Welcome to the weekly Sup Forums jazz Blindfold Test thread. Every Friday and Saturday.
If you're new, the point of these threads is to have fun and encourage critical listening, discussion, and general enjoyment of jazz. All critical music listeners are welcome. The more participation we have, the more fun and successful these threads will be. In the interest of keeping the thread alive and bumped, any general jazz discussion is welcomed here as well.
For more information about how the threads work and listening suggestions, please refer to the pastebin: pastebin.com/5cjEr3A6
THIS WEEK'S THEME: 2016 Eurojazz COMPILED BY: Jazzpossu
NEXT WEEK: Connecting LInks COMPILED BY: JTG
If you missed last week's thread, DON'T WORRY. It's not too late. Here are the links for the mystery tracklist. Download the tracks, record your thoughts/guesses/evaluations for each one, and then come back and post them in the thread. Remember, people will be posting guesses and thoughts in this thread so don't read the thread until you have listened to the music and collected your thoughts in order to avoid spoilers. Track info for this week's tracks will be posted on Saturday, so if you see the thread is close to dying before then, give it a bump.
1. This one was cool and I actually liked the vocals but I don’t know if I’d consider it jazz. I would listen to this again though so 3 stars.
2. Very nice. I usually like saxophone trios and this one is good. I think I hear some influence from Sonny Rollins but that might be because I’ve heard the most of his sax trios. There is a lot of interplay going on here I think, especially between the bass and the sax so I think it would be good for relistening. Whoever it is, I would check out more of this album. 3.5 stars.
3. This was pretty cool. I liked the rhythms going on and the way the song kept moving into something new. Other than that I don’t have too much to say about this one but I liked it overall. 3 stars.
4. I’m getting an Eric Dolphy vibe from this one. Maybe it’s just the alto sax and how it sounds kind of crazy at times but then very controlled at other times. I really like that and again there’s a lot of interplay going on here it seems like. This is another one I will check out once I find out what it is. 4 stars.
5. This has a rock sound to it. Almost like surf rock from the sound of the guitars. The melody is kind of cool. I wasn’t expecting to like the solos that much but they were pretty good. I liked how they kept exchanging short solos with each other. 3.5 stars
Jace Smith
6. My favorite so far. I’ve never heard a piano trio that sounds like this. The piano player might be hinting a Cecil Taylor influences sometimes but there are a lot of cool, unusual chords in there too. The bass and drums were doing a good job keeping up a solid rhythm but also interacting and reacting to what the piano player was doing too. 4.5 stars.
7. This one took me a while to recognize it but it’s Footprints. It sounds like a big band with some added guitars and percussion and things. It’s a cool arrangement for a standard and I like that it goes into a Latin feeling on the solos. The sax solo wasn’t my favorite because it sounded kind of smooth jazz-y but the trombone solo was kind of cool. 3 stars.
8. This is another nice piano trio track. Track 6 was better but this would probably be my favorite if that track wasn’t so good. It seems like the piano player is able to do a lot of stuff but it doesn’t seem like he’s trying to show off. 4 stars.
9. I don’t really have much to say about this one. It was fine but I think it’s another one that I probably wouldn’t call jazz. 2.5 stars.
10. I liked the beginning a lot. It definitely had a a European feel to it. Almost like gypsy melodies or something. Then it turned into a metal song. But it still kept the same kind of feel so it was a pretty cool transition. I liked it. 3.5 stars.
Luke Carter
bump. posting my thoughts in a little bit.
Nicholas Wilson
1. This one is very cool. Not really your typical jazz sound. The sax reminds me Colin Stetson. Actually it might be him, but isn't he Canadian? I like the vocal melody a lot and the semi walking line from the bass. Also I think the lack of percussion here is nice and makes everything come out a little more.
2. Not sure who's on sax. The rhythm section sounds pretty good on this and I like how especially the drums are more active since there's no chords. Actually this might be Chris Potter the tone and the high squeaks sounds like him.
3. Ooh that drummer sounds nice and the bass player and him are locking in nicely. The keys sound pretty unique almost like the tone out of a EDM synth. I like the piano melody. The chords are simple rhythmically, but I really like how the rest of the band builds underneath it. It gives it a cool almost post-rock vibe. Not sure how I feel about that fade in the middle seems kinda cheesy. I wish they found a way to end the tune.
4. This one seems a bit free and I'm admittedly not much of a fan of free jazz. The entire band sounds like they're interacting really nicely which is cool. I liked the section that sounded the most like it was the sax solo. It was still kinda out, but not too far out.
5. I'm getting a strong surf rock vibe from this, but I've always thought that tone could work for jazz somehow. I really like the horn melody and I think the muted trumpet works super well. The horns and the rest of the band you would think would clash, but it actually works out supper well. The back and forth solos are cool and I like how they play together at the end. That's really hard to do and the trumpet has some nice lines at the end. This groove is just so unique I wish I could hear them stretch out over this. This is by far my favorite of the day, I'm definitely checking this out once the answers are posted.
Juan Lopez
6. Kinda sounds like Vijay Iyer's trio. The interaction is really everyone seems really comfortable playing in this setting. They're all really grooving. It sounds like everyone knows this tune pretty well and is changing things up a lot as they go.
7. It sounds like a blues form, but this doesn't sound much like a blues. Oh it's footprints that's why. The big band sounds great and the drums groove with the shaker is tight. Kinda wish there was more than just head solos. The back and forth between the band and sax is cool, but it's still very typical. I really like how the trumpets are trying to play the main riff, but get interrupted by the band. Not really into the Latin groove sounds kinda cheesy. The sax players sounds good. Very straight forward style and the horn backgrounds are cool. The bone with just the drums and bass sounds nice. I like how the bone player takes some time to develop his ideas, but it sounds like he's not miced the best I can't hear him too well. Overall not the most creative chart, but there are some pretty good part writing in there.
8. Another piano trio. Sounds similar to the other piano trio. A lot of piano trios these days seem to have very dark sounds or is that just me? I like the repeated piano line with the drummer hitting the rim with both sticks it sounds great. It kinda sounds like anytime the band is gonna explode into something and they're holding it back with all they can. It doesn't really sound like they're a solo section in here it sounds more like they're moving from riff to riff and working around that. Kinda in a Bad Plus sort of way, but less disjointed.
9. The intro is really long. I still can't tell if this is gonna develop or this piano riff is the tune. It's interesting, but not more than a minute or so interesting. So it turns out that was the tune. It was interesting, but I wish there was more and it wasn't that for so long.
Connor Rivera
10. The melody has a kind of snake charmer quality to it. Maybe it's in Phyrigian? The groove from the rhythm section is nice and I like the orchestration of the head with the key. The strings are a nice touch, but they don't seem to be adding too much. I liked the kinda simpler statements of the piano solo. The guitar is from pretty far out of left field. Now it's into a weird quasi metal feel. The trumpet is really groovin over it though. Does it have a pickup on it something about it sounds distorted? I'm not digging the guitar solo maybe it's the distortion, but the lines are kinda blending together. The piano part behind it is sweet it adds a lot of mood. The ending is pretty strange though maybe it makes more sense with the album.
Some pretty unusual stuff this week, which I expected from a Euro jazz week, but not to the extent I got.
Eli Long
>Phyrigian? Is that a Phrygian sound? I described it as gypsy sounding. Phrygian is a mode right?
Nolan Rogers
It might be I'm not totally sure. Phyrigian is a mode yes and some modes are associated with certain sounds. A lot of folk melodies tend to be modal.
Carter Miller
>tfw Anthony Braxton is going to die soon
Nicholas Murphy
>Track 1 Sounds like maybe this is a loop made with sax pads clicking? It’s a pretty melody. And kind of an interesting effect with the drone of the sax against the vocals. I could see this being something from an ACT release. That bridge is especially pretty. It’s a nice little composition. I’d have liked to hear some improv in there. It sounds like something that could have been composed for a movie.
>Track 2 Sax trio. I like this. It’s nice and bouncy. I like what the bass player is doing a lot but I think the drummer is playing it pretty safe. Sax player is decent but not really pushing himself that much. I’m hearing a lot of blues licks in the tonic key. His tone sounds very very familiar to me. Everyone who comes to mind though is American I think… maybe this is an American sax player on someone else’s record? Sax playing improves quite a bit starting a little before the 2:00 mark. The drumming gets better too although he still keeps coming back to hint at that sort of third line feel… I’d like to hear him get farther away from it and just go with what the other two are doing a little more. This was pretty good overall, but I think there are sax players who are better in this format… I feel like this is the kind of thing that Jazzpossu would usually say is the kind of post-bop that’s not intriguing enough that he'd listen to it enough times to really dig it. Sax player reminds me of Walt Weiskopf or Chris Cheek… both American though so no good guesses here.
>Track 3 Definitely on the prog-rock end of the spectrum… Tonbruket put out a new record this year I think. I haven’t heard it yet, but that’s what this reminds me of. Well this track doesn’t really do much for me. It could have been decent if there were some melody. I guess part that’s highlighted at the end there was the melody all along. Not a bad composition I guess but again it sounds like no improv.
Jack Bailey
>Track 4 There’s some humor in this one. That repeating riff with the occasional wild interjection makes me smile. I like this idea of taking a very simple riff and just building a kind of abstract improvisation based just on that. It reminds me of Renku but I don’t think they had a track like this on their most recent album. I’m not sure if they recorded anything else this year or this could be something else Michael Attias did. It's pretty nice.
>Track 5 Kind of a surf vibe on this one. Actually this track sounds a lot like the Peruvian style of music called Chicha. It’s a fusion of Colombian and Peruvian cumbia with surf and psychedelic rock. It’s a cool genre but not something I really expected to hear on 2016 European themed playlist. I guess chicha wouldn’t normally have instrumental solos. It’s a good idea to trade off on short solos but I think the track could have been better if the trumpet and sax had just both soloed together. That way you’d still be getting some good interplay even with the static accompaniment. If I didn’t know this had to be something European I would guess this was some kind of modern chicha or tropicalia band, maybe trying to merge some jazz influence with those genres.
>Track 6 Is the drummer Gerald Cleaver? The only thing I know that he plays on this year is Aruan Ortiz’s album and this isn’t from that. The “melody” of the song was kind of strange- I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it. I like the way the pianist improvises a lot but I was hoping he would recall more stuff from that melody. But I like all the color and space he uses. It’s interesting how the piano player gets more “traditional” towards the end of the solo. In a few spots there you can hear him start to play some Chick Corea sounding things. This might be Phronesis. I think I heard one of their new tracks on youtube or somewhere and it was sort of in this vein. Pretty good track. I’d listen to more of this group.
Jayden Martinez
>Track 7 Footprints? So far I think this playlist has alternated every other track between rock-groove oriented stuff with heavy production and acoustic post-bop. This one has the rock groove but it turns out to be a big band arrangement. It’s a pretty nice arrangement too. A little oddly mixed though. Ah but then they go into the Afro-cuban 6/8 for the solo. Solo is pretty meh anyway. That SNL tone is hard to get past. Trombone solo isn’t bad. Finally the rhythm section catches on and starts to swing a little bit with him. But not really. This was a pretty cool arrangement but the solos left something to be desired.
>Track 8 This one grew on me as it went. It’s kind of minimal which works nicely with that repetitive bassline and lets the pianist do nice rhythmic things to make it interesting. And the pianist has some nice colors. He was also doing some cool contrapuntal stuff somewhere near the beginning.. I like that the piece doesn’t stay in one place for too long but keeps moving and they move through the different sections pretty organically. This was a nice track. I’d listen to more of this pianist I think.
>Track 9 Slow buildup. Well so far the lack of any improv gives this more the sound of composed film music that I’ve mentioned on a few other tracks so far this week. This is a nice composition I suppose with a sense of drama, but not really something I see much point in actively listening to.
>Track 10 This is kind of a nice tune. It reminds me a little bit of something Avishai Cohen (bass) would do. It takes an interesting turn when it goes into the heavy section. Kind of an interesting mashup.
Alexander Long
I'm afraid I can't participate in the blindfold test, sorry.
However, I do have a question.
Could someone recommend me more jazz records similar to Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch!? I recently listened to it and it's one of the greatest things I've ever heard, and I want more
Nathan Hall
Also can we wait another week to do my theme? I don't think I'll be able to post the reveal or be around much for next Saturday. Does anybody else have a playlist ready to go?
Jordan Fisher
You'll probably want to check this one out.
Angel Gomez
Best 70's blue note release?
Wyatt Morris
Seems to share a lot of members with the lineup on Out to Lunch, I'll check it out. This looks cool.
Thanks for the rec jtg.
Julian Jenkins
Yeah Bebob sent me one that's ready to go. So I guess we can do that one this week instead and do yours the week after.
Jordan Thomas
>Kinda sounds like Vijay Iyer's trio Well I don't think it really sounds like Vijay on piano but the drumming sounds a lot like Marcus Gilmore who played on Iyer's last album.
Gilmore was actually who I was thinking of when I said the drummer sounded like Gerald Cleaver on that track.
Bentley Rodriguez
>Track 5 I didn't notice it but I guess now that you mention it it does have kind of a Latin sound to it
Kayden Morris
bump
Liam Perez
Not posting this week but have a bump.
Leo Hill
Hey guys, just getting back home from the airport, I'll be in the thread in like 45 minutes
Elijah Torres
Sounds good. Bumping
Jordan Wood
Track 1:
Certainly my first reaction was that it sounds an awful lot like that Colin Stetson/Sarah Neufeld album from last year.
While there's no improvisation on this one, it's an album of mostly standards - what drew me to this track is that it's a fairly well known tune in it's original Instrumental form and I think this version works nicely even though it completely leaves out the most recognizable element.
Wyatt Thompson
Track 6 Ding Ding! It is indeed Phronesis
You're also very close with track 1 having cinematic roots.
Elijah Martinez
I don't recognize it.
Isaac Watson
>Track 2
With all the minimalism and weirdness going on, I figured I'd also put something closer to jazz tradition in there. :)
This sax players work that's solely credited to him is much more distinctively European sounding, though. Jazz media over here tends to often comment on his Michael Brecker influence.
Daniel Garcia
Track 5 in general:
it's interesting that you all picked the surf rock guitar as a defining element - I was expecting the reaction to be all about the ethiojazz vibe of this particular track.
It is actually the surf rock influenced guitar that ties this groups current eclectic sound together.
Easton Lee
oops, lost my name there
for upcoming weeks I also have a duo list ready to go, I'll send it your way so you can use it whenever
Ryan Howard
>ethiojazz vibe I've never heard much ethiojazz. Does much of it use surf rock sounding guitar?
Thomas Scott
oh no, I just meant that in the context of this band's output this sounds very much like an ethiojazz thing, so I was just kind of expecting people to have a similar reaction without context
Ryder Lee
I just figured out what track 4 is by accident a few minutes ago. I was kind of on the right track with that one too..
Colton Clark
>Jazz media over here tends to often comment on his Michael Brecker influence. I guess that explains why he sounded very American to me.
Asher Torres
Oh that's right - you were!
Also certainly in the ballpark with 10, the trumpet player bringing the middle-eastern influence has performed with bassist Cohen
Eli Wilson
bump
I hope some more of the regulars show up
Cameron Flores
bump
Ayden Powell
>Track 1 Interesting percussion, and that (woodwind?) has a cool sound. Decent vocal tone, and now I'm convinced that's a saxophone. Track as a whole reminds me of some prog rock sounds, maybe even some Radiohead. I like the bass sound. Lots of cool textures and tones used on this. I'm amazed the sax player isn't running out of breath. Defintely getting more of that Radiohead vibe with the bassline towards the end. 3.5 stars >Track 2 I feel like I've heard this song before, couldn't possibly place it though. Reminds me of some Alex Sipiagin stuff, most notably in the way the bass and melody interact, but not in the production. Couldn't tell you who the sax player is for certain. He reminds me of Chris Potter in a lot of ways, but other ways not so much. I've always liked the sax trio setup, and lots of the interaction here is good. I sort of like the way you could hear the bass player breathe during the beginning of his solo. I don't really like the melody of the head, and the way it switches to slow swing comes off sort of cheesy to me. 3 stars. >Track 3 Drumming reminds me of Mark Guiliana right off the bat. The electronic influence is interesting, especially with the bass line. This actually sounds a bit to me like something Hiromi would do, but I'm not really that familiar with her work. I dig the bass tone quite a bit, but overall this might be a bit too pop-esque for my taste. Points for the drumming and the bass tone, I guess, but I'm not really enamored with the keys. The distortion is a cool and unusual effect for this sort of thing. Ok that distortion was very cool, I especially like the way the song came back in, but it still doesn't redeem it all that mushc for me. 2.5 stars
Austin Hughes
>Track 4 Already like this song more than the others. More up my alley with that sax tone. Like the groove breaks and then keeps going. I'm liking all of the instruments on this: the drumming's creative, the bass has a nice solid tone and good manipulation of that tone, and the sax playing is rhymically and tonally interesting as well. Good use of dynamics for the whole group. I wish it was longer so we could hear some more extended solos. Nice ending too. 4 stars >Track 5 Reminds me of Badbadnotgood with that keyboard tone. And the Pulp Fiction soundtrack? This is definitely an interesting track. I have to say, I really like this, but not for any of the reasons I normally like jazz. More for the reasons I like surf rock. I feel like the drummer is rushing a bit, or at least just playing ahead of the beat, which might be the desired effect. It does make me feel sort of uncomfortable, where I would rather this just grooved more. The way they're trading solos sort of cuts off their ideas, and I don't think they have particularly interesting ideas. I like the sixteenth notes on the snare leading back into the head. The bongos are a nice touch too. Once again, liked this as surf rock, but would typically expect more out of jazz. 3 stars >Track 6 Dig the use of polyrhythms. Also dynamics (most notably on the drums) are very solid. Very rhythmically interesting. Enjoyable, shorter than I expected. 3.5 stars
Kevin Gomez
>Track 7 I like the beginning, reminds me of Mission Impossible or something. I don't like the horn arrangement. And this is apparently Footprints? I have to say I've heard much more enjoyable renditions of it. Back to the horn arrangement, it doesn't have the human quality that Ellington's horns did, it just feels sort of cheesy, in the way I think Herbie Hancock often arranges his horn parts. With the backgrounds, the trumpet solo feels underdeveloped. The backgrounds come across to me as boring and really subtracting from the solo more than adding to it. The production also just has that eighties rock vibe to it, noticeably in the drums. The trombone solo feels predictable, in choice of notes and often rhythm. Ultimately, it feels very emotionally empty and uninteresting to me. Especially the way the call and response is done in the head. 1.5 stars >Track 8 I like this one rhythmically, I like the complexity of the piano part, and the chord voicings. I like a lot of what the bass player is doing. The rhythmic development in the piano solo is definitely nice, and the way the bass interacts with it is refreshing. I like the minimalistic use of the drum set here. Rhythmically it actually reminds me a bit of Vijay Iyer's work. Not really harmonically or texturally though. I have a similar view of this as I do Track 6, but I like this one better because of the level of rhythmic interaction and development. It has more time to take shape, you know? The drop into the bass solo is really nicely done. I love the choice to leave the bass player on his own, really gives an effect to the space he uses. The way the head comes back in is great. Actually it's fantastic. Shit that was good. 5 stars
Brandon Sanchez
>Track 9 Is that plucking piano strings I hear? Nah, it's just a repeated note, but I love plucked piano strings, so I hope for them. The percussion is nice, has a unique tone. Are those chimes? I'm pretty unsure as to what's happening in this one. Thought that might even be a hammer dulcimer for a second. And now a clarinet? Reminds me of Aphex Twin with the way that percussion is integrated. Has a nice building quality to it. This has some nice stuff going on, but I'm beginning to think the ideas involved don't really justify its length. Also, 20 seconds of silence at the end? 2 stars >Track 10 Is that a flugelhorn? This track feels a lot more expansive and grand than the others in its production. I like the piano line, but I don't like the way they double the melody. It reminds me of The Beatles' "I Want You", which I think would be a far better song without the doubling of the melody. The string usage is interesting. Piano solo is a bit short before it gets interrupted by the head, but I liked it. Ok the guitar is an unexpected twist, but I like the way the brass player holds that note over it. And now this reminds of the theme song for Batman Beyond. I don't find this very interesting, although it does have an unusual blend of styles. I don't find the guitar solo particularly inspiring. This just feels sort of awkward, like it was attempting to be a King Crimson track but failed. The way it ends is cool, it sounds sort of like Chinese music? and the way it pans is decent. That keyboard thing at end is weird, but I assume that transitions into the next track. I'd be interested to hear the album. 3 stars
Christian Edwards
>It reminds me of The Beatles' "I Want You", I didn't hear that at all from this track
Is it cool if we do the playlist you sent me for this coming week?
Logan Thompson
I just meant in the sense that it doubles the melody with the flugel and the piano, similar to the way the guitar doubles the vocals on that track. And yeah that's fine to do that playlist this week.
Michael Russell
bump
Levi Morgan
Bumping with the list of previous /blindfold/ themes
Sep. 28- BLUE NOTE (JTG) Oct. 5- ALTO SAX (BLINDFOLDTEST) Oct. 12- LIVE (JTG) Oct. 19- SOLO JAZZ (AMBASSADOR SATCH) Oct. 26- TRUMPET (BLINDFOLDTEST) Nov. 2- MEDIUM ENSEMBLES (JTG) Nov. 9- WILDCARD (BLINDFOLDTEST) Nov. 16- POPULAR SONGS (JAZZPOSSU) Nov. 23- MONK TUNES (JTG) Nov. 30- IMPULSE! (BLINDFOLDTEST) Dec. 7- 2015 JAZZ (JTG) Dec. 14- JAZZ DEDICATIONS (AMBASSADOR SATCH) Dec. 21- CHRISTMAS JAZZ (JTG) Dec. 28- PIANO TRIOS (TUESDAY user) Jan. 4- WILDCARD (AMBASSADOR SATCH) Jan. 11- CHORDLESS RECORDINGS (JTG) Jan. 18- SOUNDTRACK JAZZ (JAZZPOSSU) Jan. 25- PIANO TRIOS PT. 2 (TUESDAY user) Feb. 1- LATIN JAZZ (JTG) Feb. 8- BLUE NOTE (BLINDFOLDTEST) Feb. 15- FLUTE JAZZ (JAZZPOSSU) Feb. 22- VOCAL JAZZ (AMBASSADOR SATCH) Mar. 4- WILDCARD (JTG) Mar. 11- ORGAN JAZZ (JAZZPOSSU) Mar. 18- SEXTETS (BLINDFOLDTEST) Mar. 25- PIANO TRIOS (JTG) Apr. 1- BOSSA NOVA (MEDITATION) Apr. 8- WILDCARD (CLUELESS) Apr. 15- DRUMLESS (JAZZPOSSU) Apr. 22- CRISS CROSS (JTG) Apr. 29- VIBRAPHONE (BLINDFOLDTEST) May 6- SONG PAIRS (AMBASSADOR SATCH) May 13- 2016 EUROJAZZ (JAZZPOSSU)
Colton Allen
Another bump
Carson Peterson
Anyone in here play Jazz? Tenor Player here, what are you guys working on? ii-V-I progressions, circle of fourths, bebop scales?
Julian Stewart
I play guitar but I don't really know anything about playing jazz. I know JTG plays piano and I think Ambassador Satch plays something too. I'm not sure about anyone else.
You should join in the thread though.
Bentley Ward
What kind of music do you play? I guess I'll give these tracks a listen and see what's up.
Kayden Scott
Just folk, prog rock, that sort of thing. One of these days I'd like to start learning some jazz. I've been taking a look at some jazz voicings for guitar.
Asher Sanders
Yeah I play piano. I'm working on crossrhythms and just playing with good time (one of the hardest things about jazz). Also working pretty hard on melodic continuity and development in solos.
Carter James
bump
Christopher Lewis
bump
Jaxon Davis
bump
also, does anyone have any good jazz/surf recs like track 5?
Adam Murphy
bump
Carter King
How do I get into jazz drumming?
Isaiah Morales
I'm not really sure because I'm not a drummer but I'm sure it would be a good start to get a book for rhythm sight reading and work on playing the rhythms on the snare or kick while keeping up quarter/eighth notes on the hi hats or a swing pattern on the ride.
Benjamin Wright
You should check out the genre of Chicha. I'm actually pretty curious to find out who that artist is and if they have any connection with Latin music.
There is a good 2 volume compilation called The Roots of Chicha. There's a cool modern group called Chicha Libre.
Those won't have quite this much jazz in the mix but there's another group you should check out too called Bixiga 70.
Xavier Howard
Bump
Robert Lewis
I actually played a song off that record in my Latin ensemble. Vacilando con Ayahuasca. It was boring for the horns but a pretty interesting tune.
Nathaniel Murphy
>Track 1 This sounds like Colin Stetson, but he's American. I didn't know anyone else did this sort of thing. Unless it's him with a European vocalist? She's got a wonderful voice, and the highland folk melody fits with this style of playing - probably even better than anything I've heard from New History Warfare. I can't tell if there's percussion or maybe a bass in here somewhere, but if it is Stetson I imagine all the sounds are by virtue of his ludicrously extended technique.
I wouldn't really call this jazz, but it's beautiful music anyway.
>Track 2 Such a funky bass vamp. Sax takes it a bit into the realms of sitcom music though. This drummer is pretty insane, he's constantly keeping things moving forward, which is what the track needs. I also like that he's adding so much depth to the overall sound, especialy during the bass solo. There was a really cool switch in time in the head, with that couple of bars of slow groovy swing - where did that go in the solos? Like, I could have understood if they hadn't stuck to it the whole way as it might have been quite restricting, but they dropped it straight away.
As for the sax solo, I thought it was pretty great. Funky first half, then when he started bringing in the really fast runs the way the rest of the band reacted was cool. The slow build of intensity was well managed by the whole band and along with that he played further outside as it went on.
>Track 3 So this is one of those "electronic music on acoustic instruments" tracks people were talking about a couple of weeks ago. It's not an idea that really appeals to me, and in this case the execution does nothing to change that feeling - each musical line seems quite sterile and very little actually happens to any of them, it's a dull composition that fails to capture the excitement or the intensity of either genre. The way it ended did improve it slightly, but this really isn't a style of music I have any interest in.
Jace James
>Track 4 This reminds me of some of the stuff I've heard by Archie Shepp or the Art Ensemble of Chicago. I like the controlled bursts of noise in the intro, and how this sax solo seems to come spiralling out of that. The drummer is cool too, very raw playing but exactly what the track needs. Not much to say about it but I could definitely listen to this.
>Track 5 Well this sounds like Battles at first. It's a cool mix of sounds to use for jazz. Surf-style guitar is my jam - that guitar break was awesome. In fact the transitions and contrasts between all the different sections are nicely done and they all come together really coherently like an Ellington tune would. Neither of the soloists gives me particular reason to think they're anything special in the short time they have, but I this is such a nicely written and produced piece that it doesn't matter. Both of them nail the slightly lethargic tone that the tune needs, and their interweaving solo is pretty. I would definitely like to hear more of this album.
>Track 6 Just like the last track, this one has an awesome mix of sounds. The piano sounds (at least at first) quite grounded in a really old-fashioned style but those massive reverbed drums (and is that a gong?) wash over everything with so much power - I actually thought I was hearing a duo at first. There's so much variation in the pianist's style - quite free playing for the most part but with the essence of someone like Bud Powell in there. The drums keep everything moving like a traditional piano trio too, whilst still being quite reactive to what the piano is doing. The bass has some nice touches, but his role is so similar to the drummer's - it would have been interesting to hear if this -had- just been a duo.
Alexander Reed
>Track 7 This one sounds like Can at first. It sounds like a fairly small ensemble I think, but it's arranged like a big band tune for the majority of the track. With that repetitive vamp over and over it actually drags on a bit long for me, so it's welcome when the sax solo comes in. Another great drummer here - this has been a theme of this week. Like track five, I'm not too impressed with the sax solo itself (drummer's reaction to him is better), though unlike track five it's too long and doesn't serve its purpose very well. Trombone solo is great though, he has a nice sense of melody and adapts well as that fantastic arrangement behind him builds up. I think he's the leader here based on how much he gets to do. Overall I'm on the fence about this track but I think the last couple of minutes won me over.
>Track 8 This track is very restrained - even around six minutes in when it's at it's peak there's not an awful lot going on. It's like minimalism in the way each riff is a slight development on the last, though I think it moves too fast to really be called minimalist. The pianist is very inventive, and keeps my attention for the full running time, which is reason enough to say this is successful.
>Track 9 This sounds almost like it could be off the same album as the last one, in terms of style. Those drum clicks really suit the mood. Much more minimalist this time though. There's a saxophone or something in here filling out the texture I think, though when it was at it's lowest register it sounded more like a synth, so maybe it is. I was hoping for some variation via a solo on that instrument, but this track, whilst not as enjoyable as the last one, was still pretty good.
Jayden Morris
>Track 10 Trumpet player seems to be channelling Sketchs of Spain here, but I think there's some microtonal playing going on too. Not sure I like the inclusion of a string section on this track, it clogs up the backing and leaves less space for the soloists to be interesting, without adding anything necessary.
I wasn't expecting that heavy metal guitar at all, but it fits well.
There probably could have been more interaction between these musicians, but the soloists were pretty good anyway and the piece sounded really cool. The little segment at the end sounded like gamelan music or something else from that part of the world, which makes sense with the microtonal playing on the trumpet.
Liam Ramirez
the trumpet player is well known for his microtonal playing of Arabic music, so there is very likely some of that going on in the first segment
Jason Johnson
Track 1: it's indeed not Stetson, but a younger European player - definitely very similar style to Stetson, especially on this track
Benjamin Nelson
bump
Brody Reyes
I'm heading to an afternoon record release concert soon and posting the reveals when I get back home
It's got to be Ibrahim Maalouf then. I didn't know he played on any releases from this year.
Aiden Howard
>This drummer is pretty insane, he's constantly keeping things moving forward, which is what the track needs. Interesting that you liked the drumming so much on this track. I thought he was sticking too close to his original pattern for most of the tune and not really following the nice interaction going on between the sax and the bass.
Jace Torres
It is Maalouf - he is actually just a guest soloist on two tracks on this release, but makes a really big impact, I think
Evan Rodriguez
Full track-by-track reveals start in about an hour,so last chance to still do your listening and participate!
Ian Gomez
bump
Camden Thompson
This thing seems pretty cool, I never really got that deep into jazz, so this seems like a good opportunity, I'll try participating next week, since I'm probably late to this one.
Landon Cook
Track 1: Lucia Cadotsch - Slow Hot Wind From Speak Low (Enja / Yellowbird)
So the composition is by Henry Mancini, originally known in it's instrumental form as Lujon, named after an obscure percussion instrument that gets it's name from Modern Jazz Quartet pianist John Lewis who was the first to commission such an instrument from it's inventor William Loughborough who had been inspired by composer/hobo Harry Partch to create his own percussion instruments.
One owner of a lujon was drummer Shelly Manne who played in Mancini's band, Mancini liked the instrument so much that he composed Lujon for it - there's a memorable riff that can be played with the six different minor pentatonic tuned sounds that lujon can generate.
With these lyrics the song was first recorded by Johnny Hartmanon his The Voice That Is! in 1965.
This sparsely arranged version by Swiss singer Lucia Cadotsch basically strips all the most recognizable parts - the lujon riff and the lush strings and cocktail-loungey latin feel - and replaces them with the very Colin Stetson-like advanced technique sax playing by Otis Sandsjö and the relatively intense bass of Petter Eldh and even in this very different form the tune works very well.
Speak Low is Cadotsch's first recording in her own name consisting of sparse trio arrangements of jazz standards - she's had some international recognition before as a member in the experimental genre hopping pop band Schneeweiss + Rosenrot.
Here's a video of the trio performing Kurt Weill's Speak Low showing the trio dynamic in action: youtube.com/watch?v=qQsN3d7wUpE
Matthew Jackson
pic related
Thomas Richardson
Track 2: Danielsson - Neset - Lund - Little Jump from Sun Blowing (ACT)
Lars Danielsson - bass Marius Neset - tenor saxophone Morten Lund - drums
German ACT label makes some pretty questionable releases - some common ACT album types to generally avoid are odd tribute albums to popular things and projects that often almost randomly combine ACT artists who don't regularly play together with often very non-impressive results.
This Sun Blowing album that unites three generations of Scandinavian ACT -affiliated musicians - veteran bassist Lars Danielsson, Danish forty-something drummer Morten Lund and young Norwegian rising sax star Marius Neset - seems like it could be in the latter category, but based on the teaser tracks on Spotify, including this relaxed and bouncy Little Jump composed by Danielsson, it seems like it could well rise above the pack of mediocrity.
It is a bit of a chance encounter with the three musicians actually never having played before together before the recording session (although Danielsson and Lund have appeared on quite a few albums together on ACT, I think), but it has a nice relaxed atmosphere to it. Pretty different especially from Marius Neset's own material that tends to have complex arrangements and a strong folk music influence.
I've seen Neset play standards at a jam session and he was very impressive, so he does have more range than one might think from listening to his own releases.
While most of this weeks list is dedicated to music that differs from tradition or brings in elements from other genres, I thought it would be nice to have some more old fashioned tradition based good natured jazz playing in as well.
Christopher Sanchez
Track 3: GoGo Penguin - Smarra from Man Made Object (Blue Note)
Chris Illingworth - piano Nick Blacka - bass Rob Turner - drums
Quite possibly the most influential European jazz musician of the past 20 years is Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson who died in a diving accident at the age of 44 in 2008 and one area he has had a major effect is inspiring many musicians to bring in elements and the aesthetic of electronic music to jazz- .
Maybe the most obvious pretenders to the Esbjörn Svensson Trio throne today in terms of overall sound are Manchester's GoGo Penguin - this track Smarra from their latest album especially with it's dissolve into static could very well be directly taken from E.S.T's Leucocyte, their last album completed before Svensson's death.
GoGo Penguin will go out of their way to never say that they are a jazz band or that they play jazz music, though, and their music doesn't really have traditional jazz soloing, although bassist Blacka might play a solo or two occasionally. Still, they release their albums on jazz labels - this latest one being their Blue Note debut - perform at jazz festivals and clubs, get airplay on jazz shows and are primarily listened to by people interested in jazz, although with Blue Note's help they appear to be reaching out to other audiences.
There certainly seems to be a lack of terminology for music that takes some of the aesthetics and conventions of jazz, but tones down on the improvisation, although quite a bit of music like that appears to be emerging.
For me personally, what makes GoGo Penguin interesting is that these are guys who grew up with trip hop and 90's electronic music and instead of being classically trained jazz musicians playing around with new toys, they are actually making music that they speak natively and bringing in some elements of jazz into it which makes it interesting creative music making for me.
Adam Turner
Track 4: Julie Kjær 3 - Face from Dobbeltgænger (Clean Feed)
Julie Kjær - alto saxophone John Edwards - bass Steve Noble - drums
Music with elements of free jazz and free improvisation are still alive and well in the margins in Europe - sometimes making use of repetitive structures that are certainly a prominent sub-theme this week on this track.
There is also a delightful amount of female players being involved in free jazz, so it's not just Peter Brötzmann, Mats Gustafsson and the like blowing away. This trio is led by Danish sax player Julie Kjær and consists of UK improv scene veterans John Edwards on bass (not to be confused with the bassist John Edwards of Status Quo) and Steve Noble on drums.
This track has a nice contrast with the simple theme and the free jazz freak outs - exciting and creative but surprisingly accessible.
The connection to Renku that jtg alludes to before is that both albums are released by Portuguese label Clean Feed specializing in the more free and avant-garde side of jazz.
Jayden Parker
Track 5: Dalindèo - Leaving Lalibela from Slavic Souls (BBE / Suomen Musiikki)
Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen - guitar Jose Mäenpää - trumpet, keyboards Petri Puolitaival - tenor saxophone Rasmus Pailos - percussion Pekka Lehti - bass Jaska Lukkarinen - drums
Liberally genre-hopping Finnish sextet Dalindèo started out in 2004 as a bossa nova -flavored nu jazz band, but have later pivoted to a more retro-style sound with more diverse elements.
At the heart of the current sound is band leader/composer Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen's reverby surf rock guitar - or more accurately he's playing in the Finnish surf rock style of the 60's called rautalanka (literally translated as "iron string") where the guitar driven instrumental rock ideas met melodies from Finnish folk songs and popular music that were quite often very melancholy eventually forming a tradition of it's own distinguishable from other surf rock.
Dalindèo now takes that same approach to most of their music making - combine 'exotic' genres with Finnish popular music traditions and make something coherent out of it. In practice it's often a combination of a strong dance-able rhythms with a hints of slavic melancholy in the melody.
The band is quite popular in Finland - their previous album got as high as 13 on the national album sales chart - and interestingly they have no problems associating with the jazz scene and people generally accepting them as a jazz band even though they are more entertainment focused and the solos are often a little bit tongue in cheek or overly theatrical. Most of the band are university educated professional jazz musicians with multiple other projects going on, though - seems like often people categorize your music more by who you know than what you play.
To jtg's enquiries - the band doesn't have a really strong direct latin connection, although they did start out playing bossa rhythms and all that.
Caleb Morales
Track 6: Phronesis - Manioc Maniac from Parallax (Edition Records)
Jasper Hoiby - double bass Ivo Neame - piano Anton Eger - drums
Phronesis might be the contemporary European piano trio that best combines modern sounds and styles with the improvisatory nature and tradition of jazz.
I think they are at their best in the up tempo energetic material driven forward by the power of the rhythm section - Jasper Hoiby's strong bass sound and Anton Eger's almost manic drumming - Brit pianist Ivo Neame has his work cut out for him keeping up, but luckily he usually does and here on Manioc Maniac Neame's piano takes center stage.
Phronesis are an excellent live band, I recommend checking them out if you get a chance - especially Anton Eger's drumming is very entertaining to watch.
Phronesis are also closely affiliated with Marius Neset from track #2 - the whole of Phronesis used to play in Neset's group and today Neame and Eger still do with Petter Eldh of Track #1 fame on bass - I believe they were in studio together this year for an upcoming ACT release, so if you liked Phronesis, check Neset's albums featuring them as well.
Jayden Adams
Track 7: Gerard Presencer & the Danish Radio Big Band - Footprints from Groove Travels (Edition Records)
Danish Radio Big Band solos: Gerard Presencer - trumpet & flugelhorn Hans Ulrik Jensen - tenor saxophone Steen Hansen - trombone
Just in case people would be annoyed about there being "no real jazz" in the list, here's a big band playing Wayne Shorter just in case.
British trumpeter Gerard Presencer became first known as a bit of a youth prodigy being the youngest trumpeter of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in the UK at 11.
His accomplishments are mostly on the teaching side, the most likely place where you would have actually heard his playing on record are the solo of US3's Cantaloop famously sampling Herbie from 1993 when he was still just 18 or on some Joni Mitchell projects or the soundtrack to L.A. Noire. He was the head of the jazz department at the Royal Academy of Music for 11 years (starting that job at just 27 years old) before relocating to Copenhagen to get more chances to actually play jazz and becoming a regular member of the Danish Radio Big Band.
This new release Groove Travels documents his original compositions and arrangements for the DRBB since 2010.
The Danish Radio Big Band is one of the great institutions of Danish jazz, formed originally in 1964 at the height of jazz interest in Copenhagen when multiple big name US artists relocated there. These days they appear to be trying to manage the usual juggling act between artistically interesting jazz projects and more commercial work.
Lincoln Adams
wow its european jazz and its a bunch of shitty bandcamp stuff, what a surprise, the plebs in blindfold don't know shit about euro jazz
Track 8: Aki Rissanen Trio - Pulsar from Amorandom (Edition Records)
Aki Rissanen - piano Antti Lötjönen - bass Teppo Mäkynen - drums
I've mentioned this Finnish trio before in these threads. They make up 3/4 of trumpeter Verneri Pohjola's quartet that got some international recognition for their Bullhorn album last year. This trio has been playing together off and on since 2002 - I think they first got together to perform some of Rissanen's student work while student's at the Sibelius Academy.
Here in Finland this particular album Amorandom seems like an early candidate for Jazz AOTY based on media reception, although it's far in audience popularity compared to Dalindèo heard on track #5 this week.
Often the most unique element that comes through in their music compared to other piano trios is Rissanen's background in classical piano, but this track Pulsar is more driven by his interest in electronic music and repetition to fit with the weeks sub-theme.
Last year he released a very experimental album combining piano and electronics called Sturm as part of Ilma Records "digital box set 1+2+3+5=4 showing off this different side and he also performs occasionally as an electro-acoustic duo with Pohjola: soundcloud.com/akiriki/sturm-pre-teaser
James Wilson
So then why haven't you made us a playlist yet big guy?
Ayden Hughes
Track 9: Nik Bärtsch's Mobile - Modul 5 from Continuum (ECM)
Nik Bärtsch - piano Sha - bass clarinet Kaspar Rast - drums, percussion Nicolas Stocker - drums, percussion
On the farthest end of minimalism that has any connection to jazz is Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch.
He has two different groups, the one with a new release this year is the all-acoustic Mobile that is the more minimalistic of the two, the other being his electric "zen-funk" group Ronin that gives a little more freedom to the musicians and is more groove driven.
Bärtsch says improvisation plays a part, but maybe he's just hedging his bets so jazz festivals will invite him to play: "Despite the tightly organized compositional construction, improvisation plays an important role in our music. On the one hand, accentuation, ghost notes, and variations within a composition are tossed back and forth between the musicians; on the other hand, a particular voice within a composition might have more freedom than the others. In doing so, that voice forms an independent module that can interact with the strictly notated interlocking patterns in continuously changing ways. Groove-habitats or void musical space of raw poetry emerge."
He has been releasing albums on ECM for about 10 years now. ECM of course releases both jazz and minimalist classical from the likes of Arvo Pärt and Steve Reich, so this kind of music is certainly well suited for the label. The contemporary classical is released usually in the ECM New Series - Bärtsch's stuff is in the regular ECM catalogue, so apparently Manfred Eicher considers him more jazz than classical. You are as likely to see them perform at jazz festivals than other music festivals, though, so they are certainly in the meeting point of different styles and traditions.
Thomas Thompson
Europe has also heard of sketchy audience shot YouTube videos, not personally a big fan of those for trying to give someone an even remotely representative picture of what an artist sounds like
on a more serious note, if anyone is looking to sample more of this stuff almost everything from this week is available on Spotify apart from the ECM release and ACT releases only have some tracks available (full albums of ACT releases typically come to streaming in a few months from release), but you'll find it easier to find many of these albums there than on Soulseek for example
Gabriel Ross
Track 10: Frank Woeste - Nouakchott from Pocket Rhapsody (ACT)
Frank Woeste - keyboards Ben Monder - guitar Justin Brown - drums +Ibrahim Maalouf - trumpet +Gregoire Korniluk - cello +Sarah Nemtanu - violin
German born, Paris based pianist Frank Woeste's ACT label debut Pocket Rhapsody packs an admirable amount of different styles into one album. I was even thinking whether he's just trying to make sure he fits in ACT's roster by trying to sound like multiple different ACT artists on different tracks.
Front cover makes it look like a trio album with Americans Ben Monder on guitar (who got some extra cross-genre buzz this year from playing on Bowie's Blackstar) and Justin Brown on drums, but it never really sounds like a trio album with Woeste on both piano as well as electric keyboards and bass synth and multiple guests.
I particularly liked the two tracks that feature French trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf who brings a strong Middle-Eastern flavor to the music and pretty much takes over the show when he's around.
This track Nouakchott (based on the title dedicated to French avant-garde guitarist Noël Akchoté, although I don't hear much musical connection as all of Akchotés playing I've heard is pretty strongly on the Derek Bailey/Eugene Chadbourne/Marc Ribot side of things) also features some strings for good measure.
It's kind of a weird album since it's trying to do so many different things and I don't think Woeste uses either Monder or Brown particularly effectively, but parts of it are pretty engaging modern fusion and I think Maalouf does a great job bringing his own sound in while fitting to the whole on his tracks, so check it out if that sounds like your thing.
Levi Hill
and that wraps it up for this week - hope you guys found something new to check out from this eclectic selection and thanks to everyone who participated!
if you think I left some phenomenal new Euro releases out, let's hear them!
Some others worth checking out in the running where the new album from Tonbruket led by Esbjörn Svensson Trio's bassist Dan Berglund that jtg mentioned in his Track 3 - chose Woeste's track instead for contemporary euro-fusion since I liked Maalouf so much on it and Mats Gustafsson's Fire! that I skipped to give Julie Kjær some visibility since Fire! appears to be pretty widely known on Sup Forums as it is.
Also Belgian-Finnish quartet Orchestra Nazionale Della Luna was on the list for the longest time as an example of Eurojazz closer to contemporary American styles, so check them out as well if this list was a total turn-off: youtube.com/watch?v=ZSfgrua9-vo
Tyler Clark
Where should I go if I want to hear more of Maalouf?
Landon White
Deep research on this one. Actually I'm enjoying reading your background on all these tracks. I'm going to have to step my game up in writing these for the playlists I chose.
>Marius Neset I never have gotten around to listening to him. He sounded pretty good here so maybe I'll have to check out the rest of this record.
I listened to this album but didn't recognize this track. It's funny now that you mention it I do remember thinking of EST during the static fadeout while listening to the album.
>he connection to Renku that jtg alludes to before is that both albums are released by Portuguese label Clean Feed specializing in the more free and avant-garde side of jazz. Not to mention the alto/bass/drums instrumentation. I happened to be checking out 2016 releases on rutracker yesterday and came across this and figured out that's what this track must have been.
I wouldn't have guessed this was the DR Big Band. They didn't sound nearly as tight here as when I've heard them in some other contexts... could be that the production has some impact on that.
I remembered listening to a youtube clip that you posted from this so I was actually looking for it to show up this week but I guess I didn't expect it to be quite so based in minimalism from the track you posted.
Listened to this album too. I don't know if I even realized it was Maalouf on this. One of the things I didn't like about that album (and about a lot of modern jazz releases) is the use of guests on just a few tracks. I really dislike that trend. I almost always prefer to hear a cohesive group sound throughout an album.
Wyatt Adams
I'm not too familiar with much of his sideman work, but his own studio releases (that are not soundtrack albums) are a good place to start
he had two albums last year on the current iteration of Impulse! records - Red & Black Light and Kalthoum that I think are both quite good, so you could definitely start there
I think of the Wind and Illusion albums as his international breakthrough period, but that's probably due to him coming to the local jazz festival at that time. Both those albums feature Frank Woeste on keyboards, so if you liked track 10, they sound like decent places to start from as well.
He was pretty accomplished by the time he started making records in his own name, so I don't think you can fail too badly no matter where you start, although his recent soundtrack releases La Vache and Je Vous Souhaite d'être Follement Aimée are probably not the greatest choices for a jazz fan as said.
Dylan Lopez
especially this week it was more of a factor of picking tracks that I had something to say about or had intrigued me before rather than doing additional research - felt like I should make some meaningful picks since most of this stuff would be new and obscure to practically all of you
>Track 10 the absolute worst part about that Woeste album for me is the Youn Sun Nah vocal track that just doesn't fit the whole at all - I would have preferred for Maalouf to be on every track and Nah and strings to not be there at all
Luke White
Oh yeah. I forgot about her vocal track on there. I even kind of like some of her albums but it felt very weird in that album.
I think there's kind of a trend of having female vocalist guest stars. David Binney has an album coming out later this year and I was disappointed to see that Jen Shyu is going to be singing on it. Maybe it won't be too bad if she sings some throughout the album.
Joseph Ramirez
I agree, I enjoyed the writeups quite a bit. Also, definitely going to check out Aki Rissanen and Verneri Pohjola now.
