Monday, February 20, 2017

Theo Bleckmann - Elegy (ECM 2017)

Beyond being a vocalist of rare purity and daring, Theo Bleckmann is a sound painter who creates what JazzTimes has described aptly as “luminous webs” in music. The German-born New Yorker – after appearing on two ECM albums by Meredith Monk and another by Julia Hülsmann makes his striking label debut as a leader with Elegy.


Staub Quartet - House Full of Colors (JACC RECORDS 2017)

Artistic creation is closely linked with the need to take that which remains hidden in the unconscious to a higher level governed by consciousness. 

In the exercise of transforming the occult into something visible, the artist, through a state of catharsis of being, goes about creating an imaginary space where they are able to germinate symbols, capture ideas and project from the magic of playfulness an aesthetic argument that aspires to transform the creative impulse into a significant and substantive action. 

However, for a work to be deemed a truly creative act, it is not enough to solely unearth the hidden in the unconscious nor to bring from the darkness that which exists in the depths of being. There must exist, within the artist, the will to manifest a transparency that allows the light to enter their inner world. 

The symbolism contained in the existing link between the action of "letting in the light" and creative realization, is embodied in a sublime way through House Full of Colors, the debut album by STAUB Quartet. 

This cooperative project, rooted in the development of acoustic improvisation, brings together four essential figures of our time in European creative music: violinist Carlos "Zingaro", guitarist Marcelo dos Reis, bassist Hernani Faustino and cellist Miguel Mira. The approach offered in this album debut of this quartet of distinguished musicians - all having emerged from today’s thriving Portuguese music scene - finds its inspirational epicenter in the concepts of light and color. 

This conceptual reference is embodied in the album title as well as the names of each piece while also giving life and nurturing a musical approach that yearns to explore uncharted creative territories. So claimed Paul Cezanne, "Light is not something that can be reproduced, but something that should be represented using something else". 

The artistic testimony amalgamated by STAUB QUARTET in House Full of Colors, the means used for that representation, are sounds and music. Talking about color also involves talking about light; it is due to light that we see the shapes and colors of forms. However, with subsequent discoveries about how the brain interprets colors in "Color Theory", outlined by Goethe, along with the current research in color psychology, it is agreed that color has a subjective value that is based on the phenomenon of human perception.

There is no doubt that subjectivity can be fertile ground for the blossoming of an artistic idea that seeks to extrapolate the perception of color to music and, in the case of House Full of Colors, that aspiration materializes in a sublime manner. The album passes through different climates - mostly associated with the perception of color and light that gives it life - but finds a common denominator in its abstract nature (which is to say that it doesn’t respond to predetermined stylistic concepts), a spacious and relaxed exploration of the material (which comes from careful listening and mutual understanding with which they interact collectively) and the constant playful instinct that pervades the improvisational approach of the quartet. In its subtle journey, the music passes through the spacious contours and introspective calm of Quiet Arcs, the disturbing intensity that emerges from the complex sound structure exposed in Red Curtains, the fleeting and elusive character of Opacity Rings, the sonic flirtations and emphatic dramatics of Knots of Light, the haunting beauty of a dream-like atmosphere developed in Resonant Shades and the multi-weighted temperament open to myriad readings emanating from Discrete Auroras. All of it ranked by the quality of the ideas of its interpreters and framed in the context of a consummate collective delivery. 

At the time, the brilliant Kandinsky - influenced by Goethe and Delacroix - showed that sound and color had powerful effects on the human condition as both can become "means to exert a direct influence on the soul." 

Based on similar principles, STAUB QUARTET, through House Full of Color, has produced a work capable of illuminating the soul of everyone who is willing to "let in the light" to their inner world. 

Sergio Piccirilli

1. Quiet Arcs 6:10 
2. Red Curtains 6:59 
3. Opacity Rings 10:13 
4. Knots of Light 5:19 
5. Resonant Shades 9:14 
6. Discrete Auroras 5:42

Miguel Mira cello
Carlos Zíngaro violin
Hernani Faustino double bass

Tim Langedijk Trio - Up North (2017)


Tim Langedijk – Guitarist Langedijk (1984) graduated cum laude at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Langedijk started his trio in 2006. Besides his trio he does studiowork and arranging. With different groups he toured throughout Europe. Contemporary jazz that branches out into fusion and country, it’s all possible with Langedijk, yet always with a lovely tone and refined movements.

He likes beautiful melodic lines and subtle harmonies and he also searches for intriguing and adventurous soundscapes. He played with Jasper van ’t Hof, Adam Nussbaum, Tommy Smith.
Currently he’s teaching at the Haarlem Conservatory.

Udo Pannekeet – Bass player Udo Pannekeet (1978) graduated cum laude at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. In 2002 he started his own quintet Pitch Pine Project, featuring Martijn van Iterson, Tom Beek, Chris Strik en Rob van Bavel. The group got a lot of critical acclaim in the Netherlands as well as outside of it, playing in France, Belgium and Germany. PPP played at the North Sea Jazz Festival twice, with famous trumpet player Randy Brecker. Udo played at major festivals en venues in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, China, the Philippines and Switzerland.

On (2014, Bow Shock Records) is his first album under his own name. With top-notch players: Jeroen van Vliet, Pascal Vermeer and Belgian saxophonist Erwin Vann.

Udo teaches bassguitar and theory at the conservatories in Tilburg, Haarlem and Enschede.

Hans van Oosterhout – Hans (1965) started playing drums at the age of seven. After graduating from high school, he is immediately admitted to the Jazz Department of the Rotterdam Conservatory. Even before finishing his studies, he is offered a position as a drum teacher at the Rotterdam Conservatory, a position today he still holds since 1987. Currently also teaching at Fontys in Tilburg. Over the years Hans has established himself as one of the much sought after drummers in Europe. He has been performing with Toots Thielemans, Philip Catherine, Kenny Wheeler, John Scofield, Gino Vannelli, Lee Konitz, Rick Margitza, Denise Jannah, and many more.


1. Current · 8:45
2. Gerridae · 4:38
3. Song of Secrets · 6:44
4. Flor Ane · 5:07
5. Up North · 5:20
6. Mystics · 3:00
7. Status · 3:34
8. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry · 3:15

Papanosh - A Chicken in a Bottle (2017)

Dès le premier titre le ton est donné! Bienvenue dans l'univers tumultueux de Papanosh. Comme sur leur précédent album Oh Yeah Ho, les cinq jazzmen français débarquent avec un tourbillon swing destructuré et jubilatoire à l'imaginaire tout mingusien et dolphyesque. Le quintet du collectif des Vibrants Défricheurs joue avec les codes du jazz pour mieux le faire vivre et danser.

Sur ce A Chicken in a Bottle, les trublions imprévisibles brisent les rythmes, alternent mélodies élégantes et tempêtes rythmiques. Ils trempent leur groove fulgurant dans un folklore imaginaire, de Tijuana à la Havane en passant par La Nouvelle Orléans. Papanosh est un quintet de musiciens qui se sont construits ensemble, où chacun peut être leader. Solos et fièvre collective s'enchaînent avec une évidence rare, le tout avec une dérision que seuls les grands musiciens peuvent se permettre.

Les cuivres du saxophoniste Raphaël Quenehen et du trompettiste Quentin Ghomari irradient, les rythmiques du contrebassite Thibault Cellier et du batteur Jérémie Piazza jouent avec notre tension, tandis que l'orgue B3 et autres claviers de Sébastien Palis nous propulent dans le groove des meilleures années Blue Note. Au milieu de cette cavalcade festive de compositions originales trône une reprise délicate du titre Plain Gold Ring immortalisé par Nina Simone en 1958. Un pur bonheur à voir sur scène absolument.

1. A Chicken in a Bottle 4:28
2. Monsieur Shadows 5:46
3. Bierbeek 5:02
4. Hermanos 6:45
5. Moquette 6:07
6. Plain Gold Ring 5:13
7. El Toro 7:52
8. 160 Bpm 3:34
9. Pour Andre 5:05

Chromb! - 1000 (2016)

1. Des Francis en quinconce
2. Bobby
3. Favrice
4. Le tombeau est vide
5. Bonjoure
6. La nuit des madames
7. Die Krabben leben noch
8. Il en fallait

Arrangé par les membres du corps de CHROMB! 

Clément Dupuis : ­ production exécutive 
Jérôme Rio ­ : prise de son et mixage 
Romain Rafini :­ mastering 
Benjamin Flao­ : images 
Sophie Blondeau : nourriture 
Pierre Chanel : Layout

Greg Diamond - Avenida Graham (ZOHO MUSIC 2016)
















1. Synesthesia 6:13 
2. Cole’s Addendum 1:47 
3. Rastros 6:38 
4. El Coronel 7:23 
5. Hint of Jasmin 7:43
6. Gentrix 7:28 
7. Laia 8:25 
8. Cascade 6:38 
9. Motion Suite 8:32

STACY DILLARD Tenor and Soprano Saxophone (1,4-6,8,9)
SEAMUS BLAKE Tenor Saxophone (2,3)
MAURICIO HERRERA Congas & Percussion (1,3,5,9)