Under The Surface 5

Sam Yahel - In The Blink Of An Eye (1999) {Naxos Jazz 86043-2}
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© 1999 Naxos Jazz | 86043-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Organ Hammond B-3

For his third CD, organist Yahel brings back guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Brian Blade (see Trio on Criss Cross) and percussionist Kahlil Kwame Bell, who plays percussion on two tracks. There's much more going on under the surface than initially meets the ear, and that's the beauty of Yahel's concept. He's stealth and lurking in underground caves, searching for light and finding mine shafts of pure gold, with the always capable and melodic Bernstein a veritable beacon of energy and soul. Yahel wrote two of these eight selections.

The delicacy of many ECM recordings can be measured via degrees, but in the case of the music conceived by pianist Stefano Bollani, those increments of hushed tones are micro dynamic, rendered as quintessentially subdued. Within a typically formatted piano-bass-drums trio, Bollani alongside bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund can be described favorably as a cut below most groups of this type in terms of a sonic footprint. While Tord Gustavsen, Esbjorn Svensson, or Bobo Stenson may approach the similarly softer side of contemporary Continental jazz, Bollani has them covered in his utterly subtle approach, while still grasping an elusive, haunting quality to melody-making.

German-japanese sound wizard Naoki Kenji started his career as a keyboard player in Tokio and Osaka. Deeply influenced by the Japanese culture that surrounded him, his interest for electronic music started to grow. And when it have been the big electronica heros such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Riuchi Sakamoto that inspired him back then, Kenji today may look back on his own long-lasting career as producer, composer, and remixer.
With his first album Tozai from 1999 he already landed a US release, such as few European artists manage. In 2000 Naoki released the album Shogun on Neuton under the pseudonym “JP Juice”, followed in 2001 by the album Electric Bolero on ICM by his project “Planet Lounge” - a style mix of jazz, world percussion and electronics…