East Harlem Skyline (2009, Zoho)

Guitarist Greg Skaff's new release, East Harlem Skyline (2009, Zoho) is titled geographically close to his last release Ellington Avenue. Skaff doesn't wander far from this musical neighborhood either, except for the fast and furious excursions to Funkytown and alt-Rockville that bookend this engaging collection of mostly original tunes. Skaff is constantly digging deeper into the territory of the jazz guitar/organ trio by expanding the repertoire with intelligent, but still grooving tunes. With his warm and bluesy, boppish style, Skaff rewards both the causal and the fully engaged listener with music that can be appreciated on more than one level. The rocking cover of Fiona Apple's "Fast As You Can" reveals Skaffs edgier side, and proves that nobody rocks better than a jazz musician.

Live in Italy

The Seamus Blake Quartet features Blake on tenor saxophone, David Kikoski on piano, Rodney Green on drums and Danton Boller on double bass. They deliver a venturesome double CD coming in just 13 minutes short of two hours of recorded music.  Each of the nine selections receives extensive treatment.  This release merits a buy recommendation. 

Volume One begins with a high-spirited original composition by Blake entitled “The Jupiter Line” that gets your listening pleasure started, setting expectations that are then met throughout the album.  “Way Out Of Willy,” also by Blake, brings a touch of funk to the proceedings, taking the excursion in a slightly different but thoroughly enjoyable direction.   

Mosaic

With the 2007 release of A Spirit Free: The Songs of Abbey Lincoln, modern vocalist Kendra Shank finally garnered the attention her talent had long deserved. Previously known more for her lyrical storytelling than free-wheeling interpretations of gritty repertoire, Shank’s Abbey project generated such comments as “an eminently successful tribute: respectful, even deferential, but free of the paralyzing symptoms of veneration” (Nate Chinen, New York Times), and “a rewarding balance of intellect and emotion. The year's finest vocal jazz album” (Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune). But if A Spirit Free revealed her sharp edges in reinterpreting Abbey Lincoln, then her new Mosaic (Challenge Records) reveals the softer contours of a more personal, perhaps freer spirit. 

Making Mosaic 

Always in tune with her need for change and for balance, Kendra notes that “A Spirit Free brought out a certain thing in me because of the songs’ messages and how I felt about them... That album was a departure for me in some ways and, by contrast, with Mosaic I found myself focused on a gentler emotional thing, and the coloristic thing. Just naturally, without thinking about it, I tend to shift for balance. So I feel the need to connect more now with my more sensitive side―the natural yin and yang.” The new recording came together as a “mosaic of music from a lot of different sources, different areas of my musical life and development... Mosaic is going back to the way I used to make a record, as just a collection of songs I love.” Yet beyond this modest assessment, Mosaic reflects the joy and success of a long-standing musical relationship with her band, with “each musician contributing his/her unique personality of textures, colors, stories, emotions, to create a work of art greater than the sum of its parts... loose and open where anything can happen.” 

White Rocket

The group White Rocket is composed of two musicians from Dublin, Ireland, pianist Greg Felton and drummer Sean Carpio, along with New Yorker Jacob Wick on trumpet.  Piano, drums and trumpet is an unusual trio combination but these three make it work splendidly. All nine songs on the release are original compositions by members of the group. Their eponymous (I’ve always wanted to use that word) debut album merits a buy recommendation. 

The album begins invitingly with Wick’s “Mutatis Mutandis,” a midtempo arrangement featuring Wick on trumpet throughout the polyrhythmic piece, ably supported by Felton and Carpio.  As you listen, two dynamics about this track become evident.  You realize you are being drawn into White Rocket’s musical arc and you want to hear more.  Second, you can clearly hear Dave Douglas in Wick, with whom he has studied. 

Swing On

Swing On (produced by the Twin Cities Jazz Society via Encore Productions, E-3110) is a delight in that the set recorded “live at Mo’s” is comprised of classics from the pantheon of composers—Berlin, Ellington, Porter, Rodgers, Hart―whose standards have stood the test of time. Selection highlights include “Cheek To Cheek,” “I Didn’t Know About You,” “It’s All Right With Me,” “You Took Advantage Of Me” and “Let’s Misbehave.” A less well known composition to the casual listener, such as “Tulip or Turnip” by Ellington, also gets the “A” treatment.

Possible Beginnings

“...every moment can be the start of something new or the end of something old, and that "through improvisation we seek to create something new from the old. Our music is a combination of structure and freedom, of prepared material and spontaneity. We seek to create possible beginnings.” –Aakash Mittal (Possible Beginnings, 2008) 

One of the most exciting features of the Twin Cities jazz scene is the Late Night series at the Dakota Jazz Club, initiated a few years ago by musician/jazz entrepreneur Jeremy Walker and now curated by club staffer/trumpeter Dan Eikmeier. Throughout its run, the weekend Late Night gig calendar has offered new, experimental and otherwise unusual music in the after-hours time slot. Usually the musicians are local innovators, and sometimes a debut at Late Night is a prelude to prime time bookings and greater visibility—such as the Atlantis Quartet, Monk in Motian, John Raymond Project. But now and then Dan brings in a ringer—an ensemble from more distant realms. On Saturday, March 21st, Late Night patrons had the opportunity to experience the cross-cultural explorations of Denver-based alto saxophonist Aakash Mittal and his quartet, and in particular, were treated to nearly two hours of nonstop samplings of Mittal's compositions, many of which appear on  his recent debut release, Possible Beginnings. A a "beginning," this CD should quickly gain Mittal a wider reputation as a creative composer and improvisor.