GoGo Penguin - v2.0, Deluxe Edition

Hot on the heels of their Mercury Prize nomination, GoGo Penguin re-released their v2.0 album in a Deluxe Edition last month, including three bonus tracks for our greatest pleasure.

The album had already been a very good showcase of the trio’s harmonious symbiosis between pianist Chris Illingworth, drummer Rob Turner and bassist Nick Blacka. Each member brings his own touch, and the album thus becomes a very peculiar and attractive mix of jazz, electronic dance and classical music. From darkness to light, from dream to reality, this album is simply a beautiful ode to the experience of life as seen through the eyes of these musicians.

The three bonus tracks go along the same lines, always making you want more of that good stuff. First ‘Break’ starts soberly with faint piano, before the bass comes along and they both play in low-key notes. This track is also characteristic of the album’s depiction of a certain solitude with which you can easily identify; a feeling of something that can never be reached somehow. It certainly is the kind of music that makes you get some perspective on (your) life. But the players do get more playful and intense, as if to say the more the merrier. This ambivalence between solemnity and playfulness is quite a recurring winning ingredient in GoGo Penguin’s work.

It goes on with the second bonus track ‘In Amber’, the first track the band wrote completely together. Its title was inspired by a book by Kurt Vonnegut where he describes us all as ‘trapped in the amber of the moment’ in reference to time happening all at once rather than in a linear fashion. Here the introducing bass, the piano and the drums – each play in a reassuring calm and mighty way, indeed as if time had stopped. At half-time though it’s a whole other mood: fast-paced and urgent, with a feeling of unreliability coming in contrast with the first half of the track, and enhanced by the background irregular rhythms. But it ends more peacefully, almost sadly, with a lonely bass, following the same musical pattern as in the beginning: we find back this idea of circle of life present throughout the entire album.

To end with, ‘Wash’ begins with grave piano and bass, very economical in their play. But a more positive mode follows with the use of major chords; it does feel as if you’d washed yourself of all your sins, making a hopeful fresh start. GoGo Penguin leave us here with a rather feel-good track, one you can listen to if ever you feel bumped or are not sure of where you’re going in life: this will give you drive again!

This article appeared on AAAmusic.co.uk.

Interview: Diego Barber and Rebeca Vallejo

Spanish guitarist Diego Barber, navigating between jazz and classical music, was born in a family of musicians. He has been living in New York for 7 years now, playing with great artists like Mark Turner or Jeff Ballard, and he has recently released his fourth album Tales. Spanish singer Rebeca Vallejo was also born in a musicians’ family, in which they have been Flamenco singers for generations. She has now been living in New York for 14 years, and also released her recent third album, Azúcar Canela. I chatted to them ahead of their concert opening “The Flames” festival, the first of its kind in NYC, at Cornelia Street Café.

Hi! So you are both from Spain, and have both lived/toured in many countries, to finally end up in New York City… How did you two meet?

Diego: We have both been living here for several years, but we never met before! She is the one who called me actually.

Rebeca: I needed some acts for the series of Flamenco Fusion concerts I am organizing with the Consulate General of Spain in NY, and a friend of mine actually told me about him, so I listened to his music and I found he was great! I liked the fact that he did not sound “too” Spanish right away: he has first a classical sound and from that, he manages to bring out a classical Flamenco spirit. So I called him in June. Unfortunately he was not there for the summer session of 15-17 August, since he was touring in Europe; but he has been able to come for this Fall session so that’s great. He is a great musician and a wonderful person.

Diego, you have recently released the album Tales with Craig Taborn, last March. Would you like to say a few words about it?

 

Diego: Sure! I am very happy that it is finally released. It was a new thing for me because it was the first time I played in duo.

Yes, it’s not common to have a guitar-piano duo.

Diego: No it’s not! So the recording was not easy, guitar and piano have two very particular sound and since they can both play several voices, it takes some time to write something that works, and then adjust the two sounds when recording so that the whole will not be too confusing. So yeah, I’m really happy with it!

Where was your last concert?

Diego: I’m actually just coming back from a tour in Europe, for this album’s promotion. My last concert was in Valencia in Spain, in July. It was for a music festival, where I also taught classes – usually when I go to Europe it’s actually more to teach classes than for concerts.

And do you compose all of your songs?

Diego: Yes!

What about you Rebeca, you also have recently released an album I believe, Azúcar Canela, with George Dulin and David Silliman.

Rebeca: Yes I did! It took some time, but you know, I like to picture an album as a stew: all the elements need to cook for a long time, to mix well with each other, and then when the stew is ready you can record the album.

Did you compose the songs?

Rebeca: Yes, some of them I had even written 14 years ago. I carry a notebook with me all the time, it’s like my Bible; and when I looked through it, through what I had written a long time ago, by reading the lyrics their melodies came back to me. As for the production of the album in itself, it lasted from February to August. And actually… the pianist on this album is a substitute for the original one, Emilio Solla. He was so great that I decided to keep him…! But Emilio did not take it bad haha, and he is even one of my guest artists on the album, so we’re on good terms!

How long have you been living in NYC, actually?

Diego: Mh, seven years now.

Rebeca: Fourteen for me!

And how do you find life like here compared to Spain?

Diego: Well you know, the usual: in Spain life is more relaxed, the weather is always good… But for now, I prefer NYC because there is a lot of music and cultural events going on. In Spain, for Flamenco music, it’s the top, for sure – but there is not much more else… While here you have everything, every kind of music is represented. But I guess what I miss the most is my family and friends, and the language.

Rebeca: Oh, NYC and Spain are completely different worlds! Every time I cross the ocean, the cultural shock always strikes me. But that’s the advantage of being a musician: we have the possibility of traveling a lot, and for that NYC is a good basis.

What country you’ve played in has provided you with the best experience and memory?

Rebeca: For me it’s Belgium, definitely. When I go there, in the Flemish part, it reminds me of Spain – after all they also have been under Spanish rule in the Middle Ages, so I guess the Spanish roots are still there. There really is a Spanish spirit. And the Flemish public is so enthusiastic… I really have a special connection with Belgium.

Diego: I would have to say Germany. Well I like NYC too, but you know… I’ve studied in Germany, and people have a lot of respect for music and musicians over there. In Spain, being a musician is nothing; in Germany, it’s almost like being a doctor you know… And there is a strong culture of classical music over there. Basically when people go to a concert, it’s not to eat and have some entertaining music on the background or whatever; it’s really to listen to music.

When we say “flamenco” and “guitar”, we automatically think about the great artists Camarón de la Isla, Tomatito and Paco de Lucía. Have they influenced your work?

Rebeca: Of course, big time! Right from the beginning. I am also greatly influenced by Brazilian singer Elis Regina and Ella Fitzgerald. But for Flamenco, Camarón is and will ever be the best. I grew up listening to him; my grand-father was constantly singing him. In my family we have been Flamenco singers for several generations, so Flamenco is really a great part of me that I cannot deny. Seven years ago I was too afraid of it, but now I have accepted it and let my nature express itself.

What do you mean by “you were afraid”?

Rebeca: Well, Flamenco is a very emotionally intense music, and very complex to master. I was afraid to not be up to it, to not have everything needed to understand and sing it correctly. Jazz is complex as well, and also challenging – but for me, it was less of a challenge than Flamenco.

What about you Diego, how long have you been into music?

Diego: I received my first electric guitar when I was around 8 or 9, but I started learning classical guitar only when I was 18, so it is very late. It was difficult for me, because all the other students had already started from an early age, so I had to work even harder…!

Well it turned out pretty fine! Which music genre would you say you like the most, classical or jazz?

Diego: I think it’s 50/50, but it also depends on where I am. Here I think I tend to like classical more… because I am surrounded by jazz all the time here, you have all these great jazz players in NYC; it is kind of a rebellious position as well. But if I were in Germany, I guess I would say that I like jazz best, because I would be in a more classical environment! In any case though, my background is very much classical.

What are your aspirations for the future?

Rebeca: As for me, for my last album we’ve been touring in the East Coast, sponsored by the Spanish Embassy, but we are now working on a tour in California. Trying to go West, where I haven’t been yet!

Diego: Well I am hoping to record a new album with a quartet by January. I want it to be a bit different, with an electric bass player, and maybe some electronic elements as well… I think the release should be around March, hopefully!

This interview appeared on AAAmusic.co.uk.

The Flame festival - live review

The Flame is the first jazz-flamenco festival in the United-States, and it was launched this year under the sponsorship of the Spanish Consulate in NYC and Cornelia Street Café. Spanish vocalist Rebeca Vallejo’s relationship with the Spanish Consulate has allowed the idea of this original cultural event to come to life.

The founder, curator and host of this festival, Rebeca explains: “Although flamenco is a poignant musical genre strongly based on the purism of its tradition, the fusion of flamenco with the sounds of the new and old continents, not only helps preserve flamenco but take this genre into the future. This is the main premise of this festival, as much as to help consolidate a scene that’s already been ‘boiling’ around the globe for quite some time now.”

 
After last’s summer session, this concert was the first of the Fall season. Spanish guitarist Diego Barber and Cuban pianist Fabian Almazan were the main actors of this evening, ending with a last song featuring Rebeca Vallejo. Taking place at Cornelia Street Café, the setting was already inviting with its warm and intimate decor in blue and red tones.

The first track ‘Killian’s Moutains’, from Diego’s last album Tales, creates the mood that will characterise the rest of the night up to the last song: a beautiful eerie feel, navigating between dark moods and flashes of warm light, mixing classical and jazz, all the while retaining the gravity and fatalistic feature of flamenco underneath. The complex entanglement of guitar and piano, both with their warm flavor in their own way, delivers an interesting and, for sure, unusual product. Actually the round smooth side of the piano does temper well the guitar’s distinctive hoarse side, and the two dance together in a wavy pattern quite naturally, making the listener almost forget the hours of work they’ve put in it.

‘Lanzarote’, name of Diego’s place of birth, offers a warmer Spanish-sounding track mixed to contemporary jazz – you could actually easily picture yourself in the middle of the dunes here. The following ‘Desierto’ is a little more lighthearted as well, Diego and Fabian make up a funny quirky dialogue, as elusive as a butterfly; then ‘Cipres’ follows, beginning very rhythmically with the guitar, the piano then drawing on this regular basis to make up his solo. We can hear the German influences in Diego’s play – after all he’s been studying music in Germany for a while. The two musicians then go on a short improvisation session, showcasing their modern jazz skills. Accompanied by the piano’s syncopated rhythm, Diego once again exposes his mastered dexterity and it surely amazes everyone, even those not necessarily fond of that kind of music.

And to end in apotheosis, a trio is formed by the joining of Rebeca Vallejo who has smartly chosen, before ending the concert, a Brazilian jazz song entitled ‘Pra Dizer Adeus’ – To Say Goodbye. Somehow sinking into the music, Rebeca sings in a playful jazzy voice which, from time to time, bursts into an enjoyable full flamenco timber. Besides the fact that the microphone for her voice part is a bit too loud compared to the other thus eclipsed instruments, it is a fine last song – indeed a burning end for The Flames’s festival’s beginning.

This article appeared on AAAmusic.co.uk.

Summing Up the Ukraine Crisis

Ukraine has always been geographically in-between the two great powers of Europe and Russia, but historically has always been very close to Russia. Economically speaking, it is also known that Russia is a great provider of gas – 15% of European resources, more than half of Ukraine’s. Russia has therefore a great deterring power there, whether it be on Europe directly or on its neighboring countries, like Ukraine and others.[1] It has actually already resorted to this device on Ukraine twice, on 2006 and 2009 after the two sides failed to settle over Ukrainian debt issues.

V. Putin and P. Porochenko (from Le Nouvel Observateur)

But in 2012, in spite of such tensions with Russia things were going in a way that predicted Ukraine’s potential partnership with the EU: Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych had begun to negotiate a trade deal with the EU. But in November 2013, the president pulled out and instead moved closer to Russia, which had proposed a $15 billion bailout to the country.

A wave of pro-EU protesters took to the streets; the conflict between the government and protesters escalated, and the latter ended up seizing the president’s office. Yanukovych denounced a coup d’état[2], and was driven off; an interim government was appointed until the next elections on May 25, 2014, that were won by Petro Porochenko. But pro-Russian and pro-Yanukovych protesters also went down the streets in the Southern and Eastern parts of Ukraine, the Southernmost known as Crimea, the region most Russophone of the country. They began occupying some administrative spots in the region, and the conflict worsened between pro- and anti-Russian.

Ukraine's ethnic map (from The Washington Post)

It is not easy to categorize people and delimitate territories since the Ukrainian population presents many differences of ethnic belonging (Ukrainians, Russians and Turkic Tatars all living together), in language, and in ideology. A survey in late 2013 showed that 53% of respondents were in favor of the EU, 35% were against, and 12% remain undecided. What is also striking is that, taken under the light of age groups, “the youngest respondents (18-29 yearsold) are twice more supportive for the EU than the oldest (60+)”. Therefore we see that the conflict is not only ethnic and political, but also generational. 

After a referendum in March at the outcome of which Crimea overwhelmingly declared her support to annexation, Putin came to sign a treaty with Crimean leaders, thereby annexing the region, to the dismay of the international community. War between the two sides did not stop though: a cease-fire was signed on September 5, however it is not always observed everywhere, some surges of violence recently appearing again. 

Ukraine's near future is not very bright: it is now in a difficult position, Russia having cut off again its gas supplying on the eve of winter and Western powers being hesitant to help considering the country's slow pace of change especially regarding gangrenous corruption. Ukraine president has recently come to the US to plead for their cause, but not much more help can be expected on the part of the Americans for now.

This article was written for this blog only.

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[1] For instance 75% of Lithuania’s energetic supplies comes from Russia, a great means of pressure considering the lack of European energetic policy for its members (Jolanta BALČIŪNIENĖ, Lithuanian ambassador in France, conference “Mid-term appraisal of the Lithuanian presidency at the head of the EU” at the Maison de l’Europe, October 17, 2013, Paris)

[2] Last March 2014, a poll by the International Republican Institute (“Public Opinion Survey of Ukraine (14–26 March 2014)", April 5, 2014) showed that 27% of the respondents in Southern and Eastern Ukraine viewed the pro-EU protests as a coup d'état as well

Mammal Hands - Mansions of Millions of Years

Beautifully wistful and mysterious, ‘Mansions of Millions of Years’ is the latest single track by Mammal Hands, newcomers of the fine young label Gondwana Records and supported by Jamie Cullum and BBC 6 Music. This trio met in April 2012 in Norwich and quickly pooled their love of electronic, contemporary classical, world and jazz music. They will release their debut album Animalia on 15th September…

The piano opens the track calmly, and right from the start we can perceive pianist Nick Smart‘s drawing from minimalist composers like Terry Riley or Steve Reich to create hypnotic rhythmic patterns in his music, giving an interesting uncertain feel to the track. We can detect an overall insidious oriental mood to the music – another influence of the group, its drummer Jesse Barrett having studied Indian Classical music, thereby giving to the group the ability to explore new ways and schemes unknown to western music.

The chemistry works well between Nick and his saxophonist brother Jordan Smart. From the middle of the track, the music takes up another dimension; you’re taken through the track’s real dynamism and soul. It’s a jazz coming very naturally to the listener even though it’s not the kind we’re used to: you can easily identify to it, and it is this very mix of feelings between intimacy and exoticism that makes it all so attractive.

After a quiet break, the piano embarks on a wonderful solo so well brought up that we don’t even notice his coming off the tracks. The saxophone comes back along the way, throwing disquieting desperate calls from far away, as old memories and fears would do when you are visiting a place full of history; ‘Mansions of Millions of Years’ manages to wake all that up within you. And the music grows, grows… you’re taken in a swirl right up to the end, the three musicians ending in apotheosis.

This article appeared on AAAmusic.co.uk.

José James - While You Were Sleeping

Singer-songwriter José James comes back with a new dynamic and a colourful album, While You Were Sleeping. After his debut record No Beginning No End, José hasn’t lost his originality and talent for mixing genres, weaving elements of indie rock, folk, funk, blues, hip hop and RnB into a confident and worthwhile album.

It starts with ‘Angel’ with funky electric guitar, soon accompanied by José James’s sensual voice at a tranquil pace. With the same mood, the third ‘While You Were Sleeping’ is very soothing, starting with acoustic guitar, this time mixed with soft keyboards. Its major-minor movement renders well the feeling of the uncertainty of life, alternating between moments of control and complete happiness, and darker moments of insecurity.

The second track, ‘U R the 1’, has a very interesting irregular drum rhythm, and the singing and  background melody don’t agree, giving the feeling of loss of one’s marks. It illustrates the other side of the album that we encounter here and there throughout the album. On that note, the fifth ‘Boddhisattva’ is like a beautiful glittering darkness, where sadness and loveliness meet, José shouting desperately “I’ve been lonely”, to which anyone could identify.

And when darkness leaves room for resentment, this produces something like ‘Anywhere U Go’ – this particular track has a stirring feeling of urgency; of kicking over the traces. The sixth ‘4 Noble Truths’ is also one of the highlights of the album, a jazzy track where José adopts an intense and powerful voice.

But on the jazz level, the last ‘Simply Beautiful’ is by far the richest – guest Takuya Kuroda revealing his talent during his trumpet solo; a solo having some style similitude with Cat Empire’s Harry Angus playing. This last track definitely has a retro blues feel; you could easily picture yourself under a blazing sun alone in the American West.

Once more, José has proved he knows how to marry traditional and modern musical tendencies in a way to stand out from the crowd. In any case, for the remaining skeptics, José James’s international fame and this album’s praise by The New York Times and NPR Music make it safe to say that his second multifaceted work is indeed a success.

This article appeared on

AAAmusic.co.uk.

Taylor McFerrin - Already There

Check out the new talent in town: Brooklyn-based artist Taylor McFerrin, whose debut album Early Riser has just been released by Brainfeeder. Electronic music producer, multi instrumentalist and singer, he already has the blessing of other fellow musicians like jazz pianist Robert Glasper and jazz/electronic bassist Thundercat, both of them featured in the track ‘Already There’ that gives us a good grip of McFerrin’s world.

 

It starts on fast drums, and a growing keyboard background changes into jolly effects with beautiful series of chords. The track’s influences transcend you into another time – a lush and mellow 60s/70s era, at the time of the kings of the Modern Beat Generation and Golden Era hip hop. 

Even though the track seems simple from the outside, it is actually quite elaborate, and the drum seizures give a nice regular yet surprising overall movement to it. An unexpected modulation brings a stream of fresh air at 1’43, definitely lifting you above the clouds. It gets more jazzy and electronic here, Glasper and Thundercat well contributing to this feel. The track then ends in decrescendo, as if you were calmly waking up in stages from a beautiful and blurry dream.

This article appeared on AAAmusic.co.uk.