Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
This post’s actual footprints come from bears in Alaska, birds on the Indian subcontinent and continental Australia, a Tasmanian wombat, and humans in an African desert and Australian suburbia.
The musical bonus is courtesy of one of the greatest jazz musicians – equally so as composer, virtuoso instrumentalist and inspired improviser.
There’s also a metaphorical footnote which involves New Zealand’s largest farm…
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In the USA, it is currently “yesterday”, Tuesday, 11 May, 2021.
I hope that Carla Bley is enjoying a very happy birthday with her beloved, Steve Swallow.
For rather more than my entire adult life, Carla Bley has composed, arranged and played singular music, variously – sometimes, simultaneously – provocative, surprising, very amusing, satirical, sublimely lyrical, complex, seemingly-simple…
Her three most recent releases – all, new trio recordings of new music, made between 2013 and 2019 – are some of her finest, ever.
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…or discovering him.
Arguably one of South Africa’s two pre-eminent improvising pianists, Bheki Mseleku was also an arresting saxophonist and vocalist.
His music deserves to be much more widely known.
Anyone who deeply admires Abdullah Ibrahim, McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane is highly likely to appreciate Bheki Mseleku.
Comments closedHere are two albums you should hear.
They offer no tediously-roosterish displays of “technique”.
Neither are they lamely “hip”, or tepidly “smooth”.
Both are uncommonly beautiful.
Crucial to their success is something rarely mentioned by reviewers of “jazz” releases: real friendships, sustained over many years.
One Comment…wordlessly, but you can hear how acutely conscious he is of Woodstock‘s lyric.
Comments closedHers is likely the slowest, but also the most playful, witty and inventive of all recorded versions of Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most – a “jazz standard” with a most unlikely inspiration source.
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Together for the first time as a trio on disc, Danish drummer Morten Lund, Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson & Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset (l-r, above, photographed by Stephen Freiheit) have delivered a wonderful, exuberant album. Norwegian drummer Per Oddvar Johansen’s trio is utterly different, somewhat darker.
2 CommentsIn recent years many improvising pianists have made highly capable, not very memorable, quite-solo albums. This unforgettable pair are not much alike, but share key virtues.
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