2019 Countdown | Chapter 39 | Adam Larson

Saxophonist, composer, and author Adam Larson has garnered worldwide critical acclaim for his music, garnering numerous awards that distinguish him as one of the most promising artists of his generation. He is the author of Leaps & Sounds: 12 Contemporary Etudes for Jazz Saxophone - Volumes I and II , and Conversation Starters: 180 pieces of Jazz Vocabulary. Adam maintains an impressive portfolio of commissioned ensemble writing for school jazz ensembles, and his thorough commitment to this thing called Jazz finds him working as a clinician and master class presenter at high schools and Universities.

‘the sort of jazz musician who gets flagged early on as a promising talent and then hustles to meet every requirement for success’ (Nate Chinen)

Adam’s fifth solo album - Listen With Your Eyes - will be released here at Ropeadope on September 6, 2019, and features Fabian Almazan on piano and keys, Matt Clohesy on electric bass, and Jimmy Macbride on drums. The sound is polished just enough, with Adam’s introspective tone moving through a pallette of emotion that we can all relate to. Listen With Your Eyes has a soothing quality, invoking calm in a turbulent time.

2019 Countdown | Chapter 38 | The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra

“Egyptologists” and most “historians” have for many years purposely hidden, stolen, laid claim to, and falsified the clear evidence that thousands of years ago the Nubian and Kemetic people and cultural systems populated every land mass on earth, and built monuments that stand to this day even as other cultures and people lay claim to their origin. 

This Suite is dedicated to the ancient African Pyramid builders, who’s magnificent monuments have defied time to reveal the truth of the origins of people, science, mathematics, art, engineering, navigation, music, religion, and subsequent cultures.

My name is Mtafuta Ukweli and I seek truth.  – Russell Gunn

These are excerpts from the liner notes of the new project from The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, immediately signaling that Russell Gunn has arrived at a profound sense of history and purpose with the creation of this recording, titled Pyramids. While the signature sound of this ensemble is clearly similar to the 2018 release Get It How You Live, the scope and power of the project is evident from the epic lift in the first track. It is clear we are in the process of a grand story in orchestral style, with all musical parts of the African Diaspora retelling the story of the (African) Egyptian Kings in proper glory. 

Russell describes Pyramids as the second in a trilogy that began with 2016’s The Sirius Mystery. The Orkestra has clearly benefitted from persistent collaboration in a live setting, and the message is tailored and refined. At 33 minutes in length (though it feels much longer), Pyramids captures the listener’s attention and holds it straight through, feeling like one extended cinematic piece. Dionne Farris shines with soaring vocals, while Terreon Gully and Lil John Roberts drum on separate channels. It is clear the vision is extraordinary, and the attention to orchestral detail is at a high point. 

2019 Countdown | Chapter 37 | Zhou Kroix

How does one succinctly put Zhou Kroix into words?  This super-collaborative, mystical offering from New York City‘s finest takes an experimental-reggae basis and mixes it beyond recognition via Middle Eastern scales, traditional Irish hymns, Bowie-Zappa-Rundgren love-children, and ASMR-style R&B vocals.  Underneath the music itself lies a mysterious narrative concerning a wandering girl, seeking her ghostly lover-of-past. Produced by Adam Ahuja (Infinity Gritty label founder and artist) and E Scott Lindner (NYC’s Pinch Recording owner and head engineer), and featuring an extensive all-star cast including Brad Walker (Sturgill Simpson, George Porter Jr.), Yula Beeri (Seasonal Beast, Brooklyn’s “The Hive”), Ry Pilla (project founder and drummer) Mackenzie Shivers, and Abraham Dennis, Zhou Kroix will take you on an enigmatic, magical cart-ride through a dimming forest, decorated with sometimes sensitive, sometimes weird-fresh hooks hinting at the outskirts of New York, London, Teheran, Tel Aviv, Dublin and Kingston.  Zhou Kroix presents: “Count the Clocks.”

2019 Countdown | Chapter 36 | Olli Hirvonen - Andy's Picks

Andrew Neesley hits us up every now and then, and it’s always with a great new artist that he’s been collaborating with in some form. And so, Andy’s Picks is the natural result; this time he has introduced us to Finnish Born and Brooklyn based guitar virtuoso Olli Hirvonen. After classical guitar training, his personal starting point was dedication to Ritchie Blackmore, but rather than following in any lane he spent his time learning from them all - Tim Berne, Ralph Towner, Grant Green, Nels Cline, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and more. Downbeat comments on Hirvonen’s style in his role with Brian Krock and liddle:

“Hirvonen again adds outsized blasts of electric guitar, lending no-wave flair”

Olli’s new album - Displace - is a document of a still-rising generation of young, forward-leaning New York-based musicians invested in jazz, metal, new music and more—a clique of artists “who aren’t afraid to combine things and take risks,” as the guitarist puts it. Displace hit the airwaves on August 30, 2019, and remains a gem to be carefully discovered.