Outside-Inside-Out

Here’s a whole host of things y’all should check out if you get a chance (in no particular order):

-Ray Anderson-Marty Ehrlich Quartet: Hear You Say – Live in Willisau, (Intuition).  With Brad Jones on bass and Matt Wilson on drums.  Really fun live set – crazy and out there, but not so far as being unaccessible.  The whole disc is full of unexpected twist and turns.

-Ken Thomson and Slow/Fast: It Would Be Easier If (Intuition).  Half chamber jazz, half sideways punk rawk (in attitude only) freak out, half awesome.  With track names like “Goddamn You Ice Cream Truck” it can only be good.  With Thomson on bass clarinet and alto, Russ Johnson on trumpet, guitarist Nir Felder, bassist Adam Armstrong and drummer Fred Kennedy

-Ike Sturm: Jazz Mass.  Check my review of it in like the July or August issue of Downbeat.  Orchestra, choir, and killing solos from Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin and Loren Stillman.

-Dave Douglas and Keystone: Spark of Being (Greenleaf Music).  I’m going to write more on this one since I saw the band last week.  Get this out of sheer principle.

-Anat Fort Trio: And If (ECM).  I’ll be reviewing this one shortly.  Tasty.

-Brad Goode: Tight Like This (Delmark). I’m working on a review for this one for Downbeat.  Stay tuned.  Great trumpeter.

-Kenny Werner: No Beginning No End (Half Note).  This primarily orchestral work was written in the aftermath of the death of Werner’s daughter.  Features Joe Lovano and Lovano’s wife vocalist Judi Silvano.  Powerful stuff.  Not sure if it’s jazz, but who cares.

-Rudresh Mahanthappa/Steve Lehman: Dual Identity (Clean Feed).  Holy crap.  Two fast rising alto players who throw down some nasty and aggressive playing.  Guitarist Liberty Ellman (I think that’s right, I downloaded it off Amazon, which sucks cause there’s no liner notes or one sheets with a download) is great too.

That’s it for tonight folks.  Lots more great stuff where this came from.