Nick Dunston, Steph Richards, and WHO Trio

Artist: Nick Dunston

Title: Atlantic Extraction: Live at Threes

Label: Out of Your Head Records

Release Date: 7/24/20

Personnel: Nick Dunston – double bass, compositions; Louna Dekker-Vargas – flute, alto flute, piccolo; Ledah Finck – violin, viola; Tal Yahalom – guitar; Stephen Boegehold – drum set

Impression: As evidenced by the overabundance of inspired ideas/execution/processes on this modestly recorded live date, there is no doubt that Dunston will continue to flourish as a major force in the direction of new music. Additionally, for every sale of this album OOYH Records will donate $1 to the Third Wave Fund, an organization chosen by Dunston.

More Info: Nick Dunston website and Out of Your Heads Records

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Buy Here: Bandcamp

 

 

Artist: Steph Richards

Title: Supersense

Label: Northern Spy Recs

Release Date: 10/23/20

Personnel: Steph Richards – trumpet, flugelhorn, resonating drums/water; Jason Moran – piano; Stomu Takeishi – bass; Kenny Wollesen – drums, Wollesonics; Andrew Munsey – track 7, Wollesonics; Sean Raspet – scent design

Impression: In the midst of this recording of consummate masters tasked with, among other assignments, interpreting/responding to an array of scents, we are submerged in a truly distinctive environment…one that I anticipate experiencing in full when scratch-and-sniff swatches are mailed out with physical copies of the release in December.

More Info: Steph Richards website and Northern Spy Recs

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Buy Here: Bandcamp

 

 

Artist: WHO Trio

Title: STRELL The Music of Billy Strayhorn & Duke Ellington

Label: Clean Feed Records

Release Date: 09/04/20

Personnel: Michel Wintsch – piano; Gerry Hemingway – drums, voice; Bänz Oester – bass

Impression: No one has bested Duke Ellington’s mastery of all things musical and no group of musicians in recent memory has done greater justice to the Ellington / Strayhorn’s songbook as a pan-genre blueprint than WHO Trio.

More Info: Gerry Hemingway website and  Clean Feed Records

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Buy Here: Bandcamp and Clean Feed Records Store

 

 

SPAZA, Ron Miles, and Erik Friedlander

Artist: SPAZA

Title: UPRIZE! (Music from the Original Motion Picture)

Label: Mushroom Hour Half Hour

Release Date: 10/16/20

Personnel: Ariel Zamonsky – bass; Gontse Makhene – percussion; Malcolm Jiyane – piano/trombone/vocals; Nonku Phiri – vocals

Impression: With their original motion picture soundtrack to the documentary UPRIZE! the revolving-member South African musical collective known as SPAZA artfully asserts that the bold and transformative spirit of resistance to oppression from ’76 Johannesburg endures, underlining it’s significance to our current, tragic reality.

More Info: Mushroom Hour Site  and  SPAZA site

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Buy Here: Bandcamp

 

Artist: Ron Miles

Title: Rainbow Sign

Label: Blue Note Records

Release Date: 10/09/20

Personnel: Ron Miles – Cornet; Brian Blade – Drums; Bill Frisell – Guitar; Jason Moran – Piano; Thomas Morgan – Bass Guitar

Impression: One could attempt to discover a more cohesive contemporary ensemble performing refined tunes with seemingly effortless proficiency, but that exercise would be in vain.

More Info: Blue Note Records

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Buy Here: Blue Note Store

 

Artist: Erik Friedlander

Title: Sentinel

Label: self-released

Release Date: 10/02/20

Personnel: Ava Mendoza – guitar; Diego Espinosa – drums & percussion; Erik Friedlander – cello

Impression: Incisors, canines, and molars masticate in concert on Sentinel with decidedly amenable results.

More Info: Erik Friedlander’s Site

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Buy Here: Bandcamp