Pianists Art Hirahara and Mara Rosenbloom remind me how little I know about the jazz world. Though I’ve been writing about it in one place or another for almost 20 years, it still has many pleasant surprises in store for me. The latest recordings by each of these pianists are prime examples.
Further proof, if any were needed, that jazz is a global music is delivered by these new releases from people who are not from the United States. On New York Paradox, the Moroccan/Yemenite bassist Omer Avital offers original compositions inflected with the vibes of Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East, and his quartet grooves them beautifully. From Canada comes multireed player Dennis Kwok, heading a well-disciplined big band of millennials playing his original suite, Outward Bound.
A few weeks ago, when I complained about many jazz solos sounding the same these days, I discovered that I was not alone. One colleague put it this way: “Too many jazz degrees, not enough jazz players.” Well, we don’t need to worry about that on these two releases. Most of these folks have jazz degrees, and they are all jazz players.
Beginning on Wednesday, April 8, at noon, the first of five weekly Tiny Census Concerts (TCC) on I Count NM’s Facebook page will take place. Sponsored by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Complete Count Committee, the concerts will leverage the influence of New Mexico musicians to encourage citizens to complete the census form and will provide generous remuneration for their services. The first concert’s slate includes Joy Harjo, Rosalind Sanders Jones, Lara Manzanares, Larry Mitchell, Hillary Smith/Chris Dracup, and Jackie Zamora. Artists can apply for future concerts in the series by visiting the TCC website.
Jazz speaks in many dialects, or maybe it’s more accurate to say that different musical genres find it easy to apply jazz techniques to their native material. Gilfema (Lionel Loueke, Massimo Biolcati, Ferenc Nemeth) applies them to a West African musical palette; the Kenny Barron|Dave Holland Trio, Featuring Johnathan Blake, to a collection of compositions squarely in the mainstream of the American jazz tradition; Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin, and Bill Frisell, to a range of material in the Americana songbook. In sum, we have three outstanding trios offering three satisfying new recordings across a range of sensibilities.
