jazz2love

Album:  Quartet Vol 1 Artist:  Takeshi Asai Label:  Fono Bono Records Websites:  http://www.takeshiasai.com http://epk.takeshiasai.com/ Pianist-composer Takeshi Asai puts modern day sagas to music.  His latest release Quartet Vol 1 from Fono Bono Records parlays a string of stories into emotionally stirring compositions that incite audiences to reflect, to escape, and to daydream.  A savant at creating atmospheric soundscapes, Asai encapsulates decades of experiences into 9 original tracks, each expressive and each a log taken from a memoir. Upbeat and sublime, "Minor Holiday" brandishes a bopping groove tailored by bass player Bob Gingery and drummer Brian Woodruff, as Hashem Assadullahi's alto sax dazzles with improvised chord patterns.  Asai's keys joins in the cheerful mood with a pulsating vamp, culminatiing into a gamut of pyrotechnics.  The recording slows to a daydreamy atmosphere through "On-Hold Music." as Assadullahi's sax weaves loung...

Album: Clement Kovalcheck Hamar Artist: Clement/Kovalcheck/Hamar Trio Label:  Self-Released Websites:  www.dawnclement.com https://www.kovalcheckmusic.com/ https://jonhamar.com/ The drummerless trio of pianist Dawn Clement, guitarist Steve Kovalcheck, and bass player Jon Hamar demonstrate a charming rapport that highlights their lyrical sensibilities and penchant for harmonious motifs, comprised of improvised turns and wayfaring musings.  The trio's latest release Clement Kovalcheck Hamar indulges their exploratory natures with all original compositions, probing and traversing in a winsome spirit as they form melodic patterns that send them wandering merrily. From the complex entanglements of "Blind" and the somber passages of "Spirit Spin" to the elegant soundscapes of "Lazy Dragon" and the balmy rhumba flare of "Paseo del Mar," the trio's sense of rhythm keeps the listener engaged.  The bebop pulse of "Hard Ball" is steep in ...

Album:  Windows Through Time Artist:  Mariah Parker Label:  Ancient-Future.com Records Website: mariahparkermusic.com Mariah Parker’s compositions on her 2024 release Windows Through Time are characteristic of her penchant to explore Latin rhythms combined with wordless chanting and melodic interfacing, compiling a bounty of sonically soaring structures.  The vivacious voicing of Paul McCandless's saxophone is complimented by the elegant stride of Parker's piano keys and the soothing vibrations of Matthew Montfort's scalloped fretboard guitar.  The rhythm section of Ian Dogole on cymbals and cajon along with drummer Mark Walker, bassists Sascha Jacobsen, Kash Killion and Gary Brown, and percussionists Daniel Feldman and Michaelle Goerlitz cup the spacious soundscapes in a steady hold, solidifying the tracks harmonious flow. Parker's track "Sol de Barcelona" has a vibrant Latin beat that transports the listener into an ecstatic state of mind.  With a flare ...

Album:  Conjure Artist:  Jason Kao Hwang and Karl Berger Label:  True Sound Recordings Website:  https://jasonkaohwang.bandcamp.com/album/conjure Conjure , the latest CD from violinist-viola player Jason Kao Hwang and pianist-vibraphonist Karl Berger is indeed a collection of musical conjurations.  Some parts are melodic but most are abstract with a cinematic scope as though they were made for big screen psychological thrillers.  The twisted workings of the strings and reverberating vibraphone will sonically seem to represent the subconscious mind, tormented and nonlinear.  The compositions project images in the listener's head, brandishing a series of moments of tension and intervals of irregular chord patterns.  Experimental and entirely improvised, the compositions have a noir cast that is haunting and simultaneously inviting. The twisting weave and dissonance of the strings is trellised by the pitter patter of the vibraphone's notes ru...

Album:  Stories From Here And There Artist:  Tuomo Uusitalo Label:  Fresh Sound New Talent Website:  www.tuomouusitalo.com Chamber music and improvisation are sauteed in jazz dressing on Tuomo Uusitalo's latest release Stories From Here and There .  The pianist-songwriter leads the quartet along multiple musical segments, exploring the sonic range and flexibility of the individual instruments and the various entanglements they form.  Track after track, the compositions illuminate a ballroom glow.  Some numbers display a soft glisten like "Solitude" and others delve deeper into abstract and avant garde terrain illustrated by the rustle and scramble of Uusitalo's keys making random scrolls across "Between Things" like a prospector on the trail of a goldmine. Exhibiting an ingenuity for composing off-the-cuff sequences, Uusitalo has a propensity for making his random meanders sound melodic while keeping in harmony with the rest of the arrangement play...