Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis honors the legacy of Dr. George Washington Carver with a passionate and adventurous chamber work that features unusual instrumentation. Chris Potter’s Circuits Trio brims with optimism and offers a deft mixture of acoustic and electronic. Bassist/composer Skúli Sverrisson and guitarist Bill Frisell offer a peaceful pool for communion with yourself.
How can one man be simultaneously so sleek and so greasy, so in and so out—and hip, besides? Maybe, in part, it’s his deep appreciation of the past, the ur-music, and his enthusiasm for its unpredictable and ongoing efflorescence. However he does it, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and band leader Steven Bernstein has made this contradictory fusion his trademark, and he’s just announced Community Music, a project that will release four new albums over the course of a year. Recorded in January 2020 with two of his working aggregations, the Millennial Territory Orchestra and The Hot 9, the albums document his arrangements and compositions, many never before heard, and you can check out (and purchase, if you like) the Community Music sampler, now available on Bandcamp, which offers a track from each album.
I’ve fallen for another South American female vocalist. First, there was Luciana Souza (Brazil), who was quickly followed by Claudia Villella (Brazil), Claudia Acuña (Chile), and Sofia Rei (Argentina). Now, also from Argentina, comes Roxana Amed, with a poetic turn of phrase, a seductive warmth, and a remarkable instrument.
Most of the rock and roll I listen to is older than dirt. However, the latest releases from Prism Bitch and The Ordinary Things have shifted the percentage of rock and roll in my current rotation and drastically lowered the average age of the material.
Two artists new to me, alto saxophonist Randal Despommier and pianist Chris Pattishall, bring it with their debut recordings as leaders. The soulful Despommier’s five originals and two covers offer a playlist of his life in multiple genres, while Pattishall recasts Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite in a faithful but near hallucinatory quintet-plus-one version.
