The first album “Convergence” was released in June and presents a handpicked sextet of contemporary jazz musicians from Cuba, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia and the UK.

At the heart of this project is Florians collaboration with the Cuban Vistel brothers: trumpeter Jorge and tenor saxophonist Maikel. They are joined by Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras, English vibraphonist Jim Hart and Australian bassist Rafael Jerjen.

Florian explains:  “Despite the difficult themes and complicated forms that needed to be mastered for this Convergence project, the music has a very playful and almost party-like aspect. You can really hear and feel the fun we had together in the studio.”

An excellent album with a lot of positive energy, interesting melodies and motifs, a pushing rhythm section and great improvisations. A fine contemporary jazz album.

Florian produced a nice video of ‘Little Idea’ which is the first song on the album:

The second album “Reflections of the Eternal Line” was released this month and features saxophonist Greg Osby on soprano & alto sax and Florian on a classic jazz drum kit with a huge balinese gong, some tuned kalimbas and other custom-designed percussion instruments which add a sense of bass lines and even harmony.

The album was inspired by a series of paintings by Swiss artist Stephan Spicher, whose workshop was the location of the recording sessions.

Florian has some more details: “I met Stephan around 2004 through a common friend and immediately felt drawn to his art. Stephan’s main themes in his paintings are lines and nature and he has followed those ideas very consistently for many years now, working on different aspects and diving extremely deep in those subjects. I visited Stephan in his workshop and he showed me a new series he was working on with the theme of the interaction of a red and a black line.
Seeing those paintings it was obviously clear to me that this must be my subject, because what Greg and I do is exactly the same: We search for a communication and interaction of our two lines, leaving the freedom to each other, but also clearly inspiring each other.
So I organized a recording session with Greg in Stephan’s workshop and we immediately felt a great vibe.”

Florian and Greg work together now for more than 20 years and their collaboration on this album is outstanding and shows the deep relation and understanding these two musicians have.

A beautiful video is available to see what happened during the recording of the song “Wooden Lines” :

And I have two playlists from Spotify for you for each album. Please enjoy:

Jazz drummer and composer Steve Fidyk has just released the album “Battle Lines”, his third recording as a leader. The album features an all-star band of some of the finest musicians from the New York scene:

• Steve Fidyk – Drums
• Joe Magnarelli – Trumpet
• Xavier Perez – Tenor Saxophone
• Peter Zak – Piano
• Michael Karn – Bass

The album starts with “Ignominy”, a composition by tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris. The tune is a straight jazz composition with an unusual length of 20 measures. We hear solos by Xavier Perez on saxophone, Joe Magnarelli on trumpet and Peter Zak on piano. A nice swinging start into this recording.

“Battle Lines”, the title song of the album comes next. It is the first of seven originals by Steve Fidyk.
The up-tempo piece features piano and saxophone and also Steve on drums. Great solos from all musicians and a pushing rhythm section make this song to my first highlight on the album.

The album continues with “Loopholes”. Steve has some information here: “I set out to write a ‘groove tune’ for this project; something that felt good and had a dance sensibility to it. I came up with the title idea as an extension from previous compositions I wrote for other solo recordings: The Flip Flopper (from Heads Up!) and Gaffe (from Allied Forces). Loopholes follows suit and was conceived with a similar approach. This tune features a funky swing feel with a 16-bar (A) and (B) section with solos by Joe Magnarelli, Xavier Perez and Peter Zak”.

“Thank You (Dziekuje)” by Dave Brubeck comes next. The Chopin inspired piece entitled Dziekuje, meaning “thank you” is an expression of gratitude for the fans of Brubeck during his 1958 visit to Poland. The song is arranged as a jazz waltz and has a great melody. Outstanding is the piano solo by Peter Zak. Definitely another highlight on the album.

“Bebop Operations” is the next song on the album. Great to hear that kind of music. The classic Bebop-feeling with trumpet, saxophone and rhythm section is brought alive in this song. The solos are also inspired in classic Bebop manner, entertaining and educational at the same time.

The album continues with “Bootlickers Blues”, a strange blues with a strange title. Steve explains: “A ‘bootlicker’ is a person who tries to gain influence or favor through a servile, obsequious or brown-nosing manner. The tune features a standard 12-measure blues form with a few measures of ’3/4 time’ mixed in to keep things interesting. The first chorus of piano and tenor follow the form of the melody, before breaking into a hard driving swing feel in 4/4 time over the blues form. The drum solo that follows the tenor is two choruses, accompanied by the bass and piano, over the form of the melody”.

“Lullaby for Lori and John” is a ballad which Steve Fidyk composed for his late parents. Steve has again some more details: “My folks had a traditional, ‘old school’ relationship for 60 years. My father worked 40+ hour weeks as a machinist at TOPPS Chewing Gum Factory, and my mom stayed home, raising myself and three siblings. When I was young, my father would also play gigs with his trio on tenor saxophone. On occasion, he would take me out with him on a Saturday night to hear his group play, and the drummer would let me sit in on a tune or two as the night came to a close. ‘Lullaby for Lori and John’ was recorded in one take and I was in tears by the end of it. It features the incredible fluegelhorn sound of Joe Magnarelli”.

“Churn” an up-tempo original in 6/8 meter is the next song. Steve has another chance to shine in an accompanied drum solo over the introduction vamp played by Michael Karn on bass.

The album continues with “Steeplechase” by Charlie Parker. Second chance to hear the Bebop class of this band. The song features Xavier Perez on tenor saxophone and Peter Zak on piano and a classical 8/8 trading solos with the drums.

“#Social Loafing” is the next song dedicated to those who spend an excessive amount of time on social media. This original by Steve Fidyk comes as a medium swinger with straight chord progressions and the band enjoys this with nice solos by Xavier Perez, Joe Magnarelli, Peter Zak and a 1/2 chorus of drums on the first two A-sections of the final head.

The album finishes with “Sir John”, composed and recorded by trumpet legend Blue Mitchell on his 1960 LP Blue’s Moods. The original recording features Wynton Kelly on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Roy Brooks on drums. “Sir John” is a cool standard blues and it showcases solos by each member.

“Battle Lines” is an excellent jazz album with an outstanding cast of musicians. The music is rooted deeply in the Bebop tradition and the band masters the various styles with ease and a wink. It’s good to hear that this music is so alive and vibrant it shows that there is sometimes no need for major experiments in Jazz music, just have fun and play and the result will be brilliant.

More information about Steve Fidyk and upcoming shows are found on his website:
https://stevefidyk.com

And finally the complete album on Spotify:

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:

An album that was released in August 2018 from drummer Jay Lawrence caught recently my attention. The major reason for that was the line-up of this album:

• Jay Lawrence – drums
• John Patituci – bass
• Renee Rosnes – piano
• Harry Allen – saxophone
• Terell Stafford – trumpet
• Anthony Wilson – guitar
• Yotam Silberstein – guitar
• Romero Lubambo – guitar

Three excellent guitar players, one of the best bass players on the scene and a great saxophonist for an album of a drummer: a very interesting  combination that works perfectly. The result is an album that contains a combination of originals, standards and a cover version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic”.  The same variety is equally found in the arrangements. You find easy grooves, swing tunes, different latin styles, straight jazz and ballads.

The album starts with “Full Moon in Havanna”, a soft and relaxed song, dominated by the saxophone and Romero Lubambo on acoustic guitar.

“What ‘ll I do” is an old Irving Berlin tune in an fantastic new arrangement featuring Jay Lawrence in the syncopated played melody. The solos are accompanied by a straight swinging band.

“Vamonos” comes with a samba groove and features Terell Stafford on trumpet and Yotam Silberstein on guitar. Jay Lawrence gets another chance to shine soloing over an extended montuno.

“Slide” is in contrast a very slow blues. We hear solos by John Patituci on bass, Renee Rosnes on piano and a outstanding plunger muted trumpet solo by Terell Stafford.

“Maria” from the musical “West Side Story” in a fantastic new latin version comes next. Nice grooving band again with Roberto Lubambo on acoustic guitar.

“Dayspring” is a soft ballad featuring Harry Allen on saxophone and Renee Rosnes on piano in two great solos.

“From Nadir to Zenith” is a heavy grooving tune with Terell Stafford on muted trumpet in an alternating solo with Anthony Wilson on guitar.

The title song “Sonic Paragon” comes next. This is a straight-ahead jazz song with impressive solos by Harry Allen on saxophone and Anthony Wilson on guitar.

“Tchoupitoulas” is a song with a special groove and sound, dominated by the trumpet and very much inspired by New Orleans brass band sound.

“Golden Ratio” is a modern jazz tune with sax and Yotam Silberstein on guitar playing the melody interrupted by an interlude in a Reggae groove, very sophisticated.

“Crosstown Traffic” by Jimi Hendrix in a modern jazz-style  up-tempo arrangement is the next song. Solos go to saxophone and Yotam Silberstein on guitar and their playing fits perfectly into this song. A drum solo tops this tune off.

The album closes with a easy swinging “My Winsome Consort” with a Monk-inspired piano solo by Renee Rosnes. Harry Allen plays a smooth saxophone solo and shows his versatility to adapt to different styles. An alternating bass and drum solo guarantee that this song gets it’s special touch.

Overall “Sonic Paragon” is a great album that captivated me with it’s perfect playing, it’s versatility and it’s surprising elements in every song. So take your time to listen to the songs carefully and you will detect the excellence of the material and the musicians.

Listen to the whole album with this playlist on Spotify:

Drummer Kobie Watkins, born and raised in Chicago, has toured and recorded with a number of well-known musicians like Sonny Rollins, Bobby Broom (he plays on the three Bobby Broom albums which I have in my collection), Kurt Elling, Branford Marsalis and Joe Lovano. He presents here his first album with his Grouptet.

The Kobie Watkins Grouptet includes:

• Kobie Watkins – drums
• Justin Nielsen - piano
• Ryan Nielsen - trumpet
• Jonathan Armstrong – saxophone
• Aaron Miller - bass

The album was released on May 15 and contains nine originals, along with a great new arrangement of ‘Manteca.’

The first song on the album is called “Catch This” and starts with an easy latin groove with a clear focus on the percussive playing of Kobie. The first solo goes to the trumpet followed by the bass with nice kicks from the horns, all very easy and laid-back. Dynamics increase a little with the piano and saxophone solo. Then at around 5:00 min an extensive latin outro starts and the jazz band sounds now like a salsa band. Kobie told me that “… the end section and the overall energy is from a place I grew up as an upcoming professional in and throughout Chicago. The latin late nights in the latin clubs where music, dance and language never slept. “

The album continues with “The City”. This is my first highlight of the album. A pushing groove by Kobie, a beautiful melody perfectly arranged in two voices and great modal solos, especially by Justin Nielsen on piano leave no doubt that we have here a band of true masters at work. Kobie explained me that this song is about his adventurous feelings when traveling and coming into The City.
“The groove is something I created, working on a Sonny Rollins tune. Playing with him when I created this tune inspired how I arranged the song.”
He also told me this song could last for hours, the modal form leaves plenty of space for the musicians to improvise extensively. On the album unfortunately the fun is over after 7:20 mins.

The next song is called “Movement” and it is the title song of the album. This song is composed around a bass line Kobie wrote in 2007. It starts polyrhythmic, as Kobie said in an “afrocentric feeling” and then after 2 mins it changes to an elegiac unaccompanied piano solo that gets more and more intensive, drums, bass and later the whole band steps in and plays again briefly the theme. The next solo part is a duet between saxophone and Ryan Nielsen on flugelhorn. The outro of the tune is a perfect drum solo with kicks form the band.

“Six Moods”, the next tune is a ballad in 6/8 that changes to 5/4. A great melody and nice harmonic changes. Beautiful solos by piano, saxophone and flugelhorn. Kobie wrote this song in 2012 and he started it “… with me singing into my phone while driving a long distance. This was a song created from a somber mood swing… I tend to have from time to time…nothing serious.” But no somberness from my point of view, just a great melody and excellent solos.

The album continues with “Ga-Rum-Ban” a fast and furios tune with solos from saxophone, trumpet and a breathtaking piano in dialog with the drums.

“Inner Motion” is the next song and as before, the bass line was the starting point of the composition. A soft song with a complex bass line and a simple melody above. Justin Nielsen plays very tastefully on a Rhodes. Great dynamics in the trumpet and saxophone solos, this song is another highlight of the album.

The album continues with the tune “Rivet”.  The bass is again the origin of the tune. Kobie told me that this song was created in 2016 during a long drive. And this tune feels like a long drive, very steady even a little bit monotonic, “flowing sound” as Kobie explained.

“MBDC” comes next and unfortunately neither me nor Kobie are able to explain to you what this acronym stands for. The song was written in 2008 while Kobie was in Zimbabwe. It has a very energetic rhythm with a simple melody and eloquent drum fills. Quite remarkable is the saxophone solo in this song where Jonathan Armstrong and Kobie push each other and create great dynamics and incredible energy.

“Falling Upward” is the last original from Kobie Watkins on this album. This tune is based on a pushing groove and it is one more time Jonathan Armstrong who soaks up this energy and plays another astonishing solo. The song closes with soft piano chords and you have the impression of a show coming to an end.

However, there is the encore: “Manteca” by Dizzy Gillespie returns to where we started, to the dancers in the latin clubs where music never sleeps This famous jazz standard starts with a long groove intro. The head is played as a dialog between piano and saxophone, the B part is split between saxophone and trumpet similar to the original version. Great dynamic solos come from piano, saxophone and trumpet before the band returns to the steady groove from the beginning.

And if that is not enough there is another song available on bandcamp. It is called “Prayer for Peace” and was composed by Justin Nielsen. A beautiful and noble ballad with great harmonies and an incredible solo by Ryan Nielsen on flugelhorn.
https://kobiewatkinsgrouptet.bandcamp.com/

Not much to say anymore about this album: there is an extraordinary drummer who found congenial musicians and the result is an outstanding album full of energy and positive vibrations.

Here is a nice video from Kobie Watkins with some more information about this album:

And finally a playlist on Spotify: