My Best Jazz Albums of 2015 List

1. Gefion, Jakob Bro, ECM

2. 10 Years Solo Live, Brad Mehldau, Nonesuch Records

3. Robin Goodie, Zhenya Strigalev's Smiling Organizm, Whirlwind Recordings

4. The Epic, Kamasi Washington, Brainfeeder

5. Press Enter, Romain Collin, ACT

6. Vijay Iyer Trio, Break Stuff, ECM

7. Imaginary Cities, Chris Potter Underground Orchestra, ECM

8. Everyday, Yaron Herman, Blue Note

9. Boundaries, Antonio Faraò, Universal Music 

10. This is The Day, Giovanni Guidi Trio, ECM

11. Pinball, Marius Neset, ACT

Misfit, Elif Çağlar, 2015 (Türkçe)

Biz müzik yazarları bazen dinlediğimiz müzik hakkında fazlaca önyargılı olabiliriz. Çok fazla sayıda eleştirel dinleme yapan birisinin kulaklarının önceden okudukları ve gördüklerinden etkilenmemesi pek mümkün değil tabii. Bu önyargılar içerisinde albümde çalan müzisyenlerin kim olduğu belki de en etkili olanı. Bu yüzden Türkiye'nin iyi vokalistlerinden Elif Çağlar'ın 2015'te çıkan Misfit albümünün dikkatimi çekmesinin ardında müthiş bir line-up olduğu gerçeğini sizlerden saklamayacağım. Piyanoda Aaron Parks, basta Harish Raghavan ve davulda Eric Harland'tan oluşan etkileyici temel üçlünün bazı parçalarda saksofonda İlhan Erşahin, trompette İmer Demirer ve perdesiz gitar & ebow'da Cenk Erdoğan tarafından desteklendiği bir albümle karşı karşıyayız.

Bütün besteler ve düzenlemeler Elif Çağlar'a ait ve bence bu, vokal ile enstrümanlar arası sıkı bir uyumun sağlandığı bu albümü beraberinde getirmiş. Albümü kolaylıkla caz sınıfında değerlendirebiliriz; ama daha çok Avrupa stili olduğunu da söylemek lazım. Sıradan bir vokal caz albümünde olanın aksine, Elif Çağlar vokalin önde olduğu şarkılar yerine, vokalinin bütün müziğin eşit ve destekleyici parçalarından biri olduğu şarkılar üretmiş. Enstrümanları sadece eşlikçi olarak değerlendirmek kesinlikle çok zor. Üçlünün etkileyici performanslarındaki tansiyon değişiklikleri Elif Çağlar'ın sesinde oldukça yerinde bir yansıma bulmuş. Şarkıların sözleri pek tekrar eden nitelikte değil ve şarkı sözünden daha çok bazı hikayelerin parçaları gibiler. Bu bence şarkıları söyleyene ayrı bir zorluk getiriyor - müzikte kolay ve yakalanması kolay parçaların yokluğunda olabildiğince melodik olmak sanırım bu zorluğun adı. Albümün ana teması ikinci parçaya ismini veren ve albüm notlarında da kendisine yer bulan "Misfit" üzerine kurulu gibi.

İlk parça You Are Safe kendi halinde naif bas ve davul partisyonlarının yanında vokal bir tanıtım ile başlıyor. Aaron Parks'ın piyanosu Elif Çağlar'ın icrasına simetrik olarak yoluna devam ediyor. Beste kendi başına trio performans olarak bile iyi tonlayacak kadar güzel. Eric Harland tüm enerjiyi kaldıracak genişlikte bir dinamik aralık sağlıyor. Haris Raghavan'ın bas tonu ise vokale uygun şekilde oldukça yumuşak. 

Albüme adını veren Misfit oldukça kalifiye başka bir beste - enstrüman icraları vokal için sadece fon olmaktan oldukça uzaklar; bunun yerine adeta kendi üçlü icralarını yapıyor gibiler. Eric Harland devamlı değişen hızı ve ritim ekipmanıyla parçanın enerjik ruhunun arkasındaki asıl karakter gibi görünüyor. Sözler "misfit"ler için yazılmış - ana akıma uymayan kişiler için...  

Catch Us If You Can hareketli bir Türkçe ritim ile başlayıp İlhan Erşahin'in etkileyici girişiyle bambaşka bir hal alıyor. Sözler çocuklarla ilgili. Enerjik çocuklarla... Özellikle başlangıç kısmıyla Before neredeyse bir ECM albümü gibi tonluyor. Harish Raghavan'ın icrasına hem solosu hem de her şeyin üstünde duyulabilen güçlü tonu nedeniyle burada bir kez daha dikkati çekmek istiyorum. Elif Çağlar'ın vokali bu parçada diğerlerine göre oldukça farklı. Bütün yerli ve türe bağlı etkilerden arınmış olan onun bu stilinin favorim olduğunu belirtmek isterim. Get Out Get Out, bugünün para, tüketim ve şöhret üzerine kurulu dünya düzenine karşı bir şarkı gibi. Sadece sözleriyle değil Elif Çağlar'ın ve diğer icracıların performansları ile de oldukça etkileyici bir parça. Aaron Parks performansa oldukça elektrikli bir hava katıyor ve Eric Harland farklı enerji seviyeleri arasında yüksek frekanslı vuruşlarla gerçekleştirdiği geçişleriyle tek kelimeyle müthiş.

Aaron Parks'ın bas hatlardaki karanlık tonu Follow You'ya korku filmini andırır bir giriş oluşturuyor. Şarkının ana gövdesi ise aksine oldukça umutlu ve bu bölümde sanırım Elif Çağlar'ın albümdeki en iyi performanslarından birine tanık oluyoruz. Eric Harland ve Harish Raghavan, Aaron Parks ve Elif Çağlar tarafından yola bırakılan noktaların arasını doldurmakla meşguller ve bunda oldukça başarılılar. Piyanodaki yağmur damlalarını andıran dokunuşlar ve Cenk Erdoğan'ın perdesiz gitar eşliği ile başlayan The Books, özellikle son mısralardan sonra oldukça ilginç bir hal almakta - Elif Çağlar'ın Türk müziğinden esintiler taşıyan vokal parçacıklarına, Cenk Erdoğan'ın perdesiz gitarı ve ebow'u eşlik etmekte.

Grown Up Türk caz müziğinin başka bir tecrübeli ve önde gelen müzisyeni İmer Demirer'e ait icrayı içermekte. İmer Demirer'in trompeti ve üçlü arasındaki uyum çok hoş ve dokunaklı. Albümün sonuna doğru bu parça sakin bir ada gibi. Sözler çok zor bir soru üzerine kurulu: Neden büyürüz? Man Down, Eric Harland ve Harish Raghavan'ın yıldırım hızındaki performansları ile başlıyor. Elif Çağlar onların hızına yetişmeyi kolaylıkla başarıyor ve solo icrasından da anlaşılacağı gibi Aaron Parks, grubun cool üyesi. Sondaki vibratoyu andıran Elif Çağlar performansı etkileyici. Pieces of Heaven albüme yavaş tempolu bir son olacakmış gibi başlasa da bu durum ilk 30 saniyenin ardından değişiyor. Bazı vokal hereketler bana yeniden doğu etkilerini hatırlatıyor. Piyano tabanlı bir üçlünün müziğine bu hareketlerin entegre edilmesini gerçekten ilgi çekici buldum.

Albüm üç farklı yerde üç farklı ekip tarafından kaydedilmiş: Brooklyn Recording - New York - Andrew Taub & Nick Nagurka, Babajim Studios - İstanbul - Özcan Ertek & Görkem Gürdoğan ve Studio Undo - İstanbul - Barış Yerli. Miksaj Alp Turaç, mastering ise Pieter Snapper tarafından Babajim Stüdyoları'nda gerçekleştirilmiş. Albümün yapımcılığını Elif Çağlar üstlenmiş ve albüm NU-DC Records'tan yayımlanmış. 

Genel manada kayıt kalitesi ve enstrümanların sahneye yerleşimi oldukça başarılı. Vokal/enstrüman dengesi çok iyi ayarlanmış. Kayıt yeterince organik tonluyor ve özellikle davul ve bas oldukça tane tane ve temiz. 

Albümün ilk parçası için youtube örneğini sizlerle paylaşıyorum:

Elif Çağlar'ın gelecek performanslarını ve albümü edinme ile ilgili bilgileri sitesinden takip edebilirsiniz: http://www.elifcaglar.com

Misfit, Elif Çağlar, 2015

We, music writers, can be very preconceived about the music we listen. If someone critically listens to a lot of albums, it is generally hard to leave her/his ears free of things she/he preliminarily learned about the music played. The line-up can be the most effective property of an album around this prejudice. So I won't lie about the fact that I have been firstly hit by the line-up of Turkish vocalist Elif Çağlar's 2015 album called Misfit. Aaron Parks on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass and Eric Harland on drums make an amazing main trio featured in some pieces by İlhan Erşahin on saxophone, İmer Demirer on trumpet and Cenk Erdoğan on ebow & fretless guitar. 

All compositions and arrangements belong to Elif Çağlar and this seems to have produced an album of full harmony between instruments and the vocal. We can classify the album easily in jazz but mostly in European style. Instead of those of an ordinary vocal jazz album, Elif Çağlar created songs in which her characteristic voice is not the main character but an equal and supplementary part of the whole music. The instrumental performances are no way just accompaniment. The tensional changes in the main trio's impressive performances are successfully reflected in vocalist's voice. The lyrics are hardly repeating itself and more than lyrics they sound like words from some stories. This creates a challenge for the singer - to be as melodic as possible against lack of easy and catchy textures in music. The main theme is built on the title Misfit which also found place in the liner notes as well as in the track namings as the second number. 

The first track You Are Safe starts with some naive bass & drum partitions and vocal introduction. Aaron Parks' piano flows on a symmetric line to Elif Çağlar's performance. The composition is so beautiful that it sounds really impressive even as a stand alone trio piece. Eric Harland creates a very wide dynamic range for the overall energy of the piece and Harish Raghavan's bass carries a soft ambience consistently to the vocal performance. 

The title track is another example of a very qualified composition - the instruments are far away from being just a background for the vocal; they are instead playing as if this is their own trio performance. Eric Harland seems to be the main character behind the energetic soul in which the listener is constantly surprised with his toggling pace and rhythm equipment. The story told in the lyrics is for misfits - for the ones outside the mainstream. 

Catch Us If You Can starts like a simple up tempo Turkish rhythm but then turns into something else especially with İlhan Erşahin's impressive entrance. The lyrics are about kids. Energetic kids... Before sounds almost like an ECM album with its introduction. Harish Raghavan's exceptional performance should be mentioned here both for his solo and strong tone audible behind everything else. Elif Çağlar's vocal sounds extraordinary especially in the first part compared to her other performances in the album. I can say that this tone of hers is my favourite with any local or genre-related influences removed. Get Out Get Out is a rebellious song against all today's world order dependent on consumption, money and fame. It is impressive not only with its lyrics but also with the musical performance shown by Elif Çağlar as well as intrumentalists. The keys from Aaron Parks give a real electrified ambience to the piece and Eric Harland is amazing on his drums swinging between different levels in the tension with high frequency strokes. 

Aaron Parks' dark tone from bass lines creates a horror-movie-like entrance for the piece Follow You. In contrast, main body carries a hopeful theme and we listen to one of the best performances of the album for Elif Çağlar. Eric Harland and Harish Raghavan are very busy and successful again with joining the dots put by Aaron Parks and Elif Çağlar. Started with some rain drops from the piano and some minimal touches from Cenk Erdoğan's fretless guitar, The Books turns out to be a very interesting piece especially at the last verses of the lyrics, after which we hear a very spicy - surely from Turkish music - vocal particles from Elif Çağlar accompanied by a great performance of Cenk Erdoğan from ebow and fretless guitar.  

Grown Up features another prominent and experienced Turkish musician, trumpetist İmer Demirer. The harmony between the trio and the trumpet is so nice and touchy. Through the end of the album, this piece is like a calm island. The lyrics are based on a difficult question: Why Do We Grow Up? Man Down starts with a thunder-like performance of Eric Harland and Harish Raghavan. Elif Çağlar achives to be as fast as them and Aaron Parks is the cool-headed member of the band as can be seen from his nice solo performance. The vibrato-like vocal from Elif Çağlar is impressive in the end. Pieces of Heaven starts like a slow tempo final for the album but the tension changes just after the first 30 seconds. Some vocal movements reminds me again some eastern influences and it is interesting to see these nuances merged with a piano-based trio music. 

The album is recorded in three different places by three different crews: Brooklyn Recording in New York by Andrew Taub & Nick Nagurka, Babajim Studios in İstanbul by Özcan Ertek & Görkem Gürdoğan and Studio Undo in İstanbul by Barış Yerli. The mixing is achieved by Alp Turaç and the mastering is made by Pieter Snapper both from Babajim Studios. The album is produced by Elif Çağlar and it is released by NU-DC Records. 

The overall sound clarity and placements of all instruments on the stage are all successful. The vocal/instruments balance is very well achieved. The record sounds organic enough and especially drum and bass are very granular and clear. 

Here is a sample from youtube for the first track:

You can follow Elif Çağlar's upcoming events and get the album purchasing information from her website: http://www.elifcaglar.com/?l=en 

25. Akbank Caz Festivali Konserlerine Kısa Bir Bakış: Lizz Wright, Joe Lovano & John Scofield Quartet, Marc Sinan & Oğuz Büyükberber Duo, David Murray Infinity Quartet

Bu yazıda katılabildiğim Akbank Caz Festivali konserleri hakkında kısaca bilgi vereceğim. Aslına bakarsanız yazacak fazla bir şey bulamamıştım; ama kısaca notlar düşme gerekliliği gördüm. 

Lizz Wright'ı gerçekten yıllardır dinlerim. 25 Ekim Pazar günkü konser öncesi beklentim çok yüksekti ama hem yeni albümdeki parçaları hem de özellikle arkasındaki grubun performansını ve kalitesini yeterli bulamadım. Her ne kadar konser ilerledikçe sound biraz daha oturmuş olsa da, özellikle davul tarafı oldukça sıkıntılıydı. Gitar her ne kadar groovy zıplamalara imza atmış olsa da oldukça sıradandı. Sanırım beğendiğim tek performans o duru ve güçlü sesiyle biste verdiği solo kısımdı. Bu arada benim takip edebildiğim kadarıyla Lizz Wright'ın istemesine rağmen bir türlü gelmeyen gitarı, (veya başka bir şey ya da soğukla ilgili bir işaret, açıkçası tam anlayamadım) devamındaki moral bozukluğu ve devamlı üşümesi de dikkatimi çok dağıttı.

John Scofield ve Joe Lovano'nun önderliğindeki quartetin -hem de davulda Bill Stewart varken- belirli bir seviyenin altında kötü bir performans vermesi neredeyse mümkün değil. Müzisyenler bu kabullenmenin yersiz olmadığını performansları ile bize gösterdiler. Yeni albüm Past Present sunuldu konserde genel olarak. John Scofield'ın eşsiz tonu yine reverb olmadan zımba misali yerimize sabitledi bizleri. Lovano'nun enerjisi ise inanılmazdı. Bill Stewart'ınkiler kadar keskin ve zamanlaması mükemmel vuruşlar ve bir o kadar keyifli sololar her zaman karşılaşacağımız şeyler değil. (Ben Street'in kontrbas icrasında sıkıntı olmasa da salonda pek duyamayışımız biraz sıkıntı oldu.) Yine de ustaları kendi liglerinde değerlendirmek ve bir üçüncü dünya ülkesi dinleyicisi gibi bakmamak lazım icralarına. Ne demek istiyorum? Yeni albümün ve bu performansın sanatçıların şimdiye kadar gördüğümüz yaratımlarına çok bir şey eklediğini söyleyemem. Örneğin John Scofield'ın 2011'deki Gospel konseptli albümü ve İstanbul konseri hakkında yazılacak çok şey bulabilirken, 25 Ekim Pazar günkü CRR İstanbul konseri için John bildiğimiz John diyebiliyoruz. Bu herkes için ne kadar sıkıntı bilemem ama benim için sıkıntı. Yaratabilmek, sadece ticari kaygılar gütmeden bir albüm için bir araya gelebilmek ve yoğunlaşıp yeni bir şeyler ortaya koymak bence önemli.  

Marc Sinan ve Oğuz Büyükberber, 27 Ekim'de Akbank Sanat'ın küçük ama kalifiye salonunda -müzisyenlerin daha önceki performanslarından ve albümlerinden tahmin ettiğim doğrultuda- atonalitenin (Marc bunun için intuitive tonality diyor), elektronik katkının ve asimetrik eşliğin bir araya geldiği duo gitar & klarnet konserleriyle karşımıza çıktılar. Marc Sinan'ı ECM vesilesiyle Fasıl albümünden beri takip edebiliyorum. Alan kayıtları yapan, Almanya'daki çağdaş müzik ortamında özgürce doğaçlayabilen ve bestelerinde gerçek hikayeleri tema edinen iddialı bir gitarist. Oğuz Büyükberber'i hiç canlı dinleyememiştim ama Amsterdam'ın etkisiyle de, onun da özgür doğaçlama ile yakından ilgili olduğunun farkındaydım. Sıradışı ve çarpıcı bir konserdi. Elektronik katkı ve yönlü dinletilen insan sesleriyle bir çağdaş sanat müzesinde üzücü insan hikayelerinin resmedildiği bir enstolasyonun önünde gibiydik. 

David Murray Infinity Quartet yine tanımıyla bile efsane olabilecek bir kadro: Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits ve Jaribu Shahid dersem herhalde aynı yorumu size de yaptırırım. Bir de buna müteveffa Mehmet Uluğ'un anısına trombonda Craig Harris'ın da katıldığını düşünürseniz karşımızda yine belirli bir seviyenin altına düşme ihitmali olmayan bir performans beklememiz öyle pek de yanlış bir beklenti olmaz. Ekibin İstanbul'da bu konseptin albüm kaydı için bir araya geldiğini de hatırlatayım. Bu İstanbul'daki caz sahnesi ve Babylon için oldukça önemli. Gel gelelim, her ne kadar özellikle David Murray'in kişisel icrasının ve Orrin Evans ile Nasheet Waits arası enerjik diyalogların çok başarılı olduğunu düşünsem de konseptin ortaya çıkardığı şiirlerle ve vokalle desteklenen bestelerin zaman zaman ustalardan beklenmeyecek sıkıcılıkta olduğunu da belirtmem gerekiyor. Yine de -ben konserin ortasında özel bir problemden dolayı çıktığım için kulağına güvendiğim bir kaç arkadaşıma danışmak zorunda kaldım- sonraki bazı balad beste ve icraların başarılı olduğunu öğrendim. Babylon'un yeni Bomonti mekanı ile ilgili de bir kaç laf etmem lazım. Mekan zaman geçtikçe bence İstanbul'un en önemli performans merkezlerinin başında gelecek ama zaten iddiası da olmadığı ve bir önceki mekandan da anlaşılacağı üzere bir caz kulübü değil ve zaten caz kulübü hacimlerinin oldukça üstünde. Tabii biraz da -her ne kadar difüzörlerle desteklenmişse de- yansımalar hala hissediliyor. Bütün bu özelliklerine rağmen, mekanı, New York'un en güzel bodrum katlarından biri olan görece alçak tavanlı, duvarları tarih kokan Village Vanguard ile kıyaslayan yazıları şaşkınlıkla okuduğumu belirtmek isterim.

Kalmayı planladığım İstanbul'dan erken ayrılmak zorunda kaldığım için Cumartesi günkü Tingvall Trio konserine katılamayacağım ama yazımı okuyan herkese ısrarla tavsiye ederim.

Im Vertrauen, Julia Kadel Trio, 2014

The first time I listened to Julia Kadel Trio was April 2015 in Bremen - at one of jazz showcases of Jazzahead. I expected a nice performance but what they had done on that day, exceeded my expectations and I was tempted to get their debut album from 2014, Im Vertrauen to write a review. 

The album sounds amazingly mature compared to a debut of such young musicians and the taste which stayed in my ears reminded me of old and nice feelings I get when I listened to very experienced European jazz trios. Structured on strong jazzy textures, influenced by classical music -carrying also pop traces- and performed in an improvisational and classy way, the pieces composing the album are like successive parts of a complete story. In my opinion, the technique is more dominant in the presentation compared to the content; but the energetic spirit the musicians spreading through their instruments enriches this content. They do not seem to be caring a lot for the audience to be caught at the first note but instead, they straightly play what they want without trying to stand only by melodic compositions. Besides improvisations and a piece by Karl-Erik Enkelmann, the compositions belong to Julia Kadel. 

The title track is the first one and it sounds like a state of full trust - as reflected in its naming. The idea seems to be giving the main improvisational leadership to the piano and letting the drums and the bass to concentrate on the tension control. A very clear and inquisitive piano riff is followed by a very cultivated bass solo accompanied by minimal piano touches and drums in the introduction of Fragen. Thereafter, we faced a main theme of ever-increasing tension and volume, which changes place with the introductive piano-riff and its derivatives again later on.

Innendrin is a complete improvisation and its main character is heartbeat-like bass rhythm showing the way to the rest of the trio. The piano talks just a little; but what/how it says is impressive. An ordinary but very well performed -let me say- European jazz trio rhythm line is once again driven by a dark but melodic piano line in Zweifünfzig. Bass solo is impressive with its string-pulling sounds. The dynamic tensional state and rhythm throughout the piece makes it something very joyful to follow. The disappearance of the bass and drums to let the piano fly freely and their return for accompaniment are all very well designed and they really sound like a trio playing together for some ten years. As can be easily seen from Regentag, the trio has a style and the album has a story. A story which is complete and well sorted in terms of its events... Julia Kadel's performance is impressive in this comparisingly long piano partitions. 

Composed by the bassist Karl-Erik Enkelmann, Die Behauptung is very attractive with drummer Steffen Roth's nice performance -after a very long almost silent introduction- accompanied by minimal but very touchy piano and the double bass played with bow. Started with a dark tone and shuffled into many energetic parts, the piano is like a reflection of a surprising state of mind in Nicht Bleiben. Another complete improvisation, Vorwärts shows us how successful these musicians are at listening to each others. A very impressive and naive piano solo introduction turns out to be a nice trio performance in Aufwachen. A mystic aura is spread to the living room with Vorbei -while the double bass is performing both from the bow and the string, and the soft piano is being accompanied by hand strokes to the toms. 

The album ends with three fully improvisational pieces. Although written as a trio improvisation in the liner notes, piano starts like playing a well-known and melodic solo line in Alles Wollen. Julia Kadel proves the virtuosity here with a complete solo improvisation. I am sure listening to a solo album from her would be very joyful. Leise Schritte starts as a very spontaneous act and thanks to the nice follow achieved by the piano for the drum and bass, this improvisational performance tied into a very nice and collaborative one. Tropfen is based on the minimal bass background created by the strokes of the bow to the strings. The piano and drums are giving so little contribution to this mystic aura, leaving the listener in an empty state of mind at the end of the album. This is surely a fantastic end for such an album.

The album was produced by well-known German drummer Eric Schäfer and the album was released by Blue Note. 

The album was recorded by Jean-Boris Szymczak at Studio P4, Berlin. Mastering is achieved by Götz-Michael Rieth at Eastside Mastering Studios. The sound design seems to be very well achieved letting the musicians be listened to transparently. Especially for hearing the nuances on the bass, I can certainly make that claim.

Julia Kadel's website is as follows: http://juliakadel.com 

You can follow their following performances from here: http://juliakadel.com/live/ 

Here is their Jazzahead 2015 performance as the whole performance: 

Love, Majamisty TriO, 2014

It's been a long time I have been writing about music - especially about jazz. Especially about European Jazz... I am not the same guy who started a music blog more than 3 years ago just to share what he likes with friends and followers. With joy or pain, experience is something good. Something necessary for everyone... I faced lots of opportunities to gain experience on my tight scheduled musical life. Concerts, festivals, editors, critics, managers, label owners, distributors, jazz clubs, jazzy cities... I was just a collector and listener at first, which made me follow labels and review the albums I had been listening to. Following musicians was something new after seeing some festivals from Europe. I started to learn a lot on what's going on at the backstage of everything. It led me to make interviews with the musicians and I even had many good friends among them whose albums are on my shelves. I can not say that everything I learned was joyful and interesting though. The main change -or let me say enlightment- came when I started to feel that most of the talents of European Jazz are performing their music without a well known label or a professional manager. Especially after the last Jazzahead, I now know that it's not just a feeling but a fact and I'm sure this is the case all around the world in general for unpopular music. So, from then on, I became more careful about jazz albums independently printed and distributed. You may have noticed this from some of my latest reviews. That is not an act of blind support for freelance; but instead, if some freelance musicians are playing as well as musicians distributed via big jazz labels, at least I can do something as a freelance music writer. The labels are waiting for managers to support the musicians before they support them and the managers are waiting for labels to support musicians before they support them. So if music writers join this deadlock chain too; then who will help to spread the word for heroes of good music?

Well, what is the reason for such a long and boring introduction to an album review? I wrote it, because I am again writing about a jazz album which is outside the big and well-known label-manager world. 

Serbian Jazz is taking my attraction more and more everyday. Majamisty TriO (Maja Alvanovic on piano, Ervin Malina on double bass and Istvan Cik on drums) is among the most successful bands from there nowadays as far as I could listen to two albums of them. It seems that after their interesting debut Mistyland, they decided to hit the European Jazz stage with the amazing Love in 2014. They played in Pizza Jazz Express London just a week ago and I am sure they will be widely known as time will pass. 

Love includes mostly the pianist Maja Alvanovic's compositions and I can assure you that these compositions will impress you deeply thanks to its progressive style and catchy melodies of Balkan influence forming the background for qualified and improvisational performances. The trio has been playing for almost 5 years and they sound really organic and complete. They used many different adds to their basic setting such as vocal, saxophone and percussion in order to increase their sonic depth but I feel like the more album they will release the more concentrated on the basic trio they will be in time. They control the tension in their music very well and this easily put them on the list of good piano trios. 

Thin Moon is mystic and tensional at the same time... A suspicious first impression of mine suddenly turned out to be a "wow" after listening to the great harmony of the trio and amazing main theme giving the main role to the piano. The ever-evolving-partitions of the keys, surprising tensional state and tempo make the first piece a very attractive one, pushing me to keep on listening to the whole album with a more concentrated mind.

A very motivated, dignified and cool bass line from the piano introduces the main theme of Suddenly Japan and gives the floor to the double bass accompanied by minimal strokes to the sides of the snare, consistent with the aura created initially. Well, in my humble opinion, this main theme is one of the most catchy compositions in last years of European Jazz. Although the title gives the clue of Japanese influence, I've heard a solid connection between the rhythm of this main theme and Balkan music. Especially Ervin Malina's performance on double bass is impressive. 

I think, Rain Dots starts with wind and not-too-heavy thunder sounds and gives place to the piano and percussion (by Uros Secerov) resembling to the rain drops touching to the ground. Aleksandra Drobac adds vocal support to this crystal-like performance which sometimes increases the tension with soft screamings. 

Chat with Gagarin inevitably reminds me of Esbjörn Svensson Trio with the trio's 1999 album called From Gagarin's Point of Fiew. Although this piece doesn't sound similar to the title track of that album, different than the others in the album Love, Chat with Gagarin feels like listening to E.S.T. -I think- since it is a bit more independent than local sounds compared to the other tracks. The main theme and the rhythm is simple but it becomes an elegant and complex-enough performance with groovy and improvisational style of Maja Alvanovic and qualified drum and bass departments of the Majamisty. You can better understand what I'm talking about by qualified, when you hear Istvan Cik's performance in the last part. 

Mustard Fields is like an ethnic jazz hit with its ballad-like vocal (by Maja Alvanovic and Aleksandra Drobac) and tenor/soprano saxophone performances as well as nordic touch from the guitar of Gisle Torvik. The tensional rise and falls - which is mostly driven by the saxophone of Bunford Gabor - in the piece is amazingly touchy. Although I used the term ethnic for the definition, I have to say that it has an international character too thanks to this much different styles from this much different instruments.

Coolah Trance smells like a latin influence in its first and last part. Once again, Istvan Cik shows a full-bodied performance and the bass lines of Ervin Malina are noteworthy. The improvisational part carries the piece to a totally different feeling in the middle and prevents the listener from falling down into a well-known monotonous feeling of some kind of latin jazz. 

Careless Moment is among the basic trio setting performances which lets us see how successfully they play together. Intimate and sharp rhythms of drums are followed by some sincere dialogues between the double bass and the piano. 

Little Cosy Keysy House is an interesting piece mostly for its psychedelic lyricless vocal ingredients from Aleksandra Drobac. It's not scat, it is not symmetric... It is like "Several Species of Small Fury Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict." The main theme carried by the trio is again catchy and it is based on evolving piano riffs. 

Bloomin' is an up tempo Aires-De-Cuba-like performance and starts with a high register bass performance accompanied by some energetic marching drums. It feels like watching a carnival on streets on a sunny day when suddenly some jazzy partitions touched to our ears. 

The title track is the last number and it starts with a consistent feeling with the concept: Soft and beautiful. Like love itself... With its increasing energy thanks to the choir-like vocal parts and pushy trumpet partitions by Damir Bacikin, the piece turns out to be a strong final and summary for the whole album.

The album is recorded by studio Fluid Noise in Novi Sad in 2013. The mixing belongs to Vladimir Moritz and the editing belongs to Valerijan Buila. Mastering is accomplished by Milan Nenin in LB Studio in Novi Sad. The overall sonic quality of the album is very successful. All nuances are audible and the locations of the instruments on the stage is very well defined.

The album is produced by Maja Alvanovic and Kosta Jevtic. The publishers are Mascom and Cosmic Sounds. 

For my part, I am looking forward to listening to them live as soon as possible. For those who feel the same, here is their always updated website for every news: http://majamisty.com

Lastly, I'd like to share two samples from youtube for the album but please do not forget to get the album in hard copy. Enjoy!

Suddenly Japan: 

Mustard Fields:

Bullhorn, Verneri Pohjola, 2015

After his two successful ACT albums, Verneri Pohjola's Bullhorn came from Edition Records. The British label is among the best European ones for jazz now and it is getting more and more popular each day. The album is evidently different than the previous ones considering first of all Verneri Pohjola's statement in the liner notes: "I still feel as young as ever but at the same time more sure about everything than ever before... In my opinion this is the most adult thing I've ever musically achieved." From the first track Another Day, a dignified nordic trio introduction -by Aki Rissanen (p), Antti Lötjönen (b), Teppo Mäkynen (d)- prepeares the listener to the main character: Verneri Pohjola with his distinguishable trumpet tone and mature compositions. Sometimes reminding the well known relaxing cool jazz period, sometimes reaching at high pitches of the avant-garde, he promises a completely international and hard-to-classify album. 

As can easily be guessed from the title, Girls Of Costa Rica is a tribute to Miles Davis' Filles De Klimenjero and it can easily be shown as a hit from the album. Bass riffs are unforgettably catchy and since we are tempted in this piece to resemble it to some old records - and Miles Davis is already mentioned - I could not help myself from saying that I feel like John Coltrane's A Love Supreme is playing subliminally in my head. The tonal harmony between the saxophone and trumpet is very successful. Jussi Kannaste also gives a nice solo-like tenor performance just before the end.

He Sleeps, I Keep Watch reminds me of lyricism and minimalism in Verneri Pohjola's previous albums - especially in Ancient History. In my opinion, standing all alone on such low level drum accompaniment with just a trumpet line is a brave act and Verneri Pohjola is very successful on this. The fading bass and saxophone create a really impressive end to the performance. The trombonist Ilmari Pohjola -like in some other pieces- supports the trumpet's performances successfully. We also hear some cello touches from Ilda-Vilhelmiina Laine in this piece.

Bass and drums create an organic environment for the first movement of the trumpet in the title track and the piano inserts some pyschedelic touches before the main theme is given. The body of Bullhorn sounds really improvisational with surprising trumpet attacks and percussive rhythms coming from almost all other instruments. The part where the trumpet leaves them for another improvisational set is very impressive and the connection of this part back to the main theme is well achieved. Aki Rissanen has a distinctive style and a huge dynamic range on his piano, driving the whole band with his energetic attacks travelling all the way from 20 micropascals to the 90dB SPL. Started like a cool down of energetic Bullhorn, In La Borie introduces us Verneri Pohjola's low level and extra long -hard to keep stable- notes. Like a clear whisper in the silence, it is very efficient independent of its energy level. Once again, the piano trio plays amazingly touchy and also gives the necessary space to the trumpet. Extremely minimal drum accompaniment creates a very mystic environment for a great ballad-like performance of Verneri Pohjola in This One is For You. It reminds me of Nordic melodies from some cold seasons. 

Metallic, tensional and dark sound are consistent with the title Nanomachines. Closing your eyes and forgetting that the line-up is full of Northern European musicians, you can easily feel yourself in a New York jazz club listening to some old school jazz musicians jamming but in a more free format or else -let me say- in a contemporary way. A sweet untidy feeling spreads in the listening room in Ouroboros while the trumpet's main theme is asymmetrically accompanied by minimal percussion (more than the drum set), the stable clock-like bass and the melancholic piano. The Cold Blooded rhythm in the ninth track -which comes from the left hand of the piano, drums and bass- is warmed up by the instantenous movement made by the trumpet. Its statement -which actually is the main theme and chorus- sounds like the hopeful piece of the soundtrack of a happy ending film, where the good wins against the bad. All the amazing piano, bass and drums partitions, their nice harmony, the horns and the sax... The enchanting surprises of Verneri Pohjola... They all try to elegantly say that the end is near in the last piece: The End is Nigh.

Recorded & mixed by Mikko Raita at Petrax Studios (Finland) and Studio Kekkonen (Finland) and mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers West (Finland), the album has a solid, transparent and organic sound quality. The localisation of the instruments on the stage and the usage of the dynamic range are successfully achieved. The album is produced by Verneri Pohjola and Edition Records' Dave Stapleton. 

Here you can find a live performance of the title track: http://youtu.be/OnFxWsO9pYE

Eyot - Similarity, 2014

First impressions hardly change. So it is important to impress and catch a listener on the first instant. Pop music is the easiest way for this but if you are producing your music for listeners who are also looking for complexity and improvisation, what you are trying to do is one of the most challenging works of this world. Most probably since these listeners are few in numbers, although you will work harder you will earn less - not only from the album sales but also from the concerts. However -thank God- there is something called passion and enthusiasm. There always exist passionate and enthusiastic musicians like the ones in the band Eyot whose main concentration is the quality of their music. 

Eyot has been playing to be unique, improvisational, complex and melodic for more than 7 years now and they have released 3 albums. Their last album Similarity (2014) shows that they are promising more for the following ones. Their amazingly catchy compositions, which is influenced by Balkan melodies and achieved mostly by pianist Dejan Ilijic, the tension in their performances (driven mostly by guitar & bass duo) and the unique sound composed of rock-like electric textures and jazz-piano based riffs create an overall definition for the Serbian band Eyot: Dejan Ilijic (piano), Milos Vojvodic (drums), Sladjan Milenovic (guitar) and Marko Stojiljkovic (bass).

How Shall The Dust Storm Start is both a nice introduction and a summary for the whole story of the album. The composition is based on a short main theme which is repeated in melody but changed in tension and weightings of the instrument. My first impression is that electric bass gives the main rock characteristics of the sound and the guitar adds a tonal richness to the basic trio. The piano is responsible for the jazzy feeling both with its sound and improvisational characteristics. With the second track Druids, we can understand that there is something called Eyot sound. Especially the piano tone and groovy low frequency rhythm section at the back create that sound. The guest appeareance of Dejana Sekulic on violin sounds very interesting in the end. 

Improvisational power of Dejan Ilijic is demonstrated in the title track. My sixth sense tells me that he is a pianist who can be a monster on stage with energetic and lyrical attacks. He plays very comfortably both in low level and high level and his own dynamic range supplies a nice and wide pool for their friends to swim freely in. The unique guitar accompaniment -which sounds almost like a string instrument- and its contribution to the improvisation as well as to the tension are all impressive highlights. Pools of Purple Light is one of the strongest piece in the album and it waits for us as the fourth track in the middle of the album. It is again mostly concentrated on patience demanding tensional changes. The improvisational part on the piano between chorus-like parts, where guitar is the dominant character, is again at top quality. To understand what is special about the piece and how strong this band is in using the dynamic range, you have to wait till the last part, where you may feel like it is finished but Eyot starts to create the piece almost from the beginning in an amazing build-up sequence. New Passover is a short track carrying some electric jazz textures. 

Started and dominated by almost with a sound similar to the legendary rock band, Nirvana is sometimes connected to calmer parts thanks to jazzy piano which is accompanied by a psychedelic guitar, dark bass line and minimal drums movements. Left hand of the piano calls melancholy from lower octaves and the guitar sound supports this overall feeling in Walking On Thin Ice With The Iron Shoes. Some silent drum partitions which is dominated by kicks are very harmonic to the rest of the instruments. The last track Blessing sounds like a hopeful farewell with trumpet and saxophone played by Pete Judge and Jake McMurchie as guests respectively. 

Similarity is recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by Jim Barr at J&J Studios, Bristol UK. The record's overall sound quality is really nice. The label is Ninety and Nine Records. 

Eyot has many future concerts as you may follow from their website: http://www.eyotmusic.net/

If you wanna hear some sample or buy the album you can again use the website. Here I am sharing a live sample from youtube: 

Sunna Gunnlaugs Trio, Distilled, 2013

"The purification or concentration of a substance, the obtaining of the essence or volatile properties contained in it, or the separation of one substance from another, by such a process". Distillation... "Distilled" is the name given to the last album (2013) of Sunna Gunnlaugs Trio. Since this dictionary definition is given in the liner notes and the short explanation for the title track is referred only to this definition, we can say that this album is a result of a process which may include experiences, memories, researches, happiness and/or sadness. The obvious maturity both in compositions and virtuosity throughout the album and the dignity of the sound tell me that the resultant product of this distillation is a perfect artistic piece. It can be easily seen by any concerned listener that each perfect-enough single origin participant created a very valuable blend for the album. 

The trio has been playing together for a long time and Distilled is their second album excluding Icelandic pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs' many previous ones in which trio's drummer Scott McLemore plays too. We see Þorgrímur Jónsson first in "Long Pair Bond" from 2011.

Distilled is surely a Nordic Jazz album first. Please don't ask me what this genre is. All I can say, besides jazz, there are classical music, nuances in sound, northern style melancholy, wind and cold in it. However in Distilled (and also a little bit in Long Pair Bond) there is certainly some traditional jazz from the place where it was born. This is most probably related with Sunna Gunnlaugs' jazz education in USA and the drummer Scott McLemore. Although moved to Iceland later on, he is from US and actually has been playing with Sunna Gunnlaugs for a long time - even before their debut in 1997 with "Far Far Away". Sunna Gunnlaugs gives many musicians from Northern European countries as influences. However there is a very important -and legendary- American one too there, at very early years of her musical education: Bill Evans with the amazing record "You're Gonna Hear From Me". Maybe this has a contribution too to the subliminal American style on the album. 

Even the first 10 seconds of the Momento -the energetic entrance to the album composed by Sunna Gunnlaugs- shows us that the drum set is given to a very qualified drummer. With his sharp and short duration touches on the instrument he let a very clear stage for the rest of the band. The title track has a beautiful power of covering the listener's body with its dignity. I do not have any idea about what is distilled in this piece and what was it like before the process but the piano (of the composer) feels like trying to explain some kind of settlement in a soul who found what she/he is looking for. The general quality of the record is so obvious in this piece that I could organically feel the harmony between instruments even in my living room. The reverberation amount is absolutely right. The slow increase in the tension of the performance as time passes and its sudden decrease through the end create a very deep groove.

Switcheroo is certainly something from America and not surprisingly it is composed by Scott McLemore. If I wasn't surrounded by a this much clearly defined and classical influenced piano I could easily feel myself in a jazz club in NYC. Smiling Face is bassist Þorgrímur Jónsson's dedication to his daughter. Naive and soft, the piece is consistent with the aura of the album. The tenderness in the piano carries some subliminal melancholy. Jónsson's melodic accompaniment and nice solo-like part are impressive highlights. Gallop is an energetic piece from Þorgrímur Jónsson and this energy is related to children according to liner notes. It starts with a pushy drum line which is followed by the piano from high registers.

Spin 6 seems to be the band's collaborative free improvisation similar to Spin 7 in the end - the continuation of spins from one of previous albums "The Dream". Started like a three sided challenge and finished just in one and a half minute, Spin 6 proves that the trio is a real trio instead of some musicians gathered to make music together. Spin 7 sounds much more experimental especially with its bass performance. 

The New Now is kind of a reproduction for Sunna's own piece from one of her previous albums back in Brooklyn days. The piece was for vocal initially but in this album we listen to very well rearranged trio version. The drummer Scott McLemore is certainly MVP of the piece and he let it fly with his energetic attacks.

24H Trip is about long travels of the band. The bass introduction feels like trying to explain a midnight wake up for airport transfer or a sleep in flight spoiled by some announcement from the pilot. We -just as a listener- can feel that being away from home and family for a long time is not an easy task, especially after hearing the depressive and impressive partitions from Scott McLemore. 

Based on an Icelandic melody and composed by Scott McLemore, Things You Should Know sounds very lyrical and hopeful. Sunna Gunnlaugs carries the main theme very fluently and successfully. The transition between the main part and the bass solo is impressive. From Time to Time is a composition of famous jazz drummer Paul Motian, who has passed away in 2007. The trio played this piece in his memorial concert and decided to play it also for the album. Carried from previous works of Sunna Gunnlaugs again, Opposite Side is another melancholic and catchy piece closing the album just before a short and improvisational part.

The album is recorded (and mixed) by Kjartan Kjartansson at Tónlistarskóli Gardabæer, Iceland where the sound engineer built a studio inside the school Sunna Gunnlaugs teach at. Finnur Hákonarson mastered the album. The album is produced by Sunna Gunnlaugs and Scott McLemore. The label is Sunny Sky Records. Sunna means something like sunny in Icelandic language. I think sunny weather should be something rare in Iceland. With the album Distilled, we can see the rare talent she has on the piano and composition. The harmony they caught as a trio is very promising for future. I am glad to say that we're gonna hear from them soon about a new trio album. I hope I can also hear about a live performance of them nearby - in my city or at last in my country.Here is a youtube link for a very nice video of the recording session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuwKCFrUnEs