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.
While on tour in East Africa in 2009, pianist/composer Omar Sosa embarked on a musical safari, equipped not with a rifle, but with mobile recording equipment (and a very able sound engineer, Patrick Destandeau), a love of African musical cultures, and a vast imagination. Now, 12 years later, Sosa releases An East African Journey (available March 5), which combines exquisite recordings of traditional musicians with augmentations from Sosa and colleagues—the latest chapter in Sosa’s long-standing fascination with blending the folkloric and the modern, the acoustic and the electronic.
Singles are not the usual fare on Musically Speaking, but when you get two remarkable and quite different songs from two remarkable New Mexican artists, you need to share. Dust City Opera’s “Stars” ventures into dark territory, and Rooster Blackspur’s “Big Dipper” takes place in the dark of night.
In the right hands, music can be shamanistic, a tool that alters one’s consciousness, keying open the door to deep interior spaces. The shamans Dino Saluzzi, Trio Tapestry, and Shai Maestro and company all have the right hands for the job.
