While jazz trios tend to stay low-pro, E.S.T. has managed to gain an international following outside of its home base of Sweden. Much like the Cinematic Orchestra, the group's new school approach to post-bop creates more of journey for its listener, rather than a groove. We're featuring this in memory of Esbjorn Svensson. Svensson died on June 14, 2008 at the age of 44.
The supply of high-grade jazz-pop just keeps getting topped up. New York's Graham is the latest to spread sotto voce murmurs over a bed of soft piano, and she even adds a gentle kick with Brazilian drums--an especially nifty touch when she's covering Simon and Garfunkel's "America."
The oil crisis has been an easy target for the media, so now it's our turn to get in on the hype. No matter what your political views are (left, right, or center), the rising price of oil is a concern for everyone. Even the most patriotic gas-guzzlers out there are beginning to question their driving habits. Now, if you ask the R&B star Rihanna, she'll tell you to "shut up and drive," but we think (and hope) that she's making a sexual reference.
While we wait for gas prices to drop, let'… Read more
Now that we're knee-deep into summer, it's time to recap the big festivals going on this season. Coachella and Bonnaroo have come and gone, so now our eyes are on, among others, Lollapalooza in Chicago, Outside Lands in San Francisco, and Rock the Bells in cities nationwide. And it's not too late to catch the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival. This two-day tribute to one of the greatest indie labels ever is happening in Seattle--aka the home of grunge rock--this weekend. Road trip!
Listen to our free Summer Daze playlist by clicking the green button below. Then … Read more
I had the opportunity to see Wynton Marsalis perform with the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra last night in Seattle, and it was an absolutely stellar performance, with great song selection (Marsalis's own "The Holy Ghost" was a standout) and some of the most incredible technical playing I've ever heard--they did Duke Ellington's "Braggin' in Brass," which contains a trombone part in which each player plays a note or two in sequence, together creating this fast complicated line. (Listen here--that part starts around the -2:06 mark.) I've heard from … Read more
The young British fingerstylist plays with 12 strings on his acoustic--we'd guess he could handle about 17. Blackshaw emerges from the lush modes of Fahey and Kottke but his lines wander less. His works are cyclical, enveloping, and more formally guided than we might first notice.
Eigsti gained renown as a pianist while still in his teens, which may explain how, at just 23, he's cut a remarkably adult record. "Let It Come To You" is modern piano jazz at its most lush and urbane--a must for anyone who has worn out her collection of Brad Mehldau.
This generation of hipsters doesn't dig on jazz like its beret-wearing ancestors did; it takes Chin Chin to bring new Brooklyn into talks with the old Village. The group's beat-riddled mixes of funk, soul, and rock are both lushly colored and rhythmic to the point of addiction.
Which is the better reason to listen to Galactic--the impossibly groovy funk-jazz jams, or the A-list MCs rhyming along to them? The combination is almost unfairly good, but we'll keep quiet. With artists from Juvenile to Mr. Lif on board, it's a utopian redefinition of "instrumental hip-hop."
Simone worship is common among softcore jazz-soul-poppers, but they tend to gloss over her firebrand side. "Protest Anthology" presents Simone as the edgy and outspoken singer she was, collecting several of her fiercest cuts. Few have ever combined preaching and crooning so deftly.
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