Record Reviews

LOPEZ & KADZIELA ~ AUGMENTATION JAZZ ACTIVIST 05 (Barcode: 8428353600524) ~ SPAIN ~ Jazz Recorded: 2016 Released: 2017 This is the debut album by the young European quartet co-led by Spanish (Galician) drummer Carlos LopezFind albums by this artist and Polish saxophonist Maciej KadzielaFind albums by this artist, with Spanish (well, Galician again) pianist Xan CamposFind albums by this artist and Swedish bassist Johannes VahtFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight original compositions, four composed by Lopez, three by Kadziela and one by Vaht. The music is a wonderful example of young contemporary European Jazz, full of vigor and flare, based on melodic compositions but including an extensive degree of freedom, which enables novel improvisation and unexpected time signatures. The melodies are well structures and coherent harmonically, diverse stylistically and often include World Music influences, with some Iberian motifs clearly distinguishable. The individual performances are all excellent, as expected form these well schooled and already quite experienced musicians. Fiery and inspired soloing and superb team work contribute to the overall result, which is a genuine pleasure to listen to. Although most of these ensembles are created ad hoc in the burgeoning environment created at the Copenhagen´s Rhythmic Music Conservatory, where many excellent European musicians study, hopefully this quartet will come together to record and tour, as it is unquestionably too good to be a one time affair. Definitely worth investigation and highly recommended for modern European Jazz connoisseurs!

Updated: 30/03/2018Posted: 30/03/2018

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend