Barcelona Clarinet Players - One for All

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:22
Size: 170,9 MB
Art: Front

(16:26) 1. The Musketeers
(10:10) 2. Kelarnit
(14:06) 3. Pas de quatre
(17:05) 4. Clarinet Quartet Concertino, Op. 145
(16:33) 5. Blueprints

Innovation, fusion, interdisciplinary nature, and pedagogy are some of the concepts that best describe the creative line of the Barcelona Clarinet Players (BCP). The group, formed in 2010, has performed at the main music halls in Spain such as Palau de la Musica de Valencia, Auditori de Barcelona, and in such countries as Austria, Belgium, France, Mexico, and the United States. This collaboration with Eugene Corporon and the North Texas Wind Symphony, featuring repertoire from primarily Spanish composers, is remarkable and refreshing!
https://omegamusicdayton.com/UPC/785147007623

One for All

---

Laila Biali - Out of Dust

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:25
Size: 118,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:58) 1. Revival
(5:13) 2. The monolith
(4:56) 3. Glass house
(4:39) 4. Wendy's song
(4:13) 5. Sugar
(4:08) 6. Alpha waves
(4:12) 7. Au pays de Cocagne
(5:23) 8. Take me to the alley
(5:24) 9. The baker's daughter
(5:34) 10. Broken vessels
(3:40) 11. Take the day off

There's no boxing Laila Biali in. A sharp-minded songwriter, respected pianist and celebrated vocalist who straddles jazz and pop with unusual ease and strength of vision, Biali is truly beyond category. Possessing clear eyes, a perceptive mien and a sharpshooters's gifts in regard to emotional aim, she often expresses more in a single breath than others do in an entire album. Capable of making you laugh and cry all at once, her delivery out of dust is divine.

Riding highs and lows, touching on the personal and political, and drawing meaning from all that supports and subverts, Biali creates a tapestry in song that speaks to pain, hope, humor, loss and a broad desire to find what's right in a world filled with wrongs. Opening on "Revival," a charged tale of modern life, politics and rousing responses in the age of Donald Trump, Biali is quick to speak her mind and drive through the turmoil. But she's just as likely to embrace the everyman in need, demonstrated during an absorbing trip through Gregory Porter's "Take Me To The Alley," or speak to rescue and rejoice, as on "Broken Vessels." Calling out calamities and questioning a false prophet just happens to be the starting point.

What ties together all of those pieces and other standouts, like the moving "Wendy's Song" and the fun(ky) "Sugar" is an ability to simply tell it like it is. Yes, the poetic writing is incredibly expressive, the arrangements are well-wrought works of art, the A-list cast does a fine job fleshing out the charts, and the production values, courtesy of Biali and drummer/co-producer Ben Wittman's unerring ears, add tremendous depth to the music. But in the end, it's really about an artist's ability to connect.

Everything Laila Biali sings is believable and relatable, and when you surround that type of communicative purpose with sympathetic sounds a supportive rhythmic base, Godwin Louis' gorgeous soprano filigree, a horn section made up of top-notch talent like trombonist/arranger Alan Ferber and multi-reedists John Ellis and Remy Le Boeuf, A-list backing vocals from the like of Lisa Fischer and Jo Lawry, among others everything just gels. Exploring an emotional spectrum that covers an entire 360 degrees of experience, Out Of Dust is as real as they come.
~Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/out-of-dust-laila-biali-act-music

Personnel: Laila Biali: voice / vocals.

Out of dust

---

David S. Ware - Shakti

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320Ks/
Time: 68:16
Size: 157,5 MB
Art: Front

( 9:43) 1. Crossing Samsara
(18:14) 2. Nataraj
(12:43) 3. Reflection
( 8:31) 4. Namah
( 9:30) 5. Antidromic
( 9:33) 6. Shakti : Durga, Devi, Kali

Shakti is the triumphant return of tenor saxophonist David S. Ware. His first studio recording since 2003's Threads (Thirsty Ear), this album marks the recorded debut of his first working group since he disbanded his famously prolific quartet of 1989-2006. An acknowledged master of the tenor saxophone, Ware's influence spans his seminal days in the seventies loft-era to the early Downtown scene, where his exuberant performances encouraged a new generation to investigate the expressive potential of free jazz. His 23rd release as a leader, Shakti reveals Ware's deepening interest in Eastern philosophy and religion, exemplified by the exotic kalimba introduction to "Namah." Other than a reworking of "Antidromic" from his first AUM Fidelity album, 1997's Wisdom of Uncertainty, this session consists of all new pieces. Conceived around folk-like themes and lyrical fragments, these expansive tunes showcase a darkly poetic side of Ware's strident expressionism. With a mixture of sublime restraint and impassioned yearning, Ware channels his renowned volcanic intensity, concentrating his ecstatic detours and excessive pyrotechnics into a more nuanced approach. Although his circuitous cadences still brim with unfettered altissimo cries, braying multiphonics and coruscating lower register drones, they are tempered by an architectural sensibility that provides incisive focus.

Joined by assiduous bassist William Parker, Ware finds accord in two new ensemble mates, iconic guitarist Joe Morris and legendary drummer Warren Smith. Morris is one of today's most innovative and distinctive guitar stylists, a singular artist with an unparalleled approach and technique. Smith's career dates back to his seminal loft-era collaborations with such visionary avant gardists as Sam Rivers and Muhal Richard Abrams. Morris's first recording session with Ware reveals him to be a brilliant front-line foil for the master saxophonist. Morris's spiky, percolating phrases and bright, round tone create a brilliant contrast to Ware's vociferous linearity and dark, burnished timbre. Ware's effusive commentary dominates the proceedings, but Morris's unique contributions, such as his meticulously metered motifs on "Nataraj" or his spitfire needling on "Antidromic," are equally impressive. While no contemporary rhythm pairing can compare to Parker's clairvoyant work with drummer Hamid Drake, Parker's conversational interplay with Smith yields a malleable pan-African sensibility perfectly attuned to Ware's aesthetic. Their pliant dialogue provides a fluid undercurrent of forward momentum that gracefully modulates tempos and meters. Their sensitive rapport on "Reflection" is supple, while "Nataraj" demonstrates their ability to maintain a hypnotic groove even in the throes of deep abstraction. Ware presents another aspect of his artistry here, one whose seeds were planted early on with the archival 1999 studio recording BalladWare (Thirsty Ear, 2006). A refreshingly lyrical and emotionally committed performance by masterful improvisers, Shakti ebbs with soulful intensity and inspired interplay, making this one of the most compelling, yet accessible, recordings of Ware's career.
~Troy Collins https://www.allaboutjazz.com/shakti-david-s-ware-aum-fidelity-review-by-troy-collins.php

Personnel: David S. Ware: tenor saxophone and kalimba (4); Joe Morris: guitar and percussion (4); William Parker: bass; Warren Smith: drums and percussion.

Shakti

---

Walt Weiskopf - European Quartet: Diamonds and Other Jewels

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:12
Size: 108,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:30) 1. Spartacus
(7:50) 2. Black Diamond
(5:47) 3. Other Jewels
(5:03) 4. Incantation
(6:11) 5. Thad Nation
(6:18) 6. My Old Flame
(6:52) 7. Blood Diamond
(3:38) 8. Everybody

Two distinct types of jazz album have emerged in the difficult Covid pandemic times: the do-it-yourself statements, usually recorded in a home studio, often with internet sound swapping; and the pent-up energy, post-pandemic energy bursts, musicians getting together again after a year or more of minimal in-person collaboration. Diamonds And Other Jewels, from the Walt Weiskopf European Quartet, is of the latter type. Saxophonist Weiskopf, pianist Carl Winther, bassist Andreas Lang and drummer Anders Mogensen jump out of the speakers from the start with "Spatacus," one of the seven dynamic originals offered up here.

The quartet began its life under Weskopf's leadership in 2017. Diamonds And Other Jewels is its sixth release, and after mostly lying dormant as a group during the pandemic they reconvene with a special expressive gusto, and a palpable sense of joy and adventure.

"Black Diamond," less ferocious than 'Spartacus," rolls with a smooth flow. Weiskopf's solo is freewheeling and muscular, bringing sax man Joe Henderson to mind with an on-edge adventurousness. "Thad Nation" nods to trumpeter & bandleader Thad Jones, with a colorful and upbeat mood, and "Blond Diamond" broods beautifully.

"My Old Flame," the disc's only non-original, was recorded in 1944 by Billie Holiday. It adds a welcome bit of soothing familiarity to the set. Overall the sound seems to owe a debt to saxophonist John Coltrane's quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones and bassist Jimmy Garrison, before things went into interstellar space a fine era for Coltrane, and a fine one for the Walt Weiskopf European Quartet,too.
~Dan McClenaghan https://www.allaboutjazz.com/diamonds-and-other-jewels-walt-weiskopf-european-quartet-amm-records

Personnel: Walt Weiskopf: saxophone; Carl Winther: piano; Andreas Lang: bass, acoustic; Anders Mogensen: drums.

European Quartet: Diamonds and Other Jewels

---