A bit of a challenging mix on this show with a dabble into areas which are not strictly jazz but I think fit in well with a jazz sound…..
Cecil McBee – Bassist McBee and Chico Freeman teamed up many times during the late 1970s and ’80s. Their collaborations found them playing music that was a spiritual extension on hard bop. On the Alternate Spaces album, they perform five of McBee’s originals in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, pianist Don Pullen , drummer Allen Nelson and percussionist Don Moye.
Chico Freeman – Pied Piper was the two recordings by Freeman for the soon-defunct Black-Hawk label. Freeman plays a range of instruments – tenor, alto, sopranino, soprano, bass clarinet, bass flute and C flute. John Purcell plays alto, baritone, oboe, alto flute and piccolo, and the horns are joined by either Kenny Kirkland or Mark Thompson on piano, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Elvin Jones. The playing ranges from straight-ahead to more exploratory sounds, and this colorful album is worth searching for.
Jazz bassist Christian Fabian was born in Sweden and moved to Germany at the age of six. He attended the Maastricht Conservatory in the Netherlands and there formed the band Time Design, which released three albums. Fabian relocated to the U.S. to study at the Berklee College of Music, from which he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in performance and film scoring. The show features a track from his Of the Essence album.
International piano trio Phronesis play stunning modal jazz via bassist Jasper Høiby pianist Ivo Neame and drummer Mark Guiliana delivering a cushion of spiky beats Their atmospheric themes are freely developed, awith high energy and great interplay. The track is from their latest album Alive.
I got a compilation album from Manchester Music collective Mind on Fire this week and was impressed by the music – I thought it deserved an airing and was wanting to mix things up a bit on this show so where better to do it? First up DJ and producer LA77 brings a touch of hip-hop electronica to World of Jazz.
Song for Everyone heralds the return of the groove in Shankar‘s East-West-minded music, with former Shakti colleague Zakir Hussain on tabla, Trilok Gurtu on percussion, and a drum machine used to build the rhythms. The result veers between Western acoustic and electric grooves and the complex beats churned out by the tabla. Jan Garbarek aplays soprano and tenor, and with Shankar’s ten-string double-necked electric violin as the second lead there is complex interplay Featured track “Paper Nut” has a compelling revolving pattern.
The second Mind on Fire cut features G Kut with the intriguingly entitled Dance of the Cuttlefish I was impressed with the overall sound and feel of this track.
From her Nuance album from last year pianist Lisa Hilton produces an interest interpretation of Green Day’s “When September Ends”. She is one of the few curent pianists with her own identifiable sound.
Keith and Julie Tippetts magnificent Couple in Spirit album is one of their best recordings and as a whole piece takes the listener on a remarkable journey. This emotional content of the music is breathtaking.
Kind of Blue isn’t just an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it’s an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. The Anniversary Edition includes an excellent reading of “Fran Dance” which was not on the original album.
World Of Jazz – Pushing The Jazz Envelope by Bobonscr on Mixcloud
Aural Delights 