Friday, May 29, 2009

Review: Joe Lovano's Folk Art
















Joe Lovano- "Dibango" (LaLa.com stream)

I'm mad at Esperanza Spalding.

I'd been perfectly content to ignore almost all of Joe Lovano's output. Sure, I'd admired everything I'd heard by the acclaimed jazz saxophonist, but I thought I had him covered by owning just a couple of the 22 albums he's issued as a leader for Blue Note Records.

Then Spalding came along. I acquired Folk Art only because I was curious about Spalding's contribution. I shamelessly swooned over the young bassist earlier this month. I wanted to hear how she'd fit in with some of the world's premier musicians.

Spalding's effort, along with the entire album, is incredible. The sound is reminiscent of the best free jazz recordings from the ECM and HatHut labels. Spalding chugs along just as naturally as an inspired Charlie Haden. Lovano's band seems to have Henry Threadgill and late Coltrane in mind on the skronkiest tracks.

Now I feel compelled to invest an insane amount of time and money on the rest of Lovano's catalog. Thanks a lot, Esperanza!

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I geeked out over plastic saxes today at, um, Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City Click: Jason Ricci headlines what's being billed as the first weekend blues show at The Record Bar tonight.

I'll be one of the thousands of fat, sweaty dudes at Rockfest Saturday.

The Wild Women of Kansas City return to Jardine's on Sunday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass. As reflected in a handful of recent posts, I haven't yet figured out how to portray the proverbial glass with an MP3.)

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