The word collaboration comes up a lot in this month’s column. Often, it’s in the context of musicians working together for the first time. But there are also instances where a collective is seeking out novel combinations of a variety of disparate ingredients. What this means for you is that, while many of the names this month will ring familiar, the music they’ve created will gift you with all kinds of surprises and unexpected moments.
Let’s begin.
Nicole Mitchell and Ballaké Sissoko
Bamako*Chicago Sound System
Compact Disc (CD)
This music casts a spell of tranquility at the same time that it coaxes the listener to get up and dance. This collaboration between flutist Nicole Mitchell and kora player Ballaké Sissoko unites Chicago jazz and West African folk as if they were siblings who took their first breath at the exact same moment. The music is light on its feet, and generous in melodic riches. Joined by percussionist JoVia Armstrong, balafonist Fassery Diabaté, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Joshua Abrams, and vocalists Fatim Kouyate and Mankwe Ndosi, Mitchell and Sissoko offer up an infusion of peacefulness at a time when the world seems to offer anything but.
Label Pince-Oreilles
Argot Lunaire
Wildly lyrical and often melodically heart-melting, this Lyon, France-based collective of musicians hit the sweet spot where avant-garde, chamber jazz, and modern jazz meet. Violinist Fany Fresard, bassoonist Nicolas Mary, clarinetist Pierre Horckmans, bassist Michel Molines, pianist Anne Quillier, and drummer Guilhem Meier bring a tunefulness to the chaos, and a bubbling excitement to the most delicate expressions. In many ways, this collective captures the spirit of the 1980s NYC downtown scenesters, where something new was always brewing, and all of it had an undercurrent of urgency—as if the music had a train to catch, and quickly stuffed old-school jazz in its suitcase on the way out the door.
Lux Quartet
Tomorrowland
Compact Disc (CD)
The Lux Quartet of pianist Myra Melford, drummer Allison Miller, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, and bassist Scott Colley keeps the listener guessing on this modern post-bop session. Some pieces throw a curveball into the mix, with tempos swerving in unpredictable directions, while other pieces are a fastball right over the heart of the plate. Most enticing are those moments when melodic foreshadowing leads to an outcome far distant from the expected destination.
Marquis Hill
Composers Collective: Beyond The JukeBox
I’ve written before about Marquis Hill’s proclivity for bouncing back and forth on the jazz timeline, crafting new recordings around a specific sound from a specific time. On his latest—sort of a celebration of the music of his fellow Chicagoans—he trumpeter expresses these different sounds as if they all come from the same source. With a core quintet of vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Michael King, bassist Junius Paul, and drummer Corey Fonville—plus an all-star line-up of guests, including Gerald Clayton, Jeff Parker, Josh Johnson, Caroline Davis, and Makaya McCraven—Hill dishes out some modern day post-bop, some old-school hard bop, some 1970s soul, some 1980s R&B, some drum & bass beats, and more.
Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Espen Berg
Maetrix
2 x Vinyl LP
Maetrix is like witnessing a garden in full bloom while simultaneously being given a tour of every single petal. Through his arrangements, Espen Berg—commissioned here to write specifically for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra—sets in motion some outstanding transitions between soloists and group interplay, especially in the way smaller components break off and reunite with the larger ensemble. It almost feels wrong to reference individual contributions on an album where everyone plays an essential part, but there are outstanding moments that spring from the vibraphone of Rob Waring, the tuba of Daniel Herskedal, and both voice and alto sax of Sissel Vera Pettersen. I cannot get enough of this recording.
Jonathan Suazo
Ricano Vol.1: Live in 2023
Compact Disc (CD)
There was plenty to like about Jonathan Suazo’s 2023 release Ricano, but this collection of music from the supporting tour illustrates once again that the music is truly brought to life in the moment, live on stage. Combining the influences of the alto saxophonist’s Puerto Rican and Dominican roots, Suazo’s large ensemble sets a tone that is both effusive and heartfelt, often simultaneously. There are some marvelously soulful vocal contributions, but it’s those moments when chanting practically lifts up a melody and sends it airborne that are the album’s high water mark. At times, this music is simply breathtaking.
Søren Skov Orbit
Adrift
Vinyl LP
Adrift is a nice reminder that a spiritual jazz cry to the heavens can be delivered within the embrace of a cool groove. The Orbit quintet of tenor saxophonist Søren Lyhne Skov, pianist Peder Vind, double bassist Casper Nyvang Rask, drummer Rune Lohse, and percussionist Ayi Solomon set shifting tempos into action, eliciting a sense of casual motion at high speeds. The rhythmic display of “Naration” like the moment when a roomful of divergent conversations all seem to enter into a collective rhythm, and “Reflections of Rif” lights itself up like gasoline, but overall this is the kind of deeply felt music you let wash over you—to the point where it’s just you and the music and nothing else.
Matthew Ottignon
Volant
Compact Disc (CD)
This music resonates. By and large, Volant is a modern straight-ahead session from Matthew Ottignon. Joined by pianist Lauren Tsamouras, acoustic bassist Hannah James, and drummer-percussionist Holly Conner, the Sydney-based saxophonist keeps to a familiar pattern and structure. But the way in which they elicit so much life from every note, every phrase, the quartet elevates this music into something much grander. Like chapters in an epic novel, the rousing personality of “Third Bardo” sounds to have bloomed from the soil of the previous track “Naturis,” which, in turn, its simmering moodiness is like a reflection off the water’s surface of the soulful opening track “Moon Rock.” This pattern continues on through the end, with a grand conclusion that builds upon it all.
Mari Kvien Brunvoll & Stein Urheim with Moskus
Barefoot in Bryophyte
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
This fascinating collaboration brings together different facets of the Hubro Music “sound,” with the ethereal songwriter vocalese of Mari Kvien Brunvoll, the experimental guitar stylings of Stein Urheim, and the minimalistic tendencies of the Moskus trio (pianist-keyboardist Anja Lauvdal, bassist-cellist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson, and drummer Hans Hulbækmo). The collective result is something substantially more idiosyncratic than anything their individual traits would’ve otherwise suggested. Nordic folk, pop music, Motown blues, Nordic jazz, and electronic experimentalism are just a few of the ingredients that make this music so potent—and so much damn fun. Sweet melodic reveries, peppy get-up-and-grooves, harmonic washes like a fireside nap, and quirky interludes that throw open wide the gates for the music to go wandering wherever it may lead. I adore this recording.
Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead
In Motion
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
When Jonathan Barber unleashes some heat, there’s an undercurrent of moodiness that informs every expression. Likewise, when the drummer enters an state of contemplation, there lingers a sense that the music could rise up in flames in the very next breath. This is the quality that makes In Motion so appealing—the tantalizing sense that nothing is situated in place, that, as in our own lives, conflict and peace aren’t just end points on a spectrum, they’re elements of every passing moment. On this solid, straight-ahead modern session, Barber is joined by guitarist Andrew Renfroe, tenor saxophonist Matt Knoegel, bassist Matt Dwonszyk, and pianist Taber Gable (who adds some Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer, to boot).
Accra Quartet
Gbɛfalɔi (Travelers)
Vinyl LP
Even nature’s elements are incorporated as instruments in this spellbinding session. Fusing contemporary Ghanaian folk and free jazz improvisation, the quartet of percussionist Nii Addotey Brown Asalasu, guitarist Nathaniel Braddock (also on piano), trombonist Elikplim Amewode Kofi, and bassist Daniel Tettey Black comes strong with a rich rhythmic dialogue, while threading melodic inspirations through the spaces in between. Recorded in a single night in a one-room studio in Accra, Ghana, the music conveys both the intimacy of the surroundings and a seemingly extrasensory relationship between the musicians.
Barker/Parker/Irabagon
Bakunawa
Vinyl LP
This fiery set from the trio of drummer-percussionist Andrew Barker, bassist William Parker, and saxophonist (tenor & sopranino) Jon Irabagon is the sound of musicians existing in the moment with no thought of past or future. And, yet, the music gives the impression of advancing with preordained intent, as if the free improvisational world of unlimited possibilities couldn’t have led anywhere else but their next step and the one after that.
Other Albums of Note:
This month on Pi Recordings is a solid trio release from Matt Mitchell, who arguably has one of the most distinctive sounds on piano today. Cape Town’s Asher Gamedze makes a statement on his newest release with the Black Lungs ensemble, released on International Anthem. This fun duo session from guitarist Myk Freedman and drummer Dave Clark runs on rocket fuel and leaves the tank empty when done. For those fans of the hypnotic minimalism grooves of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, I suggest checking out this collaboration between saxophonist Anton Ponomarev and Sanscreed Kanon. And this collaboration- given the name C6Fe2RN6– between trumpeter Rob Mazurek and guitarist Nick Terry is a mood.
