Here are three albums by artists that take jazz to the widest ranges of the world. Get a ticket and fly!
Flamenco guitarist Vahagni mixes his Iberian touch on the strings with fragrant dashes of Middle Eastern chords, rhythms and moods. Instruments ranging from South American Cajon to Armenian Duduk are mixed and matched like a flea market in Glendale, as Latin beats team with Mediterranean mysticism on “Pomegranates” and “Sketches of Dali.” His lovely touch on the nylon mixes with passionate percussion and claps on “Indigo” and P+”Pendulum” and voices from a gypsy caravan permeate “Hov Arek Sarer Jan” Electronics veer in and out like shooting stars throughout adding textures and atmospheres on pieces like “Ghost Ships.” The clash of civilizations never sounded so good!
Amir ElSaffar brings his trumpet, voice and his hammer dulcimer-like santur into the jazz realm with Carlo DeRosa/b, Nasheet Waits/dr, Ole Mathisen/ts-ss, Zafer Tawil/oud-perc and Tareq Abboushi/buzuq. A caravan atmosphere mixes ElSaffar’s voice and Waits’ rumbling drums on “From The Ashes” before fiery sparks explode for a fiery dance with trumpet and tenor sax on “The Great Dictator.” Abboushi’s bouzouki-like buzuq takes you to a Greek village on the gorgeously Adriatic “Love Poem” before DeRosa’s bass throbs into a frenzy on the dervishly exciting “Tipping Point.” Moods and colors ranging from meditative to passionate.
Jen Shyu is American, but her parents are from Taiwan and East Timor. On this album, she sings, plays piano as well as Korean/Taiwanese/Japanese strings and percussion and teams up with the unorthodox team of Ambrose Akinmusire/tp, Mat Maneri/viola, Thomas Morgan/b and Dan Weiss/dr. Most of the songs have a traditional folk Asian instrumentation and harmony, so Shyu’s voice and delivery have an almost avant garde jazz sound on the poetic “Bloom’s Mouth Rushed In” and “Song of Kean Wen.” Half tones and crying voices get eerie on “Moxa” and the srings are fascinating on the languid “ Mother of Time.” Akinmusire finds his place in material like theedgy “She Held Fire” while at times you feel like you’re taking in an Asian opera, with harsh cries and shrieking on “The Day Is Getting Darker.” Fascinating, if only for the fact that it’s something Western ears are not trained for.