Saxophonist Danny Janklow, who released his debut album Elevation a few months ago, has just released a surprise Hanukkah single for the season. "Ma'oz Tzur" is a Jewish traditional sung during the lighting of the menorah during Hanukkah.
Showing posts with label #DrinkingMusic. Show all posts
#DrinkingMusic: Shawn Baltazor and Adam Topol
NYC Improvisor Shawn Baltazor and Adam Topol (of Jack Johnson fame) team up to present a duo set at Basic Flowers on December 17th, 8pm. Topol and Baltazor will be presenting a set of drum-duets, drawing from a vast common language they share ranging from the folkloric repertoire of Cuba and South America, as well as improvisations inspired by masters Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins.
“Baltazor paints music that greets the ears on this protean production ... Everything from dream sequences with strings to loping swing with attitude to glazed-over tales of yearning manages to appear at one time or another on this most fascinating of albums”
– Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
Listen here to Baltazor's acclaimed release, Lionsong and Topol's Regardless Of The Dark
Shawn Baltazor / Adam Topol
December 17th, 2017
8pm
#DrinkingMusic: #LiveHuman
We could all use a little injection of humanity right now, so for this edition of #DrinkingMusic we're offering up LiveHuman, a free-improvising collective that channels bebop freedom with the audacity of hip-hop, driven by a kick-ass rhythm section with one of the baddest turntablists in the game. And one of the most righteous musical expressions we've heard in a long time.
A pocket orchestra comprised of DJ Quest, drummer Albert Mathias, and upright bassist Andrew Ross Kushin, LiveHuman is a no-holds-barred search for a turntable jazz synthesis, a journey that reaches its apex on the new album ScratchBop, which drops next week on [Cosmic]. Get it, drink some absinthe, and remind yourself of what it means to be human.
Until then you can wet your whistle with the single magic 4 beginners - cheers!
#DrinkingMusic: @rollingbcf
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, whose forthcoming EP will be available soon via the iconic SubPop label, is the latest band to share the chill Australian vibe with world. The video for their first single "Julie's Place" honors their unassuming manner (the credit to Blown Budget Productions refers to the fact that the band spent their video budget on an idea that didn’t work out), while their sound is as palatable as a gin and tonic.
Andrew Longaker's Journey of Sound & Surf
We first met Andrew Longaker at Distillinois, the craft spirit tasting event put on by the Illinois Craft Distillers Association. He and his band were providing the ideal soundtrack to an evening spent sampling the Midwest's best libations, which prompted Brian Cary, our man on the ground, to connect with Andrew and exchange info.
This was good, because Longaker is the epitome of the modern jazz musician, a living, breathing participant in that conflicted, undervalued, and delineated space. It's a hard place to be, and an even harder place to make a living, conjuring up images of sparsely decorated apartments with windows opening to fire escapes over the L train just in case the strain gets to be too much. There are some cats sitting there with a smoking ashtray and a bottle between them, and one of them is playing guitar like you've never heard it played before. That's Andrew Longaker in a nutshell.
The problem with jazz in this day and age is that people presume to know something about it. But knowing jazz is impossible, as it can't be understood, only experienced. Jazz is something that is only grasped in the moment. It isn't music you listen to, it's music you live through.
So what does a true jazz musician do when his occupation is co-opted by cookie cutter clubs filled with stereotypical patrons? He makes a surf movie.
Now jazz is just about the last thing that comes to mind when you think of surfing, but in truth the two could hardly be more alike. Both are about improvisation, about flirting with the razor edge of failure, about that delicate balancing act between flow and wipeout. At their core, they are cultures of resistance against the very assumptions of society, populated by practitioners so committed to their pursuit as to have eliminated all other distractions. Jazz and surfing? They're about as close to the truth as you can get.
Journey in Sound and Surf is an independent production by Andrew Longaker filmed in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca.
#DrinkingMusic: Axis: Sova - (Like An) Intruder
If this doesn't get you out the door and solidly into your weekend, you're probably dead.
Look for Mother Earth, the new album from Axis:Sova, out soon. Preorder at Drag City Records or on iTunes
Look for Mother Earth, the new album from Axis:Sova, out soon. Preorder at Drag City Records or on iTunes
AXIS: SOVA TOUR DATES
Tue. Nov. 8 - Detroit, MI @ UFO Factory
Wed. Nov. 9 - Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar
Sun. Nov. 13 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool w/ The Hecks
Mon. Nov. 14 - Providence, RI @ Aurora
Thu. Nov. 17 - Indiannapolis, IN @ State Street Pub w/ Psychic Feel, Sitar Outreach Ministry
Fri. Nov. 18 - Chicago, IL @ Hideout w/ Purling Hiss, CCTV
#DrinkingMusic: DJ Swamp
Sitting in the Amigo Room of the Ace Hotel sipping a Desert Facial, a world class DJ was the last thing I expected to see. Yeah, the Ace is rad, and Coachella famous for bringing top shelf musical acts to town but still, a USA DMC champ on a Wednesday night in a tiny little club? Am I dreaming?
Not being an authority on the genre, my yardstick for measuring this style of music is pretty simple: I either like it or I don't. And I definitely liked DJ Swamp. In the words of a fan on his website:
“DJ Swamp is unquestionably one of my favorite musicians. His talent is simply undeniable. What I love is how each and every time he has put on a performance, whoever I brought with me that night became an instant fan."That certainly was the case for me.
#DrinkingMusic: Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds is a collective trio comprised of Jason Stein, Frank Rosaly and Paul Giallorenzo. The three had been refining a set book of music over the course of decade prior to the release of this album which will come out on Oct 7th on the Austin, TX label Astral Spirits. The focus is on pithy, direct, Ornette-infused melodies which act as catalysts to their tight and focused improvisations.
#DrinkingMusic: Nishal
Back on Bourbon Street is a smoothed out jazz track from South African emigre Nishal that reminds us that a piano and a melody is really all you ever need. The piece is from the upcoming album "Sounds Like Envy" and is arranged in a classic jazz style reminiscent of Big Easy musicians from the 70s and 80s, hence the name.
Now when we say this track is smooth, we mean smooth. Walking into your favorite joint, you probably wouldn't even notice it playing, it's that smooth. It's the kind of song that doesn't impose itself on the moment, it simply fits it. With a whiskey on ice, at your usual corner table, Back on Bourbon Street will have you feeling that everything is right with the world, without really knowing why.
#DrinkingMusic: John Raymond & Real Feels
On his latest record, Real Feels, trumpeter John Raymond abandons the R&B influence & the improvisation-heavy nature of his first two records, in favor of getting back to his roots. Throughout the record, Raymond and his trio interprets a body of songs that the musicians and listeners have come to be quite familiar with—whether traditional staples like the spiritual “Amazing Grace” and Woody Guthrie’s ubiquitous “This Land is Your Land,” or indelible pop melodies like “Blackbird” and “Scarborough Fair”. The record comes out February 12th on Shifting Paradigm Records.
#DrinkingMusic: Charles Rumback - Into the New Year
Charles Rumback - Into The New Year
An ever increasing amount of entropy. Radiating the warmth of an evening gone well. A Kerouac-ian night. Reserved and withdrawn, but definitely not anti-social. Evening pillow fight by candle light. There’s a distance to each track, suddenly everything feels so far away. Delicious rumbles flow, hinting but never ceding crescendos, little in the way of true grooves here. The entire album inhabits a precarious love, threatening to falter and disintegrate into nothing at any moment. The waking moments from sleep. One foot in a dream, one hand in reality. Lucid, vivid, disconnected, discombobulated. Gentle and cluttered, like your grandmother who has collected too many memories. Quite honestly, a needed standout in the jazz realm.
Visit his website
Purchase his album
#DrinkingMusic: Chris Walla - Tape Loops
Chris Walla - Tape Loops
Chris Walla, producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist from Bellingham, Washington, formerly of Death Cab for Cutie fame. His first solo record since leaving DCFC, although this isn’t the indie-pop you’d expect. “Tape Loops” is a warm and inviting ambient dreamscape. The songs are filled with nostalgia, compassion, and mournful memories. These are the loss of a feeling, the loss of time, events that have passed us by. Reminiscing with fondness in the attic of old forgotten treasures and memories. As implied by the album title, it is made up of tape loops, lending it the analog warmth and fuzz that juxtaposes so well with faded memories. Drawn out piano, swells and reverbs and glorious hums and buzzes. Oversaturated spells of grace. But it doesn’t dwell, it’s cognizant of the future, of new hopes and loves.
http://trans-records.com/
Spotify.com/Chris Walla
#DrinkingMusic: The Carlos Adames Group
Percussionist Carlos Adames (@charlyconga) leads this cutting-edge latin jazz group featuring Elias Holman on keyboards, Tony Ayala on timbales and Conway Powell on bass, combining the best of latin music with innovative jazz arrangements that are both contemporary and classic.
Carlos is committed to the development of conga playing, breaking down traditional percussion barriers to perform Latin rhythms, jazz, funk and hip-hop while retaining his distinctly Latin roots. His musical journey is a personal quest to explore and create new sounds and rhythmic fusions, and his playing is characterized by innovation, energy and pure heart.
The group is a nominee in the Best Jazz 2015 category of The Best of Milwaukee annual voting, so pop over to the site to cast your vote after this video of them performing the original tune Montate blows you away. You won't find better music to drink to!
Carlos is committed to the development of conga playing, breaking down traditional percussion barriers to perform Latin rhythms, jazz, funk and hip-hop while retaining his distinctly Latin roots. His musical journey is a personal quest to explore and create new sounds and rhythmic fusions, and his playing is characterized by innovation, energy and pure heart.
The group is a nominee in the Best Jazz 2015 category of The Best of Milwaukee annual voting, so pop over to the site to cast your vote after this video of them performing the original tune Montate blows you away. You won't find better music to drink to!
#DrinkingMusic: Sharon Van Etten - I Don't Want to Let You Down EP
Sharon Van Etten is a singer songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. Ghostly organ, gracious sympathetic string arrangements, a distinct southern folk influence, this EP is much emotional baggage laid down for so few songs. Charred and languid voice streaming themes of heartbreak allowing her distress to become sovereign. Self analysis and brutal honesty bordering on self deprecation, countered with self absolution in the face of blame. A constant plea to perhaps change what she knows she cannot. Dark and cunning. A collection of songs that fill the heart, rising and falling innocuously and haunting me like an EKG. Rapture and ecstasy endowed by embracing life’s eventual despondency. Loving the lowly on this splendid EP.
http://www.sharonvanetten.com/
#DrinkingMusic: The Wainwright Sisters - Songs In The Dark
The Wainwright Sisters - Songs In The Dark
Martha Wainwright from Montreal, Canada and Lucy Wainwright Roche from Brooklyn, New York. Prairie midnight Folk. Simple in it’s approach, beautiful in it’s execution. Easy living farm communities. Dustbowl depression anthems. Unadorned lush vocal harmonies accompanied by warmhearted acoustic guitar. Intimate lullabies and songs inspired by and lifted from the sisters childhood. Imagery of better times to come, despair, life overwhelming. “This is the day we give babies away with a half a pound of tea.” Despairing campfire harmonica, plucked banjo, parlor piano. Hyperbolic imaginative tales told that feel lifted from village folklore. Wooden porches, wind blown fields and husbandry of the human condition. Pre-modern simplicity and a compassion for the mundane in life.
Martha Wainwright's Website
#DrinkingMusic: Latest from Fully Altered Artists
Fully Altered Media has dedicated themselves to sharing the work of dedicated musicians and arts organizations, with an ear towards jazz and world music. Today they are celebrating the release of not one but four new albums, all of which pair exceptionally well with a perfectly prepared cocktail or your favorite craft spirit.
Mike Sopko - Sopko, Laswell, Pridgen - Guitarist Mike Sopko, a fixture in the Bay Area who’s just returned to his native Cleveland presents a ferocious studio document which captures his rapport with drummer Thomas Pridgen (formerly of The Mars Volta) and bassist Bill Laswell, a musical hero to many including Sopko himself. Balancing free improvisation, collective composition and inventive post-production, the trio encounter proves to be as uninhibited and rhythmically charged as it is focused and refined. SOUNDCLOUD STREAM
Bill MacKay's Darts And Arrows - Altamira - Chicago-based guitarist Bill MacKay helms the group Darts & Arrows, one of the most promising bands on Chicago's experimental rock and new music scene. Darts & Arrows features some of Chicago's most in-demand musicians: alto-saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, AACM violist Renee Bakerand drummer Frank Rosaly. Altamira is the quartet's most fully realized effort, retaining the edgy vitality of their improvised work while painting beautifully textured sonic pictures on a series of through-composed pieces. SOUNDCLOUD STREAM
Nicole Mitchell/Tomeka Reid/Mike Reid Trio - Artifacts - After 15 years of music collaborations in a variety of ensemble contexts, the all-star trio of Nicole Mitchell, Tomeka Reid and Mike Reed have come together to celebrate their long-term relationship and their common cultural and aesthetic threads. All are members of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and served on the organization's executive board from 2009 to 2011 (holding the positions of Chairperson, Treasurer and Vice Chairperson, respectively). It's more than appropriate that the trio would also celebrate some of the music composed by AACM members over the past 50 years: Its forthcoming record dips into the fathomless well of the AACM's musical history, and furthers the organization's motto of "Ancient to the Future." SOUNDCLOUD STREAM
Miho Hazama & m_unit - Time River –
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