JACOB YOUNG & URBAN GARDENING
Oslo Session Recordings: OSR004
Rohey Taalah: vocal; Siril Malmedal Hauge: vocal; Stella Young: vocal; Knut Riisnoes: tenor saxophone, flute; Oyvind Broekke: trombone; Jacob Young: electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Anders Aarum: fender Rhodes; Bo Berg: electric bass; Sidiki Camara: percussion, vocals; Raciel Torres: drums, percussion.
Recorded 11th and 12th June 2018 by Oystein Sevag at Blaboergenga Studio, Heggedal.
American-Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young has recorded some fine albums on ECM, teaming up with the likes of Arild Andersen, Karin Korg, Trygve Seim, and Mats Eilertsen. On these outings, he demonstrates immense technical skill and a charming sense of the lyrical on his soloing and compositions. In a sense, this album is a very different proposition – not because his guitar playing is any different (you wonder whether he could ever play a badly placed note), but because his selection of tunes is geared to a pop-jazz crossover. So, the set opens (and closes) with Young’s original tune ‘Sunrise’, composed as a swaying, slow jazz-funk groove with Taalah delivering the lyrics. The liner notes point out that the inspiration for the rhythms on this tune come from West Africa, and there is certainly a cosmopolitan sound from this group, particularly on the instrumental tracks which mix rhythms from Latin America, West Africa and the Caribbean with equal panache. This is particularly impressive on ‘Dance all night’ (track 10), with Camara’s vocal delivery burnishing Young’s highlife-inspired guitar-work. As the liner notes point out, Young sought to gather musicians playing in his home city from across the world in order to show how fertile the Oslo scene is at present.
The second track is a composition that frames a poem by Charles Bukowski - ‘if you’re going to do try, go all the way / otherwise, don’t even start’ – which delivers a dirty funk backing to the spoken words. Perhaps, given the reputation that Bukowski has nowadays, getting down and dirty with the music here is entirely apposite. After these funky opening tracks, it comes as little surprise that Allan Touissaint’s ‘Everything I do gonna be funky (from now on)’ comes next, with Young vamping some delicious chords and working a note perfect solo, together with some stunning sax work. The second cover version is ‘Hey ya’ – which was a hit a couple of years back for Outkast. For me, the album works best when Young and Riisnoes are given space to work together, like on ‘Dark Matter’ (track 8) and ‘Gettin’ Ready’ (track 9) – but this is only to the ears of an old jazzer. You can see, and appreciate, how Young is looking to meld so many musical styles into an entertaining combination of styles that aim at encouraging dancing (or, in my case, enthusiastic foot-tapping).
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Oslo Session Recordings: OSR004
Rohey Taalah: vocal; Siril Malmedal Hauge: vocal; Stella Young: vocal; Knut Riisnoes: tenor saxophone, flute; Oyvind Broekke: trombone; Jacob Young: electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Anders Aarum: fender Rhodes; Bo Berg: electric bass; Sidiki Camara: percussion, vocals; Raciel Torres: drums, percussion.
Recorded 11th and 12th June 2018 by Oystein Sevag at Blaboergenga Studio, Heggedal.
American-Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young has recorded some fine albums on ECM, teaming up with the likes of Arild Andersen, Karin Korg, Trygve Seim, and Mats Eilertsen. On these outings, he demonstrates immense technical skill and a charming sense of the lyrical on his soloing and compositions. In a sense, this album is a very different proposition – not because his guitar playing is any different (you wonder whether he could ever play a badly placed note), but because his selection of tunes is geared to a pop-jazz crossover. So, the set opens (and closes) with Young’s original tune ‘Sunrise’, composed as a swaying, slow jazz-funk groove with Taalah delivering the lyrics. The liner notes point out that the inspiration for the rhythms on this tune come from West Africa, and there is certainly a cosmopolitan sound from this group, particularly on the instrumental tracks which mix rhythms from Latin America, West Africa and the Caribbean with equal panache. This is particularly impressive on ‘Dance all night’ (track 10), with Camara’s vocal delivery burnishing Young’s highlife-inspired guitar-work. As the liner notes point out, Young sought to gather musicians playing in his home city from across the world in order to show how fertile the Oslo scene is at present.
The second track is a composition that frames a poem by Charles Bukowski - ‘if you’re going to do try, go all the way / otherwise, don’t even start’ – which delivers a dirty funk backing to the spoken words. Perhaps, given the reputation that Bukowski has nowadays, getting down and dirty with the music here is entirely apposite. After these funky opening tracks, it comes as little surprise that Allan Touissaint’s ‘Everything I do gonna be funky (from now on)’ comes next, with Young vamping some delicious chords and working a note perfect solo, together with some stunning sax work. The second cover version is ‘Hey ya’ – which was a hit a couple of years back for Outkast. For me, the album works best when Young and Riisnoes are given space to work together, like on ‘Dark Matter’ (track 8) and ‘Gettin’ Ready’ (track 9) – but this is only to the ears of an old jazzer. You can see, and appreciate, how Young is looking to meld so many musical styles into an entertaining combination of styles that aim at encouraging dancing (or, in my case, enthusiastic foot-tapping).
Reviewed by Chris Baber
