Avishai Cohen, Naked Truth, ECM ****

It is a tender and intimate side of the playing personality of trumpeter Avishai Cohen in quartet configuration here on this just-released album recorded in a southern France studio back in September. Yonathan Avishai provides rhapsodic support on …

Published: 27 Feb 2022. Updated: 2 years.

It is a tender and intimate side of the playing personality of trumpeter Avishai Cohen in quartet configuration here on this just-released album recorded in a southern France studio back in September. Yonathan Avishai provides rhapsodic support on piano and there is a real elegance and sense of occasion on this deeply affecting release. Drummer Ziv Ravitz provides a quietly watchful role and the bass lines of Barak Mori deftly navigate the subtle shifts in mood and tempo. The addition of Avishai reciting a Zelda poem is a fine, philosophical, touch at the end.

Tags:

Blue Lab Beats, Motherland Journey, Blue Note ***

A lot of jazztronica and nu jazz can leave you cold or just seem like pop. There's always an exception and that's Blue Lab Beats who have in a short period of years somehow patented through deft production and a fantastic sense of harmony a sunny …

Published: 27 Feb 2022. Updated: 2 years.

Next post

A lot of jazztronica and nu jazz can leave you cold or just seem like pop. There's always an exception and that's Blue Lab Beats who have in a short period of years somehow patented through deft production and a fantastic sense of harmony a sunny production style that is full of instrumental detail and sheer momentum. Sampling Fela Kuti along the way, grooving ferociously on 'Gotta Go Fast' producer NK-OK and multi-instrumentalist David Mkrakpor have come up with something very accessible that nonetheless hooks you in and wanting more. Go for the instrumentals above all on an album that will put a smile on your face and skip in your step.