ALBUM REVIEWS

Grégory Privat SOLEY (Buddham Jazz)

Josean Jacobo & Tumbao Cimarrón (E7 Studios)

Pianist Josean Jacobo has been heralded as the “Ambassador of Afro-Dominican Jazz” and with that understanding, the listener has to negotiate the mine field of ideas and ideologies on Dominicanness and the other image of the island as a tourist playground. On this album, Cimarrón, Jacobo along with the band Tumbao — a unique combo of 2 saxes, drums and percussion — present a solid interface of the music born in the American melting pot of New Orleans and traditional folkloric rhythms from African-descended natives of the island.

Ijó Grafted (Spielzart Entertainment)

Martiniquan pianist Grégory Privat continues his elegant exploration of creole jazz with this follow up to his recent album Family Tree. This new album of trio music with his collaborators Canadian Chris Jennings on double bass and fellow Martiniquan Tilo Bertholo on drums sparkles with a new energy as it utilises electronics and allow Privat the opportunity to sing. 15 tracks draw on the richness of creole jazz heritage in the French Antilles, and juxtaposes those aesthetic elements with sounds that can only exist in a synthetic medium, to enrich his and his band’s playing. Privat tells us that SOLEY is “a concept of Spirituality, Optimism, Light and Energy (coming to) You.” The album represents a continuation of the mastery of technique and dynamics on the piano, and a full understanding of the Créole perspective on Caribbean music. There is a sense of experimentation on this record, which is not jarring but pointing to the idea that this music can be his catharsis and spiritual haven. Jazz illuminated and elevated.

Available at iTunes

His piano soars and floats on the ten songs here, while the polyrhythms of the hand drums and other percussion give credence to a history of solid representation of the music of African souls who have mingled and transformed Spanish-derived sounds to create what we today know as Salve, Congos, Bachata and more. The language of jazz has broadened in this context, and this album is a distinctive beginning for new listeners.

Caribbean jazz, like its North American precursor, has been a collaborative effort between musicians. A musical conversation, despite singular stars in the pantheon. Ijó, out of Trinidad, seeks to fulfil the role of eminent conversationalists within the context of the myriad musical influences that bathe their island nation. This new band on the Caribbean jazz scene is made up of top individual session musicians on the island, a kind of supergroup that does not disappoint on this first effort. Orisha drumming is captured on “Black Rose”, a hint of the transplanted Indian presence in “Nari”, world fusion gone mad on the track “Ijó”, are some of the soundscapes one has to traverse on this album. Long in gestation, this album takes its time to grow on the listener. So detailed are the individual voices that the “accents” are sometimes hard to decipher, not so much in an unintelligible way, but in the elegance of the melodies and harmonies.

Available at iTunes

Available at iTunes