Adventurous, scintillating diverse jazz Alain Mallet – Mutt Slang

Adventurous, scintillating diverse jazz Alain Mallet – MUTT SLANG:  Within seconds of burning this from the CD to my review drive, I transported it to my  iPhone, where it has resided (and been played every day) since… pianist Alain is joined by a totally talented crew of players… Alain put together a 13-piece ensemble for this release… some of the key players are Alain doing piano, Layth Sidiq on violin, Daniel Rotem on Saxophone, Abe Rounds on drums, Peter Slavov and Tali Rubinstein – and they COOK together!  Don’t take my word for it, though; just listen to the scintillating energy they produced on the rhythm-heavy “Road Signs“… an odd choice (it was an Israeli pop song), with the lyrics all in Hebrew… the changes on this tune alone make it worth the purchase of the album.

The opener, “Till I Dance (In Your Arms Again)“, starts off with some nice guitar strumming and flute pairings, then jumps into “power mode” at about the :56 second mark… this song is performed in 5/4, but somehow gives off a distinctive tango vibe… the spirit is with them on this tune, no doubt!

The spooky violin intro to “Adama” segues into a marvelous vocal that will stay in your head for days (if not months and years)… the keyword on this song is “POWER”!

It is the keyboard/vocal interplay on “Spring” that (hands-down) made the tune my personal favorite of the twelve songs offered up for our aural enjoyment… at 8:54, it gives plenty of room for each of the players to show their skills… especially Tali’s vocal – which makes sense, because she wrote it.

What you need to know is that Alain’s assemblage here is just amazing… ergo, it gets a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of a (perfect) 5:00 – it also gets my “PICK” for “best jazz album of 2018”!  Get more information at Alain’s page for the release.          Rotcod Zzaj

 

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Dick Metcalf, editor, Contemporary Fusion Reviews
Dick Metcalf, editor, Contemporary Fusion Reviews
Dick Metcalf (aka Rotcod Zzaj) is a globe-hopping musician and poet who spent many years roving the world until he finally settled in his current abode, Lacey, Washington... just down the road from Seattle. He started IMPROVIJAZZATION NATION magazine in 1990 (still being published), and Contemporary Fusion Reviews magazine in 2016. He also was a keyboard player & singer for many years... you can hear (and download for free) many of those works at his "Internet Archive Collection". If you'd like to support our efforts and get something in return, there are also a few of these albums for sale on the Rotcod Zzaj BandCamp site"

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