Nawi – Pointillistic piano and then doubled with the Bass. The middle section it reminds me of Mary Lou Williams, but it also doesn’t feel like its actually arriving at improvisation. More that the piano is improvising around little sections of the song in a group context, never far from a melody, but the melodies are also neutral, non-distinctive, parts of the groove. It rides in a lovely, never fully formed, but intuitively played, sequence of mood themes. The playing itself is beautiful, I just wish it would careen off the tracks at some point, with the piano letting loose with some lines that stretch a bit. Ahmad Jamal – “Fantastic Vehicle” – I should’ve guessed Ahmad, but instead I thought it was someone who was influenced by Ahmad. It’s a recent release of an older concert, and I didn’t recognize the recording, but I definitely thought it was in his style.
Bart – Weird Euro? Electronic, trumpet riff with percussion? Bart said it was a short song and it is also a punchy one. Well not so much Euro, but the trumpet and drums were correct, it being Chicago Underground Duo – “Hyperglyph”. I actually called that Bart would play something from their new album earlier in the day. And that is the kind of Sesh move Bart tends to play when he can, recent releases especially International Anthem releases. Exciting and I can’t wait to hear more.
Dan – Siddheshwari Devi – “Tappa In The Raga Adana-Vasanta: Tala Khaharava” – I was pulled to this track off a 4 disc Anthology of World Music collection from Northern India. Her voice and how it curls off at the end of a phrase, then followed by a quick echo from the instrument. These phrasing echoes remind me of dance pieces where people imitate each other like they are each other’s shadow. I can’t decide if its a formative technique or an instinctual response, but they trick it continuously throughout the piece and I find it very haunting.
Travis – Arpeggios! Lau Noah – “La Realdid”. Lau Noah is a killing guitarist and poetic. I love the naturalness of her lyric flow, and how complex and irregular the harmonies and rhythms are that accompany her words. That is a very hard balance to capture and even harder to emulate, but I’d like to be able to coax those relationships into my own song writing. I heard her Tiny Desk Concert and have been really into her since. So far with her and many modern artists the actual release of music is different and haven’t found albums of hers. I have mostly heard live video clips of her music, not studio recordings.
Found Sounds 