Music Monday: Guitars, Saxophones, and John Zorn

While I have to admit that sometimes I get distracted by the lure of “hidden Classics” or the quest for “underrated albums” that maybe have slipped past the critics incisive gaze. In other words, the streaming music equivalent of the bargain bin and the “gently” used racks tend to draw my attention away from the new music list.

This week, though, I found some new(ish) music that I very much have enjoyed.

First, Fabiano do Nascimento and Sam Gendel’s new album, The Room, is delightful. It’s simple: do Nascimento’s guitar and Gendel’s soprano saxophone. It’s folksy, jazzy, and popy goodness.

Second, Knoel Scott’s Celestial is an entertaining collaboration between Scott and Marshall Allen, two long-time sax players in Sun Ra’s Arkestra. Scott’s playing offers a relaxed and melodic contrast to Allen’s more frantic runs in his characteristic energetic style.   

Finally, I’ve been really digging John Zorn’s Nothing is as Real as Nothing which came out in November, I believe. Evidently it is third installment of his second trio of recordings dedicated to Samuel Beckett. I don’t know the other albums in this trilogy (or the other trilogy) as neither a particular aficionado of Beckett or Zorn. That said, it is fitting that this recording is a trio date feature three guitarists: Bill Frisell, Gyan Riley, and Julian Lage. It is beautiful as you can likely imagine judging by the performers. 

These three albums feel like mid-winter music. There’s something soothing, but also hopeful in their sounds with enough exoticism to remind you that grey skies merely obscure the blue and offer a respite from the boundlessness of the cosmos.