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The Landscape by Marilyn Scott

5/31/2022

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Marilyn Scott has traveled in ever-widening circles among musical greats of the last 45+ years. Beginning with school and local club gigs when she was 15 years old, she has added a musical who’s who to her contact list ever since. The lineup on her current album, The Landscape, proves that.

On this, her thirteenth album as a leader, she brings to bear the likes of Scott Kinsey and Russell Ferrante on keyboards, Jimmy Haslip, Mike Valerio, and Logan Kane on bass, Gary Novak, Steve Schaeffer, Jimmy Branly, and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Steve Khan and Michael Landau on guitar, and the great Alex Acuña on percussion. And each of the seven tracks are her original compositions.

She writes with Scott Kinsey on three of the songs and Russell Ferrante on three. On one of the tracks--Irreplaceable--she writes with both Kinsey and Ferrante. Her writing talents are as impressive as her vocals.

Thrown Out into Space is a cool number with brilliant drumming from Novak and that amazing bass of Haslip. Kinsey’s keyboards are brilliant and the soprano sax of Steve Tavaglione are spot on. Her vocals hooked me from the start. The production is fantastic and heightens the effects of performance and composition.

Summer Night is a wistful and touching Jazz nocturne that touches all the right spots. The delicate trio work of Ferrante, Schaeffer, and Valerio is excellent. Marilyn’s vocal inflection and reaches are wonderful.

Then Irreplaceable brings Colaiuta and Haslip together with Landau’s atmospheric guitar and the steady and straight-ahead vocals from Marilyn and the deliberate and meaningful lyrics make this into one of the true highlights on an album full of highlights.

Tomorrow is a fitting follow-up to Irreplaceable with Haslip and Colaiuta remaining with Kinsey. The lyrics are an excellent sequel, as well. Katisse Buckingham adds the cool soprano saxophone. Unzip sees Ferrante and Kinsey together on keyboards for this warm beach reverie.

It all wraps up with The Sun. The Perri Sisters (backup singers to Anita Baker) join for this semi samba and, with Marilyn, make this into one gorgeous number. Khan’s sweet acoustic guitar alongside Ferrante’s piano is stellar.
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The Landscape is sweet, sultry, even sassy, Jazz and serves to remind how marvelous Marilyn Scott really is. She can change-up the vocals for the demands of different styles and slips alongside the brilliant musicianship of the artists with her. She is remarkable.
 
 
~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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The Meeting of the Jimmy Branly Trio

5/25/2022

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Jimmy Branly gets around. He has performed with so many wonderful artists (Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdez, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, Michael Nesmith, Jimmy Haslip, Russell Ferrante, Bob Sheppard, Oscar Hernandez, Alex Acuña, Bob James, Doc Severinsen, Tom Scott, Keiko Matsui, Lyle Mays, and so many more) that it has taken him a while to focus on his role as band leader. It was with Lyle mays that I first heard Branly.

But when he brings the sticks and heart to bear, he means business. And it all shows up for The Meeting, a trio comprised of Branly on drums, Will Brahm on guitar, and Sezin Ahmet Türkmenoğlu on bass. These guys can play.

Branly never disappoints. His playing ranges from the frenetic and precise to the melodic and even emotional. Brahm is the Jazz guitarist’s Jazz guitarist, playing tight and energetic and can soar with the best of them. Türkmenoğlu adds that sense of propulsion to the melodies and harmonies. Take my word for it and listen at least three times—to concentrate on each of them individually.

Born in Cuba, the music on The Meeting is heavily influenced by Cuban styles. And he turns it all into straight-ahead Jazz. These guys just own it—from their own originals to the well-chosen standards.

Brahm’s Bis Bis opens the album with its cool Afro-Cuban feel. Beautiful guitar work with those cool Latin rhythms. This is how you start an album. He also contributed the Brazilian rhythmic Presume and the Blues/Cuban fusion of Blues 14. The thing about Brahm’s playing is his obvious mapping of the fretboard, never lost, never mashed up, always clean and direct.

Sezin Ahmet Türkmenoğlu added his original One Day, a warm lullaby with gorgeous tones from the bass. It is a lovely piece with great contributions from Brahm. Behind the melody is an up-tempo drum and cymbals percussion. A lovely tune.

The standards are If I Should Lose You by Ralph Rainger, Jerome Kern’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Infant Eyes by Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson’s Gazelle, and Cherokee by Ray Noble but made famous by Charlie Parker. In each of those, Branly switches tempos and rhythms into Latin styles that gives new meaning and feeling to the well-known pieces.

Branly’s original is the title track, The Meeting. Percussionists don’t compose in keys but in time signatures. While the time is not too out of the ordinary, it is what Branly does with it that makes it sing. And this is what he does with each of the ten tracks.
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The Meeting is a work of extraordinary artistry in composition and arrangement and is exquisite in its meaning and emotion. This trio, especially this trio, is the perfect format for expressing what Jimmy Branly had in mind from the start.
 
 
~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl


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