Music I'm Listening To (March 2022)
Another three months and still no new recordings. I've actually been playing a lot more jazz again lately with some guys who are really good - we've basically got a little combo going on, and recently played the storied venue of someone's backyard in Berkeley. Maybe you'll hear us sometime! But not right now.
In lieu of fresh recordings, here's some music I've been listening to. To which I've been listening, if you're a grammar elitist. The theme appears to be non-English.
Monsieur Periné - Bailar Contigo
Monsieur Periné is probably better known for Nuestra Canción (of TikTok fame), but I prefer this one. It's a fun song with neat rhythms, sounds, and (I suspect, if I could understand it) wordplay. I really like when the instrumentals cut out and it's just the pair of voices leading into the chorus with, as well as whatever this synth-y sound is. I actually heard of this group through work, by watching their live performance. They look like they're having so much fun when they play together - I'm disappointed that I missed them in SF last December but I'll just have to catch them next time.
Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Mela!
In the vein of Higedan, it's high energy heavily-piano pop-rock with a nice horn section. I've really just got a type. Also worth noting here: great crowd singing, clapping, and a subtle cowbell part - I'd really like to get my hands on splitter.fm-style stems for this track, because I feel like every time I listen to it I notice another neat layer somewhere.
I feel like music in this style is generally stereotyped as anime opening music, but it turns out Ryokushaka actually did one of the ending themes for Boku no Hero Academia, so... maybe I should just watch more anime, but just for the opening/closing music. Also, the keyboardist in this band goes by the mononym peppe, which I love.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - The Jazz Messengers
And finally an instrumental album, I think I actually first listened to this album in high school, but came back recently to revisit it for jazz reasons mentioned earlier. A big fan, especially of Hank Mobley on the tenor saxophone for his soloing because it's quite melodic, which I find some other saxophonists sometimes neglect in favor of dissonance or sheer note quantity. Personal favorite here is Nica's Dream, which has some really interesting rhythmic things going on, starting from a Latin feel and then moving through a bit with a repeated bass note that then opens up into a swing. That's really a mess of a description, just go listen to it.
P.S. as always, let me know if you have any music recommendations!