Russell Gunn | Plays Miles

Tags

African American, Jazz, Russell Gunn, Trumpet

Russell Gunn | Plays Miles – [HighNote Records, 2008] – Weekend Spin

Russel Gunn, Plays Miles

Excellent album…a must for all Miles Davis fans, who also are familiar with Russell Gunn’s work. In my opinion, Russell Gunn’s music fosters a conversation between a type of street poetics that converge with a Jazz aesthetic; as is evident in his 2008 release _Love Stories_. To speak of a political economy of Black music, in the specific context of Gunn’s music, is to speak of an dialectical interplay between sound technologies and Black music (Gunn’s utilization of technology as a means of innovation, as opposed to utilizing technology to compensate for a lack); it is to speak of a type of “sonic Afro-modernity” that bespeaks and embodies a rich legacy of Jazz trumpeting that converges with Gunn’s self-fashioning sound (one that is marked by a persistent critique of Western modernity); and finally, it is to speak of Russell Gunn’s Ethnomusicological journey (exterior as well as interior) that informs and laces each of his recordings, never letting in challenging the listener as well as his band members. With all due respect to Gunn and the fellow musicians, this recording is necessarily politicized. I think all “Black artistic expression” is necessarily politicized, given the historically marginal status that, by and large, Black artistic expression continues to occupy.

Make no mistake about it, this particular album is the music of Miles Davis. —Kelvin Monroe

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Carolina Chocolate Drops | Genuine Negro Jig

Tags

African American String Band, Carolina Chocolate Drops

Greeting’s jazz enthusiasts, first of all, I hope the title “Genuine Negro Jig” of this recording doesn’t offend anyone. Secondly, being a black man from Western North Carolina I’m familiar with this style of music. That said, this album may not my musical preference, nonetheless the Carolina Chocolate Drops steps out of the box with passion to reinvent this style music from a black perspective should prove to be very, very interesting. ~ The Urban Flux

Carolina Chocolate Drops | Genuine Negro Jig – [Nonesuch, 2010]

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig

Nonesuch Records is set to release the label debut of North Carolina–based string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops on February 23. Produced by Joe Henry, Genuine Negro Jig features string band interpretations of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style” and Tom Waits’ “Trampled Rose,” as well as a pair of original compositions, alongside a number of traditional tracks. NPR calls the band “the hottest thing to hit the old-time music community in decades.”

About this Album
The Carolina Chocolate Drops formed after band members Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and Justin Robinson met at the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, in 2005; they have toured continuously since the band’s inception. All three trained in the Piedmont banjo and fiddle musical tradition under the tutelage of Joe Thompson, who, at age 90, is believed to be the last living performer from the Piedmont string band heyday. While old-time Southern string music is often associated with Caucasian musicians from Appalachia, Giddens pointed out in a recent NPR interview that “it seems that two things get left out of the history books. One, that there was string band music in the Piedmont, period. (And that) black folk was such a huge part of string tradition.” The Carolina Chocolate Drops seek to not only correct this misunderstanding, but to keep the centuries-old string music tradition alive and developing.

Please visit, their web site for more details about this creative and innovative trio!

..:: Source: Nonesuch.com ::..

Vocalist Sofia Rei Koutsovitis Releases “Sube Azul”

Tags

Female Vocalist, Jazz, Latin Music

(World Village/Harmonia Mundi) on January 12, 2009

Sofia Rei Koutsovitis | Sube Azu – [World Village, 2010]

Sofia Koutsovitis, Sube Azul

Sube Azul, the vibrant sophomore release from Argentine vocalist and composer Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, proves why she’s been called “one of the most versatile and in-demand performers on the New York music scene” (All About Jazz).

Her acclaimed multilingual debut, Ojalá was chosen as a top-10 release of 2006 by the Jazz Journalists Association. Now, in a departure, Sofia serves as Sube Azul’s composer, arranger, lyricist and – with bassist Jorge Roeder – producer. The result is a stirring collection of mostly original Spanish-language songs.

“[Sube Azul is] a fully formed synthesis, reflecting Sofia’s immersion in modern and progressive jazz while also responding to the pull of ancestry and the appeal of organic, pan-musical connections” writes David R. Adler in his liner notes.