Some Overlooked 2024 Releases

Here are reviews of some of the many worthwhile jazz albums that came out in the latter half of 2024.

Leslie Pintchik
Prayer For What Remains
Pintch Hard Records
2024

The latest album by pianist Leslie Pintchik has a gentle, swinging calm to it. She maintains a lively rapport with bassist Scott Hardy and drummer Satoshi Takeishi adds depth to the Pintchik original "Open Secret" and the Joni Mitchell tune "Banquet," while Steve Nelson's soprano sax enhances the devotional feel of "Prayer For What Remains" and gives a frothy sheen to "Over Easy." Pintchik's music has distinctive feelings of warmth and simple beauty.

Aries Dance
Randy Ingram
Self Produced
2024

Randy Ingram plays more dramatic piano on his album in the company of two distinguished veterans, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Billy Hart. Ingram's playing is careful and formal, leaving space for the rhythm section to work, especially Hart, who masterfully creates strong musical currents on pieces like "Towards Polaris" and "Castle and Fog." The trio plays Wayne Shorter's "Penelope" with the stately grace of a grand concerto while "Aries Dance" and "Dedicated To You" groove with an easy swing paced by Hart's powerful drums. The trio's version of "You and the Night and the Music" is particularly special, emerging with an urgent thrust from all three players.

Rich Halley
Dusk And Dawn
Pine Eagle Records
2024

Here tenor saxophonist Rich Halley roars out of Oregon with another excellent blast of rough-hewn modern jazz. On this occasion, long-time associate trombonist Michael Vlatkovich fills out his quartet. The set alternates between Halley's compositions and improvised group pieces. Of the composed work, "Spherical Aberration" and "The Hard Truth" have a classic 'energy music' rush, as Halley and Vlatkovich swoop and blare over the brutish rumble of Clyde Reed's bass and Carson Halley's drums. In "Retrograde," the bass and drums provide a more acrobatic counterpoint to the horns' sweeping delirium, while "Spatter" sets things to a clipped funk beat. The three improvised tracks have their own sense of internal order, even though each instrument goes its own way. Vlatkovich shines on "The Return" in an intense conversation with the leader's tenor and his own bluesy solo wailing. On "Stretching the Sinews" Carson Halley keeps a wall of machine-gun drumming going as the tenor and trombone dance wildly.

Music is Connection
Ryan Keberle & Catharsis
Self Produced
2024

Catharsis, the group led by trombonist Ryan Keberle, draws from a lot of influences. Its basic sound is steeped in Brazilian music but the four band members also have roots in chamber music, folk, fusion and other realms. That shows in the diverse sounds on this album. Camila Meza's singing is an integral part of the whole as it mixes with trombone and guitar on the glossy surface of "Sound Energy" and "Sonic Living." "Cycle" builds strongly out of layers of piano, voice and overdubbed horns. "Arbor Vitae" sports a laid-back tropical grace and Scott Robinson doing a Stan Getz-ian tenor solo. Meanwhile, "Shine" and "Hammersparks" are swoops at jazz fusion where Meza's searing guitar and Keberle's forceful trombone take the forefront.

Geof Bradfield
Colossal Abundance
Calligram Records
2024

Tenor saxophonist Geof Bradfield leads a 12-piece group here that uses more world influences than are found in most large jazz bands. Instruments such as marimba and berimbau often set the tone, resulting in hybrid forms like John Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lament" with an African bounce and breezy guitar solo as well as a wooly tenor solo from Bradfield. "Kaleidoscope" is built on serial repetition and involves marimba and low horns. "Requiem" sets a somber tone with ghostly marimba on "Requiem," which features Ben Goldberg soloing on clarinet. Jaki Byard's "Mrs. Parker of K.C." is outfitted with a Middle Eastern vamp and terse guitar from Scott Hesse. This melting pot ends appropriately with a touch of Henry Threadgill. His "Bermuda Blues" is set to a reggae beat with bass clarinet stalking the bottom line. This brawny and fun ensemble scoots around into all sorts of adventurous places.

Tracks and Personnel

Prayer For What Remains

Tracks: Prayer For What Remains; Later Than We Thought; Request Denied!; Private Moment, Over Easy; I Will; Banquet; Open Secret; Grief; Just Sayin' (Live).

Personnel: Leslie Pintchik: piano; Scott Hardy: bass, acoustic guitar; Michael Sarin: drums; Satoshi Takeishi: percussion (1-4, 7-9); Steve Wilson: soprano sax (1-5).

Aries Dance

Tracks: Towards Polaris; Para Milton E Pedro; Into The Night; You and the Night and the Music; Penelope; Aries Dance; Castle and Fog; Guimaraes; Dedicated To You.

Personnel: Randy Ingram: piano; Drew Gress: bass; Billy Hart: drums.

Dusk and Dawn

Tracks: Spherical Aberration; The Return; Retrograde; After Dawn; Spatter; Stretching The Sinews; The Hard Truth.

Personnel: Rich Halley: tenor sax; Michael Vlatkovich: trombone; Clyde Reed: bass; Carson Halley: drums.

Music Is Connection

Tracks: Throwback Moves; Sound Energy; Lo Unico Que Tengo; Hammersparks; Key Adjustment; Vera Cruz; Sonic Living; Cycle; Arbor Vitae; Shine Intro; Shine.

Personnel: Ryan Keberle: trombone; Wurlitzer, Roland Juno, synth, piano, vocals; Camila Meza: vocals, guitar, guitar FX; Jorge Roeder: acoustic bass; Eric Doob: drums, percussion; Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone (9).

Colossal Abundance

Tracks: Mahororo; Lonnie's Lament; Adelaide Bailey; Tuku; Kaleidoscope; Requiem; Mrs. Parker of K.C.; United; Gandanga Blues; Bermuda Blues.

Personnel: Geof Bradfield: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, mbira; Greg Ward: alto saxophone; Anna Webber: tenor saxophone, flute, bass flute; Ben Goldberg: clarinet, contra alto clarinet; Derrick Gardner: trumpet; Russ Johnson: trumpet; Norman Palm: trombone; Momo Hasselbring Seko: french horn; Scott Hesse: guitar; Clark Sommers: bass; Dana Hall: drums, cymbals, percussion; Gregory Beyer: berimbau, mbira, marimba, percussion.

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