Greetings! Every Friday I’ll be bringing you some highlights of new music we are featuring here on Jazz88. This is all connected to This Just In, our weekly show that celebrates new jazz releases. You can catch This Just In, hosted by moi, Fridays at noon on 88.5, or catch it on your own schedule from our on-demand page.
If you have input about the music we’re playing, or ideas about what else we should be playing, let me know please! I can be reached at sean@jazz88.fm.
Jenny Klukken – “La Vie en rose” Listen Here
Start seeing marimbas! It’s a bumper sticker I would buy for sure. Jenny Klukken has carved out a lane for herself as a jazz-conversant marimba player. In the past two years, Klukken has released a handful of singles that display her great approach and her chemistry with the rhythm section of Chris Bates (b) and Dave Schmalenberger (ds). For her latest effort, Klukken grabbed the Piaf gem, “La Vie en rose” and did a faithful reading. I have always been partial to “La Vie en rose,” and to hear Klukken work through the melody, and a solo with the marimba, is a thing of beauty. The performance conjures just the right proportion of whimsy to intensity. Clocking in at 2:46, I find myself spinning it twice in a row just to catch a little more of the flavor.
Yussef Dayes – “The Colour Purple” from his album Live from Malibu Listen Here
There’s a newish trend in the world of music which I like to call the “adjoining twin” album. In maybe the last ten years, I’ve seen artists who release a full proper album full of production, videos, and all the trappings of a full-length project, and within maybe a year, they’ll have something out that is sort of an addendum. Maybe it’s the outtakes, maybe it’s a live performance, maybe it’s some covers. But these addendums often have a playful exuberance that their more highly produced twins don’t have. With the release of Black Classical Music, Yussef Dayes rightfully threw in the kitchen sink in making a sonic masterpiece. But I don’t want this masterpiece to obscure it’s more understated twin, Live from Malibu. I love Rocco Palladino’s reading of Pastorius’s “Portrait of Tracy,” but that is just the tip of the Malibu iceberg. Dig in and hear another side of Yussef Dayes and his world-class band.
Mark Lipson – “Launch Control” from his new album Launch Control Listen Here
I’m a liner notes guy. I like to know who is playing. I like to new who recorded it. Back in the day, I liked knowing the difference between AAD records and ADD records and all of that. If you don’t know about all that here’s a link. Suffice it to say, I was excited when I saw Ian Finklestein’s name show up on a recording from a Detroit drummer I wasn’t yet familiar with. Finkelstein is the keyboard player with Kassa Overall and he’s incredible! For much of the set with Kassa, Finkelstein’s left hand serves as the bass player and the way he delivers that, while soaring above with his right, is amazing. But here, in a much more straight ahead setting, Finkelstein shines as well. He grabs the first solo and throughout the song lives up to the energy that the rest of the band is setting up. I love liner notes. Through a piano player, I’ve become a fan of a drummer out of Detroit I might’ve otherwise missed. But no matter who is behind the piano bench for the next album, I’ll be keeping track of Mark Lipson. . .he’s too good to miss!
Thanks for checking out This Just In, and be sure to shoot an email over to sean@jazz88.fm if you have any input about our music programming!
-Sean McPherson
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