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Category: VIDEO
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Timo Lassy Makes It to Round Two
Sax man Timo Lassy, one of the leading lights in the vivid Helsinki jazz scene has released his second album on Ricky-Tick Records. The LP, “Round Two”, is a trip deeper into Lassy’s world, complete with the contemporary vocal jazz great José James featured on two of album’s eight tracks.
Timo Lassy has been a prominent figure in the field of contemporary jazz with firm roots and a strong rhythmic presence ever since the early 2000’s. His work with the Blue Note recording U-Street All Stars, the ever-so-successful The Five Corners Quintet, and of course his own ensemble, the Timo Lassy Band, has gained the man a steady international following in addition to domestic success. His 2007 debut “The Soul & Jazz of Timo Lassy” ranks among the most celebrated releases on the Ricky-Tick label, and Lassy himself, pre “Round Two”, is noted as a force to be reckoned with in any given setting.
The cast of characters on the new album is strictly A-list. The hard-hitting drummer on board, Teppo “Teddy Rok” Mäkynen also co-produced the album with Lassy, and the ensemble is larger than usually heard in both size and effect. Jukka Eskola on trumpet, Georgios Kontrafouris on piano, and Antti Lötjönen on bass are just some of the canny players heard on “Round Two”. The vocalist in residence in none the lesser in importance. In fact, he’s the go-to guy of 21st century vocal jazz, José James.
James, hailing from Minneapolis, connected with Timo Lassy whilst on the ranks of Nicola Conte’s jazz combo. During his brief visit to Helsinki, he both gave the album an undisputable edge on the two collabo tracks, ‘The More I Look at You’ and ‘Ya Dig’, and dipped into the local culture at large by visiting a traditional Finnish sauna.
Even with all the top-notch supporting cast, there is no denying that “Round Two” is Timo Lassy’s masterpiece thus far. Building on the success of his first album, Lassy takes big steps forward as a composer, arranger, producer, plus instrumentalist here. The material on the LP meanders effortlessly, while possessing the fingerprint of its creator all the way through. The able-bodied soloists have sufficient room for manouvre, while maintaining a compact and dynamic sonic presence at all times.
When considering the message of Timo Lassy and his music, one cannot omit the realisation of just how deeply immersed in innovation yet easily approachable his sound is. The roots of jazz with attitude are there, but the execution is distinctively 21st century without sounding selfrighteously retro.
This is pure high-quality jazz “post” the “modern” age.
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Kartick & Gotam – Business Class Refugees
Kartick, Gotam, Business, Class, Refugees, Katrick and Gotam, Indian, electronic
Kartick & Gotam transcend the normal barriers between classic and modern or electronic and acoustic indian music on their forthcoming full-length release “Business Class Refugees”. Kartick & Gotam recorded in Chennai, India utilising violin, duduk, flute, saxophone, tabla, sarod, bass and drums alongside programming and, as well as their original tunes, they also re-work a couple of traditional Indian pieces and one from Tajikistan. But this story has unusual beginnings.
Nowhere near home, Kartick & Gotam were travelling from South India to a remote village in Indonesia, in a journey through Asia recording indigenous music forms. An overbooked flight and unexpected luck landed them in business class luxury. In transit in Singapore, they applied for the visa to Indonesia, and the Special Permit to Aceh. It was to take 3 hours. 6 hours later, the flight left without them. 3 days later, they were still waiting – Business Class Refugees without passports, identity, and stateless – sipping free champagne in the airline lounge or aimlessly roaming Singapore Airport… sometimes homesick, sometimes worried, but mostly, making music on their laptops.
Business Class Refugees is now a global, collaborative project by music producer Kartick (Patrick Sebag) and sound designer Gotam (Yotam Agam), who mix local music from around the world with electronica… electro – folk without borders, global flavours, and a cross-cultural mixture of emotions, realities, styles, languages and irresistible grooves. Taking their basic tracks around the world, Kartick & Gotam collaborate with local musicians to overlay local artistic interpretation and signatures. This album is where Kartick & Gotam’s journey began: India.Patrick and Yotam have collaborated on many successful world music albums, films and shows, most notably Laya Project (www.layaproject.com), the award-winning audio-visual documentary celebrating the music and cultural traditions of 6 countries affected by the 2004 Asian Tsunami. They also worked together on the recent EarthSync releases Voice Over The Bridge and Nagore Sessions, which Rolling Stone magazine called “fantastic world music”.
Patrick Sebag is an acclaimed producer & musician, he recorded the Gold-selling album “Shirat Rabim” (“Songs of the People”) with international singer David D’Or and a band of Israel’s finest musicians.
John Tripp Creative 