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Jesse Zubot
Emad Armoush's Rayhan: Distilled Extractions
by Mark Corroto
Jazz and creative music have always resisted assimilation. By that, I mean jazz draws upon--or perhaps more accurately, appropriates--sounds, traditions and styles to create something entirely new. This has been true since New Orleans musicians blended Caribbean, French, African and Sicilian influences while performing on traditional marching band instruments. Over the century-plus since its inception, improvising musicians have expanded the genre far beyond the boundaries envisioned by their Louisiana originators. Think of artists like John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina: Night's Quietest Hour
by Mark Corroto
Gordon Grdina might be proof of the saying “you can't keep a good man down." With Night's Quietest Hour he turns his attention once again to traditional Iraqi and Arabic folk music. This release by his small big band Haram follows Her Eyes illuminate (Songlines, 2012) and includes a guest appearance by Marc Ribot. Much like Ribot's forays into Cuban music with his Los Cubanos Postizos and Frantz Casseus' Haitian compositions, Grdina aspires for musical authenticity without being patronizing. And, ...
Continue ReadingGordon Grdina Septet: Resist
by Mike Jurkovic
It takes a leap of unconditional faith to enter wholly the resistance. A mindset steadied for the long haul, readied for the next. On his third, integral, must-listen-to release of 2020, Canadian oudist/guitarist/composer Gordon Grdina grandly, darkly, intently, espouses all that and more. Hellbent on creating art as a political act, the sprawling, at times majestic Resist follows the raw and persuasive Nomad (Skirl, 2020), an uncompromising trio outing with pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Jim Black and the simultaneous ...
Continue ReadingSongs of Tales: Life is a Gong Show
by Hrayr Attarian
The collaborative Canadian quartet Song of Tales brings a unique mix of free improvisation and rock accessibility to its debut Life Is A Gong Show. Members of the ensemble have their individual styles yet they share a similar creative vision. All four are accomplished multiinstrumentalists as well as genre benders who draw from a wide range of influences in their work. All these attributes make this release intriguing. The energetic “Non-Fiction" is an otherworldly tune with folkish overtones. ...
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Longa Nahawad
From: Night's Quietest HourBy Jesse Zubot
Resist the Middle
From: ResistBy Jesse Zubot
Traure
From: Life is a Gong ShowBy Jesse Zubot
