#Samuel Leipold

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Under the Radar: Jim Marks' Year-end List for 2023

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Lucca Lo Bianco

The stream of great new music is constant and impossible to keep up with. Inevitably, some of it goes largely unnoticed. My year-end list consists of releases that I really enjoyed but didn’t get around to writing about and haven’t seen reviewed elsewhere in English. They are presented in no particular order.

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Lucca Lo Bianco — Ostro (Ezz-thetics)

This trio of clarinet, double bass, and guitar delivers atmospheric free jazz. Experimental without being confrontational (included is a choice Jimmy Giuffre cover), Ostro offers a rarely heard sound palette and consistently interesting arrangements.

Luis Ribeiro — A Inven​ç​ã​o da Fic​ç​ã​o (Porta Jazz)

The Porta Jazz label out of Portugal released fewer records than usual this year, perhaps a lagging effect of Covid. One standout is the debut by guitarist and composer Ribeiro, who leads a sextet with tenor and baritone saxophones in the front line. Love the eerie vocalization on the opening track. Space age and swinging.

Adrián Royo Trío — Pangea (Errabal Jazz)

This Spanish release initially caught my eye in the La Habitacion de Jazz blog because of the involvement of double bassist Manel Fortià. Strong original melodies and tight interplay make for a standout piano trio recording in a great year for piano trios.

Javier Burin — Escenarios (Los Años Luz Discos)

Another excellent but low-profile piano trio release this year. The assuredness and inventiveness of Argentinian Burin’s playing are the more remarkable given that he is only in his early twenties; check out especially the unlikely cover of “Tenor Madness.”

Marcus Eads — Pride of Ostego (self-released)

This Minnesotan has been putting out gentle Takoma-style guitar music for more than a decade. Strongly rooted in the rural midwestern landscape, his playing and homespun compositions call to mind back porches, canoe trips, and sitting by the fireside.

Scott Tuma — Nobody’s Music (Haha)

I was thrilled to stumble across this unheralded release recently by the Souled American alumnus and one of the architects of slowcore. Apparently first appearing last year on cassette, Nobody’s Music, coming six years after No Greener Grass, delivers more ambling and spindly acoustic guitar lines that seem to drip out of the instrument with the occasional accompaniment of what sounds like harmonica or accordion. Enchanting as always.

Mohamed Masmoudi — Villes Éternelles (Centre des Musiciens du Monde)

Canadian oud master Masmoudi creates a compelling blend of Arabic music and jazz in a percussion-less quartet also featuring clarinet, piano, and double bass. With top-notch musicianship and catchy tunes, the group shows how good world music fusion can sound.

Jorge Abadias — Camins (Underpool)

The Underpool label documents the lively Barcelona jazz scene. Its 2023 releases include this quartet date led by guitarist Abadias. His original post-bop (in the broad sense) compositions tend toward slower tempos, and fine soloing abounds.

Jakob Dreyer — Songs, Hymns, and Ballads Vol. 2 (self-released)

Another solid post-bop quartet recording featuring original compositions. Three U.S. musicians fill out German double bassist Dreyer’s quartet, and this second volume nicely complements Vol. 1 released last year.

Various Artists — You Better Mind: Southeastern Songs to Stop Cop City (self-released)

This project, spearheaded by the Magic Tuber String Band (who also released the outstanding Tarantism in 2023), brings together a broad swath of musicians, including Joseph Allred, Shane Parish, Sally Anne Morgan, Nathan Bowles, the Tubers themselves, and some I was unfamiliar with. The music tends toward the rustic; much of it is excellent, and the cause is as noble as they come.

Jim Marks

[donospl]

Samuel Leipold, Jürg Bucher, Luca Lo Bianco “Ostro”

Hat Hut Recrods, 2023 Historia wydania niniejszego albumu rozpoczęła się od dyskusji wewnątrz Swiss Jazz Orchestra, w składzie której grają Samuel Leipold oraz Jürg Bucher. Przedmiotem rozważań była kariera i twórczość Jimmy’ego Giuffrego. To właśnie grające bez perkusji trio Giuffrego stało się zalążkiem idei, która zaowocowała wejściem do studia grającego na gitarze Leipolda, klarnecisty…