Meta

mmmm that sandwich looks tasty af – Shroomie Who We Are We are a handful of people from different parts of the world who share two passions – listening to…

My November 2018 Fresh Finds

Cover of 'There Is A New Place' by Maisha
Maisha – There Is A Place (source: https://maisha.bandcamp.com/album/there-is-a-place)

Hey fellow Lankers! It’s time for the first edition of ‘Jojas Hot Monthly Load’! It’s been about a month now since the beginning of this blog and my first fresh finds related post and there have been quite alot fresh finds since then. There’s no way in heck I’m gonna go through all of them (partly because I probably forgot about 1/3 of them already again, maybe I should make this a weekly thing), but I’ll try to cover most of my highlights. So without further ado – let’s get into this mess.

Actually Fresh

Now, as always, a portion of my finds are older releases and might be actually stale for some people. However, there are always new releases in the mix that I anticipated or hit me out of the blue.

Maisha – There Is A Place

I actually wanted to do a full in depth review of this, but I just couldn’t find the time. If you are following the London Jazz scene you will inevitably have come across the Brownswood Recordings Label. With artists like Joe Armon-Jones, Shabaka Hutchings, or Yussef Kamaal publishing under them you just can’t not be following this exciting ride of a label. Come hop on the bandwagon everybody! This drummer-lead group consists of 6 great individual musicians (probably the most known member is saxophonist/flautist Nubya Garcia), BUT WAIT. In There Is A Place they are supported by a string quartet, an additional percussionist, a trumpet player and, most importantly, a HARP! ksjdfbasjkifdbasjYES. This is pretty much exactly the record I hoped it would be. It’s not just the lineup that smells like spiritual Jazz á la Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. It’s also the sound that reeks of it. The first track Osiris probably even alludes to Journey in Satchidananda. If you haven’t listened to that yet, do that right now and take notes, Boo! But Maisha brings it’s own spice into it with focus on it’s truly creamy percussion.  More of this, please!

Sarathy Korwar – My East Is You West (feat. Upaj Collective) – Live

Here’s more of it! It even released the same day! This live record features a Jazz quintet mixed with 5 traditional indian musicians and is lead by percussionist Sarathy Korwar. Together they create a wonderfully unique sound that effortlessly blends and transitions between the western and traditional south-eastern music.  And, with the presence of Sitar and Santoor, I don’t even mind the absence of a harp. I hope you took notes, Boo, because there are lots of spirtual Jazz staples on this record including Journey In Satchidananda. Great record.

MMO-Ensemble – Any Day Now

This is simply good avant garde Jazz. Ensemble leader Martin Myhre Olsen really managed to scratch my itch for experimental music with his compostions that explore rhythmic, arrhythmic, harmonic and atonal spaces. Definitely earns my badge of approval!

Too Many Zooz – A Very Too Many Zooz Xmas, Vol. 1

I’m not a fan of going into christmas celebrations early, but this was just too good to let it slip through this month. Too Many Zooz with their unique Brass House style bring a nice stanky attitude into the christmas classics. Listen to it, if only for the ending of Deck The Halls.

Aged Gems

Stephen Allen Davis – RCA Studio B Sessions / 1971

This is the shit. Classic Rock and Soul Jazz blend. Includes eight-and-a-half-minute lanky banger. Enough said. (I would have said more if I had found more info about the record)

Bennie Maupin – The Jewel In The Lotus

This 1974 release is actually the first one ever recorded by ECM Records. I don’t know how I have never come across this guy earlier. Maupin collaborated with Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver and played on Miles Davis freakin’ Bitches Brew! And you can hear it on this record. The Jewel In The Lotus has a light fusion vibe, similar to Bitches Brew, but is mainly a spiritual avant-garde record.

Charles Lloyd – Waves

This is just the right record to take your mind out of the cold december weather to an idyllic beach, stuck in an endless sunset in the summer (looking at you, Kip). Very calm, almost meditative jazz, to the extend that I sometimes miss a little juice in this. Nevertheless a pleasure to listen to. It features the Lanker’s favorite guitarist Gábor Szabó on tracks 1, 3 and 4.

Bits And Pieces

Now, there are still quite some finds I could write about, but you’re not gonna listen to all of them anyways, so in order to make this digestible here is a hot mess of just some more song titles I got excitet about last month:








Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *