Stephane Wrembel, Carl Amundson & the Modern Guitar Quintet

Welcome to this Sunday Music Muse Day.  First up, Stephane Wrembel Introducing 2001-2010. The first strum of his guitar immediately bring to mind Django Reinhardt, the legendary jazz from the 1930's & 40's most well for his Quintette du Hot Club de France, an dhis recording with violinist Stephane Grappelli.  The two CD set has twist, in the both CD  have the same tunes, just played ten years part. Definitely worth a listen. Wrembel just finished a week of local performances at the  Lovin' Cup, near in Rochester.  I'm sorry I missed him.

My second selection is Carl Amundson & The Modern Guitar Quintet. I admit. I never heard of guitarist, Amundson or the Quintet, but the cover art interested me, and reading the song list, many of the tunes were by classic jazz guitarists from the 1950 and 60s, like Herb Ellis, Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, and others.  The group sound presents the tunes in the favor of the era.  Again, it's an enjoyable listening experience.

This Sunday Music Muse Day find us enjoying the pride of having done our civic duty and exercising our right to free assembly in joining together to take part in the No Kings Day protest. I left the protest with a sense of hope. I hope you did, too.  Peace
 

Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding, October Jazz Birthday Celebration

Sorry, I missed a couple of weeks' post.  Life gor tin the way. This first October Sunday Music Muse Day,find my first selection, Milton + Esperanza, by Milton Nascimento and Esperanza Spalding to be a slight disappointment.  I felt it was a will meaning effort, but for in the end, nothing grabbed, or stand out.  In my mind, I was imaging it in  comparison to the Wayne Shorter and Milton Nascimento collaboration Native Dancer (1975).  Spalding often played with Wayne Shorter, and I know they had many fruitful offerings.  It may be worth listening to this CD just to form your own opinion.

My second selection is my October Jazz Birthday Celebration. Sadly, I must note the passing of bassist Palle Danielsson, who passed away in May 18, 2024. (It's too hard to re-edit the video, sorry)

Fall is here, and the leaves are turning to autumn colors. Hope everyone get a chance enjoy them. Peace.

Return to Forever, Les Arbuckle

This Sunday Music Muse Day find me doing sometime I try not to do, buy a CD of a vinyl album I sold with all of my record collection two years ago. It's the CD of the Return to Forever Romantic Warrior. This is the jazz fusion classic by the pioneering group led by pianist Chick Corea, with Stanley Clark on bass, Lenny White on drums, and Al DiMeola on guitar. Besides the music the album cover art, by Wilson, McLean is one of my all-time favorites. Listening to the music is like being visiting by an old friend, and embracing warm memories.

My second selection is Les Arbuckle The Bush Crew. I admit I knew nothing of the leader, tenor saxophonist, Arbuckle, but picked this up on of the strength of the names of guitarist John Abercrombie  and Mike Stern, who's playing I've known for decades. This is a solid session, worth giving a listen.

With the arrival of September, some evenings start to feel Fall in the air.  I sort of welcome it, as I like the change of season. No matter the season, it always a time to listen to good music. Enjoy.

Tord Gustavsen Quartet, Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet

First, apologies for skipping a Sunday Music Muse Day post last week.  I just wasn't up for it.  So, let's move ahead to this week.  First up is Tord Gustavsen The Well.  This is a 2012 ECM release and in the ECM tradition, it's an introspective piano music experience, which, when you're in the mood, it is nice to listen to. 

Next is Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, actually a rerun of an old blog post. I missed a live solo gig at he proformed at Eastman Museum last week, so I put this on my CD player to make up for That. I'll forgive Res, who wrote the CD  liner notes, for sounding like a pretentious jerk in thinking he doing anything but reinventing the wheel. I was at the beginning of jazz fusion, which he wrote on the liner, that he skipped that period when he was studying jazz.  When you're late to the party, you don't get to disrespect the pioneers who came before you.  Time will tell if Abbasi's music stands the test of time. I like the tunes Rez selected, all are instantly recognized and associated with the jazz-fuzion musician who wrote them. . It's worth listening to.

 So, that it for this week Sunday Music Muse Day.  Have a great week. Peace.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Artemis, Kevin Eubanks & Stanley Jordan

Welcome to my Sunday Music Muse Day post, First up is Artemis Arboresque, the third album by "a jazz group composed of seven renowned female musicians" (as if this still needs to be the first thing to said about the group). This is the second CD I have of them, and I enjoy their modern jazz sound. I hope to see them live someday.

Next up, is Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan Duet. The simple title says it all, this is laid-back guitar music featuring original tunes and few jazz standards. Several tunes find each taking a turn at the piano.  I won't say it the most exciting session, but worth giving it a listen. Also, I like the simple cover art illustrations by Keith Henry Brown.

We're getting a little bit of heatwave, so grabbing a cold drink and settling in an AC'ed room listening to some cool jazz, might be just the thing.  Enjoy and Peace.

Jerry Granelli, Marc Johnson

Still enjoying the warm afterglow of our trip  to "The Dome",  Airbnb, in Cooperstown, NY.  I didn't get a chance to visit a local record/CD shop there, but I had these CDs planned for this Sunday Music Muse Day, already. First up, Jerry Granelli Dance Hall. The drummer and leader's name didn't ring a bell with me at first, but seeing guitarists Bill Frisell and Robben Ford listed as side men, made this CD worth a try. (On second look at my blog posts I do have one of his CDs, "One Day at A Time", with a group including Robben Ford and Ralph Towner playing only keyboard synthesizer)  It seems this 2017 release was a follow-up to a Granelli recording, "A Song I thought I Heard Buddy Sing" they did together in 1992. They recalled, "there was spark for this work - wanting to hear them play rhythm and blues." After hearing this, I want to hear more, too. This is a great CD, with a nice mix of tunes and excellent playing.

Next up, Marc Johnson's Bass Desires Second Sight. Somehow, with apologies to leader & bassist, Marc Johnson, I used to always regard this as a Frisell or Scofield recording, mainly due to my guitar music bias.  I had the first Bass Desires album, and this 1987 release, but sold both when I sold my vinyl collection.  I have a CD of the 1st, so getting this CD was a no-brainer,   I'm happy to say, I've learned to appreciate Johnson's bass playing and his strong writing talents on his follow-up recordings. I like this second outing, but don't think it's as strong as the debut release.  Still, this CD was worth buying.

Again, when ever possible take a break from the chaos, and clear your mind and calm your soul.  Music it is a great help.  Peace.

Dave Burrell, David Murray with Dave Burrell - Windward Passages

This Sunday Music Muse Day post is a coda to my father's, Sam Woodyard, The Lost Session - Paris 1979 with pianist Dave Burrell session CD release.  The music on The Lost Session was mostly from "jazz opera" Burrell was developing titled Wildward Passages. So, as a follow-up, I found and bought two recorded versions of Windward Passages.  Frst is Dave Burrell - Windward Passages, a solo piano performance recorded live on Thursday, September 13, 1979 at the Stadtheater Basel/Switzerland.  A month after the Lost Session recording. To be honest, it's not my taste in jazz, without the connection to my father, I wouldn't seek this out. But, if you're into Avant-Garde and free jazz, you might give it a listen.

                                        

                                        

Next, is David Murray with Dave Burrell - Windward Passages.  This was a duet recording made in 1993, with Murray on tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, Dave Burrell on piano, voice, and Monika Larsson, voice.  Monika Larsson was Burrell's collaborator on Windward Passage opera.  I found this recording more accessible for me.  Oddly, none of the tunes directly tie-in to the original opera music. They do offer two takes of the John Coltrane classic, Naima, that are worth giving it a listen, if you're curious.

That is my coda to the Lost Session.  Enjoy.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Joel Harrison - Guitar Solos: Vol.1 & Guitar Talk Vol.2 : Classical & Jazz Duos

This Sunday Music Muse Day, I'll give you some insight into my method of finding new music.  On a current stop into The Bop Shop Records store, I browsed the used CDs, but found nothing to buy, So, I turned to new jazz releases, and this first pick caught my eye, Guitar Solos: Vol. 1 - The Middle of Everywhere, an anthology of alternative guitarists.  From the names on the cover, I recognized several, Nguyen Le, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nels Cline, and Henry Kaiser. This CD was project started during the Covid era by guitarist Joel Harrison, who oddly doesn't have a track on it.  It's recording of solos performances share online by guitarists that become The Alternative Guitar Summit, "now in existence for 14 years".  I'm not crazy about of all the players, but it's worth a listen to open your ears to new sounds, and players.

Being a lazy reader, it was only after I bought the next selection, Joel Harrison Guitar Talk Vol. 2 -Classic Duos - Jazz Duos, on the recommendation Tom Kohn's (owner of Bop Shop)., that I noticed Harrison was the producer of my first selection. Tom mentioned he know Harrison had him perform for a Bop Shop concert. Two of the guitarists, Fareed Haque, and Nel Cline on the Solos CD, join him on duets on the Vol. 2 . I enjoyed this 2-disc set more than the Solo CD. But, that's just one opinion. 

We're having a heatwave here in upstate NY state, that hopefully it will pass soon. Until then, an AC cooled room, a cold drink, and some cool jazz is the order of the day. Peace.