This Is Book’s Music

Sweden’s Patrick Rydman is someone who could easily be ranked alongside the likes of Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake, and Remy Shand in terms of creating good ol’ blue eyed soul, but Rydman is a jazz man on a mission to set himself apart from everyone else. He does this by simply telling the listener I Will Do It (Footprint) and he does. Very well, thank you.

The album ranges from old style jazz to something more modern, whether it’s the pop stylings of the 60′s or something more soulful, and it is soulful tracks like “Walking In Our Sleep”, “Flying Angel”, and “Tomorrow” will make you wonder why songs like these aren’t all over the airwaves (the latter may make you want to try out your first late night creep). “The Game” and “Still Alive” both have the kind of lounge jazz vibe that Norah Jones made famous for an all new generation. “Don’t Try To Find Her” has a nice bluesy Eric Clapton motif to it, while “Foghorn Conversation” would sound nice within a blend of Luther Vandross, Barry Manilow and Green Day. Green Day? Don’t laugh, when you hear it you know why.

He sings very well and seems comfortable in the genres he’s chosen here, and yet critics today will tell you that an artist has to pick one or the other. I’m for someone who isn’t afraid to cover a lot of ground without fearing a need to be pigeonholed, but fans of jazz, pop, and soul are in good hands with the warm, soothing vocal styles of Patrick Rydman.

Jazz like this isn’t meant to be placed in a display case to gawk at, this is jazz to bathe in so you can allow it to explore your pores. This is music meant for serious listening, because when it comes to Jay Epstein (drums), Anthony Cox (bass), and Bill Carrothers (piano) they will not settle for anything less. Easy Company (GoneJazz) is the sound of jazz brilliance at its best, where you will either smile with glee or cry in approval.

These guys are incredible musicians, years of experience behind them and nothing but optimism to guide them through a collection of 14 songs that will make any jazz fan and purist smile. Each of them play like leaders in their own game, but they come to the table to create the kind of perfect harmony that is somehow unique in music. Listen to “Ida Lupino”, “Never Let Me Go”, “For All We Know”, or “Maus” and you can’t tell me this is some of the best jazz you’ve heard in years. Epstein doesn’t pound the drums or beat it to a pulp, he colors the music with delicate touches and helps to anchor everything when need be. Cox is very subtle to the touch, gentle as a gentleman and manly as a man, he doesn’t play the guitar as he seduces it, Charles Mingus fans will pee in envy. Then there’s Carrothers, who would fit in on old albums by Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy as he fits in perfectly with the notions of today. It feels good, it feels right, this is just damn good music, the music that moved a generation to want to kill it, but Easy Company is uneasy listening for the conservative listener who feels this is the devil’s music. I’m not a religious man, but this is truly heavenly.

Christine Albert and Chris Gage have returned with an album called Dakota Lullaby: The Songs of Tom Peterson (MoonHouse), which honors the man in question with songs that define in many ways what Americana and in truth country music is all about.

The songs here are about life and living it, good or bad, and they are story songs sung by storytellers who know what it means to pass on a story from one generation to another. I’ve become a greater fan of Albert’s over the years, and with Gage by her side they create the kind of charm and substance that has often been one of country music’s trademarks. Whether it’s songs like “Hell Or High Water”, “Tender Loving Care” or “Does She Have A Future With Me”, they come off than a set of singers and musicians honoring another, this is just life reaffirmed with the kind of family feeling that is sorely missing in other styles of music.

By the end, you start to not hear this in terms of genres, but just damn good music that you wish more people would be into. It’s like comfort food, you can be full up to your neck but you’re always going to go back for more. Both Albert & Gage should have wide national attention, and it is truly a crime that they aren’t in that scope.

Tom Giampietro (drums), Jonathan Wires (bass), Michael Jefry Stevens (piano), and Dan Aliquo (saxophone) make-up the Southern Excursion Quartet, and true to their name they live and work in the South, taking in the people, the cultures, and the sounds that make that area of the United States so rich. Trading Post (Artists Recording Collective) is an album that is true to its title: a gathering place where people can meet and trade goods. In this case it’s a group of musicians who come from different places but share a love for jazz and the South, where jazz originated and still lives.

Fans of the ECM label will love the collaborative effort these four musicians express, at times it’s very freeform but they always know and reach the common goal. A perfect example of this is “Ashes”, the Andrew Hill composition where it’s as if they each know the song but have their own way of playing it. It’s not chaotic by any means, but it’s as if they have their own arrangement and take the best elements from each and contributed to the group sound. My favorite song on the album is the longest one, clocking in at a nice 14:44. “Chant 1″ (it’s one of two “Chant”‘s on the album) is a somber prayer (think John Coltrane), and its’ meditative ways may bring you in to the music even more. I love how Wires and Giampietro play together, but sometimes it sounds best if you shift the perspective between Stevens and Wires, or Stevens and Giampietro, and then manage to move back (mentally) to picture what Aliquo makes of it.

Anyone who loves certain classic quartets and quintets of the 1960′s will find this a fascinating listen, not so much as a way to honor the jazz and musicians of the past, but to show how necessary that music is today.

Upon listening to a new Jeff Bujak project, it feels like taking a refreshing shower after a long day at a beach, for you know that to cleanse means a mental reawakening, ready to get gritty all over again. In other words, with Bujak’s music you have a small hint of what he’s capable of but the great thing about his work is that you come to expect the unexpected. What one ends up with is fantastic results, which he delivers in Alive Like The Spine (Harmonized).

Bujak is someone who combines jazz with electronic based production, not beat driven nor it it new age, but it’s definitely something somewhere along the middle. I don’t mean new age in a corny sense, but… let’s just say that if labels like ECM and Kudu were at their peak in the 90′s with some of the electronic music innovations, they might create the kind of sounds that Bujak is exploring in his music. There are eight tracks on the album, the shortest one being 5:47. Even when the musical journey feels comfortable, he throws something into the equation to disrupt it for the better. For example, “Sea” is very tranquil and indeed fluid, but right before the midway point he starts playing the electric piano as if he was Ramsey Lewis circa-1974. Before that, you hear Latin rhythms and then it might move into something that borders on smooth jazz, that is until the unexpected is thrown in again. “Nomadd” might be more on the progessive side of things, if only for the fact that the sound he uses for the keyboards is unlike anything that resembles. Same for “Mutator”, it’s as if Bernie Worrell entered the machine with Jan Hammer and they had synth babies. In fact, consider this an electronic interpretation of Jeff Beck‘s Blow By Blow and Wired, as Bujak makes music that is meant to be listened to on an intense level but can also work for atmosphere.

Fans of Jazzanova are sure to get into this for the way it gets into a groove without even trying, plus add to this the fact that these are very good songs. “Yogoque”, with a soulful performance from vocalist Christine Devlin Eck and harmonies from Jistin Eck, could easily be used as a lure for people to hear more from Bujak (I was going to say single but in a better world everyone would still be buying singles) and of course the Eck’s. Electronic music enthusiasts will find a lot to grip on with Alive Like The Spine. One of the best albums of the year.

A massage is only as good as its first tickle, and once you let it reach down into your loing malangs, there’s no turning back.

That is at least the vibe I got upon listening to Mandala (Sargent House) by RX Bandits. They are an indie band that like to mix up rock, progressive rock, a bit of new wave/punk rock angst with Byrds-like jingle jangle with a pinch of pop for a sound that may put them in the ranks of Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate, Papa Roach, and 311. A number of songs on the album, such as “It’s Only Another Parsec”, “”Bled To be Free (The Operation)”, and “Bring Our Children Home Or Everything Is Nothing” sound like potential crowd anthems, while the production on the album is one that a lot of rock bands should use as an example of how to produce it right.

In other words, it has that Cali punch that a lot of indie bands from the state have, but it also has a bit of an attitude that is unique for bands in other areas.

The jazz created by Craig Buhler goes everywhere from blues to gospel to pop and soul, and he covers all of this and more in a very well-rounded album called Skykomish (Discernment Music).

If you are to base your opinion of the album with “Roll Over Redmond” (the opening track), you might think Buhler is a traditionalist, taking it deep into its roots, but then hear him play a cover of The Doobie Brothers‘ “What A Fool Believes” and you’ll think differently. Think smooth jazz in a big band setting, soft and delicate but not overly doughy, and then hear him do a solo at around the 1:45 mark, and it’s as if he’s auditioning for the Doobie Brothers circa 1979. Jazz artists have been tapping into the Doobie catalog in recent years, specifically the Michael McDonald-led era, with “What A Fool Believes” being covered more often. This version is one of the best I’ve heard. What will also turn some heads is his take of Stevie Wonder‘s “Creepin’”, fans of the original will love Buhler’s arrangement and sample-junkies will definitely find an element or two for the taking. Another interesting performance is his cover of Foreigner‘s “Waiting For A Girl”, and if you didn’t pay close attention you might not realize that it is that early 80′s chestnut.

Buhler himself states in the CD digipak “can pop hits grow up to be jazz standards?” and that’s the difference: here is someone who is taking cherished songs and showing that maturity and age is a good thing. Buhler and the musicians on the album (Paul Kreibich on drums, Chris Conner on bass, Jamie Findlay on guitar, Karen Hammack on piano, Brian Atkinson on vibes, Dan Barrett on trombone, and Lee Thornburg on trumpet and flugelhorn) are top-notch, with most of them doing incredible session work over the years. Now they help Buhler fulfill his mission.

(SIDENOTE: Buhler was a member of one of the more underrated bands of the 70′s, Honk. Surfing fans will definitely know Honk from their “chicken skin moment” song, “Pipeline Sequence”, in which Buhler played the saxophone solo.)

Kat Walker is a jazz singer, and I would see she’s decent but she’s not someone I would be listening to on a regular basis. Jazz Scat Gumbo (self-released) is very by-the-numbers, although I can also hear why she might be used for concerts or festivals.

It’s just decent, but it doesn’t move me and I her songs are just typical: “Over The Rainbow”, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, “The Lady Is A Tramp”, “Cry Me A River”, and “Fever”. The one song that did move me was her cover of “”Me And Bobby McGee” (credited here as simply “Bobbie McGee”). Written by singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, Walker takes the song into jazz mode and actually makes it her own, which is difficult not only for a song like this, but for one that is identified with Janis Joplin. You get to hear the band strut their stuff too, with pianist Bart Ramsey and saxophonist Dominick Grillo getting a bit of stroll time in the spotlight. I would have liked it if the entire album was as lively as “Me And Bobby McGee”, but it’s a dim light in need of some high voltage. I like the raspiness of Walker’s voice that she does when she sings the blues, and perhaps she should do more blues.

It’s not a bad album, it’s just not for me. But it may be good enough for me and Bobby McGee. Preferred: the artwork Walker did for the CD cover.

DePedro is a musical project started by singer/musician/songwriter Jairo Zavala, known to some as a member of Vacazul and 3000 Hombres and a touring member of Calexico. DePedro is another unfolding of a musical envelop Zavala wants to present, so for DePedro’s solo debut (Nat Geo Music/World’s Fair) he gets to show his Spanish roots and upbringing while mixing it up with other styles from around the world and a nice big dose of pop.

The album is primarily sung in Spanish, but the English songs are remarkable too and are perfect towards having him crossover… well, maybe that’s not the word I’m looking for, as it can sound bad. I think Zavala is in a good place with his music, but it doesn’t hurt to expand and I think the blend between Spanish and English will widen his audience even more.

His music is very passionate, very much like the people and the place he comes from and his music is a bit like Brazil’s Jorge Ben, reaching deep into the roots of his culture while acknowledging the different cultures that have come and gone throughout the years. “Como El Viento” could easy be a country song if sung by Alejandro Sanz, with a nice percussive drive that is reminiscent of The BoDeans, Los Lobos, or Robbie Robertson, with a hint of that Daniel Lanois vibe. If you’re a fan of Ozomatli, this is the kind of music I can see Raul Pacheco trying out if he was to record music under his own name, where you feel the soul of the people and the land.

The rest of the album balances between folksy/rootsy and accessible for pop airplay. The pop material is what will bring people in, and the arrangement of “Don’t Leave Me Now” (7.3mb) would be perfect for a film soundtrack (especially the rustic horns) but it’s the rootsy material that will keep fans coming in as he sings about love, loss, pain, suffering, and hopes. DePedro is a remarkable album as it’s very much an album of the people, for the people, by the people, it’s nice to hear an album that remains human in a time when inhuman-ism seems to be the latest fad.

(DePedro’s debut will be released on August 18th, and can be pre-ordered through CD Universe with the link below {click the CD icon}).