Soren

Back in 1964, saxophonist Stan Getz made one of those perfect albums. He teamed up with famed Brazilian songwriters and guitarists, Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim, and delivered one of the best records in his career: Gezt/Gilberto (Verve, 1964). The combination of the wistfully vibrant bossa nova and the sensual saxophone sound of Getz proved to be irresistible. History has a way of repeating itself and now it is time for yet another crucial meeting between a group of Brazilian musicians and an American saxophonist. Harry Allen could be considered one of the most prominent heirs to the sound of Getz, so it was only a matter of time before he would find the ideal partner to make an album with a perfect Brazilian sound. In fact, his partner found him. In the elaborate notes to the album Something About Jobim, producer and bassist, Rodolfo Stroeter, tells the story of the album. When his good friend, record producer Søren Friis of Stunt Records, gave him a bunch of records to listen to, one of them especially caught his attention.

Nephew is a Danish Orchestra formed in 1996 in Aarhus, Denmark. The band consists of Simon Kvamm (lead vocals, keyboards, songwriting), Kristian Riis (guitar, backing vocals), Søren Arnholt (drums, backing vocals), Kasper Toustrup (bass guitar), René Munk Thalund (keyboards), and Marie Højlund (vocals, keyboards, guitar).

The Eric Revis Trio is back, this time with Gerald Cleaver using sticks against skins and metal, replacing his elders Andrew Cyrille from “City of Asylum” – Cecil Taylor’s drummer of choice for a decade – and John Betsch from the project’s recent European tour – Steve Lacy’s partner for the same period of time. The brilliant newcomer Kris Davis remains at the piano. Although the music is different, the principles, objectives and personality are the same, coming from the mind and heart of the same man who has plucked his double bass for 17 years with the Branford Marsalis Quartet. “Crowded Solitudes” is another example of Revis’s “back-to-the-future” philosophy: the invention of the future of jazz is rooted in its past and tradition.