We have mostly new releases on this show with music from Willie Morris, Josh D. Reed, Scott Marshall. Carlos Niño Surya Botofasina & Adam Rudolph, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Leo Genovese John Lockwood & Nat Mugavero, PSA, Ivo Perelman Mark Helias & Tom Rainey, This Celestial Engine, and, Franco D’Andrea Franco Tonani & Bruno Tommaso.
- Show Intro 00:00
- Willie Morris “Moving Right Along” from Attentive Listening (Posi-tone) 01:04
- Josh D. Reed “True Love Waits” from No Signs Ahead (Self Released) 08:16
- Scott Marshall “That’s Better” from The Solitude Suite (Self Released) 22:05
- Carlos Niño, Surya Botofasina, Adam Rudolph “Meta-Ideations” from Live At Public Records 12/10/2022 (International Anthem) 31:06
- Ethnic Heritage Ensemble “Compared To What” from Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse Records) 51:08
- Leo Genovese, John Lockwood, Nat Mugavero “6” from The Art of Not Playing (577 Records) 1:00:00
- PSA “Onward” from PSA (PSA Records) 1:20:04
- Ivo Perelman, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey “Truth Seeker” from Truth Seeker (Fundacja Słuchaj) 1:29:33
- This Celestial Engine “The Astral Doctrine” from This Celestial Engine (Discus Music) 1:40:05
- Franco D’Andrea, Franco Tonani, Bruno Tommaso “Frammento” from Modern Art Trio (GleAM Records) 1:55:42
Willie Morris “Moving Right Along” from Attentive Listening (Posi-tone)
Second album with a new rhythm section for this release
- WIllie Morris – tenor saxophone
- Patrick Cornelius – alto saxophone
- Jon Davis – piano
- Boris Kozlov – bass
- Rudy Royston – drums/percussion
- Josh D. Reed “True Love Waits” from No Signs Ahead (Self Released)
Reed has assembled a stellar cast of musicians to fill out his electric quartet. He has performed with guitarist Tim Wendel and bassist Zack Teran for over a decade, first meeting in the Colorado jazz scene; the three musicians appeared together on Wendel’s 2022 release Westward You. Dave King, known for his work with pioneering bands like Happy Apple, The Bad Plus, and Broken Shadows, fills the drum chair with his singular creative drive. Colorado-based tenor saxophonist Heath Walton expands the band to a quintet for a couple of tracks. The album’s six tracks span a range of genres and styles, but the consistent underpinning is the intensity and immediacy of the band’s interpretations of these songs.
Scott Marshall “That’s Better” from The Solitude Suite (Self Released)
The Solitude Suite is saxophonist and composer Scott Marshall’s sixth album of original music. Written for a unique chord-less configuration – and performed by Canadian jazz icons Kevin Turcotte, Mike Downes, Terry Clarke, and Marshall himself – The Solitude Suite proves once again that Marshall is one of Canada’s most astute and creative jazz composers.
The first half of this suite was composed during the Covid-19 pandemic (a literal solitude.) The later half of the suite was composed as the world emerged and struggled with the ‘new normal’ (the figurative solitude.) In jazz music, chordal instruments typically cover the music’s inner harmonies. They take care of the middle ground, holding the song together – they play the “butter notes,” as Miles Davis used to call them. The Solitude Suite however, has no chordal instruments: the harmony is revealed by the interweaving lines of the trumpet, saxophone, and bass. The suite was inspired by the solitudes that seem to exist in our modern world: solitudes created by smart phones, social media algorithms, and divisive political discourse. It often feels like society is losing its middle ground, its common knowledge… in other words, we can’t always hear the “butter notes.” This suite is both a reflection on these solitudes and a musical call for more beauty, hope, and optimism in the world.
Carlos Niño, Surya Botofasina, Adam Rudolph “Meta-Ideations” from Live At Public Records 12/10/2022 (International Anthem)
On December 10th, 2022, Carlos Niño and Photay assembled a cast of musicians at Brooklyn’s Public Records to perform in celebration of their recently-released International Anthem LP ‘An Offering’ (and the subsequent mixtape of bonus material, ‘More Offerings’).
The first set of that night featured Niño in trio with keyboardist Surya Botofasina and percussionist Adam Rudolph, as the three musicians immersed the sold out crowd in a soul tribe invitational – calling forth their generational inner illuminations through each element of sound and song, spontaneously composing the music by listening, sharing, and calling upon their creative imaginations. The recording from that first set was originally released exclusively via Qobuz in Summer 2023, along with an additional track from the second set, “Finite – Infinite,” featuring Photay, Laraaji, and Will Logan. The music is available now, for the first time, here on Bandcamp and across all other digital music platforms.
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble “Compared To What” from Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse Records)
This is the new offering from Kahil El’Zabar and his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, in conjunction with the legendary group’s 50th anniversary, Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.
- Kahil El’Zabar – multi-percussion, voice
- Corey Wilkes – trumpet, percussion
- Alex Harding – baritone sax
- Featuring:
- James Sanders – violin, viola
- Ishmael Ali – cello
Leo Genovese, John Lockwood, Nat Mugavero “6” from The Art of Not Playing (577 Records)
Master pianist, New York-based, originally from Argentina, Leo Genovese, recently won a grammy for ‘Best Improvised Jazz Solo’ – an award considered by many as ‘mainstream’. Rather than blocking his innovative path, this well deserved recognition from ‘the establishment’ has rather seemingly encouraged him further in his explorations of creative music. Genovese’s debut album ‘The Art of Not Playing’ with fellow musicians John Lockwood on bass and drummer Nat Mugavero proves it. The trio celebrates the practice of disappearing during the process of creating. Trusting the ‘I don’t know part of the music’ or better, not being in control of the so-called music that is created and the beauty that ensues when the musicians allow themselves to be guided by the muse or whatever you might call the higher power that takes over when they let it.
PSA “Onward” from PSA (PSA Records)
In the pulsating heart of the Boston jazz scene, a musical alchemy transpires whenever Pritesh Walia’s guitar, Sharik Hasan’s keys/organ/synths, and Avery Logan’s drumsticks collide. The result? A spellbinding trio, known collectively as PSA, poised to redefine the boundaries of the traditional organ trio. The genesis of this musical union reads like a serendipitous tale — Walia, Hasan and Logan naturally gravitated towards each other, driven by an insatiable passion for jazz and a shared ambition to breathe new life into the classic organ trio format.
Ivo Perelman, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey “Truth Seeker” from Truth Seeker (Fundacja Słuchaj)
You all know Ivo Perelman, one of the world’s most ardent and lyrical improvisers. The famous New Yorker in the company of artists he has never recorded with before, the legendary double bassist Mark Helias and the great leader and percussionist at the same time Tom Rainey. The album Truth Seeker is an item that shows Ivo Perelman’s playing in a completely unprecedented context. Such fascinating recording sessions are worth waiting years for!!!!!!!!!
This Celestial Engine “The Astral Doctrine” from This Celestial Engine (Discus Music)
Featuring the extraordinary lineup of drummer Ted Parsons (Swans, Prong, Godflesh, Killing Joke, Jesu), bassist Dave Sturt (Gong, Steve Hillage Band, Bill Nelson), and keyboardist Roy Powell (InterStatic, Anthony Braxton, Mumpbeak with Bill Laswell), the album delivers a unique blend of experimental ambient avant-jazz rock improvisation.
Franco D’Andrea, Franco Tonani, Bruno Tommaso “Frammento” from Modern Art Trio (GleAM Records)
Released November 10, 2023
- Franco D’Andrea – acoustic & electric piano, soprano saxophone
- Bruno Tommaso – doublebass
- Franco Tonani – drums, trumpet, songwhistle
One of the most important records of european jazz, now in its fourth remastered edition. An impressive work of audio restoration commissioned by the producer Angelo Mastronardi and realized thanks to the lucky discovery of the original tape by the publisher Luca Sciascia and carefully restored and mastered by sound engineer Jeremy Loucas in the United States. Recorded at SOUNDWORKSHOP (Rome) on April 17 & 19, 1970
Different Noises 