Recording News

Kirk Knuffke - Amnesia Brown (Clean Feed)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 2, 2010

Most familial histories include at least one black sheep forbearer, a member who marched to the beat of his own drum at the expense of his or her loved ones. Trumpeter Kirk Knuffke pays wry tribute to one such outcast of his clan on this latest Clean Feed release. The eponymous individual was a great grandfather who abandoned his family and started a new one in a neighboring town. Upon discovery, he cited the affliction as his reason for leaving ...

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Phish, Lesh, DMB and More Offer Free Bonnaroo Tracks

Source: JamBase
March 2, 2010

NRDC Action Fund and HeadCount Give Away Best of Bonnaroo Compilation to Drive Action on Climate Change Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Phil Lesh and many more provide tracks for free download

Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Jack Johnson and other top artists are donating their music to encourage Americans to speak out on climate change. Organized by the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, HeadCount and the NRDC Action Fund, this collaboration marks the first time ...

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Sylvie Courvoisier - Mark Feldman Quartet - To Fly to Steal (Intakt)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 2, 2010

Partners in both music and in life, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman share the marquee on their latest collaboration. Drummer Gerry Hemingway and bassist Thomas Morgan aren't just along for the ride and receptive to a deep rapport, the four create music of superlative communication and cohesion. Their configuration invites immediate chamber associations and much of the interplay leans closer to classical than jazz in general cast, but extemporaneous expression remains an integral element with starched-collar propriety left ...

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Steve Swell's Slammin' the Infinite - 5000 Poems (Not Two)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 2, 2010

One of the frequent recent criticisms of free jazz argues that there's just too much of it available on record. Musicians who work within the idiom are accused of placing fecundity above quality control. Trombonist Steve Swell candidly cops to the charge in the brief notes accompanying this fourth release by one of his working bands. Employing a Walt Whitman essay as inspiration, he uses the analogy of sowing many seeds in the hope that at least a fraction will ...

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Charles Evans and Neil Shah - Live at Saint Stephens (Hot Cup)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 2, 2010

Friends for over fifteen years, Charles Evans and Neil Shah have a shared history that extends well beyond the musical. Their rich rapport rests at the core of this sublime duo concert recorded within the capacious confines of a church in western Pennsylvania in January of last year. Evans supplied the open-ended compositions, the first two broken into parts, but Shah's role isn't simply supportive. The two musicians work in keenly close collusion, leading and receding as both the music ...

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Michael Attias - Renku in Coimbra (Clean Feed)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 2, 2010

New York-based saxophonist Michael Attias has a sound steeped in a somewhat unexpected amalgam of sources. He's obviously enamored of the free jazz canon and players like Jimmy Lyons and John Tchicai, but there's also a feathery, aerated inflection to his phrasing that obliquely recalls the Cool and West Coast schools of 50s jazz and specifically players like Lee Konitz and Art Pepper. This set, recorded during a three-night stand in Portugal by his quintet in the summer of 2008, ...

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Jeff Beck's First Single Features Joss Stone

Source: On Target Media Group
March 2, 2010

“I Put A Spell On You," the first single from Jeff Beck's first studio release in 7 years, comes out next week and features guest vocals by Grammy-winner Joss Stone.

Emotion and Commotion was recorded at Sarm Studios in London with award-winning producers Steve Lipson and Trevor Horn. Beck used a trio of singers to create the album's diverse sound, including contributions from Imelda May ("Lilac Wine"), Olivia Safe ("Elegy For Dunkirk"), and Grammy-winner Joss Stone ("I Put A Spell ...

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Ari Roland - New Music (Smalls)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 2, 2010

Bassist Ari Roland doesn't mince words with the title of his latest disc. The summarizing phrase is succinct just like his preferred style of soloing on his instrument. While the seven compositions are indeed fresh creations, they still align quite closely with the extant occupants in his songbook. That familiarity extends to his sidemen as well, players who are equal-footing peers rather than subordinates. Saxophonist Chris Byars fields both alto and tenor to the session, playing each in the by ...

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