I’ve been on the jazz tip for a while and probably will continue to do so now that autumn is on the way. Today I’ve got 2 albums to mention, one is Brian Lynch’s joint effort with legendary pianist Eddie Palmieri called “Simpático” and the other one is the debut cd of 21 year old bassist and Esperanza Spalding on Ayva Music called “Junjo“.

Spalding’s voice is nothing less than spectacular, in fact you can imagine her as a chirping bird when she’s doing her scats and you’d not realize it. She’s also quite capable of playing the bass and composing as you can witness on the title track which starts with her doing scats, goes into a brasil rhythm and then back to classic trio stuff in the middle of the song. She has a terrific bridge solo where she goes double time with the bass, but the piano and the drums are nothing short of spectacular themselves as well. Fresh voice and fresh views, got rave reviews from New York Times and Boston Globe surely some personality to watch out.

The second album is heavier on the latin side and can give you a fine taste of contemporary latin jazz with composition and arrangement by trumpet player Brian Lynch. The youtube performance above can speak much more than what I can explain through writing, so just click it and watch how master Palmieri’s playing, watch the coordination of Lynch and the brass players, watch the mad rhythm section. It’s as if the band is taking this test to see if they can play without seeing each other, yet the band plays totally flawless. Palmieri’s presence is felt throughout the album and what a joy it is to watch him play, so thanks should go to the uploader for the above video.

Esperanza Spalding - Junjo
Brian Lynch & Eddie Palmieri - The Palmieri Effect
Brian Lynch & Eddie Palmieri - Jazzucar