Cds from abroad
The debut album from the electric duo of Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana, is out on Nonesuch Records (March 18 on vinyl). “astonishing,” Jazzwise magazine
In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, becoming the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean and founding the first permanent European settlement in the Americas. Those events continue to resonate five centuries later as Panama celebrates the landmark anniversary.On his new Mack Avenue release Panama 500, favorite son Danilo Pérez adds his voice to the tributes with a stunning portrait of his native land, its storied history, rich culture and fierce struggles.
For Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, the title of his sixth album for ECM has a programmatic significance. Extended Circle refers, he says, to the completion of a “double circle” of trilogies: the first with the trio heard on Changing Places, The Ground and Being There, and the second with the quartet (formed inside the expanded ensemble of Restored, Returned in 2009 and then documented on The Well in 2012).
The year 2013 has been a banner one for Pat Metheny. After being awarded his 20th Grammy, for Unity Band, and the release of his critically acclaimed recording of Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Vol. 20, Metheny received word that the readers of DownBeat magazine had voted to induct him into its Hall of Fame. Not only is Metheny the youngest member, but he is also only the fourth jazz guitarist to be chosen for that honor, joining Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Wes Montgomery.
“Now billed as the biggest-selling instrumentalist in France, the Lebanese-born trumpeter returns with illusions. Always a musical magpie, this time his band opens with a burst of bombastic rock before building to the joyous call-and-response of Nomade Slang. Aside from the noiseplay that spoils Busy, I defy anyone not to be seduced by Maalouf s giddy mix of Eastern and Western rhythms.” The Times
Recorded at his home studio in 1986, No End illuminates hitherto undocumented aspects of Keith Jarrett’s music.
The landmark box set Miles Davis: The Original Mono Recordings is available beginning today!
