Artist: Hafez Modirzadeh
Title: Facets
Label: Pi Recordings
Release Date: 03/05/21
Personnel: Hafez Modirzadeh – tenor saxophone (2-5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17); Kris Davis – piano (3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 16); Tyshawn Sorey – piano (2, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17); Craig Taborn – piano (1, 7, 11, 13, 15, 18)
Impression: In a series of totally riveting pan-chromatic duets, Dr. Modirzadeh and company deliver the equivalent of a sound-fantasy of mine: Steve Lacy meets La Monte Young uptown.
More Info: Pi Recordings
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Buy Here: Bandcamp or Pi Recordings
Artist: Various
Title: La Ola Interior: Spanish Ambient & Acid Exoticism 1983-1990
Label: Bongo Joe
Release Date: 03/05/21
Personnel: Miguel A. Ruiz, Camino al Desván, Mecánica Popular, Finis Africae, Orfeón Gagarin, Victor Nubla, Javier Segura, Jabir, Esplendor Geométrico, Luis Delgado, Mataparda, Suso Saiz, and Eli Gras
Impression: If you’ve been revisiting ethno-trance music of the late 80s/ early 90s (Steve Roach, Rapoon, Jorge Reyes, etc) during lockdown like me, the release of this collection of mostly underappreciated Spanish artists of imaginary-global-ambience is cause for great excitement.
More Info: Bongo Joe
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Artist: Ben Monder Tony Malaby & Tom Rainey
Title: Live at The 55 Bar
Label: Sunnyside Records
Release Date: 02/26/21
Personnel: Ben Monder – guitar; Tony Malaby – saxophone; Tom Rainey – drums
Impression: Just days before COVID-19 took the reins of the foreseeable future, Monder’s trio arrived at NYC’s venerable 55 Bar as a volatile powder keg, and proceeded to pummel with the ferocity of an unhinged basement power electronics gig…and I’m grateful it was documented for us to hear.
More Info: Sunnyside Records
Listen Here:
Buy Here: Bandcamp or Sunnyside Records