Monday, November 11, 2024

Aaron Goldberg - The Now

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:21
Size: 123,8 MB
Art: Front

(6:47)  1. Trocando Em Miudos
(5:02)  2. Yoyo
(5:02)  3. The Wind In The Night
(2:47)  4. E-Land
(5:17)  5. Perhaps
(4:55)  6. Triste Baía Da Guanabara
(2:48)  7. Background Music
(6:22)  8. Francisca
(6:16)  9. One's A Crowd
(8:00) 10. One Life

Hailed by Down Beat magazine for his quick-witted harmonic reflexes, fluid command of line and cut-to-the-chase sense of narrative logic, Aaron Goldberg has made his name as one of jazz s most compelling pianists, both as a bandleader and frequent collaborator with Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Guillermo Klein and many more. On his new release The Now, Goldberg reunites with bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, the virtuoso rhythm team going all the way back to his 1998 debut Turning Point. On their fifth outing together, the trio foregrounds a central truth about the art of playing jazz: that no two performances will be the same because the music is created, in Goldberg s words, in the dynamic plane of the present.

A jazz record is literally one moment in time, Goldberg explains. Each song captures those five minutes, and not more. This is especially counterintuitive when you think about iconic jazz recordings like Kind of Blue, where we can all sing every solo. That record would sound totally different, we d all be singing different solos, if it d been recorded five minutes later or even five seconds later. That aspect of jazz is what makes it magical for me. I think every time you make an album you contribute to this illusion that jazz operates like other forms of music, where you figure out the song, you practice it, you play it a million times, then you record the definitive version. Jazz doesn t work like that, and I felt it was time to explicitly wrestle with this in some thematic way. In every idiomatic zone from Brazilian ballads to roaring bebop, Goldberg and the trio have a way of spontaneously sculpting every bar as it flows by, like a wave on a river. That Rogers and Harland have also spent the last few years working with master saxophonist Charles Lloyd has deepened their communication and subtlety beyond measure. With Goldberg, they revel in the lesser-explored corners of jazz repertoire, bringing wit, explosive chops and also keen understatement to bear on the music at hand.~ Editorial Reviews http://www.amazon.com/The-Now-Aaron-Goldberg/dp/B00OUGOE1Q

The Now

Klas Lindquist - Handle with Care

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 67:05
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 154,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:31) 1. My Old Flame
(6:32) 2. Tea for Two
(6:19) 3. Prelude to a Kiss
(6:20) 4. The Day We Met
(6:13) 5. The Man with a Horn
(6:27) 6. Cry My a River
(6:23) 7. Bernadette
(6:25) 8. Stardust
(5:03) 9. Cherokee
(3:09) 10. Days of Wine and Roses
(4:55) 11. Sweet Pumpkin
(3:43) 12. Come Sunday

Considered one of "Sweden's most exciting jazz musicians," by the Goteborgs Posten, a major Swedish-language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden, Klas Lindquist delivers his fifth album as leader with the intimate and sophisticated Handle with Care. As pianist Champian Fulton states in the liner notes, the album, "Spotlights Klas Lindquist as a soloist with a voice and perspective all his own." She essentially hits the nail on the proverbial head in describing the saxophonist's work on the recording, which is pronounced, powerful and penetrating.

A follow up to his well-received Alternate Source of Energy (Yellow Car Records 2023) with his much-regarded nonet, garnishing the recognition of Sweden's number one jazz album of 2023, it was one of several albums the leader recorded with an ensemble of nine musicians. On this session, Lindquist returns to a smaller intimate format and records with a quartet of fellow countrymen featuring pianist Leo Lindberg guiding a seasoned rhythm section of Niklas Fernqvist and drummer Daniel Fredriksson.

On tap, are only two originals with the majority of the twelve tracks featuring familiar standards from the likes of Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Henry Mancini, and Ray Noble among others. The leader's beautiful solos begin on the opening Arthur Johnston/ Sam Coslow classic "My Old Flame," and progress on the oft-recorded Vincent Youmans/Caesar standard "Tea for Two." He treats Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss" tenderly before presenting his first original, "The Day We Met," peppered with plenty of high notes a terrific piece of bop.

Perhaps the defining piece of the album is Lindquist's rendition of the Bonnie Lake/Jack Jenney dynamite number "The Man with a Horn," made popular by Lou Donaldson, Eric Alexander and others. This take of the standard must be compared favorably to the others and considered as one of the top versions ever recorded. Pianist Lindberg weighs in quite nicely on the American torch song from Arthur Hamilton, "Cry Me A River," as Lindquist sounds off in accompaniment of his pianist.

The two musicians do it again on "Bernadette" with Lindberg laying down some nice Bill Evans like key work as the saxophonist displays his chops in a call and response moment making this piece of music wonderful to hear. The music slows down a bit on the stylish Carmichael composition "Stardust" for a delicate and mellow take on this familiar standard. Nobel's recognizable melody of "Cherokee" brings out the bassist and drummer in a more pronounced role on the shortest but perkiest tune of the album.

The immortal Henry Mancini standard "The Days of Wine and Roses" is truly another winner with Lindquist and the band, playing off each other in one cohesive manner demonstrating just how good this group truly is. "Sweet Pumkin" and Ellington's spiritual ballad "Come Sunday," brings the music to a graceful finish. What may not be finished, however, is the favorable impression one may have after only one listen to Klas Lindquist's brilliant Handle with Care.
By Edward Blanco https://www.allaboutjazz.com/handle-with-care-klas-lindquist-self-roduced/

Personnel: Klas Lindquist - alto saxophone; Leo Lindberg - piano; Niklas Fernqvist - bass; Daniel Fredriksson - drums

Handle with Care