MUSICIANS ////
Paolo Urbani - drums, percs
Paolo Pilati - el bass, el guitar, percs
Giuliano Buratti - sax, flute, keys, percs
Francesco Cretti - el guitar, ac guitar, el bass, bouzouki, percs
Gabriele Perrero - el guitar, el bass, ac guitar, keys, bouzouki, percs
Federico Bevacqua - percs https://youtu.be/czZhLWK-dZk
The rich array of new voices in the British jazz scene—Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, Theon Cross—have effortlessly drafted a path forward for the future of the genre. Add Moses Boyd to that list. On Dark Matter , the feverish, groove-laden tracks might suggest that the London-born drummer-producer is simply trying to marry his global influences. But after a few listens, it’s clear the truth is much deeper. Throughout, Boyd toys with the meaning of “dark matter”—which, in astrophysics, comprises the majority of the universe’s makeup. Accordingly, on tracks like “BTB,” “Nommos Descent,” and “Dancing in the Dark,” Boyd not only asserts his Jamaican heritage, but also the struggle for identity shared and felt by Black people everywhere
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Multi-award winning singer-songwriter Zara McFarlane, is the UK’s Black British foremost Jazz Vocalist. Eloquent and provocative her sound is distinguished by her melding of multiple influences from jazz, reggae, folk and nu-soul.
Tracing the musical heritage of the Caribbean, Zara McFarlane explores her interconnected vision of the diaspora.
On Arise, Zara McFarlane returns to a buoyant UK jazz scene with a head-turning third album. Exploring the musical possibilities of British-Jamaican identity, it’s a cultural exchange that’s born of London’s current musical climate. Released on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, it sees her working with much-feted drummer and producer Moses Boyd. Both rose through London’s Tomorrow’s Warriors programme, a finishing school for many young vanguards of the live, ascendant jazz scene springing up across the UK capital. Sharing Caribbean family heritages, it’s a product of their joint exploration of the meeting points between jazz and the rhythms of Jamaica; reggae, Kumina, calypso and nyabinghi, shaded with hints of the psychedelic.
Zara’s breakthrough 2012 track, a jazz cover of Junior Murvin’s ‘Police and Thieves’, provided a jumping off point to further explore the blurred, colourful territory in between jazz and roots-reggae. Covering Nora Dean’s ‘Peace Begins Within’, she breathes a syncopated groove into a soulful, reggae classic. A beautifully poised version of the Congos’ Fisherman teases out the poignant lyrical content of the 1977 classic. Meanwhile new, original compositions from Zara, like ‘Fussin’ and Fightin’’ and ‘Freedom Chain’, combine a deep, reverberating bass with a steady-stepping roots rhythm.
Album opener ‘Ode To Kumina’ touches on the kumina tradition brought to Jamaica by indentured labourers from The Congo in the later part of the 19th Century. Part of Zara’s deeper research into her Caribbean heritage, it alludes to a deep-rooted culture encompassing music, dance and religion. Similarly, ‘Silhouette’ arose from that same research; in this case, however, it was about how records and documents often get lost in Jamaica. “It kind of came out of the idea of black history and blackness and feeling like you’re trying to find yourself,” she explains. “Trying to be proud of your history and who you are. And never forgetting the things that brought you to where you are.”
Alongside drummer Moses Boyd on production, the album features a stellar line up of some of the key players on the London scene Binker Golding on tenor sax, Peter Edwards on piano, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, Nathaniel Cross on Trombone and an unusually restrained turn on Clarinet from Shabaka Hutchings. Shared between all of them is a tendency to find the common points between different musical ilks: from US hard bop jazz, to dub and London-rooted hybrids and permutations, the band on Arise reflect the musical diversity of their home. Boosted by new platforms, like East London showcase Church of Sound and a newly-refreshed Jazz Café, the record surfs the momentum currently propelling jazz-influenced music in the UK.
For Zara, Jamaica’s musical legacy is deeply intertwined with her sense of the place itself. Spending whole summers in the hills of Jamaica, it’s the sounds and smells which she most vividly associates with her stays there. In particular the local sound systems which were an everyday feature of the local area; be it in shops or bars, each of the small local shacks would have a sound system where they’d play music through the day and evening.
“From where my nan used to live, in Cauldwell there’s a sound system almost opposite her house,” she says. “So you feel this boom of the bass, and then all the smells of the hills and the greenery of Hanover. When you land in Jamaica and you go to walk off of the plane, the heat and the smells hit you and it feels like home away from home for me. When I hear Jamaican music, these are the senses that come.”
Zara’s fourth studio album pushes the boundaries of jazz adjacent music via an exploration into the folk and spiritual traditions of her ancestral motherland, Jamaica. The album is a rumination on the piecing together of black heritage, where painful and proud histories are uncovered and connected to the present.
Partnering with cult South London based producers Kwake Bass and Wu-lu, Zara has created a futuristic sound palate, electronically recreating the pulsing, hypnotic rhythms Kumina and Nyabinghi – and the music played at African rooted rituals like the emancipation celebration Bruckins Party, and the lively death rites of Dinki Minki and Gerreh. These richly patterned electronic rhythms are balanced throughout by McFarlane’s distinctive, clear vocal tones, and vivid song writing.
Zara’s critically acclaimed third studio album ‘Arise’ met with universal critical praise, and was supported by an impressive live tour performing at festivals such as Love Supreme, Field Day and SXSW. Zara is the winner of multiple awards including a Mobo, 2 Jazz FM Vocalist of the Year Award (2018 & 2015), an Urban Music Award, and Session of the Year at Worldwide Awards. Drawing respect from a wide range of artists, Zara has collaborated with Gregory Porter, Shabaka Hutchings, Moses Boyd and Louie Vega. These new sonic explorations signal an exciting direction of travel for this innovative founding member of the UK’s vibrant homegrown jazz scene.
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I have this album of Zara, called “ if you knew her”. With Moses Boyd on drums.
I particularly appreciate the track with Leon Thomas on voice. The great Leon Thomas!
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If we’re doing a retrospective on the new Brit jazz scene for me the Seed Ensemble Driftglass remains the most complete album to date. Great compositions from Cassie, tremendous playing, still in the tradition but displaying all their diverse influences. On jazz re:freshed vinyl.
Great live too - saw them in a sterile modern academic facility on the windswept outskirts of Cambridge and they aced it.
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I have it too 
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Never sure where to put my recommendations any longer.
The thread seems to be overtaken by music not to my elderly taste.
But most of my choices seem to be ignored…so no harm done.
Two from the daily repetition on Quobuz.
The Bill Crow is a nice listened to those who like Zoot etc. Bill was of course involved from an early date with this loose swinging music.
T’other is under the Lee Konitz name although it is populated with favourites.
N
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The Allmusic.com review, on Roon, says the Gerry Mulligan Sextet album compiles two separate studio sessions originally issued separately as Night Lights and Butterfly with Hiccups with pretty much identical personnel. I’m familar with Night Lights album but not Butterfly with Hiccups so thanks for posting.
Dave
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Keep them coming Nick, please, I love it all old to the new without discrimination. As I’ve opined before King Oliver to Sons Of Kemet and beyond it’s all good.
Your recommendations are certainly not ignored here, nor should they be.
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There are a dozen on iTunes, but not this. Will try Qobuz or YouTube.
Locked Down Jazz Appreciation - Album of the Week
40: Art Pepper, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones: Art Pepper meets The Rhythm Section (Contemporary)
In January 1957, when Art Pepper recorded this album – alongside Miles Davis’ former rhythm section, comprised of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones – the 31-year-old West Coast alto saxophonist was struggling with drug addiction. Despite this, Pepper – who claimed he hadn’t touched his sax for several weeks prior to the session – made a transcendent jazz record. The material and performances are simply sublime, with every musician playing at a high level of creativity, focus and inspiration. Among the highlights is the Pepper co-write ‘Straight Life’, a frenetic bebop swinger which later became the title of his warts-and-all autobiography.
Key song: ‘Imagination’
Enjoy
Dave
PS I know this album has been featured a number of times, on this thread, but it’s on my list of Best Jazz Albums: 50 Essentials You Need To Hear.
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