurt Weill, Fats Waller, a mashup of Chopin and Jobim, "Be My Love"). B+(***) [cd]

Ms. Ezra Furman: Goodbye Small Head (2025, Bella Union): Singer-songwriter, led band albums 2007-11, solo efforts since then, some seemed notable at the time although I can't say as I recall any of them. Too much of a mixed bag for me to try to sort out, but some interesting stuff if you care. (One track reminds me that Furman wrote a 33-1/3 book about Lou Reed's Transformer album.) B+(**) [sp]

Alexander Hawkins: Song Unconditional (2024 [2025], Intakt): British pianist, quite a few albums since 2008, this one solo. B+(**) [sp]

Izumi Kimura & Gerry Hemingway: How the Dust Falls (2025, Auricle): Japanese pianist, based in Ireland (which she's incorporated into past work), a second duo with the drummer -- they also have two trios with Barry Guy, all recommended. B+(***) [cd]

James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Abstraction Is Deliverance (2024 [2025], Intakt): Poll-winning tenor saxophonist, well-established quartet with Aruán Ortiz (piano), Brad Jones (bass), and Chad Taylor (drums) -- their fifth album. This starts out sounding like a hitherto unknown Coltrane masterpiece. It doesn't develop much beyond that level, but how much can anyone ask for? A- [sp]

Carol Liebowitz/Nick Lyons: The Inner Senses (2023 [2025], SteepleChase LookOut): Piano and alto sax duo, both very measured and precise. B+(***) [cd]

Lifeguard: Ripped and Torn (2025, Matador): Indie/postpunk band from Chicago, Asher Case the singer-bassist, second album. B [sp]

Ramon Lopez: 40 Springs in Paris (2024 [2025], RogueArt): Spanish drummer, moved to Paris in 1985, has dozens of co- and side-credits since 1992, including a solo album in 1998. This, again, is solo. B+(**) [cdr]

Momma: Welcome to My Blue Sky (2025, Lucky Number/Polyvinyl): Dream pop band, led by Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten (both guitars, vocals, "additional instrumentation"), fourth album since 2018. Pretty much what I imagine the new Garbage album will sound like. B+(**) [sp]

Greg Murphy: Snap Happy (2024 [2025], Whaling City Sound): Pianist, eighth album since 2004, mostly trio with Obasi Akoto (basses) and Steve Johns (drums), plus guitar (Mark Whitfield) on three tracks, and a vocal (Sy Smith) on one. B+(**) [cd]

Billy Nomates: Metalhorse (2025, Invada): English singer-songwriter Tor Maries, first album (2020) was clearly influenced by Sleaford Mods, third album here is much more easy-going. B+(**) [sp]

Ploy: It's Later Than You Think (2025, Dekmantel): British tech house producer Sam Smith, second album, other releases and mixes going back to 2016, hits a nice spot and sticks there. B+(**) [sp]

Scowl: Are We All Angels (2025, Dead Oceans): Postpunk band from Santa Cruz, Kat Moss is the singer, second album after a couple of EPs. This has some real heft. B+(***) [sp]

Sherelle: With a Vengeance (2025, Method 808): Last name Thomas, first album after several singles/EPs/DJ mixes. Experts tab this as a cross between footwork and jungle. I'm not one, but that sounds about right. One vocal piece shows some potential that could be extended, but the hard fast beats suffice. B+(***) [sp]

Bartees Strange: Horror (2025, 4AD): American singer-songwriter, grew up in Oklahoma, originally Bartees Cox Jr., third album. B+(*) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

African Jazz Invites O.K. Jazz (1961-70 [2025], Planet Ilunga): Vintage Congo soukous, designed for 4 LP sides, 28 tracks total, two batches credited to L'O.K. Jazz (Franco Luambo), one to L'African Jazz (Joseph Kabasele, aka Le Grande Kallé), the batch called "The African Jazz school - Style Fiesta 1961-1970" the only one with pieces that stretch beyond 3:00. B+(***) [bc]

Dave Burrell/Sam Woodyard: The Lost Session: Paris 1979 (1979 [2025], NoBusiness): Avant pianist, known on occasion to look back with delight, at the moment he was coming off an excellent Plays Ellington and Monk and a Lush Life I haven't heard, and would later go on to The Jelly Roll Joys. Here he's in a duo with Ellington's longtime drummer, whose name rarely shows up in sluglines. Mostly originals, some of which could be vintage rags, but they work in "Lush Life," "Sentimental Lady," and "Embraceable You." A- [cd]

Jimmy Lyons: Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (1974-76 [2025], NoBusiness): Alto saxophonist (1931-86), best known for his work with Cecil Taylor, but his own albums are almost all worth checking out, and this one is crackling: two improv sets (27:52 and 26:10), the first with Karen Borca (bassoon), Hayes Burnett (bass), and Henry Letcher (drums), the second with Syd Smart (drums) and Burnett again. A- [cd]

Motoharu Yoshizawa/Kim Dae Hwan: Way of the Breeze (1993 [2025], NoBusiness): Japanese bassist (1931-98), credited here with "homemade electric vertical 5-strings bass," duo with Korean free jazz percussionist (1933-2003), who takes charge early with one of the most striking drum solos I've heard lately. Gets more complicated further on. A- [cd]

Old music:

Docteur Nico: Dieu De La Guitare (1954-70 [2018], Planet Ilunga): Famed Congolese guitarist Nicolas Kasanda (1939-85), started with Joseph Kabasele's L'African Jazz, split in 1963 with Rochereau to lead L'Orchestra African Fiesta. He left a couple hundred singles under variations of his nickname. B+(***) [bc]

Muriel Grossmann: Universal Code (2022 [2023], RR Gems): Saxophonist (soprano/alto/tenor), born in Paris, parents Austrian, based in Ibiza, heavily influenced by Coltrane's spiritual jazz tangent, a formula hard to resist. I missed this one, backed with guitar (Radomir Milojkovic), organ (Llorenç Barceló), drums (Uros Stamenkovic), and bass (Gina Schwarz, 3 of 9 tracks). B+(**) [bc]

Resilient Vessels: Live at the Cell (2020 [2021], RR Gems): Live set, from a residency organized by visual artist Josh Werner, who also plays bass here in a quartet with James Brandon Lewis (sax), Patrick Holmes (clarinet), and Ches Smith (drums). Pretty scintilating -- an element I missed in Lewis's new, but otherwise excellent, album. A- [bc]

Grade (or other) changes:

Robert Forster: Strawberries (2025, Tapete): Australian singer-songwriter, one of two in the Go-Betweens (1978-90), went solo after that, and seems to have excelled at recapturing the group's sound since Grant McClennan's death in 2006. This hits the spot more often than not. [was: B+(***)] A- [sp]

Lambrini Girls: Who Let the Dogs Out (2025, City Slang): British punk duo, started by others but here a duo of Phoebe Lunny (lead vocals/guitar) and Lilly Macieira-Bosgelmez (bass guitar/backing vocals), plus drums. First album after several singles and an EP I liked, 11 songs (29:25). This got enough hype I noticed it right away, but obviously didn't pay enough attention. Sound alone should have been good for a boost, even before deciphering the earned rage. [was: B+(*)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alchemy Sound Project/Sumi Tonooka: Under the Surface (ARC) [06-27]
• Ryan Keberle & Collectiv Do Brasil: Choro Das Aguas (Alternate Side) [07-18]
• Wheelhouse: House and Home (Aerophonic) [07-22]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, June 9, 2025

June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44332 [44300) rated (+32), 32 [23] unrated (+9).

I published a Loose Tabs on Wednesday, June 4. I've added an article index, which is useful if you want to link to a specific section. I've fixed a couple typos, edited a tiny bit, and added some more reviews of the Jake Tapper book, although nothing I find all that revealing. [PS: I added some more reviews/notes on 06-10.] If I did have to do the research, the question I'd want to find an answer to is how the people advising Biden fail to recognize that his persistent low polling after leaving Afghanistan -- which should have been a big plus after 20+ years of repeated failure -- was a problem that Biden simply wasn't articulate and/or empathetic enough to talk his way out of.

I've really avoided working up any new material since posting, so the current scratch file doesn't have much, and isn't likely to for a while. There is so much really dreadful crap going on that it's hard to know where to begin, and harder still to decide when to stop. I will say that overhearing some 10-15 minutes of Fox News spin on Trump's deployment of national guard to quell "riots" in California was enough to convince me that Trump is picking this fight because he believes it generates reactions that he believes will help him (and hurt Democrats) politically. And it's not really even immigration policy where he thinks he has the advantage. What turns him and his fans on is the action, underscored by the performative cruelty. It doesn't really matter how many people he deports -- Biden and Obama generally topped his counts -- but how people perceive his commitment and toughness.

Not much to say about music here. I got a lot of the records below from Phil Overeem's list, plus the latest batch of reviews by Dan Weiss, and what I've picked up from the first few mid-year lists that I've factored into my metacritic file:

• Consequence [06-02] [AOTY] The 30 Best Albums of 2025 So Far
• Exclaim [06-02] [AOTY] Exclaim!'s 25 Best Albums of 2025 So Far
• Rolling Stone [06-05] [AOTY] The Best Albums of 2025 So Far
• Stereogum [06-02] [AOTY] The 50 Best Albums of 2025 So Far

New today and not counted yet: The Fader; Paste; Spin. Rolling Stone started off their list in typical form: "What a year it's been for great music -- as opposed to, say, everything else." But looking at my metacritic file, I'm not all that impressed: while my tastes rarely align with the critical consensus, the current top five strike me as exceptionally weak: FKA Twigs (*), Bon Iver (**), Japanese Breakfast (*), Horsegirl (**), Lady Gaga (***). Beyond that: Julien Baker & Torres (***), Mogwai (*), Black Country New Road (B), Lambrini Girls (*), Sharon Van Etten (*). Granted, I have five A- records between 14-20 (Lucy Dacus, The Delines, Craig Finn, Billy Woods, Jason Isbell). But my scale is skewed to favor records I like (also Robert Christgau and some of his close followers), and he has all but the thus-far-unreviewed Woods at A- or higher.

Speaking of mid-year polls, I'm thinking about running a jazz critics one, as I did in 2024. If so, I really should get invites out this week, with a June 30 deadline and an early-July publication date. Setting up the website should be easy enough, and firing off the mail list is easy if it works. (Last year it didn't work very well, but I have a new server this time, and supposedly it comes with a better reputation, although over-aggressive spam filters are still a risk.) One good reason for doing this would be to force me to do some prep work for the end-of-year poll.

Downside is that a lot of people who will vote in the annual poll aren't really up for a mid-year poll. But we got 90 ballots last year -- albeit only after a lot of laborious nagging -- and that produced some very useful information. And while I'm unimpressed with the non-jazz so far this year, this seems to be shaping up as a typically solid year for new jazz releases (although maybe not yet for rara avis). I haven't split my 2025 list into jazz and non-jazz yet, but I have a healthy 56 A/A- albums so far, which on first pass are evenly split 28-28.

I've been putting a fair amount of time into household tasks, which will continue for the foreseeable future. Big project this week has been to clean and reorganize the garage and shed, where along with much junk I have a lot of scrap lumber. I'm making slow but fairly steady progress, but it's taking a lot of time from my listening and writing, so things like the planning documents have been suffering.

New records reviewed this week:

Yugen Blakrok: The Illusion of Being (2025, IOT): South African rapper, third album since 2013. B+(***) [sp]

Car Seat Headrest: The Scholars (2025, Matador): Indie band from Virginia, principally singer-songwriter Will Toledo, 13th album since 2010 per Wikipedia (first 8 were DIY, so 5th album on Matador since 2015 is more like it, with one of those a dupe from early days). Billed as a "rock opera," running 70:32 (or 127:47 deluxe), so no surprise that that I'm not able to focus enough to follow or care, but this is pretty consistently listenable, and may merit more serious consideration. B+(**) [sp]

Central Cee: Can't Rush Greatness (2025, CC4L/Columbia): British rapper Oakley Caesar-Su, first studio album after a couple mixtapes. Can't just idle around either. B+(**) [sp]

Sarah Mary Chadwick: Take Me Out to a Bar/What Am I, Gatsby? (2025, Kill Rock Stars): Singer-songwriter from New Zealand, based in Melbourne, 11th album since 2012 (per Discogs), one noted by Christgau in 2021. This one barely, with slow speak over spare piano, barely registers . . . until "I'm Not Clinging to Life," where she fights back. Interesting character, but music not so much. B [sp]

The Convenience: Like Cartoon Vampires (2025, Winspear): Indie rock guitar/drums duo from New Orleans, Nick Corson and Duncan Troast, second album, moves along. B+(**) [sp]

Cosmic Ear: Traces (2025, We Jazz): New free jazz group, mostly well known Scandinavians remembering and revering Don Cherry: Christer Bothén (bass/contrabass clarinet, ngoni, piano); Mats Gustafsson (tenor sax, flutes, clarinets, electronics, organ, harmonica); Goran Kajfes (trumpets, electronics); Kansan Zetterberg (bass, ngoni); Juan Romero (percussion, berimbau, congas); with "special guest" Manane N Lemwo (kangnan). A- [sp]

Amalie Dahl: Breaking/Building Habits (2024 [2025], SauaJazz): Danish alto saxophonist, based in Oslo, has several albums with her group Dafnie, this a quartet with guitar (Viktor Bomstad), vibes (Viktoria Holde Søndergaard), and drums (Tore Ljøkelsøy). The percussion is especially striking here. A- [bc]

Dickson & Familiar: All the Light of Our Sphere (2024 [2025], Sounds Familiar): Glenn Dickson (clarinet) and Bob Familiar (synthesizer) create ambient music that is complex and radiant, and possibly a bit tiresome. B+(**) [cd]

DJ Shaun-D: From Bubbling to Dutch House (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): As best I can tell, a Dutch electronica producer, born in The Hague, father Dutch, mother "Caribbean," may have some records as Shaun D and/or DJ Shaun -- De Schuurman, whose 2024 Bubbling Forever has much the same appeal, cites him as an influence, so presumably he's a bit older. B+(***) [sp]

Rocio Giménez López/Franco Di Renzo/Luciano Ruggieri: La Forma Del Sueño (2023 [2025], Blue Art): Pianist, from Argentina, fifth album since 2017, with bass and drums, playing a selection of jazz classics from Rollins, Parker, Coleman, Coltrane, Peacock, Monk, and Ellington. B+(***) [sp]

K. Curtis Lyle/Jaap Blonk/Alex Cunningham/Damon Smith/Kevin Cheli: A Radio of the Body (2024, Balance Point Acoustics): Lyle is a poet, originally from Los Angeles, was a founder of the Watts Writers Workshop in 1966, moved to St. Louis and recorded an album in 1971 with Julius Hemphill, but that seems to be all until this and another 2024 album. Blonk is a well-known Dutch vocalist and electronics/sound artist, and the others play violin, bass, and drums. B+(***) [sp]

Madre Vaca: Yukon (2025, Madre Vaca): Originally a quartet from Jacksonville, sixth album, now styles itself as a collective, but still a quartet on this sixth album, with three founders -- Jarrett Carter (guitar), Jonah Pierre (keyboards), and Benjamin Shorstein (drums) -- joined by Thomas Milovac (bass), who wrote 3 (of 8 songs; Carter 3, Pierre 2). B+(***) [cd]

Mean Mistreater: Do or Die (2025, Dying Victims Productions): Hard rock/heavy metal band from Austin, second album, cover couldn't be anything else even if the most conspicuous metal is just calcium. Janiece Gonzalez is the singer, with two guitars, bass, and drums. B+(*) [bc]

Ela Minus: Día (2025, Domino): Singer-songwriter from Colombia, studied at Berklee, now based in Brooklyn, second album, electropop (more or less), the catchiest refrain going "I'd love to save you but you've got to save yourself." B+(**) [sp]

MonoNeon: You Had Your Chance - Bad Attitude (2025, Floki Studios): Bassist Dywane Eric Thomas Jr., from Memphis, more than a dozen albums since 2012, some experimental/jazz, but this one is a set of eight idiosyncratic funk tunes (29:30) -- imagine Swamp Dogg starting with Prince instead of Muscle Shoals. B+(*) [bc]

Joe Morris/Elliott Sharp: Realism (2023 [2025], ESP-Disk): Two guitarists, the former also credited with "effects," the latter with "electronics," both have been on the fringe since it was called "avant-garde" (hype sheet says since 1983 and 1979, respectively). This sums their life's work up admirably. A- [cd]

Mourning [A] BLKstar: Flowers for the Living (2025, Don Giovanni): Cleveland group, formed 2015 by RA Washington and LaRoya Kent, fifth album, has soul and gospel in its history, jazz and electronics in its toolkit. B+(**) [sp]

Nao: Jupiter (2025, Little Tokyo): English neo-soul singer-songwriter Neo Jessica Joshua, fourth album since 2016. Choice cut: "Happy People." B+(***) [sp]

The Onions: Return to Paradise (2025, Hitt): Pop/rock band from Columbia, Missouri, (3) in Discogs, second album after a 2015 debut, the kind of band that would cover "Wonderful Wonderful" as surfer or maybe bubblegum but owes more to Les Baxter than to Chuck Berry. C+ [bc]

Sverre Sæbo Quintet: If, However, You Have Not Lost Your Self Control (2025, SauaJazz): Norwegian bassist, has a couple side credits but this looks to be his first as leader. All original pieces, quintet with three horns -- Heidi Kvelvane (alto sax/clarinet), Aksel Røed (baritone/tenor sax/clarinet), Andreas H. Hatzikiriakidis (trumpet) -- and drums (Amund Nordstrøm). B+(**) [bc]

Samia: Bloodless (2025, Grand Jury): Indie pop singer-songwriter, full name adds Najimy Finnerty, after parents who are actors of some note. Third album. B+(***) [sp]

The Sharp Pins: Radio DDR (2025, K/Perennial Death): Young (20) singer-songwriter from Chicago, also records as Lifeguard Dwaal Troupe, and A Towering Raven; this, after a couple DIY releases, seems to be the jangle pop project. My first impulse was to reject it, but then I started hearing things -- derivative, perhaps, not enough to stick with, but there could be something here. B+(*) [sp]

Deborah Silver/The Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks! (2025, Green Hill): The singer has a previous album from 2016 called The Gold Standards, which are indeed good ol' good 'uns. The ghost band is directed by Scotty Barnhart these days, but no names jump out at me, at least until I find Patience Higgins in the "additional musicians," but the featured musicians are well known, including George Coleman and Wycliffe Gordon. I also recognize the songs, which run (chronologically) from "A Hard Day's Night" to "Every Breath You Take," most swung mightily to little avail -- "Tainted Love," "Band on the Run," "Joy to the World," and "Fly Like an Eagle" are beyond help, and "Paint It Black" is worse. Only song where they came up with a revealing new take was "Life's Been Good." B [cd]

Um, Jennifer?: Um Comma Jennifer Question Mark (2025, Final Girl): New York-based indie rock duo, Fig and Eli, offer "love-drunk and hate-fueled hallucinations," but also "a whimsical view of transness." B+(**) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

The Bitter Ends: The Bitter Ends (2022 [2025], Trouble in River City): St. Louis garage rock band, although I'd pinpoint their origins in 1960s punk, still richer melodically than 1970s punk or 1980s hardcore because they listened to AM and knew a hook when they stole one, but were definitely heading toward a rowdier and noisier future, with no real sense of how postmodernism would relativize everything. Most of this would fit right into Nuggets. Originally self-released, so technically a reissue. A- [bc]

Mazinga: Chinese Democracy Manifest: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (2024 [2025], Rubber Wolf?): Punk band from Ann Arbor, Discogs credits them with one previous album (1999), some singles/EPs (1997-2000, 2008). Bandcamp has some more singles/EPs from 2012 and 2024, as well as a 1996-2008 compilation. This looks like another comp: I can source 5 (of 10 songs) to 2024 releases, leaving 5 more unaccounted for (total 26:11). B+(***) [sp]

Sweet Rebels: The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Raï: The Ecstatic Electro Sound of Original Raï Cassettes 1986-1991 (1986-91 [2025], We Want Sounds): Algerian music, dates back to the 1920s but developed explosively in the 1980s, especially in Oran, before Islamic fundamentalism and civil war tore Algeria apart (1991-2002), driving many musicians abroad. I was first introduced to the music with Earthworks' 1988 compilation, Raï Rebels, which includes several of the artists here, in this compilation of eight rare cassettes that works just as well. B+(***) [bc]

Old music:

Amalie Dahl/Henrik Sandstad Dalen/Jomar Jeppsson Søvik: Fairytales for Daydreamers (2022 [2023], Nice Things): Danish alto saxophonist, based in Oslo, free jazz with bass and drums. A 43:41 piece called "Chapter I" and a 12:05 encore called "Chapter II." B+(*) [sp]

Amalie Dahl: Memories (2023, Sonic Transmissions): Alto saxophonist, first solo album, four tracks, 32:15. B+(*) [sp]

Amalie Dahl/Jomar Jeppsson Søvik/Henrik Sandstad Dalen: Live in Europe (2023 [2024], Nice Things): Two trio sets a week apart, one from Prague (March 3), the other Brussels (March 10). B+(**) [sp]

Andy Haas/David Grollman: Act of Love (2023, Resonant Music, EP): Saxophone and percussion duo, Grollman also credited with balloon and voice -- reading poems written by his late wife, Rita Stein-Grollman, who died early 2023 from "the cruelties of the [Early Onset] Alzheimer's Disease." Short (7 tracks, 17:34) and rather harrowing, or perhaps cathartic. B+(*) [bc]

Les Rallizes Denudés: Blind Baby Has It's Mothers Eyes ([2003], bootleg): Japanese experimental noise band, formed in 1967, active through 1988 and again from 1993-96, parts of their discography have appeared on Temporal Drift since 2021, including a live tape I've heard, Citta' '93, and evidently there is much more in the works: AOTY has a list of "86 Bootlegs (+7 unsorted dates/audience recordings), of which this item has been singled out by Phil Freeman for a AMG review (****), and which popped up on a Phil Overeem list, and is accessible on YouTube (full album, no track information or dates, 54:06). Presumably this was recorded somewhat earlier -- shortly before or after their hiatus is a fair guess. The historical uncertainty and lack of commercial packaging bothers me, as that's necessarily a part of my job reviewing, so I'm inclined to hedge. Also I'm not wild about the closing amplifier feedback, but for a long while, you could describe this as drawing a line from the Velvet Underground through Pulnoc and on toward oblivion, and that's interesting both as concept and revelation. B+(***) [yt]

Mazinga: Mazinga (1999, Reanimator): Ann Arbor punk group, first album after a couple singles/EPs, recorded less after 2000, with more singles/EPs in 2008, 2012, and 2024. Fifteen fast ones, 37:30, including a cover of "Mongoloid" (Devo), although I'm less happy that it's followed up with one called "That Yellow Bastard," but the closer ("No Rewards") helps. B+(*) [bc]

Deborah Silver: The Gold Standards (2016, Deborah Silver): Last heard fronting the Basie ghost orchestra in their romp through a batch of rock-era pop songs that will never become jazz standards, she presented the voice and phrasing of a capable standards singer, so I thought I'd check out this debut (and so far only other) album, where the standards are indeed golden -- "The Nearness of You," "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Slow Boat to China," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," "I Could Write the Book," etc. Alan Broadbent plays piano and arranged for a big band that's short on brass but long on reeds. She's about as good as I expected, but still this comes up a bit short. B+(*) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Benny Benack III: This Is the Life (Bandstand Presents) [06-27]
• Dave Burrell/Sam Woodyard: The Lost Session: Paris 1979 (NoBusiness) [05-02]
• Ran Blake/Claire Ritter: Eclipse Orange (2019, Zoning)
• Anita Donndorff: Thirsty Soul (Fresh Sound New Talent) [06-06]
• Noah Haidu: Standards III (Sunnyside) [06-06]
• Izumi Kimura & Gerry Hemingway: How the Dust Falls (Auricle) [05-20]
• Litorina Saxophone Quartet: Leaking Pipes (NoBusiness) [05-16]
• Jimmy Lyons: Live From Studio Rivbea: 1974 & 1976 (NoBusiness) [05-02]
• Misha Mengelberg/Sabu Toyozumi: The Analects of Confucius (2000, NoBusiness) [05-02]
• Claire Ritter: Songs of Lumière (Zoning) [01-01]
• Jeff Walton: Pack Animals (none) [06-27]
• John Yao and His 17 Piece Instrument: Points in Time (See Tao) [07-11]
• Motoharu Yoshizawa/Kim Dae Hwan: Way of the Breeze (1993, NoBusiness) [05-02]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, June 2, 2025

June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44300 [44276) rated (+24), 23 [22] unrated (+1).

Rated count well down this week. Main reason was I spent two days cooking, which are documented in the notebook here and here, and on Facebook here (second dinner just merited a comment to the initial post). Both came out of a desire to use up leftovers from an earlier and more ambitious Thai/Burmese dinner (cf. Facebook and notebook). I feel like I'm done with that sort of thing for a while, but am generally pleased with the food. While I"m conscious of my physical and (to some extent) mental decline, this is one area where I'm still capable of producing exemplary results. In some respects, perhaps better than ever: while I've always been able to follow complex recipes, I'm much better than I used to be at fixing mistakes and improvising enhancements.

Only two A- records this week, but a whopping 10 B+(***): seemed for a while like everything was landing there. Good chance a couple of those could have benefitted from the extra plays I gave Ochs and Truesdell -- not that my third play of Madre Vaca today has moved the needle beyond B+(***). I've struggled a bit picking out new records to check out, but a new list from Phil Overeem as well as the latest from Dan Weiss should help. A big part of finding as much as I do comes from knowing who to lean on.

My count of Bluesky followers was stuck at 102 for a week, then dropped before recovering. I haven't been posting much, but got to one of this week's two pick hits today. I skipped Truesdell because I couldn't find a playable link, although the previous volume, Lines of Color (an A- in 2015) seems to be on Soundcloud. Some info on the new album is here. Still, my forecast is for below-average reviewing for the next few weeks. While I'm unlikely to do much cooking, I have a lot of tasks around the house to attend to, and other things that will take me away from the computer. When on the computer, I hope to make more progress on my planning documents. I'm generating a lot of ideas -- far more than I can possibly act on, I'm afraid, but much that strikes me as worthwhile.

I also lost an afternoon last week when Robert Christgau's website got shut off. It took a good deal longer than it should have to fix, due to various miscommunications between Christgau, me, and the vendor. It's been resolved, and shouldn't recur. It reminded me that the tech stuff is more fun than the writing, not least because it can reach a successful conclusions, whereas writing never feels really done. (Cooking in this regard is more like programming, and possibly more satisfying.)

One thing I need to think about is whether to run a Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll. Target publication should be July 1, so this is about when I should send invites out. I don't quite feel up to it. Related to this is that we haven't had further discussions since Francis Davis passed. I haven't felt the need to move on, so haven't pressed the issue, it would be unfortunate to miss the opportunity.

I've avoided doing any work on Loose Tabs, but the last one came out on May 14, and the scratch file turns out to have a lot more in it than I remembered (4800 words), which is probably enough to dump out on its own -- especially as it's already becoming dated: only two tweets and a Roaming Charges since May 20, nothing since May 26. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to find a dozen or maybe even two open tabs (which I need to clean up, as I'm already getting snap complaints). So expect something on that front later this week, even if I don't put much more work into it.

I got my books from the big April 25 Book Roundup. I finished Pankaj Mishra's The World After Gaza before they came, so read Gideon Levy's The Killing of Gaza in the meantime. While Mishra went deep into the psyches that allowed and ultimately rationalized the genocide -- territory I was generally familiar with from Norman Finkelstein and Idith Zertal, although it resonates with books by dozens of other writers, and is more systematic than anything before -- Levy just batters you with a series of weekly columns, each with new details of the same old brutality, and many redundant salvos of his opinion that most Israelis have lost all sense of what they're doing, and ultimately of their own humanity. It was hard reading, but thankfully ended after less than six months, leaving it to the reader to fill in the following year, same as the old but even more craven.

After that, I moved straight into Greg Grandin: America, América: A New History of the New World, despite its daunting length. I'm still in the first section, but I'm already impressed by the novelty of describing the Spanish Conquest through the words of its dissidents, and not just Bartolomé De Las Casas. To get a sense both of the book and of its relevance today, see Grandin's TomDispatch piece, The Conquest Never Ends.

New records reviewed this week:

Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz (2025, Sub Pop): Singer-songwriter born in St. Louis, parents from Nigeria, was lead vocalist in TV on the Radio (2004-14), first solo album. I've heard the band albums, but don't remember them at all (even the two I graded A-), but this is probably in the same ballpark, but with less ballast, which I'd guess makes it less impressive but more appealing. At least that's how this one leans. B+(**) [sp]

Aesop Rock: Black Hole Superette (2025, Rhymesayers): Rapper Ian Bavitz, ten albums and more since his 1998 mixtape. B+(***) [sp]

Jon Balke: Skrifum (2023 [2025], ECM): Norwegian pianist, two dozen or so albums since 1991, this one solo. B+(*) [sp]

Bon Iver: Sable, Fable (2025, Jagjaguwar): Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, fifth album since 2007, all well received, this one currently tied for 2nd place in my Metacritic file (with Japanese Breakfast, behind FKA Twigs). I've never seen the point, but the soul/funk effects have some appeal. This repackages Sable, his 2024 3-song 12:17 EP, on one CD, supplemented with the longer Fable (9 songs, 29:20) on a second. B+(*) [sp]

Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful (2025, MCEO/Columbia): A pop star of some renown, 7 of her previous 8 albums (since 2007) have charted top-five. Big production, hits intermittently. B+(**) [sp]

Robert Forster: Strawberries (2025, Tapete): Australian singer-songwriter, one of two in the Go-Betweens (1978-90), went solo after that, and seems to have excelled at recapturing the group's sound since Grant McClennan's death in 2006. This hits the spot about half of the time. B+(***) [sp]

Joe Lovano: Homage (2023 [2025], ECM): Tenor saxophonist, backed here by what was once known as Tomasz Stanko's "young Polish trio": Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Slawomir Kurkiewicz (bass), and Michal Miskiewicz (drums). Starts with a piece by Zbigniew Seifert, followed by five Lovano originals. No shortage of talent here, but also no interest in raising the temperature from a dull chill. B+(**) [sp]

The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: Mixed Bag (2025, Summit): Originally a trombone player, sings, composes (4 of 11 here), arranges for big bands. Early albums include a Glenn Miller Project. Fourth album with this group (not his first big band). B+(**) [cd]

Ava Mendoza: The Circular Train (2024, Palilalia): Electric guitarist, approaches free jazz from an experimental rock framework, or maybe vice versa, which is one approach to fusion (or two?). Solo. Sings two songs. Covers "Irene, Goodnight." B+(*) [bc]

Larry Ochs/Joe Morris/Charles Downs: Every Day → All the Way (2023 [2025], ESP-Disk): Tenor/sopranino sax, bass, drums; the former best known for his work in ROVA, but has a long history of bracing free sax work, to which this is an excellent addition. A- [cd]

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: HausLive 4 (2024 [2025], Hausu Mountain): Guitarist, credits his first inspiration to Muddy Waters, started in rock bands like Trash Monkeys and Harry Pussy, but by 2009 was mostly doing solo improv, expanding to duos and sometimes more. recording Music for Four Guitars in 2021, then finding some extra guitarists to play it live -- the others here are Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza, and Shane Parrish. B+(**) [bc]

PinkPantheress: Fancy That (2025, Warner, EP): British pop singer-songwriter Victoria Walker, one album, second mixtape, just 20:28. B+(*) [sp]

Preservation Brass: For Fat Man (2025, Sub Pop): This seems to be different from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band founded by Allan Jaffe in the 1960s and led by his son Ben Jaffe since 1989, but shares ties to the New Orleans jazz institution. Fat Man is the late drummer Kerry Hunter, who is credited as playing here. Six brass (including sousaphone), two reeds (tenor sax and clarinet), two drummers and a percussionist, and some vocals, playing trad jazz with considerable grit and polish. B+(***) [sp]

Marc Ribot: Map of a Blue City (2025, New West): A jazz guitarist of much note, he has done a wide range of things, ranging from fringe to fusion to agitprop to Postizos Cubanos and Ceramic Dog, tries his hand at intimate singer-songwriter fare here, mostly solo but with the occasional odd guest spot. Hard to hear much here, but some interesting bits. B+(*) [sp]

Viagra Boys: Viagr Aboys (2025, Shrimptech/YEAR0001): Swedish post-punk band, fourth album since 2018. Mixed bag, evidently by design, to dilute the fast and noisy ones. B+(***) [sp]

Jim White/Marisa Anderson: Swallowtail (2022 [2024], Thrill Jockey): Drums and guitar duo, the former an Australian with Chicago connections who's played in many rock bands since 1980 (and not the only Jim White you're likely to run across), Discogs credits him with 7 albums: 1 as the sole name, 2 as the first name (both with Anderson), 4 further down the slug line. Anderson, based in Portland, has a dozen albums since 2005, mostly solo, other duos with William Tyler and Tashi Dorji. B+(*) [sp]

Yeule: Evangelic Girl Is a Gun (2025, Ninja Tune): A "music project" from Singapore, fourth album, started as "glitch pop," this seems more conventionally pop. B+(**) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Nellie McKay: Gee Whiz: The Get Away From Me Demos (2003 [2005], Omnivore): Born in London, mother American, grew up in New York, holding dual citizenship. Has since become notable for interpreting others' songs, but wrote her own for her 18-song, 2-CD 2004 debut, which is reprised (or anticipated?) here. Without looking back, the demos don't sound stripped down, possibly because the main instrument is piano. Half (or more) of this makes me wonder whether I underestimated the debut, but caution keeps me from overestimating this nice reminder. Adds three bonus tracks (which do sound like demos). B+(***) [sp]

Moskito: Idolar (2001 [2025], Awesome Tapes From Africa): South African kwaito group, started with Mahlubi Radebe and Zwelakhe Mtshali, adding two more, first album. Not very polished, especially in the rap/vocals, but the beats have grown on me. B+(***) [sp]

Gerry Mulligan: Nocturne (1992 [2025], Red): Baritone saxophonist (1927-96), topped DownBeat's poll a record 29 straight times, with a previously unreleased tape from late in his career, a quartet with Harold Danko (piano), Dean Johnson (bass), and Ron Vincent (drums). B+(**) [sp]

John Surman: Flashpoints and Undercurrents (1969 [2025], Cuneiform): English saxophonist, plays all of them but here just soprano and baritone, plus bass clarinet, has had a notable career on ECM since 1981, but started in 1969 near the founding of the Anglo-European avant-garde with an eponymous album followed by groups called The Trio and S.O.S., and a Penguin Guide crown album, Tales of the Algonquin (1971) -- as well as side-credits like Extrapolation (1969, with John McLaughlin). Cuneiform has uncovered a couple more tapes from 1969 (Flashpoint, and Way Back When), and now this one, a rousing tentet with Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, three more saxophonists (Alan Skidmore, Ronnie Scott, and Mike Osborne), two trombones, piano, bass, and drums. This is rather extraordinary, but the overwhelming power can be a bit much. B+(***) [dl]

Ryan Truesdell: Shades of Sound: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 2 (2014 [2025], Outside In Music): Composer, arranger, conductor, appeared in 2012 with Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans, and followed that up with an excellent live "Gil Evans Project" album, Lines of Color (2015). This Vol. 2 comes from the same stand, and reminds us how impressive the interplay and the solos were. A- [cd]

Old music:

Syran Mbenza: Sisika (1986, Syllart): Congolese soukous guitarist-singer (b. 1950), played in several notable groups, with a few albums under his own name (or M'Benza). Five songs (28:08). B+(***) [sp]

Soft Works [Elton Dean/Allan Holdsworth/Hugh Hopper/John Marshall]: Abracadabra in Osaka (2003 [2020], MoonJune): Soft Machine was a Canterbury prog rock band that started as a vehicle for Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen, who soon departed for other projects, as did drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt, leaving a trio that having run out of vocalists gravitated towards jazz, especially when saxophonist Elton Dean joined. Their main run was from 1966-78, with several revivals and spinoffs (Soft Heap, Soft Head, Soft Ware, Soft Mountain, Soft Bounds, and from 2005-15 Soft Machine Legacy). This iteration -- with Dean, Allan Holdsworth (guitar), Hugh Hopper (bass guitar), and John Marshall (drums) -- cut one album before touring Japan, where this was taped. B+(***) [bc]

Soft Works: Abracadabra (2002 [2025], MoonJune): This was the quartet's studio album, released in Japan in 2003, and remastered, with two bonus "live in Tokyo" tracks. Appealing especially at first, but pretty much interchangeable with the live album. B+(***) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alon Farber Hagiga: Dreams | Dream (Origin) [06-16]
• David Grollman/Andy Haas/Sabrina Salamone: SCRT (self-released)
• Greg Murphy: Snap Happy (Whaling City Sound) [06-06]
• Felipe Salles: Camera Obscura (Tapestry) [06-06]
• Julian Shore Trio: Sub Rosa (Chill Tone) [06-06]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

May archive (final).

Music: Current count 44276 [44235) rated (+41), 22 [22] unrated (+0).

I had thought I might try to get this posted late Sunday night. I've noticed that many of my tasks have to wait until a week day, and spending Monday on Music Week makes it hard to get the week started. As it turns out, this not only chewed up Monday but most of Tuesday as well. I know it doesn't look like it. The cutover occurred Monday morning, but seeing as how this was the last Monday of May, I had extra work to do in closing out the May Streamnotes archive and opening up a new one for June. Then I found that I was three months behind in the annual and artist index. That literally took the rest of Monday, plus a big chunk of Tuesday. But now I'm pleased to say that I'm caught up, for the first time in at least six months.

I posted a Book Roundup last Friday. I ordered four books thanks to my research:

• Andrew Boyd: I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope, and Gallows Humor
• Greg Grandin: America, América: A New History of the New World
• Sarah Maza: Thinking About History
• Jathan Sadowski: The Mechanic and the Lulddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism

I've recently read the Carlos Lozada and Pankaj Mishra books, and found them both very useful. After finishing Mishra's study of how the Shoah has been politicized in ways that have ultimately been allowed Israel to commit genocide, I started reading Gideon Levy's The Killing of Gaza (from a previous Book Roundup, which provides a micro-journalist complement to Mishra's macro-historical survey: a lot of gory details, framed by the author's outrage. I get the point, and got it in real time based on skimpier reporting. The one fairly big thing in the book that hasn't been adequately reported is the evidently near-unanimous support the war has received from within Israel. Mishra provides some explanation for that, but here more details might help.

I've also bought and poked around some of the music books (generally, the ones with cover pics, including Glenn McDonald's book on Spotify), but haven't found much time to go deeper. Some issues there I would like to write up at some point.

I should also note that I answered a question on May 25, mostly about my listening habits. I have very little to add on the records below, and little to say about my near-future plans. Perhaps just that it's 2:30 AM as I'm trying to wrap this up, and these days I'm getting awful tired at that hour. So let's hit post and be done with it.

New records reviewed this week:

Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia (2022-24 [2025], Otherly Love/Ars Nova Workshop): Alto saxophonist, joined Sun Ra in the 1950s and continues leading his ghost band as he's turned 101. Bandcamp page isn't very forthcoming about recording date(s) and credits -- says group founded 2022 and includes "guitarist DMHOTEP alongside an all-star cast of rotating musicians including Immanuel Wilkins, Yo La Tengo's James McNew, James Brandon Lewis, The War on Drugs' Charlie Hall, Wolf Eyes, and more." (Later info: the group first appeared in 2022, and this "collects 16 exploratory tracks from the ongoing series' first two years, captured live on stage at Solar Myth." The still incomplete list of musicians also includes William Parker, Eric Revis, Luke Stewart, Chad Taylor, and vocalist Tara Middleton. One vocal pegs Allen as 99. Another source mentions nine performances "between November 2022 and January 2024.") Some interesting material here, but there's a lot of it (88 minutes), and it's can be scattered and/or marginal. B+(***) [sp]

Eric Bibb: In the Real World (2024, Stony Plain/True North): Blues singer-songwriter, couple dozen albums since 1972, has a nice, easygoing manner for his songs. B+(**) [sp]

Bloodest Saxophone Featuring Crystal Thomas: Extreme Heat (2024, Dialtone): Japanese jump blues/swing band founded 1998 and led by Koda "Young Corn" Shintaro, seems to have made a breakthrough when Big Jay McNeely toured Japan for a pair of 2016-17 live albums. They reciprocated with In Texas, working with blues singers (Texas Blues Ladies, Texas Queens), finally settling on Thomas, who also plays a mean trombone. B+(*) [sp]

Chris Cain: Good Intentions Gone Bad (2024, Alligator): Blues singer-guitarist, "(4)" at Discogs, but he's been around, had three albums on Blind Pig in the early 1990s, second on Alligator (the first inevitably titled Raising Cain). Seems easy, but grew on me. B+(**) [sp]

Chuck D: Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon (2025, Def Jam): Public Enemy majordomo retains his signature sound, which sounds as hard-edged as ever, but the impact is blunted by the radio concept, which chops and screws everything. B+(*) [sp]

Paul Dunmall Quartet: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (2022 [2024], RogueArt): British avant-saxophonist (tenor/soprano), many albums, with Liam Noble (piano), John Edwards (bass), and Mark Sanders (drums). Joint improv, making it look easy as well as dazzling. A- [cdr]

Early James: Medium Raw (2025, Easy Eye Sound): Singer-songwriter James Mullis, from Alabama, third album, produced by Dan Auerbach, showed up on a blues list for could just as well be taken for a low-fi folkie. B [sp]

Bill Frisell/Andrew Cyrille/Kit Downes: Breaking the Shell (2022 [2024], Red Hook): Guitar, drums, organ. Label was founded by a former ECM producer, which may help explain the big names and small ambitions. B+(*) [sp]

Don Glori: Paper Can't Wrap Fire (2025, Mr Bongo): Australia-based songwriter Gordon Li, plays muiltiple instruments, uses various singers (sounding like typical "alt-r&b"), also employs a pretty fair saxophonist, likes Brazilian grooves, shows some promise but doesn't deliver much. B [sp]

Larry Goldings: I Will (2023-24 [2025], Sam First): Probably better known as an organ player, many albums since 1991, playe piano here, a trio with bass (Karl McComas-Reichl) and drums (Christian Euman), one original and five standards, the title tune from Lennon-McCartney. B+(*) [sp]

Homeboy Sandman & Brand the Builder: Manners (2025, self-released, EP): Even shorter than usual: four songs, 10:50. B+(*) [bc]

Ute Lemper: Pirate Jenny (2025, The Audiophile Society): German singer and actress, released her first Kurt Weill collection in 1987 (her only previous album was the original German cast recording of Cats), and has returned several times, with a side line of cabaret songs. B+(*) [sp]

Magnus Lindgren & John Beasley: The Butterfly Effect (2023 [2024], ACT Music): Saxophone and piano duo, the former playing tenor, clarinet, and flute. Originals by either or both, plus "Come Together." B [sp]

Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo': Room on the Porch (2025, Concord Jazz): The former has been warming up blues and roots songs since 1967, has written plenty of his own but has a genius for covers that rivals and has probably caught up with Ray Charles. The latter got a lot of hype in the 1990s when he tried to fill those shoes but failed. They finally got together, hyped as two "blues giants," in 2017 for a nondescript album, but this one is better, perhaps because it's loose enough to just let that genius seep to the surface. B+(***) [sp]

Fergus McCreadie: Stream (2024, Edition): Scottish pianist, several albums since 2018, this a trio with bass (David Bowden) and drums (Stephen Henderson). Some serious piano jazz. B+(***) [sp]

Nate Mercereau: Excellent Traveler (2024, Third Man): Guitarist, debut was the 2019 album Joy Techniques, appears on a couple albums with Carlos Niño (who gets a guest spot here, as does André 3000), otherwise this is solo, aside from samples. Listed as electronic, but shows up on jazz lists, but could work as some kind of experimentalist soundtrack. B+(***) [sp]

Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas: Totality (2025, Drag City): Two fringe jazz/rock bands from Chicago, the former led by bassist Joshua Abrams, with Jason Stein (bass clarinet), and Mikel Patrick Avery (drums); the latter with Cooper Crain (organ/keys), Rob Frye (flute/synth), and Dan Quinlivan (electronics). B+(**) [sp]

Nikara Presents . . . Black Wall Street: The Queen of Kings County (2022-23 [2024], Switch Hit): Vibraphonist Nikara Warren, from Brooklyn, granddaughter of Kenny Barron, group name recapitulates title of her 2021 debut album. Most tracks with trumpet (Alonzo Demetrius), tenor sax (Craig Hill), keyboards, guitar, electric bass, and drums, plus some extras (including several Barrons), working covers of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield in with the originals. B+(**) [sp]

Bruno Parrinha/Carlos "Zingaro"/Fred Lonberg-Holm/João Madeira: Enleiro (2024 [2025], 4DaRecord): Chamber jazz quartet, with bass clarinet, violin, cello, bass, emphasis on strings, but also free improv that is always in motion. B+(***) [cd]

Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band: Honeysuckle (2025, Family Owned): Actually just a trio, from Brown County, Indiana, with the Reverend on guitar and vocals, Breezy Peyton on washboard, and Jacob Powell on drums. Eleventh album since, with some guest spots. B+(**) [sp]

Dan Phillips Trio: Array in Brown (2025, Lizard Breath): Guitarist, leader of Chicago Edge Ensemble, trio here with Krzysztof Pabian (bass) and Avreeayl Ra (drums). B+(***) [bc]

Ron Rieder: Día Precioso! (2025, Meson): Composer, from Massachusetts, pictured with piano but not listed as playing here, second album, cover notes arrangements by Ricardo Monzón, 8 songs, 32:48, a mix of Afro-Cuban jazz, sambas, mambos, and tango. B+(*) [cd]

Scheen Jazzorkester & Fredrik Ljungkvist: Framåt! (2023 [2025], Grong): Norwegian big band, started as a jazz composers workshop in 2011, nine albums, most feature guest artists like the Swedish tenor saxophonist here, who composed all of the pieces here. B+(***) [cd]

Elijah Shiffer: City of Birds: Volume 2 (2024 [2025], self-released): Alto saxophonist, several previous albums including Volume 1 (2023), "dedicated to the birds of New York city," with a field guide on the cover, but the grooves are effectively a cutting contest with Kevin Sun (tenor sax), backed by bass and drums. B+(**) [sp]

Luke Stewart/Silt Remembrance Ensemble: The Order (2023 [2025], Cuneiform): Bassist, DC area, has a lot of projects over the last decade, the best known being Irreversible Entanglements, but he's also played on recent albums by David Murray and James Brandon Lewis, has two very good Silt Trio albums, and a Remembrance Quintet album. This combines those two groups, so you get three saxophonists (Jamal Moore, Brian Settles, and Daniel Carter, the latter also on trumpet), with Chad Taylor (drums). While much of this is very impressive, some of the horn thrash just wore me out. B+(***) [dl]

Melinda Sullivan/Larry Goldings: Big Foot (2024, Colorfield): Goldings is well known for his organ and piano work. First album for Sullivan, who Wikipedia identifies as a dancer, but she's effectively a percussionist here, with variations on tap dance, while Goldings plays piano figures on one hand, and synth baselines on the other. Some cuts add extra musicians, with Goldings' daughter Anna offering a vocal. B+(*) [sp]

Sumac and Moor Mother: The Film (2025, Thrill Jockey): Canadian-American metal band, five albums on their own since 2015, also have three collaborations with Keiji Haino before this one with jazz rapper Camae Ayewa. (This was preceded by a Moor Mother remix of a Sumac track on a 2024 EP.) She adds weight a message that they probably already considered, while they provide the gravity. Just "don't look away." A- [sp]

Tune-Yards: Better Dreaming (2025, 4AD): Duo of Merrill Garbus (vocals, etc.) and Nate Brenner (bass, etc.), sixth studio album since 2009. I can't say as I've ever been impressed, amused and/or simply pleased, although I keep trying. (Friends love their albums, notably Robert Christgau, who has graded the series { A, A, A-, A-, A }, vs. my { **, *, **, B, B }.) Some interest here, but hard to hear her even with three plays. File under "distinctions not cost-effective." B+(*) [sp]

Kali Uchis: Sincerely, (2025, Capitol): Pop singer-songwriter, born in Virginia, father from Colombia, where she lived during her high school years, has a couple albums in Spanish as well as those in English, this her fifth since 2018. Hit or miss in the past, neither this time, although I could see getting comfortable in her groove. B+(**) [sp]

Nasheet Waits: New York Love Letter (Bitter Sweet) (2021-22 [2024], Giant Step Arts): Drummer, many side credits (both free and mainstream, perhaps best known for Tarbaby and Jason Moran), just his third album as leader (although Discogs counts over 20). With Mark Turner (tenor sax), Steve Nelson (vibes), and Rashaan Carter (bass), opening with two originals, with pieces by Moran and Andrew Hill before closing with two Coltranes. Turner, in particular, was having a very strong year. B+(***) [bc]

Michael Waldrop: Native Son (2024 [2025], Origin): Drummer, Discogs shows a 2002 album, I have four since 2015. Cover credits for Vasil Hadžimanov (piano) and Martin Gjakonovski (bass), recorded on their turf in Serbia, and small print for percussionists Brad Dutz and Jose Rossy (6 and 3 cuts, respectively). B+(**) [cd]

David Weiss Sextet: Auteur (2023 [2024], Origin): Trumpet player, FSNT debut 2001, some interesting albums/projects (including New Jazz Composers Octet), this one five originals plus covers from Freddie Hubbard and Slide Hampton. With Nicole Glover (tenor sax), Myron Walden (alto sax), piano, bass, and drums (EJ Strickland). B+(***) [sp]

Ben Wendel: Understory: Live At The Village Vanguard (2022 [2024], Edition): Canadian saxophonist, based in New York, ten or so albums since 2009, with a "world-class rhythm section" of Gerald Clayton (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass), and Obed Calvaire (drums). Original pieces (one cover), well done. B+(**) [sp]

Carolyn Wonderland: Truth Is (2025, Alligator): Blues singer-songwriter from Houston, née Bradford, based in Austin, dozen albums since 2002, has some songs and a powerful voice. B+(**) [sp]

Carlos "Zingaro"/Flo Stoffner/Fred Lonberg-Holm/João Madeira: Na Parede (2023 [2025], 4DaRecord): Violin, guitar, cello, bass, pretty much the same avant-chamber jazz lineup as on bassist Madeira's other recent production (Enleiro, listed under Bruno Parrinha, replaced here by the guitarist; both records are, of course, joint improv). Although this seems like a self-limiting concept, but details really replay close listening. A- [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Ella Fitzgerald: The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (1967 [2025], Verve): Previously unreleased live tape, from the year she moved from Verve to Capitol, which tried to throttle her jazz instincts and move her into covering contemporary pop songs -- two examples here are "Alfie" and "Music to Watch Girls By" -- but her band here was well stocked with Ellington horns (including Gonsalves, Hodges, and Carney on saxophones, Cat Anderson and Cootie Williams on trumpet) and she couldn't help but swing. B+(**) [sp]

Masahiko Togashi: Session in Paris Vol. 1: Song of Soil (1979 [2025], We Want Sounds): Japanese drummer (1940-2007), recorded this album with Don Cherry (cornet/flute/trumpet/percussion) and Charlie Haden (bass). A minor add to the Cherry discography, but he's not likely to be remembered for his flute. The drummer is worth focusing on. B+(**) [bc]

Masahiko Togashi: Session in Paris Vol. 2: Colour of Dream (1979 [2025], We Want Sounds): Same time and place, but less star power: Albert Mangelsdorff (trombone), Takashi Kako (a Japanese pianist based in Paris), and Jean-François Jenny Clark (bass). A minor add to the Mangelsdorff discography -- the German is less reknowned in the US than Cherry or Haden, but should be regarded as a comparably major figure -- and this suggests that Kako might be worth further investigation. B+(**) [bc]

Old music:

Nate Mercereau: Joy Techniques (Deluxe) (2019 [2020], How So): Guitarist, most tracks guitar synth, also credits for programming and percussion, but label says "no keyboards were used in the making of this record," and most tracks have Aaron Steele on drums. Deluxe version adds 4 tracks. B+(**) [sp]

Sumac: The Healer (2024, Thrill Jockey): Sources refer to them as "American/Canadian metal band." I'm always put off by the metal label -- not something I disapprove of in principle, but I've rarely found any reason to enjoy in practice -- but this album got enough widespread approval last year I'm surprised that I didn't get to it earlier. Fifth album since 2015. Four long pieces, for 76:08. Guitar/bass/drums, with Aaron Turner growling. B+(*) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Coco Chatru Quartet: Limbokolia (Trygger Music) [06-00]: LP
• The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra: Mixed Bag (Summit) [05-23]
• Joe Morris/Elliott Sharp: Realism (ESP-Disk) [05-30]
• Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp String Trio: Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms) [06-20]
• Kathy Sanborn: Romance Language (Pacific Coast Jazz) [07-11]
• Deborah Silver/The Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Rocks! (Green Hill) [05-02]

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Monday, May 19, 2025

May archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44235 [44197) rated (+38), 22 [21] unrated (+1).

I published a Loose Tabs on May 14 (actually, late Tuesday night). I figured I should clear the decks, as I would be cooking on Wednesday and Thursday. I had shopped on Tuesday, and planned out a fairly grand Thai menu -- panang curry duck, pad thai, tom kha gai (soup) -- plus that Burmese tea leaf salad I wasn't able to pull off for my birthday dinner. I thought of pineapple upside down cake for dessert, with ice cream. I also picked up some odds and ends, which turned into three side dishes: cucumber salad, water chestnut salad, and grilled Japanese eggplant with Thai peanut sauce. I wrote up lots of notes as I worked. Rather than trying to recap them here, you can find them in my notebook.

The two days of cooking took my mind of writing, including reviewing any records. That's reflected in the reduced rated count this week, but not severely. I think we have a nice mix of exceptional records this week, although I did fall down on my promise to tweet about them on the fly. I don't feel like I'm getting much value out of Bluesky at the moment, although I'll concede that part of the problem there is I'm not putting much work into it.

I have very little idea what I'll be doing this coming week. I could try to wrap up a books file, but the amount of stuff worth mentioning is huge -- especially if you include the propaganda and nonsense that one can only ridicule.

New records reviewed this week:

Julien Baker & Torres: Send a Prayer My Way (2025, Matador): Two singer-songwriters with enough reputation for me to have checked out their solo catalogs -- three Baker, four Torres -- and accorded them respectable if unenthusiastic B+(*) grades (5, with ** for the first Torres, B for the middle Baker; Baker is also one-third of Boygenius, stuck at B for a widely-admired album and two EPs), merged here as "an American country duo," which means common songs with somewhat southern voices and (mostly) acoustic arrangements. The vocal contrasts help sustain interest, which may be all the songs ever needed. B+(***) [sp]

Jon Batiste: Beethoven Blues [Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1] (2024, Verve): Pianist from Louisiana, studied at Juilliard, was music director and bandleader on Colbert 2015-22, has since moved on to other projects, which this as the first of a promised series of solo piano explorations, with a mix of original pieces and covers. Given my ingrained antipathy to nearly all classical music, the best I can say here is that nothing here bothers me, and this is downright pleasant. B+(*) [sp]

Blondshell: If You Asked for a Picture 2025, Partisan): Singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum, grew up in New York, where her father ran a vaping products company, based in Los Angeles, second album, alternate title "More Songs About Bad Faith and Sexual Ambivalence." B+(**) [sp]

Buck 65: Keep Moving (2025, Handsmade): Rapper from Nova Scotia, started releasing albums around 1999, with 2003's Talkin' Honky Blues an early masterpiece, ran out of steam around 2014, but nearly everything since his 2022 reboot has been terrific. This one compiles 31 short, sharp pieces (51:25). A- [bc]

Mackenzie Carpenter: Hey Country Queen (2025, Valory Music): Country singer-songwriter from Georgia, first album, makes a nice impression. B+(*) [sp]

Lucy Dacus: Forever Is a Feeling (2025, Geffen): Singer-songwriter from Virginia, fourth album since 2016, not counting her share of Boygenius. This almost won me over with sound, and the lyric videos almost convinced me the words have weight. I don't normally factor politics into my reviews, but while I was sitting on the fence here, I read in Wikipedia of her referring to Obama as "war criminal" and took that as the tie-breaker. A- [sp]

Erik Friedlander: Dirty Boxing (2024, Skipstone): Cellist, several dozen albums since 1991. This one is backed by Uri Caine (piano), Mark Helias (bass), and Ches Smith (drums). B+(**) [sp]

Erik Friedlander: Floating City (2024, Skipstone): Discogs combines this as a second CD with Dirty Boxing, but Spotify has they as separate albums. Another quartet, with Mark Helias returning on bass, but the piano/drums replaced with guitar (Wendy Eisenberg) and voice (Sara Serpa). B [sp]

HiTech: Honeypaqq Vol. 1 (2025, Loma Vista): Techno group from Detroit, rapper-producer-DJs go by King Milo, Milf Melly, and 47Chops; two previous albums, 11-12 cuts but time probably comes up short. B+(*) [bc]

Jenny Hval: Iris Silver Mist (2025, 4AD): Norwegian singer-songwriter, studied in Australia, started in a gothic metal band, worked through a couple more bands, moved back to Norway, this her ninth solo album, plus she has two more as Lost Girls, and four novels. The metal influence may have contributed to the C+ album in my database, but it's an outlier. I certainly don't mind this one, but can't say I'm following it carefully. B+(***) [sp]

Salif Keita: So Kono (2025, No Format): Legendary Malian griot, started with Les Ambassadeurs, still going strong at 76. B+(**) [sp]

Alex Koo: Blame It on My Chromosomes (2024 [2025], W.E.R.F.): Belgian pianist, sings some (but not especially well), mother is Japanese, father was a missionary sent to Japan, fifth album since 2014. B+(*) [sp]

Jinx Lennon: The Hate Agents Leer at the Last Isle of Hope (2025, Septic Tiger): Irish poet with music, 16 albums since 2000, has messages, stories, and anger -- more than I can digest, but enough to respect. B+(***) [sp]

Model/Actriz: Pirouette (2025, True Panther/Dirty Hit): Boston rock band, new-wavish, Cole Haden the singer, second album. B+(**) [sp]

Willie Nelson: Oh What a Beautiful World (2025, Legacy): Per Wikipedia, Nelson's 77th solo studio album (I have 114 albums rated under Nelson's name), a collection of a dozen very good Rodney Crowell songs, a nice production with a singer still good enough to cover anything. Seems too easy, but at his age what more can you hope for? A- [sp]

Enrico Pieranunzi/Marc Johnson/Joey Baron: Hindsight: Live at La Seine Musicale (2024, CAM Jazz): Italian pianist, many recordings since 1975, a long-running trio with bass and drums -- his association with Johnson goes back to 1992, with various drummers (Billy Higgins, Paul Motian) until Baron took over in 2009. B+(**) [sp]

Simona Premazzi/Kyle Nasser Quartet: From What I Recall (2024 [2025], OA2): Piano and saxophone (tenor/soprano), backed by bass (Noah Garabedian) and drums (Jay Sawyer). B+(**) [cd]

The Gary Smulyan and Frank Basile Quintet: Boss Baritones (2024, SteepleChase): Two baritone saxophonists, Smulyan by far the better known, with a steady stream of albums since 1997 (including a Tough Baritones with Ronnie Cuber), while Basile mostly has side-credits with big bands (starting at UNT in 1999). Backed here by piano (Steve Ash), bass (Mike Karn), and drums (Aaron Seeber). Anyone expecting a rousing sax joust will be disappointed, but not much: these are nice guys who prefer to swing and bop in tandem. B+(**) [sp]

Billy Woods: Golliwog (2025, Backwoodz Studioz): Rapper, from DC, mother a lit professor from Jamaica, father a "Marxist intellectual" from Zimbabwe, tenth solo album since 2003, not counting collaborations, most notably in Armand Hammer. Dense, rambling, hard for me to get a solid handle on this, but I have no doubt there's much to return to when/if I can find the time. A- [sp]

Neil Young: Coastal: The Soundtrack (2023 [2025], Reprise): Solo album, "features 11 songs selected from Young's 60-year career, recorded live on his 2023 tour," cast as a soundtrack for a video tracking the tour. B+(*) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

James Moody: 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note March 26, 2005 (2005 [2025], Origin): Bebop saxophonist (1925-2010), mostly tenor, also played quite a bit of flute, joined Dizzy Gillespie in 1946 and was a regular in his various bands, while he established his own career with "Moody's Mood for Love" in 1952. He opens this 80th birthday bash singing "Benny's From Heaven," badly at first but so infectiously he won me over. He opened with a solid band -- David Hazeltine (piano), Todd Coolman (bass), and Adam Nussbaum (drums) -- then brought out the stars for the back stretch: Jon Faddis (trumpet), Paquito D'Rivera (alto sax/clarinet), Slide Hampton (trombone), plus guest spots for Randy Brecker (trumpet) and Cedar Walton (piano). He turns this into an old-fashioned bebop revival, reprising his hits as well as "Cherokee," "Birk's Works," and "Bebop" itself. A- [cd]

James Moody: The Moody Story: James Moody Septet 1951-1955 (1951-55 [2025], Fresh Sound, 3CD): Saxophonist (1925-2010), started on alto but mostly played tenor, played in an army band during WWII, then joined Dizzy Gillespie in 1946, and even now is probably best known for his work in later Gillespie bands. After a few years in Europe, he returned to the US, and recorded these early sessions for Mercury and Prestige. Various lineups here, but aside from the odd vocalist he appeared in septets, with Dave Burns (trumpet) prominent enough to get larger type on the box. [NB: Volume 1, which covers 1951-54, is not available to stream, so is unheard here. This grade only covers Volume 2 (1954-55) and Volume 3 (1955), which I've played, but the separate volumes only seem to exist for streaming.] B+(***) [sp]

Pink Floyd: Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII (1972 [2025], Columbia): Live concert from 1972, released as a film in 1974, and newly remastered, so the songs here predate their mega hit albums -- The Dark Side of the Moon came out in 1973, but there are two takes of "Echoes" (from 1971's Meddle) prototype here. B+(*) [sp]

Louis Stewart & Jim Hall: The Dublin Concert (1982 [2024], Livia): Irish guitarist (1944-2015), a couple dozen albums from 1975 on, plays host here to the more famous American guitarist (1930-2013). Easy does it. B+(**) [bc]

Sun Ra: Inside the Light World: Sun Ra Meets the OVC (1986 [2024], Strut, 2CD): "OVC" stands for Outer Space Visual Communicator, a device Bill Sebastian invented, "a giant machine, played with hands and feet, that allowed artists to create and finger-paint with light similar to how musicians create and explore sound with their instruments." I doubt the visuals make any difference, although Sebastian could hardly hope for a more fortunate alliance. B+(***) [sp]

Horace Tapscott's Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971 (1971 [2025], The Village): A phenomenal pianist from Los Angeles, also notable as a community organizer, ran this not-quite-big band at least through 1979's Live at I.U.C.C.. Starts strong with a 25:03 version of John Coltrane's "Equinox," with Al Collins on tenor sax, two trumpets (Butch Morris and Walter Graham), two trombones, two bassists, drums and congas. The following pieces, with vocalist Linda Hill and "word musician" Kamau Daáood are no less wonderful. A- [bc]

Hiroshi Yoshimura: Flora (1987 [2025], Temporal Drift): Japanese ambient musician (1940-2003), first album 1982, this one only released in 2006, after his death. Starts mostly piano, shifting later to contemplative synth tones -- which recall early Eno ambients, reportedly an influence. B+(***) [sp]

Old music:

Armonicord: Esprits De Sel (1977, L'Électrobande): French free jazz band, formed 1973, this their only album until a live tape from 1975 surfaced in 2023, only name I recognize is Juke Minor (baritone/sopranino sax, flutes, contrabass clarinet, guimbri, also wrote the liner notes and composed all but the Django Reinhardt cover), joined here by Jean Querlier (alto sax, oboe, English horn, flute), Joseph Traindl (trombone), Odile Bailleux (harpsichord), and Christian Lété (drums). Rough in spots, but vital. B+(***) [yt]

The Buttress: Endofunctor (2023, self-released, EP): Rapper Bethany Schmitt, from New Jersey, second album (per Discogs, this one short at 9 songs, 21:53; the other, from 2011, even shorter, at 6 songs, 6:13), title here "a mathematical function that leads back into itself," with an analogy to satanism, an interest that suggests an abusive Christian upbringing. The murkiness is no doubt intentional. B+(**) [sp]

The Buttre$$: Structural Stabilization of an Historic Barn (2011, self-released, EP): Early work, six pieces, 6:13, noise exercises generated on EMU modular synthesizer, not the worst I've heard, but not something I'm much interested in. B [bc]

James Moody: In the Beginning (1949 [2017], Inner City/Solid): Possibly the tenor saxophonist's earliest records, the first five tracks released as Max Roach Quintet (with Kenny Dorham trumpet, Al Haig piano, and Tommy Potter bass), the other seven as James Moody Quartet & Orchestra (with Art Simmons piano, Buddy Banks bass, and Clarence Terry drums). B+(**) [sp]

James Moody: Moody's Mood for Blues (1954-55 [1994], Prestige/OJC): Tenor saxophonist (some alto), compilation originally relesed in 1969, draws from four sessions, most originally released on the short albums Moody and James Moody's Moods (art work for both on cover, although half of the latter is skipped). A mixed bag of blues, ballads, standards ("Over the Rainbow," two takes of "It Might as Well Be Spring"), and bebop, with two Eddie Jefferson vocals and one where Ilona Wade channels Billie Holiday. B+(**) [sp]

James Moody: At the Jazz Workshop (1961 [1998], Chess/GRP): Reissue of Cookin' the Blues, which came out in 1965, plus some extra cuts. Septet again, Howard McGhee (trumpet) the best known, plus trombone, baritone sax, piano, bass, and drums, with Eddie Jefferson singing on three tracks. B+(**) [sp]

James Moody: Homage (2003 [2004], Savoy Jazz): Nothing in my database for him between 1961 and 1996 -- years when he got by with his Las Vegas gigs and road work but I also missed at least a dozen albums on Muse, Vanguard, and Novus. After Dizzy Gillespie died in 1993, he mounted something of a comeback up to his death in 2010. This is a good example of his rich tone and easy flow. Raps a bit at the end. B+(**) [sp]

Torres: What an Enormous Room (2024, Merge): Singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott, sixth album since 2013, one I didn't bother with at the time, figuring she had settled into a rut and I wouldn't have anything to say anyway. Slightly better than that, but still don't have much to say. B+(**) [sp]

Joanna Wang: Modern Tragedy (2018, Sony): Singer-songwriter, originally Wang Ruolin, from Taiwan but raised in Los Angeles, a dozen or so albums since 2008, some with titles in Chinese (this one has a Chinese title on Spotify, but Discogs gives English titles for album and songs, which are mostly in English). B+(**) [sp]

Carl Winther/Richard Andersson/Jeff "Tain" Watts: WAW! (2023 [2024], Hobby Horse): Piano/bass-drums trio, just last names on the cover. The Danish pianist started in his father's group -- Jens Winther (1960-2011), played trumpet -- and has led his own groups since 2010. B+(**) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Larry Ochs/Joe Morris/Charles Downs: Every Day → All the Way (ESP-Disk) [04-11]
• Bruno Parrinha/Carlos "Zingaro"/Fred Lonberg-Holm/João Madeira: Enleiro (4DaRecord) [04-25]
• Scheen Jazzorkester & Fredrik Ljungkvist: Framåt! (Grong) [04-01]
• Carlos "Zingaro"/Flo Stoffner/Fred Lonberg-Holm/João Madeira: Na Parede (4DaRecord) [04-25]

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Monday, May 12, 2025

May archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44197 [44154) rated (+43), 21 [21] unrated (-0).

Another week, and not a hell of a lot to show for it, although the rated count remains rather high -- boosted by wrapping up the rest of the Strata-East reissues I hadn't prioritized last week. Since then, and with my demo queue mostly caught up, it's been a struggle to find things to check out, although I now have a fairly sizable checklist based on the DownBeat Critics Poll ballot, which is sending me back to 2024 records, many of which never even placed in my 2024 EOY Aggregate (which among other things means they went unmentioned in the 2024 Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll).

I blew out a full two days of my time filling in the 73 categories DownBeat asked me to vote for. As usual, I took notes, this time being careful to copy down all of the nominees they offered in all of the categories. To save time, I dispensed with attempting any sort of running commentary -- as I've often done in previous years (which start in 2003, well before they first invited me to vote) -- although I may return and add some later. As my method is to start with last year's notes and edit them as I go, I'm aware that most of what I dropped were lists of snubbed musicians (which in major categories like alto sax and piano could be very long; but to do them properly, as opposed to just reiterating last year's lists, would take a lot of effort, something I was in no mood for).

I also have thoughts on the design and implementation of the poll, but they would do little good. Some I've actually shared with DownBeat, like splitting Hall of Fame into separate living and dead sections, since they tend to be judged differently, and the two-per-year process is too limiting -- cf. the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's by-the-dozen approach, which, easy to say, is way too much. I also think the album categories should be calendar aligned: that critics should have an extra 3 months to consider the past year, and that readers should have 9 months, should not just be deemed a feature but relished as a luxury. It takes time to catch up, and more time for things to sink in, so why not take advantage?

I have a million other complaints -- ok, more like a couple hundred, but the mass is way too daunting to detail. The least I can do is mention this line from the invite: "As you already know, it's a LOOOONG ballot and will probably take a little less than an hour to complete, but your input is truly valued." I've never completed it in less than three hours, and that was only by cribbing from past note sheets and voting for 90% of the same people again. Even this year, where my revotes came close to 80%, it took me 6-8 hours, spread out over three days. There are 73 categories, and each one offers 40-75 nominees (with new jazz albums peaking at 136 -- only 22 on my A-lists, out of 110 for 2024, so 80% of my top picks don't even get nominated).

Other than that, I managed to get a small amount of house work done last week. I cleared out a pile of dead, decrepit, and/or just disgusting electronics and hauled them off to recycle. I've done some sweeping, some window cleaning, and some yard work. I more-or-less fixed a porch rail that's been leaning alarmingly. I found where an air conditioner plastic slab has broken, so I need to figure out how to straighten it out and get it level. The big task of finding proper places for all the CDs and books, including weeding a few out, remains, as does the more confusing job of sorting out the tools and hardware and putting them where I can find them. The garage and basement need major cleaning.

I should go shopping for glasses. While my eyesight is improved, short/medium distances are still troublesome. I need to work on my planning, especially for writing, website development, and finding a new car. Unclear how long the current one will even keep running. It certainly doesn't inspire me to consider any sort of road trip.

I do have enough material for a Loose Tabs this week. Possibly for a Books post as well: draft file has 16 main section books; while in the past my standard has been 40, I've been wanting to cut that down, especially as the sublists have grown, and I once posited 20 as a good size. We're beginning to see the first post-2024 election books, and there are a number of important new books on Israel. I also have a big section on jazz books, which I've rarely compiled before. And I still have a lot of tabs open.

I also have a couple of questions I hope to answer -- I considered knocking them out today, but don't want to delay posting any more than necessary. How much of this stuff I'll get done next week is anyone's guess. The only project I'm actually enthusiastic about is a dinner, which will give me a chance to combine the salad I missed from the Burmese birthday dinner last October with a couple of old Thai favorites (including one, panang curry duck, that I haven't made since a birthday dinner over a decade ago).

Minor housekeeping note: as I've been listening to 2024 releases, I've been adding them to the appropriate 2024 files, including tracking, jazz and non-jazz, and even the EOY aggregate (although I'm making no active effort to collect more data for it). I've basically given up on the idea of including previous-year albums that were unknown to me in the new year lists (as I had done for many years). Eventually, I think that all of the older annual lists should be resynched to calendar year, although at this stage the amount of work involved is hard to imagine doing.

I'll also note that my Bluesky account has finally topped 100 followers. I got nervous for a while when the count dropped from 100 to 99, especially as that happened right after a non-music post that no one seems to have understood.

New records reviewed this week:

Albare: Eclecticity (2025, Alfi): Australian guitarist Albert Dadon, 16th album, also uses a guitar synth, offers a nice groove album setting off Phil Noy's saxophone riffs. Title is quite the tongue-twister. B+(*) [cd]

Håkon Berre: Mirror Matter (2025, Barefoot): Norwegian drummer, based in Denmark, several albums since 2009, various side credits (especially with Maria Faust). This one is solo, with electronics as well as percussion. B+(**) [sp]

T Bone Burnett: The Other Side (2024, Verve Forecast): Americana singer-songwriter, probably better known these days as a producer but his 1980-92 releases were much esteemed, my favorite the last one, The Criminal Under My Own Hat. Only a few proper albums since, but this one is in much the same vein -- not that he doesn't sound older, and a bit less assured. B+(**) [sp]

Cyrus Chestnut: Rhythm, Melody and Harmony (2024 [2025], HighNote): Mainstream pianist, emerged as a major figure in the 1990s with his Atlantic albums, has found an agreeable home here. Quartet with Stacy Dillard (tenor/soprano sax), Gerald Cannon (bass), and Chris Beck (drums). Six originals, three covers, "There Is a Fountain" is especially nice. B+(***) [sp]

Yuval Cohen Quartet: Winter Poems (2023 [2025], ECM): Soprano saxophonist from Israel, brother of Anat and Avishai and member of the 3 Cohens, backed here with piano (Tom Oren), bass (Alon Near), and drums (Alon Benjamini). This is lovely, a secluded calm before the cataclysm. B+(**) [sp]

George Colligan: You'll Hear It (2024, La Reserve): Pianist, based in Portland, counts as his 38th album (starting in 1996), I'm not finding a credits list, but opens as a trio, with some horns and a singer and switching to electric on the second track. [sp]

Alyn Cosker: Onta (2025, Calligram): Drummer, from Scotland, first album 2009, side credits from 2003 including Tommy Smith and Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Assembled from multiple sessions with various musicians, including several vocalists. I do like the closing folk song ("Làrach do Thacaidean"). B+(*) [cd]

The Coward Brothers: The Coward Brothers (2024, New West): Howard and Henry Coward, the former better known as Elvis Costello, the latter as T Bone Burnett, with a back story that goes back to 1956, and an actual single from 1985. If you take Burnett's solo album as a reference, this one is much more eccentric, for better and for worse. B+(*) [sp]

James Davis' Beveled: Arc and Edge (2024 [2025], Calligram): Flugelhorn player, from Chicago, wrote all the pieces here, joined by a second flugelhorn player (Chad McCullough), two bass clarinetists (Jeff Bradfield and Michael Salter), bass, and drums. Nice postbop mix. B+(***) [cd]

DJ Dadaman & Moscow Dollar: Ka Gaza (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): South African, no Discogs history that I can find, just a note that DJ Dadaman "started his journey way back in 2003," in something called "bacardi music" ("a potent cocktail of kwaito, house and synth pop"), with a hint that this may be older music belatedly released. B+(***) [sp]

Djrum: Under Tangled Silence (2025, Houndstooth): Felix Manuel, Discogs lists as DJ Rum but recent albums have run the alias together. B+(***) [sp]

Maria Faust Sacrum Facere: Marches Rewound & Rewritten (2024 [2025], Stunt): Alto saxophonist, from Estonia, based in Denmark, debut album 2008, third album with this group, which stems from a 2014 album title. Group consists of six horns -- three brass (including tuba), three reeds -- plus two drummers. B+(**) [sp]

Satoko Fujii This Is It!: Message (2024 [2025], Libra): Pianist-led trio with trumpet (Natsuki Tamura) and drums (Takashi Itani), third group album, although the first two probably have close to a hundred together, and this is their most basic grouping, and exemplary as usual. A- [cd]

Galactic and Irma Thomas: Audience With the Queen (2025, Tchoup-Zilla): New Orleans-based jam (or funk) band, active since 1996, with a couple dozen albums, functioning here as backup for "the soul queen of New Orleans" -- a title she earned with hits in the 1960s. She's 84 now, a decade past her last album, but she sounds strong, and the band does her proud. B+(***) [sp]

Hamell on Trial: Harp (for Harry) (2025, Saustex): Folkie singer-songwriter from Syracuse, couple dozen albums since 1996, did this one sounds live sometime after last November 6, which you can tell because he asks how the audience is coping. Just guitar and voice, like The Pandemic Songs, which is all he really needs. A- [sp]

Joel Harrison: Guitar Talk Vol. 2: Classical Duos/Jazz Duos (2025, AGS, 2CD): Guitarist, has a couple dozen albums since 1996, organized something he calls Alternative Guitar Summit, releasing a batch of solos in 2024, followed here by two sets of duos: the titular Classical Duos with Fareed Haque & Dan Lippel, and Jazz Duos with Gregg Belisle Chi, Nels Cline, Adam Levy, Camila Meza, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Anthony Pirog, Brad Shepik, and Mike Stern, with scattered bits of voice. B+(*) [cd]

HHY & the Kampala Unit: Turbo Meltdown (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Jonathan Uliel Saldhana, a producer from Portugal, working with the label's Ugandan house band. B+(**) [sp]

Hieroglyphic Being: Dance Music 4 Bad People (2025, Smalltown Supersound): Chicago house producer Jamal Moss, many albums since 2008. B+(***) [sp]

Art Hirahara: Good Company (2023 [2024], Posi-Tone): Pianist, regular albums since 2011 plus side credits on many of the label's albums, this one with Paul Bollenback on guitar and Ron Horton on trumpet/flugelhorn. B+(*) [sp]

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis and Bryan Stevenson: Freedom, Justice, and Hope (2021 [2024], Blue Engine): Stevenson is director of Equal Justice Initiative, and he introduces the various pieces here with reminders of the long struggle for civil rights. I suspect he's preaching to the choir here, but I can't fault anything he says. I can't fault the music either, where the big band plays Rollins, Coltrane, Fats Waller, and "I Shall Overcome." B+(**) [sp]

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis: The Music of Max Roach (2024, Blue Engine): A big band program celebrating the bebop drummer's 100th birthday, with Obed Calvaire acting as music director. B+(*) [sp]

KnCurrent: KnCurrent (2024 [2025], Deep Dish): Bandleader is alto saxophonist Patrick Brennan, who has several albums going back to 1999, some as Sonic Openings Under Pressure. Group adds Jason Kao Hwang (violin), Cooper-Moore (generally a pianist but plays his homemade diddley-bo here), and On Ka'a Davis (guitar). B+(***) [cd]

Hedvig Mollestad Trio: Bees in the Bonnet (2024 [2025], Rune Grammofon): Norwegian electric guitar-bass-drums trio, with Ellen Brakken and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad. Fast, heavy fusion. B+(***) [sp]

John Patitucci: Spirit Fall (2024 [2025], Edition): Bassist, has many albums since his eponymous debut in 1988, few I've bothered checking out, but a trio with Chris Potter (tenor/soprano sax, bass clarinet) and Brian Blade (drums) is promising, playing nine of his own songs, plus one from Wayne Shorter. B+(***) [sp]

Pé: Æzæl: Eternity of Nonexistence (2025, Tokinogake): Probably Puria M. Rad, "a Bandar Abbas-based musician and sound designer/engineer who was born and raised in Tehran, studied audio production in Malaysia and has been exploring experimental electronic music since 2014" -- my doubts because this and another album on the same Japanese label have yet to appear on Discogs, although a 2021 album and a couple of 5-file FLACS are listed there, and the notes fit: title is an Arabic word, tied to Sufism, also used in Farsi. Not without interest, but pretty minimal, obscurantist even. B [bc]

Sault: 10 (2025, Forever Living Originals): British funk group, a dozen albums since 2019, don't know what the four with numerical titles are meant to signify. B+(*) [sp]

Joona Toivanen Trio: Gravity (2025, We Jazz): Finnish pianist, debut in 2000 with this same trio: Tapani Toivanen (bass) and Olavi Louhivuori (drums). Has an interesting ambient feel. B+(**) [sp]

Gregory Uhlmann/Josh Johnson/Sam Wilkes: Uhlmann/Johnson/Wilkes (2023 [2025], International Anthem): Guitar/sax/bass + effects all around. Gives this a certain plastic quality, which comes home on the "Fool on the Hill" cover. B+(**) [sp]

Julia Úlehla and Dálava: Understories (2021 [2025], Pi): Singer-songwriter, trained as an opera singer, draws on Moravian folk music, has studied at Stanford and Eastman, worked in New York and Vancouver, but bio is short on specifics. Dálava is basically Aram Bajakian (guitars, bass, piano, synths, percussion), sometimes supplemented by others: Peggy Lee (cello) and Josh Zubot (violin) appear on several tracks each. Strikes me as dark and heavy, but there's something to it. B+(**) [cd]

Jordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest (2024 [2025], Origin): Also saxophonist, born in Korea, based in Oklahoma, third album, a postbop sextet with familiar names: Terell Stafford (trumpet), Michael Dease (trombone), Helen Sung (piano), Rodney Whitaker (bass), Lewis Nash (drums). B+(**) [cd] [05-16]

The War and Treaty: Plus One (2025, Mercury/UMG Nashville): Duo of Michael Trotter and the former Tanya Blount, both strong singers, credited on their 2016 debut as Trotter & Blount, fourth album under this name, slotted as country but blows up huge with rafter-raising chorus. B- [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Borghesia: Clones (1984 [2025], Dark Entries): Electronic music group founded 1982 in Ljulljana (now Slovenia), could pass for Krautrock, recorded extensively through 1991, regrouped in 2009. Second album. B+(**) [bc]

George Colligan: Live at the Jazz Standard (2014 [2025], Whirlwind): A really good pianist since the late 1990s, but it's a crowded field. This is a live set, coming off a trio album with Jack DeJohnette and Larry Grenadier, with Linda May Han Oh subbing for the bassist. B+(**) [sp]

The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe: A Spirit Speaks (1973 [2025], Strata-East): One of bassist Bill Lee's projects at the label, with "soprano" (meaning operatic) vocals by A. Grace Lee Mims, plus flugelhorn (Cliff Lee), piano (Consuela Lee Moorehead), and percussion (either Billy Higgins or Sonny Brown). B [sp]

Shamek Farrah: First Impressions (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Alto saxophonist, born Anthony Domacase in New York City, started playing in Latin jazz groups, first album, group here is as unfamiliar to me as he is: Norman Person (trumpet), Sonelius Smith (piano), Milton Suggs (bass), Ron Warwell (drums), Calvert "Bo" Satter-White (congas). B+(***) [sp]

Shamek Farrah & Sonelius Smith: The World of the Children (1976 [2025], Strata-East): Second album, the pianist getting co-credit with two songs to the alto saxophonist's one, the other songs coming from Joseph Gardner (trumpet) and Milton Suggs (bass). B+(**) [sp]

Art Pepper: An Afternoon in Norway: The Kongsberg Concert (1980 [2025], Elemental Music): Another stop on a European tour that's been getting a lot of coverage recently, with the alto saxophonist's regular touring group of Milcho Leviev (piano), Tony Dumas (bass), and Carl Burnett (drums). Terrific, if course, but no better than the Geneva 1980 date I recently reviewed. B+(***) [sp]

The Piano Choir: Handscapes (1972 [2025], Strata-East): Multiple pianos, some electic, also credits for "vocals, percussion, African piano, and harpsichord," the performers listed as Stanley Cowell, Nat Jones, Hugh Lawson, Webster Lewis, Harold Mabern, Danny Mixon, Sonelius Smith. This runs very long (9 tracks, 104:55), which makes it hard to find the point. B [sp]

The Piano Choir: Handscapes 2 (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Further sessions, five pieces, 33:30, same pianists (possibly excepting Danny Mixon; the other six are featured once or twice) with extra percussionists (Mtume, Jimmy Hopps, John Lewis). Liveliness and brevity help a bit. B+(*) [sp]

Albert White: The Definitive Albert White ([2025], Music Maker): Blues guitarist/singer, had an uncle known as Piano Red and started playing with him in 1962, is 82 now, had two albums released on Music Maker 2007 & 2016 but they seem to have been tapes from the 1970s. No dates given for this, but title suggests this is also collected from old tapes. B+(*) [sp]

Old music:

Khan Jamal: Cool (1989 [2008], Porter): Mallets player (1946-2022), spent his career on the margins of free jazz, starting with a group called Sounds of Liberation. This "percussion and strings quartet" didn't appear until 2002, with a later reissue. Vibraphone, with John Rodgers (cello), Warren Ore (bass), and Dwight James (drums). B+(**) [sp]

Limited Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect.

Isaiah Collier/William Hooker/William Parker: The Ancients (2023 [2025], Eremite): Young tenor saxophonist, making a name for himself, also credited with "Aztec death whistle, siren, little instruments," with and drummer and bassist who probably figure they qualify. ++ [bc: 22:41/93:40]

Grade (or other) changes:

Marshall Allen: New Dawn (2024 [2025], Mexican Summer): Alto saxophonist, joined Sun Ra's Arkestra in 1958, has led the ghost band since 1995, started work on this shortly after his 100th birthday, also playing kora and EWI, leading a large band with a string section and guest vocalist Neneh Cherry. I'm seeing hype for this as his "debut" album, although I have eight previous albums under his name in my database, not all co-credited to Sun Ra Arkestra. I'm also seeing a lot of people treating this as monumental album, but I'm still not hearing it. Wishful thinking, perhaps? It seems unlikely to me that they're appraising it against the 81 Sun Ra albums I've heard, as well as 6 more under Allen's own name. On the other hand, I paid so little attention first time around that I got the title wrong, so felt I had to fix that much. [was: B+(*)] B+(***) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Albare: Eclecticity (Alfi) [05-02]
• Paul Dunmall Quartet: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (RogueArt)
• Michika Fukumori: Eternity (Summit) [06-06]
• Ramon Lopez: 40 Springs in Paris (RogueArt) [05-25]
• Madre Vaca: Yukon (Madre Vaca) [05-26]
• Polyfillas: Rude Boys of England E.P. (self-released, EP)
• Ron Rieder: Día Precioso! (Mason) [05-15]
• Transcendence: Music of Pat Metheny (FMR) [07-01]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, May 5, 2025

May archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44154 [44107) rated (+47), 21 [25] unrated (-4).

Another week, with little to show for it, other than a high rated count, thanks to being able to use the Strata-East reissue bonanza as a checklist (in turn pointing me to some related albums). I also followed up on social media mentions to dig up a few old albums I had missed but by artists I've listened to much by (Don Cherry, Dudu Pukwana). I also largely caught up with the release schedule of my demo queue, but I have so little sense of the current date that I may have slipped behind again.

I might also note that I while I rarely request review copies, I did ask for the Murray album, and despite what I took to be a favorable reply, never got it. But since I could stream it, I did. I also didn't receive the Eskelin, nor have I heard the remaster, but I graded both constituent albums A- when they came out, and relistening showed that the grades held up, so I went ahead and wrote the best review I could. One more note is that I got a nice letter from Jon Gold hoping I like his album, a day or two after I plainly didn't like it. Seems like a nice guy who probably deserves a more sympathetic ear than I could muster at the time.

I published a fairly substantial Loose Tabs last week. I didn't update the file this time, but have some new material in the Tabs and Books files. I finally got around to updating the books archive, clearing the way for a new column.

I have an invite to vote in DownBeat's Critics Poll, deadline May 12, so I'll probably try to knock that out. The invite promises it will take less than an hour to fill out, but I've never done it in less than 3-4 hours, and the only way I can do it in less than 6-8 is by shifting to a mode where I stop caring and just copy down answers from previous years. It occurs to me that George Russell may finally be eligible for their Hall of Fame Veterans Committee. They have a weird system that makes it easier for someone who died young to get into their Hall of Fame (e.g., Booker Little, Scott LaFaro) than someone like Russell, whose career was long with many remarkable aspects.

Carlos Lozada's The Washington Book is stimulating a lot of thought on my part. One nice thing about it being an essay collection is that when I run across a chapter I like, I can usually find a link to the original that I can share. The biggest and most important piece so far is 9/11 was a test. The books of the last two decades show how America failed. I've read about half of these books, plus twice as many more, but reached this same conclusion before I read any. I'm not sure I can find the citation, as I wasn't blogging at the time, but my initial reaction was that it was a "wake up call," a challenge to reexamine one's values and make remedies to get back into the right. But I started with a pretty keen awareness that America wasn't always right or honorable or even decent. While that much I learned since growing up with the Vietnam War, what the last twenty-four years have taught me is that Americans have not only "failed the test," they've become much worse people as a result.

New records reviewed this week:

Kris Adams/Peter Perfido: Away (2021 [2025], Jazzbird): Singer, has several albums going back to 1999, teamed with a drummer who was a long-time associate of guitarist-composer Michael O'Neil (d. 2016), playing many of his songs. Also with Bob Degen (piano) and André Buser (bass). B+(*) [cd]]

Anika: Abyss (2025, Sacred Bones): British-born, Berlin-based singer-songwriter Annika Henderson, also a DJ and a political journalist, debut album 2010, this seems to be her third, not counting a band called Exploded View (two albums, 2016-18). Runs on the noisy side of new wave, which is smart. B+(***) [sp]

Gustavo Cortiñas: The Crisis Knows No Borders (2022 [2025], Desafio Candente): Drummer from Mexico, based in Chicago, has a couple previous albums. Quartet with Mark Feldman (violin), Jon Irabagon (tenor sax), and Dave Miller (guitar), all freely into crossing borders, plus a long drum solo. B+(***) [sp]

Alabaster DePlume: A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole (2024 [2025], International Anthem): British saxophonist and spoken word artist Gus Fairbairn, ninth album since 2012, not sure exactly when this was recorded but liner notes quote him as saying "the album was written before the genocide started, but I had Palestine on my mind all the time." I can't say as I followed this closely enough to understand the point, but he does have some interesting goings on. B+(**) [sp]

Destroyer: Dan's Boogie (2025, Merge): Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Bejar (and/or band), more than a dozen albums since 1996. I never noticed him/them until Kaputt (2011) got a lot of hype, and since then I haven't been impressed much, but "boogie" is a welcome novelty (at least while it lasts). B+(**) [sp]

Joe Fiedler Trio 2.0: Dragon Suite (2024 [2025], Multiphonics Music): Trombonist, moved to New York in 1993, where he quickly established himself in big bands (Satoko Fujii, Anthony Braxton, Andrew Hill, Charles Tolliver) while pursuing diverse side projects, including tributes to Albert MAngelsdorf and Captain Beefheart and a trombone/tuba choir called Big Sackbut. Discogs lists four previous Trio albums -- I recommend I'm In -- but the revision here has less to do with personnel (Michael Sarin returns on drums) than configuration: filling the bass slot with Pete McCann on guitar. B+(***) [bc]

Jon Gold: Chasing Echos (2025, Entropic): Pianist, other keyboards, has a couple Brazil-themed albums, co-produced this with drummer Mauricio Zottarelli, scattered musician credits not that the comings and goings make much difference, with vocals often filling in for horns, or maybe just caught up in the flotsam. C+ [cd]

The Haas Company Featuring Samuel Hällkvist: Vol. 3: Song for Mimi (2025, Psychiatric): Fusion group led by drummer Steve Haas, each volume featuring a guest, in this case playing guitar. B+(*) [cd]

Christoph Irniger Pilgrim: Human Intelligence Live (2023 [2025], Intakt): Swiss tenor saxophonist, sixth group album, postbop quintet with piano (Stefan Aeby), guitar (Dave Gisler), bass, and drums. B+(**) [sp]

Melissa Kassel & Tom Zicarelli Group: Moments (2022 [2025], MKMusic): Jazz singer-songwriter and pianist-composer, have at least one previous album, backed by bass (Bruce Gertz) and drums (Gary Fieldman), with help from Phil Grenadier (trumpet). B+(*) [cd]

Kingdom Molongi: Kembo (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Portuguese producer/composer Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, has worked with African groups like HHY and the Macumbas. Mostly chorals. B- [sp]

Marilyn Kleinberg: Let Your Heart Lead the Way (2022 [2025], Waking Up Music): Standards singer, only album I can find but I read things like "brings a lifetime of experience" and "storied jazz singer." Will Galison produced, and gets a "featuring" credit, playing chromatic harmonica, which is an effective alternative to adding a saxophonist, to backing of piano (John DiMartino), bass (Noriko Ueda), and drums (Victor Lewis). Well chosen songs, done with authority. B+(***) [cd]

Le Vice Anglais: Vas-y (2023-24 [2025], 4DaRecord): Portuguese duo, Ricardo Guerra Pires (electric guitar) and Bruno Parinha (alto sax), where "electronic processing and loops were made 'live'." Titles are a mix of French and English, but just as titles. The music emerges from ambient industrial noise, but just barely. B+(***) [cd]

Mira Trio: Machinerie (2022-23 [2025], 4DaRecord): Miguel Mira (cello), Felice Furioso (drums), and Yedo Gibson (saxophones). Two pieces, first a pretty impressive 22:38 slab of inventive improv, second a puzzle that spends way too much time at the barely audible level, which is a personal peeve (in part, perhaps, because I'm not a high volume listener). Mira, by the way, is building up a pretty substantial discography, having started with Rodrigo Amado's Motion Trio. Gibson isn't Amado, but he's often impressive. I don't know if the drummer coined his name, but it's a good one (but not warranted on the second track). B+(**) [cd]

David Murray Quartet: Birdly Serenade (2025, Impulse!): Tenor sax great, pretty great on bass clarinet as well, fought his way through the NYC lofts, and spent the 1980s and 1990s on small foreign labels (mostly Black Saint in Italy and DIW in Japan), compiling the most prodigious discography in modern jazz. After 2000, he slowed down a bit, gated by small labels in Canada (Justin Time) and Switzerland (Intakt). So this is supposedly a big deal: a major label debut (Impulse! is one of many brands managed by Universal, which is as major as they get), recorded at Van Gelder Studio. Same Quartet as has appeared recently on Intakt: Marta Sanchez (piano), Luke Stewart (bass), and Russell Carter (drums). This offers eight Murray originals, with titles that fit well enough with "The Birdsong Project" (a tie-in to a group that issued a 20-LP Grammy-winning box celebrating the avian world, with little if any connection to Charlie Parker). Two feature vocals by Ekep Nkwelle, a third with poetry by Francesca Cinelli. They're ok, but I'd rather just listen to the sax (and especially to the bass clarinet), and the rhythm section is exceptionally fluid. I should point out though that despite how much as I enjoy this, I wouldn't rank it in his top dozen albums (or probably two dozen, or maybe even three). But still: A- [sp]

The Reddish Fetish With the Jersey City All Stars: Llegue (2025, F&F): Drummer Jason T. Fetish, in a tribute to his father, wrote one song while covering standards from Parker and Strayhorn, Silver and Timmons, and both Coltranes. I don't recognize any of the supporting cast, but they sail through some fetching melodies, with a couple vocals (J Hacha De Zola on "Señor Blues" and "Lush Life"). B+(***) [cd]

Clay Wulbrecht: The Clockmaster (2024 [2025, Instru Dash Mental): Keyboardist, evidently some kind of prodigy, "released three albums before he was a teenager," "selected as a Disney All American in 2018," but this is his first album in Discogs. Promises "rich themes, dramatic performances, with bits of his wit," and, sure, he delivers all that. B+(*) [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Charles Brackeen: Rhythm X (1968 [2025], Strata-East): Tenor saxophonist (1940-2022), first album, originally appeared 1973, cover also notes "The music of Charles Brackeen" and "Dolphy Series 4," and lists the musicians: "Edward Blackwell (drums), Charles Brackeen (saxophone), Don Cherry (trumpet), Charlie Hayden (bass)." B+(***) [sp]

The Brass Company: Colors (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Bassist Bill Lee (1928-2023) has very little under his own name -- people who recognize his name today mostly as Spike Lee's father -- but Discogs lists 206 performance credits, and the notes describe him as "an integral member of the Strata-East family." Group here is deep in brass, with trumpets (Bill Hardman, Eddie Preston, Harry Hall, Lonnie Hillyer, plus Charles Tolliver takes a guest solo), trombone, tuba, and euphonium, plus drums (Billy Higgins, Sonny Brown), with a solo spot each for Clifford Jordan (tenor sax) and Stanley Cowell (piano). B+(***) [sp]

Stanley Cowell: Musa: Ancestral Streams (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Pianist (1941-2020), made a big impression on me with his 1969 debut Blues for the Viet Cong, was co-founder (with Charles Tolliver) of the Strata-East label. Solo here, with some electric and kalimba (thumb piano). B+(***) [sp]

Stanley Cowell: Regeneration (1975 [2025], Strata-East): Pianist, but strays from his usual fare here, mostly playing kora or mbira behind various singers and lots of flutes. B [sp[

Stanley Cowell/Billy Harper/Reggie Workman/Billy Hart: Such Great Friends (1983 [2025], Strata-East): Documenting a live tour in Japan, the pianist opens, with the saxophonist holding back until the second tune, when he unleashes his full power and glory. Second half evens out a bit as a group. A- [sp]

Ellery Eskelin: Trio New York About (or On) First Visit (2011-13, Ezz-Thetics): Remaster of Trio New York and Trio New York II, previouly released on Prime Source -- hence the title fudging for what is normally a series of previously unreleased tapes. Leader plays tenor sax, with Gary Versace (organ) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). A- [dl]

Joe Fiedler's "Open Sesame": F . . . Is for Funny (2018 [2024], Multiphonics Music): The trombonist's group is a quintet formed for the 2019 album Open Sesame, with Jeff Lederer (soprano/tenor sax), Steven Bernstein (trumpet), Sean Conly (bass), and Michael Sarin (drums). This reissues that and another album from 2021 (Fuzzy and Blue), with some vocals by Miles Griffith. B+(**) [bc]

Billy Harper: Capra Black (1973 [2025], Strata-East): Tenor saxophonist (b. 1943), first album (or a couple dozen through 2013), shows he always had this huge raise-the-rafters sound, fortified here with brass, piano (George Cables), bass, drums, and a choir that can be a bit too much. B+(**) [sp]

John Hicks: Hells Bells (1975 [2025], Strata-East): Early album, released in 1980 but recorded well before his 1979 debut, a trio with Clint Houston (bass) and Cliff Barbaro (drums), three original pieces plus Barbaro's title tune. B+(***) [sp]

John Hicks: Steadfast (1975 [2025], Strata-East): Solo piano, recorded in London, not released until 1990. Four originals, standards from Ellington ("Sophisticated Lady" and "In a Sentimental Mood") and Strayhorn ("Lush Life") to Waldron ("Soul Eyes"), all nicely, if not remarkably, done. B+(**) [sp]

The New York Bass Violin Choir: The New York Bass Violin Choir (1969-75 [2025], Strata-East): Directed by Bill Lee, seven tracks, compiled from five sessions, so it's doubtful the six bassists (including Ron Carter and Richard Davis) were all in play at the same time. Other guests pop up here and there, including Sonny Brown (drums), Harold Mabern (piano), and George Coleman (tenor sax). B+(**) [sp]

Billy Parker's Fourth World: Freedom of Speech (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Drummer, from Buffalo, d. 1996, this appears to be the only album under his name but he appeared on several other Strata-East albums. Parker composed the long (16:00) title piece, the other four pieces coming from band members Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet), Ronald Bridgewater (tenor sax), Donald Smith (piano), and Cecil McBee (bass). Smith sings on the opener, and Dee Dee Bridgewater later on. B+(**) [sp]

Cecil Payne: Zodiac (1972 [2025], Strata-East): Baritone saxophonist (1922-2007), started on Savoy in 1946, early into bebop but often found himself in mainstream settings. His own albums start in 1956, with just this one album for Strata-East -- part of their "Dolphy Series" -- before he moved on to Muse and Delmark. Quintet with Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Wynton Kelly (piano and organ), Wilbur Ware (bass), and Albert Heath (drums). B+(***) [sp]

Charlie Rouse: Two Is One (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Tenor saxophonist (1924-88), best known for his 1960s work in the Thelonious Monk Quartet, although he has some fine albums on his own (mostly later). This was his only album between 1964-78, with especially prominent funk guitar -- George Davis, who wrote 2 (of 5) songs and/or Paul Metzke --backed with cello, bass, and drums. I don't mind that, but was hoping for more of his distinctive sax. B [sp]

Strata-East: The Legacy Begins (1968-75 [2025], Strata-East, 4CD): Label established in 1970 by two young musicians, pianist Stanley Cowell and trumpeter Charles Tolliver, who each had a significant debut albums earlier (Cowell's Blues for the Viet Cong, later reissued more innocuously as Travellin' Man, and Tolliver's The Ringer) but who were witnessing the near collapse (or, just as bad, the mad scramble toward fusion) of most of the decade's major jazz labels. Taking "black power" as something more than a slogan, they took control of their own business to open up space for their visionary art. They weren't especially successful, but managed to release 50+ albums in the 1970s, and even after the principals moved to other labels in the 1980s, much of the catalog has been kept in print, with the occasional extra tape surfacing. When Mack Avenue picked it up, their initial foray has been to put together this label sampler -- a massive 33 tracks over 4 hours, 21 minutes -- plus a few select vinyl reissues and an initial batch of 25 albums on digital streaming platforms. I worked my way through nearly all of the 25 before putting this one on, which works for me more as interesting background than tour de force. B+(***) [sp]

Charles Tolliver With Gary Bartz/Herbie Hancock/Ron Carter/Joe Chambers: Right Now . . . and Then (1968 [2025], Strata-East): The trumpet player's first side credits came in 1965 with Jackie McLean, followed by work with Booker Ervin, Horace Silver, and Max Roach. This could have been his first album, although it looks like it wasn't released until 1971, first as Charles Tolliver and His All Stars, then on Arista/Freedom as Paper Man. A 2019 reissue adopted this title/cover, and added a bonus track, which has now grown to two. The "stars" were pretty young at the time -- Carter was 31, Hancock and Bartz 28, Chambers and Tolliver 26 -- but well on their way, with Tolliver writing all the songs (I would have guessed Horace Silver). A- [sp]

Charles Tolliver's Music Inc: Live at the Loosdrecht Jazz Festival (1972 [2025], Strata-East): Live set from a festival in the Netherlands, five songs, 64:55, a quartet with John Hicks (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Alvin Queen (drums). B+(***) [sp]

Charles Tolliver Music Inc & Orchestra: Impact (1975 [2025], Strata-East): Maximalist big band, with 14 horns, 8 strings (not counting extra bassists), Stanley Cowell on piano, drums and extra percussion. Impressive, especially the trumpet, but perhaps too much? B+(**) [sp]

Charles Tolliver Music Inc: Compassion (1977 [2025], Strata-East): Trumpet, quartet with guitar (Nathan Page), bass (Steve Novosel), and drums (Alvin Queen), recorded in Paris, originally came out in 1980, also released as New Tolliver (mostly in Japan). Four songs (39:15), snappy up front, seductive when they take it easy, oustanding trumpet both ways. A- [sp]

Charles Tolliver: Live in Berlin: At the Quasimodo (1988 [2025], Strata-East): Two live sets, originally released as separate volumes, here totals 10 tracks, 114:40 (including a bonus track), a quartet with Alain Jean-Marie (piano), Ugonna Okegwa (bass), and Ralph Van Duncan (drums), all Tolliver songs except for the "'Round Midnight" bonus. B+(***) [sp]

Harold Vick: Don't Look Back (1974 [2025], Strata-East): Tenor saxophonist (1936-87), didn't lead many' albums -- his best known is his one Blue Note album, from 1963 -- but racked up a steady stream of side credits, especially with organ players. Also plays soprano, bass clarinet, and flutes here, with Joe Bonner (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Billy Hart (drums), and others in spots. B+(**) [sp]

Old music:

Don Cherry/Lennart Åberg/Bobo Stenson/Anders Jormin/ Anders Kjellberg/Okay Temiz: Dona Nostra (1993 [1994], ECM): Trumpet player (1936-95), started with Ornette Coleman, continued in that vein with Old and New Dreams, but moved to Scandinavia, where he had huge influence and developed his own unique world fusion jazz. Last album, first three names (trumpet, soprano/tenor sax/alto flute, piano) above the title, others (bass, drums, percussion) below. B+(***) [sp]

Stanley Cowell: Brilliant Circles (1969 [1992], Black Lion): Early album, initially released on Freedom in 1972, then part of Arista's 1975 reissue series, which introduced me to a lot of great early-1970s free jazz. Four musicians wrote one song each: Cowell (piano), Woody Shaw (trumpet), Tyrone Washington (tenor sax, flute, clarinet), and Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), joined by Reggie Workman (bass) and Joe Chambers (drums). B+(***) [sp]

Stanley Cowell: It's Time (2011 [2012], SteepleChase): The pianist started appearing on the Danish label in 1989, eventually recording 16 albums for them. Many were trios, this one with Tom DiCarlo (bass) and Chris Brown (drums). B+(**) [sp]

Joe Fiedler: Will Be Fire (2023, Multiphonics Music): Trombonist, experiments with effects here, adding tuba (Marcus Rojas) to reinforce the bottom, along with Pete McCann (guitar) and Jeff Davis (drums). Seems like good ideas with mixed results. B+(**) [bc]

John Hicks: After the Morning (1979, West): Pianist (1941-2006), led 30 albums, played on more than 300, started with Art Blakey and Betty Carter, but I know him best for his later work with David Murray and several albums he led. This duo with Walter Booker Jr. (bass) plus drums on one tracks was the first album released under his name, but not the first he recorded. B+(**) [sp]

Cecil Payne: Patterns of Jazz (1956 [1959], Savoy): Baritone saxophonist, possibly his first album -- originally released in 1956 as Cecil Payne Quartet and Quintet, reissued as Cecil Payne in 1957, and again under this title in 1991. Starts as a quartet with Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), and Art Taylor (drums), back half adds Kenny Dorham (trumpet). Bebop but ballads too, with a horn built more for comfort than for speed. B+(***) [yt]

Cecil Payne: Cerupa (1993 [1995], Delmark): After a couple albums on Muse 1973-76, the baritone saxophonist languished through the 1980s (one album on Stash) before his comeback in his 70s, with this the first of four 1995-2001 albums for Delmark. Eric Alexander (tenor sax, 25 at the time) is a driving force, allowing him to switch to flute on two tracks, and Harold Mabern (piano) is vibrant. B+(**) [sp]

Dudu Pukwana and Zila: Life in Bracknell & Willisau (1983, Jika): South African alto saxophonist (1938-90), went into exile with the Blue Notes for a career that spanned and fused his native township jive with avant-jazz. Two festival sets from England and Switzerland, featuring credit for vocalist Pinise Saul, the band including Harry Beckett (trumpet) and Django Bates (piano) as well as African percussionists. A- [yt]

Harold Vick: Steppin' Out (1963 [1996], Blue Note): The tenor saxophonist's one (and only) Blue Note album, his first of fewer than a dozen (through 1977), doesn't stray far from his many side credits, especially those in organ-led soul jazz groups: many with Jack McDuff, more with Jimmy McGriff and John Patton, who plays here, along with Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Grant Green (guitar), and Ben Dixon (drums). B+(**) [sp]

Grade (or other) changes:

New Orleans Party Classics (1955-91 [1992], Rhino): Nowhere near as classic as Rhino's 3-LP (later 2-CD) The Best of New Orleans Rhythm and Blues (the CDs came out in 1988, the LP titles never made it into my database, but most likely appeared in 1987 as A History of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues), so this is an afterthought, which I initially devalued. As with many Rhino comps of this period, this scoops up obscurities, and extends well past the classic period: e.g., the Wild Tchoupitoulas, Dr. John doing "Iko Iko," the Dirty Dozen Brass Band doing "Lil Eliza Jane," but they also include "Sea Cruise," which I have on at least a dozen comps. It's not all great, but hits more than it misses, and it's proven a great way to start off more than a few days. Top earworm: Oliver Morgan's "Who Shot the LaLa." Song that finally erased the minus from my upgrade: "Second Line -- Pt. 1" by Stop, Inc. [was: B+] A [cd]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alyn Cosker: Onta (Calligram) [05-02]
• James Davis' Beveled: Arc and Edge (Calligram) [05-02]
• Dickson & Familiar: All the Light of Our Sphere (Sounds Familiar) [05-31]
• Mark Masters Ensemble: Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance! (Capri) [06-06]
• Mark Masters Ensemble: Sam Rivers 100 (Capri) [06-09]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, April 28, 2025

April archive (closed).

Music: Current count 44107 [44070) rated (+37), 25 [24] unrated (+1).

Last Monday I could anticipate, and to some extent dread, a full schedule of forthcoming events. We did finally get some help with the yard, and got quite a lot done, not that much feels finished. I saw my eye doctor, who seemed much more pleased with the surgery results than I am. I can drive without glasses for the first time ever, and driving at night is much improved. I still have a bit of astigmatism, so he wrote me a new prescription which he says will be "amazing," but I haven't filled it yet. For reading and computer he suggested I try over-the-counter "readers," which I already had, but so far they aren't much help. The computer distance is by far my worst case now, and it remains very frustrating -- not so much when I'm just typing words in, as I'm doing now, as when I need to read and copy information. That especially impacts time-wasting activities like listmaking and blogging, which it what I tend to do when I can't figure out what else to do.

There was a very nice memorial service for Francis Davis on Friday, which we were able to follow on Zoom. One of the speakers there was Allen Lowe, who later posted this on Facebook. He starts with "I'm not going to say much here," then goes on for seven paragraphs. [PS: Also on Substack: A Tribute to Francis Davis.] I've also just seen this screed on Facebook. I'm not finding this particular one on his Substack, but I am finding this (knocking Phil Freeman for his "Trumpian approach to music writing" -- whatever that's supposed to mean) and this (disparaging most other critics, except for a list of eight, at least two departed, and three I've never heard of). I've subscribed, unpaid, which I understand means I'll only get to read every other post. His pieces are so scattershot that's probably just as well.

I'm sitting on an invitation to write something of my own re Davis, but for now am beset by more than the usual FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt, an acronym I heard a lot in business management circles). One thing I have noted is the extraordinary consistency among the various obits I've read. I don't disagree with anything I've read, but I've been trying to figure out if I have anything more to add, and thus far I don't have much. One thing for sure is that I have very little to contribute in terms of personal anecdotes. We've had a long relationship, but it's mostly been focused on poll business, so if/when I do start writing, it's likely to be more on what the poll does, how it works, and why we value it.

I got one question about whether I'd be taking over the poll. The obvious answer is that I already did that, a couple years ago, when Francis became too ill to keep it going. The question now is whether we continue it, and the answer there seems to be yes, at least for now. I've been wanting to do some website work, but like so many of my projects, that's just been hanging in limbo.

I won't go into the long list of things I should work on this week, but for now I'll just note that I have enough pent-up Loose Tabs for a post. Further out is another Books post, which is probably good because I haven't updated the index for the previous one yet. In terms of indexing drudgery, I'll note that I did manage to add February to the 2025 Streamnotes index, but with the closing of the April 2025 file, I'm still two months behind.

I should note the death of David Thomas, of Pere Ubu. Of all of the late-1970s punk-era bands, they were the one I felt closest to, and the loss of Thomas seems to be affecting me most personally. Still, I haven't started replaying records yet, although that may well happen next week. (My most played record this past week was Have Moicy!, although I didn't start with it until a week or two after Michael Hurley's death.) One thing I could see myself indulging in is Pere Ubu's Bandcamp, which has several dozen bootleg show tapes. Any suggestions of where to start?

I don't have much to add on this week's music, other than to note that the 1970s Strata-East catalog is being reissued, and I expect to look much deeper into it. I also wound up looking at Craft's reissues from the Prestige/Bluesville catalog, which in one case led me back to an old Yazoo collection I had missed. I should look deeper into both of those catalogs.

New records reviewed this week:

Archer: Sudden Dusk (2024 [2025], Aerophonic): Another group led by Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis (soprano, tenor, baritone), this one with Terrie Ex (guitar), Jon Rune Strøm (bass), and Tollef Østvang (drums). Rempis has been producing 3-5 outstanding albums every year, and this is another, with the guitar especially energizing. A- [cd]

Charlie Ballantine: East by Midwest (2024 [2025], Origin): Guitarist, albums since 2015, has a metallic tone that is neither here nor there, but not without interest. B+(**)

Ludovica Bertone: Migration Tales (2023 [2025], Endectomorph Music): Italian violinist, based in New York, second album, composed most songs, sings some, backing group includes Milena Casado (trumpet), Julieta Eugenio (tenor sax), and Marta Sanchez (piano). B+(***) [cd]

Blockhead: It's Only a Midlife Crisis if Your Life Is Mid (2025, Future Archive): Hip-hop producer Tony Simon, from New York, prolific since 2004, both on his own and with others like Aesop Rock. Six tracks, 35:05. B+(**) [sp]

Marilyn Crispell/Thommy Andersson/Michala Østergaard-Nilsen: The Cave (2022 [2025], ILK Music): Pianist, originally from Philadelphia, was an essential part of Anthony Braxton's famed 1980s quartet, has a long list of records on her own, but I was surprised to find nothing else in my database under her name since 2018 -- I've missed a few albums, and others are filed under other names. With bass and drums here. Despite the billing order, the drummer is the composer and "visionary." B+(*) [sp]

Korham Futaci: Heavyweight Rehearsal Tapes (2024 [2025], PUMA): Turkish saxophonist, a founder of the avant group Konstrukt, leads his own quartet here with Baris Ertürk (reeds), bass, and drums. The title is both on point and a bit too modest, as these pieces are powerful, with bits of rock and folk in the foundation, and the improv is polished enough. A- [sp]

Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson: What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (2025, Nonesuch): Subtitled "Fiddle and Banjo Music of North Carolina," both started out in Carolina Chocolate Drops, he on fiddle, she on banjo. This is a purist throwback. B+(***) [sp]

Ghais Guevara: Goyard Ibn Said (2025, Fat Possum): Rapper Jaja Gha'is Robinson, from Philadelphia, fifth album since 2020. B+(***) [sp]

Phil Haynes/Ben Monder: Transition[s] (2024 [2025], Corner Store Jazz): Drummer, started in late 1980s, has a wide range of interesting work. Duo here with guitar, tends toward mild-mannered drone, which you don't notice much and remember even less. B [cd]

Phil Haynes: Return to Electric (2024 [2025], Corner Store Jazz): Drummer, leads a trio with Steve Salerno (guitar) and Drew Gress (bass). B+(**) [cd]

Daniel Herskedal: Movements of Air (2023 [2025], Edition): Tuba player from Norway, well over a dozen albums since 2010. Trio with piano (Eyolf Dale) and drums (Helge Horbakken). Pretty mild, atmospheric even. B [sp]

Hiromi's Sonicwonder: Out There (2025, Telarc): Japanese pianist, surname Uehara, 18th album since 2003, a flashy performer with some crossover potential, but unclear how well that's worked out. Much more unclear here, like the label (Discogs says Telarc but other sources Concord Jazz), artist credit (with, without, or "feat." Sonicwonder), who (probably Adam O'Farrill on trumpet), where, when, or why -- questions that mostly fall below my level of indifference. B [sp]

Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist: Life Is Beautiful (2025, The Freeminded/ALC/Empire): Rapper from San Francisco, Larry Hendricks III, dozen-plus albums since 2010, joined here by Atlanta rapper Tauheed Epps and producer Alan Maman. B+(**) [sp]

Nancy Kelly: Be Cool (2024 [2025], Origin): Standards singer, half-dozen widely separated albums since 1988, picks some memorable songs and sings them with style and verve. Also, two with Houston Person. B+(**) [cd]

Alison Krauss & Union Station: Arcadia (2025, Down the Road): Bluegrass fiddler and singer, first album 1985 (when she was 14), adopted band name in 1989, bestselling albums are two with Robert Plant, but was a Grammy favorite long before. Some vocals by Russell Moore. B+(**) [sp]

Medler Sextet: River Paths (2024 [2025], OA2): Bassist Ben Medler and tenor saxophonist Michelle Medler lead a postbop sextet through six original compositions (5 by Ben), with a nod to Mingus, George Russell, and Gil Evans. With Paul Mazzio (trumpet), John Moak (trombone), Clay Giberson (piano), and Todd Bishop (drums). B+(**) [cd]

Tobias Meinhart: Sonic River (2024 [2025], Sonic River): German saxophonist (tenor, soprano, alto flute), several albums since 2015, backed by piano-bass-drums, plus guitar (Charles Altura) on half, with Sara Serpa singing two tunes. B+(**) [cd]

Leszek Możdżer/Lars Danielsson/Zohar Fresco: Beamo (2023 [2025], ACT Music): Polish pianist, many albums starting 1996, in a trio with bass (or cello/viola da gamba) and drums (frame drum/percussion). Quite nice, but I could do without the singalong. B+(*) [sp]

Napoleon Da Legend & Giallo Point: F.L.A.W. (2025, Legendary): Rapper Karim Bourhane, born in Paris, later based in DC, couple dozen albums since 2013. Discogs has a long list of albums by Giallo Point (since 2014), but nothing more. Title an acronym for "Following Lies Always Wounds." B+(***) [sp]

Arturo O'Farrill/The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (2022 [2025], Zoho): Pianist, born after his parents left Cuba but he's carried the national legacy to America. His connection to Bley was that he played in her big band 1979-83. He's recorded three commissioned suites here, one ("Blue Palestine") written by Bley shortly before her death, and first recorded here, along with two of his own, which fit together into a coherent whole. B+(***) [sp]

Alberto Pinton's Relentless: Allt Större Klarhet (2024 [2025], Moserobie): Baritone saxophonist, originally from Italy, moved to Sweden in 1984, Discogs only credits him with three albums but there are dozens more behind group facades, including this one, a quartet with piano (Alex Zithson), bass (Vilhelm Bromander), and drums (Konrad Agnas). Nice resonance on his main instrument, I'm a bit less pleased with the clarinets and flutes. B+(***) [cd]

Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet (2024 [2025], Reva): Originally Tony Jones (tenor sax) and Charles Burnham (violin), they added Kenny Wolleson (drums) for 2011's Trio, and Marika Hughes (cello) for 2019's Quartet. This time they've added Jessica Jones (tenor sax) and Rashaan Carter (bass). B+(**) [cd]

Private Property: Private Property (2025, Kraakeslottet Platekompagni): Norwegian trio of Guro Kvåle (vocals/trombone), Nicolas Leirtrø (bass), and Øyvind Leite (drums), first album. Vocals run punk-to-hardcore, everything else just free jazz intense and sometimes nasty. B+(***) [bc]

Michael Sarian: Esquina (2024 [2025], Greenleaf Music): Trumpet player, half-dozen albums since 2020, quartet with Santiago Leibson (keyboards), Marty Kenney (electric bass), and Nathan Ellman Bell (drums), on three pieces stretched out to 51:24. B+(**) [sp]

Ray Suhy/Lewis Porter Quartet: What Happens Next (2023 [2025], Sunnyside): Guitar and piano, backed by Joris Teepe (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums), both frequently on Allen Lowe albums, with Porter going back to 1993 in Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. Third group album. B+(*) [sp]

Unity Quartet [Helio Alves/Guilherme Monteiro/Gili Lopes/Alex Kautz]: Samba of Sorts (2022 [2025], Sunnyside): Piano, guitar, bass and drums, the first two from Brazil, the group filled out in Brooklyn, for a nice program of samba standards, with one original song credit for each. B+(**) [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Scrapper Blackwell: Mr. Scrapper's Blues (1962 [2025], Craft): Blackwell and Leroy Carr recorded their last session together in February, 1935, and split up on bad terms. Carr died a couple months later, and Blackwell didn't record again until 1958, when the rediscovery of long dormant blues singers like Skip James, Son House, and Mississippi John Hurt was just getting underway. This is his best-preserved session, shortly before his own death, a solo performance which nicely shows off his distinctive guitar and vocals, and includes a bit of him on piano. A- [sp]

Blind Gary Davis: Harlem Street Singer (1960 [2024], Craft): Blues singer-guitarist (1896-1972), from South Carolina, lost his eyesight as a child, moved to North Carolina in the 1920s, was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1933, with most of his later recordings credited to Reverend Gary Davis, a title reinforced by his uniquely oratorical style of singing. His early recordings are worth seeking -- see The Complete Early Recordings of Rev. Gary Davis (1935-40, Yazoo) -- but he recorded some in the 1950s (Pure Religion and Bad Company, from 1957, is perhaps his most famous) and much more in the folk-blues boom of the 1960s. This was the first of several albums on Prestige's Bluesville label, and he's in especially imposing form here. A [sp]

Vince Guaraldi Trio: Jazz Impreassions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964 [2025], Craft, 2CD): Jazz pianist (1928-76), started in the early 1950s with Cal Tjader, went on to release his first Trio album in 1956. In 1964, he got the job of writing music for a documentary based on the Peanuts comic strip, and produced this album (now greatly expanded with outtakes), which led to many more. His trio included Monty Budwig (bass) and Colin Bailey (drums). A nice piano jazz collection, with or without back story. B+(**) [bc]

Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver/Stanley Cowell/Cecil McBee/Jimmy Hopps]: Music Inc. (1970 [2025], Strata-East): First album released on the label, which was founded in 1971 by Tolliver (trumpet) and Cowell (piano), at a time when previously dominant labels were dropping like flies, and young musicians who had just come of age on the late-1960s avant-garde were desperate for an outlet. The label ultimately released 50+ albums -- an important catalog in American jazz history which has long been neglected. Recently, Mack Avenue picked up the catalog and have started reissuing records, starting here. Group (with a different bassist) dates back to Toliver's 1969 album, The Ringer, and can be credited here, but the musician names are also on the cover, so I would normally credit them. I wound up with this credit line based on a later album. But while Toliver and Cowell used Music Inc. for various quartets from 1969-76, here they're joined by a "supporting orchestra" that turns this into a big band (plus a little extra brass, including Howard Johnson on tuba). It's a bit overkill for my taste. B+(**) [sp]

Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver/Stanley Cowell/Cecil McBee/Jimmy Hopps]: Live at Sluggs' Volume I & II (1970 [2025], Strata-East): Trumpet/piano/bass/drums quartet, originally released on two separate LPs, total 6 tracks, 68:09, now reissued on one CD or 2-LP, the digital adding 3 bonus tracks (41:29, so 109:38 total). B+(***) [sp]

The Soul and Songs of Curtis Mayfield: The Spirit of Chicago (1958-64 [2024], Craft): Twenty-seven songs written or co-written by Mayfield, the co-writes are with Jerry Butler, who sings most of the songs, either solo or in the Impressions. I went with the various artists designation because none were released under Mayfield's name -- Butler also has duets with Berry Everett, and there are two sides each by Gene Chandler and Wade Flemons. One of my all-time favorite albums is Anthology, a 2-CD set from 1993 that fortifies Mayfield's solo work with a bunch of Impressions hits. I recognize a few of them here (and they're simply fabulous), but mostly this is less familiar material, and not nearly as great. B+(**) [bc]

Old music:

Scrapper Blackwell: The Virtuoso Guitar of Scrapper Blackwell (1925-34 [1991], Yazoo): Blues guitarist and singer (1903-62), born in South Carolina but grew up in Indiana, most remembered for his 1928 "Kokomo Blues," like many bluesmen his career splits into a classic period (1928-34, documented here) and a late revival (1958-62, when he was shot and killed in an unsolved mugging). Much of his early work was done with pianist Leroy Carr, who generally got top billing, leaving this as the main entry under his name. Fourteen songs -- eight originally released under his name, two credited to Carr (but with Blackwell vocals), three to Black Bottom McPhail, one to Tommie Bradley. Robert Santelli listed this at 44 in his top 100 blues albums, and I see little reason to disagree. A- [sp]

Dean & Britta: L'Avventura (2003, Jet Set): Originally credited to Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham, they played bass and guitar in Luna, both sang, got married in 2006, this the first of five albums through 2024 (plus three EPs and three soundtracks, plus more albums in Luna. She had been in a couple other bands before Luna, and she wrote two songs here (to Wareham's three). Best cuts have a touch of Go-Betweens. B+(**) [sp]

Dean & Britta: Back Numbers (2007, Rounder): Second duo album, most songs co-written (plus covers from Donovan and the Troggs, among others), the vocals divided evenly, the songs so unassuming they slip past you a bit too readily. B+(*) [sp]

Dean & Britta/Sonic Boom: A Peace of Us (2024, Carpark): "A holiday season bonanza of winter songs for modern times," which is to say this is mostly a Christmas album minus the crass commercialization: first side ends with "Stille Nacht," second side with "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Sonic Boom is British producer Pete Kember, whose old groups were Spacemen 3 (1980s) and Spectrum (1990s), although more recently he's mostly been working with Panda Bear. B+(*) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Jon Gold: Chasing Echos (Entropic) [04-28]
• Joel Harrison: Guitar Talk Vol. 2: Classical Duos (AGS) [04-18]
• KnCurrent: KnCurrent (Deep Dish) [05-01]
• Le Vice Anglais: Vas-y (4DaRecord) [03-21]
• Carol Liebowitz/Nick Lyons: The Inner Senses (SteepleChase LookOut) [06-01]
• Mira Trio: Machinerie (4DaRecord) [03-14]
• Billy Mohler: The Eternal (Contagious Music) ** [03-07]
• James Moody: 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note March 26, 2005 (Origin) [05-16]
• Simona Premazzi/Kyle Nasser Quartet: From What I Recall (OA2) [05-16]
• Ches Smith: Clone Row (Otherly Love) [06-06]
• Julia Úlehla and Dálava: Understories (Pi) [05-02]
• Inés Velasco: A Flash of Cobalt Blue (self-released) [06-06]
• Michael Waldrop: Native Son (Origin) [05-16]
• Dan Weiss Quartet: Unclassified Affections (Pi) [06-06]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, April 21, 2025

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44070 [44035) rated (+35), 24 [33] unrated (-9).

I'm still in taking-it-easy mode, hoping that a few more days (or weeks or months) will aid in recovering from recent traumas -- I'm more optimistic about the eye surgery and the end of winter (although the last couple days have been pretty miserable) than about the world at large -- and give me time to plot a sensible path forward. I go to see the optometrist mid-week, which should give me a second opinion, some numbers, and possibly some answers on my eyes.

My impression is mostly favorable. I watch TV and go on walks without glasses. I can drive either with or without -- probably a bit better without, but with is good enough I've kept using them. I can still read, not great but no worse than before. (I've never used glasses for reading, so one question is whether they'd make a difference now.) Computer work is still iffy, so I might need some correction just for that. Many things are brighter, and that can cause some strain. It's also a good excuse not to kick myself for not getting much writing or programming done.

I did manage to publish a Loose Tabs on Thursday, and have added a couple items over the weekend, including a couple obituaries/remembrances of the late Francis Davis. I have a longstanding project to update and upgrade his Jazz Critics Poll website. That's on hold for the moment as we try to figure out what to do without him. Meanwhile, I've already collected a couple bits for the next Loose Tabs post. No regular schedule, but the outlet is there if I need it.

I'm expecting this week to be super lightweight. Aside from the doctor, I have some house work scheduled, and some shopping planned. I found some interesting things in the demo queue this week, although the A- albums (except for Dean Wareham) barely made the lower reaches the A-list. Several misses were also quite close, probably hampered by limited plays, with one becoming the first HM I posted a link to on Bluesky. I'm up to 96 followers there.

New records reviewed this week:

Benefits: Constant Noise (2025, Invada): North English duo, ominous spoken word vocals with electropop beats. B+(**) [sp]

Peter Brötzmann/Jason Adasiewicz/Steve Noble/John Edwards: The Quartet: Cafe Oto, London, February, 10 & 11, 2023 (2023 [2025], Otoroku): German saxophonist, one of the founders of the European avant-garde, recorded an enormous amount from 1967 up to his death, at 82, in June, 2023, a few months after this two-night, four set performance (140:28, available on 2-CD, with a 4-LP box and a 2-LP edit in the works), backed with vibes, drums, and bass. Hard to make fine distinctions among his work, but this seems like the sort of monumental capstone one can only imagine a career ending with. A- [bc]

Anla Courtis Ja Lehtisalo: 1972 (2022-24 [2025], Full Connect): Duo, two long-established experimental guitarists (plus long list of other instruments), both born in 1972 ("an era when sound was an experiment"), the former in Argentina, the latter in Finland (first name Jussi; "ja" here seems to be Finnish for "and"). Some remarkable rough-hewn ambient for a world on edge. A- [bc]

Christopher Dammann: Sextet (2024 [2025], Out of Your Head): Free jazz bassist from Chicago, first album, but has side-credits going back to 2014 (3.5.7 Ensemble, which I vaguely recall). Group here with trumpet (James Davis), two saxophonists (Jon Irabagon and Edward Wilkerson Jr), piano (Mabel Kwan), and drums (Scott Clark). Starts solid, stays solid, until the end when they almost break out. B+(***) [cd]

John Dikeman/Sun-Mi Hong/Aaron Lumley/Marta Warelis: Old Adam on Turtle Island (2022 [2025], Relative Pitch): Dutch, or at least Amsterdam-based, improv group, respectively: sax, drums, bass, piano. B [bc]

Trygve Fiske Sextet: The Flowers. The Dance. The Rumble and the Stumble. (2025, Slaraffensongs): Norwegian bassist, side credits from 2004, not clear how many (if any) he should be considered leader of (he's used Waldemar as middle name, and two albums are credited to Waldemar 4). This with Per Texas Johansson, Erik Kimestad Pedersen, Morten Qvenild, Oscar Gronberg, and Hans Hulbækmo. B+(**) [sp]

Food House: Two House (2025, self-released): I've seen this co-credited to Gupi and Fraxiom, but as far as I can tell, they are Food House, not extra hangers on. Hyperpop, or bubblegum bass, or cartoon music sent schizophrenically awry. Not my thing, but probably more amusing than Skrillex. B [sp]

GFOTY: Influenzer (2025, Girlfriend): British glitch-pop singer-songwriter Polly-Louisa Salmon, goes by acronym for GirlFriend of the Year, I heard (but didn't much like) a 2016 EP, which was followed by a 2019 mini-album and now two LPs. I don't get the attraction of glitchy hyperpop but I'm not totally lost here, or totally disinterested, but this could wear thin. B+(*) [sp]

The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (2023 [2025], Out of Your Head): Hemphill (1938-95) was an alto saxophonist, but also notable as a composer, arranger, and organizer -- a co-founder of the Black Artist Group (BAG) in St. Louis, and later of the World Saxophone Quartet, where he was de facto leader even if others, like David Murray, were better known. Some of his early recordings were duos with Abdul Wadud on cello, so the notion of forming a string quartet to play his music must have seemed natural. Two violins (Curtis Stewart and Sam Bardfeld), viola (Stephanie Griffin), and cello (Tomeka Reid). Although the notes say "all music by Julius Hemphill," a big chunk of it was originally composed by Mingus, and more was improvised. B+(***) [cd]

Jacob Felix Heule/Teté Leguía/Sanishta Rivero/Martín Escalante: An Inscrutable Bodily Discomforting Thing (2021 [2025], Kettle Hole): Percussionist, from Oakland, ten or so albums since 2004, mostly collaborations, Bill Orcutt is about as famous as they get, and another 30 or so side credits. The others play: bass, voice/electronics, sax. One 40:11 piece which gets uncomfortably noisy but then backs off a bit and haves fun with the mess. B+(***) [cd]

Homeboy Sandman & Illingsworth: Dancing Tree (2025, self-released, EP): Four tracks, 13:58. "Money don't make you rich." "You can only learn from experience/ so be curious." "Who wants to sit here and think that we can do something? It's fun to just blame somebody else." B+(***) [bc]

Homeboy Sandman & Yeyts.: Corn Hole Legend (2025, self-released, EP): Five tracks, 10:14. Nice song about Thanksgiving. B+(*) [bc]

Eunhye Jeong/Michael Bisio Duo: Morning Bells Whistle Bright (2023 [2025], ESP-Disk): Piano and bass duo, with one solo track each, but also joined for four tracks (three in the middle, plus the closer) by Joe McPhee (tenor sax) and Jay Rosen (drums). In some ways this seems slight, but every detail signifies. A- [cd]

Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing the Air (2022-24 [2025], Pyroclastic, 2CD): German saxophonist, based in New York, many albums since 1998, none like this one, where she composed music for the poetry of Erica Hunt, each set performed by a vocal-instrument duo: Fay Victor and Mariel Roberts (cello), Sara Serpa and Matt Mitchell (piano), Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder (guitar), and Rachel Calloway and Ari Streisfeld (violin). No saxophone that I noticed, although I have little patience for this style of art song. B- [cd]

Will Mason Quartet: Hemlocks, Peacocks (2024 [2025], New Focus): Drummer, lives in Rhode Island, side credits since 2009, at least one previous album as leader, this a quartet with Anna Webber (tenor sax), Daniel Fisher-Lochhead (alto sax), and deVon Russell Gray (keyboards), on a multi-movement composition inspired by LaMonte Young. B+(**) [bc]

Joe McPhee & Paal Nilssen-Love: I Love Noise (2022 [2024], PNL): Spoken word intro: "I love noise, because it can be organized into music"; "I think my love of noise is always in the process of becoming." Such generalizations evolve into a sermon on jazz history, touching on Coltrane and Ayler, with drum accents, until McPhee ultimately (19 minutes in) lets his tenor sax take over. B+(***) [bc]

Paal Nilssen-Love Circus With the Ex Guitars: Turn Thy Loose (2024 [2025], PNL): Norwegian drummer from the Thing and many other groups, premiered this septet in a 2021 recording, replacing his guitarist with not just Andy Moor and Terrie Hessells -- who recorded as "the Ex Guitars" in Lean Left with Ken Vandermark-- but also Arnold de Boer, all of the Dutch postpunk group the Ex. The vocals (Juliana Venter, also de Boer) don't bother me here, and may even be a plus, but the pauses and quiet spots seem like a waste, especially compared to what they can do at full blast. B+(***) [bc]

Adam O'Farrill: For These Steets (2022 [2025], Out of Your Head): Trumpet player, father and grandfather were famous Cuban musicians, which he also knows a thing or two about, but he's more likely to hang out with free jazz types, collecting here a pretty stellar octet: Mary Halvorson (guitar), Patricia Brennan (vibes), David Leon (alto sax/flute), Kevin Sun (tenor sax/clarinet), Kalun Laung (trombone/euphonium), Tyrone Allen II (bass), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). I'm struggling, as my instinct says this is too fancy, but the only thing that might keep this from becoming one of the year's top-rated albums is that it's on a tiny label few have heard of. (Note that Brennan and Halvorson have won two of the last three FDJC Polls.) A- [cd]

Samo Salamon & Ra Kalam Bob Moses Orchestra: Dream Suites Vol. 1 (2023 [2025], Samo): Guitarist and percussionist wrote three long pieces (24:46, 13:38, 17:12) for large ensembles of 19, 16. and 18, total 27 musicians, nearly all familiar names, which add marks of individuality to the collective reverie. A- [cd]

Jaysun Silver: No Excuses (2025, self-released): Punkish, lo-fi, first album after an EP, 10 short songs in 19:07, has a sense of humor (Bandcamp page says "Brooklyn's best musician" and uses tags "amazing, classic, masterpiece"). B+(*) [bc]

Skrillex: Fuck U Skrillex U Think Ur Andy Warhol but Ur Not!! <3 (2025, Atlantic/Owsla): Electronica producer Sonny Moore, from Los Angeles, gained a measure of fame for a series of 2011-14 albums, then nothing until a pair in 2023 and now this, which I am assured is "continuously engaging and hilariously silly" -- traits I didn't come remotely close to being able to confirm. B- [sp]

The Third Mind: Live Mind (2024 [2025], Yep Roc): Roots rock band, best known members are Dave Alvin (from Blasters, with a long solo career) and Victor KRummenacher (from Camper van Beethoven), with vocals by Jesse Sykes, who fronted the Sweet Thereafter for several 2003-11 albums. B+(**) [sp]

The Tubs: Cotton Crown (2025, Trouble in Mind): Welsh indie band, Owen Williams is singer-guitarist, second album. Some jangle. B+(*) [sp]

Mathilde Grooss Viddal/Friensemblet: Tri Vendur Blés Ho I Den Høgaste Sky (2025, Losen): Norwegian saxophonist, has a half-dozen albums since 2006, leads a ten-piece group through a set of pieces based on folk themes, where the folksingers (for better or worse) seem to have the upper hand. B+(*) [sp]

Dean Wareham: That's the Price of Loving Me (2025, Carpark): Singer-songwriter, originally from New Zealand, moved to New York as a teenager, founded the bands Galaxie 500 (1988-90) and Luna (1992-2006 & 2017, overlapping several albums as Dean & Britta)), with solo albums since 2013, this his fourth, produced by the mononymous Kramer in a sonic nod to Galaxie 500. Actually reminded me more of the Go-Betweens, but calmer and in its own way weirder. The song in German is another plus for me, even before I identified it as a Nico cover. A- [sp]

Christian Winther: Sculptures From Under the City Ice (2025, Earthly Habit): Norwegian singer-songwriter, plays guitar, has a couple of previous albums. Group includes a jazz drummer I recognize, and the album eventually skews that direction, although I also wound up thinking of Arto Lindsay's skronk. B+(**) [sp]

Wolf Eyes: Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton (2025, ESP-Disk): The former is an electronic music duo from Detroit, Nate Young (electronics, vocals, harmonica) and John Olson (pipes, electronics) that has an insane number of albums since 1998 (Discogs says 130). The saxophonist you most likely know has even more albums, going back to 1968. I'm on record as hating his 1971 solo album, For Alto, but acknowledge that among the few people who can stand such harsh horror are huge fans -- it garnered a rare Penguin Guide Crown. This is every bit as ugly, and possibly as remarkable. B+(*) [cd]

Y: Y (2025, Hideous Mink, EP): English group, first release, 4 songs, 13:30, vocals recall Lydia Lunch, maybe because rhythm touches on New York no wave, goosed with sax riffs. B+(*) [sp]

James Zito: Zito's Jump (2024 [2025], self-released): Guitarist, based in New York, seems to be his first album -- Discogs led me to a trumpet player of that name, 1923-2014, who played in many big bands, from Tommy Dorsey to Gerald Wilson -- a mainstream quintet with Chris Lewis (tenor sax/flute), Luther Allison (piano), Rodney Whitaker (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums). Mostly originals, but they liked "After You've Gone" enough to include it twice. B+(*) [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Peter Brötzmann Trio: Hurricane (2015 [2025], Old Heaven Books): As with Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, I expect that the late German saxophonist's posthumous oeuvre will eventually match, in quantity if not in quality, what he released during his lifetime -- in his case a relatively long one. This was recorded at a festival in Shenzhen, with Sabu Toyozumi on drums and Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, for a bit of tinkle that first struck me as an oriental touch, but adds its own dimension. As for the title, this barely reaches Category 1 intensity, which is the way I prefer him. B+(***) [bc]

Charles Mingus: Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977 [2025], Resonance, 2CD): A tremendous bassist from the start, his genius period as a composer ran from roughly 1956-64, although he got a second wind in the early 1970s with a new quartet that went independent under the joint leadership of George Adams and Don Pullen. His health soon deteriorated, and he died in 1979 (age 56), so anything from his last few years doesn't come with great expectations. I found this one unsettling at first, but flashes of brilliance kept surfacing, most from compositions that undoubtedly have been done better elsewhere, but he had an uncanny knack for breathing fresh life into everything he touched. And for making small groups -- this one especially notable for Jack Walrath (trumpet) and Ricky Ford (tenor sax). Also, he closes both sets with his own solo piano. A- [cd]

Charles Mingus: Reincarnations (1960 [2024], Candid): The bassist, coming off a peak year that included Blues and Roots on Atlantic and Mingus Ah Um on Columbia recorded three albums for Nat Hentoff's label in 1960 -- two nearly as good as his masterpieces, plus a third set of scraps. After the revived label reissued the catalog, they found more scraps, which they fashioned into Incarnations, and more scraps here: five tracks, 48:30, with various musicians, notably Eric Dolphy (3 tracks, on flute, bass clarinet, and alto sax), and Roy Eldridge (2 tracks, on trumpet). B+(**) [sp]

Spectacular Diagnostics: Raw Game [Ten Year Edition] (2015 [2025], Vinyl Digital): Chicago hip-hop producer Robert Krums, reissue of first album, twelve tracks with nearly as many guest rappers (including Jeremiah Jae, Quelle Chris, Vic Spencer, Westwide Gunn & Conway the Machine). B+(***)

Old music:

Charles Mingus/Max Roach/Eric Dolphy/Roy Eldridge/Jo Jones [Jazz Artists Guild]: Newport Rebels (1961 [2024], Candid): Hard to parse this album cover, as the title could be the group name or vice versa, or either could be "Jazz Artists Guild," but the names are too big to ignore -- although Jones is the only one to play on all five tracks, and other notables show up on the roster here and there, including Booker Little, Kenny Dorham, Benny Bailey, Jimmy Knepper, Tommy Flanagan, Abbey Lincoln, and a couple lesser-knowns (like Peck Morrison on bass, twice), but I don't see where Roach plays. B+(***) [sp]

Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus and the Newport Rebels (1960 [2010], Candid): Another compilation from the same sessions, but of six songs, only one appeared on Newport Rebels, and while the cast of characters is similar (Dolphy, Eldridge, Flanagan, Knepper, Jones, and Richmond appear here), some new names also slip in (from the cover: Ted Cuson, Booker Ervin, Paul Bley). B+(**) [sp]

Charles Mingus: The Complete Town Hall Concert (1962 [1994], Blue Note): This was reportedly a "live workshop" of music meant to be recorded later, including two parts of a two-hour composition ("Epitaph") that was ultimately recorded by Gunther Schuller in 1989. But when United Artists released 36 minutes of this in 1962, it was widely deemed a disaster, with this later 68-minute CD merely aimed "to clean up the mess." A very big band: 7 trumpets, 6 trombones, 10 reeds (including an oboe), 2 pianists (Jaki Byard and Toshiko Akiyoshi), 2 bassists (Mingus plus Milt Hinton), Dannie Richmond on drums (but with extra percussionists), just one guitar (Les Spann). B+(*) [sp]

Phew: Phew (1981, Pass): Japanese singer Hiromi Moritani, started in post-punk group Aunt Sally, recorded this first album with members of Can (Conny Plank, Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit), kept the name as an alias for more albums after 1987, including work with Anton Fier, Bill Laswell, Jim O'Rourke, and members of Raincoats, Boredoms, and Einstürzende Neubauten. This is very much part of the moment when bands like Cabaret Voltaire were being formed. Probably someone to study further. B+(***) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alberto Pinton's Relentless: Allt Större Klarhet (Moserobie) [03-14]
• Ryan Truesdell: Shades of Sound: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 2 (Outside In Music) [05-30]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, April 14, 2025

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44035 [44005) rated (+30), 33 [26] unrated (+7).

I had my second cataract surgery on Tuesday. When I took the tape off that evening, it was bright and blurry, but less dramatically so than after the first eye. I had some bruising below the eye, but it seemed minor. I was more struck by how creepy the loose, aged skin of the eyelids seemed. What I had feared was the the if the right eye recovery was as slow as the left seemed, I could have diminished vision for a few weeks. (It had been about a month now, and the left eye was still blurry, although the amount of light passing through the lens was more, and bluer.) But the blurriness in the right eye cleared up right away that morning. When I went to see the doctor, he not only cleared me to drive, but told me I could drive without glasses. I drove home with glasses, deeming them close enough to what I was used to, but I've since stopped using them for walks and TV. I haven't done much driving since, but haven't had any problems.

I have an appointment to see my regular optometrist a couple weeks out, so I expect we'll get some better measurements then. The biggest question is what, if anything, the expensive toric lens in the left eye has done. It was supposed to correct for significant astigmatism -- which the right eye had very little of, so we went with the standard lens there. The expectation is that I will need glasses for reading, although in the past I've never used them. (I didn't need them at first; while my bifocals help a little, it usually suffices to hold the book a bit closer.) I've been reading OK, both with and without glasses, all through this period.

What seems more likely is that I'll want glasses for the computer screen -- a focal distance of about 30 inches (I would have guessed less, but just measured it). I seem to be having more trouble with computer work this week (or month) -- although there could be other factors at work, including psychological ones. I'm going through a period where I have very little inspiration to do much of anything, or even to assign any blame for my sloth.

Speaking of which, this week's haul is down a fair amount from the last couple weeks, although 30 albums has long been my definition of a solid week's work. Most of the A-list came late in the week, thanks to Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide. Two of those records got lower grades at first, raised more on reflection than on further listening. [PS: Also upgraded: The Delines.]

I should also mention Dan Weiss' RiotRiot Report, which I haven't really worked my way through yet -- but I'm pleased to see the Ex and YHWH Nailgun (and Mekons, rated much higher here), and probably need the extra encouragement to get to Skrillex.

I perhaps should note an unusual degree of ambivalence about this week's grades. I could just as easily have upgraded the Art Pepper and/or the Kenny Dorham live set. Instead of giving the latter a third play, I went into his back catalog, and didn't so much get diminishing returns as flagging interest. Same thing for Birchall: pick any one of his albums and it's likely to sound fabulous, but play five in a row and they all start to sound the same. I know Pepper well enough to hedge my bets. I hardly know Diblo Dibala at all.

While I have very little real work to show for last week, I did manage to go back and fill out my long-neglected Streamnotes: Year 2024 Index, from which I had skipped the last four months. I still haven't done any for 2025 yet (other than to create the empty file). I've almost always done these on the same day I opened a new monthly file, but as they take 2-3 hours each, I started putting them off. While the indexes may not be of much use to readers, they help me find old reviews (avoiding inadvertent re-reviews, or at least helping with re-grading; I've already found several records I reviewed for a second time). I'd promise to catch up this week, but this is one of those computer tasks that I'm having eye trouble with.

No plans for the upcoming week. Good chance I will publish a "Loose Tabs" later in the week. I've collected a few items for it, and they don't have a lot of shelf life. Unlikely I'll do a books post this week, although I would like to get back to it. More useful would be to get to my planning documents, especially the one for household tasks.

New records reviewed this week:

MC Paul Barman: Tectonic Texts (2025, Househusband): Rapper, still remembered for his wit and wordplay in 2000-02 albums (first, It's Very Stimulating, a 18:01 EP). Words still dance, even if a bit herky-jerk, or maybe that's the beats? B+(***) [sp]

Basic: Dream City (2025, No Quarter, EP): Trio led by guitarist Chris Forsyth, whose records date back to 1998, and percussionist Mikel Patrick Avery, released a group album in 2024 (This Is Basic), follow that up here with a 3-cut, 26:48 EP with new bassist Douglas McCombs. B+(*) [sp]

Nat Birchall Unity Ensemble: New World (2023 [2024], Ancient Archive of Sound): British tenor saxophonist, has a 1999 debut but picked up the pace around 2010, "a Coltrane devotee of the highest order," never more so than in this explicit tribute, his core group a quartet plus extra percussion, on this occasion joined by Alan Skidmore (tenor sax) and Mark Wastell (percussion). B+(***) [bc]

Nat Birchall: Dimensions of the Drums: Roots Reggae Instrumentals (2024, Ancient Archive of Sound): Another facet of the British saxophonist's work, assembling these mild-to-sublime rhythm tracks single-handedly. B+(***) [sp]

Corook: Committed to a Bit (2025, Atlantic): Singer-songwriter, started lo-fi c. 2021 that hardly matters here. Trans, which figures into subject matter too much not to mention, especially as the point seems to be to uncover common humanity without (or even with?) the distractions of gender. A- [sp]

Silke Eberhard Trio: Being-a-Ning (2024 [2025], Intakt): Alto saxophonist, trio with Jan Roder (bass) and Kay Lübke (drums). Original pieces, with a hint of freebop Monk. B+(***) [sp]

Craig Finn: Always Been (2025, Tamarac/Thirty Tigers): Singer-songwriter from Minneapolis, started in 1990s with Lifter Puller, moved to New York in 2001 and started the Hold Steady, still a going concern but since 2012 he's also been releasing solo albums, this his sixth. Not a lot of difference between the two, as the band albums feature the same detailed storytelling, and if the music is a bit mellower here, it's still cut from the same cloth. Both are nearly peerless. A- [sp]

Ayumi Ishito: Roboquarians Vol. 2 (2021 [2025], 577): Tenor saxophonist from Japan, studied at Berklee and moved to New York in 2010. Several albums since 2015, including a previous volume by this "avant-punk style" trio, with George Draguns (guitar) and Kevin Shea (drums). More guitar than sax here. B+(*) [bc]

Clemens Kuratle Ydivide: The Default (2024 [2025], Intakt): Swiss drummer, also electronics, debut 2016, second group album, quintet with alto sax (Dee Bryne), piano (Elliot Gavin), guitar (Chris Guilfoyle), and bass (Lukas Traxel). B+(**) [sp]

Andy Fairweather Low: The Invisible Bluesman (2025, Last Music): British singer-songwriter, started in Amen Corner, had a notable series of solo albums 1973-76, after which he mostly did session work and tours, ranging from Chris Barber to Roger Waters, Bill Wyman, Joe Cocker, and Eric Clapton. He's put out occasional records on his own since 2004, with 2023's Flang Dang a high point. That was an album of originals, but this one is just a set of blues covers -- probably close to what he's been playing for Clapton, and probably better than Clapton can do without him. [PS: I haven't sought out Clapton since I hated 461 Ocean Boulevard in 1974, although I did enjoy two later albums: 1994's From the Cradle, and 2011's Play the Blues, filed under Wynton Marsalis. I've only heard one other post-1974 album, 2004's Me and Mr. Johnson.] B+(***) [sp]

Myra Melford: Splash (2024 [2025], Intakt): Pianist, got on my radar c. 1990, when Francis Davis wrote a Village Voice Jazz Consumer Guide, and and gave her and Allen Lowe the pick hit slots. Trio with Michael Formanek (bass) and Ches Smith (drums/vibes). B+(***) [sp]

Gurf Morlix: A Taste of Ashes (2024 [2025], Rootball): Roots-rock singer-songwriter, used to play drums and husband to Lucinda Williams, has been on his own, producing a new album nearly every year since 2000. B+(**) [sp]

Elias Stemeseder/Christian Lillinger + Craig Taborn: Umbra III: Live Setting (2021 [2025], Intakt): Swiss pianist, German drummer, both also electronics, only surnames on the album cover so I've tended to credit them as Stemeseder Lillinger, but I usually add the missing names to the credit rather than having to rewrite them in the review. The "Live Setting" is in very small print, but seemed worth noting. Taborn plays piano here, moving Stemeseder over to spinet, synth, and effects. B+(**) [sp]

Macie Stewart: When the Distance Is Blue (2023-24 [2025], International Anthem): Pianist, sometimes prepared, also violin and voice, third album since 2020, backed by strings (viola, cello, bass). B+(*) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Champeta w/Edna Martinez: Diblo Dibala Special ([2024], NAS): Website shows 25 programs currated and introduced by DJ Martinez, exploring the Colombian "champeta": "rhythms and influences are said to have arrived with the sailors from West Africa in the 1960s and 70s." This one focuses on the Congolese soukous star (b. 1954; best known in US for Loketo's Super Soukous (1989), but probably includes other artists, in a continuous mix aside from the branding. It's really terrific, probably improved by the editing, but is it real? Not as far as I can tell, which makes it hard to recommend. A- [os]

Kenny Dorham: Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live From the Blue Morocco (1957 [2025], Resonance): Bebop trumpet player (1924-72), a 1951 Modern Jazz Trumpets compilation added him to Fats Navarro, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, and he remained one of the top players into the 1960s. Hard bop quintet here with Sonny Red (alto sax), Cedar Walton (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Dennis Charles (drums). Strong showing, but perhaps more so for the sax. B+(***) [cd]

Paul Dunmall/Paul Rogers/Tony Levin: The Good Feelings (2009 [2024], 577): British saxophonist (here plays tenor and soprano, bass and Bb clarinet), backed with bass and drums (before the drummer died in 2011, so this is in some sense a belated tribute). B+(**) [bc]

Joe Henderson: Multiple (1973 [2025], Craft): Major tenor saxophonist (1937-2001), made his reputation in a series of now-classic Blue Note albums 1963-66, moved on to an extended run at Milestone 1968-77, had an unaccountably spotty decade-plus after that -- a couple albums on European labels, one more for Blue Note (The State of the Tenor, which pretty much was) -- before Verve picked him up in 1991, giving him the living legend treatment (but saddling him with concepts that I found less satisfying: tributes to Strayhorn, Davis, and Jobim; a big band; Porgy & Bess). I'm far less familiar with the Milestones, although he easily aced his entry in 2006's Milestone Profiles series, so I didn't even recognize this title (a Penguin Guide ***). It may have been easy to dismiss due to the then-fashionable electric keyboards/bass/guitar, congas, bits of soprano sax, flute and vocals. But a rhythm section with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette shouldn't be dismissed -- they also contributed one song each, to go with three by Henderson. But now you can't help but focus on his tenor sax -- the Penguin Guide line is that he always sounds like he's in the middle of a great solo -- an this is certainly a good example. But I also have to admit I'm also digging Larry Willis' funky electric piano. A- [sp]

Freddie Hubbard: On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967 [2025], Resonance, 2CD): Trumpet player (1938-2008), opened with a bang on Blue Note in 1960 and was everywhere doing everything with everyone for a few years, although nothing in my database I especially like between Blue Spirits (1965) and Red Clay (1970). Quintet here with Bennie Maupin (tenor sax), Kenny Barron (piano), Herbie Lewis (bass), and Freddie Waits (drums). While this is nice enough, and I'm always up for long takes of "Summertime" and "Bye Bye Blackbird," nothing here really turned my head. B+(**) [cd]

Rob Mazurek: Alternate Moon Cycles [IA11 Edition] (2012 [2025], International Anthem): Cornet player, started c. 1995, early on mostly for his Chicago Underground groups, later for larger groups like Exploding Star Orchestra. This came out as the label's first LP in 2014 (2 tracks, 30:45), the digital reissue adding a 20:13 bonus track. Trio with Matt Lux (electric bass) and Mikel Patrick Avery (organ). Ambient. B+(**) [sp]

Mac Miller: Balloonerism (2014 [2025], REMember Music/Warner): Rapper Malcolm McCormick (1992-2018), seventh album, second posthumous release, As with 2018's Circles, seems better dead than alive. B+(***) [sp]

Art Pepper: Geneva 1980 (1980 [2025], Omnivore): Alto saxophonist, spent much of his prime years in jail, but made classic albums when he was out in 1956 and 1960, and finally got back on track around 1975 -- an album called Living Legend -- and went on to record a huge amount of extraordinary jazz up to his death (at 56) in 1982: The Complete Galaxy Recordings is a 16-CD box which chock full of delights, a bounty more than matched by the steady stream of live shots from those years. This adds 10 tracks, 126 minutes, of previously unreleased material from his first tour of Europe, with his regular touring quartet: Milcho Leviev (piano), Tony Dumas (bass), and Carl Burnett (drums). He is terrific, as usual, mostly playing his originals, with only minor reservations for sound, the less inspired band, and the fact that there is so much similar material already available -- or maybe just that I only played it once. B+(***) [sp]

Old music:

Nat Birchall Unity Ensemble: Spiritual Progressions (2021 [2022], Ancient Archive of Sound): Tenor saxophonist, from Manchester, plays "spiritual jazz," where the spirit was embodied by John Coltrane, but extends all the way back to Africa. First group album, a quintet with Adam Fairhall (piano), Michael Bardon (bass), Paul Hession (drums), and Lascelle Gordon (percussion), where Birchall is also credited with wood flutes, singing bowls, mbira, balaphon, gunibri, and percussion. B+(**) [bc]

Nat Birchall: The Infinite (2022 [202]3, Ancient Archive of Sound): One of several solo albums, where he lays down rhythm tracks with keyboards, bass, drums, and percussion, then dubs in his tenor sax (or soprano, or bass clarinet). B+(**) [bc]

Nat Birchall: Songs of the Ancestors: Afro Trane Chapter 2 (2023, Ancient Archive of Sound): Solo again, with some organ for piano, a full range of saxophones, and two Coltrane pieces in addition to three by Birchall and one trad. B+(**) [bc]

Kenny Dorham: Blues in Bebop (1946-56 [1998], Savoy Jazz): Early sessions from 1946, with one track from Billy Eckstine's big band, more with Sonny Stitt, a few scraps from 1949 (a session with Kenny Clarke and Milt Jackson, plus a couple Royal Roost shots with Charlie Parker) and 1956 (a side-credit with Cecil Payne). Some good work here, but only the Parker cuts turned my head. B+(**) [sp]

Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts (1957 [1992], Riverside/OJC): Six tracks, four with Sonny Rollins (tenor sax), who gets a small print "with" down in the corner, and probably a picture in front of a harp (actually played by Betty Glamman on three tracks, including the two with no Rollins). B+(**) [sp]

Kenny Dorham: Quiet Kenny (1959 [1986], New Jazz/OJC): Not really a ballad album, but let's say mid-tempo, the trumpet clear and articulate in a quartet with Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Art Taylor (drums). CD adds a nice "Mack the Knife." B+(***) [sp]

Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contemporary (1960, Time): Original LP -- trumpet with baritone sax (Charles Davis), piano (Steve Kuhn), bass (Jimmy Garrison or Butch Warren), and drums (Buddy Enlow) -- had six tracks (39:28), but at some point four alternate takes got tacked on (at least by 2000 in Japan). Nice contrast in the horns here. B+(***) [sp]

Kenny Dorham: Whistle Stop (1961 [2014], Blue Note): This is closer to the hard bop album I was expecting, with Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Kenny Drew (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Philly Joe Jones (drums). B+(***) [sp]

Grade (or other) changes:

The Delines: Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (2025, Decor): Americana band from Portlant, sixth album since 2014, Amy Boone is the singer but Willy Vlautin, who has a reputation as a novelist (seven since 2006), is the songwriter. Scant reason for excitement here, but the songs have a quiet majesty, especially when the horn arrangements kick in. [was: B+(**)] A- [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Kris Adams/Peter Perfido: Away (Jazzbird) [05-01]
• Christopher Dammann: Sextet (Out of Your Head) [02-07]
• Satoko Fujii This Is It!: Message (Libra) [05-09]
• The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head) [04-04]
• Eunhye Jeong/Michael Bisio Duo: Morning Bells Whistle Bright (ESP-Disk) [03-14]
• Melissa Kassel & Tom Zicarelli Group: Moments (MKMusic) [05-01]
• Adam O'Farrill: For These Steets (Out of Your Head) [03-28]
• Jordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest (Origin) [05-16]
• Wolf Eyes: Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton (ESP-Disk) [02-14]

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