Whazzup w/This New Side w/Pharoah? (& Bembe Segue)

[JSngry]

http://www.dustygroove.com/newgroovescd2.htm#422862

Sleep Walker -- Voyage . . . CD . . . $22.99 (Item: 422862)

Village Again (Japan), 2006

Brilliant brilliant work by Sleep Walker -- a soaring, soulful album of spiritual jazz -- one that we'd rank right up there with our favorites from the era of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders on Impulse Records! The vibe here is incredible -- jazz played live on tenor, soprano sax, piano, bass, and drums -- spinning out in modal lines that groove tremendously, but not with any tricks or gimmicks that get in the way of genuine jazz expression. Sleep Walker are easily one of the deepest and most talented combos of the current club jazz scene -- and their music never resorts to fake samples or heavy-handed rhythms to move the tunes along -- just glows in the genius of its own bright light, spreading forth in waves of soul and sound that are tremendous from the first note of the album to the last! The record features guest work by Pharoah Sanders and Bembe Segue -- and titles include "Ai No Tabi", "The Southern Cross", "Voyage", "Reminiscence", "Lost In Blue", "Kaze", "Afloat", and "Into The Sun".

So, never mind that DG loves jazz shit with samples and "heavy-handed" rhythms (and have helped me, through their copious offerings of same, to develop an appreciation/affection for the best of same!), what are we looking at here when they say "club jazz"? "Spiritual" is a code word of theirs that I've long since decoded, but this is a new one afaict!

No matter, Pharoah glowing in the genius of his own bright light, spreading forth in waves of soul and sound that are tremendous from the first note of the album to the last is damn near enough for me all by itself!

!

Edited January 17, 2009 by JSngry

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Help me out, Jim. What's the code for "spiritual"?

I'm not clear from what DG say whether Pharoah is on every track or just the odd one or two. Ditto Bembe Segu(e). Nor do we know what BS plays; is it some kind of West African drum?

I'm keen but hesitant, if you know what I mean.

MG

[JSngry]

Help me out, Jim. What's the code for "spiritual"?

Modal and/or post-hardbop stuff, sometimes w/percussion added, and/or sometimes w/populist-funk underpinnings, and/or sometimes w/singers & lyrics with a spiritual and/or Black Nationalist slant.

Any number of Strata-East sides qualify, as does Harry Whitaker's Black Renaissance, which may well be the epitome of what they mean when they use the word.

[JSngry]

I'm not clear from what DG say whether Pharoah is on every track or just the odd one or two. Ditto Bembe Segu(e). Nor do we know what BS plays; is it some kind of West African drum?

I'm keen but hesitant, if you know what I mean.

MG

Pharoah's a "guest", so I'd not expect him to be on every cut.

As for Bembe Segue, he/she(?) appears to be a vocalist based on THIS AMG ENTRY. Genre/Syles are listed as Electronica, Club/Dance, & Broken Beat.

So maybe "club jazz" is code for Trane-ish stuff you can dance to in a club and not feel like an idiot (unless you feel like an idiot just dancing period). Not necessarily a bad thing at all, not in these days and times...

Suddenly the whole deal just got a little more interesting to me!

[JSngry]

Bembe Segue (she):

http://www.myspace.com/bembesegue

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-07-06/cover_story.php

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Bembe+Segue

Well, alright then!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Bembe Segue (she):

http://www.myspace.com/bembesegue

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-07-06/cover_story.php

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Bembe+Segue

Well, alright then!

West London was always teribly hip (when I lived there)

I'm gonna wait 'til you buy this, Jim, and tell us what it's like.

MG

[JSngry]

Well, ok then, be that way.

Just ordered. Hopefully in by mid-week or so.

I gotta stop getting into this Japanese shit. Them CDs is SPENSIVE!!!!!

!

[WD45]

I have heard the term "club jazz" used by a German DJ that hosts a podcast. He used it to describe a band I started a thread about some time ago, the unfortunately named "Soil and Pimp Sessions" collective from Japan.

Hard driving, swinging minor modal number prevail. No electronics, from what I have heard, and solid solos. Think of a McCoy Tyner BN session from 1968. The funk is there, but not the pop-music kind. I would like to explore more of the scene, but as you have pointed out, the prices are more than prohibitive on my miniscule monthly music budget.

[JSngry]

I have heard the term "club jazz" used by a German DJ that hosts a podcast. He used it to describe a band I started a thread about some time ago, the unfortunately named "Soil and Pimp Sessions" collective from Japan.

Could you post a link to that thread, please? I've seen that band on Dusty Groove & was wondering what the deal was.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I've seen it, too, but can't remember the connection.

MG

[Bluesman]

I found this on the net:

SleepWalker — “The Voyage / Into the Sun” 12’’ (Especial Records)

SleepWalker is a jazz quartet from Osaka, Japan. Their latest release is the de facto EP of last season and an absolute must have for any jazz aficionado.

The first side of the 12’’, entitled “The Voyage,” is a blazing, 13-minute jazz odyssey featuring tenor sax legend Pharaoh Sanders. In the first half, the quartet slowly picks up the initially leisurely pace with an array of top-notch drum work and piano solos. Then Sanders enters with a long, wailing solo that is simply hair-raising.

The second cut, “Into the Sun,” is slightly more controlled but just as soulful. A tight, upbeat jam gives way to the classy, guest vocals of jazz singer Bembe Segue.

I'm definitely going to get this!!

[ejp626]

Way back when -- at least 2 years ago -- DG offered the 12 inch single Pharaoh with Sleepwalker. I got it back then. Not sure I'll get the whole CD, mostly because of the price.

[etherbored]

for the curious: sound clips from the label and their own site...

enjoy,

-e-

ps: 'spensive'..that's funny!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

for the curious: sound clips from the label and their own site...

enjoy,

-e-

ps: 'spensive'..that's funny!

Thanks - that's helpful.

So Pharoah and Bembe are only on one track each...

MG

[JSngry]

Ok Here's what seems like a definition of "club jazz" (bold added):

Sunaga T Experience -- Letter From Allnighter

Flower (Japan), 2006

A beautiful little record that takes the current Japanese club jazz sound one step further -- a brilliant effort from Sunaga T, and one that goes even deeper than any of his previous efforts! Unlike Sunaga's other records, which were often "electronics with a touch of jazz", this set is mostly straight jazz all the way through -- following a groove set by Koop, Sleepwalker, Nicola Conte, and others in recent years -- one that retro-fits older jazz modes onto newer dancefloor sensibilities, all with a sound that's lean enough for the dancefloor, but a sense of soul that's right up there with classics on Blue Note, Prestige, or Impulse Records! A few tracks have vocals -- by guest singers Sheila Landis, Mika Arisaka, or Arvin Homa Aya -- but the main groove here is instrumental, laid down with heavy modal lines on piano from Yuri Dazai, plus bits of trombone, trumpet, tenor, and soprano sax. The record's a real collaborative effort -- with Sunaga at the helm, but plenty of strong input from all players included -- and titles include "In Case Of Emergency", "Sasuke", "Cuba Libre", "Edward Hopper", "Versiliana Samba", "Dig The Nu Breed", "A Healing Blue", and "Love Is A Bird". CD also features the bonus Five Corners remake of "Versiliana Samba"!

[etherbored]

i, for one, can get with it.

soul bossa trio has some happening sides, too.

-e-

[JSngry]

This one arrived today and has been spun. The cut w/Pharoah is tough!

On the whole, though, I wanted more than I got. Let's just say that the group's very real energy and enthusiasm are out of balance with their level of finesse.

However....

I definitely feel the "tweaking" to which DG refers, and it's an intriguing thing. The drummer is probably my facorite player of the group, and he plays in such a way that the pulse ends up affecting my whole body rather than just my extremities, which is the case with the music on which this is modeled. It still swings, but with less of an emphasis on 2 & 4. There's a more equally distributedsense of pulse and momentum, and that, it seems to me, may well be directly traceable to the last 25-30 years of contemporary dance music.

Is it a radical breakthrough? No, noy even slightly. The afore mentioned lack of finesse means that there's passages of genuine goodness mixed in with passages of heavy-handedness and clumsiness, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which shows up when. But there is something different happening here, and it's something that I think is worth paying attention to, if only as a hint of future possibilities.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thank you, Jim.

MG

[JSngry]

Gave this one a sustained listen last night, and I think the thing that bugs me the most is that the sax player seems to be one of these guys sho's spend a lot more time on his fingers than on his embouchure. That's gonna bug me from now until the day I die, I reckon.

But...

I really, really got a feel for what the rhythm section is up to, and I like it a lot. Fans of Strata-East type "spiritual" jazz (ah, the Bastards neologisms!) will probably dig this one for the emphasis on modality and vampage. But I swear, I can honestly hear this as dance music, and I can actually see a club full of people dancing to a lot of it. Seems like what they're doing is taking Milestone-era type Tyner-esque vamps and making them a bit more "punchier", just a tad more stacatto and a tad more accented, with the emphasis being less on "flow" and more on "beat". And on the cut w/Pharoah, it all comes together. Pharoah has definitely put in some time on his embouchure.

I gotta confess, the notion of people dancing to this type jazz is an appealing one to me. Ain't nobody listening anymore, but plenty of people are dancing.

"By any means necessary", as the man said...

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

And more thanks Jim. Will think about this.

Oh, what's the girl singer from Ealing like?

MG

[JSngry]

She's young and enthusiastic, sings reasonably in tune and with good phrasing. Doesn't sound like she's absorded the Massive Grandeur Of The Tradition, if you know what I mean, but then again, why should she at this age, time, & place? We've got enough people too busy pretending they're of a different age, time, and place as it is.

I'd say, based on this one cut, that she's somebody to drop in on from time to time to see how she's doing. Might be something happening, might not be. The spirit is definitely there. The rest, we'll see.

[ejp626]

Interestingly, there is a pretty big push for this in the Tokyo Tower Records, which I visited today. Bunches of copies and it's CD number one in one of the listening stations in the front of the jazz section. It's still a bit higher than I want to spend (2400 Yen, which is around $23 I think). Actually there might be a 10% sale on, but it's hard for me to tell. I guess if I was going to get it, this would be the time. But I already have the cut with Sanders from the 12 inch.

[ornette]

I've got their first (?) album (released in the UK on Extra Freedom) and it's great!

[JSngry]

And more thanks Jim. Will think about this.

Oh, what's the girl singer from Ealing like?

MG

She's young and enthusiastic, sings reasonably in tune and with good phrasing. Doesn't sound like she's absorded the Massive Grandeur Of The Tradition, if you know what I mean, but then again, why should she at this age, time, & place? We've got enough people too busy pretending they're of a different age, time, and place as it is.

I'd say, based on this one cut, that she's somebody to drop in on from time to time to see how she's doing. Might be something happening, might not be. The spirit is definitely there. The rest, we'll see.

Time for an update.

Bembe Segue has been turning up in all sorts of interesting places on various broken beat releases. Fromer her MySpace page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendid=26688348 I definitely recommend "afrospace" & "cosmic spaces", but it's all good. Not a "great singer" per se, but one who understands what's going on with what she's doing better than many "better" singers might well be, especially in terms of phrasing.

She seems to be the right voice at the right place in the right time, and her name on a project definitely gets my attention these days.

[JSngry]

Further Bembe update:

She keeps turning up on some really good broken-beat records and keeps sounding really good on them.

She's also done a track w/Jazzanova, "That Night", that has really caught my ear as being a really good/interesting song. Imagine an old Strata-East thing re-imagined as a vocal vehicle perfectly suitable fodder for mainstream consumption, and that might give you an idea. Or something like one of those BN "spiritual" "with voices" albums with a vocalist taking the lead instead of an instrumentalist, that might give you an idea. Great groove, great changes, hell, great tune, period.

Available for $0.89 (that's EIGHTY NINE CENTS!!!) as an Amazon download here (O-Board link built in, hopefully): http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/order/than...wWGTZITaQ%3D%3D

Some y'all might like this, some more y'all won't. C'est la vie. But ffor those who will (or even might), damn, 89 cents is a cheap price for damn near anything these days...