Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Do I really play something brand-new in my car every day with no repeats? Well, yes and no. I do play something new each day--the "official" album that gets blogged and Facebooked and Twittered. But sometimes, I do more than one album's worth of driving in a given day, and that's where the repeats come in; I simply don't include those in the postings.

And now, a recap of this past week:

• MONDAY: The Claudia Quintet, "Semi-Formal." Composer John Hollenbeck presents jazz minimalism and other cleverness.


• TUESDAY: Vijay Iyer Trio, "Historicity." A fine recent effort from the rising piano star.


• WEDNESDAY: Curtis Macdonald, "Community Immunity." Impressive debut from the saxophonist/composer, and perhaps the soonest that a CD has made it to the Kevmobile after its release (it dropped yesterday).


• THURSDAY: Dafnis Prieto Sextet, "Taking the Soul for a Walk." Cool grooves and tunes from Cuban-born drummer & group; many of the compositions have a definite Chick Corea-ish vibe.


• FRIDAY: Miles Okazaki, "Generations." Latest effort from the innovative guitarist adds wordless vocals to the mix.


• SATURDAY: Vijay Iyer, Prasanna and Nitin Mitta, "Tirtha." Jazz meets India in this great trio of piano/guitar/tabla; the sound was so fresh to me that, after hearing it on Iyer's website when snagging the link for Tuesday's entry, I had to snag it almost immediately. (Read more about it and hear two full-length tracks from the CD here.)


• SUNDAY: Dave Holland Quintet, "Critical Mass." It's a tough choice, but--in my humble opinion, of course--I consider this to be the best of all the excellent albums by the group I consider to be the best working combo in jazz.

Yet another great week for music! Next week includes two days of long bus travel, so the theme will be a little bit different, but I may have more entries per day as well.