Two simple chords, a few notes on the piano and a soaring theme on the flugelhorn. Neither classical nor jazz but floating somewhere in between, a slow piece replete with subtle internal rhythms, “Her first dance” is a superb composition by Ukrainian pianist Misha Alperin. Instantly captivating and quintessentially ... [Continue Reading]
Jazz
Sam Jackson: The Gramophone
Sam Jackson is a Dublin based pianist, but when I heard "The Gramophone" for the first time on the radio, I mistook it for what could have been a track from an early recording from the Esbjörn Svensson Trio. Sam Jackson's music is of the same calibre. "The feeling I have something to say, the great difficulty in saying ... [Continue Reading]
Brad Mehldau: River Man
Any version of Nick Drake’s River man will always stop me in my tracks. The unusual time signature and the eerie contemporary classical arrangements to the original song make it such a rich ground for covers. If Norma Waterson’s version introduced me to the song, it is Brad Mehldau’s cover I keep coming back to. The American ... [Continue Reading]
Ibrahim Maalouf: Will soon be a woman
Born in Lebanon and now based in France, Ibrahim Maalouf is a young jazz trumpet player whose sound can truly be described as unique. Ibrahim Maalouf plays a "hybrid" trumpet fitted with a fourth valve, allowing him to play the quarter tones specific the Arabic melodic modes and scales. The instrument was designed in the late ... [Continue Reading]
About Spellbinding Music
Why is it that a particular piece of music, a tune or a song will move us in such a way that it will stop us in our tracks, send shivers up our spine or give us goose bumps? Spiritual or secular musical traditions such as Sufi music, Gnawa music, plainchant, gospel, blues etc. all imply elements of introspection, meditation or ... [Continue Reading]