Today’s album comes from Greek drummer Billy Prim and is called “Thalassa” which is the Greek word for sea. Billy lives and works in Budapest and he recorded this album with some great musicians from Hungary. The line-up is:

• Attila Blaho – Piano
• Andor Horváth – Double Bass
• Júlia Csillag – Voice
• Áron Turcsányi – Electric Bass
• Billy Prim – Drums

Billy explained to me the creation-process of this album:  “The whole album is a first take, we did not record any song a second time. At that given moment in my life I had the chance to realize and see the collateral beauty of effortlessness. Each song is not perfectly rehearsed, I wanted to give to every song a real feeling of pure energy and pleasure in our playing.”

The album starts with “Enlightenment” a very impressionistic song with the piano playing steady arpeggios and the drums producing the sound of waves and little stones at the beach.

“Waves of Emotion” is the next song and it stays initially in this impressionistic and melancholic mood, Andor Horváth on double bass enjoys a lot of freedom in his playing. The band increases the intensity and the dynamics at around 5 minutes and reduces volume for a very special bass solo.

Billy produced a nice video for this song:

“Keep the Child Alive in You” picks up much faster after the piano introduction before it switches to a very slow ballad. Áron Turcsányi on electric bass caters for the distinct sound in this song. This song is my personal highlight on the album, it shows perfectly the dynamic range which this band is able to master and you can feel the energy and the pleasure in the playing, which Billy explained.

“Én Felkelék” features singer Júlia Csillag. The melody she sings is a traditional Christian folk-song accompanied by drums and electronic keyboard, a complete different sound and mood but also very atmospheric, not in contrast but in addition to the other songs on the album.

The album closes with “Midnight Sea” returning to the classical piano trio line-up with Andor Horváth on double bass. He is also featured in his song. Piano and some soft drumming prepare the layer on which Andor Horváth improvises rather freely.

Billy Prim with the great support from an outstanding Attila Blaho on piano created a beautiful album that shows all the elements of contemporary European jazz music where a line is drawn from traditional and classical music into improvisational music. Especially Hungary seems to be the place where all those elements are easily accessible and where jazz musicians take advantage of them.

The reaction on the live performances are according to Billy Prim all very positive, even excited. So when being asked if the album shows the same level of spontaneity as the concert it is easy for him to answer with a simple “Yes” because the circumstances of the recording and the live situation during a concert are not really different. Congratulations on this album.

For more information about Billy Prim check out his website:

http://www.billyprim.com/

And here is the complete album on Spotify:

The Claudio Scolari Project has released a new album in October 2019 and this band continues its journey in free and improvised music. The evolution of the band is obvious and the focus of the album is on live performance. Everything on the album was live improvised and recorded.

To have this full and balanced sound the band added a bass player and the line-up is now:

• Claudio Scolari: Drum set 1, Synth Programming
• Daniele Cavalca: Drum Set 2, Live Synths, Rhodes, Piano
• Simone Scolari: Trumpet
• Michele Cavalca: Electric Bass

The advantage of this line-up is evident and answers one of the question which many people might have asked: Is it possible to play the music live on stage? This is now clearly the case and the following video shows the band playing the song “Wired”:

The album starts with “Smoke in C Minor”, a song that features  Daniele Cavalca on piano. It has some typical elements of this band, the pulse comes from the drums (with some surprising breathing pauses) and the acoustic piano is spiced up by electronic sounds.

We hear the full band with bass and trumpet in “Underground Soul”. This song begins soft but steady with the piano introducing the main riff, the piano and trumpet hold a dialog which is joined by the bass. At around 5:00 min the steady pulse is opened by the drums and all musicians improvise freely. Daniele Cavalca returns to the main riff to end the song. Very impressive.

“Upside Road” is a dialog between drums and a funky Rhodes piano with some additional synthesizer elements.

In “And I’ll Make You Smile” the complete band returns. The main riff for this song is again kind of funky and either the rhythmic or the melodic pattern of this riff is kept throughout the song.

The title song “Upside Down” comes next. The drums groove in a classical swing style and after a lengthy introduction the piano introduces the main theme which is complemented with trumpet fills. Claudio Scolari keeps his steady pace and the other musicians have the space and freedom to improvise together.

“Twister” is drum duo piece which I was also hoping to hear once. Very sophisticated  playing by Claudio Scolari and Daniele Cavalca show the many sounds of two extended drum sets.

“Syrah Hangover” impresses with its beautiful harmonic structure. The melody comes from the trumpet this time and synthesizer sounds dominate the background. I like the synthetic sounds by Daniele Cavalca very much, in a way they sound not too digital, even a little bit old-fashioned.

“Wired” comes next and this song is definitely my favorite on the album. Some nice stereo effects in the introduction, a beautiful spacious motif from Simone Scolari on trumpet, a grooving bass and really pushing drums create an incredible intensity in this song. Very powerful.

“Bismantova Castle” is as an open dialog between Michele Cavalca on bass and Simone Scolari on trumpet. The trumpet sound has a lot of echo and is very spacious while the bass is rather direct without effects which gives this song its nice contrast.

The album ends with another drum duet called “Fast And Last” which is fast and furious and sounds to me like a spontaneous session which was recorded, a little bit like an unplugged encore but nevertheless sounding great.

The Claudio Scolari Project has reached another level of freedom with this album, it has found it’s own sound and style and it is now in a position to perform this music live. So I hope some festival organizers become aware of this incredible band and invite them. I would really love to see this band playing live.

And finally a playlist of this album on Spotify:

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra – DIVA + the Boys

https://divajazz.com/

“DIVA + THE BOYS” is a live recording of The Diva Jazz Orchestra – an ensemble of 15 incredibly talented musicians – who happen to be women – with some of today’s most exciting soloists. The band performed on the MCG Jazz stage in Pittsburgh with Ken Peplowski, Jay Ashby, Claudio Roditi, and MCG Jazz Executive Producer Marty Ashby. Excellent arrangements, a heavy swinging big band and some outstanding clarinet playing are the characteristics of this album.

John Dalton’s Spheres of Influence – Indigo Skyline

https://johndaltonspheresofinfluence.com/home

Drummer John Dalton presents his trio “Spheres of Influence” featuring Sean Farias on bass and Jim Robitaille on guitar. The album contains original material only and shows a nice and well-balanced trio with enough space and freedom for each musician to express themselves.

DLG 3 – Grease Trap

https://www.facebook.com/dlgthree/

DLG is a B3 organ trio based out of NYC with John Lynch on guitar, Mike DeConzo on drums and “Organ Monk” Greg Lewis and William Gorman on the Hammond B3 organ. Their album “Grease Trap” was released in the beginning of November and contains funky instrumental interpretations of classic soul & RNB tunes and originals as well. Great choice of songs, very entertaining and very well played.

Roger Kellaway – The Many Open Minds Of Roger Kellaway

http://rogerkellaway.com/

Recorded live at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, “The Many Open Minds Of Roger Kellaway” teams the pianist with guitarist Bruce Forman (a superb bebop player and a Sonntag guitar player http://www.sonntag-guitars.com/english/Artists/Bruce-Forman.html) and bassist Dan Lutz. They perform seven familiar jazz standards but their performance is anything but conventional and predictable. Outstanding playing by all three musicians and perfect understanding between each other make great fun and entertainment when listening.

Finally a complete playlist with all songs from the four albums:

This years’ Christmas album comes from Dave Stryker and his Eight Track band featuring:

• Dave Stryker – guitar
• Stefon Harris - vibraphone
• Jared Gold – organ
• McClenty Hunter – drums

The name of the band and the music they like to play comes from the time when an 8-Track player was a popular device. The group has released three very successful albums with songs from the 60′s and 70′s and tie in on the tradition of producing an album for the holiday season.

This album is not the classical Christmas CD with a lot of emotions, instead it is the cool buddy for the hectic season. An excellent organ trio plus an incredible vibraphone player guarantee the perfect groove.

The album starts with “This Christmas” from Donny Hathaway, quite cool and relaxed with a little bit of jingle bells and a bluesy Dave Stryker, perfectly played. The sound of this band is really exceptional and the vibraphone adds the unique note to the organ trio.

The traditional “What Child Is This?” comes next. This tune is arranged with a pushing 6/8 meter. Laurels are here for McClenty Hunter on drums who gives this song the special touch.

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, another traditional is the next song, arranged with a heavy groove and one more time the hint to listen to the drummer precisely.

The album continues with John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” one of my favorite Christmas tunes. The end of the melody is played in unison by guitar (in octaves) and vibraphone which sounds really warm and soft but very jazzy.

“Soulful Frosty” is another highlight of the album, it is a melange of the two songs “Soulful Strut” and “Frosty The Snowman” very soulful indeed and very happy with the Frosty part where the compulsory jingle bells are added.

The Charlie Brown song “Christmas Time Is Here” by Vince Guaraldi, a beautiful ballad comes next. Guitar and vibraphone trade the melody, very soft and easy which gives this nice melody the space it needs to unfold in full. Very tasty background by drums and organ.

An up-tempo “Sleigh Ride” shows the band in jam-style with solos from all musicians.

“Blue Christmas” is the next song and it comes as an old-fashioned 12/8 groove with bluesy solos. My highlight of this song is the organ solo which ends in full gear pulling out all stops plus the Leslie speaker. Killer sound.

“We Three Kings” is another highlight of this album. This song sounds like a modal jazz tune with a breathtaking guitar solo.

The album ends with “O Tannenbaum” (with Steve Nelson on vibraphone).  This song was released before and shows a hard swinging band enjoying to play and to improvise over this famous traditional.

‘Eight Track Christmas’ is my choice for this holiday season, it is quite different from what you hear and what is recorded for this occasion, but since it is so cool relaxed and swinging Jazz music it shows much better the “true” spirit of Christmas then any other new album I have heard this year.

Enjoy, relax and have an eggnog on Dave and his fabulous Eight Track band.

More information about Dave Stryker, his projects and tour dates are found on his website:
https://www.davestryker.com

And finally a playlist of this album on Spotify:

Subcontinental records from Bangalore has released a beautiful live album of Norwegian guitarist and composer Haftor Medbøe. Haftor lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland and the concert was recorded there back in July 2013. Funded by the Scottish Government Haftor was able to assemble a band of musicians that he’d always wanted to work with. From Norway came pianist Espen Eriksen and trumpeter Gunnar Halle, and from Denmark bassist Eva Malling and drummer Benita Haastrup.

Haftor has more details: “On the night of the performance we were joined by Scottish/Polish saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski for one track. He had another gig at almost the same time so immediately after playing one song he had to run half a mile to be on time for his other performance. The band rehearsed all-new material for an hour on the day before the gig and spent that evening bonding over dinner and some beers”.

The album starts with “New Happy” featuring Konrad Wiszniewski on saxophone. He plays the first solo and he receives excellent support from the band so we feel the energy he puts into his playing.  this solo is already my first highlight on the album.

After saying goodbye to Konrad With “Run, Konrad, run”, the band continues as a quintet with “Bruichladdich10″ which refers to the whisky with the same name.  The beautiful melody is played softly by Gunnar Halle on trumpet, piano and guitar have solo parts before we hear an open and very rhythmic outro dominated by the trumpet. The free and open playing culminates in a grand finale.

“Minor is the New Major”, the title song of the album comes next.  A soft song with another great melody presented by trumpet and guitar. Haftor plays the solo on this song with a distorted guitar sound and a free rhythm section accompanying him. Very interesting to listen to the ideas of the band members. Espen Eriksen takes the lead after the guitar solo and the song ends with the melody played again.

“More Viking Than You” starts with a bass solo. The melody is played initially by trumpet (with some effects) and piano only. This song sounds like made for a movie with a strong piano and a trumpet floating over the rhythm section. Breathtaking. The solo goes to Haftor Medbøe. He stays calm and soft and the floating trumpet returns which keeps the visual character of the song.

“Steaks & Muscles” comes next. The intro goes to the piano, the melody is played by the guitar and this song modulates nicely between major and minor chords. Piano and bass play a striding riff which is used by the guitar as base to improvise before the solo becomes free and open again. The trumpet sound is electronically altered which creates some very interesting and unusual effects.

“Broadcast For The World” is a beautiful and very harmonic ballad. The melody is played by trumpet and guitar with great support by Espen Eriksen on piano who also plays a brillant solo. This song is definitely the highlight of the album, it is so easy to follow and it is played with great sensitivity and aesthetics.

The album ends with “These Little Things” which is based on a interesting guitar riff. The band shows again how precise they can play and how perfect they can change their dynamics.

The compositions from Haftor Medbøe have all great and easy to follow melodies and the band received a lot of freedom to take the material and improvise rather freely over it without stretching these improvisational parts into excess length. The music hasn’t collected any dust in this six years between recording and releasing and you feel the fun and energy in this album. Thanks to Subcontinental Records who convinced Haftor Medbøe to release this live recording.

Haftor is not only a great composer and an excellent musician, he is also an internationally published researcher in the field of jazz studies and has presented conference papers throughout Europe. If you want to learn more about his work, his projects and his music please check out his website:
http://www.haftormedboe.com/

And finally a playlist of this album on Spotify: