Tag Archives: jazz
Love Theme – Love Theme
Love Theme is Alex Zhang Hungtai and Austin Milne on saxophone, and Simon Frank. Love Theme, their debut album, is a languishing and bleak experimental jazz recording edited from improvisation sessions. The record is droning over almost all its runtime, with electronic music elements complementing the saxophonic exchanges. It’s melancholic and atmospheric, reflecting on the past and reaching within. There is nothing flamboyant about this release – it’s actually quite drab –, but in being so it goes straight to the point it wants to make: an ode and elegy to love. Through the slow burn of noise percussions … Read more
Araqsana – Araqsana
Once in a while, I get a personal email containing music that’s just above and beyond good. This time, that email came from Jackson Albert Mann, and the music is under the moniker Araqsana. Jackson is a post-graduate student at the Berklee College of Music, and his debut EP displays some very tasty jazz fusion. Jackson states he is influenced by hardcore punk, experimental electronic music, and jam bands. The latter I can feel in Araqsana, but the former two are much more subtle and it takes more than one listen to get a glimpse of them through … Read more
Exclusive Video Premiere: Ikarus – Ryuujin
We are pleased to present a live video of Ikarus performing ‘Ryuujin’ off their most recent album, Chronosome.
Ikarus is a Swiss contemporary jazz band with an interesting configuration. They take a typical acoustic jazz trio composed of piano, bass, and drums, and add two scat vocalists – one male and one female – to the mix. This results in a highly unique sound defined by sublime vocal interplay underlaid by dynamic compositions.
The human voice, unbound by language, is more versatile than any other instrument one might use. Ikarus certainly proves that with their stellar performance. The rhythm … Read more
Asylon Terra – Blind Man Running
French quartet Asylon Terra recently released Blind Man Running, their first, full-length release. Between contemporary jazz, ambient music, and progressive rock, the compositions of Pierre Lordet, clarinetist of the group, take shape on this entrancing album. Anne Quillier, about whose sextet we already wrote, takes seat behind the omnipresent keyboards – the Rhodes and Moog -, while Lucas Hercberg takes bass duties, and Clément Black takes care of the drums. The whole is an astounding result. Blind Man Running will take your breath away. The vast soundscapes played here will submerge you, and even the harder-hitting compositions – … Read more