The “must listen” pile has been growing steadily, so I again offer up a few quick first- or second-impression reviews to reduce its height. The four featured albums include two jazz releases that follow the familiar format of improvising on a written composition and two that offer intuitively improvised compositions. All four albums have much to offer.
Accordionist/organist/composer Gordon H. Whitlow, a member of the avant-garde audiovisual collective Biota, has a distinguished résumé creating what I like to call adventurous music, music that opens previously unknown or unexplored territory. See It Alone, his latest album, introduced to me by Denver guitarist Janet Feder, leverages a group of collaborators he calls Sorry for Laughing. The album vividly occupies a fascinating musical space previously unknown to me.
Update: Guitarist/songwriter/composer/vocalist Janet Feder was scheduled to perform at Live at Thrive in Corrales on August 4, but pesky circumstances beyond everyone’s control prevented that from happening. This weekend, she is making good on her pledge to return and will be appearing both at Live at Thrive in Corrales and at Littleglobe in Santa Fe. Check the updated concert information at the end of this post for details. The Corrales concert is a benefit for Littleglobe 501(C)(3) in Santa Fe. Littleglobe is committed to interdisciplinary, collaborative art projects that foster life-affirming connections across the boundaries that divide us.
