Ten years since his underground Headphone Masterpiece and Cody Chesnutt is finally back with a proper follow up – one that has a more fully-fleshed out production – and it’s pretty damn great! There's some striking differences in approach, but thankfully, the idiosyncratic creative bent remains! Where Headphones Masterpiece was a mind-bogglingly ambitious low fi bedroom production, this one was at least partially recorded at Willie Mitchell's legendary Royal Studios in Memphis, with a great group of studio musicians. This one is also more focused – and features a tight batch of 12 songs – as opposed to the sprawling double album debut. Cody's ear for classic southern soul craft informs this one – but his raw lyricism and great voice are still the focus, and that ultimately makes this one another near-classic! We hope it won't take 10 years to make another record, but we're sure glad we finally got this one! Includes "'Til I Met Thee", "I've Been Life", "That's Still Mama", "Don't Follow Me", "Everybody's Brother", "Love Is More Than A Wedding Day", "Under The Spell Of The Handout", "Don't Wanna Go The Other Way", "Where Is All The Money Going", "Scroll Call" and more. ~ Dusty Groove
A pretty compelling little quartet – a jazz combo from Zimbabwe, and one who play with a lot of spiritual jazz overtones – yet also throw in some occasional vocals in English! Instrumentation is pretty unique – like some of the hipper experiments on Strata East in the 70s – with a mix of piano, mbira, cello, alto sax, percussion, and marimba – all used in shifting rhythmic passages that have a really hypnotic feel – almost the same sort of slow-building energy of some of Phil Cohran's classic recordings, but with a bit more focus on the vocal tunes. Singer Vimbai Mukarati is great – with a voice that makes his lyrics way more than just an afterthought – and titles include "Let You Go", "Thirty Five", "September Sun", "Kunakirwa", "Moonlight", "Free Fall", "Coming Home", and "Underwater Subway". ~ Dusty Groove
A Christmas jazz album – even though you might not guess it from the title and cover – and one that really takes a fresh approach to a wide range of Holiday classics! Guitarist Craig Brann isn't content to simply rehash old melodies – and instead really steps out with creative jazz reworkings of these classic tunes – re-arranging almost all of them with a fresh sense of rhythms, and some angular energy that makes them all a lot more striking than most familiar versions! Tunes are short, but get in plenty of creative changes – and in addition to Brann's guitar, the set also features tenor and alto from Gregory Tardy, piano from Joel Weiskopf, and alto from Nicholas Kozak. Maybe the most openly creative Christmas jazz album since God Rest Ye Merry Jazzmen – with titles that include "We Three Kings", "Angels We Have Heard On High", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Hark The Herald", "Little Drummer Boy", and "Joy To The World". ~ Dusty Groove