jazz2love

Album:  The World and Its People Artist:  Yosef Gutman Levitt Label:  Soul Song Label Website:  https://yosefgutman.com Bassist and composer Yosef Gutman Levitt of Jerusalem releases his latest offering, The World and Its People , available from Levitt’s recently formed Soul Song imprint.  Leading a drum-less, chamber-jazz-newgrass foursome influenced in part by The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Chris Thile, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan, Levitt delivers a collection of atmospheric melodies and spiritual renderings that have a soothing effect on the listener. The tracks are Levitt's original works cowritten and arranged by producer Gilad Ronen, with meaningful contributions from Levitt’s close musical associates Tal Yahalom on nylon and steel string acoustic guitars, Omri Mor on piano and Yoed Nir on cello.  Pairing elements of orchestral spirituals, country dance, Indian-Asian folkloric, ambient jazz, and improvisation, the quartet dazzles the listen...

    Album Review:  Self-Titled CD from Datura Road Artist:  Datura Road Label: Self-Released Website:  www.daturaroad.com The self-titled CD from Datura Road offers listeners a variety of flavors from Turkish accented woodwinds to the Italian textured strums of the mandolin and the American folk aromas of the acoustic guitar.  Eastern influences meet western elements on the recording, making for a multi-colored sonic collage that, contrary to popular belief about polar opposites, is aurally pleasing. Asian-toned instruments such as the ud/oud, bansuri and tabla are layered with the familiar western sounds of the guitar, bass, drums, and clarinet.   The intermingling of these diverse registers prove to be a complementing mix as multi-instrumentalist Matt Nobile applies a smooth voicing to the tracks.   His  vocals blend nicely into the fluid curves of the tracks, expressing a sage-like presence through the melodies....