Record Reviews

AVISHAI COHEN ~ COLORS STRETCH 9031 (Barcode: 013431903123) ~ ISRAEL ~ Jazz Recorded: 2000 Released: 2000 3rd album by Israeli bassist / composer Avishai CohenFind albums by this artist and his most ambitious project to date. Cohen not only expands his personal musical range by adding electric bass and piano to the list of instruments he plays here, but also expanding the lineup of the participating musicians and even including a string quartet. The core lineup, which participates in the album’s recording is a septet with Cohen, Jimmy GreeneFind albums by this artist on reeds and flute, Steve DavisFind albums by this artist and Avi LebovichFind albums by this artist on trombone, Jason LindnerFind albums by this artist on piano, Amos HoffmanFind albums by this artist on guitar and oud and Jeff BallardFind albums by this artist on drums. In addition, some guest artists are also appearing. Cohen’s ability as a bass player is of course legendary and needs no further discussion here, but his true greatness is his extraordinary ability to compose superb Jazz pieces, which skillfully combine the American Jazz tradition with other musical elements, mainly folklore and World Music. Cohen’s Middle Eastern background is clearly evident in his music, although he is also wide open to other sources of inspiration, like Latin Music. Cohen composed all the thirteen tunes on this album. The overall effect is truly refreshing and the combined skills of the musicians involved create an album of rare beauty, which contains an immense amount of new and exciting music. This is a truly remarkable album, which portrays an extraordinary musical talent at work and shows a new path for the future of Jazz, which hopefully will open new horizons to the somewhat sleepy genre at the start of a new Millenium. A must!

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

ORNETTE COLEMAN / JOACHIM KUHN ~ COLORS HARMOLODIC 731453778924 (Barcode: 731453778924) ~ USA ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 1996 Released: 1997 This is a live album by the duo of American saxophonist / composer Ornette ColemanFind albums by this artist and German pianist / composer Joachim KuhnFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight tracks, all of which were composed by Coleman. The album presents a truly epic meeting between two great representatives of the Free Jazz / Improvised Music idiom, who although separated by the Euro-American cultural gap and a generation gap seem to be performing as if they knew each other since birth. Kuhn (born 1944) admits that Coleman (born 1930) was one of his greatest musical inspirations when his perception of the Jazz idiom was first formed, much more than other Jazz musicians who are traditionally considered as Jazz influencers, and who are supposed to have inspired everything that is considered as Jazz music. Well, of course neither Coleman nor Kuhn are in any sense “typical” Jazz musicians, and thank God for that. The symbiosis between the two Giants is completely natural and the music they create flows smoothly and organically. Coleman plays trumpet and violin in addition to the alto saxophone, switching instruments at will, and Kuhn races all over the keyboard like the Wizard of Oz, and the wall of sound they create sounds perfectly logical and even melodic (or rather harmolodic), with the duo sounding as a one four-handed persona, inseparable and entirely of one mind. This album is one of the most dramatic examples of the “Art of the Duo” in its purest and most perfect form. Overall, this is a stunning album, which no Improvising Music connoisseur should miss in their record collection. The sound quality of the recording is perfect and brilliantly clear, which allows for all the nuances in this complex music to be perfectly audible. It is beyond recommendation…

Updated: 14/02/2025Posted: 14/02/2025

CD 1 Recommend To A Friend

MAREK JAKUBOWSKI ~ COLORS ALLEGRO 037 (Barcode: 5901157049377) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2017 Released: 2019 This is the third album as a leader by Polish Jazz drummer / composer Marek JakubowskiFind albums by this artist. The first two albums, recorded in a classic piano trio format, were recorded in 2013 (i.e. six years ago) and this debut album in a quartet setting was recorded in 2017 (i.e. two years ago), which means that Jakubowski is certainly taking his time to create new music for his releases, not like many other musicians who somehow feel obligated to release albums in an almost obsessive paste. The quartet includes saxophonist Marek KonarskiFind albums by this artist, pianist Jacek SzwajFind albums by this artist and bassist Damian KostkaFind albums by this artist, all members of the young and upcoming generation of the Polish Jazz scene. The album presents ten original compositions, all by Jakubowski. The music is all well within the modern mainstream Post-bop mold, but the compositions are all very well weaved and complex enough to serve as excellent vehicles for the quartet members to show their chops. The ballads display the characteristic Polish melancholy, which of course is expected. As usual with Jakubowski´s albums, the focus is certainly on the compositions rather than on the performances, which of course does not mean that those are inferior in any way. In many ways Jakubowski is almost a class of his own as far as Jazz compositions on the Polish scene are concerned, and deserved a much wider recognition than he enjoys today. Both Konarski and Szwaj offer excellent soloing, showing deep empathy with the compositions and Kostka stands shoulder to shoulder with the leader to keep the music well on track rhythmically, also soloing superbly on the way. This is European mainstream Jazz at its finest hour and a delightful listening experience to all fans of this idiom. It is good to see (hear) Jakubowski back on the track, hoping he will not keep us waiting so long next time, as he is certainly is one of the most talented Polish Jazz composers with a deep love and respect to all that is characteristically Polish in music, going back to Frederic ChopinFind albums by this artist´s legacy. A true beauty warmly recommended!

Updated: 15/11/2019Posted: 15/11/2019

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

KAZIOGRA ~ COLORS SJ 073 (Barcode: 5905489720324) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz-Blues Fusion Recorded: 2023 Released: 2023 This is the debut album by the Polish quartet KaZioGraFind albums by this artist, which comprises of guitarist / composer Grzegorz KapolkaFind albums by this artist, bassist Dariusz ZiolekFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Antoni GralakFind albums by this artist and drummer Alan KapolkaFind albums by this artist (Grzegorz’s son). The album presents eleven original compositions, nine composed by Grzegorz Kapolka and two by Ziolek. The music is a refreshing mixture of Blues, Rock, Jazz, Funk and Groove, which is a great fun to listen to, but does not compromise musical quality at any time. Grzegorz Kapolka is basically a Blues oriented guitarist, with a beautiful tone and many years of experience behind him. Ziolek is Funky and his bass pulsations add the Groove momentum to the music. Gralak, as always, is the enfant terrible of the bunch, playing some truly weird and wonderful Jazz improvisations, using a lot of electronic devices to twist the sound of the trumpet out of its expected home turf. The young Kapolka drives the quartet steadily forward, keeping everything in check. This music simply refuses to be easily defined, and each composition opens up new sound vistas, keeping the listener in constant state of discovery, which of course is never easy to achieve. There is plenty of great melodic themes, Blues oriented guitar solos and trumpet craziness to surprise even the most erudite listeners and most importantly this music is completely different from everything else on the local scene, which by itself is highly commendable. Overall, this is an unusual, dynamic piece of music, which shuns definitions and pre-conceptions, which is able to take the listener into uncharted territory. The basic Blues / Funk, spiced by the Jazzy improvisations is exciting and refreshing, which happens rather rarely these days. This album is highly recommended to listeners, who are open-minded to new experiences, but at the same time have a build-in affinity to Funky Blues-Rock with a Jazz topping. Definitely well done Gentlemen!

Updated: 25/05/2023Posted: 25/05/2023

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

DAVE LIEBMAN ~ COLORS HATOLOGY 600 (Barcode: 752156060024) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 1998 Released: 2003 Although rarely in the limelight, American saxophonist / composer Dave LiebmanFind albums by this artist has been one of the most consistently outstanding Jazz musicians in the last four decades. From his recordings with Miles DavisFind albums by this artist in the early stages of his career and later on as a leader of his own groups, his outstanding contribution to modern music is unquestionable. His stylistic versatility, deeply aesthetic approach to music as an Art Form and obvious virtuosity, all these combined with his charming personality (which I´ve been privileged to witness first hand) amalgamate into a unique and exceptional Artist. This album presents Liebman "in flagrante delicto", metaphorically making love to his instrument while performing a set of solo pieces. Unaccompanied solo performances are always the "naked truth", which exposes the artist totally and is completely unforgiving towards any attempts to fake artistry. Liebman has nothing to hide of course; on the contrary his solo statements are even more powerful than his performances with other musicians. This is his second solo recording, preceded by the album "The TreeFind albums with this title" recorded in the early 1990s. As usual, Liebman forays into uncharted territory with his beautiful vistas, charming the listener like a snake trainer and keeping him in trace. This incredible music, in spite of being potentially difficult, works like a charm and I can´t imagine any sensitive listener not falling under its spell. Brilliant stuff!

CD 1 Mini-Sleeve Oversampling Recommend To A Friend

MAREK WALAROWSKI TRIO / WOJCIECH LICHTANSKI ~ COLORS OF THE NIGHT SURFACE TENSION ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2015 Released: 2015 This is an album by Polish pianist / composer Marek WalarowskiFind albums by this artist with his trio which includes Czech electric bassist Lukas MuzikFind albums by this artist and drummer Miroslaw SitkowskiFind albums by this artist and features also saxophonist Wojciech LichtanskiFind albums by this artist, who completes a quartet setting. The quartet performs seven original compositions, all by Walarowski. The music is kept within melodic mainstream, and is therefore pretty predictable, but the excellent compositions by Walarowski and beautiful playing by Lichtanski, who is one of the upcoming Polish Jazz young lions, turn this music into a nice listening experience. His alto saxophone has a great tone and he sounds like a true pro when playing some expanded and sophisticated solos through out this album. The rhythm section is also doing a fine job, and although I prefer acoustic bass in a strict Jazz setting, Muzik manages to do his part solidly while Sitkowski keeps the time without a hitch. Walarowski´s compositions are all little gems with superb melody lines and nice chord structures, which are not inferior to any of the Jazz standards we are used to hear all the time. His performances are also spotless, although have a specific Classical influence, which can be heard by a trained ear. Nevertheless his playing is always a true pleasure to listen to. Overall the album offers some very nice music, which was very well recorded and mixed and all mainstream Jazz lovers should find it most appropriate as part of their music collections. Definitely worth investigating!

Updated: 26/06/2016Posted: 26/06/2016

CD-R 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend