This freshly recorded project is my second great choice of Dolphy’s tribute recordings. The legendary ‘Love Suite’, Eric Dolphy’s wedding music,(written for his fiancé Joyce Mordecai) which – due to his early accidental death was never recorded by himself.

This recording represents the project I had a great pleasure to hear on the stage and it was its premier performance. It had been a natural consequence for Silke Eberhard to make this recording after her long time affair with Dolphy’s music. It was a long intercourse of course, which tempted her to take that challenge. The three part suite had been previously played by a few but no one dared to attempt finishing it.I can understand that temptation easily. After ‘breathing’ with this music so long one becomes spiritually connected with both: an idea and the feelings.

Her layout uses 3 parts suite as an opening. Then she composed another six pieces to complete it: Miniatur, three Sketches, Lan Guan Pian and closing all – Blechsuite.

Given the fact of that music purpose and after that fact that interpreter is not just another saxophonist, but also a woman sets up an entire new sense for that project to me. Here Silke used all she learned leaving with Eric’s music, playing with her own Potsa Lotsa or with the Takase trio. Here she also put her female nature and naturally different, gentle understanding of the emotions which Eric put inside that tune. I believe that it is a main factor responsible for such a great success of this reconstruction.

She extended an original PL quartet to the septet for this recording needs. Added a clarinet and a tuba, as well as invited the Greek electronics and keyboardist to the squad: Antonis Anissegos. I am mentioning that one especially for the reason. Two more brass instrumentalists extended volume and the texture richness of the entire musical tissue and gave her more arrangement freedom. Especially the tuba player, who anchored now bigger combo nicely, added more solid foundation and took a lot of job from the trombonist’s hands.

The keyboardist however with his entirely different imagination added a completely new quality to the existing Potsa Lotsa’s sonic signature. It counterpointed the brass concept firmly. Enhanced it and gave it a completely new spatial dimensionality. A synthetic sounds made some “ghostly” grip to it, a sense of presence which grows on the listener’s imagination and his knowledge about the history of the piece.

Also Silke’s Sketches, thanks to that became more alike an imaginative human dialogues than the brass attempting of voices imitation. That raised the spiritual aspect of the piece in my feeling greatly. It removed sense of purely “festive” music with the emotional message included and made it a fully embodied stage performance, which can with a proper libretto act equally to the Operatic set up or the theatre drama.

That also closes the sober history of Eric’s early death in Berlin and somehow closes the circle by story ending written by the artist who loves Dolphy’s music and loves Berlin enough to make it her home. I wish I had more space to keep going as this music deserves it. This is possibly the most important Dolphy’s music recording since he left.

Great X-mass recordings unfortunately don’t come out annually hence looking some five years back makes a deep sense. This recording’s connection with Christmas subject is far from usual so is its mood. Choice of instruments or even the way it had been registered, as the main themes had been recorded in Oslo and the ney, trumpet and duduk in The Bulgarian Church of Stephan in Istanbul and added to the mix later. The choice of that place has a significant meaning and  affects the sound as it is the only Church world-wide made of the cast iron!

Overall concept with its complexity adds nicely to the texture of this project and makes it the one off.

Philosophically it is very symbolic, too. Due to a historic location, where the West meets the East. If you follow the legend the Three Wise Men were Kings, Scholars or Philosophers. No one knows that for sure today, but certainly they had been clever enough to be able to recognise the meaning of Christmas and follow the sign to praise the Lord.

The legend says that they bought gifts to The Stable, to give their best to glorify the event of the miraculous birth of God’s son. Right now if you, like the title suggest, thread the musicians as the embodiment of those wise men you have to consider the music on this recording coming from all over the world as a gift too.

This music is the gift indeed giving the fact of its rarity and the way it had been performed. Three artists here are representing completely different cultures and musical backgrounds but the spiritual connection is there and prevented all the time during this performance. It makes it not only the tribute to the Christmas tradition itself but also a multi-cultural cross talk blending a folk and the classical polyphony from all parts of the world.

This is not just an ethnographic experience. It breaks the boundaries. We have got a music from Norway, France and Germany here, but also from Palestine. Some pieces are played in the traditional way, with deep respect for a original scales. Some comes as a modern combination of like Country, Contemporary Jazz or Folk. Arranges are various, but all works brilliant and remains engaging all the time .The way it all merges shows that music knows no borders. Only people make them. So is the truth with the Faith.

This bouquet of spices and flavours spreads its tasteful aromas around you and putts a spell on the listener. Like the previous two recordings mentioned it brings you into the Christmas mood too, however from a completely different direction. This one is a journey through the time and spaces. Many of them.

To me all that material is original and challenging. I wonder if listeners who are able to recognise the particular cultural background could classify it as an authentic? Or like myself, just drift with the pleasure through entire recording and enjoying fragility and beauty of those arrangements made as such. The most precious thing those three wise men are able to offer.

This is my favourite and most beloved Christmas time record ever. I came across those two years ago when I heard for the very first time guitarist Hasse Poulsen and his crazy band. To be perfectly honest it is the only existing Christmas recording that one can listen all year long without a smidgen of boredom.

Recording contains such a classics like: Berlin’s White Christmas, George Michael’s Last Christmas to just mention the most recognisable ones. Or Silent Night by Frantz Xavier Grubber: dated 1818. There is also Martin Luther’s Vom Himmel Noch dated 1535 and even older French 15 Century In est ne le divin Enfant Carroll theme. Did you know that?

But obviously, given the fact that the entire band posses’ an immaculate sense of humour and truly vivid personality, their own “Carrols” are honestly the ones which are most ear catching. Like The Xmas Jerk, Happy Saturnalia and Jingles and Bells. Here is where listeners approach quite unique Christmas experience.

Band itself constantly balances between rock’n’roll vitality ala proms in 60’ies and a feeling of most dirty and ordinary ballroom from 30’ties that you can only imagine yourself. One of those where you can easily get stabbed…..or get “something else”, from the girl of the obvious profession.

This sense of psychedelic trip through the life with this blessed music in the background going through most crazy sonor transformations gives you the right feeling of life. Which is not always straight and easy as we know. Or the Christmas which is not always quiet and full of love or spent with the family.

This mood swapping runs you through your all your memories from an early childhood, through your school-days to your today’s maturity with parenthood (if you have such). Where this is your turn now to host Christmas. It reminds you the stories you left behind and those chances you never picked up. The stories with no end. Your sins and petty. Coming home drunk late and all the wrong choices you made. Things you would love to change if you only could move the time back.

But the best of all is that it makes you smile, whatever the reason is: a sweet or sorrow. It also makes you never regretting anything you did and understanding that the life has his own way to go – not always logic.

The mix of both nobleness and sublimity coming from the traditional meaning of those tunes forever anchored in our human mentality, together with the healthy satire and a salt of earth are simply stunning here. That makes this recording so unique and one of its kind. Taste it and you will never regret it. No other Christmas will ever be the same after.

Christmas is just behind the corner so let’s try to catch up some mood without getting back to Bing Crosby or old good Satchmo all over again. Going modern Nils will fit the bill. He is well recognised musician, friend of many and down to the earth personality.

No surprise then here that the Man behind the Funk Unit comes back with his 4^th edition of music for Christmas mix, not particularly Carrols, recorded as always with bunch of friends. As he also sings that makes sense even more, with his warm tenor. The way he sings is tonally is very close to his articulation when he plays his Red horn 😉

Opening song makes you feel immediately like you just got back home for the dinner. Following traditional The First Noel nicely sung by three female voices with a gentle guitar accompaniment keeps a listener in the same blissful mood.

Ellington’s Come Sunday is sung in lovely emotional way reminds me phrasing of Maria Muldar or Madeleine Peyroux. Nice to see like the mood is changing there. Most of the Carrols or “Christmas like” songs are played there in the very straight forward way, but unusual arrangement between Nils’ horn and Eva Kruse’s bass gives a nice touch (great to hear Eva again, first time since her maternity leave) .

So, all mix as always comes as an easy listening package, but certainly due to imagination of musicians involved it gains a personal touch, among which the flawless understanding of each other comes to the first plan.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a commercial recording on the one hand with an easy material to play, so no maestri is needed to get it right.  On the other it proofs nicely that even most basic feelings, daily balancing on the border of kitsch, might come around as most welcome and demanded if they fit the right moment.

So here we are, again it’s just before Xmas. Media already started to attack us with hard core advertisement. It is hard to hide and avoid  this sort of brutality. Also, watching like fooled people are constantly missing the plot, involved in silly shopping races, not being longer even aware what it is all about adds to the sod feeling. In one word – no shelter.

And now – watch out! In such a moment recording like this nicely calms you down and gives some break. It also moves the focus from meaningless behaviour to things which are really important in life. Just like friendship. Carrying for the others and common experience what the Love really means. At that time which is bless for ones and the hell for the others, if you watch the news here we got a rescue hand from Nils again. Just in time to judge how lucky we are.

TANN ,the young German trio are guitarist Dirk Haefner, bass man Rene Bornstein and drummer Demian Kappenstein. The know last one very well and some of the projects he had been a part of I already reviewed here. It is clearly showing his versatility. Remaining two gentlemen I am listening to for the very first time and I am glad I do.

The way rhythm section works builds up the solid foundation for the music of the trio. It is not by accident that that music sounds very familiar to my ears. In blind test I would vote for Bill Frissell trio without smallest hesitation. It’s clearly audible that Dirk knows Bill’s works very well, adores it and refers to that constantly. Not coping it, but by developing style which contains massive chunk of Frissell’s phrasing.

On pieces like opening Nanus Garten or Kapaun he is mirroring Bill’s articulation from his music for Buster Keaton’s recordings. Damien doesn’t play however like Joey Baron does and entire section works in a different way, with more melodic, less burlesque approach. The way he merges blues and folk harmonies had clearly been learned from Frissell. But Bill is not Derk’s only inspiration.

When you listen carefully to the chorals and chords structures you will find out there elements of style of great Joe Pass. Listen to Okapi. It’s so present there. In the way the chords fade and the pause is considered between the notes I can hear the spirit of Jim Hall. Von Mir zu Dir is like a tribute written for him. Mind then that he is learning from the best.

This is very eclectic style, but also very intelligent. He takes a lot from great guitarists who contributed to Jazz over decades, but he also includes something personal to this blend. Purely due to his inspirations are not coming from the Jazz only. There is a lot of Blues harmonies and Rock riffs, too. All together makes it very modern guitar vocabulary supported by an excellent technique and vivid imagination.

Listening to this set is very engaging and keeps you following musician’s intentions through the entire recording. Dra Di Ne Tum for instance is a perfect example here. It is a psychedelic like guitar driven piece with purely rock influence bringing to memory early John McLaughlin , but also Jimmy Page.

The band definitely developed his own language here, which is a kind of collage –job. It contains quotes from different directions, strong inspirations, and loose improvisations leading to new findings. All musicians are mature enough to play the game like that with a full responsibility for the final result. To my ears they developed both a challenge and a listening pleasure. Maybe not such freshness, but it doesn’t really matter as far as it tastes so good. And it does.

Recording quality, as always from Traumton is breath taking and the feeling of being there probably contributes significantly to the complete picture.

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This duo of pianist Vadim Neselovskyi and French Alp-horn player Arkadyi Shilkloper is my latest discovery. Straight from the beginning without going deeper it has my deepest and honest recommendation.

It is congenial connection of two music personalities who are both adventurous and fearless. The way Shilkloper plays his horns is simply breath taking. It not easy to stay in melody as he does playing brass instrument, but the way he is holding that makes it sounding like he is playing piano himself.

That’s how it appears in an opening Spring Song. Both voices are distinctive and have their own signature. Neselovskyi’s piano represents entire spectrum of pianism history. Both the Classical and Jazz traditions merges there into the one common denominator. No edges, no conflicts – just smoothness and neutrality. Program varies from tunes clearly taking from Eastern folk tradition with its deep nostalgia and Classical heritage to typical jazzy syncope. All elegant and played in the way you have never heard before.

But this kind of dialogue is deeply intimate. It takes you into the very private land and makes you feeling like you are sharing with both artists their deepest emotions and secrets. The moods vary from sublime, hymn like title song Krai to completely crazy approach like AlperiDou 2, which spans between almost the music mechanic like sounding piano and an Aborigine Didgeridoo like Arkadyi’s horn. Absolutely stunning example of an unusual sensitivity and creativity both artists posses.

Mutual understanding and the connection, constantly present in this recording, come from similar cultural background but not only that. There is sense of humour as well, smart quotes from the music you heard before put into this tissue in the way it never stops to amaze me. There is something organic there as well what connects straight to your heart beat,. It takes control and makes you breathing with this music like with the fresh air. And it tastes like it never did before.

Refreshing like a frosty morning draft, or deep breathe after mint. In the same time it keeps your blood cells tapping their legs happily, well warmed up and stepping in the pulse of the music like in the ritual pageant. The same organic feeling brings to imagination constantly different landscapes, shapes and colours. Keeps you incessantly emotionally engaged and intellectually involved. Never stops entertaining.

Whatever one would like to say more about it that will not explain the beauty of this meeting fully. This is really the giant step walking on the golden path coated with a fairy dust and surrounded with the rich blend of aroma that smells like a paradise. No more no less. I swear.

Die Klesse Act

Xenon is EKQ’s début recording. All the band are very young and well educated individuals: Eva Klesse / drums, Evgeny Ring / alto saxophone, Philip Frischkorn / piano and Robert Lucaciu / bass.

It is very interesting experience to review the record which I just had a pleasure to hear on the stage first. The same material, but presented in a different order than on the disk to serve the gig better. Plus the theatre acoustics made it different than studio. Majority of material came from Eva, 5 out of 8.Two from pianist and one from the bassist.

As a leader Eva is not a dominant figure, one which is trying to grab the space for herself or make her drum set the centre of the 4-tet. Pretty much opposite, her personality seems to be as gentle as her drumming. She is using often brushes, even mallets. But her brush playing is not typical brush like.She is using them as a sticks actually what brings nice gently spread sound without edgy contour. She can hit hard when the need calls, but it is not the point. She nicely mixes both. Funny enough she is such a gentle touch that I would say she plays carbon ones if I haven’t seen that in fact they are metal.

It‘s all about communication between the members inside the band. Listening to each other, responding to live tissue of music which is happening just as it goes. It applies to all the members, who rather tend to give the space to the band mates that take it off.

Let’s start from bassist Warme Fussion. He seems to be most cheeky personality in the entire band. His bass had nice wooden tone and his walking in the middle section of his own composition reminded me somehow Charlie Haden’s way of approaching melody and staying in there. He doesn’t have Charlie’s articulation, yet. But no one does, and he is just at the beginning. But this is this school.

I like the way they invite each other with Eva to conversation. Sometimes, like in Eva’s Same Old Story it’s a riff which asks her to join and make the foundation for piano to follow and interludes for the sax. Other time she calls him, with furious rhythmic demand, as like on her another piece Nie Wieder. One of the most beautiful on this recording with wonderful Climax of Alt, wild and very expressive piano accompaniment and always present bass counting all happening with a precision of surgeon’s scalpel.

In fact the strongest part of quartet is pianist Philip Frischkorn. The way he plays evolved from Classical Romantic piano tradition and makes a strong statement on the group’s voice. He is not dominating anything either, but it just comes this way. On the other hand Evgeny’s sax playing is deeply underlined with folk influence. And it is not particularly coming from Russian tradition either. I am finding in his play a lot of inspiration in Charles Lloyd’s music. The way he is phrasing and providing melody reminds me a lot of his style.

Brilliant début recording, which deserves better recognition. Die Klesse Act.

Gustafsson is a very special vocalist to me, so I am always looking forward to her new albums with impatience. It took a whole four years now since latest „Calling You” to which I am still listening to a lot. That one, like the previous is also recorded with strings and seems to be the further step of that concept she started there.

Previous four, funny enough, were recorded always in more jazz idiom with an assist of the trio, in case of Rigmor always top class jazz musicians. Early once dedicated to great mentors, like Dianne Warwick or Michel Legrand. Later based on vocalist own authority and containing material which is her very own.

What makes her unique is her very personal style. She is in jazz and blues orbits of course but on the same time she is perfectly on her own planet. She is crossing over all the styles successfully moving from Blues to Folk ,flirting with jazz and blending all with a pop idiom which makes pop music one would enjoy to listen to.

Jump with your imagination back to ladies like Blossom Dearie, Lena Horne, Dianne Warwick . Think about current divas like Helen Merrill, Rickie Lee Jones or Joni Mitchell. They are all living there. You can trace their personalities easily. Clearly one can see that she is the singer who didn’t really come from the deep Black roots of Blues, Jazz or Gospel tradition. Instead she found the challenging way to discover their structures in the music environment she grown in and learn how to expose it.

It really makes her a unique voice on the European jazz scene. Settling up with European trio, again made this set even more pure in its approach. The level of the control over material is top here given the fact she even produced this album herself. It gives special, deeper view into Rigmor’s personality.

Lyrics are simple and touching. Ballads like Call me Lonely, If Dreams Are Made of Sand or Forget About the Moonlight are showing the pure joy of the emotions they describe in the honest way they are sung.

A Different Kind with its fantastic arrangement spins between organ’s chords and brass responses is exactly the song which made me thinking about Blossom with its elegant, Blues like, emotional message which comes so smooth here that it makes the title looks like the best description. It is simply stunning arrangement. It is hard to make it any better. One of my favourite here.

The second is Let it Go. The Hymn like duo sung together with … that was a great surprise to me: Eagle-Eye Cherry, the son of legendary trumpeter Don Cherry. The strings accompaniment is so brilliant here that it doesn’t leave single doubt about Rigmor’s composing skills maturity.

I love that record and I am sure to say that the audience will do so as well. It shows the gentle side of the singer in an honest and straight way. However to me “Calling You” with its claw and adventurous arrangements remains still the top of the Rigmor’s game.

Belle Epoque, project involving two of the most promising young French musicians is a part of the Duo Art series which Act Music started to launch just this year. It is a 7th volume already if I got it right, which shows a great effort and adorable consequence, especially worth raving as the music published under this brand is really outstanding.

Emile Parisien represents an exclusive club of soprano soloist which just a few joined in. From Bechet ,through Garbarek to Steve Lacy and Dave Liebman. One cannot forget the Trane who bought it back to life.

Vincent Peirani is equally congenial counterpart as it comes to accordion. He is considered to be the one who completely revolutionised the way of playing it and expanded the borders for expression possibilities available. Something like that, in France when accordion remains one of the few national instruments, being always present in nation’s culture is an exquisite achievement alone. Think Edith Piaf, Parisian Caffe like music always present on the streets, then Galliano , Matinier, Berthoumieux and finally Peirani. That is a big rat run, just be aware of that. I am listening to a lot of accordion /bandoneon recordings from all over the world and I can tell you that straight on: He is the One off.

Recording contains 5 jazz standards and 4 originals, two from each. Starting from Bechet’s Egyptian Fantasy shows already that those two can see the world in their own way. With full respect for the classic, they managed to prevent the beauty of the tune and develop completely new aesthetic to this. Amount of nostalgia together with subversive sense of humour this dialogue is handled appears like a brand new piece with just a trace of reminiscences that few elders might still remember. The beauty of the tone is just overwhelming and makes you want to dance.

Lodge’s Temptation Rag can be actually called forgotten given the fact how popular it used to be in its best days. From vaudeville, old fashioned piece they turned it into a beauty and vivid melody that one can swear heard it before around many times. But it is just an illusion coming from this amazing ability to drag out the core of the song and give it a new spin.

Same can be said about another Bechet’s classic Song of Medina. Again they prevented beauty tissue of Arabian scales which makes this piece so floating and gave it make over which matches dynamic of today’s modern life on French streets. Made right now by completely different society cross section. It again proofs an amazing talent for observing a life as it goes and adopting new movements into existing structures and enrich an existing language, which both of them shares.

Same can be said about Duke’s Dancer’s in Love which kept its natural charm and listening to it one can easily remind himself the original tune. But the best to me is when it comes to originals.

Speaking his own voice shows really what your spirit is like. Parisiens’ Hysm with a gentle opening makes you think if that is still accordion or some magic music box played by your own guide angel somewhere in the shadow of the foggy morning. With an angelic sound of his soprano this piece sounds almost like a liturgy in a church, with accordion fingering sounding like a baroque fugue.

Periani’s Schubertauster on contrary is the music with complete different sense of space and the sonic structures building up high by his partners voice on the solid foundation he delivered.

This recording is nothing less than the box of chocolates with an exquisite taste.

When I first heard Lisbeth Quartet I was both surprised and enchanted. The face of the band turned to be a young lady, Charlotte Greve. It was a year after this material had been recorded; live on the stage of Berlin’s A Trane club.

She is a proper heroine. She has the power, the talent and passion to spell the inner sense into her compositions. Those are by the way skills well matured; something one wouldn’t expect from someone so young as she is (just turned 26 now).

What touches you immediately is her incredible way of feeling melody. You listening to the tunes which sound to your ears so much like a human voice, more like songs which posses’ emotions stored in lyrics, not just in an articulation or timbre. Very few reed players have such a gift. Think about Charles Lloyd for example, that would be the right description. Or Heinz Sauer, if you would like to pick some from the same sonic Universe as she grown in.This recording is four years old, so think where she will be now expanding her own horizons so quick.

From the first phrase of the opening The Tree composition listener is getting that clearly. She starts with a lament which is perfectly balanced and dynamically controlled. Voice is clear and holds emotions firmly. Phrase grown and gets low, but never comes overdone. Is perfectly focused all the time. This is wonderfully written composition with enough space given for leaders’ sax to keep telling the story and room left for the band mates to support this narration. Particularly interactions between voice and percussion build narration of the piece here. The discrete and propulsive in the same time presence of the piano fills the harmonic tissue in the way that one would expect the drums rhythmic accents would make. That is truly developed at the master class level and is in fact more clever and mature than it first sounds.

In the following Red things are more equally shared in the combo. Piano gets more solo space and section operates in more traditional manner. Leader’s sax plays melody which seems to have more in common with traditional folk tunes than a escalation of rhythmic figures, but boy – these chaps can play. Keeps are floating here and keep changing on the go. Functions move. And melody which was already simple had been completely de-fragmented, used to deliver completely new steps to the old well known dance. With interludes which made a complete makeover to it. I love transition of this piece a lot and can really enjoy listening to it all day long.

Next the title suite comes in two pieces. Contemporary character of this set up mood differently again. We are taken back into the land of reflection first experienced with the first blow on the record. Listening to Charlotte’s gentle, smoothly told story with her breath and fingering work constantly present in the phrase is nothing but the honey for the ears. It is hard to believe how someone so young can posses enough wisdom to tell stories like that. I could keep go on and on like that for long. At least another four composition, but it is pointless. What one need to do is to buy this record and fall in love.

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