Jazz has become a global language. In Jazz With an Accent®, we explore the many ways musicians around the world have reimagined their traditions with the tools, instruments, and strategies of jazz — and vice versa.

But tonight, we’ll hear from the outer edges of global jazz. Here jazz is an influence, a reference, perhaps a starting point, but the accent could be on electronica, techno, or contemporary classical music. In some cases, we can trace a straight line between some of these explorations and what Miles was doing in the 70s.

We will hear it, especially, in the work of artists such as Norwegian trumpeter and composer Nils Petter Molvaer, or Swiss-French trumpeter Erik Truffaz. But we will also hear a variety of outcomes from these explorations and mixes. The result may hint at minimalism, ambient, or dance music but also daring blends and clashes of electronica, North African, and Western music. Some tracks might take from jazz a certain feel and attitude, perhaps the instrumentation, but no other typical elements. (Photo of Molvaer at the music festival Canal Street, Arendal Norway, July 2022 by Birgit Fostervold via Wikimedia Commons)

Take “Module 46” by Swiss pianist Nik Bartsch and his quintet Ronin from their album Holon. There is no conventional improvisation in Bartsch’s minimalism, which incorporates elements of jazz, rock, and funk (although not in this piece). He calls his music “ritual groove music,” and has said that his songs can be considered templates rather than fixed and final compositions. He likened them, make of this what you will, to “basic training in martial arts, which can be adapted to all sorts of situations. My way of working is to create new contexts. Each piece plays with the idea of composition, interpretation, and improvisation, and is nourished by the same force, yet can create very surprising results.”

Tunisian singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef has been creating extraordinary work mixing elements such as Sufi chanting and electronica over the spacious landscapes of Scandinavian jazz. His album Digital Prophecy, from which we’ll hear “Seventh Heaven Suit,” was recorded in Norway and includes trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, and Dieter Ilg, acoustic bass. In Digital Prophecy, Youssef sounds fearless as he follows up his probing in the previous Electric Sufi (2001) with a greater role for electronica and more extreme clashes. He is a fascinating, seemingly fearless artist.

Pianist and keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft moved stylistically from jazz (I believe I first heard of him working with saxophonist Jan Garbarek) to techno and dance music.  For Bugge Wesseltoft & Friends, his multinational septet, he called on a varied group of friends and collaborators, including trumpeter Erik Truffaz, Turkish saxophonist Ilhan Ersahin, American DJ Joaquin “Joe” Claussell on rhythms and percussion, and three-piece rhythm section. Tonight, we’ll hear “Breed It” from the simply titled Bugge & Friends, a stylistically varied collection that, to my ears, alludes to Wesseltoft’s evolving musical preferences.

(Photo of Bugge Wesseltoft by C.F Wessenberg)

And we’ll close with another appearance by Truffaz — with a twist. We’ll hear “Bending New Corners” as remixed by French DJ Alex Gopher from Truffaz’s album Revisité, which features a collection of tunes that the trumpeter performed with his quartet remixed by guest artists.

We say there’s a world of jazz to discover — and sometimes there is not enough time to talk and play the music I’d like to share with you, and I prefer you hear the music, not me.

If you want more information about the music and the artists you heard (or might’ve missed), please come back and check this blog or WDNA.org

If you’d like to comment or offer a suggestion, feel free to write to me at fernando@jazzwithanaccent.com

For now, and as always, thank you for listening.

 PLAYLIST

1. Nik Bartsch’s Ronin                                     Module 46                    Holon           
2. Nils Petter Molvaer                                  Solid Ether                    Solid Ether  
3. Erik Truffaz                                                 Arroyo                           Face-a-Face-Quartet Live            
4. Bugge Wesseltoft                              Breed it                                 Bugge & Friends                 
5. Dhafer Youssef                           Seventh Heaven Suite                Digital Prophecy
6. Erik Truffaz  (Alex Gopher)           Bending New Corners            Revisité