Assaf Kehati Quartet -[]- Flowers and Other Stories [Review, 2012]

Tags

Assaf Kehati, Composer, Jazz Guitar

Assaf Kehati Quartet, Flowers and Other Stories

Assaf Kehati Quartet -[]- Flowers and Other Stories -(MP3)- [Review, 2012] -|- Album Review

The innate qualities that usually lay in the fabric of music I’ve discovered aren’t by happenstance, they are indeed by design which leads me to discern jazz in itself qualifies as the leader in genres because of its inherent nature influences artists to create, innovate, explore and reinvent in order to deploy new sounds now and for the future. In this case, I’m absolutely pleased to introduce album three by a gifted, extraordinary and talented composer, arranger and guitarist named Assaf Kehati and his latest offering appropriately titled “Flowers and Other Stories.”

With my first encounter, I was a little side-tracked by the title “Flowers and Other Stories” but I soon realized once the play button was pushed the underlying message begin to resonate guitarist Assaf Kehati was about to unfold compositionally a brilliant exhibition of contemporary jazz recorded today.

Alberto Menéndez Band -][- Everything Will Be Alright [Rodenstein Records, 2012]

Tags

Alberto Menéndez, Composer, Saxophone

Alberto Menéndez Band, Everything Will Be Alright

Alberto Menéndez Band -][- Everything Will Be Alright -(MP3)- [Rodenstein Records, 2012]

[Biography] – The Spanish tenor saxophone player Alberto Menéndez, born in 1970 and based in Mannheim, Germany, started playing clarinet at the age of 10 and decided, at age 16, to learn how to play tenor saxophone. He studied saxophone, arrangement & composition at the Swiss Jazz School in Bern and then attended the Heidelberg-Mannheim Musical College, from which he graduated in 1997. From 1995 up to 1998, Alberto Menéndez was a member of the Bundesjazzorchestra (German federal jazz orchestra) under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer.

Alexandra Lehmler -][- No Blah Blah [Jazz ‘n’ Arts, 2012]

Tags

Alexandra Lehmler, Jazz, Saxophone

Alexandra Lehmler, No Blah Blah

Alexandra Lehmler -][- No Blah Blah -(MP3)- [Jazz ‘n’ Arts, 2012]

The Alexandra Lehmler Quintett Inspired by the very specific French jazz scene and by world music in general, the Alexandra Lehmler Quintett places accents within European jazz. During the six years of its existence the group has created its own world of sound, including music written by Alexandra Lehmler, Matthias Debus and Daniel Prandl, as well as compositions by Jeff Beck, Julien Lourau and Lorca, which seem to glow in a very special Lehmler-like light. It’s a light consisting of many shades. It leans towards traditional jazz on the one hand, is deeply enrooted in European tradition on the other, and violently blows everything up at the same time.