This Is Book’s Music

One look at the cover and I thought “well, this is yet another vocal jazz album” and at times I hesitate to listen because as I’ve explained many times before, most of the time it’s just not something I want to listen to ever. But what thrilled me about the pathway to her voice is how full her backing band sounds, and once she started to sing… let me just say that she didn’t need the thrill of the band to move me. Instead what I heard was someone who metaphorically said “thank you band, now it’s my time to shine”, and shine she does.

I’m speaking of Ellynne Plotnick, whose album Life Is Beautiful (Princess Monkey) is a remarkable listen from start to finish, because her voice is moving, powerful, and something you must here. She is indeed someone who sings jazz and pop, but she does so in a way where she doesn’t sound like a stereotypical jazz and pop singer. She’s not a showoff-y vocalist, someone who does a lot of vocal gymnastics only to fell over the initial “scooby-de-bweep bweep bweep”, in fact she’s not like that. I don’t know of chanteuse is the right world, or even loungy. I will say that Plotnick’s voice has a lot of character, whether it’s the sensuous side, the bold tones, or the simple fact that this lady can sing. What makes this even more appealing is the fact that she had a hand in all of the songs (taking full credit for 8 of the 10 songs, and co-writing the other two), so this isn’t someone who just loves jazz because her husband gave her money to enjoy her hobby. She sounds like someone who truly wants to explore this music with her fans and the world, and she does so in a way that shows how talented she is. Or at least partial talent, for I think she has a few surprises awaiting on future projects.

Endless Highway (Pacific Coast Jazz) begins with a nice chicken scratch guitar played through a wah-wah before a very boppy beat comes in and almost ruins the song. But what I want to hear is the saxophone work of Tom Braxton, and he sets himself apart from what’s going on around him in this song. The guy can play, and despite his mundane backdrop, I was entertained enough to want to hear more.

Fortunately the musicianship gets better as the album goes along. The majority of the songs are originals, whether it’s by Braxton or his bandmates. They keep to the jazz structure but they mix up pop and smooth jazz elements to create a very accessible sound that would be perfect at wineries or picnics. That’s not a slam to him or his music, but that’s what I hear. His version of America‘s “Venture Highway” is smoothed out with a soprano sax and acoustic guitar, and almost sounds like something that would be covered by Hawaiian groups with much success.

I like Braxton’s playing, so if you are a fan of smooth or pop jazz, this is a perfect addition to your collective. I would love to hear for him to get into some serious jams,something that goes beyond 4-6 minute song lengths.

Avant-garde jazz appeals to me because here’s a music that has form but goes out of its way to create it with no form. Add to it an avant-garde mentality and it’s freedom of the highest order. That is what you get with Torben Snekkestad, who plays saxophones and clarinet along with Jon Balke on piano and prepared piano and Jonas Westerrgaard on bass) on Conic Folded (ILK).

It’s an album that takes on different textures and themes and one can only imagine certain concepts and scenarios unfolding itself to reveal new textures and themes. The beauty of some of these songs are revealed slowly but surely and the end result is fantastic, as is the case with “September”, “Seated Man”, or “Lovetann”, while others are more like a spaniard in the works (“Francis Faced #2). Then you have tracks like “Noodles or Icecream, Sir?” and “E.P. Flowers” where you’re simply mesmerized as what these three are doing, especially Snkkestad where at times it’s as if his saxophone is an actual voice. But Snekkestad and his many voices are heard hear, and they deserve a lot of uninterrupted attention. The detail of his work on this is really astonishing.

Now this was an interesting listen.

Torben Ulrich and Soren Kjærgaard united to create a collection of sounds while in Seattle two summers ago. They brought a wide range of items that made sound, everything from Chinese steel balls and a jar of dice to a drainpipe and marbles, and went into the studio to make something. In this case, Suddenly, Sound 21 songlines for piano, drainpipe, etc. (ILK) consists of 21 pieces, I don’t know if you’d even call them proper songs but proper this isn’t. You’ll hear someone tapping something, leading to Ulrich speaking over it. The page is so slow that I felt like pulling my hair a few times. Arguably it goes nowhere, but there’s an objective in hearing 50 minutes of nowhere. I mean, there’s a steady pace throughout, but don’t listen to this for deep rhythms (although in truth there are a few sections that are worthy for sampling).

It’s poetry spoken over sounds, with each layer being revealed one by one at an eerie pace, that you can’t help but just wonder in amazement “what is this?” But allow each layer to make itself known and you’ll sense something, even if the objective mentioned in the last paragraph is not made clear.