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Sivan Arbel: Oneness
by Katchie Cartwright
Sivan Arbel's compositional practice is alternately “nerdy," as the singer-composer describes it, and “stream of consciousness." In her studio, she labors meticulously over the nuts and bolts: rhythmic patterns, harmonic changes, melodic turns. Once the fundamental elements are in place, though, she sits at her piano and “squeezes the sponge," improvising words and music freely, reaching into deeper levels of consciousness. She records everything and then listens back, editing and refining what she has created. Her scores for Oneness are ...
Continue ReadingAlex Tremblay: Thoughts & Images
by Jack Bowers
The Thoughts & Images on bassist Alex Tremblay's album of that name are essentially his own (he composed and arranged every number), so the outcome must be appraised for the most part using those ingredients as a touchstone. Not that the musicianship is unimportant; on the contrary, the way in which Tremblay's quintet assesses and performs his generally agreeable themes is another notable element in the equation. While Tremblay's ideas are mainly well-defined and accessible, he has ...
Continue ReadingBen Morris: Pocket Guides
by Jack Bowers
On Pocket Guides, his debut recording as foreman, Denver-based pianist Ben Morris leads a one-dozen strong quasi-big band with rather unusual instrumentation--two horns, two woodwinds, two violins, mandolin, cello, melodica and rhythm--through eight of his engaging compositions, most of which touch on his Norwegian heritage. To his credit, Morris makes splendid use of every tool in his kit, writing with each of them in mind and making sure that everyone in the ensemble has an essential role to play. His ...
Continue ReadingBishu Chattopadhyay: Kolkata Stories
by Jim Trageser
Given this album's title, the fact that the leader's previous album was titled Harlem Meets Hooghly (self-produced, 2020), and even the song titles on this release, it's not unrealistic to be looking for an Indo-jazz fusion release in the vein of John McLaughlin, Warren Senders or simakDialog. But despite the Indian album and song titles, this is a straight-ahead post-bop album, closer to Monty Alexander than McLaughlin. Only in an occasional passage does one hear influences from the ...
Continue ReadingJC Hopkins Biggish Band: New York Moment
by Chris M. Slawecki
On New York Moment, pianist JC Hopkins and his twelve-piece Biggish Band tend to a flame that's been burning since prior to World War II, the sound of large dance bands (with and without vocalists) who moved audiences with both sophistication and swing. Hopkins' Moment rotates Vanisha-Arleen Gould, Joy Hanson, Nico Sarbanes (who also plays trumpet), Shawn Whitehorn and Alicyn Yaffee (guitar) as lead vocalists. The opening track leaves you genuinely “Beguiled" as vocalists Nico and Joy harmonize ...
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