Forq
Big Party (GroundUP)
It's always fun to dig into jazz for one of these columns, and the great people at Lydia Liebman Promotions sent us four fascinating slabs of jazzy vinyl for this week.
Forq provide the pick of the bunch with the Big Party album. The group is led by keyboardist Henry Hey, known for his work with David Bowie, specifically on the The Next Day album as well as the Lazarus musical.
It's obvious why a visionary like Bowie would be attracted to the curveball stylings of Hey, who describes this album as "a late-night musical journey through eclectic influences, from Ennio Morricone to classic video game soundtracks."
Members of Snarky Puppy and Government Mule pop up on an album that is surprisingly touching, gloriously confounding and ultimately satisfying.
Bill Frisell / Andrew Cyrille / Kit Downes
Breaking the Shell (Red Hook Records)
People who don't necessarily enjoy traditional jazz but like the minimalist noodling of the likes of Philip Glass might want to dip their jazz hands into Breaking the Shell.
Both etherial and disconcerting, this is a record, and a trip, that is never short of a surprise.
"This unique trio explores unchartered musical territory, creating a soundscape that is both deeply meditative and boldly experimental," reads the press release. "Recorded in the serene setting of St. Luke in Fields, Greenwich Village, New York, the album captures the trio's improvisational prowess in a space that demanded acute listening and adaptation."
Yup, it sounds like it was recorded in Greenwich Village. Which is a compliment.
Max Gerl
Max Gerl (JMI Recordings)
Jazzy bass man Max Gerl, who plays both acoustic double bass and electric bass, takes us on a journey with this self-titled album through trad bass and its modern equivalent.
Gerl wrote all of the music, with the exception of Thelonious Monk's "Postlude," though he makes that one his own too through improvisation (as Monk would want).
"My greatest obstacle lay in surrendering the idea of creating a 'perfect performance'," Gerl said in a statement. "In relinquishing an obsession with technical perfection, however, I believe that I was able to embrace a purer musicality."
Ben Wolfe
The Understated (Resident Arts Records)
The Understated is Ben Wolfe's follow up to the critically adored Unjust, and it sees Wolfe continue on a path of musical excellence and off-the-wall ideas.
"Wolfe has always been drawn to finding the beauty in subtlety," reads the press release. "He perceives a certain tranquility and elegance in the Coltrane Quartet, Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens, the legendary Miles Davis bands and rhythm sections, and the music of Charlie Parker."
The Understated sees all of those ingredients, plus Wolfe's own ingredient X, come together.
