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Results for "Motema Music"
Charnett Moffett: The Art of Improvisation
by Hrayr Attarian
Discs that focus on a single instrument are not that uncommon in jazz, but recordings focusing primarily on the bass are quite rare, even for bassists who lead their own bands. Charnett Moffett's The Art of Improvisation joins the rank of such gems as Paul Chambers's Bass on Top (Blue Note, 1957) and, ...
Oran Etkin: Kelenia
by Hrayr Attarian
Exposure to traditional African music is limited in the western hemisphere so it is always a pleasant surprise when a recording is released, especially when it is a solid, well above average effort. Clarinetist and saxophonist Oran Etkin has fused Malian music with elements of improvisation and jazz in his debut, Kelenia. This ...
Antonio Ciacca: Lagos Blues (with Steve Grossman)
by George Kanzler
There's a good reason most “real" jazz radio stations tend to favor the modern mainstream jazz of the post-bop era codified by such record labels from the mid-20th Century as Blue Note, Columbia's jazz division, Prestige, Riverside and Impulse. It's creative jazz with a comfortingly substantial physicality, clean lines and rhythmic heft still anchored to a ...
Antonio Ciacca: Lagos Blues
by J Hunter
Four decades ago, Miles Davis called then-burgeoning saxophonist Steve Grossman “an important voice in this music." One of the people who heard that voice was pianist Antonio Ciacca. Lagos Blues, Ciacca's second disc for Motema, not only shows Grossman's influence as Ciacca's former teacher; it also includes the now-legendary tenor player's direct influence, as he joins ...
Tessa Souter: Obsession
by Joel Roberts
New York-based, British-born Tessa Souter is a jazz singer with interests far outside the jazz world. On Obsession, Souter mostly shuns well-trodden standards and classic jazz fare in favor of a varied set of rock, pop and Brazilian tunes. With her rich contralto and crystal-clear diction, Souter delivers lyrics with a theatrical, but ...
Roni Ben-Hur: Fortuna
by Andrew Velez
This is a worthy follow-up to Roni Ben-Hur's Smile (Motema, 2009), on which he was memorably paired with fellow guitarist Gene Bertoncini. The Israeli-born composer and arranger is teamed here with three stalwarts, the late pianist Ronnie Mathews, percussionist Steve Kroon and drummer Lewis Nash. This is the same rhythm section Ben-Hur used for the album ...
Antonio Ciacca: Rush Life
by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Antonio Ciacca Quintet's Rush Life is a welcome and valuable addition to the contemporary jazz catalogue, where it will rest easy, knowing its place. There are bits and pieces throughout the nine tracks that serve as hopeful reminders that the album could have been more provocative than it is. What it lacks is not skill, but ...
Ithamara Koorax: Bim Bom - The Complete Joao Gilberto Songbook
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Ithamara Koorax Bim Bom: The Complete João Gilberto Songbook Motema Records 2009 João Gilberto did not just epitomize bossa nova, “The New Thing" that he virtually invented, but he also brought his new, laconic vocal style to Brazilian music. So deeply passionate and idiosyncratic was his pronounciation ...
Tessa Souter: Obsession
by Victor L. Schermer
Tessa Souter is a consummate and dedicated vocalist who is deservedly on the rise in the New York jazz scene and elsewhere. A contralto who sings with both precision and emotion, her impressionist and minimalist interpretations bring out the meanings of her songs while remaining true to their melodic lines. Following Listen Love (Nara Music, 2004) ...
