By Chris M. Slawecki
Dom Um RomÃÂÃÂÃÂão: Lake of Perseverance (Irma)
The percussionists' percussionist, RomÃÂÃÂÃÂão is usually heard only in the context of others; in his case, in the context of more than 150 albums by such others as Sinatra (Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tony Bennett (The Movie Song Album), Cannonball Adderley, and Weather Report (I Sing the Body Electric and Mysterious Traveler).
On Lake, RomÃÂÃÂÃÂão steps out to front a collection that's lushly colorful and incredibly varied, a Brazilian rainforest grown from branches of pop and jazz plus jingling guitar rock, danceclub music, even instrumental R&B and hip-hop, pregnant with ripe and aromatic exotic fruit. Keyboardist/arranger Eumir Deodato, vocalist Ithamara Koorax, and longtime Jobim associate flutist/vocalist Danilo Caymmi all help make RomÃÂÃÂÃÂão's garden grow, along with guitarist Teddy Kumpel, leader of NYC underground rock band Nome Sane, and bassist Tony Sherr from the band Sex Mob, longtime fixtures at NYC's The Knitting Factory.
With "Eric's Stuff" RomÃÂÃÂÃÂão honors late guitarist Eric Gale and the versatile, prolific band of studio aces that Gale led in the 1970s, Stuff. RomÃÂÃÂÃÂão scalds his pots in the club-thumper "Apache Groove" adding rhythmic and melodic variety to the danceclub metronome that segues into "House Carnival" another track that melts modern club sheen together with earthy percussion funk. His deep and resonant jungle drums tumble with turntable scratching and speed-of-light samples in "Groovystation" (turntables and programming by DJ DaLua). Deodato contributes to the variety with his atypical, staccato and pointy "Bit Box" while Krumpel's guitar divebombs in and out of Koorax' breathy and badass vocal take on Debbie Harry, in "Sanctuary / TentacÃÂÃÂÃÂão.
Classics from the world of Brazil include a delightfully romantic "Blue Bossa" "Afro Blue" and a vocal-percussion duet dance on "Mas Que Nada" by the leader and Koorax, whose voice amazingly resembles a flute that blows the house down in closing.
Metalwood: The Recline (Telarc)
Three-time recipients of the Juno Awards' Electric Jazz Band of the Year, Metalwood combines the sense of Medeski Martin & Wood groove with the feel of a saxophone or trumpet quartet. The Recline is the fourth album by Brad Turner (keyboards and trumpet), Mike Murley (saxophones), Chris Tarry (fretless bass), and Ian Froman (drums). Often billed as "Canada's Masters of Free-Form Groove Jazz" their eponymous debut claimed the Best Contemporary Jazz Recording Juno Award, as did their follow-up Metalwood 2, and for which Metalwood 3 was also nominated.
Their MM&W connection is furthered by the tasty guitar chops of guest guitarist John Scofield, who has already engaged in publicized workouts with that Medeski crew. Percussionist Mino Cinelu and turntable maestro DJ Logic are Metalwood's other guests, contributing to five and two tracks respectively.
Scofield adds serious flavor to his featured cuts such as the opening "Strollin,'" which is not only perfectly titled, it's the perfect rhythmic vehicle for his tangy blue note placement. "Bumpus" sounds like its title: A fat four-to-the-floor Cannonball groove tricked up and slicked up with Logic's scratches and loops, with guitar and saxophone doubling as the drummer lags just a whisper behind the beat in classic Crescent City fashion (and, believes this editor, named for Steely Dan saxophonist Cornelius Bumpus). Logic and Scofield funk up their tight "New Pants" in much the same way. "Steeplejack" cuts the same sort of groove but with percussionist Cinelu and sans Scofield: Uncut hard-bop whipped to the finish by bassist Tarry, who slips and slides over and around its pulse like a greased eel then thumps out a dizzying fretless solo, and by Cinelu's mighty mighty beatdown.
As trumpet and saxophone harmonize to dance atop the carpet laid by the electric keyboards, "The Hipster" softly nestles into the sound of the classic Freddie Hubbard / Joe Henderson Red Clay session for CTI.
SakÃÂÃÂÃÂésho: SakÃÂÃÂÃÂésho (Heads Up)
With relatively little fanfare, SakÃÂÃÂÃÂésho emerged as one of 2002's most melodic jazz "supergroups" consisting of Andy Narell on steel pans, Mario Canonge on piano and keyboards, Michel Alibo on bass and Jean Philippe Fanfant on drums. Their decided emphasis is on the music of the Caribbean, specifically of Martinique and Guadaloupe. And it comes from more than just the trademark sound of Narell's pans: This eponymous debut features a formal "RoulÃÂÃÂÃÂé Quadrille" and other traditional rhythms in the calypso, gwoka, beguine and mazouka styles.
Little wonder: Canonge was born in Martinque and currently resides in Paris as a composer and pianist recognized as expert in both jazz and traditional French Caribbean styles, while Alibo is also a Parisian transplant from Martinique. The three met Narell while he was performing in Martinique several years ago. "They had all this vocabulary and training as jazz musicians" Narell recalls, "but they all knew the gwoka drums, and the folkloric music, and the popular music they grew up around. And I wanted to learn about it."
SakÃÂÃÂÃÂésho is extremely, almost ridiculously, melodic music. "RoulÃÂÃÂÃÂé Quadrille" may be a traditional French form, but Canonge's mid-song piano solo is inspired jazz. He later sounds like Lyle Mays having a simply grand melodic day through his solo and shimmering point/counterpoint with Narell in "Grand Fabrice." Canonge shifts to electric keyboards to set the soft yet sparkling tone in "Karawak Dream" a mazouka.
Narell's "Song for Mia" is the tour de force (mere seconds short of twelve minutes), with vocals from a Martinique folk singer dancing atop traditional gwokan drumming and stunning rhythmic interplay among the quartet. Other flags fly from the Afro-Cuban groove of the opening "Kon Djab Djigidji" and the colorful, traditional Carnival music of Trinidad in "Laventille."
Along with several videos and artist biographies, helpful song descriptions on this enhanced CD explain, for example, that "Mabouya" is a mazouka based on the chord changes of the Monk classic "Round Midnight."
Various Artists: Asian Massive (Six Degrees)
"Asian Massive" is one phrase coined for a musical approach that blends the ancient sound of traditional ethnic music from the Indian and Asian continents with the modern sound of big-beat electronica and hip-hop. This compilation sampler features tracks by leading Massive practitioners, including New Dehli-based MIDIval PunditZ, dj Cheb i Sabbah, a Nigerian native who has remixed tracks for the quixotic Paul Horn and Don Cherry, and Karsh Kale. Kale played drums on Herbie Hancock's acclaimed Future 2 Future sessions, serves in Tabla Beat Science with jazz-rock auteur Bill Laswell, and is also one of New York City's most killin' and chillin' club DJs (Read more about Karsh Kale here).
It seems incongruous, even odd. But something underneath the surface of ancient Indian music seems to resonate deeply with modern electronica and "DJ Science" something that can make the two sounds sound great together. In very different ways, western electronic music and eastern contemplative music are both precisely programmed and rhythmically hypnotic. Maybe that explains their compatibility.
Asian Massive consists mainly of previously unreleased tracks. The first two, "Chandini Chowk" (the PunditZ) and "Rupa Tujhe Deva" (Sabbah) suitably introduce the rest: Tiny modulations in pitch of percussion form skeletal melodies while flute, sitar, tabla, keyboards and vocal chants ingeniously writhe from background to foreground and back. Hypnotically and alluringly repetitive, Asian Massive works on levels different from most modern electronic music -- a little "further out" while at the same time deeply "tuned in" to inner meditative space, too. The PunditZ' "Ab Ke Baras" traditional Indian music in twinkling electronic beats, sets a great example of the style.
Vocals in this context serve not as verses or even lyrics but as another tonal instrument, and meditative songs and chants greatly add to mystique created by these serpentine beats. It happens throughout the simultaneously catchy yet warped female singing in Kale's "Jah Has Kool Girl" and the multi-tracked devotional vocals in the "Temple" that closes this set.
