#Val Jeanty

[kickmag]

Listen/purchase: Nite Bjuti by Nite Bjuti

Night Bjuti's eponymous debut album (pronounced Night Beauty)taps into women's legacies, freedom, magic and love with ritual jazz, blues and the electronic blessings of Sun Ra. The Black woman trio of vocalist Candice Hoyes, bassist Mimi Jones and percussionist Val Jeanty named themselves after a Haitian folk tale about a deceased girl who reclaims her skeleton to recapture her life. Hoyes'prayerful utterances, Jeanty's remixing of ceremonial rhythms and Jones' agile bass does sound like avant-garde jazz for the dead at times. They are the first group of its kind and improvisation is at the center of their creative process that excavates ancestral memories with a balance between the linear and the abstract.

The deeper conceptual moments found in "Witchez" and the rumbling rhythm and poetry of "Mood (Liberation Walk)" is akin to Shabazz Palaces' celestial hip-hop funk. Zora Neale Hurston's letter to W.E.B. Dubois proposing a cemetery for eminent Black artists and Carrie Mae Weems's Kitchen Table Series of photographs are referenced on the album that moves more like a single composition instead of individual songs. Hoyes says, “We are expressing the kind of pillaging, the uprooting of women in ways personal, intergenerational, familial, sexual, past and present." "Stolen Voice" protests the erasure of Black women's history and reclaims it at the same time with Jeanty's whirlwind sequences, Jones' trancey bass grooves and Hoyes' piercing notes. The layers of intensity are felt in Hoyes' vocals expressing sorrowful wails commemorating past wrongs but quickly morph into furious condemnation after striking decibel shifts. The trio is living somewhere in the same universe occupied by Ursula Rucker, Robert Glasper, Flying Lotus, Burnt Sugar, The Last Poets and Kendrick Lamar but they have their own unique space. Night Bjuti's official debut inventively combines protest, healing, love and truth-telling into an enchanting movement of sound.

[thewaysoundtravels]

("RÉMÈD" by Val-Inc (Vi22©))

"Afro-Electronica, also called Vodou-Electro, is a hybrid of traditional Vodou music and avant-garde electronic improvisational compositions with sound installations that are performed live to evoke and celebrate my Haitian culture." - 5 Questions to Val Jeanty (composer, turntablist, drummer)

[culturedarm]

The name ØKSE means ‘axe’ in Rasmussen’s native Danish, and while the album notes offer a likeness to the Yoruba philosophy àṣẹ as life flow, the band cleave into their debut offering, which is probably the furthest foray into avant-garde jazz to date on the experimental hip hop label Backwoodz Studioz.

https://culturedarm.com/okse-okse/

[dustedmagazine]

Kris Davis — Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard (Pyroclastic)

Photo by Peter Gannushkin

The bio on Kris Davis’ website borrows a line from the New York Times which described the Canadian pianist as the beacon that told listeners where in New York City one should go on any given night. Diatom Ribbons Live At The Village Vanguard proposes a more expansive understanding of her relationship to jazz, because the ensemble’s music is a zone where Davis’s notions about was worth hearing in the 20th century gets processed and beamed out into the 21st.

The first project’s first, self-titled iteration wasn’t really the work of a band as much as it was the manifestation of a concept. The musicians at its core were Davis on piano, Trevor Dunn on electric bass, Terri Lynne Carrington on drums and Val Jeanty wielding turntables as a source of sampled speech, natural sounds and scratches. They were supplemented by six other musicians playing electric guitar, saxophones, vibes and voice, who enabled Davis to incorporate blues, rock, hip-hop and classical elements into her already-inclusive vision of the jazz continuum. The two-disc Diatom Ribbons was ambitious, but also a bit exhausting to negotiate.

This similarly dimensioned successor comes from a weekend engagement at the Village Vanguard. The latest material, which hinges around a three-part “Bird Suite,” and the ensemble’s lack of augmentation — besides the core group, there are no horns and just one guitarist, Julian Lage — results in a more cohesive statement of Davis’s thesis, which echoes a point that Charles Mingus already made a long, long time ago; you do Charlie Parker no honor by trying to play like him. He is the namesake of the three-part “Bird Suite,” which is the album’s center of gravity. Buttressed by Jeanty’s snatches of speeches by Sun Ra, Stockhausen, and other visionaries, as well as liberally reinterpreted tunes by Wayne Shorter, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Geri Allen, the music seems to be arguing that today’s jazz musician, like Bird, need to deal with everything that’s happened, and then come up with something personal.

To that end, Davis makes a hash of old, dualistic notions like inside/outside, improvised/composed or jazz + (one other genre) hybrids. Properly prepared, hash is pretty tasty, and that’s the case with this overflowing platter of pristine lyricism, bebop-to-free structural abstractions, shifting rhythmic matrices and multi-signal broadcasts of sound and voice. This is the good stuff, Davis seems to be saying, and a music maker following a jazz trajectory needs to deal with it all. But, while the music of the Diatom Ribbons ensemble is way more creatively inclusive than all those bebop copycats Mingus used to rail against, it’s a highly personal reordering of what is known, not a total paradigm shift into the new. Come to think of it, however, Mingus’ own undeniably magnificent accomplishments were more on the order of what Davis is doing here than Charlie Parker’s transformation of the music of his time.  

Bill Meyer

[elparra]

For about a year and a half, I've been bookmarking all the songs that I've liked and don't particularly listen often have appeared to me either as ads, background audio or promotional posts of artists I follow, both on tiktok and Instagram. Recently I've been compiling a playlist with all these songs saved from Insta until now, and I'm surprised by how I forgot about most of them.

It's nice to rediscover music that was filtered by myself.

Sadly these aren't on YouTube:

[miragestation]

Mirage Station playlist for August 2nd, 2023

1. Orkes Kroncong Bintang Nusantara “Putri Gunung” from Music of Indonesia 2:  Indonesian Popular Music:  Kroncong, Dangdut & Langgam Jawa (Smithsonian Folkways 1991) 2. 戸張大輔 Daisuke Tobari “02.43” from ギター Guitar (Bumblebee Records 1999) 3. Kiko Kids Jazz “Tanganyika Na Uhuru” from Tanganyika Na Uhuru (Mississippi Records 2021) 4. Rafiu Bankole and His Group “Sowemimo” from Ju Ju Roots: 1930's-1950's (Rounder Records 1985) 5. Yamoah’s Band “Cedi Special” (Decca 1966) 6. Larry Achiampong “Nkonyaa / Agyei “ From Meh Mogya (Sample Of Me) (Look Mama! Records 2011) 7. Nite Bjuti “Mood (Liberation Walk)” from Nite Bjuti Featuring Val Jeanty, Candice Hoyes & Mimi Jones (Whirlwind Recordings 2023) (bandcamp) 8. Ragnar Johnson & Jessica Mayer “Ommura Iyavati” from Bamboo Jews Harps from Papua New Guinea: Eastern Highlands and Madang (Ideologic Organ 2023) (bandcamp)

[b1lliesb1ues]

https://youtu.be/gUheNM_dHkA?si=-uKk_lHNWW2b1lQD

More on Carrington’s New Standards (Hal Leonard Sept 2022) a book of the 101 jazz compositions written by women:

“For the 2018 opening celebration of the Berklee Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice, Terri Lyne Carrington asked her students to select and perform songs from the famed jazz Real Book - a compilation of lead sheets or scores of jazz standards - written by women composers. When she released there was only one in the entire book, Carrington, an NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winning virtuoso jazz drummer, composer, inter-disciplinary artist, activist and educator, who has worked tirelessly over the last decade to advocate for inclusivity and raise the voice of women, trans and non-binary people in jazz, set out to shift the narrative.

Over the next several years, Carrington assembled New Standards (Hal Leonard Sept 2022) a book of the 101 jazz compositions written by women. new STANDARDS Vol. 1 captures 11 of these compositions. This star-studded recording features special guests Ambrose Akinmusire, Melanie Charles, Ravi Coltrane, Val Jeanty, Samara Joy, Julian Lage, Michael Mayo, Elena Pinderhughes, Dianne Reeves, Negah Santos and Somi, backed by a core section comprised of Carrington (drums), Kris Davis (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), and Matthew Stevens (guitar.)

The record gives listeners a sense of this project’s vast range, with contemporary composers like harpist Brandee Younger’s “Respected Destroyer,” clarinetist Anat Cohen’s “Ima,” vocalist Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away” as well as pieces by Gretchen Parlato, Carla Bley and more. The recordings - which range from vocal ballads to contemporary creative music - are inspired and adventurous and explore the limitless universe of jazz.”

[burlveneer-music]

GOGODUCKS - Palladio a Palla! - Francesca Remigi's drums / guitar / vibraphone trio

Paolo Peruzzi: vibraphone, programming, composition Luca Zennaro: guitar, electronics, composition Francesca Remigi: drums, percussions, composition feat. Sergio Zacco: electronics and audiovisuals Recorded by Stefano Amerio at Artesuono Recording Studio, Udine, on May 13th, 14th, 15th, 2024 Mixed and Mastered by Stefano Amerio Artwork and design by Studio 15 Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021 and Top Jazz 2022 winner Francesca Remigi is a multifaceted drummer and a visionary composer based in NYC. She's known for her international collaborations with Danilo Perez, Steve Lehman, Kris Davis, M. Hayden, Ellen Rowe, G. Garzone. Nicole Glover, Val Jeanty, with appearances at London Jazz Festival 2020, Melbourne Jazz Festival 2022 and Panama Jazz Festival 2022. 

[rich4a1]

Carolyn Davis’ Alula Captivity

Carolyn Davis’ Alula Captivity Ropeadope Avant alto saxophonist, composer and activist Caroline Davis and her band Alula issue through Ropeadope Davis’ first social justice album, Captivity.  Davis’ electronics infused compositions speak to the lives of eight heroes who kept hope alive through incarceration. Joining Davis are turntablist Val Jeanty, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Tyshawn…

[jgthirlwell]

07.21.19 JG Thirlwell had an excellent show debuting his brand new multi-channel electro-acoustic solo show Silver Mantis at Roulette on July 21 2019, as part of Roulette's 40th Season Closeout Party. Thirlwell's new set features electronics, theremin and prepared piano, with new immersive visuals created by Swedish visual artist Sten Backman. Also on the bill were John Zorn’s Simulacrum, John Medeski and Val Jeanty & Fay Victor. Photos by Dora Blount.

[kickmag]

Watch: Nite Bjuti Mood (Liberation Walk)

Candice Hoyes, Val Jeanty and Mimi Jones are Nite Bjuti. They are an Afro-Caribbean Brooklyn-based trio having chosen their name from Haitian folklore called "Night Beauty" about a girl who sings for justice in the afterlife. Their debut in 2018 at Jazz at Lincoln Center to celebrate International Women's Day was followed by performances at the NYC Winter Jazzfest, Nublu Jazz Fest, WBGO and The Schomberg. Today they share their first single "Mood (Liberation Walk)." The avant-garde musing flips the "Miss Mary Mack" nursery rhyme into a slightly eerie modern fusion.  Hoyes questions false feelings of freedom as Jeanty's drumsticks click like a bondage chain. The visuals are a montage of them taking the walk, jump-roping and performing as they are seen through a psychedelic filter. Some scholars have pegged the rhyme as originating from a game created by slave children. Hoyes explained the imagery of them jump-roping in a statement:

"What good is freedom if you don’t really feel free? Black girlhood maturation brings a range of evocative contradictory experiences. In 'Mood (Liberation Walk)' we express the sudden sensation of a girl jumping/jumped into puberty, roped into a new emotional reality, physicality and societal positionality. As explored in the music video, she jumps through the portals of her own design right until the foreboding street lights flicker. Jumping is tied to shared childhood experiences, embodies connectivity and the chasmic leaps of growth in the Black womanly experience."

Watch Nite Bjuti's Afrofuturist breakdown of contemporary questions of Black freedom in "Mood (Liberation Walk)."  The trio are currently working on their full-length album after becoming recipients of the 2020  NYC Women's Fund In Jazz. 

[mostlymonk]

Bright Mississippi

Terri Lyne Carrington’s AmalgaRhythm

Val Jeanty – DJ Lakecia Benjamin – sax Kris Davis – keyboards Terri Lyne Carrington – drums

[womencreativemusic]

Val Jeanty, Haiti (based in U.S.A.)

https://val-inc.bandcamp.com

[val-inc]

Ayibobo🇭🇹✊🏾))) excited and honored to evoke “Ritual Merging” tomorrow 8pm!!! @roulette_intermedium @risharox @renegadepg @taraanicolas @newmusicusa Sound artist Val Jeanty and performance artist Risha Rox—two Caribbean American artists whose work explores the diaspora, death, the ancient past, and an envisioned future—present the world premiere of their Roulette 2019 NYSCA Commissioned piece, Ritual Merging. A powerful ritual with the black body in focus as a nexus of breathwork, movement, projection, sound, and visuals, Ritual Merging blends Jeanty’s soundscape and projection work with Rox’s live painting of human canvases. Ritual Merging is informed by the legacies of Haitian Voodoo, Jamaican Pukumina, New Orleans funeral processions, Americana, Afro-Caribbean carnival, Black speculative fiction, and the creative energy of Afrofuturism. It creates a complex Bardo-like dichotomy evaluating mortality and immortality, despair and joy, past and future, and the literal surface and figurative core as a means to inspire reflection, reverence, and most of all, action. #staycreative #soundchemist #afroelectronica #vodouelectro #valjeanty #risharox #residency #ritualmerging #roullette #haiti #jamaica #nyc #gede #kwa #sunhouse #occidejeantylegacy #awochenago #honoringourancestors #evoke #kitewangamaché #lifepurpose #vodounotvoodoo #empower #knowyamagic #masteryacraft (at Roulette) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5JFZ0BHRbQ/?igshid=1l5kettzjdf9i

[elparra]

For about a year and a half, I've been bookmarking all the songs that I've liked and don't particularly listen often have appeared to me either as ads, background audio or promotional posts of artists I follow, both on tiktok and Instagram. Recently I've been compiling a playlist with all these songs, and I'm surprised by how I forgot about most of them.

It's nice to rediscover music that was filtered by myself.

Sadly this one isn't on YouTube:

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 24 June 2019

Quick Bits:

Action Comics #1012 keeps a number of plates spinning with the Invisible Mafia, Leviathan, and tying in events in Superman, while bringing back a character who we’ve not seen for some time in the DCU. Some great layouts and art from Szymon Kudranski and Brad Anderson.

| Published by DC Comics

Age of X-Man: X-Tremists #5 is the explosive conclusion to this mini from Leah Williams, Georges Jeanty, Roberto Poggi, Jim Charalampidis, and Clayton Cowles. We get Jubilee’s perspective on the end, as they all collectively remember what came before, what was taken from them, and the nightmare that they’ve been placed in and forced to participate. Damn good stuff.

| Published by Marvel

Amazing Spider-Man #24 is a lot of Peter avoiding dealing with things in a rational adult manner and some weird stuff with Mysterio and the new villain who has been haunting the series for a while. My guess is that it’s Ned Leeds, but his true identity is still hidden for the moment. Pretty good for a buffer issue.

| Published by Marvel

Angel #2 is another entertaining issue from Bryan Edward Hill, Gleb Melnikov, Gabriel Cassata, and Ed Dukeshire. There’s another nice split as we see a bit of Angel’s past as he reforges a slayer as his “axe” and then a dive into the current evil plaguing the kids in social media. Wonderful reveal of Lilith’s “true form” as well, great design by Melnikov.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Ascender #3 is harrowing and breathtaking. While Andy and Mila try to run in the present, we get more information on what happened with them and Effie in the time between Descender and now. Gorgeous, stunning artwork from Dustin Nguyen.

| Published by Image

Bad Luck Chuck #4 concludes what has been a fun, but weird, series from Lela Gwenn, Matthew Dow Smith, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Frank Cvetkovic. And it ends with a pretty epic battle between cops and nuns.

| Published by Dark Horse

Black Panther #13 begins the next arc of “Two Thousand Suns” and T’Challa’s attempts to contact anyone back on Earth. Daniel Acuña returns to provide the art and it is beautiful. The effects as T’Challa attempts to calculate a communication path to Earth with the various planets and such are amazing.

| Published by Marvel

Detective Comics #1006 begins a new arc guest-starring the Spectre, with art from Kyle Hotz and David Baron. The Corrigan/Spectre joining sure works different than it used to. Interesting mystery with the Spectre cult and great art.

| Published by DC Comics

Ghost Tree #3 takes a few nice moments of quiet introspection and reflection from Brandt and Arami, as well as exploring more of Brandt’s grandparents life, before ramping up the tension with the demon. Beautiful artwork from Simon Gane, Ian Herring, and Becka Kinzie.

| Published by IDW

Justice League Dark #12 has huge ramifications as “Lords of Order” rages on. Stunning artwork from Alvaro Martínez Bueno, Raul Fernandez, and Brad Anderson. Also Tynion gives us a fascinating rumination on magic between Batman and Wonder Woman.

| Published by DC Comics

Killer Groove #2 continues this excellent crime drama. The little pieces of interaction and tiny character stories throughout this issue are wonderful. Ollie Masters’ approach to the narrative reminds me a lot of Robert Altman. 

| Published by AfterShock

Road of Bones #2 leans hard into the brutal survival aspect of travelling across Russia in winter, without much idea or sense of where you’re going. Wonderful art from Alex Cormack.

| Published by IDW

The Silencer #18 concludes this series with a kind of stock-taking story from Dan Abnett, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Mike Spicer, and Tom Napolitano. There’s some bits about the reconciliation between Blake and Honor, but a large portion of this is Honor trying to find out information on what’s happening with Leviathan. 

| Published by DC Comics

Stranger Things: Six #2 continues to flesh out the time before the first season at Hawkins Labs as we continue to follow Francine through her past and experiences there. There’s a wonderful feeling of dread with the glimpses of the Upside Down.

| Published by Dark Horse

Thor #14 builds on events in War of the Realms #6 with a story that is concurrent with what happens in that book diving into the younger Thor’s perspective. Great art from Scott Hepburn and Matthew Wilson.

| Published by Marvel

Transformers/Ghostbusters #1 is a great debut from Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Tom B. Long beautifully integrating the two properties here. Cybertron as destroyed by Gozer is just wonderful, and there’s a nice bit of humour that fits well with Burnham and Schoening’s other Ghostbusters work.

| Published by IDW

War of the Realms #6 is the conclusion to this event with Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino giving us a “storm of Thors”. It’s fairly epic as Thor and Malekith meet in the final confrontation, capping off one of the longest narrative arcs in Marvel that began back in Thor: God of Thunder #1 years ago. There’s more to come, but this is a very satisfying end.

| Published by Marvel

The Weatherman #1 is a welcome return for the second volume of this series from Jody LeHeup, Nathan Fox, Moreno Dinisio, and Steve Wands. The story shifts as the team search for the clue to unlocking Bright’s memories on the one place we thought previously was all dead...Earth. Great stuff.

| Published by Image

Wolverine: Exit Wounds #1 is another of Marvel’s 80th Anniversary one-shots, this one presenting three stories from some of the luminary creators that have worked on Wolverine before. The standout for me is the Wolverine/Venom story from Sam Kieth and Ronda Pattison. It’s a simple Vs. story, but the artwork is gorgeous. Larry Hama, Scot Eaton, Sean Parsons, and Matt Milla & Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca, and Val Staples provide the other two stories giving a glimpse into other stages in Logan’s past. Joe Sabino provides letters for all three stories and it’s nice to see how he adapts for the tone and style of each tale.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Woman #73 is a fill-in from Steve Orlando, Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau giving us a story of Diana’s past in an alternate reality. It’s a decent tale on its own, giving a hint at something important for the ongoing story.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Avengers #20, Battlestar Galactica: Twilight Command #5, The Beauty #27, Bone Parish #10, Books of Magic #9, Canto #1, Conan the Barbarian #7, The Crow/Hack/Slash #1, Dark Red #4, Deadly Class #39, Diabolical Summer, Dial H for Hero #4, Dick Tracy Forever #3, Doctor Strange #15, Eve Stranger #2, Fantastic Four #11, Fight Club 3 #6, The Flash #73, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #8, GLOW #3, The Goon #3, Head Lopper #12, High Level #5, Invader Zim #44, Isola #8, Kick-Ass #15, KISS: The End #3, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #4, Major X #5, Marilyn Manor #1, Martian Manhunter #6, Marvel Comics Presents #6, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #40, Mr. & Mrs. X #12, Punk Mambo #3, Punks Not Dead: London Calling #5, Redneck #21, Rick & Morty #51, Runaways #22, Spawn #298, Spider-Man Annual #1, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Darth Vader #1, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #3, Steel Cage #1, Stone Star #4, Summit #15, Superior Spider-Man #8, Teen Titans: Raven, Thanos #3, Thief of Thieves #43, War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #4, War of the Realms: The Punisher #3, War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #3, X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction #2

Recommended Collections: Breakneck, Coda - Volume 2, Fearscape - Volume 1, Hardcore - Volume 1, HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness - Volume 1, Interceptor - Volume 1, Joe Golem: Occult Detective - Volume 3: The Drowning City, Man of Steel, Old Lady Harley, Outcast - Book 3, Relay - Volume 1, Shock - Volume 2, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra - Volume 5: Worst Among Equals, Starjammers, Tony Stark: Iron Man - Volume 2: Stark Realities, Usagi Yojimbo - Volume 33: The Hidden, Wasted Space - Volume 1, West Coast Avengers - Volume 2: City of Evils

d. emerson eddy enjoys frozen cheesecake bites.