From the first notes of the very first track, I suspected I was going to
enjoy this, the 4th album from Bonnie. I wasn't disappointed. Bonnie
has always had great taste in material. Standards (Roger and Hart,
Oliver Nelson) sit comfortably alongside contemporary pop tunes. (Stevie
Wonder is a favorite). But it is on her original material that she
demonstrates her maturity as an artist. The polished arrangements and
sound speak for her attention to detail as singer AND producer. Of
course having great collaborators helps. Co-producer and songwriter
Graham Jess's sax and flute playing complement Bonnie's smoky, soulful
vocals perfectly. All the players, the cream of Sydney's jazz musos, are
at the top of their game here and sound like they are really enjoying
their work. The whole album swings and includes more than a hint of
"Latin tinge". Perfect for a sunny Autumn afternoon.
BONNIE J JENSEN
Big Head Todd & the Monsters spent much of the early years of the new millennium emphasizing their blues roots, going so far as to spearhead a centennial celebration of Robert Johnson in 2011, so the expansive nature of 2014's Black Beehive comes as something of a welcome surprise. BHTM haven't left the blues behind, of course -- there are funky slide guitar workouts like "Seven State Lines," along with a salute to the great Howlin' Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin -- but they've internalized the blues, letting it infuse songs that otherwise read as pop or lending a bit of grit to performances that otherwise favor comfort. This dexterity (demonstrated, as it should, through throwaway grooves and succinct solos), when combined with a production that boasts considerable color even during the record's quietest moments, gives Black Beehive a surprising resonance; unlike some BHTM records, this feels lived-in, which in itself is a reflection of how the band's sojourn into the blues has paid off dividends. They've returned to some of the easy, breezy melodic songwriting that gave them AAA hits in the '90s, but that tunefulness is given a backbone by the band's willingness to delve into the blues, and the production -- alternating between spare sweetness and sharply detailed, sculpted six-strings -- gives the album dimension (and Todd's decision to occasionally co-opt Dylan's phrasing, unmistakable on "Josephina" and "Travelin' Light," adds another dimension to this roots rock fantasia). Big Head Todd & the Monsters will never be a gutbucket, down-and-dirty blues-rock outfit, but Black Beehive proves that's fine: they have found their own friendly spin on the blues and have become a better band for it. BIG HEAD TODD THE MONSTERS
When I
began writing the Rollin' On compilation I was buried in stress over
the fact that I had decided to essentially start over playing a new
instrument, the Guitar. Originally a piano player, I had grown tired of
the instrument and wanted to explore writing a new kind of song. After
months of jamming with my friends and exploring new styles of music, my
first original on guitar, "Oh Na Na", hit me like a ton of bricks. The
flood gates were opened and the rest of the album practically came over
night. Writing
my own stuff on guitar has been the most exciting experience to date
since I learned my first classical song on piano as a young kid. Writing
this album breathed new life into me and I hope it does the same for
anyone who listens.JACKIE VENSON
Portland-based quintet The Ocular Concern presents a new album of
contemporary music composed by co-leaders Dan Duval and Andrew Oliver.
The album’s centerpiece is a four-movement suite for the quintet plus
string trio and bandoneon inspired by the globalized world of the 21st
century and based on the names of Portland’s sister cities worldwide.
The album features the group’s wide ranging stylistic aesthetic, tied
together by an emphasis on strong interlocking grooves, catchy melodies,
and intuitive group interplay. The four-movement suite adds violin, viola, cello and bandoneon, the
traditional Argentine tango accordion to the existing instrumentation of
Lee Elderton on clarinet, Andrew Oliver on electric piano, Dan Duval on
electric guitar, Nathan Beck on vibes and mbira (Zimbabwean thumb
piano), and Stephen Pancerev on drums. Though the instrumentation at
first glance may seem intentionally bizarre, the nonet blends diverse
timbres and styles into a soundscape perfectly suited to Duval and
Oliver's wide reaching compositional aesthetic. The suite opens with
"Sister Cities," a gospel-tinged tune leading to "Portland in Reverse,"
featuring the strings in a reflective chamber mood before the
introduciton of a Senegalese-inspired beat. "Ghost Town City Council"
brings in a western twang and creepy atonal use of the mbira before
resolving into the "Island Milonga" with a catchy tango feel to round it
out.
The other tracks in the album feature the quintet exploring a variety of
grooves from the contemporary odd meters of "The Ocular Concern" and
"The Eclectic Piano" to a more Zimbabwean-styled trancey beat of
"Lafayette" and the serene, chorale-like "William S. Burroughs, LET'S
GO!" Throughout, Stephen Pancerev's intuitive drumming and the
interlocking blend of guitar, keyboard, and vibes lays a strong
framework for strong and catchy melodic statments, minimalist textures,
and Lee Elderton's spontaneous and brilliant clarinet improvisations.
THE OCULAR CONCERN
The Todd Wolfe Band recall the days when "men were men and amps were amps", real tubes crackling with
a "bluesdelic" sound reminiscent of the best rock and roll bands of the 60's and 70's! This band with Roger Voss
on drums and the stunning Justine Gardner on bass with former Sheryl Crow sideman, Todd Wolfe jams and rocks
but their music is deeply soaked in blues. They have established themselves as one of top POWER TRIOS in
America by their relentless touring and spreading their legend from coast to coast and beyond. Todd began playing on the New York scene back in 1979 with his band
Nitetrain, a trio that clearly reflected Todd's influences—60s bands
like Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac and other bluesy-rocking-jamming
bands. The wave of guitar players that included Eric Clapton, Peter
Green, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Bloomfield were and are influential and
evident in Todd's style and approach to guitar-playing. His next venture
was Troy & the Tornados, a band based in the New York metro area.
Todd met two women in this time period that would eventually play a part
in his guitar-playing and song-writing experience: Carla Olson of the
Textones and Sheryl Crow, at the time an unknown back-up singer. By the
late '80s, Sheryl had sat in several times with the Tornados in New York
City. Eventually Todd decided to fly to Los Angeles and write with
Sheryl and showcase their new band in hopes of a record deal. Nothing
came of this particular venture, but these two would find each other
again on the same stage just a few years up the road!TODD WOLFE BAND
Kathy
Zimmer has been called a "latter day Joan Baez" (Rock n Reel) and "the
adopted daughter of Joni Mitchell" (Cleveland Scene). Critically
acclaimed from as far away as Zurich and London and as close to home as
New York City, Kathy Zimmer (with her live band, The Sugar Bowls)
perform often in and around New York City. Truly unique in sound and
perspective, this is an authentic voice for modern times. "Static Inhabited" is fresh, inviting and clever and
Zimmer's expansive style of including beloved fictional characters in
her themes is compelling and unpredictable. But the real glue is the
singer-songwriter's supple voice and natural storytelling abilities." KATHY ZIMMER
This two-horns-no-chords quartet was established by drummer Matthew
Jacobson in 2007 as a creative outlet for his compositions as well as
his somewhat perverse fascination with anagrams. While he failed to find
such avid fellow followers of wordplays, he did find and enlist the
help of improv and rhythmic specialists Derek Whyte (bass) and Nick Roth
(alto sax), with trombonist Colm O'Hara arriving a little later. The band play all original compositions from Jacobson ("one of Ireland's
most exciting young talents" - the Irish Times) with influences
including artists such as Charles Mingus, Jim Black, Deerhoof and Tim
Berne. The formula for putting all this together in one palindromic
setting is downtown grooves with catchy riffs and collective improvs. ReDiviDeR have recorded two albums for Diatribe, Ireland’s leading
record label for new sounds. ‘Never odd or eveN’ was released in
November 2011 to a four-star review in the Irish Times and a ‘one to
watch out for’ recommendation in All About Jazz. ‘meets I Dig Monk,
Tuned’ was released in October 2013 and has been called 'an inspired
endeavour' by No More Workhorse, 'a big leap forward' by Marlbank and ‘a
striking musical collage… recommended for those generally disposed to
imaginative, genre-bending music’ by All About Jazz.REDIVIDER
While Ben Wasson, a native born Missourian, was serving as a radar man
on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid, he danced at the local USO in
New York City to Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue”.
Little could he know that a short time later he would be in far away
Clovis, NM at the legendary Norvajak Recording Studio singing into the
same microphone and produced by the same producer, as the late great
Buddy Holly. Ben worked under the tutelage of the innovative
engineer/producer/composer Norman Petty. Ben recorded with some of
Nashville’s greatest talents, such as - Tommy Allsup, Brien Fisher,
Norris Wilson and musicians - Pete Drake, Lloyd Greene, Weldon Myrick,
Hargus Robbins, Buddy Harman, and The Jordanaires.
Cool jazz, a style of jazz that emerged in the United States during the late 1940s. The term cool derives from what journalists perceived as an understated or subdued feeling in the music of Miles Davis, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Gerry Mulligan, Lennie Tristano, and others. Tone colours tended toward pastels, vibratos were slow or nonexistent, and drummers played softer and less interactively than in bop, hard bop, and other modern styles that coexisted with cool. There was also a renewed interest in contrapuntal collective improvisation among melody instruments. Within the style, however, there is considerable variety in emotional range, level of intricacy, and instrumentation. For example, the term cool describes the intricate, intense music of New York-based pianist Lennie Tristano as well as the tuneful and light-hearted music of Los Angeles-based saxophonist Dave Pell.
