Casual Listening
a review of cool new music
by Jeff Pinzino
! Ayelet Rose Gottlieb – Upto Here/From Here (jazz)
After a hundred years, is it still possible to say something new in jazz? Gottlieb demonstrates powerfully that there is. Harmonically intricate compositions weave cords of melody out of voice, saxophone and trumpet. Blank verse, sometimes her own words and sometimes Middle-Eastern poetry, matches the unexpected, beautiful, and sometimes jarring music.
Listen to Ayelet Rose Gottlieb “Wrong Rain (Bird Thoughts)”
Polkastra – Apolkalypse Now (world)
If polka is musical comfort food, Polkastra is your immigrant grandmother who knows the secret ingredient that makes it taste so good. Here, they play a global sampling of polka music, played on everything from accordion to bassoon to didgeridoo.
Listen to Polkastra “Clarinet Polka” (on Bassoon)
Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis – Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis (blues)
Blues is one of a handful of art forms where sounding raw and unpolished is a sign that you’r doing it right. The trio captures the grit of classic blues without any glitz. It’s music that belongs on an old 78rpm record (and believe it or not you can actually get this album as a series of 78’s).
Listen to Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis “I Got My Mojo Working”
I’m going to stop here this week, because you should all be listening to the treasure trove of concerts NPR managed to pull down from this year’s Newport Folk Festival. Legends such as Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and Del McCoury and rising stars such as Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes – 30 concerts in all. Find it all here.
* highly recommended
! highest recommendation
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