QUIN KIRSHNER | TÊTES DE POIS | FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO | ART BLAKEY | DINNER PARTY | LIGHTNING ORCHESTRA | MAMMAL HANDS | MOONFISH | DELASITO PROJECT | SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA
Hello again friends, freaks and fans of Future Jazz.
After a few weeks off for a bit of a holiday, I’ve returned and regenerated into a new format; one that may be more suited to the thing what you listen to music with… your ears.
Yes, this week’s Future Jazz Offensive comes to you in Podcast form; access it on Apple Podcasts here (along with a bunch of old gubbins of mine – ignore that!)
Alas, the break gave me a chance to try some new things and I’ve always wanted to turn this thing into something that is perhaps a little audible so this is the experiment.
It also gave me plenty of chance to collect together stuff I like so, as a special treat (and a thank you for your patience) I’ve covered 10 tracks this week. No genres, just stuff I’ve been really enjoying.
And because I’m not one for surprises, here’s a quick run-down of what’s on there:
1. QUIN KIRSHNER: BATÁ CHOP
Quin Kirshner is a drummer from Chicago who mixes many different versions of exploratory jazz with Afro-Cuban beats and a surprisingly meditative approach. Batá Chop is from his new album, The Shadows and the Light which is out now through Astral Spirits.
2. TÊTES DE POIS: DEEP BLUE
Têtes de Pois are a seven piece ‘cinematic jazz’ outfit from Leeds, UK. Aside from loving the fact that their name means ‘Peaheads’, I particularly love the afrobeat rhythms on Deep Blue. It’s from a new imprint called Wá Records which focus on the relationship between jazz and hip hop.
3. FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO: TRIBUTO
Guitar player from Rio and on that track – from his new record Prelúdio – he’s working with the percussionist ‘Tiki’ Pasillas. I love the interplay between the two of them.
4. ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS: HIPSIPPY BLUES
The great Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ 1959 album Just Coolin’ was released for the first time via Blue Note in April. Apparently, it was recorded in someone’s living room which, given how complicated it appears to be for me to record my own voice and Spotify at the same time, is quite some feat!
5. DINNER PARTY: FREEZE TAG
Dinner Party is something of a soul/jazz supergroup featuring Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and 9th Wonder. And, as if that wasn’t enough, that track, Freeze Tag, also features Chicago singer and producer Phoelix. A self-titled debut album was released in July. And it’s a track that’s far too cool for 2020. If you like this, try my review of Terrace Martin’s Pig Feet.
6. LIGHTNING ORCHESTRA: WHITE TIGER
Lightning Orchestra started as a project headed up by bassist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Travis Murphy and has morphed into a 12-headed hydra that mixes Fela Kuti horns, Funkadelic sounds and – in their own words – ‘ecstatic celebrations’. White Tiger comes from their debut album Source and Deliver which is out now on Acid Jazz Records.
7. MAMMAL HANDS: CHASER
New music from Mammal Hands! Praises be! The Norwich trio of saxophonist Jordan Smart, pianist Nick Smart and drummer and tabla player Jesse Barrett released one of my all-time favourite Future Jazz tracks in Kandaiki from 2014’s Animalia. In September they’ll release their fourth album, Captured Spirits through Gondwana records. And Chaser is the perfect prelude to it, I reckon. If you like this, try my review of Atomised by GoGo Penguin.
8. MOONFISH: DROP OF WATER
Moonfish combine two wonderful human beings – pianist Maria Chiara Argiro and drummer Riccardo Chiaberta. Maria’s track Nautilus was one of my stand-out tracks of last year and Chiaberta is a musician I’ve got into in the last six months or so through the Moonfish connection (check out his track Yoga off 2018 record A Bird Told Me). And Drop of Water is everything you’d expect it to be when two such magnificent talents come together. If you like this, try my review of Nautilus by Maria Chiara Argirò.
9. DELASITO PROJECT: NAIDA
Delasito Project is a project I found through a musician reaching out to me. Christos Sitokonstantinou is a Greek vibraphone player who’s just released his debut record Filodia. Naida immediately stood out for me as this amazing, epic track featuring a kanoon (played by Zisis Georgalios) which is a string instrument of Middle Eastern origin, I believe. But it gives the track that extra bit of mystique that I love.
10. SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA: BLEND
They have a wonderful knack, the Submotion Orchestra, of releasing music that is simultaneously kinda dark and trippy and kinda Massive Attack-levels of cool but also really melodic and hooky and sweet. Blend does all of the above, of course.
CEASE-FIRE
You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the Future Jazz Playlist on Spotify itself.
If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.
Until next time, love and noise.
– SV –
45 Revolutions per Minute 