Stormy Mondays: New Jazz

Welcome back to the latest edition of the ongoing Jazz in the Present Tense series here at Stormy Mondays. This time we’re checking out a triptych of recent recordings starting out with two stellar piano trios. The first is Jason Moran and Bandwagon who released Ten on Blue Note over the summer, celebrating their decade together. Although the second tune is on the album, Thelonious > RFK in the Land of Apartheid featured here is actually from a gig in Amsterdam in October. It’s full of all the Bandwagon earmarks: the dense poly-rhythms, slick, understated samples and Moran’s playful, percussive piano.

Next is a pair of tracks from pianist Marc Cary’s amazing Focus Trio Live 2009, In Between Appointments > CD Changer. Cary, who is well known especially for his work with Abbey Lincoln, definitely dances in the same world as Moran, but has an edgier, darker feel. The album is wonderful, worth seeking out, and the band will be playing here in NYC as part of the Blue Note’s Late Night Groove Series in a couple weeks.

Finally, few artists have been as prolific in the last 18 months as Myron Walden. Best known for his role as alto and bass clarinetist in The Fellowship Band (Brian Blade), he released two albums late last year very much in that heady vein under the moniker of In This World, featuring many of his Fellows. More recently, he’s been receiving huge accolades for his nasty groove album Countryfied, a joint that will find its way into your play lists soon if it hasn’t already. In between, he also released two albums with Momentum, a spectacular group modeled in personnel and sound after the Miles Davis’ Quintets of the mid sixties. I had the pleasure of catching them at Smoke over the summer and was floored by the rolling namesake of the quintet – one of the most satisfying sets I’ve seen this year. Pulse is a long track, but totally engrossing and something that will leave you wanting more.