Jazz Supreme – Fender Rhodes Prayer

barabara sounds sez:  

Summer nights, balmy and subtropical. Some spiritual vibes to mellow out once the heat of the day is done... One of my alltime favorite comps, this is a tasty shuffling of classic 70s jazz and newer clubbier sounds – some better known, others a lot more obscure – put out some five years back as part of a series given the exceptionally cool title Jazz Supreme. Cue plenty of exclamation points from the ever-enthusiastic Dusty!

dusty sez: 

A sublime batch of Fender Rhodes grooves – all of them deeply spiritual numbers with a strong jazzy vibe – most from the 70s, but also including a few contemporary cuts as well! There's a totally righteous feel to the whole collection – one that goes even farther than the first volume this great Jazz Supreme series – and the mixture of electric keys with deeper spiritual leanings is completely sublime – a sound first forged in the 70s, and carried through by some current artists who share a very similar vibe! …[this] 18 song collection runs for nearly 80 minutes in all!

trax:

01. Build An Ark – Peace with every step / Equipoise
02. Mark De Clive-Lowe ft. Bembe Segue – Naima
03. Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes – Golden dreams
04. Steve Kuhn – The meaning
05. Berardi Jazz Connection – F.D.P
06. Yesterdays New Quintet – Superwoman
07. Kindred Spirits Ensemble – Ja-Mil
08. Weldon Irvine – Feelin' mellow
09. Frank Owens – Freddie's dead
10. Larry Willis – Inner crisis
11. Dave Hubard – T.B.'s delight
12. Karin Krog – The meaning of love
13. moO – Moostic voyage
14. Joe McDuphrey Experience – Solar waves
15. INO hidefumi – Spartacus
16. Carmen Lundy – Afrasia
17. Build An Ark – The blessing song

Karin Krog & John Surman - Bluesand

barabara sounds sez:

One of Karin Krog's more recent (1999) and lesser known (at least to me) collaborations, but hauntingly beautiful as usual. This is the Japanese reissue which has an extra track featuring her on a version of Air on a G String arranged by keyboard maestro Morgan Fisher. This was used for a TV commercial advertising a brand of saké. It's rather tasty (and so is the music). The rest of the album is Karin with John Surman, who adds keyboards to his usual outstanding palette of clarinet and sax.

dusty sez:

For the past 30 years, Karin Krog has been one of Europe's greatest jazz vocalists -- but although she spent a time in the 70s doing some very experimental material, she's been spending a lot more time on standards lately. However, this release marks a new direction -- and has her working again with British reed genius John Surman, a frequent collaborator during the old days. All of the tracks are in English, and are penned by Surman and Krog, with a spare folksy style that hearkens back to their more progressive work in the 70s. Surman plays reeds, piano, and synthesizer -- while Krog sings and manipulates her voice with electronics. Titles include "Sas Blues", "Bluesand", "Secret Games", "Fly Away", "Sombre Woods", and "Ribbon of Sand".