Jazz – Page 4 – 7th Level Music

Review: Ennio Morricone – Morricone Segreto

Containing seven previously unreleased tracks and twenty more rare film score tracks, Morricone Segreto from the Cam Sugar label is a great treat for fans of the maestro – Ennio Morricone. Most of these tracks are from giallo, horror, and crime films from 1969 to 1983 – and all of them have weird, psychedelic jazz touches that showcase what kind of genius Morricone was.

The previously unreleased alternate take of “Vie-Ni” (from the film When Love Is Lust from 1973) starts off the album with sharp vocal sounds, plucked string instruments, and a piano that sounds like a clock in a haunted house. “Fantasmi Grotteschi (Edit)” (from 1980’s Stark System) blends lounge jazz with circus-like arrangements. Vita E Malavita” could work in either a comedic chase scene, a psychological thriller chase scene, or as the opening credits of a mystery film featuring a wizened detective (but is actually from a 1975 film about teenage prostitution).

“Tette E Antenne, Tetti E Gonne” is the longest track on the album (5:10) and has a bit of a bossa nova flavor to it that makes it dreamy (despite it being from an espionage thriller from 1975). The alternate take of “Patrizia” (from 1971’s Incontro) is anothe dreamy track with a cool lounge groove running through it. “Per Dalila” is pure bedroom jazz with its sultry organ and supple beats.

“18 Pari” continues the bedroom grooves with its fine touches, which are perfect for a film about a safecracker looking to do one last score (1972’s The Master Touch). The previously unreleased “Psychedelic Mood” will put you into that within seconds. “Fuggire Lontano (Edit)” has a bit of a Motown sound with its bass and drums, and the rest is cool jazz…until that fuzzy guitar comes in to melt your brain.

“Jukebox Psychedelique” has Middle Eastern guitars and instrumentation, just to throw you for a bit of a loop and prove that the Maestro could compose anything he damn well pleased. “Fondati Timori” is downright creepy, with the snare drums sounding like rattlesnakes and the horns like an angry nest of hornets. Speaking of instruments sounding dangerous, everything from the vibraphone to the synthesizers on “Edda Bocca Chiusa” (another previously unreleased track) sounds like its stalking you.

“Non Può Essere Vero” is a perfect track for 1972’s My Dear Killer, as the whole thing sounds like the theme song for a professional hitman who probably drinks too much and has one last score to settle. “Eat It” is not a cover of Weird Al Yankovic‘s parody of Michael Jackson‘s “Beat It,” but it is a weird track full of fuzzy guitar, Phantom of the Opera organ work, strip club beats, and what sounds like people wailing in agony. It also features Morricone on trumpet. “Nascosta Nell’ombra” has a wild organ (a Hammond B3?) riff running around the room for about a minute straight.

“Dramma Su Di Noi” exchanges the organ for psychedelic guitar and juke joint piano. “Lui Per Lei,” the title track from the 1971 film of the same name, could easily be the opening theme to a soap opera…or a softcore porn film. “Beat Per Quattro Ruote” is a slow, trippy jam with drum beats that sound like they’re happily drunk. “Stark System (Rock)” is the theme you’ll want in your earbuds during your next cardio-kickboxing class, because it will make you feel like a bad ass mofo.

“Il Clan Dei Siciliani (Tema N. 5)” is the title track to the film of the same name from 1969, and it’s perfect for a crime movie with its driving beat and suspense-inducing guitar and synths. “René La Canne” is the title track to another film (from 1977) that leans heavily on vintage 1970s synths. Police whistles take on a prominent role on “Ore 22,” as do woodwinds and gritty percussion instruments. “Sinfonia Di Una Città – Seq. 4” sounds like something Morricone might’ve conjured up with John Carpenter. “L’incarico” is the sound of a lonely trumpeter playing outside a closed jazz club at 3am.

“L’immoralità (Edit)” (from 1978’s film of the same name), meanwhile, is the soundtrack of that jazz player having a nightcap with the lovely singer from the club. The previously unreleased “Insequimento Mortale” is full of panicked strings, which is befitting for a song from a film about a psychopath with a venom-dipped knife stalking women at a health spa. The closing track is the haunting, breathy “Macchie Solari (Versione Singolo).” It’s from a 1974 film of the same name about a morgue attendant who gets caught up in a string of murders. In other words, it’s perfect for a Morricone score.

The whole album is great, and will make you want to track down these obscure films. The Maestro’s catalog never seems to end, which is fine by me.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Typical Sisters – Love Beam

Mixing jazz, house, and some post-rock, Typical Sisters‘ new album, Love Beam, is a cool record that keeps you guessing as to where it will go next.

Opening track “Water Plants” samples some women singing about New Orleans and bouquets (I think it’s from a film, but I can’t place it if it is.) while drummer Matt Carroll seems to stumble around his kit but is actually setting you up for his funky chops on “Well Done.” Guitarist Gregory Uhlmann plays likes he’s out for a good time and in no hurry. Clark Sommers‘ bass is the real backbone of the tune, even as synth chords and bloops move to the forefront.

“OEO” samples train station sounds that fit in nicely with Carroll’s motor-like beats. The band’s love of experimentation is prevalent on “Owl,” in which they bang on a colander and play an out-of-tune zither. Trust me, it works. Uhlmann’s guitar on “Recurring Memory” bounces around like a baby goat. Sommers is in full funk mode on “King Flipper.”

After the weird tree talk of “Clairvoyant,” the band moves to “No Evil,” which opens with more warped synths and brings in a lot trippy drums. Speaking of trippy things, “Oregano” is a quick, odd instrumental, and “Uni Lunch” samples women talking about lunch and coffee for about twenty seconds.

Don’t worry, because “Clamata” brings in some hot grooves. “Grains” has Carroll’s wife singing Danish folk songs while the band puts down a weird sound behind her, and the sound even gets a little creepy on the closer, “Ephemeral,” which blends some Dick Dale-like guitar with jazz rhythms for a mind-bending effect.

Love Beam is a wild record. It doesn’t assault you like some free-form, loud jazz, but it does shake you out of the fog in your brain now and then and makes you pay attention to what Typical Sisters are creating. We all need to pay more attention, and this is a good record to hear with presence.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Taylor at Clandestine PR.]

Review: El Jazzy Chavo – Aspects of Dystopia

Combining jazz, hip hop, funk, and “atmospheric melodies,” El Jazzy Chavo‘s Aspects of Dystopia is a cool, mood-altering record that can be experienced in different moods, on different days, and through different listening systems all to various effects.

The overriding theme of the album is the day-to-day struggle of the lower class living in places with people (and buildings) who overlook them. “Futurama” is like the opening track to a film about a renegade graffiti artist in a totalitarian regime and a place where “the deep snow buries any sound.”

The groove of “Slap of Realism” is rooted in electro-bass and and processed beats that sound almost like they’re coming from the back of a bodega down the street. “Below the City” is surprisingly bright, as if you went into the sewers to hide from killer robots and discovered a vibrant colony of other survivors there. “Delusion” would fit well into a horror film with its simple synth stabs and ethereal chords.

“Where the Stars Don’t Shine” is the track that introduced me to El Jazzy Chavo. The wicked beats, sampled horns, and lounge vibraphone sounds hooked me right away. “The voice you hear is not my speaking voice,” a woman says at the beginning of “La Sirena de la Salva,” and then siren-like calls emerge from your speakers alongside smooth guitars and snappy beats. “Threshold of Sensation” has a neat warped sound to it that almost makes you feel drunk.

“Swallowed by Normality” has a neat switch near the end that shakes you out of your relaxation, but not in a harsh way. The sampled brass on “Hemispheres” is a great accompaniment to the vaporwave synths. “Return to Forever” is waiting for a rapper of mad skills to come along and use it in his next track. “Andromeda” has some of the best use of sampled raps on the record.

“Barefoot in the Storm” has a groove as relaxing at the title implies, and “Stealing in the Moonlight” is just as slick. The album ends with, appropriately, “Oblivion.” The track isn’t gloomy, however. It’s more of a blissful peace one finds as you fall into a well-deserved rest. The album ends with the sampled lyrics of, “I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I’m on a different wavelength than everybody else.”

He is, and Aspects of Dystopia will put you onto El Jazzy Chavo’s wavelength.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Situation Chicago 2

Situation Chicago 2 is a fine compilation of Chicago bands and artists, and proceeds go to helping artists and venues affected by the pandemic (which, by the way, is pretty much all of them). The project is part of the CIVL SAVE fund, which needs all the help it can get to support independent music venues throughout the Windy City (full disclosure, some of these venues are my favorite venues in the country).

“Sinistry” by MIIRRORS is a fiery live rock cut with some light goth touches. Robust‘s “Dont Know Why” is a smooth example of Chicago’s vibrant rap scene. The bass line alone on it make impregnate you. Speaking of great example of Chicago’s music culture, Fess Grandiose‘s “Keep the Rhythm Goin'” is a prime one of Chicago house music (a genre that, while popular, still deserves to be better known around the globe). Umphrey’s McGee and Bela Fleck team up on the bouncy and bright “Great American.” Reduxion‘s “The Imperial Boxmen” is sweet funk jazz that will make you want to spin your lover around the room. Speaking of fun, Jeff Park delivers a great instrumental cover of WAR‘s “Slippin’ into Darkness.”

“Drowning” by Neptune’s Core starts side B of the vinyl with strong power-pop hooks. Goth country makes an appearance with The Goddamn Gallows‘ “The Maker.” V.V. Lightbody‘s “Really Do Care” is a slice of dream-pop complete with birdsong and cat’s purr-like guitar. Erin McDougald‘s lovely, sexy “The Parting Glass” is a wonderful exemplar of Chicago’s jazz club scene and makes you want to seek out her live performances.

It’s a good compilation, and proceeds go to a great cause. You can’t miss.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Jim at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Ben Seretan – Cicada Waves

Do you need to chill out? Are you looking for music for meditation, yoga, sleeping, or romance? Does your reality need a shift? Then give Cicada Waves by Ben Seretan a spin.

The idea behind Cicada Waves is beautifully simple: Hit record, play some piano in an Appalachian Mountains dance studio, and record whatever happens with no second takes, edits, or polishes. It captures moments in time in Seretan’s life and gives them to us to experience. Ambient piano criss-crosses with sounds of rainfall, thunder, wind, cats, birds, and the titular cicadas. It was recorded in isolation yet sounds expansive. It is hypnotic yet enthralling.

“Cicada Waves 1” has the critters’ buzzing as soft drone undertone while Seretan muses away on his antique Steinway without hurry. “3pm Rainstorm” is perfect for slowing down the rush of whatever is overwhelming you. “Cicada Waves 2” seems a little melancholy compared to “Cicada Waves 1,” but it’s no less lovely. The cicadas blend into more white noise on “Rain and Cicadas” while Seretan’s piano backs them.

I meditated through most of “11pm Sudden Thunderstorm” and can tell you it was a nice experience. Seretan’s piano riffs off the rain and thunder quite well. His piano work on “8pm Crickets” is a bit more playful and active, surely inspired by the insect chorus outside the studio. “Fog Rolls out Rabun Gap” moves as easily out of your speakers or earbuds as its namesake.

It’s a lovely record that you’ll want for many moods, travels, and situations. I wouldn’t listen to it while driving, however. It might lull you into a dreamland across the centerline or into a ditch. Play it at the rest stop while you take a power nap during a long trip. Open the window while you play it and you won’t be sure where the album ends and nature begins.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Cody at NNA Tapes.]

Review: Khruangin – LateNightTales

When asked to make their own LateNightTales compilation, Khruangbin decided to make it as much a showcase of international talent as possible. The result is a luxurious musical trip around the globe.

Opening track “Illuminations” by Devadip Carlos Santana and Turiya Alice Coltrane is like the opening theme to an exotic romance / adventure film with it’s luscious harp strings, playful violins, and simple piano and guitar chords. “I Know That (When the Spring Time Comes)” by Brilliantes Del Vuelo is robotic dub with thick bass, reverbed hand percussion, and vocals that sound like a Star Wars droid. “Khushi” by Nazia Hassan is Middle Eastern disco with neon synths and a slick hand percussion beat.

Kelly Doyle‘s “DRM” is full of thumping electro-bass and fun, slightly off-kilter beats. The bass gets fatter on Sanullim‘s “Don’t Go” – a track that will go directly onto your disco and / or funk playlists. Maxwell Udoh‘s “I Like It (Don’t Stop)” is more slick disco and David Marez‘s “Enséñame” has big brass horns that Portishead would love to sample and sharp 1970’s Spanish love song vocals.

Gerald Lee‘s “Can You Feel the Love (Reprise)” is pure 1970s bedroom rock with sultry female vocals (“Here we are, sitin’ with one another, so alive and so free…”). Justine and the Victorian Punks have a pillow talk conversation over a sweet groove that would be perfect for strutting your stuff down a runway. George Yanagi and Nadja Band then saunter into the room with a Japanese slow jam that should be on any turntable in the Land of the Rising Sun if you plan on any nocturnal mixers there.

Russian lounge jazz follows that. Khruangbin slide into the mix next with a cover of Kool and the Gang‘s “Summer Madness” that is so smooth that you almost slip on it as it oozes out of your speakers and settles on the floor around you. Paloma San Basilio‘s “Contigo” has playful female vocals backed with R&B bass and wicked high hat work. The horn section on the Roha Band‘s “Yetikimt Abeba” is top-notch, knowing when to move to the front and when to stay out of the way of the vocals and effortless beat. The album ends with a spoken word piece by Tierney Malone and Geoffrey Muller. It’s a love poem that sounds like it’s from space (and, after all, much of the poem is about the speaker chasing after his love who has left the Earth) with simple banjo plucks and space transmission beeps.

It’s a lovely compilation and one that will make you seek out a lot of these artists, as any compilation should do. Hats off to Khruangbin for putting it together for us.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Badge Époque Ensemble – Self Help

Maximilian Turnbull, the frontman for Toronto’s Badge Époque Ensemble, describes their new album, Self Help, as “combining jazz-funk and mysticism.” I don’t think I can describe it better than that.

“Sing a Silent Gospel” starts off the album with something like a Steely Dan tune with its great saxophone work by Karen Ng and bright keyboards from Turnbull. “Unity (It’s Up to You)” is a funky jam with neat vocal harmonies backed by Jay Anderson‘s tight drumming any hip hop DJ would envy. “The Sound Where My Head Was” has a neat 1970s sound to it with Turnbull’s keys and Giosuè Rosati‘s putting down a retro groove.

A lovely flute solo starts “Just Space for Light” and then it melts into a beautiful song about embracing love and light – and more great flute solos from Alia O’Brien. “Birds Fly through Ancient Ruins” is almost eleven minutes of psychedelic jazz that is suitable for meditation, yoga, creating any kind of art, or even belly dancing as Chris Bezant plays dusty western guitar and Ed Squires‘ hand percussion lulls you into a trance. Ng’s sax solo is like something you’d hear in the distance while you find yourself trapped in a film noir.

Turnbull’s smooth piano carries us through the closer, “Extinct Commune,” with hopeful chords to uplift you and give you some of that self-help mentioned in the album’s title.

Self Help is indeed a good title for this album, as that jazz-funk / mysticism combination does you well. It helps you shake cobwebs out of your head and refocus. We all need that this year.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Badge Époque Ensemble release “Just Space for Light” ahead of upcoming album.

Toronto’s Badge Époque Ensemble present a new single, “Just Space For Light” (feat. Jennifer Castle), from their forthcoming album, Self Help, out November 20th on Telephone Explosion Records. “Just Space For Light” follows “Unity (It’s Up To You),” which was presented alongside an incredibly ambitious claymation video, and lead single “Sing A Silent Gospel.” With each new single, which has featured a new guest vocalist (beginning with Meg Remy and Dorothea Paas, then R&B soul artist James Baley and now Castle), Badge Époque Ensemble show more of how their sound and style can evolve into something wholly unexpected. On its onset, “Just Space For Light” is blissfully soothing, drifting with rhodes by bandleader Maximilian Turnbull, flute by Alia O’Brien, percussion by Ed Squires, and Castle’s affecting vocals. As the song approaches its peak, it transforms into a flurry of fragmented guitar and progressive instrumentation.

“’Just Space For Light’ weaves a few BÉE themes together,” says Turnbull. “The collision of disparate moods between sections, lyrics which touch on the meditative experience, and collaboration with a distinctive vocalist; in this case Jennifer Castle, who’s soulful presence on our album is a blessing.”

Listen to Badge Époque Ensemble’s “Just Space For Light” (feat. Jennifer Castle)

Recorded live over three weekends at Toronto’s Palace Sound Studio in the months before lockdown, Self Help is an exploratory record that dances across time and genre, guided by fidgety miniatures and jazz inflected collage. While constructed from the inspiration of soul, funk and film music, BÉE mediate those influences having first digested them through the productions of Madlib and the RZA.

“Unity (It’s Up To You)” (feat. James Baley) Video

“Sing A Silent Gospel” (feat. Meg Remy and Dorothea Paas) Visualizer

Pre-order Self-Help

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Chelique Sarabia – Revolución en Música Venezolana (2019)

In 1971, the Shell Oil Company sponsored Venezuelan poet and musician Chelique Sarabia to compose an album of traditional folk music updated for modern times. This album would be given as Christmas gifts to Shell employees, friends, and customers in 1973. Sarabia enlisted local musicians to play a host of traditional instruments so he could filter those tracks through synthesizers, sequencers, tape loops, and who knows what else. The result, Revolución Electronica en Música Venezolana, was an amazing South American synth-wave album that’s still ahead of its time.

Opening track “El Pajarillo” blends funk bass with traditional guitar arrangements warped by reverb, pan, and filter controls into a trippy, exotic vacation. “Maracaibo en la Noche” blends distant female vocals and birdsongs with the psychedelic guitar. “Polo Margariteño” has what sounds like a lovely clarinet piece throughout it, and the effects are taken off the guitar to let the traditional dance rhythms come to the forefront. “Cantos de Mi Tierra” has a bit of a spooky feel to it at first, which I love, and then it curves into a beautiful dream space.

“El Cumaco de San Juan” shimmers with an underlying brightness that eventually fades as the guitars come forward as snappy as Rice Krispies. “El Diablo Suelto” is as subtle and witty as Old Scratch himself. “Polo Coriano” sounds like it’s going to be a bold piano-led track at first, but then makes a left turn and becomes a toe-tapping track that brings a smile to your face.

The opening chants of “Mare-Mare por Comer Zopoara el Pájaro Guarandol” weave in and out of the track but rarely overtake the beautiful accordion, organ, and traditional guitar flourishes. “Somobra en los Médanos” reminds me a bit of Italian romantic comedy scores from the 1960’s, and Sarabia puts the filter effects to good use again on the guitar solos.

“Barlovento” gets off to a mind-warp start and continues spinning down a rabbit hole into a Venezuelan wonderland of guitar solos, traditional hand percussion, and echoing vocal sounds. “Rio Manzanares” brings in a hot saxophone riff now and then to mix with the traditional guitar strumming, producing a great effect. Not to be outdone, the closing track, “La Bella del Tamuangue,” adds a trumpet that drifts back and forth from leading with skillful zigging and zagging to hanging out in the back with long, soft tones to add more psychedelia.

It’s a sharp record that will make you want to bug out to South American for at least a few weeks, and, again, so far ahead of its time that it sounds like it could’ve been released last week instead of almost fifty years ago.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Guerssen Records.]

Rewind Review: Calibro 35 – Sogni Di Gloria (2014)

Milano, Italy’s Calibro 35 make music for films that are either independent affairs or that never existed, but should. Their score to Sogni Di Gloria, however, is from an actual comedic film directed by John Snellinberg about two men named Giulio – one of Italian descent and the other of Chinese descent – living in Italy and trying to get by.

The score gets off to a fun start on “Maionese (Titoli de Testa)” with plenty of surf guitar to go around for everyone. “Tema dello Sbattezzato” brings in delightful organ to match the cool guitar licks. “Come un valzer” could fit right into a 1970’s Euro-crime film, and “Notturno” is the late night jazz of your dreams.

The organ chords on “Tema di Alice” bring to mind summer walks along a sunlit country road. “Tema dello Sbattezzato (Bolero)” is a nice reprise. The guitars on “Tema malinconico” take on a bit of a psychedelic touch with their surf tones. “La partita” is a fun race with groovy bass and super-spy synths. You might want to check your pulse if it doesn’t move you. The whistling on “Un rigors sbagliato” will remind you of many spaghetti western scores – something Calibro 35 do well.

The bass groove on “Lento dello Sbattezzato” is slick in its subtlety. “Come un tango” is fun, sexy, and mysterious all at the same time. More funky bass is prominent throughout “Sala da carte,” and I love that groovy 1960’s organ, too.

The score ends with reprises of “Tema dello Sbattezzato” and “Tema malinconico” before we’re treated to the lovely “Il tempo che non ho vissuto” – the only song with vocals on the record. They are, of course, in Italian, and, of course, beautiful.

I need to track down this film, and any that Calbro 35 have scored. If the films are half as good as the scores, they’ll be winners.

Keep your mind open.

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