The music business might be not much of a business these days, but the quantity, variety and quality of the music being released is quite astonishing. No, not every recording is great or even merely necessary. Few would argue against democratizing the production and delivery process in music – but on the other hand, not everybody who can make a recording should. That said, trying to stay up to date with worthy new releases has become a frustrating proposition. Rather than “Jazz with an Accent” these notes might soon be titled “Running after the Bus.”

Here are some notable new releases.

301 (ACT)
Just about as it was gaining recognition as one of the most promising groups in 21st century jazz the Esbjorn Svensson Trio, or e.s.t., came to a brutally abrupt, tragic end when its pianist and leader died in a scuba diving accident in June, 2008. The sound of the trio, which included drummer Magnus Öström and bassist Dan Berglund, was an intriguing mix. It could play as cooly lyrical jazz one moment, informed by European classical music and Nordic sensibilities, and blow up as drum’n’bass, with bits of noise and electronics and a ferocious rock energy the next.

Culled from the material developed in two days of jamming in a studio in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 in the off days of an Asia and Australia tour, 301 plays as a terrific summation of the group’s power and music. It is actually the second posthumous recording from those sessions. According to the promotional information, Svensson had edited the material from those sessions down to two albums. Only one was released — Leucocyte (ACT 2008). Edited by Öström, Berglund and the band’s regular sound engineer Ake Linton, 301 (the name refers to Sydney’s Studio 301 where it was recorded) shows a mature, confident group working as a unit, listening hard, paying attention to dynamics and generally pushing and chasing each other down unexpected rabbit holes. It’s tempting, But pointless, to hear 301 and wonder what might have been. What it is, is remarkable.

Tempo
Tania Maria with Eddie Gomez
(Naïve)

France-based Brazilian pianist and vocalist Tania Maria’s first album of new music in nearly six years is a surprising, small pleasure. A capable pianist who also was once nominated for a Grammy as a jazz vocalist (at one point in time her label promoted her as sounding “sometimes” like a “Brazilian Aretha Franklin”), Tania Maria gained an international following as a fiery, high-energy performer. But in Tempo, a duet recording featuring bassist Eddie Gomez, her approach, while still full of verve, is pared down to essentials — and made better for it.

Tania Maria’s originals are all instrumentals, none particularly memorable but all well constructed. She draws from Brazilian music, blues and jazz and frames the mix with a pop sensibility. She sings here, very effectively, in both Italian (“Estate,” an Italian pop hit since turned standard by artists as disparate as Joao Gilberto and Shirley Horn), and Portuguese (“Sentado A Beira Do Camino,” “A Chuva Caiu,” and “Bronzes e Cristais”).

Gomez is an invaluable partner throughout, laying down a solid foundation with a percussive edge, smartly letting the music breathe but also forceful and active when needed. And, no news here, Gomez is an effective soloist, including a beautifully bowed performance in Tania Maria’s “Senso Unico.

In short …
Alfredo Rodriguez: Sounds of Space (Mack Avenue)
The debut recording of LA-based Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez plays like a sampler – all original pieces in a variety of styles, both traditional and his own, showcasing his technical breadth and depth. Consider the opening “Qbafrica,” with its baroque Hermeto Pascoal references, leading into the elegant bolero “Sueño de Paseo,” and back up again to the burner “Silence.” Rodriguez is featured here leading two ensembles, one from Cuba, the other one based on the United States.

Diego Schissi Quinteto: Tongos (Sunnyside)
Argentine pianist and composer calls his music “not tango, but close.” In fact, his post-Piazzolla tango features a similar instrumentation to that of the maestro’s (violin, guitar, bandoneón, bass and piano) and shares references (Bartok and Stravinsky as well as tango tradition) before going its own way. Not much improvisation here, but smart writing, beautifully shaded, and paced playing and a path to the tango for the 21st century – or something close to it.

Christian Escoudé Plays Brassens (Sunnyside)

How much you may enjoy this release by French guitarist Christian Escoudé does not depends on how much you know about the great poet and songwriter George Brassens. Originally mostly voice-and-guitar songs, Escoudé treats them as standards and arranges them for various sextets. If you know these songs, you´ll appreciate the humor and affection in Escoudé´s versions. But even if you don´t, the pleasures in these well-constructed songs and the unhurried swing and modestly displayed virtuosity of Escoudé and his ensemble (which includes guitarist Birelli Lagrene on one track) need no translation. A delight.

May 2012, The International Review of Music / Jazz With An Accent

Perhaps because jazz has such a precarious standing in American cultural life, I’m always moved by the depth of passion and dedication this music elicits in fans around the world. Listening to and discussing jazz in Buenos Aires or Madrid, for example, often has been an illuminating experience for me. The knowledge and enthusiasm of friends and colleagues in our discussions never fails to send me back to my music and my books both humbled and refreshed. Distance to the source plays its tricks, but it also gives a certain perspective on artists or values in the music that perhaps we have come to take for granted.
That said, I was surprised when I found out recently that a friend in Buenos Aires was starting a jazz label. Really. Are you serious? Now?
“How do you make a million dollars with jazz?,” the old joke goes. “Start with two million.”
And in case you are in the 1% and live blissfully unaware of what’s happening out there, there’s also a calamitous situation of the world economy in general and the record industry in particular. Still, Justo LoPrete, criminal law attorney, record collector and passionate jazz enthusiast, recently released the first batch of discs on his own label, Rivorecords. This week he’s going to the studio to record the next set
“I’ve been wanting to do something related to promoting jazz for a long time,” wrote LoPrete via email in response to my questions. “Recording was an option. And that would also allow me to take special care with the art and the packaging. The present, and probably the future, of the recording industry was not a concern. And no, the financial debacle hadn’t really started when we took on this project. But at any rate, this was not strictly taken as a business enterprise. And it’s clear that the recording industry is going a certain way and my tastes are going another way. It’s just that this was the moment when financially I could do it.”
Rivorecords feature young Argentine jazz artists focusing on a repertoire of American standards. The albums are impeccably produced, from the recording (done in the old, one-day style), to the sober, elegant packaging. (According to LoPrete, the look is a tribute to classic labels such as Blue Note, Riverside, and Pacific Jazz.)
“We decided to go in that direction [for repertoire] because I love standards,” wrote LoPrete. “For me, it was going back to the roots, if you will, and there are many [standards] that have not been recorded ad infinitum, but have beautiful melodies.”As for the one-day recording approach, he writes that it wasn’t as much due to budget considerations but as “to maintaining a certain freshness in the performances. There is not one punched-in note in those recordings. It was an approach we discussed with the musicians and we all agreed it was the way to go — even if we had to live with some less-than-perfect notes here and there.”
The first releases are by saxophonist Carlos Lastra’s quartet A Child Is Born, including versions of Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes,” and That Jones’s ”A Child Is Born;” trumpeter Mariano Loiacono’s What’s New?, including versions of Billy Strayhorn’s “Johnny Come Lately,” Nat Adderley’s “Work Song, and Victor Young’s “My Foolish Heart;” and pianist Paula Shocron leading her trio in Our Delight, including Tadd Dameron’s title track, and “Soultrane,” Hoagy Carmichael’s “One Morning in May,” and Duke Ellington’s “Melancholia.”
There is no distribution set yet in the United States and the label doesn’t have yet a page. “I know we need it,” wrote LoPrete. “We’re a bit behind on all that side of the project.”
But the recordings are available on eBay (use the artist’s name) or by contacting the label directly at rivorecords@gmail.com

December 2011, The International Review of Music / Jazz With an Accent

“Se gane o se pierda, hay que olvidar pronto“, afirma Pep Guardiola, entrenador del Barcelona.
“Win or lose, you have to forget quickly,” says Pep Guardiola, coach of Barcelona.

A few years ago I had the privilege to spend an afternoon with Gil Evans, one of my idols, interviewing him for a profile for the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. We were in his small studio in Manhattan, heating up water for a tea and I don’t remember quite how we got there but I asked him how do you live after walking in the moon, after Miles Ahead, or Porgy and Bess or Sketches of Spain.
An Evans, who had an exquisite timing for silence in parson as he had in his music, took his time, finished filing this one nail, looked up and gave me the slightest shrug. “I have a great memory: I forget a lot.”
And we fell silent again, waiting for the water to boil. Tea and a free lesson in zen. On the house.

Jazz With An Accent