[COULEURS JAZZ MONTH – THE BEST OF!]
[COULEURS JAZZ MONTH – THE BEST OF!]
On COULEURS JAZZ RADIO – www.couleursjazzradio.fr:
Paris-time: lundi 16H, mercredi 17H, jeudi 18H.
NYC time :at 08:00PM Tuesday and 10:00 PM Wednesday
12 Best albums releases of last month : January 2025, so:
Chantez sous l’appli !
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With :
- Blue Jitters for “Blue Jitters“
- Joachim Kühn for “Échappée”
- Bill O’Connell Feat. Santi DeBriano & Billy Hart for “Touch”
- Adam Baldych for “Portraits”
- Jackson Potter for “Small Things”
- Jasper Somsen & Anton Goudsmit for “ Jasper Somsen Invites Anton Goudsmit Live!”
- Thomas Marriott for “Screen Time”
- Pierre De Bethmann Quartet for “Agapé”
- Peter Erskine for “Vienna to Hollywood”
- Caroline Faber & Hervé Celcal + guests for “CAP”
- Brad Goode for “The Snake Charmer”
- Johanna Summer & Jakob Manz for “Caméo”
#bluejitters #joachimkuhn #billoconnell #santidebriano #billyhart #adambaldych #jacksonpotter #jaspersomsen #antongoudsmit #thomasmarriott #pierredebethmann #petererskine #carolinefaber #hervecelcal #bradgoode #johannasummer #jakobmanz #couleursjazz #couleursjazzradio #thebestof #bestofthemonth
BLUE JITTERS
BLUE JITTERS is the debut album from the eponymous band (formerly SWINGUEZ MOUSTACHES, formed in Paris in 2013. The seven musicians offer an exciting (re)discovery of eleven standards from the big band era. The arrangements are clever, exciting and always in good taste.
The septet is made up of very solid musicians, all of whom bring a superb palette of colors to the ensemble. Trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, accordion, violin and vocals, backed by an impeccable rhythm section (double bass, drums).
A jazz that swings terrifically, full of freshness. To be listened to in high doses, on cold, gray days and indeed all year round.
it shows where they were then.
Line Up:
Caloé: vocals, violon Clément Barkat : trumpet Henri Peyrous saxophone, clarinet Nicolas Almosni: accordion Paul de Robillard: guitar Ahmed Ghanem: doublebass Martin Cazals: drums
JOACHIM KÜHN – ÉCHAPPÉE
Joachim Küh: Piano solo
Joachim Kühn, one of the best-known German musical personalities in the world, offers us an exceptional moment in the art of solo piano.
Since the mid-1960s, Kühn has been one of the most outstanding musicians in contemporary jazz, and for decades he has seduced many a jazzophile. Échappée is further proof of this consistency. The melodies, condensed into moments, reflect the experiences of a life that one imagines to be rich.
With this recording, made shortly before his eightieth birthday, the pianist wanted to offer the best of himself: “Joachim Kühn, that exceptional talent, has set the bar higher than ever,” writes Bert Noglik in the liner notes, before adding: “With Échappée, he has created an ‘essential album’ and laid everything bare: his art, his love and his passion. A masterpiece.
BILL O’CONNELL – TOUCH
The title of this virtuoso pianist’s nineteenth album as a leader is no coincidence, as his touch and the uniqueness of his playing move us and touch our hearts. This 71-year-old musician, recognized in the United States and in many other countries around the world, is unfortunately not yet so in France, and we hope that this first album on the Jojo Records label will bring him recognition in France…
Bill O’Connell is a pianist and composer with a unique and singular style, who successfully combines melodies, rhythms and harmonies, as well as compositions and improvisations, individual exploration and collective interaction, and tradition and modernity.
ADAM BALDYCH- Portraits
Polish violinist and composer Adam Bałdych displays an urgency and intensity that are deeply reflected in his work. The music he composes and the emotions he conveys testify to a total commitment to what he does. But in “Portraits”, these imperatives have been reinforced: the music is imbued with an astonishing pathos and force of expression, just as it is natural for an artist to reflect on these troubled times. Bałdych explains, “When I was working on the pieces, reports from people who survived the Second World War were a source of inspiration for me. The subject seemed very important to me in view of the growing conflicts in Europe and around the world. I read testimonies from the time and wanted to take a stand against what thousands of people still have to endure today. A call for world peace. A variety of highly emotional pieces were created, which attempt to portray people, living conditions and the times in which we live. It’s about concerns, but also about the indescribable beauty of the world, which I try to capture in my sounds and music”.
This music also has a spiritual side. “Portraits” blends lament, prayer, jubilation and exuberance.
JACKSON POTTER – “Small Things”
In an artist’s career, there are landmark moments that mark a new era in the development of creativity. For many musicians, one such moment is the move to New York – a legendary place for jazz music. Jackson Potter‘s Small Things traces his evolution as a guitarist, composer and arranger since moving to New York in 2021.
In October 2021, Potter released his debut album, Restless, which showcased his talents as a guitarist and composer. The album appears on RMR’s Top Jazz Album Chart for 2021, and is enthusiastically received by critics and press alike. That same year, he moved to New York, where he has since performed at such iconic venues as Dizzy’s, Django’s, the Aman and the Atrium Stage at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Shortly after his arrival in the city, Potter put together a new quintet featuring Alex Ridout on trumpet, Troy Roberts on tenor saxophone, Hamish Smith on bass and Marcello Cardillo on drums. This quintet forms the core of the album. Jaleel Shaw (alto sax) and Sophia Formella (vocals) also feature on the album…
JASPER SOMSEN & ANTON GOUDSMIT – “ Jasper Somsen Invites Anton Goudsmit Live!”
It’s a gift Jasper has been given: the opportunity to choose a musical partner, Anton, for a unique project where the sum of the parts far exceeds the normal mathematical result. The result is the epitome of synergy. The fact that Anton is an excellent and versatile musician does not guarantee the success of a duo project. But Jasper was well aware that the combination could produce something strong and truly captivating.
Above all, it’s the overall atmosphere that makes this record so special. We are literally transported into a world of sound that breathes, where a liberating space reigns. The notion of time fades away and you feel connected to the musicians’ language. Listening to them, you find yourself fully in the present moment.
We’ve known these two musicians for a long time, through a whole series of projects. Yet this live performance sheds new light on both of them. Together, they explore and push a myriad of artistic boundaries. They play and, above all, they listen – audibly! Just listen to this very intense version of Django Reinhardt’s “Nuages”, or Strange Meeting by the great Bill Frisell with a new ear… Their interpretation of Desberato, a composition by Goudsmit, is without doubt an absolute summit of subtlety and musicality. In short… an exceptional duo.
HERVÉ CELCAL & CAROLINE FABER – DeNduM – Cap
This duo doesn’t just play, they listen. Each track is an intimate conversation, a suspension of time that anchors us fully in the moment. A record to savor, again and again.
Hervé CELCAL and Caroline FABER feel they’ve reached a turning point. It’s their storyline! The duo want to bear witness to a life journey and the spark that drives them as artists, citizens and individuals. It’s a question of observing the passage of time, the changes that take place, and evoking life’s struggles.
CAP‘s musical discourse follows multiple trajectories, for a jazz that reflects the demanding yet warm personality of Caroline and Hervé, who write all 12 tracks on the album. CAP was finely arranged by Hervé CELCAL. It features a wide variety of melodies, both heady and mantra-like, and in a subtle jazz style that lends elegance to the album’s sonic thread.
The musicians involved in this musical episode, all friends in life as well as on stage, have tuned into this new repertoire with genius, without ego, despite their imposing backgrounds. This is another fine group album!
Seeing them live on stage is more than a concert, it’s a real show. May the 4tets in gray tshirts who seem to play only for themselves – all too often in Paris jazz clubs – take inspiration from this… if only a little.
May jazz festival programmers hire DeNduM, illico presto.
Line Up:
Caroline Faber: vocals
Hervé Celcal: piano, vocals
Daniel Mizrahi: guitars, mandolin
Jérémy Bruyère: double bass
Abraham Mansfarroll Rodriguez: drums, percussions
PIERRE DE BETHMANN – “AGAPÉ“
Awarded Artist of the Year at the 2024 Victoires du Jazz awards, Pierre de Bethmann is one of the leading figures in French jazz. After the collective album PianoForte, he returns as a quartet with Agapé, an album that continues the creative momentum initiated with Credo, recorded the day before in the mythical atmosphere of the Ferber studio.
Ten years after GO, Agapé captures the very essence of jazz, between rigor and spontaneity, structure and freedom. Carried by five new compositions and a coda, the album celebrates the dialogue between instruments and the magic of the moment, where music becomes a space for limitless exploration.
With this new album, Pierre de Bethmann and his quartet affirm their attachment to a century-old tradition, while resolutely opening up to the future.
PETER ERSKINE & JAM MUSIC LAB ALL-STARS – VIENNA to HOLLYWOOD
With this new album, Peter Erskine and the JAM Music Lab All-Stars pay tribute to two legendary Viennese composers, whose arrival in Hollywood in the 1930s revolutionized film music. Their works for such classics as Gone with the Wind and King Kong had a profound impact on popular culture and set cinema standards.
The story of this project goes back to the 1970s, when Erskine, then on tour with Weather Report, heard Joe Zawinul play a superb melody… He then discovered that it was by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a Viennese composer. This revelation led him to explore the musical heritage of these masters, searching for scores and recordings over the decades.
Today, thanks to his artistic residency at Vienna’s JAM Music Lab University, he is finally realizing his dream of reinventing this music in an improvised jazz setting, uniting tradition and modernity with the virtuosity and precision for which he is renowned.
BRAD GOODE – THE SNAKE CHARMER
With The Snake Charmer, trumpeter Brad Goode presents his first big band album, a new chapter in a career spanning more than four decades and 20 albums. Known for his virtuosic and daring approach to the trumpet, Goode continues to explore the infinite possibilities of his polytonal harmonic system, introduced in 2008 on Polytonal Dance Party.
Accompanied by an inspired team of Denver musicians, Goode offers music at the crossroads of past, present and future, where lyricism and angularity, fireworks and introspection, virtuosity and subtlety coexist in perfect harmony. With this new line-up, he adds a new, dazzling dimension to his musical language, while retaining that spark of wonder and spontaneity that defines his art.
JOHANNA SUMMER & JAKOB MANZ – CAMEO
The duo formed by Johanna Summer (piano) and Jakob Manz (saxophone) is a veritable treasure trove on the European jazz scene. Two exceptional talents, united by outstanding virtuosity, creative audacity and a singular musical signature. Firmly rooted in jazz, they don’t hesitate to expand the boundaries of the genre, embracing influences ranging from classical to pop.
The two musicians exploit the intimacy of the duo to fashion a tailor-made repertoire, blending original compositions and unique arrangements.
Listening to Cameo is like immersing yourself in a musical dialogue imbued with spontaneity, surprises and sincerity. An instinctive complicity, where every note exudes freedom and sensitivity. A marvel not to be missed.
THOMAS MARRIOTT – SCREENTIME
With ScreenTime, hit 15th album, trumpeter Thomas Marriott revisits themes from the big and small screens in an exceptional jazz quartet. Alongside Orrin Evans (piano), Mark Whitfield Jr. (drums) and Robert Hurst III (double bass), he transforms these iconic melodies into veritable cinematic frescoes, blending energy, contemplation and reinvention.
A fixture on the West Coast jazz scene, Marriott has collaborated with such legends as Maynard Ferguson, Ernie Watts and Joe Locke, and played with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Deltron 3030. Winner of 9 Golden Ear Awards, he has seen several of his albums reach the top of the jazz charts. In 2024, he was named “Jazz Hero” by the Jazz Journalists Association.
With ScreenTime, Thomas Marriott offers immersive, cinematic jazz, where every note illuminates a story.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
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