Tag: jazz

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Pocket Dragon is a London-based neo-soul/jazz fusion/fusion funk quintet, who since the release of their 2015 EP, the act has received a growing profile as they’ve played at Cheltenham and Cambridge jazz festivals. And adding to a growing profile,  they’ve opened for Lola’s Day Off. The band’s sophomore EP Borderless is slated for release sometime this year, and their latest single “Vagabond Capulet” is the double A side of their “35º”/”Vagabond Capulet” single,  and as you’ll hear on “Vagabond Capulet,” the London-based band specializes in an angular and stuttering groove and complex yet propulsive polyrhythms paired with soulful vocals that’s reminiscent of Hiatus Kaiyote, complete with a prog rock-leaning, expansive song structure in which the song’s three different sections are held together by the angular and stuttering groove introduced earlier on wishing the song.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Eddie Palmieri Performs Songs from Harlem River Drive

Eddie Palmieri is a legendary, Grammy-winning New York born and -based pianist, composer and bandleader who has released a number of beloved and highly-regarded Latin funk albums that have pushed the boundaries of what the genre should sound like and concern itself thematically, through renowned labels including Fania Records, Alegre Records, Tico Records, RMM and Concord Picante. Back in 1971, Palmieri along with a new backing band Harlem River Drive wrote and recorded Harlem River Drive, a sociopolitically charged album inspired by the inequality that his fellow Puerto Ricans faced in the New York of the early 1970s — and as a result, the album was a fiery and much-needed protest that featured novelistic lyrics that immersed you into its creators world. Interestingly, the album wasn’t a major commercial success but over the years, it became a cult-favorite album, while being as powerful and relevant today as it was when the album was originally released.

Earlier this year, Red Bull Music Academy invited Palmieri and his backing band to perform the material off Harlem River Drive live for the first time in several decades on what turned out to be a rainy afternoon and evening at Harem’s Marcus Garvey Park — and the folks at NPR’s Jazz Night in America shot some great live footage that includes album title track “Harlem River Drive,” “Seeds of Life” and “Comparasa.” Check it out by clicking on the link above and it’ll lead you to a full-screen embed.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing the Funky, Jazz Fusion Sounds of A Tree Grows

The New York-based jazz quintet’s self-titled EP (which will serve as a teaser for their forthcoming full-length album) was released earlier this month and the band’s sound which is clearly jazz/jazz fusion based, also possesses elements of funk, bop jazz, jazz fusion shines through on the coolly atmospheric and funky first single “Wau Wau Water,” a composition that manages to evoke seething, bubbling and frothing water. And that shouldn’t be surprising as the band explains that each composition on both the EP and the LP is based around on a different concept, describing a distinct state in the evolution of life on Earth as we know it. “The images are snapshots, extending from the beginning of life, to the emergence of emotions, to aspects of modern human life. The cycle closes with possibilities for future development: self-perpetuating intelligence. The composition ‘Wau Wau Water’ is based on the following concept: ‘Enzymes are forming in a prehistoric ocean — evolving into bacteria. A stew of life is brewing, the cycle starts and intensifies in this patch of fertile Wau Wau Water.” As the band’s Emanuel Ruffler added “Defining and discussing these concepts during the rehearsal and recording process created a sense of purpose among the musicians and a deeper engagement with the compositions. This has transformed our creative process.”

Created by acclaimed videographer Hideki Shiota, who won Best Cinematography Award at the Asian American International Film Festival, the video employs a simple concept as you see the members of the band performing the song in the studio; however, the video is shot in a way so that you don’t see the musicians faces.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Karriem Riggins is a Detroit, MI-born, Los Angeles, CA-based hip-hop producer and jazz drummer, who received national attention with the 2012 release of his solo debut effort Alone Together, which was released through renowned hip-hop tastemaker label Stones Through Records. Now, it’s been a little while since we’ve heard from him as a solo artist; however, Riggins has been pretty busy. Earlier this year, Riggins and J. Rocc collaborated on a Stones Throw Records’ Dungeon Session tribute to beloved producer — and fellow Detroiter J. Dilla. Along with that Riggins produced Common’s 11th full-length effort Black America Again.

Reportedly Riggins is working on a new and long-awaited full-length effort, slated for release sometime next year. In the meantime, Riggins released a new single “Bahia Dreaming,” which may presumably offer a taste of the new effort’s sound may be. Clocking in at a little over 2 minutes, “Bahia Dreaming” manages to be slickly produced synthesis of influences as the 3/4s of the song owes a sonic debt to J. Dilla with the song featuring twinkling and cascading synths and keys, skittering drum programming, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, and a chopped up, soulful vocal sample — that is until the last 40 seconds or so when the song suddenly turns into a bop era jazz composition bolstered and held together by tweeter and woofer rocking beats. Interestingly, the single reveals that Riggins has refined his sound — and in a way that possess an easy-going, cool as hell, strutting swagger paired with a dreamily thoughtful feel.

 

 

 

Throwback by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme/Some Thoughts on Jazz, John Coltrane, My Father and 9/11

Thoughts on Jazz, John Coltrane, my father and 9/11.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Comprised of Riley Mulherkar (trumpet), Zubin Hensler (trumpet), Andy Clausen (trombone) and Willem de Koch (trombone), New York-based instrumental act The Westerlies have developed a reputation for crafting compositions that possess elements of jazz, classical and chamber music, done with a self-assured swagger and a mischievous wit. Interestingly, the quartet can  actually trace their origins to their birthplace of Seattle, WA where the members of the band were both childhood friends and occasional musical rivals, competing against each other in local and regional competitions — but despite the fact that they all grew up in the same city,  each performer/composer has a unique and diverse musical background that winds up influencing their songwriting approach. In fact, observers and fans of the act have noted that in each individual composition, you can hear that song’s composer gently pulling the entire band towards his own tastes, with the band following along.

Adding to the uniqueness of the project, each member independently moved to New York, which led to the old friends and rivals reconnecting and performing together while they studied at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music.

Produced by Grammy-winning producer Jesse Lewis, best known for his work with Roomful of Teeth, Brooklyn Rider, Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma and the L.A. Philharmonic, the quartet’s self-titled sophomore effort is comprised of material composed by each member and although the members of the band had known of Lewis through his work, as it turns out Lewis went to the same Seattle high school that three members of The Westerlies went to. And as a result, the connection that the five collaborators had was deep and it allowed the members of the band to further push their compositional talents and the sonic limits of brass instrumentation.

Composed by Andy Clausen, the forthcoming sophomore effort’s first single “New Berlin, New York” is a bold layered composition that manages to possess a mischievous wit and charm and a larger than life swagger, and while being layered, the composition is spacious enough to allow each instrument and each musician to strut and stunt throughout the composition. But just underneath the bold, swaggering surface is an aching vulnerability.

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Last year was a rather productive and prolific year for critically applauded bassist and vocalist, Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, as he made guest appearances on two of the the year’s most critically and commercially successful albums — Kendrick Lamar‘s Grammy Award-winning album, To Pimp A Butterfly and  Brainfeeder Records labelmate, Kamasi Washington’s The Epic. Bruner also released what was arguably one of the best albums of 2015 The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam, which further cemented his reputation as a dexterous and playful bassist and songwriter, with material that sonically channeled Stevie Wonder’s incredible 70s output — or in other words it possessed a retro-futuristic leaning that made it all sound as though it came from straight from a rusty spaceship that’s traveled several hundred lightyears across the universe. In fact, if you had been frequenting this site over the past year, you might remember that I wrote about the wobbling and propulsive bass and arpeggio synth-led single “Them Changes” and its incredibly symbolic and surreal video, which emphasized the devastating heartache at the core of the song.

“Bus In These Streets” is the first bit of new music from Thundercat since the release of The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam and the single, which is a comedic and playful ode to both our reliance and dependence on technology — and the track has Thundercat pairing his dexterous and sinuous bass lines and his ethereal crooning with Louis Cole (keys, drums and programming) playing shimmering and twinkling keys, propulsive drumming and drum programming and Flying Lotus contributing more programming and editing in a song that evokes a dreamy, distracted  self-absorption as the song’s narrator spends their time staring at their smartphone, not noticing the world pass him by — or the inherent danger he might be walking into as he stupidly stares into his phone. Certainly, it’s one of Thundercat’s most playful yet cinematic songs he’s released to date, and every time I’ve heard it, I’ve thought about how it would be perfect in a It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World-like comic ensemble film.

 

 

You can catch Thundercat as he’s playing several tour dates including a set at this year’s Afropunk Festival. Check out the tour dates below.

TOUR DATES

Aug 27 Brooklyn, NY – Afropunk Fest

Sep 10 London, UK – OnBlackheath Festival

Sep 15 Oakland, CA – Brainfeeder at Fox Theatre*

Sep 16 Oakland, CA – Brainfeeder at Fox Theatre (sold out)*

Sep 17 Los Angeles, CA – Brainfeeder at Hollywood Bowl*

 

*with Flying Lotus, Funkadelic featuring George Clinton, Shabazz Palaces & The Gaslamp Killer

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Darkly Surreal and Playful Visuals for Marco Benevento’s “Dropkick”

Over the past (almost) six years or so, Marco Benevento has developed a reputation as an critically acclaimed jazz/jazz fusion/free jazz/experimental jazz/post-rock and jam band pianist and composer, who has collaborated with an impressive and […]