Ingrid Laubrock, The Last Quiet Place

2011 release from one of Contemporary Jazz's foremost guitarists and composers. The album includes 10 Hughes originals and features an all-star lineup: Matt Rodhe, Tal Bergman, Ron Powell, and Rufus Philpot.

For improvising musicians, the duo is the most intimate of set-ups. Two musicians, alone together, reaching out and responding to the other in the moment, create a glorious frisson. In the right hands, the result is honest and revelatory music. This album was co-directed by two artists who blended their styles to offer dusky and dreamy music, mainly composed of ballads, except for a short final wild samba evoking Sao Paulo nights.

This is Chicago-based, Dave Harrington's fourth album of self-produced compositions. The album opens atmospherically with organ and percussion before bursting into life on the second track, "Serentity Interrupted", with an angular, Anglagaard-like theme. Like the album, this powerful track blends dissonance and melody well, with interchanging themes and alternative time signatures. Guitar and organ are used in harmony and counterpoint to illustrate the themes. The following piece is a more mellow affair with dominant organ and a firm bass melody underpinned by restrained percussion…

"Terms such as “fastidious”, “intimate” and “quietly nuanced” have long been applied to the immensely respected Ingrid Haebler’s interpretations. She was a “purist” in the best sense of the word and has often said that she always sought to convey the essence of the music according to the language and style of the composer’s time. Her goal is that the listener should understand the structure and the message of the work, without anything to disrupt it. She has always been admired for the grace and shapeliness of her phrasing, her pellucid cantabile touch, her crystalline articulation, and the warmth, sensitivity, and quietly nuanced expressivity of her interpretations. With an imposing discography, Haebler was regarded by many as Philips’ “house pianist”. Decca now proudly presents her Complete Philips Recordings on 58CDs in tribute to this rare and special artist.

Terms such as “fastidious”, “intimate” and “quietly nuanced” have long been applied to the immensely respected Ingrid Haebler’s interpretations. She was a “purist” in the best sense of the word and has often said that she always sought to convey the essence of the music and the structure and the message of the work, without anything to disrupt it. With an imposing discography, Haebler was regarded by many as Philips’ “house pianist”. Decca now proudly presents her Complete Philips Recordings on 58CDs in tribute to this rare and special artist.

It's an open secret that Sting's interest in songwriting waned after 2003's Sacred Love, an undistinguished collection of mature pop that passed with barely a ripple despite winning a Grammy for its Mary J. Blige duet "Whenever I Say Your Name." Sting spent the next decade wandering – writing classical albums for lute, recording the frostiest Christmas album in memory, rearranging his old hits for symphony, then finally, inevitably, reuniting the Police – before finding inspiration within the confines of a musical. The Last Ship tells the tale of a British shipyard in the '80s, one laid low by changing times, so there's naturally an elegiac undertow to Sting's originals, a sensibility underscored by his decision to ground nearly all these songs in the folk of the British Isles.

John Zorn - The Last Judgment (2014) {Tzadik TZ 8325}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 258 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2014 Tzadik | TZ 7181 | Tzadik Archival Series
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental

Featuring the same magical Templar quartet from “In Sacred Blood”, “The Last Judgment” is the final CD in the remarkable Moonchild septology. This project has explored many different worlds in the past 8 years, and this CD takes a moody and lyrical approach with Medeski’s organ fully integrated into the band. Once again inspired by the legend of the powerful Knights Templar and their tragic demise under accusations of heresy in 1307, Zorn has composed a suite of pieces with a strong sense of continuity and emotional impact. Mike Patton draws on every vocal technique in his huge arsenal and the rhythm section of Dunn and Baron are tighter than ever. The last piece of the Moonchild puzzle—essential!