Track of the week: Onwards and Upwards by Bag of Bones issued by 577 ****
Track of the week for 20-26 May
Any old iron - tones for all souls: Fire up this. A case of where there's a Will there's so often a way: drawn from No One Gets Saved to be issued by avant label 577 on 31 May, what the acoustic quartet Bag of Bones …
Published: 20 May 2024.Updated: 2 months.
Track of the week for 20-26 May
Any old iron - tones for all souls: Fire up this. A case of where there's a Will there's so often a way: drawn from No One Gets Saved to be issued by avant label 577 on 31 May, what the acoustic quartet Bag of Bones do here isn't remotely avant at all but hits the spot nevertheless - it shows the paucity of such catch-all but sometimes useful broad brushstroke terms. If you know what 577 usually release you'll surely agree their modus operandi is typically pretty far out, man. So bearing this in mind, what goes down first instead making a slight paradigm shift towards the bliss of sheer groove without selling out in any way is catapulted into the eardrums courtesy of a hugely reverberant descending tiny bass ostinato from Oli Hayhurst, best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders.
And then wait for it - after a little cue-ing up from Will Glaser - the crucial bit if micro listening for the tipping point future ''breakbeat'' of the whole track - and some tasteful jabbing at the piano there's huge very chunky soloing from the QOW Trio saxist, notable bejazzed Galwegian Riley Stone-Lonergan who bounces off the from-then-on fairly low profile biding his time canny piano lines from the Radiohead loving Rick Simpson. Works on every level, exit music to chill on. Pulsates all the way through.
Will Glaser pictured above - photo: marlbank - in what was the Dalston domain of the much missed Derek downstairs at the Vortex in 2021
Magnus Lindgren and John Beasley play Stuttgart on Thursday night.
Julian Sartorius Moods, Zurich Tuesday 21 May
New peaks? Drummer percussionist Julian Sartorius launches Domodossola – Weissmies.
Jesse Cook Porgy and Bess, Vienna Tues 21 May
Both shows are sold out. Stacey Kent's latest album 2023's Summer Me Winter Me had arrangements by the duchess' husband saxophonist-flautist Jim Tomlinson the anchor the album relies on. Tracks mine a classic era where jazz became the soundtrack of arthouse films and a certain very classy nostalgia was included for no extra charge. Opening with a breezy version of Michel Legrand and the Bergmans' 'Summer Me, Winter Me' Stacey sings in French on another Legrand classic 'La Valse des Lilas' and again you land on one of the chief plus points on a Stacey Kent record: that stately feeling of a lost era and a tempo that takes all the time in the world. Jacques Brel's 'If You Go Away' is sung in two versions, one in English one in French. Quintessential Stacey Kent then - and while not a classic in her discography (for these go to The Changing Lights or Dreamer In Concert first) this move to new label Naïve still means business as usual for a remarkable singer who has a sound completely her own.
US saxist/singer Camille Thurman plays the Swedish capital's foremost jazz club with trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr., pianist David Bryant, bassist Paul Beaudry and drummer Darrell Green.
John Beasley and Magnus Lindgren Bix, Stuttgart Thursday 23 May
Playing from Butterfy Effect this stellar duo - US pianist John Beasley best known for his MONK'estra - jump up to speed with his Resonance label 2021 Hear and NowBest-of perhaps but hear Beasley with reedist/flautist the Swede Magnus Lindgren most relevantly together on 2021's work with the SWR, the local Stuttgart radio station jazzband's Grammy winning album, Bird Lives.
Jim Rotondi and David Sauzay Quintet Sounds, Brussels Thurs 23 May
Tribute to Sarah Vaughan on the centenary of Sassy's birth from acclaimed east London singer Zara McFarlane and erstwhile Hackney jazz club Kansas Smitty's clarinet kingpin Giacomo Smith.
Jim Rotondi and David Sauzay Quintet Sunside, Paris Fri 24 May
Acclaimed alto saxist-composer Caroline Davis' Köln concert at the Stadtgarten is a must - Davis is with pianist Julian Shore, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Allan Mednard
The vibes are the lead instrument on Following the Sun given this is the formidable French jazzer Alexis Valet's record recently released - he leads an all-star Stateside group. Everyone is well known on it and the album recorded in the US is more than the sum of its illustrious parts. Tenor saxist Dayna Stephens - Gratitude proved a key record of Stephens' in recent years - pianist's pianist Aaron Parks (whose input was also significant on Gratitude), double bassist Joe Martin and drummer Kush Adadey - who is on the new Blue Note Ethan Iverson album Technically Acceptable - complete the quintet of players. Following the Sun was recorded in a studio in the New York borough of Queens in 2022. The album sports an ultra hip approach but does not try too hard. Originals of Valet's - who shakes and vacs to put the freshness back compositionally - played beautifully by everyone land in a melodic 21st century blissed out take on progressive hard bop. So if you like Jalen Baker whose Be Still we chilled to last year these sounds are perfectly compatible and rub along wonderfully. With Valet and Stephens in Barcelona the band is completed by pianist Tony Tixier, bassist Ameen Saleem and drummer Adam Arruda.
Oh, what a line-up. Featuring the swish swingalongadingdong Stepping Stones (Cellar Live) line-up of His Higness sans orb and sceptre Dave of the sax joining Canadian pianist-leader Sean Fyfe, bassist Luke Fowler and drummer Matt Fishwick (who displayed consummate sticksmanship with saxist Alex Merritt on 2022's Mind-Ear-Ladder).
Walk Away legend vibist Bernard Maseli is in the house.
Zara McFarlane (pictured top) & clarinettist/saxist Giacomo Smith in Le duc des Lombards sing and play ever so Sassily in Paris on Thursday and Friday nights
