Daily jazz blog, Marlbank

Karl Ivar Refseth, Unfolding, Traumton ***1/2

A haiku of an album, each brief solo vibes piece like a small precious object, knowing and succinct in itself. The work of Norwegian musician Karl Ivar Refseth whose aim he says was that ''Each composition should have its own characteristic and …

Published: 29 Jan 2024. Updated: 5 months.

A haiku of an album, each brief solo vibes piece like a small precious object, knowing and succinct in itself. The work of Norwegian musician Karl Ivar Refseth whose aim he says was that ''Each composition should have its own characteristic and incorporate and convey different impressions. So I started with a lot of ideas and gradually sorted out the ones that had less power and expressiveness." Working with co-producer Morton Qvenild the pair have concocted a unique atmosphere of mindfulness that touches on all sorts of areas, perfectly relatable to as a jazz or classical lover but not really a jazz or classical album at all. Yet check it out - tracks such as 'Laura and Steve' might bring out the Terry Riley and Steve Reich lover that perhaps lurks unbidden inside us all.

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Ulysses Owens Jr and Generation Y, A New Beat, Cellar Live ***1/2

Pretty generic as a whole but two tracks leap out, the first a wonderfully gutsy blues drenched vocal by Milton Suggs covering 'Heart Full of Rhythm,' a song identified with Louis Armstrong that you rarely hear these days. And even better a tender …

Published: 29 Jan 2024. Updated: 5 months.

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Pretty generic as a whole but two tracks leap out, the first a wonderfully gutsy blues drenched vocal by Milton Suggs covering 'Heart Full of Rhythm,' a song identified with Louis Armstrong that you rarely hear these days. And even better a tender version of 'Helen's Song' by George Cables kept to the end which really is a treat. American Ulysses Owens Jr - best known for his work with Christian McBride - is a fine drummer and he has technique to burn. And mentoring his newcomer Generation Y band here he has one hand in the 1990s as this is such a ''young lions'' kind of neobop recording and one in the retro-loving now he makes sense of the tradition in transition in vibrant fashion.