Recording News

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Recording

Nik Bartsch's Ronin - Llyria (2010)

Source: Something Else!
October 10, 2010

By Pico It's ritual groove music time again. The Swiss pianist and bandleader Nik Bärtsch has broken musical ground with his Ronin outfit, pioneering jazz that's melodically sparse and rhythmically robust. Not dance music but very funky, not piano bar jazz but very soothing, Bärtsch and his crew create paradoxes that resolve themselves artfully. I first got a chance to investigate this signature style Bärtsch calls “ritual groove music" when the group released its second ECM album Holon back in ...

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Recording

Album of the Week: Pucusana, Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet

Source: The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz
October 9, 2010

Pucusana Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet Saponegro Reecords Transformation is an inevitable reality in the jazz world; regardless of where an artist starts musically, their sound will change throughout their journey. There are too many factors that creep into a musician's life throughout their career—at some point, something will inspire new directions in their music. Change doesn't always guarantee a move towards higher artistic ground though, it simply means that an artist's music will sound different throughout ...

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Recording

Copal: Electro-Acoustic Folktronic Belly Dancers

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
October 11, 2010

Tying into the ancient past of austere nobility, elegant damsels, extremes of affluent wealth and bitter poverty, lays Copal. Their music mirrors our fast-paced modern world, with electronics and stylish innovations all while keeping focus on their old-world traditions. It inspires visions of mystery pools and deep forested paths—it's a journey from dusk to dawn through the shadow garden and out the other side into the bright light of morning. Copal's debut album Into the Shadow Garden, (self-released November 4), ...

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Recording

Exploding Star Orchestra - Stars Have Shapes (Delmark, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
October 9, 2010

Led by cornet player and musical visionary Rob Mazurek, the Exploding Star Orchestra is a post modern big band that draws on great instrumentalists, found sound and electronics to create a soundscape like no other. Echoes of John Coltrane's Ascension and Sun Ra's long form experimental works like Atlantis and The Magic City are here, but the group creates a sound that is unique to their vision. The album opens with the extraordinary “Ascension Ghost Impression #2" with a jaunty ...

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Recording

One Track Mind: John Lennon "Instant Karma!" (1970)

Source: Something Else!
October 9, 2010

By Pico Note: To commemorate the 70th birthday of John Lennon, we're revisiting this single from early in his post-Beatles career. One of the things I find most fascinating about the man was how he was able to impart blunt, timeless wisdom about our lives while struggling to make sense of his. “Karma" was one of those 'message' songs that he so good at articulating. While we all shine on, Lennon's star still burns much brighter than most thirty years ...

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Recording

John Lennon - Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010)

Source: Something Else!
October 9, 2010

By Nick Deriso “Double Fantasy" never felt dangerous enough to be a great John Lennon record. That started with this too-slick, of-its-moment presentation. No surprise there, really: I've always thought that the best of Lennon's solo stuff after 1970's “Plastic Ono Band" would resonate more completely today if the period-piece production had been stripped away. Early in John's final decade, that meant herds of fiddles, a thudding drum clomp, gaggles of girl singers and these bawdy, burlesque saxophones. (A child ...

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Recording

John McLaughlin, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Allan Holdsworth on Gary Husband's new album

Source: Big Hassle
October 8, 2010

Gary Husband's new record Dirty & Beautiful Volume One features Mahavishnu Orchestra's John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer—it's the first time they've performed on the same project since the Mahavishnu days. Allan Holdworth, Steve Hackett, Robin Trower and others are on it, too. It's as heavy as a jazz/rock record can get. Over the course of a remarkable, still-unfolding career, Gary Husband has defined himself as the ultimate musician's musician: a fiery, perceptive presence who elevates every scenario—from the ...

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Recording

Dominic Duval, Jimmy Halperin and Brian Willson - Music of John Coltrane (Nobusiness, 2010)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
October 8, 2010

There have been many tributes to the great tenor saxophonist John Coltrane since his passing, and the years have done nothing to dull the power of his music. This is a heartfelt nod to Coltrane from a collective group consisting of Dominic Duval on bass, Jimmy Halperin on tenor saxophone and Brian Willson on drums. The group plays music from each phase of Coltrane's influential career, and they make their own personal statements from these well known compositions. Opening with ...

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