Jazz possibilities...an aside!

Not too long ago, the word "jazz" would put people off for an event: "That is my parents music." Thankfully, those days are over, as more than a dozen events with multiple cast members have the word "jazz" in the titles or are featuring self-proclaimed jazz artists. And this does not even include the four Women In Jazz concerts at Fiesta Plaza, MovieTowne Trinidad. (Shout out to Rosezanna Winchester, LeAndra Head, Candice Caton and Genisa St Hilaire.) I glad. Now a new audience is waking up to the possibilities outside of soca fetes for live entertainment. A circuit for musicians, a wide variety of locations, a new normal for audiences. Read my previous post on Jazz as the Fad in Trinidad.

Playlist (May/June 2018) | Music Reviewsª

This Is Me Jeanine S. Ruiz

(Self released)

Young Trinidadian keyboardist Jeanine Ruiz releases her first EP as a musical autobiography of a life recently begun, and a testament to her emotional journey thus far. Going through the song titles — “Ambitious”, “Overthinker“, “Impulsive”, “Temperamental”, and “Dreamer” — one can gauge how far she has come and how far she can go. Listening to the music, one can hear the subtle influences of style that have touched her compositions. World fusion has a new advocate. Admittedly influenced by Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara mainly, Ruiz has a sure handedness in her playing and a keen sense of timing and cinematic breadth in her arrangements that catch a number of genres without being confusing. This is more than jazz-influenced trio playing, this debut signals a potential to take on the rigours of inspiring a waning instrumental music listening audience, here and there, to stick around and continue to track Ruiz's ongoing musical journey.

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1. More Caribbean Playlist reviews appear in the May/June 2018 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2018, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Playlist (March/April 2018) | Music Reviewsª

Palmyra and Other Places David Bertrand

(Blujazz Productions)

The flute, in jazz music, has a less prominent place than the saxophone or trumpet, but in this new album New York-based Trinidadian flautist David Bertrand makes a sincere attempt to expand the repertoire of the instrument. Seven of the eight tracks of sublime quartet playing are new compositions by Bertrand: the listener is given an opportunity also to revel in the studied application of jazz language to the inherent native vernacular of Trinidadian rhythm and tone. The titles of the tunes also suggest the idea that this is a subliminal musical autobiography: “Palmyra”, “Claude’s Nariva” and “Wood Slave” recalling Bertrand’s home island’s habitat and fauna; “Lexington and 63rd” and “245 South 1st” offering a survey of his New York present. The result is testament to the continued strides made by musical émigrés from the Caribbean to an American diaspora, inspiring art that takes no prisoners.

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1. More Caribbean Playlist reviews appear in the March/April 2018 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2018, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

iBlog: Journey to Desperadoes : Zanda's Untold Story

iBlog: Journey to Desperadoes : Zanda's Untold Story: A community leader redefined.... Not until he was proven to be the gift sent from Siparia to Laventille to bring the lost and wandering b...

Michael Boothman: a rebirth beyond nostalgia

Listen Here:



Or Read Here:

Liner notes for Michael Boothman's 2018 EP, Break Away.

Seminal Caribbean jazz musician and recording artist Michael Boothman has, with the production of Break Away, his EP of new music, presaged the return of the musician to the focal point of creation and performance in the continuing exercise of the fusion of Caribbean rhythms and melodies with the tropes of jazz and popular Black music in the Americas — kysofusion is Boothman's name of that sound and music. His partner in this current exercise is Howard 'Howie' Lindeman, celebrated live and studio engineer with a who's who list of major credits, who worked on Boothman's pioneering album for Tabu/RCA Records in 1976.

The rekindling of this important relationship between these two stars in their respective fields has allowed for a rebirth of that kysofusion sound and music that convinced the US music industry that Boothman was worthy of signing. These four new tracks are a continuation of the aesthetic of excellence in music and the clear understanding of the role of the musician that both Boothman and Lindeman understand and personify

To "break away" is to liberate from the strictures of a kind of conformity. In the mind of Michael Boothman, it is also a celebration of that peerless Caribbean lifestyle and a return towards a freedom to be the best we can be.

© 2017, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Playlist (January/February 2018) | Music Reviewsª

Glass World Rudy Smith

(Stunt Records)

Trailblazing steelpan jazz virtuoso Rudy Smith has been fusing the sound of the pan with bebop and progressive jazz for nearly fifty years, premiering the sound of native invention and “creole imagination” in the wider world. Europe has been his stomping ground for all those years, and with his eleventh full-length album Smith serves as a bona fide symbol of music excellence. Glass World finds Smith back fronting his Danish jazz band, re-inventing the idea of the steelpan as a solo instrument for jazz without the feeling of it being too avant garde. “Plangent” was the word used by a reviewer to describe the sound of the double second steelpans used by Smith, but a more apt descriptive would be “euphonious.” That tone juxtaposes beautifully within the songs, mainly written by his long-time collaborator and pianist Ole Matthiessen, to serve up a new standard in a diminishing marketplace for unique jazz. Traditional jazz is best served with originality, and this album delivers.

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1. More Caribbean Playlist reviews appear in the January/February 2018 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2018, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Caribbean Beat Caribbean Playlist – September/October 2017ª

Pan Roots Culture Kareem Thompson 

(Self Released)

Brooklyn-born pannist Kareem Thompson revels in his Trinidadian heritage on his debut album as a leader away from his band K.I.T. Caribbean Connection, fully exploring more complex jazz harmonies. The continued fusion of Caribbean rhythms and melodic phrases makes the listener recognise Thompson’s roots, and he has not strayed too far from those early cultural influences. The title track with its percussive voicing gives credence to the idea that steelpan jazz is wide open to further evolution, as those sonic cues that define the sub-genre are subtly pushed aside for an exploration of the broader range of harmonies and rhythms. “The Sun Will Shine Today” is a standout track that has the players on this album skilfully soloing. With five out of seven tracks composed by Thompson, this album is a showcase for a rising talent in pan jazz, hopeful to maintain the Caribbean variation of jazz music in the Americas.

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Cé Biguine! Charlie Halloran 

(Twerk-o-Phonic)

This album represents, in the twenty-first century, a kind of harking back to the music and technology of a bygone era. New Orleans trombonist Charlie Halloran and his band have recorded an album of orchestrated biguine — the music of the French Antilles created in the early twentieth century as a creole stew of Afro-Caribbean and European musical tropes — straight to 78 rpm acetate disc master, to create a modern artefact of music history. Pops and clicks like an old vinyl record give this recording a nostalgic ambience, while the music has a quality that makes you want to grab a partner and dance the night away under tropical stars. It eschews the kitsch of 1950s American tourist views of the Antilles as a playground, for a re-awakening of the musical distinctiveness and inventiveness of the creole musician. Novelty aside, this album is a keepsake for listeners wanting to understand the Caribbean’s role in the evolution of jazz. Jazz, then and now, is rewarded.

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Electro Sax Elan Trotman 

(Island Muzik Productions)

Bajan saxman Elan Trotman keeps churning out new albums at a rapid pace, as if to suggest the uptake of his new music is effective and guaranteed to be popular. With this, his seventh full-length album since 2001, he keeps evolving his style around his smooth jazz base to eke out new niches. Utilising the electronic dance music drum elements so popular in recent times, Electro Sax redefines what is possible with Caribbean music. Aware that this album will “definitely ruffle feathers” for its modern production aesthetic — he assembled a creative team of up-and-coming producers, all Berklee College of Music alumni: Spardakis, P-Nut, Dr O, and Da Troof — Trotman is persevering in his push to promote the tropicality elements along with just great music for dancing. Debut single “Island Gyal” percolates with a sexy reggae vibe, keeping hope alive that this experiment in EDM fusion remains grounded in his Bajan roots.

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1. More Caribbean Playlist reviews appear in the September/October 2017 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2017, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.