NZ Weddings From No.49, Winter 2014

Coming off his Grammy-nominated 2013 album, The World According to Andy Bey, vocalist/pianist Andy Bey delivers the equally compelling 2014 release Pages from an Imaginary Life. As with its predecessor, Pages finds the jazz iconoclast returning to his roots with a set of American Popular Song standards done in a ruminative, stripped-down style. This is Bey, alone at the piano, delving deeply into the harmony, melody, and lyrics of each song. But don't let the spare setting fool you. Bey is a master of interpretation. In his seventies at the time of recording, and having performed over the years in a variety of settings from leading his own swinging vocal trio, to working with hard bop pioneer Horace Silver, to exploring the avant-garde with Archie Shepp, Bey has aged into a jazz oracle who doesn't so much perform songs as conjure them from somewhere in the mystical ether of his psyche.

Urbie Green - Urbie: East Coast Jazz Series No.6 (1955) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000}
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© 1955, 2014 Solid Records / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6128 | LP BCP-14
Jazz / Bop / Trombone

One of the strongest albums ever cut by trombonist Urbie Green – a player who had a heck of a lot of talent, but who unfortunately could sometimes end up in some schmaltzy settings. Fortunately, this isn't one of them – as the group includes players like Jimmy Lyon on piano, Oscar Pettiford on bass, Osie Johnson on drums, and Ike Horowitz on tenor – actually a nom-du-date for Al Cohn! The arrangements are tight, but never too much so – and there's a good degree of spirit in both the playing, and the compositions – some of which are by arranger Marion Evans. Titles include "Sneaky Pete", "Sassafras", "Melody In Bb", "How About You", and "Mutation".

The Ed Palermo Big Band - Oh No! Not Jazz!! (2014) {2CD Set Cuneiform Records} (Frank Zappa related)
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© 2014 Cuneiform Records / Ed Palermo | Rune 380/81
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Modern Big Band / Jazz Rock

The Ed Palermo Big Band is led by alto saxist and arranger Ed Palermo; he has had this big band with much of the same personnel for over 30 years, which is an impressive feat in itself, and has had his band performing the music of Frank Zappa for 20 years. There are a number of ensembles performing the music of Frank Zappa, who is now recognized as one of the great 20th century American composers, but no one does it with this ease, skill and originality! The band is a 18 piece ensemble of five woodwind players, four trumpeters, three trombonists, two keyboardists, guitar, violin, bass and drum. All of these musicians are NYC professionals, and they have been playing this music for years with Ed, because, like Ed, they recognize and appreciate the genius inherent in the huge body of Zappa's work, and they want to keep this great music alive and in front of the public. OH NO! NOT JAZZ!! consists of two discs: The first disc further explores Ed's distinctive, big band interpretations of the music of Frank Zappa, while the second disc features Ed's own, colorful compositions.

Today marks the 70th birthday of one of the greatest drummers of this, or any generation; the remarkable Billy Cobham. From his earliest recordings with Horace Silver, Miles Davis and Milt Jackson, to his scintillating and seminal work with John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, keyboardist George Duke, and his own groups, like Culture Mix, Asere and the Spectrum 40; Cobham has thrilled audiences around the world by bringing his incomparable talents as a composer, drummer, and producer to the forefront of jazz, rock, fusion and world music. His latest effort is the eagerly awaited "Tales from the Skeleton Coast", part 3 of a series dedicated to his Panamanian parents.

It is with much pleasure that Glossa is able to announce the release of a further new recording featuring the marvellous vocal talents of that queen of Baroque music, Roberta Invernizzi: La bella più bella. Known for her dazzling and elegant displays in the music of the later Baroque – Handel and Vivaldi come to mind, but also her Naples-related travelogue on the recent I Viaggi di Faustina – the Milanese singer has also nurtured, across her career, the more delicate and nuanced art of the Italian song repertory from the early 17th century, a time when courtly and polyphonic expression were giving way to the “moving of the emotions” by a solo singer accompanied by a single instrument. Renato Dolcini guides us through the musical evolution of this form in his illuminating booklet essay.

With No 2, Sammal releases the follow-up to their critically acclaimed eponymous debut on February 14th through Svart Records. The present-day flagship of Finnish progressive rock sails back in time again to the authentic tones and warm soundscapes of the 1970s on their forthcoming EP, titled No 2. The band doesn’t show off with unnecessarily technical playing or super-hard song structures, but focuses on forging upbeat atmospheres with strong melodies and fresh vintage sounds. Sammal relies on live playing in the studio, which brings the listener closer to the band: the production breathes so care-free that you can almost touch the notes floating in the air.

The 'Lobgesang' or Hymn of Praise, commissioned by the city of Leipzig from its Kapellmeister Mendelssohn to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing in 1840, has elements of all three categories. But, at the opposite pole from Beethoven s Ninth, we have here a symphonic miniature in three movements, intended to act as the overture to the sung part of the work, which is twice as long. Thus this splendid Symphony-Cantata expands into a sweeping vocal and choral epic.