The third album from Soap&Skin, the working moniker for Austrian musician and producer Anja Plaschg, From Gas to Solid… marks her return with her first album in six years. From Gas to Solid… belatedly follows the release of the Top Ten albums Lovetune For Vacuum in 2009 and 2012's Narrow (an Austrian No 1) but in that time in between the artist has been busy, not least with the birth of her daughter and subsequent motherhood but as well with many other creative works such as composing for theatre and film productions, as well as film acting. From Gas to Solid…inhabits a similar world as previous works albeit perhaps partnered with a more balanced adult view than the raw, angrier aspects of those outings but still reflects the struggles to find meaning, answers, and a place to survive. Encompassing a range of musical allegiances - infused with tranquil electronica, militaristic percussion, whilst coupled with choral ambience and earthy ethereal grandeur, an expansive, stunning, wide-reaching album of dynamic beauty - the finale arrives in a serene interpretation of Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World.
Walter Wolfman Washington is a soulful musician of rare talent, as well as a deep thinker and hip philosopher, and his hometown is New Orleans. Walter has cut his teeth for the last 50 years playing everywhere from European festivals to bars that Google Maps will never find. New Orleans is notorious for its wildness, parades, and celebrations. New Orleans is Mardi Gras, but it’s also the uptown class of Allen Toussaint and hip style and language of Dr. John. Walter has always embodied both, but finally we have a set of songs that reflects the yin to Walter’s bring-the-party yang. This is the record that we all have known he has in him. This is the night after that party, or maybe just the after party. He’s been given free rein to express himself, and that’s special.
As early as 1976, Nat Hentoff wrote: "Once in a great while, a musician emerges with such authority and such seemingly effortless originality that his place in the front ranks of his instrument is unquestioned." Hentoff was not speaking of promise or potential, but actual performance, and forty-two years later, with My Faith, My Life, bassist David Friesen has added immeasurably to his stature. With its two CD suites complementing each other so fully, it's an epochal achievement - a testament to the offers of faith, matched with a purposeful life. Disc One is a 13-piece solo performance on his Hemage Bass, which calls attention to the intimacy and immediacy of his compositions. The solo piano of Disc Two highlights Friesen's supple touch on an instrument he's not generally known for. Closing the set, the composition "My Faith, My Life" sums it all up: a credo, affirmation, reverence - lower register continuity laced with sublime melody: a hymn to the Source of all song, with a fitting Amen at the close.
Hammond B-3 organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith has announced a January 12 release for All in My Mind, a spirited live trio album that the NEA Jazz Master recorded during his 75th birthday celebration at the Jazz Standard in New York City this past summer. The album is the follow-up to his acclaimed 2016 release Evolution, which marked Smith’s return to Blue Note Records where he first made a name for himself with a run of classic soul jazz albums between 1968-70.
New York-born singer Indra Rios-Moore, now living in Barcelona, releases her new album “Carry My Heart”. It comes right after her pretty successful (at least in Europe) “Heartland” album. One of the most sympathetic features of the album is the fact that Indra wanted to record an optimistic record because there was (and is) simply too much whining going on. Not that most of the current matters aren’t disheartening, but it feels good to be warmed and eased by Indra’s warm and caressing voice on covers such as “I Can See Clearly Now” or Curtis Mayfield’s “Keep On Pushin'”. Still, you can file this one under “protest” albums, too because during the writing process, a certain Drumpf took over the White House.
Sleep is a common enough subject in art song, and Come to Me in My Dreams, a recital by mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton, isn't the only one. It may well, however, be the best. There are numerous attractions, starting with Connolly's voice, seeming to catch the mixture of clarity and seductiveness in the sleep phenomenon. Connolly touches on some little-known numbers, including a gem by the still rarely heard Muriel Herbert right at the beginning (sample the unaccompanied opening, and you'll be hooked for the duration). The music is all British, mostly from between the world wars, and all more or less similar in tone, although there's some splendid poetry involved.
“Having this identity - radical indigenous queer feminist - keeps me going. My music and my identity come from the same foundation of being a Native woman.” Katherine Paul (aka KP) is Black Belt Eagle Scout, and Mother of My Children is her debut album. Recorded in the middle of winter near her hometown in Northwest Washington, Paul’s connection to the landscape’s eerie beauty are palpable throughout as the album traces the full spectrum of confronting buried feelings and the loss of what life was supposed to look like.