JK is Carrying Esbjörn's Torch in Fine Fashion

On New Year's Day, I posted a list of my favorite new jazz CDs of 2012. Despite formidable competition from the likes of Pat Metheny and Kenny Garrett, I gave top honors to a Swedish piano trio that's not particularly well-known, but should be. The group is called the Jacob Karlzon 3, the CD itself is called More, and my favorite tune on the album is the opening track, "Running." It has definite shades of both Metheny and Esbjörn Svensson (Karlzon's late countryman, from whom it could easily be said that he has inherited the title of standard-bearer for the "New Piano Trio" genre).

"Running" was featured in a teaser video promoting the album's release last August, and now there's a full-length video for the song. Enjoy!

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

As always, here's the recap of car-tunes from the past seven days:

• MONDAY: Playing today in the Kevmobile: Gary Burton/Chick Corea/Pat Metheny/Dave Holland/Roy Haynes, "Like Minds." The rare "supergroup" that sounds like a coherent band (likely because they've all played together on numerous occasions in smaller groups).


• TUESDAY: Dafnis Prieto Sextet, "Taking the Soul For a Walk." Cuban-born drummer leads group through energetic set.


• WEDNESDAY: Naruyoshi Kikuchi Dub Sextet, "Dub Orbits." Japanese tenorist leads a traditional group that's augmented by cool electronic effects.


• THURSDAY: One O'Clock Lab Band, "Lab 2011." Straight from the mailbox, a great followup to last night's Syndicate gig. (A review of the CD will be posted at this site within a few days.)


• FRIDAY: Tim Berne and Bill Frisell, "Theoretically." Re-released 1984 album puts a different spin on sax/guitar duo--skronkier than anything we'd ever do in Credulous, but nonetheless interesting.


• SATURDAY: Esbjörn Svensson Trio, "Tuesday Wonderland." Great '06 release by the late Swedish pianist's genre-bending threesome.


• SUNDAY: Flim & The BB's, "New Pants." Dick Oatts, Jimmy Johnson and company play early '90s fusion with integrity.

I've once again been digging into my vast CD collection in recent days, so even though I don't anticipate getting any new releases this week, there are still plenty of unblogged/untweeted titles from which I can choose.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

This week's listening included some of those funny little round things (actual CD's, as opposed to the usual iPod fare), courtesy of the Borders going-out-of-business sale:

• MONDAY: OK, this is a first: Evidently, I managed to not tweet what I played that day; chalk it up to being the first Monday of the new school year. And now, six days later, I can't remember...


• TUESDAY: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "I'm With You." A new semi-mainstream rock album on a major label? Hey, it happens...especially with an album like this, where the tunes just jumped out of the speakers at me when I heard the samples on eMusic.


• WEDNESDAY: Tomasz Stanko, "Wolnosc w Sierpniu." The title of the Polish trumpeter's album means "Freedom in August," so it seemed appropriate to play it on the last day of that month. (I also played a semi-obscure European jazz musician on purpose, as a tongue-in-cheek promise to a friend who pretended to lose faith in me because of my mainstream choice from the day before.)


• THURSDAY: Brandt Brauer Frick, "You Make Me Real." German trio plays techno-type music w/ mostly acoustic instruments. (I can't wait for the first release from their large ensemble later in the fall!)


• FRIDAY: They Might Be GiantsZ, "Join Us." Latest effort from Brooklyn duo, procured for $6 at Borders' closing sale.


• SATURDAY: Manu Katché, "Third Round." Album #3 on ECM from French drummer features a young band and funky grooves. (Also obtained at the Borders sale, for around seven bucks.)


• SUNDAY: Michel Camilo, "One More Once." Pianist revisits his classic tunes with all-star big band featuring Paquito D'Rivera, Jon Faddis, and more.

Those last three selections have, as I said above, been on actual CDs, and I may well dig into the shelves at Casa de Kev in the week ahead to catch up on things I haven't listened to in a while.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

This past week was a mixture of old classics and new arrivals; let's talk about 'em:

• MONDAY: The debut album from James Farm. It's been repeated a few times already, but...it's just that awesome.


• TUESDAY: Kurt Rosenwinkel, "Heartcore." Guitarist experiments with different textures on what's become known as his "electronica album."


• WEDNESDAY: Stefon Harris & Blackout, "Urbanus." Latest release from vibraphonist and his genre-bending collective.


• THURSDAY: Ingrid Lukas, "We Need to Repeat." Estonian-born vocalist, who works regularly with Nik Bärtsch, does her own brand of jazz minimalism on Bärtsch's Ronin Rhythm label.


• FRIDAY: Level 42, "Guaranteed." 1992 release from premier UK funk/rock band features guitar wizard Allan Holdsworth.


• SATURDAY: Aaron Parks, "Invisible Cinema." James Farm - Joshua Redman + guitarist Mike Moreno = a great debut CD from the pianist.


• SUNDAY: Brad Mehldau, "Highway Rider." Pianist's 2nd collaboration w/ producer Jon Brion features Joshua Redman.

Look for a few more new items in the week ahead; every month, when my eMusic credits refresh, it's like a mini-birthday for my ears.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

There were a lot of reruns this week, but it's all been stuff that's well worth repeating:

• MONDAY: Playing today in the Kevmobile: Nobody's Business, "Forward Momentum." Great '07 release from quartet of then-UNT jazz students Teriver Cheung, Evan Weiss, Roberto Verastegui and Colin Hinton.


• TUESDAY: Oktoposse, "Blues Lee--Volume III." Latest release from creative and occasionally wacky German octet.


• WEDNESDAY: The debut album from Speak, a creative Seattle quintet w/ trumpeter Cuong Vu and four of his former students.


• THURSDAY: Weather Report, "Heavy Weather." Rockin' to the classic album by Zawinul, Shorter, Jaco, Acuña and Badrena, featuring the original "Birdland."


• FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Miles Okazaki, "Generations." Sophomore release (2009) from up-and-coming guitarist/composer.


• SUNDAY: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, "Winterwood." 2009 release from Tulsa-based group, still available as a free download at their website.

There's likely to be some brand-new music here next week, so stay tuned!

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

This week was a bit of a challenge, with the venerable iPod going into hibernation on Thursday...but I made my old iPhone into a backup iPod Touch and kept moving on.

• MONDAY: Radiohead, "OK Computer." Now I know what the original versions of those Brad Mehldau covers sound like.


• TUESDAY: Nils Petter Molvaer, "Khmer." My favorite among all the releases by electronica-loving Norwegian trumpeter.


• WEDNESDAY: Mark Wingfield/Jane Chapman/Iain Ballamy: "Three Windows." Gtr/hpschd/sax trio infuses jazz w/ many things--world music, classical, electronica and prog rock, just to name a few.


• THURSDAY: Pat Metheny Group, "We Live Here." It makes frequent appearances here, b/c it never fails to lift my spirit.


• FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Marco Benevento, "Me Not Me." Pianist known for using circuit-bent toys mixes covers, originals.


• SUNDAY: Stefon Harris/David Sanchez/Christian Scott, "Ninety Miles." US trio joins with two different Cuban rhythm sections in lively set of originals from the three leaders.

Here's hoping the old iPod just needs a break from the heat and "wakes up" in a few days...

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Here's this week's list of hot tunes in a cool car on some very hot days:

• MONDAY: Roger Rosenberg, "Baritonality." 2009 debut recording from the Bob Mintzer Big Band's regular bari player.


• TUESDAY: Quebec Antique, "The Abbey Tapes." Great spring break discovery by Austin-based electro-acoustic duo (half of which is Michael Blake, the guy who did the controversial "What Pi Sounds Like" video, profiled here).


• WEDNESDAY: Godley & Creme, "Ismism" (aka "Snack Attack"). '82 release from the avant-garde half of 10cc has held up quite well over the ensuing decades.


• THURSDAY: Brad Mehldau, "Largo." Pianist teams with producer Jon Brion to create orchestral textures and a touch of electronica to his usual fare.


• FRIDAY: Alastair Ottesen, "You Can No Longer Blame It on the Machines." The former lead tenor player of the UNT Two O'Clock Lab Band moved to Brooklyn and steered his talents toward exquisite, enjoyable pop music.


• SATURDAY: Jamiroquai, "Dynamite." I'm slowly but surely catching up on the back-catalogue of one of my favorite groups from a decade ago.


• SUNDAY: Ozma, "Strange Traffic." Latest release from clever French collective who could be described as the "Kneebody of France" on this recording.

There may be a few reruns next week, as my eMusic credits are about to run out, but I can promise at least a few new things in there as well. Come back every Sunday for this feature, and check in on other days as well to see what I might be talking about.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Being the week of jazz camp, a few new releases by my colleagues were added into the mix this week, along with the usual collection of new stuff and summer reruns:

• MONDAY: Edward Petersen and The Test, "The Mission." Camp week begins with a new CD from New Orleans-based tenorman who's also my longtime camp colleague.


• TUESDAY: Chucho Valdés, "Chucho's Steps." Recent release from Cuban piano master, aka "the only star in Irakere who didn't defect."


• WEDNESDAY: David Binney, "The Luxury of Guessing." 1995 release from acclaimed NYC-based altoist/composer.


• THURSDAY: Ben Allison, "Think Free." Tuneful 2009 release from prolific bassist/composer.


• FRIDAY: The debut album from James Farm. It was just played in here a few weeks ago, but well worth the repeat.


• SATURDAY: Stockton Helbing, "Battlestations & Escape Plans." Brand-new CD of originals from amazing drummer who's also one of my camp colleagues.


• SUNDAY: Radiohead, "The King of Limbs." Latest release from band known for its influence on younger jazz musicians.

And now that camp is over, and out-of-town travels are done for a while, we should be back to a more "normal" week next week--but still some great music with only a few reruns!

Playing Last Week in the Kevmobile (and Other Conveyances)

This was an unusual week, since it included a plane trip, so the music came in fits and spurts.

• MONDAY: Stéphane Huchard, "Bouchabouches." French drummer/composer leads his band through tunes inspired by tunnels. (Does this mean you could truly call it an "underground" album?)


• TUESDAY: The Postal Service, "Give Up." The acclaimed and thus far one-off release from electronic-driven pop duo.


• WEDNESDAY: Paquito D'Rivera, "A Taste of Paquito." Choice cuts from the amazing altoist's tenure with Columbia Records.


• THURSDAY: Food, "Molecular Gastronomy." 2007 release from Norwegian/British duo of Iain Bellamy (saxophones) and Thomas Stronen (percussion, electronics).


• FRIDAY (on the plane): The Flashbulb, "Love As A Dark Hallway" and Curtis Macdonald, Community Immunity."


• SATURDAY: Nothing. I only rode in a car a couple of times, and the driver had the radio on NPR.


• SUNDAY (on the plane): Boards of Canada, "The Campfire Headphase" and Dog Soup, "Fragments"; (in the Kevmobile): Pat Metheny Group, "We Live Here."

And in other Kevmobile news, she hit 70,000 miles on the way back from the airport today. Still purrs like a kitten, she does.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Here we go with the weekly roundup of (mostly new) music:

• MONDAY: Joshua Redman, "Freedom in the Groove." Seeing as how Monday was the Fourth of July, I pretty much had to play something with "freedom" in the title.


• TUESDAY: Steve Coleman & Five Elements, "Rhythm People." Great set of funky, exploratory tunes from veteran altoist.


• WEDNESDAY: Tomasz Stanko Quartet, "Suspended Night." Fine '04 release from revered Polish trumpeter and his young rhythm section (who have recorded by themselves, first as the Simple Acoustic Trio and now as the Marcin Wasilewski Trio).


• THURSDAY: Reed's Bass Drum, "Which is Which." First full-length CD from trio of, well, reed (bari), bass and drums.


• FRIDAY/SATURDAY: Jamiroquai, "Rock Dust Light Star." 2010 album from funky UK group shows a bit of rock edge on the first few tracks before returning to the group's classic sound. (Is this the first group played in the Kevmobile for a while that a lot of you have heard of?)


• SUNDAY: Snarky Puppy, "Bring Us the Bright." Next-to-most recent effort by the Pups, and their first use of a string section.

Next week includes a plane trip, so there may well be a couple of "playing today in the plane" entries.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

A little bit less driving this week meant that I only have six albums to present instead of seven, but present them I shall:

• MONDAY: Jacob Karlzon 3, "The Big Picture." Newest trio effort from Swedish pianist shows a strong e.s.t. influence. (His quintet effort from a few years ago made an appearance in the Kevmobile last week.)


• TUESDAY: Mik Keusen's Blau, "Nelu." Swiss composer/keyboardist plays minimalist-tinged jazz with woodwinds, percussion, and a female vocalist who also serves as the group's bassist. (This is the group profiled in Tuesday's post.)


• WEDNESDAY: Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek, "Upojenie." Guitarist teams with Polish singer on a gorgeous set of tunes, including new versions of several Metheny originals with lyrics added.


• THURSDAY/FRIDAY: Dave Douglas & Keystone, "Spark of Being: Expand." Douglas' recent movie soundtrack themes (to a silent Frankenstein flick) are recast in combo form. (When this went up on Twitter, Dave retweeted it to his followers!)


• SATURDAY: The eponymous CD by Tigershrimp--Fried Dähn's trio of electric cello, electric bass and "electric mouth" (a.k.a. beatboxing). It's a very cool sound, but sadly out of print at this point.


• SUNDAY: Benoit Delbecq Unit, "Phonetics." French pianist leads quintet (featuring Mark Turner) in varied originals.

As always, I encourage you to check out these groups on YouTube, iTunes, etc. And if you can't wait till Sunday to hear what's in the Kevmobile each week, feel free to follow me on Twitter.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Once again, the weekly rundown of (mostly new) stuff that's graced my automotive airwaves this week:

• MONDAY: Marco Benevento, "Between the Needles & Nightfall." Latest release from pianist known for stylistic versatility and his use of "circuit-bent toys."


• TUESDAY: Meadow, "Blissful Ignorance." 2009 release from acclaimed Norwegian/British trio of piano, sax and drums.


• WEDNESDAY: Jacob Karlzon, "Big 5." Quintet effort (of course) from the Swedish pianist whom I only discovered a few days ago.


• THURSDAY: John Escreet, "The Age We Live In." New release from up-and-coming pianist/composer mixes electric/acoustic.


• FRIDAY: Dave Holland Quintet, "Critical Mass." Newest album from the bassist/composer's wonderful fivesome (though he's had sextet and octet releases since then).


• SATURDAY: Freddie Hubbard, "On the Real Side." Final studio album from trumpet giant, accompanied by the New Jazz Composers Octet.


• SUNDAY: The Flashbulb, "Soundtrack to a Vacant Life." Another fine release from multi-instrumentalist Benn Jordan.

As always, come back next Sunday for more!

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Once again, a rundown of the weekly car-tunes:

• MONDAY: Stoner Forss Borg, "The Lektor Tapes." Jazz quartet The Stoner and electronic duo Forss, all from Sweden, join forces (Forss-es?) for an enjoyable mix of styles.


• TUESDAY: RTB Crew, "Meet the Beat." Debut release from the group featured in last week's "crazy tuba video."


• WEDNESDAY: David Charrier/Sylvain Paslier, "Keona: the hang cousins' duet." Beautiful music from a most unusual instrument--the hang.


• THURSDAY: The debut CD from James Farm. Great collective comprised of Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland.


• FRIDAY: Forss, "Soulhack." Engaging set of jazz-tinged electronic music from Sweden's Eric Wahlforss. (This is also the "Forss" portion of Stoner Forss Borg from Monday's entry, and the whole CD can be streamed at the link.)


• SATURDAY: Greg Osby, "Nine Levels." 2008 release from innovative altoist, accompanied by a sextet of young up-and-comers.


• SUNDAY: Mats-Up, "5." Swiss trumpeter Matthias Spillmann leads quintet in his original compositions. (Website is in German but will translate pretty well in the Babelfish and similar engines.)

Despite my less-frequent summer driving, I'm still managing to keep up with the different-album-a-day standard. Come back next week for more!

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

As always, my weekly collection of tunes--many from people you might not have heard of before, and are thus encouraged to check out...

• MONDAY: Imogen Heap, "Ellipse." Most recent full album from English singer/instrumentalist.


• TUESDAY: Justin Vasquez, "Triptych." Debut effort from altoist/UT-Austin grad/Kenny Garrett devotee. (I actually saw Justin trade choruses with Kenny while the former was in college and the latter was the guest artist at the Longhorn Jazz Festival--review here).


• WEDNESDAY: Lars Danielsson, "Mélange Bleu." Norwegian bassist is joined by fellow countrymen Nils Petter Molvaer, Bugge Wesseltoft and others.


• THURSDAY: Loren Stillman Quartet, "How Sweet It Is." Excellent 2003 release from emerging altoist.


• FRIDAY: Joshua Redman, "Elastic." Yeah, it's a rerun, but it's one of my all-time favorites.


• SATURDAY: Josh Moshier & Mike Lebrun, "Joy Not Jaded." Pianist and saxophonist showcase their own compositions.


• SUNDAY: Nikolaj Hess, "Global Motion." Danish pianist/composer leads multi-national group including Americans Jeff Ballard and Ben Monder.

As I said a while back, I don't drive as much during the summer, but it's my goal to have at least five CDs posted every week...but so far, I've hit my goal of every day! Check in again next Sunday for more (and any other day you want for other stuff).

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Once again, here's my weekly roundup o'tunes (I can say it that way because I'm part Irish):

• MONDAY: John Hollenbeck and Jazz Bigband Graz, "Joys & Desires." Austrian big band joins New York-based composer/percussionist in a set of his originals. Noted vocalist Theo Bleckmann is also on board.


• TUESDAY: Boards of Canada, "The Campfire Headphase." 2005 release from Scottish electronic duo (who also happen to be brothers) known for cool videos.


• WEDNESDAY: The Carla Bley Band, "Carla Bley Live." 1981 live set from renowned keyboardist/composer and her band, who received a lot of airplay on my radio show in college.


• THURSDAY: The Eric Daino Ensemble, "Live at Lab East." Brand-new EP from energetic, genre-bending Denton dodectet that includes a number of my Sinfonia brothers.


• FRIDAY: Jon Hassell, "Maarifa Street." Trumpeter presents tunes based on Persian poetry, named after at Iraqi street that he discovered while reading the news.


• SATURDAY: Christoph Merki Music.01, "Circles." Swiss saxophonist/composer mixes jazz with ambient music, featuring some of the best use of marimba that I've seen in a long time.


• SUNDAY: Imogen Heap, "Ellipse." Most recent full album from English singer/instrumentalist whose work I've been exploring extensively for the past several days.

As I said earlier, my driving will lessen a bit during the summer, but I still have errands to run and trips to the college to make, so I'll hopefully be able to post at least five new CDs a week during the next few months.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

With the three-day weekend (and because I had something else to post about yesterday), I've delayed the end-of-week music roundup until today:

• MONDAY: A continuation of last Sunday's CD, Roy Hargrove & Crisol's Habana (it's a long CD that didn't finish on Sunday, and I didn't do much driving either day).


• TUESDAY:Astral Project, Voodoobop. My favorite release from longtime New Orleans collective of Tony Dagradi, Steve Masakowski, David Torkanowsky, James Singleton and Johnny Vidacovich.


• WEDNESDAY: Avishai Cohen, As Is...live at the Blue Note. Great set of mostly originals from Israeli=born bassist and band. (Interestingly enough, there's also an Israeli-born jazz trumpeter of the same name; they're not related to each other, and, to my knowledge, they've never collaborated.)


• THURSDAY: Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, Riding the Nuclear Tiger. Great set of originals by the bassist/composer. (And here's a first: As some of you know, these notices get tweeted by me every day, and after this one went out, Allison started following me on Twitter that very same day.)


• FRIDAY: Beats Antique, Blind Threshold. Latest full-length release from a band that's perhaps best described as "electronic Gypsy music." (The live performances evidently involve a belly dancer as well, though I obviously couldn't see her on my iPod.)


• SATURDAY: Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Viaticum; Pat Metheny Group, We Live Here; They Might Be Giants, Factory Showroom; Joshua Redman, Elastic; Level 42, Running in the Family and Snarky Puppy, Tell Your Friends. (That day was a round-trip to Austin and back, which explains all the music.)


• SUNDAY: Nils Petter Molvaer, Solid Ether. The second of two ECM releases by the Norwegian techno trumpet titan.

As I said last week, the school year comes to a close for me after a few more days of teaching this week, and my driving is considerably less during the summer. So while I might not have a new CD to report every day, what I do listen to will still be found here each week.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

As always, our weekly musical rundown:

• MONDAY: Fried Dähn, Cuento. Cellist uses electronics to explore different styles and textures, becoming a virtual one-man band in the process.


• TUESDAY: Esperanza Spalding, Chamber Music Society. Newest release finds the recent Grammy sensation in good voice, playing great bass, and accompanied--as you might guess--by a string ensemble.


• WEDNESDAY: Eric Vloeimans' Gatecrash, Heavensabove! 2010 release from fine Dutch trumpeter and his electric group.


• THURSDAY: Pat Martino and Joyous Lake, Stone Blue. Not only a fine effort from the veteran guitarist and his electric group, but this album also introduced me to the awesomeness that is the tenor sax of Eric Alexander.


• FRIDAY: Rudresh Mahanthappa, Codebook. Altoist (who just happens to be a former schoolmate of mine) leads quartet (featuring his longtime cohort Vijay Iyer) through a set of spirited originals.


• SATURDAY: Rubblebucket Orchestra, Rose's Dream. Now known simply as Rubblebucket, this Boston band mixes Afro-beat with funk, Latin and a heavy jazz vibe.


• SUNDAY: Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Habana. Dallas-bred trumpeter teams up with Cuba's finest (including the great Chucho Valdez) along with David Sanchez, Russell Malone, Gary Bartz and Frank Lacy.

As I start to move into summer mode, I'll be doing less driving, but hopefully, I'll still have at least five entries in this series every week. Stay tuned, and be sure and click the links if you haven't heard of these artists!

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

The weekly recap of wonderful obscurities (and occasionally something that a reader has actually heard of) continues anew:

• MONDAY: New Jazz Composers Octet, "The Turning Gate." NYC-based collective led by my college classmate David Weiss features compositions by himself, pianist Xavier Davis, saxophonist Myron Walden and bassist Dwayne Burno.


• TUESDAY: Nik Bärtsch's Mobile, "Aer." Swiss jazz minimalist leads percussion-based group in "ritual groove music." (Evidently, this group uses a lot of multimedia elements in its live show, so I hope I get to see them sometime.)


• WEDNESDAY: Matrix, "Proud Flesh: A Matrix Reunion." The '70s-'80's "little big band" of six horns and rhythm returns with its classic style intact. (Now, guys, let's work on getting the rest of your old recordings re-released on CD!)


• THURSDAY: The Flashbulb, Kirlian Selections. I'm building up my collection of the works of Benn Jordan one by one (and, as one of my friends noted, "this is a good'n").


• FRIDAY: The eponymous debut from AGOGIC, the latest project led by former Pat Metheny Group trumpeter Cuong Vu.


• SATURDAY:Matthew Shipp, Equilibrium. 2002 effort from prolific pianist adds vibes and synths to his usual trio, featuring longtime collaborator William Parker on bass.


• SUNDAY: Kurt Elling, The Messenger. My favorite recording from the modern vocal master, featuring both originals and new twists on standards, with major contributions from my camp colleague Ed Petersen.

As always, click the links to check out these artists, especially if you've never heard them before; I think they're deserving of your attention.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

Last week's post reflected a week that was heavily devoted to the music of one artist, as I was looking for inspiration for an arrangement I was doing. This past week, I was back to my usual collection of stuff that might be new to many of you, but hopefully you'll click the links and check these folks out.

• MONDAY: Fieldwork, "Door." Trio with unusual instrumentation (Vijay Iyer, piano; Steve Lehman, alto; Tyshawn Sorey, drums) continually redefines musical boundaries.

TUESDAY: Fly, "Sky and Country." Second CD (and first on ECM) from Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard--the first, and thus far the only group I've had the pleasure of seeing live at the Village Vanguard.
WEDNESDAY: Fredrik Kronkvist, "Ignition." A fine release from altoist best described as the Kenny Garrett of Sweden.
THURSDAY: "The Essence of George Benson." Great early compilation of pure instrumentals with Ronnie Cuber on bari and Brother Jack McDuff on organ,and a variety of drummers.
FRIDAY: Level 42, "Running in the Family." A quick break from pure jazz with this funky UK band with jazz roots.
SATURDAY: Chris Potter Underground, "Ultrahang." Potter is always inspirational to me on concert days, and the latest one from his bassless fusion quartet filled the bill this time.
SUNDAY: Christian McBride, "Gettin' To It." Debut from acclaimed bassist mixes strong originals (including my favorite composition of his, "The Shade of the Cedar Tree") with a few standards.

Stay tuned for more next week; I've gotten lots of new music lately that's still waiting to be played in the car.

Playing This Week in the Kevmobile

It's been an unusual week for music for me, so here's a slightly unconventional recap of my car-tunes for the past seven days:

• MONDAY: The Flashbulb, Love As A Dark Hallway. Newest release from prolific multi-instrumentalist Benn Jordan shows more of a jazz influence this time around.


• TUESDAY: Pat Metheny, Secret Story. Great "solo" effort from '92 includes most of the Group, plus strings.


• WEDNESDAY:Pat Metheny Group, Letter From Home. Yes, two in a row. I was listening to a lot of Pat this week as inspiration for an arrangement I was doing on a very Methenyoid tune.


• THURSDAY: Pat Metheny Group, The Way Up. The Pat-fest concludes with the epic '05 work by Pat and longtime cohort Lyle Mays.


• FRIDAY: Trio Elf, 746. We return to wonderful obscurity: a German group reminiscent of the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, but with heavy breakbeat influences.


• SATURDAY: Youngblood Brass Band, center:level:roar. A wonderful New Orleans brass band/hip-hop hybrid with ace sousaphonist Nat McIntosh.


• SUNDAY: James Morrison, Snappy Doo. In settings ranging from a quartet to full big band, the amazing Aussie plays every instrument on the album with the exception of guitar, bass and drums (which are ably supplied by Herb Ellis, John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton).

As noted above, I listened to a lot of one artist this week for a good reason; next week will have a more typical collection of wonderful lesser-known musicians. (It was also funny to hear people say "Hey, I've finally heard of somebody who's playing in the Kevmobile!" on the days I posted Pat. Click on the links and change that, folks!)