Ola Bilinska - Berjozkele (Yiddish Lullabies) [Jewish Historical Institute]

Berjozkele:
Ola Bilińska - vocal, OP1 synth, electric guitar, vibes, Moogerfooger delay
Michał Moniuszko - double bass
Kacper Szroeder - trumpet, flugelhorn, bielarussian dulcimer
Mikołaj Trzaska - bass clarinet
Raphael Rogiński - electric guitar

The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute 2014


I have recently written shortly about Berjozkele's concert during the Jewish Culture Festival and I promised to write more about the group and their music, available on cd thanks to the support of Jewish Historical Institute. Bilinska's project is in fact of great etnographic, historical interest, in many ways a dive into the past. The album is a collection of yiddish songs of yonder times, before the tragic disappearance of jewish culture in Europe. Thankfully, it's not only a recollection of a lost culture but a modern interpretation of it, an example of its recent revitalization. The presence of Raphael Roginski and Mikołaj Trzaska on the record is somehow symbolic, given the two are greatly responsible for the phenomenon of polish new jewish music.

Berjozkele's music, however, is not only a journey into the past. All the songs are connected by the common theme of night and dream. It's a collection of lullabies, songs that dwell in-between the light of the day and the pitch dark of the night. On the border, following the fine line between real and surreal, tragic and comic, a dream and a nightmare.

Mike Parker Unified Theory - Embrace The Wild

Mike Parker's Unified Theory
Mike Parker - double bass
Dawid Fortuna - drums
Bartek Prucnal - alto saxophone
Slawek Pezda - tenor saxophone
Cyprian Baszczynski - trumpet

self-release 2014




New York is (supposedly) the jazz capital of the world. Krakow is (allegedly) the jazz capital of Poland. I won't discuss that now, just wanted to establish some connection :)

Mike Parker is a New Yorker who has been living in Krakow city for quite a while now and became a well-known and regular presence on jam sessions and variety of projects happening on the stages of city's few but active jazz clubs. 

"Embrace The Wild" is the second release under "Unified Theory" name, but the first one recorded in Krakow and it finds Mike teaming up with some of the young talents of Krakow/Poland jazz scene, to play a set of compositions that balance diversity of styles with the harmony of beautifully crafted melodic layers. 

Double Bass player usually hides somewhere in the back of the sound mix and stage. It takes discipline to be a bass player and lead the group. Now, this is a bass player's album, and bass stays often in the front, thankfully much in the way of Dave Holland or Charles Mingus, none of the flashy MM or SC stuff (you know who I mean). Mike Parker can keep the time in check with funky riffs and fill the bottom with the big sound or play the most melodic base in the 4 voice harmony, with trumpet and two saxes above. Parker's clearly well skilled on the instrument. But for me this is an album of Mike Parker - the composer.

Elisha / Rubin / Elisha - East of Jaffa [OutNowRecordings]

Ehran Elisha - drums
Harold Rubin - clarinet
Haim Elisha - piano


OutNow Recordings 2011

The 24th Krakow Jewish Festival, barely behind us*, is a perfect pretext to have a look at Israeli improvising scene. OutNow Recordings is based in Tel Aviw and managed by Yoni Kretzmer (a might sax player himself, you may find reviews of his cds "Overlook"  and the Brooklyn based 2 Bass Quartet's "Weight" on the blog) and guitarist Ido Bukelman (with a couple of fine releases on his own as well). However when the label was launched back in 2011 the premiere releases were two sessions with the drummer Ehran Elisha. I've written a while ago about his duo with Roy Campbell "Watching Cartoons with Eddie" but the trio "East of Jaffa" is well worth a look back.

Andrew Cyrille - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note [CAM] part 2

This is the second half of the text dedicated to the Andrew Cyrille's box which is the part of the brilliant series "The complete and remastered recordings on Black Saint and Soul Note. Check the previous post

for the complete overview of the set.

Andrew Cyrille with Jimmy Lyons

Nuba (1979; Black Saint)

Something in Return (1988; Black Saint)

Andrew Cyrille - drums, percussion; Jeane Lee - voice, poetry (on Nuba only); Jimmy Lyons - alto saxophone

Definitely the most "out" releases in the pack, especially the "Nuba" with Lee's idiosyncratic singing and poetry. Very artistic, spacious and spare playing of the three, completing each others timbres and registers. Lyon, who is criminally undervalued,  with his pure alto sound is a particular treat (check the frenetic, scattered lines in "Sorry"). Lee's voice is clearly an acquired taste but her contribute to the music is undeniable, which doesn't happen that often within the "jazz and poetry" format.

Andrew Cyrille - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note [CAM] part 1

The Black Saint & Soul Note box series is a way to acquire some amazing and long out of print music at a bargain place. I presented in the past on the blog the boxes with music by Julius Hemphill and David Murray Octet. The Andrew Cyrille box have been in my tracklist almost non-stop for over a month, along with the Miles Davis volume 3 of the bootleg series I wrote about in the previous post. The 7cds in the package can be divided further accordingly to the personnel:

Andrew Cyrille and Maono Quartet

Metamusician's Stomp (1978; Black Saint)

Special People (1981; Soul Note)

Andrew Cyrille - drums, percussion, foot; Ted Daniel - trumpet, flugelhorn, woof flute, foot; Nick DiGeronimo - bass, foot; David S. Ware - tenor saxohone, flute, foot

As soon as "Metamusician's Stomp" starts with its earthy, african groove and joyful chords it's clear why all the musicians are credited with playing "foot" along their respective instruments. You just can't stay still when the melody is dancing around you. Daniel's trumpet thrills are shining but so is the hefty tenor sound by Ware, the round and swift bass played with swag by Di Geronimo and Cyrille's incessant pulse on drums. 

Both cds are immense pleasure and joy to listen to and constitute possibly the most accessible recordings David S. Ware ever made (check the lyrical and slowly moving "My Ship" or charming "A Girl Named Rainbow"), his robust, energetic tone and dynamic outbursts seem to be the perfect fit for this quartet whose music is clearly inspired by the african roots of jazz music. Both albums are filled with strong themes, muscular yet graceful playing, sunny sounds, joyful swing and happy thoughts.

still with Ted Daniel

The Navigator (1983; Soul Note)

Andrew Cyrille - percussion; Ted Daniel - trumpet; flugelhorn; Sonelius Smith - piano; Nick DiGeronimo - bass

No David S. Ware on this one, instead we have Sonelius Smith on the piano. The set is an advanced post-bop jazz, with a deeply resonating blues vibe and and late night jam feeling. Smith's piano playing is elegant, impressionistic and very versatile for which the title track is a great example - lyrical at the beginning, sharp and poignant at the end, with a cutting trumpet solo on the top. Daniel fronts the band with panache and poise and the music is stirring nicely, with plenty of going on to keep your interest. A great set of mainstream jazz that should be appreciated on the both sides of the "free or not" barricade. A ballad "So that life can endure...ps. with Love" with romantic piano intro and warm and sweet flugelhorn tune is a charm.

given the length of the text I decided to divide it into two parts, check the next post for the complete overview.

Miles Davis - Miles at the Fillmore. Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series vol. 3 [Columbia]

Miles Davis on Fillmore East, June 17-20. 1970 and Filmore West, April 11. 1970

Miles Davis - trumpet

Steve Grossman - tenor sax, soprano sax

Chick Corea - electric piano

Keith Jarrett - organ, tambourine (Fillmore East only)

Dave Holland - bass

Jack DeJohnette - drums

Airto Moreira - percussion, flute, vocal

Columbia / Legacy 2014

Make no mistake, I won't try to add anything incisive nor original to what's been written and said about Miles Davis or about this particular set for that matter. Nor Miles Davis nor Sony Music are in need of additional promotion on my side. It's just that this set is one of the reasons behind the lack of any new reviews on the blog for the past two months or so because it hardly ever left my player so I thought I should just write a bit so I could get past it. 

The simply fact is that that this box and its 4 cds is a bomb. Over 4 hours of material, never previously available in unedited form, presenting one of XXth century music geniuses in peak form with a groundbreaking band. The liner notes by Michael Cuscuna will provide with you plenty of information as well as some social context for the concerts while a separate poster presents snippets of the press of the era that was clearly conflicted regarding Miles' status. Davis was partly antagonizing jazz audience while flirting with the young and hip rock crowd, fresh after the release of epic "Bitches Brew".

Nor Cold - Nor Cold [Multikulti]

Nor Cold:
Olgierd Dokalski - tumpet, project concept
Wojciech Kwapiński - guitar
Oori Shalev - drums, percussion
Zeger Vandenbussche -saxophones, clarinet, Jew's harp

Multikulti 2013

For all the incredible diversity and richness of the 24th Krakow Jewish Culture Festival I am a bit dissapointed with the lack of representation of the new polish jewish music. In the previous years the festival would present to its international audience such bands as Shofar, Cukunft, Alte Zachen, Ircha Clarinet Quartet or Riverloam Trio (it's no coincidence of course all of the aforementioned feature either Raphael Roginski or Mikolaj Trzaska or both - no doubt two of the most prominent figures of the rising scene). In order to make up for it, I invite you to check the below albums which I believe to be among the most successful entries in the genre within the last years:

Undivided with Perry Robinson - Moves Between Clouds

Ircha Clarinet Quartet - Zikaron Lefanai

Cukunft - Wilde Blumen

Shofar - Ha-Huncvot

Robinson / Zerang / Roginski / Zimpel - Music of the Yemenite Jews

And now let's move to Nor Cold which is thus added to the above list. 

The Peggy Lee Band - Invitation [Drip Audio]

The Peggy Lee Band:
Brad Turner - trumpet and flugelhorn
Jon Bentley - tenor saxophone
Jeremy Berkman - trombone
Peggy Lee - cello
Ron Samworth - electric, acoustic and 12-string guitars
Tony Wilson - electric guitar
Andre Lachance - electric bass
Dylan van der Schyff - drums and percussion


Drip Audio 2012

We've spent over a month in sunny Italy, we're going now to Vancouver but have no fear - the weather stays bright and warm and it's because The Peggy Lee Band invites us for a musical journey back to Africa.

New Jazz from Italy part 6 : Rara Avis - Mutations / Multicellulars Mutations [dEN Records]

Rara Avis:
Stefano Ferrian - soprano/tenor saxophone
Ken Vandermark - baritone/tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet
Simone Quatrana - piano
Luca Pissavini - double bass
SEC_ - revox tape recorder, instant sound treatment

dEN Records 2013

Blog's followers should already be famiar with the the names of Stefano Ferria, Simone Quatrana and Luca Pissavini (all three are playing in Ferrian's Nutimbre, Luca Pissavini appears as well on the Nido Workshop cd). I believe Ken Vandermark needs no introduction whatsoever to anyone even vaguely interested in improvised music. The same can't be said about band's electronic tinker SEC_ was only introduced to me through this cd (an group's concert in Alchemia last year). 

New Jazz from Italy part 5: N. Gerold, N. Guazzaloca, S. Giust - Transition [Setola di Maiale]

Nils Gerold - flute
Nicola Guazzaloca - piano
Stefano Giust - drums



Setola Di Maiale 2012

Another fine free improvised music trio from Bella Italia with Stefano Giust on drums (plays in a bit similar setting with MAGIMC), Nicola Guazzaloca on piano and Nils Gerold on flute. The last one is an instrument that rarely finds it's place in jazz music, amidst the muscular tones of saxophones its delicate tone can easily get lost. Obviously there are some luminous exceptions to that (Rahsaan Roland Kirk comes to mind immediately as well as Nicole Mitchell and, if bit less known, Mark Alban Lotz who appeared on the blog before).

New Jazz from Italy part 4: Hanuman - Soundhousing [Leo Records]

Hanuman Jazz Quartet:
Fabio Martini - Eb, Bb and alto clarinets
Marco Franceschetti - tenor and soprano saxophones
Stefano Solani - double bass
Danilo Sala - drums, objects


Leo Records 2014

Leo Records continues its dedication to the italian jazz, examples of which have appeared already on the blog on multiple occasions. Hanuman Jazz Quartet was founded in 2009, a piano-less quartet with a bit unusual clarinet - saxophone frontline which I believe is responsible for the sound faithful to the very core of |the Italian spirit - the love of melody.

New Jazz from Italy part 3 - Gianni Mimmo & Daniel Levin [Amirani Records]

Gianni Mimmo - soprano saxophone
Daniel Levin - cello


co-produced by Amirani Records and Teriayki Records 2012

There are many ways to look at improvisation and many metaphorical ways to describe it. Like the similarities it presents to the art of pottery. Allow me to cite Bill Shoemaker's liner notes to the cd by Carnival Skin*:  "Artists who work with viscous materials like clay and grass are acutely aware of turbulence and how it may turn a potentially bold form into a worthless heap. They push the material right up to the line, allowing a smoothly flowing centrifugal force to do its thing without compromising the integrity of the material".

New Jazz from Italy part 2 - The Star Pillow [Setola Di Maiale]

The Star Pillow - The Beautiful Questions

Paolo Monti - electric guitars and electronics
Federico Gerini - acoustic grand piano


Setola Di Maiale / Taverna Records 2013

The Star Pillow is an example of how diverse improvised music can be. When one hears the term it usually brings to mind some kind of frenetic activity, with whole lot of going on in all the directions, fast lines, sudden changes, mind-boggling cascades of notes, emotional outbursts of expression. "The Beautiful Questions" are in many ways the opposite of all the above.

Three long improvisations are minimalist, filled with plenty of space, repetition. Patiently weaving the notes together, with subtle changes in the infinite loops. Spacious, meditative, peaceful quite hypnotic and charming. 

New Jazz from Italy part 1 - MAGIMC [Amirani Records]

I've dedicated recently a few posts to a new jazz music coming our way from Russia, thanks to the continuous dedication and commitment to great music presented by Leo Feign. 

Over the next few posts I'd like to present a some releases that I believe provide an insight into Italian free jazz/improvisation scene, whose input into the European free-jazz community is often overlooked. It might be argued that the romantic tradition of opera and belcanto provide a much better environment for lyrical, mainstream jazz. 

Think on other hand of Italian Instabile Orchestra or the entire catalogues of Soul Note or Black Lion labels. There's a lot of creative buzz going on in Italy these days, Leo Records is again one of the accomplices, but there are others as well. 

You can consult some previous posts presentind records released by Stefano Ferian's dEN label (Nido Workshop, Claudio Guida & Marcello Testa or Ferrian's Nutimbre), two rock-jazz oriented trios presented by Leo (Swedish Mobilia and Telegraph) and Andrea Bolzoni & Daniele Frati duo released by Setola di Maiale. All three of the lables mentioned above will appear in the cycle but let's start with a new one - Amiriani records directed by the saxophonist Gianni Mimmo.

MAGIMC - Polishing The Mirror

Edoardo Marraffa - tenor sax, sopranino sax
Thollem McDonas - piano
Stefano Giust - drums, cymbals, objects

Amirani Records 2012

Amiriani records is directed by Gianni Mimmo and claims one of it it's artistic goals to create projects that will cross national and artistic boundaries. MAGICMC is a fine example, a trio featuring italian sax player Edoardo Marraffa and the drummer Stefano Giust alongside american pianist Thollem McDonas, for a series of spirited improvisations.

Waclaw Zimpel Quartet - Stone Fog [For Tune]

Waclaw Zimpel - clarinets
Krzysztof Dys - piano
Christian Ramond - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums






For Tune 2013

Waclaw Zimpel has appeared on this blog a handful of times already (most recently with the Hera XL "Seven Lines"), the fact, in my ears remain very simple - every single project Zimpel dedicates himself to is an artistic success, there's a vision behind every single one of them, a specific between preparation and spontaneity, between passion and thought, and the results continue to be spot on. 

Daunik Lauzro / Joelle Leandre - Hasparren [No Business]

Daunik Lazro - baritone sax
Joelle Leandre - double bass, voice






No Business Records 2013

This is one for those who love low tones and deep timbres. Baritone sax and double bass in the hands of Daunik Lazro and Joelle Leandre sound like a meeting of two soulmates. The two has played together, in various settings, for over 30 years now.

Raphael Roginski and Polish New Jewish Music part 2 - Shofar [Kilogram Records] and Sisters [Multikulti]

Shofar - Ha-Huncvot

Mikolaj Trzaska - alto saxophone, bass clarinet

Raphael Roginski - guitar

Macio Moretti - drums

 Kilogram Records 2013

That's the band it all begun with. "Shofar" (Kilogram Records 2007) was a deep dive into heritage that seemed to be completely lost at the moment. A journey to the past in order to understand's one identity and roots. It turned out that that music, it's feeling lives deep inside the three musicians and many others that followed on trying to explore the tradition of hasidic music with the contemporary context. (the topic appears few times in the interview with Mikolaj Trzaska)

Raphael Roginski and Polish New Jewish Music part 1 - Cukunft [Lado ABC]

Raphael Roginski has appeared quite a few times on the blog already and the reason for this is quite simple, I believe he's one of the most original artists around, his guitar playing sound is completely unique and he's quite a multi-tasker leading a handful a different project. Named, with a reason, the animator of the revival of jewish music in Poland in recent years. A trend which treads its beginnings to the release of "Shofar" cd in 2007 - a trio with Mikolaj Trzaska and Macio Moretti playing together music that Roginski found in the archives of ethnomusicologist Moshe Beregovsky. It so happens that, after quite a long hiatus, two of Roginski's bands released new music in 2013 so I decided to gather them together.

(for previous references on Roginski you might check the posts about Hera XL, Cukunft's concert with Maria Raducanu, his new band Wovoka as well as the special Yemenite music project). 

Cukunft - Wilde Blumen
Raphael Roginski - guitar
Pawel Szamburski - clarinet, bass clarinet
Michal Gorczynski - clarinet, tenor sax
Pawel Szpura - drums

Lado ABC 2013

Cukunft (yiddish for "Future") is quite a band of madmen on stage (you most definitely need to see, whilte it's still on the web, their concert with Maria Raducanu that took place on Krakow Jewish Festival 2013) - it's punk-rock energy and crazy circus madness applied by two raving clarinets, guitar and drums.

Glod / Piket / Tokar / Kugel - Op Der Schmelz Live [Nemu]

Roby Glod - alto and soprano saxophones
Roberta Piket - piano
Mark Tokar - double bass
Klaus Kugel - drums

Nemu Records 2013

This is an international quartet with US citizens Roby Glod on saxes and Roberta Piket on piano, Klaus Kugel on drums from Germany and Mark Tokar on bass from Ukraine (a rhythm section that appears together in other groups as well, ie Undivided or the trio with Andre' Pabarciute). 

The name of the collective means "At the Foundry" which is metaphorically quite accurate.  There are six pieces on the cd, everyone with a seed of sketched melody, to be filled and surrounded differently with each execution, not unlike working with a fused metal in a factory.

Russian music in the key of New Jazz on Leo Records part 4 - Anastasia Masloboeva, Evgeny Masloboev and Alexey Kruglov

The final chapter and the cd that gave the title to our mini-cycle.

Russian Folksongs in the Key of New Jazz
Anastasia Masloboeva - voice, cymbalo

Evgeny Masloboev - percussion, drums, plastic bucket, metal washbasin, speaker
Alexey Kruglov - soprano and alto saxophones, clarinet, baby saxohphone, prepared saxophones and clarinet, mouthpieces
Sergey Starostin - russian folk wind instruments
Renat Gautalin - piano, prepared piano, programmed synth
Arkady Shilkloper- french horn, alpine horn; Anton Kolosov - bass guitar; Vitaly Labutin - el. guitar

Leo Records 2012

"Russian Folskongs in the Key of New Jazz" was recorded when Anastasia and Evgeny came from Irkutsk to Moscow and met with Alexey Kruglov, a busy-bee of the Moscow's improvising scene. The three are joined by Sergey Starostin on folk wind instruments and Renat Gataulin on piano and synth (Arkady Schilkoper plays on three tracks and Vitaly Labutin and Anton Kolosov guest on one).  The music included on the cd is truly an amalgam of personal styles and musical genres.


There's something truly beautiful in the contrast between the pure crystal voice of Anastasia and Alexey's raw sax sound. "Kukushechka" is possibly my favourite song, and it opens the cd (after a short instrumental interlude) with Anastasia's voice surrounded by the frenetic sax, joyful flutes played by Starostin and lyrical piano ornaments by Gataulin. The cd will close with the similarly happy tones of "Gulbushka" (with a particularly soulful sax solo and proud tone by Arkady Shilkloper). The "Pacification" gives a chance to listen to Kruglov-Masloboeva duo alone and the two connect on every level as they entangle together the tone and timbre of human voice and saxophone.
"Over the River" is a bit whimsical battle of whistling, a reminder of how folk music is for Homo Ludens, while minimalistic "Nora" or "Lullabye" bring back the ethereal, metaphysical feeling from the Evgeny-Anastasia duo cds (the first one features as well majestic tone of Arkady Shilkloper's horn again). "Kvashnya" is the other favourite of mine, a mixed bag of sounds with tumultuos drums and bass-drum tone, rapid flute, rushed tune and possibly the most feverish sax solo of the cd (Kruglov's hot tone reminds often of Rahsaan Roland Kirk).

Half of the 14 pieces are composed by Evgeny Masloboev and they emphasize the "russian folksongs" aspect of the recording. The other half (and mostly instrumental) are group improvisations, given the changes in the line-up there's less consistency but the effects are worthwhile nonetheless. Especially the "Siberian Song" with circular sax line (inc, insisted cymbalo figure, some more agressive singing by Anastasia and dense, forward-pushing drumming by Evgeny. The cd ends with a spare, romantic piano tones. The pauses filled by the resonating sound of a metal gong.

"Russian Folksongs in teh Key of New Jazz" is a definitely happy and successful marriage of ethno, folk, free jazz and just a hint of electronica. Highly original sound, with love from Moscow courtesy of Leo Feign.