Browsing Tag

Instrumental Jazz

Eldad Ben Naim has delivered his hypnotic electro-jazz fusion score, Welcome Night

Posted on 13 February 2022

With a score that feels like a jazzier and smokier version of Bladerunner’s aural phonoaesthetic, Eldad Ben Naim’s seminal single, Welcome Night, is a hypnotic introduction to the jazz fusion virtuoso’s gift when it comes to laying down beguilingly elegant arrangements.

The electro-jazz instrumental soundscape puts a polyphonic spin on the blazing solos that you’d expect to blast from a sax or guitar, giving the score a playfully eccentric edge, but never compromising on the high-brow alchemy which keeps flowing your way throughout the entire duration of the 6-minute release. If you’re not left entranced by the outro, you should be pretty worried about the state of your soul.

You can check out Eldad Ben Naim’s single, Welcome Night for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Eldad Ben Naim brings a new flavour to jazz fusion with ‘In a Way of Jazz’

Posted on 31 January 2022

With his contemporary style and flair that doesn’t alienate the old school jazz aficionados, Eldad Ben Naim’s debut jazz fusion album, Watersoul, is an indulgent aural escape away from the fray of modernity.

The time signatures may be complex, but that does little to hinder the mellifluous pull of the melodies in the lead single, In a Way of Jazz. The extended track uses tribal elements along with metronomic effects to keep you entranced through the progressions. As In a Way of Jazz evolves, the sax finds its centre in the soundscape before the electric guitars start to bring arresting gravity to the release. Any existential weight you were carrying before the ambient and experimental outro will undoubtedly dissipate. The instrumental track is enough to leave your soul 10 pounds lighter.

In a Way of Jazz is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Daniel Ben Mortiz lets the rhythm blossom in his latest jazz-funk soundscape, Beso Solar.

Posted on 9 October 2021

Jazz musician, composer and producer, Daniel Ben Mortiz released his latest single, Beso Solar, on September 30th; while the blissful tones induce you into a state of entrancement, the complex time signatures in the organic, almost primal soundscape have the opposite effect as they affirm that your rhythmic pulses are well and truly at the command of Mortiz and his unpredictably arresting progressions.

What starts as a lofty and meditative soundscape transgresses into a bassline-driven feat of improvised jazz and funk alchemy that won’t fail to leave your consciousness entirely consumed.

Beso Solar is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

K-Magic gets ‘Mythic’ with Jazzy new single.

Posted on 21 April 2021

How’d you like THEM Jazz apples, then, huh? Well, so much so that we’re looking to buy the whole damn bushel of ‘em, that’s how much. Thanks to Kevin Bernstein, a 29 year old pianist, based in Brooklyn, NYC who, having lent his keyboard skills backing a variety of singers, bands, and comedians alongside his work with the Alison Shearer Band, has now launched his own instrumental solo project, K-Magic.

And what a project it is, too. Oh, yeah; about those apples. Well, that’s exactly what we have here – a whole barrel of jazzy trills, harmonies, and counterpoints. It’s fun, it bounces along, it sounds a little like the theme tune to one of those slightly more highbrow US sitcoms like Frasier or Will and Grace, or maybe the thing the band would improvise on Whose Line Is It Anyway. That’s not a bad thing, by the way – it’s an excellent musical piece, stop-starty at times, moving through two or three different movements but consistently returning to a repeating central motif, the ideal accompaniment to dinner and cocktails, and fine conversation; it’s left us wanting more, and that’s always got to be a good thing.

Check out K-Magic on Instagram and Facebook. Listen to ‘Mythic’ on Spotify.

Review by Alex Holmes

Christopher Nielsen gets inspired with a jazz-funk groove on new single ‘Payne’

Posted on 3 April 2021

Returning after a fifteen year sabbatical to a music industry which has changed beyond all expectation in the intervening years is always going to be a challenge, but it’s one which multi-instrumentalist Christopher Nielsen has taken up with aplomb. Taken from his new, thirteen-track instrumental album ‘Our Voyage Home’, ‘Payne’ is a jazzy, funky little number driven by Carmine Appice-style upfront drums and a delicious seventies-toned Rhodes piano lead.

It’s lively, old-school without being dated, rootsy, and very driven; think an instrumental jam breakdown in an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert, or a little Weather Report studio wig out time. Jazz meets soul meets folk all mixed up by pushed percussion and wandering keyboards. It’s fluid, expressive, and genuinely good, uplifting, fun.

‘Payne’, and the rest of ‘Our Voyage Home’, is available on Spotify. Check out Christopher Nielsen’s website here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Ramiro Pinhiero breaks the monocultural mould with their sweet jazzy serenade ‘Quatro Ventos’

Posted on 1 January 2021

‘Quatro ventos’ – or ‘Four Winds’ – is the latest track from prolific Brazilian-born guitarist Ramiro Pinhiero; beautiful, jazz-influenced Latin-American, the product of Argentine and Brazilian parents and a musical education including time spent in Barcelona and the United States, Pinhiero lists an impressive back catalogue of recordings and collaborations with some of the greatest names in Spanish and Latin guitar.

From new album ‘Sentido’, ‘Quatro Ventos’ mixes those same Brazilian and Argentine leanings with European influences and instrumental jazz, the guitar itself providing a vaguely Maracatu rhythm to the track, Pinhiero’s masterful fingerstyle intertwining with jazzy clarinet courtesy of Gabriel Amargent (in turn mildly reminiscent of D’Rivera or Valdez) and the stunning rhythm section of acoustic bassist Horacio Fumero and drummer Nicolas Correa. It’s at once sultry, sexy, and subtle and moody and hot, the lead instruments of Pinhiero and Amargant dancing around each other over that sublime backbeat, each bringing their passion before teasingly wheeling away once more. Like dancers in a samba, it’s a masterful blend.

Hear ‘Quatro Ventos’ on Spotify now; follow Ramiro Pinheiro on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Jake Bass – Oh Wow: Accessibly Ambient Contemporary Jazz

Posted on 9 April 2020

If you’re still under the impression that Jazz is inaccessible as a genre, prepare for your perceptions to be shattered by Jake Bass’ latest instrumental track Oh Wow which was released on March 15th.

By rhythmically infusing elements of Ambient instrumental EDM Hip Hop with smooth Blues Rock soaring guitar licks, Oh Wow unfolds offering hypnotically immersive aural alchemy with every progression.

The effortless, yet masterful guitar notes seamlessly find accordance with the electronic instrumentals which provide a solid structure to the track while the warm guitar notes gently rise above the rest of the mix. Downtempo soundscapes don’t often come as rhythmically magnetic as what Jake Bass has deftly curated in Oh Wow.

You can check out the official music video to Jake Bass’ latest single via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

AP Project – Hi. Ro. Mi.: Modern Jazz Fusion at its Finest.

Posted on 14 January 2020

Jazz has never been the most accessible of genres. Yet, with the magnetic pull of the fluidly explorative soundscape which is AP Project’s latest single “Hi. Ro. Mi”, that issue may become a thing of the past.

The Jazz Fusion single abstracts elements from Hip Hop, Blues, and RnB before infusing them into a work of dizzying distinction.

With Hi. Ro. Mi., you not only get the perfect introduction to AP Project’s deft instrumental mastery. But you also get to experience the mesmerism of surrendering yourself to a rhythm without knowing which way or how fast you’ll be pulled along. The refusal of the Modern Jazz Fusion artist to leave any amount of predictability between the notes is most felt when the soundscape surges into jaw-droppingly intricate piano melodies which carry the perfect dose of Jim Jones-style frenetic energy.

You can check out AP Project’s single Hi. Ro. Mi. for yourselves via SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast