Started in 2008, Brooklyn Jazz Underground records had built up an impressive portfolio of forward thinking jazz that keeps the tradition but doesn’t treat it like a museum piece. Check out these latest 3 releases.
Bassist Noah Garabedian forms an unorthodox sextet without piano, but with four, count ‘em, four horns in Kenny Warren/tp, Kyle Wilson/ts, Curtis MacDonald/as and Anna Webber/ts with drummer Evan Hughes keeping things bound to earth. You get some New Orleanish lightness with a fluffy “Gladstone” and a funereal “Measurements” while a solid rock beat teams with the leader and Wilson on “Hippie Havoc.” Harmonies are glorious all throughout with some wonderful dirge like sounds on “Romping” while Warren’s trumpet flies over the cirrus clouds. Good stuff.
Guitarist Rafal Sarneckik/g forms a free floating team with Lucas Pino/ts-bcl-fl, Glenn Zaleski/p, Rock Rosato/b, Colin Stranahan/dr and vocalist Bogna Kicinska for a poetic reading of Pablo Neruda on “Sueno De Gatos”. The band can stretch out as on “Plane Crashes…” and “For Anastazja” which clock in for over 10 minutes but keep your interest with some nice guitar work by the leader and a floating rhythm section, while more concise pieces such as “Ordovician Extinction” and “Piazza Verdi” spotlight impressive woodwind work by Pino as well as sensitive support by Zaleski. Thoughtful and intelligent.
The seven member Brooklyn Jazz Underground mixes ethereal wordless vocals by Tammy Scheffer with graceful tunes that can stretch to over 10 minutes or squeeze into a minute and a half. Some marvelous bass and piano work are spotlighted by Anne Mette Iversen and David Cook respectively on “Along The Lines” and some rich trumpet sounds via David Smith on “Cowboys and Indians” is a highlight on the opus. Scheffer’s voice works as an extra horn, floating in and out as on “Now What?” and “Our Last Hora.” Kolker’s reeds are rich on “Someone’s Blues” and “This is Why” and Cook’s piano glistens on the vignette “Circular.” Original and forward thinking.
BJU Records