{"id":21866,"date":"2021-11-02T05:30:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T09:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=21866"},"modified":"2021-12-17T11:05:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T16:05:22","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-november-2021-five-new-jazz-releases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/02\/hundred-word-reviews-for-november-2021-five-new-jazz-releases\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred Word Reviews for November 2021: Five New Jazz Releases"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been quite awhile since I\u2019ve done a roundup of capsule reviews. It’s time. So here\u2019s my take on five new releases, all in the jazz idiom.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge \u2013 <\/b>Within Us<\/b><\/i>
\nBand leader Owen has been turning out fascinating big-band jazz for a quarter century now, and Within Us<\/em> celebrates that landmark. The band\u2019s seventh long player features six Owen originals plus readings of Chick Corea (a kinetic, pulsing and swinging \u201cChelsea Shuffle\u201d) and Miles Davis (\u201cMilestones\u201d). The original material is quite compelling, too: \u201cTrail of the Ancients\u201d works in guitar, reminiscent of \u2013 believe it or not \u2013 The Who\u2019s Pete Townshend. Despite its title, \u201cAmerican Noir\u201d displays multiple musical shadings. If you have a friend who doesn\u2019t care for big band, urge them to check this one out; it might convert them.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brandee Younger \u2013 <\/b>Somewhere Different<\/b><\/a><\/i>
\nHarp isn\u2019t the first \u2013 or the twentieth, for that matter \u2013 instrument that comes to mind when one thinks of jazz. Sure, there\u2019s Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, but until now I\u2019d be hard pressed to name a third. That\u2019s all changed now thanks to my discovery of the thrilling harpist and composer Brandee Younger. Imagine Kamasi Washington with a slightly more conventional approach to melody. Younger\u2019s out front of an ensemble full of vitality, and despite its comparative subtlety, the harp simply glistens in the context of her works. Equal parts listenable and boundary-smashing, Somewhere Different<\/i> is most aptly named.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chick Corea Akoustic Band \u2013 <\/b>Live<\/b><\/i>
\nPianist Chick Corea was impressively (and characteristically) busy right up until his untimely, unexpected passing in February of this year. His body of work explored many avenues and corners of the jazz landscape and beyond. But this posthumous release captures and somewhat straightforward side of Corea\u2019s work, and that\u2019s not a bad thing; not at all. Joined by upright bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl, this 2CD set captures a January 2018 date in St. Petersburg, Florida. The lively set mixes originals and superb standards like \u201cOn Green Dolphin Street.\u201d Chick\u2019s wife Gayle joins on vocals for \u201cYou\u2019re Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Mareike Wiening Quintet \u2013 <\/b>Future Memories<\/b><\/i>
\nI reviewed Wiening\u2019s last release, Metropolis Paradise<\/i><\/a>, in 2019. My comments in that review apply here as well. If anything, Future Memories<\/i> is more assured than the debut. The music is more relaxed, but that\u2019s not to suggest a lack of interesting content. The instrumental pieces do have a palliative, calming effect, but there\u2019s fascinating musical interplay among the musicians as well. Put another way, the compositions don\u2019t simply lie there. Even though her primary instrument is drums, Wiening\u2019s approach to percussion is subtle and understated. She\u2019s not a composer who builds arrangements around her own displays of instrumental prowess.<\/p>\n

\"\"Hiromi \u2013 <\/b>Silver Lining Suite<\/b><\/i>
\nComposing and recording a suite is an ambitious endeavor. Creating a collection of new music is in and of itself an impressive undertaking, but putting together multiple pieces of music that hang together in a fashion is even more remarkable. With the seamlessly flowing Silver Lining Suit<\/i>e, pianist Hiromi has done just that. Working with two violinists, a violist and cellist, she has created a work of deep and varied texture, alternately bright and bouncy, dreamlike and mysterious, soothing and placid. A representative track, \u201cThe Unknown\u201d is true to its title, exploring multiple moods within seven minutes. Most highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been quite awhile since I\u2019ve done a roundup of capsule reviews. It’s time. So here\u2019s my take on five new releases, all in the jazz idiom. Chuck Owen and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,42,49,65],"tags":[4675,509,4676,4677,4678],"class_list":["post-21866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-instrumental","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-review","tag-brandee-younger","tag-chick-corea","tag-chuck-owen","tag-hiromi","tag-mareike-weining","cat-40-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21866"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22195,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21866\/revisions\/22195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}