Serpentwithfeet – Soil

Posted on July 3, 2018 by aaamc

Title: Soil

Artist: Serpentwithfeet

Format: CD, LP, Digital

Release date: June 8, 2018

At first glance, you might not peg Josiah Wise as a classically trainer singer. Before transforming himself into the performance artist known as serpentwithfeet, the Baltimore-born musician spent his formative years singing gospel music in his mother’s Pentecostal church. While Wise later studied jazz as well as opera, he was also enamored ‘90s R&B—especially Brandy. Synthesizing all of these influences in his first full-length album, Soil, Wise draws connections to the sustenance of life and love, while simultaneously rebelling against today’s “symmetry and sterile soundscapes.”

Collaborating with producer Clams Casino and experimental electronic musician Katie Gately, Wise has created unique sound collages that are operatic in their own way. Casino, known for his ‘cloud rap’ productions and tracks for the likes of ASAP Rocky & Lil B (“Be Somebody”), The Weeknd, and Kelela, brings hip hop beats with a spacey, freeform style. Gately, who sculpted the sound on nearly half of the tracks on Soil, is known for constructing pieces from multiple layers and samples. Together, they offer a work that enhances Wise’s melismatic singing style with avant garde electronics and multi-layered, hyperprocessed vocals. By also eschewing standard melodies and notions of song construction, the result is more akin to freestyle.

Opening with Wise’s seductive vocals over synth clarinet arpeggios, “Whisper” is one of the album’s most compelling tracks, and perhaps the closest in form to an R&B single. Written by Gately, the song shows off Wise’s vocal range and technique, with extensive overdubbing to create a choral effect. This is one of the many songs on the album touching upon the “shame around two black men dating and loving on each other” as Wise—who is openly gay—sings, “If you whisper, only I will hear you.” “Wrong Tree” seems to expand upon this theme. As the gospel organ and hand claps evoke the conservatism of the church, the song turns more menacing with the lyrics, “The fruit I couldn’t wait to eat / suddenly began to bleed / then I heard them shouting / He climbin’ up the wrong tree.” Both Gately and Casino contributed to “Mourning Song,” the orchestral backing adding weight to the poignant lament, “I want to make a pageant of my grief.”

Another highlight of the album is “Cherubim,” produced by Gately and the Boston-based electronic producer known as mmph. More overtly homeoerotic, the official video underscores the dramatic elements of Wise’s performance art, while the music is a seamless combination of classical, R&B, and gospel influences with rock overtones. Clams Casino’s footprint is all over “Seedless,” with its laborious beat, electronic effects and elastic rhythms, while Wise flows between song and chant. The album comes full circle with the final track, “Bless Ur Heart,” a tender, upbeat love song expressing optimism: “What was once a whisper will become a deep rumbling sound / I’ll keep a tender heart.”

Soil is a mesmerizing project full of lush harmonies and heartfelt lyrics that pushes the envelop through the electronic production, as well as the thematic material. Undefinable, and undeniably unique, the album’s deep roots extend into many facets of the Black music spectrum.

Reviewed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss

Dr. Michael White – Tricentennial Rag

Posted on July 3, 2018 by aaamc

Title: Tricentennial Rag

Artist: Dr. Michael White

Label: Basin Street

Formats: CD, Digital

Release date: June 29, 2018

This year the city of New Orleans is celebrating its 300th anniversary (1718-2018) and acclaimed clarinetist, Dr. Michael White, set out to commemorate the occasion by paying tribute to the city’s most important original musical contribution. Of course we’re talking about jazz. Birthed from the rhythms of Congo Square and gestated in the French Quarter over 100 years ago, the genre is an indelible part of the African American experience in NOLA and beyond.

New Orleans born and bred, White has been immersed in the city’s music scene for decades and holds numerous distinctions, including Heritage Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts and recipient of the Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association of America. Not only is he a virtuoso on his instrument, but White is also a composer of note as well as a historian and educator who has long been championing NOLA’s jazz heritage.

On Tricentennial Rag, White offers ten original compositions, many inspired by early jazz musicians and traditional styles, but with a contemporary twist. Paying homage to the street where Jelly Roll Morton spent his childhood, “Frenchmen Street Strut” opens the album. There’s a wonderful interplay on this track between White, Shaye Cohn on cornet, and David L. Harris on trombone, while Detroit A. Brooks’s banjo solo is a further connection to the African roots of jazz. White takes over on “Blues on the Bayou,” a showcase for clarinet that he performs with aplomb, stretching out the blue notes. The mid-tempo title track is a modern take on ragtime, full of interesting modulations and solo turns with hints of R&B-styled melismas. Kicking off with a snare solo signaling the start of Carnival, “On Mardi Gras Day” is song celebrating Mardi Gras Indians and the Zulu parade with vocals by Gregory Stafford (who doubles on trumpet).

“I Saw Jesus Standing in the Water” might seem like a departure—the song connects to themes from the black church but musically doesn’t stray far from traditionl jazz. Other highlights include the clarinet moans of “Loneliness” and the bluesy tribute to “Sassy Creole Woman.” The album closes with the only non-original song—a fantastic rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In” that’s performed in a wholly original manner with the band changing tempos and swapping solos—this time with Seva Venet on banjo. I must also give a shoutout to Steve Pistorius, the pianist for all but one track, who is given ample opportunities to showcase his virtuosity.

Who better to celebrate NOLA as the cradle of jazz than Dr. Michael White, one of the leading authorities of the traditional New Orleans style. He proves this again and again on Tricentennial Rag, keeping the music fresh and tasty with delicious licks and righteous rags that take NOLA’s jazz traditions into the 21^st century.

Reviewed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss

McGill/McHale Trio – Portraits: Works for Flute, Clarinet & Piano

Posted on October 2, 2017 by aaamc

Title: Portraits: Works for Flute, Clarinet & Piano

Artist: McGill/McHale Trio

Label: Cedille / dist. Naxos

Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC

Release date: August 11, 2017

Chicagoans who followed the classical music scene in the 1990s were likely first introduced to the amazingly talented McGill brothers when they performed with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, they began studying classical music at an early age, and by their high school years were receiving national attention.

Now, as musicians who hold principal positions in major orchestras, the brothers have not only reached the pinnacle of their chosen professions, but are among the few African Americans to do so. Demarre McGill recently returned to the Seattle Symphony as principal flute, and younger brother Anthony McGill is principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. Together with Irish pianist Michael McHale, they formed the McGill/McHale Trio in 2014. Portraits is the trio’s debut recording, released on the prominent Chicago-based Cedille label.

For this project, the McGill/McHale Trio selected works by living composers; three of those works are recorded for the first time on Portraits. The album takes its title from the longest work on the disc (26:03), Portraits of Langston by Kentucky native Valerie Coleman, flutist/composer of the Chicago-based quintet Imani Winds. Composed in 2007, her six movement suite is based on selected poems by Langston Hughes, which are recited before their corresponding movements by Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali. Hughes’ love of jazz is conveyed in Coleman’s musical palette, along with other styles reflective of the Harlem Renaissance era.

The suite begins with the short, melodic “Prelude: Helen Keller,” then delves into the polyrhythmic “Danse Africaine.” After an extended clarinet solo, the movement becomes increasingly frenetic, offering an opportunity for each instrument to shine. The poem “Le Grand Duc Mambo,” describing an altercation between the dancers and patrons of a Parisian cabaret, is masterfully mimicked by flute and clarinet as they enter into a brief and occasionally strident squabble. “In Time of Silver Rain” speaks of a period “when spring and life are new.” Here Coleman eschews jazz, writing instead a short, atmospheric piece with hints of Debussy in the piano intro and undulating winds, which also carries over into the flute solo.

Returning once again to Hughes’ brief sojourn in Paris in the 1920s, “Jazz Band in a Parisian Cabaret” is “that tune that laughs and cries at the same time.” As the programmatic movement progresses, jazz inflections intensify, with the climax brilliantly pairing stride piano against clarinet riffs. Though one might expect “Harlem’s Summer Night” to be more boisterous, Coleman instead concludes the suite in a more tranquil manner, with blue notes only occasionally jarring the calm of the evening.

French composer Guillaume Connesson reveals his pop music influences in Techno-Parade (2002). This virtuosic work features “a continuous pulsation from start to finish,” emulating the repetitive nature of the Kraftwerk-influenced electronic dance music that emerged from Detroit’s African American clubs in the 1980s and became hugely popular in Europe. The ensemble performs brilliantly, maintaining precision throughout the complex counterpoint and rhythms, and increasing the intensity right up to the explosive finish.

Other works featured on the recording include an orchestrated version of Chris Rogerson’s A Fish Will Rise (2014/2016), based on Norman Maclean’s best-selling book A River Runs Through It; Paul Schoenfield’s Sonatina for Flute, Clarinet and Piano; Philip Hammond’s The Lamentation of Owen O’Neil; and McHale’s arrangements of both Sergei Rachmaninov’s Vocalise and the Irish traditional song The Lark in the Clear Air.

Portraits showcases the formidable talents of Demarre and Anthony McGill, who have found their match in the outstanding pianist Michael McHale. Performing with emotional intensity, extraordinary precision, and superb blending of timbres, the McGill/McHale Trio presents a dazzling debut album that’s equally significant for its three world premiere recordings of contemporary works. Highly recommended!

Reviewed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss

Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste

Posted on March 7, 2008 by aaamc

Title: Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste
Artist: Alvin Batiste
Label: Marsalis Music/Rounder
Catalog No.: 74946-0007-2
Date: 2007

Looking back on my days as an undergraduate music student at Southern University, I can remember listening in awe to Alvin Batiste, affectionately known as “Mr. Bat,” as he rehearsed the university jazz band. Even stumbling upon the sound of Mr. Bat practicing on solo clarinet was an unforgettable experience. I remember walking through the music annex with a friend during freshman year. We both played clarinet and were on our way to practice when we heard someone in the middle of some serious “shedding” (the term used at Southern for practicing) on clarinet. Once we arrived at the source of the shedding, we just stood there for a few minutes watching Mr. Bat in awe. Needless to say, we quickly hid our clarinets and began to slowly back away from his studio door.

Avant garde clarinet extraordinaire Alvin Batiste was born November 7, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was first introduced to the clarinet by his father. As the story goes, the summer before entering Booker T. Washington High School Batiste’s father handed him a clarinet. Not taking the instrument seriously, he put it down after only tooting a couple of notes. Later, however, while visiting a cousin, Batiste heard a recording of Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time.” From that point on he was inspired, and eventually pursued both a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Southern University and a Master’s degree in clarinet performance and composition from Louisiana State University. During his college tenure, Batiste became the first African American soloist to be featured with the New Orleans Philharmonic. Throughout his career, Batiste performed with some of the most recognized jazz musicians of the twentieth century, including such giants as Cannonball Adderley, Ornette Coleman, Joe Robichaux, and Ray Charles (just to name a few). In addition to his talents as a player, Batiste was also interested in jazz education. He founded the jazz program at Southern University in 1969 and assisted in the creation of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he also headed up the jazz program whose alumni include the Marsalis brothers. Tragically, Alvin Batiste suffered a heart attack on May 6, 2007 at the age of 74 and died hours before a scheduled performance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste takes the listener through 10 audibly delectable tracks steeped in the flavors of New Orleans. The feast begins with the beautifully garnished appetizer of “Clean Air.” Before tasting the morsel, you notice its vibrant coloration, which lures you in. You begin to nibble and find yourself throwing your head back with your eyes closed as you savor the crisp vocals of Edward Perkins and the pristine playing of Batiste. “I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone” is the Merlot; you begin to blush as the clarinet cleanses your pallet with its mellow mood and smooth vibrato. The meal arrives with the sweet aroma of “Edith” and tangy zest of “The Latest.” After the main course, “Skylark” lulls you into a trance and convinces you to eat some more. At this point the doors of the kitchen swing open and in comes the dessert. “What about my diet?” you ask, trying to fight the urge for more. But its no use. “Bat Trad” and “Salty Dogs” are placed in front of you for dessert, and you’re quickly whisked away to the French Quarter where your diet no longer exists.

In the accompanying CD liner notes, Bob Blumenthal states that “the feeling of family permeated the recording sessions.” Batiste is joined by friend Edward Perkins (vocals), student Branford Marsalis (saxophones), student Herlin Riley (drums), Russell Malone (guitar), Lawrence Fields (piano), and Ricardo Rodriguez (bass). Further evidence of the family presence is exemplified through “My Life is a Tree,” the lyrics of which were written by Edith Batiste (Alvin’s wife). The words for “Everloving Star” were supplied by their son Maynard, and Batiste’s grandson’s nick name supplied inspiration for “Bumps.”

Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste is a great CD for the masses, providing the uninitiated listener with a captivating and yet all too brief encounter with a musical legend. The last stanza of the Southern University Alma Mater reads “O Southern, Dear Southern, Thy name will ever be, as mighty as the river that flows on to the sea.” Just as mighty and enduring as that river is the name of Alvin Batiste and his great musical legacy, and it will flow on through recordings like this one.

Posted by Terence La Nier II