https://cleanfeedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/long-old-road
https://cleanfeed-records.com/product/long-old-road/
Jazz
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
released March 21, 2023
Clean Feed is reliably outstanding and this is another release that reinforces my tendency to turn to this label first when I’m looking for new jazz releases.
Long Old Road, named for this Bessie Smith number:
(that purple vinyl has me tripping) is a varied record that can’t easily be pigeonholed. I’m not necessarily saying it sounds like Stan Getz but let’s just call that a contemporary mood approximation.
An example of that smooth ambiance comes from the vibes solo by the Roman musician Francesco Lo Cascio on the track Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, a track named after the book by ZZ Packer.
Gianfranco Tedeschi lays out a beautiful bowed bass solo on the excellent track Amber.
I doubt I’ll be alone in favoring the track Bullying Well which is equal parts folk and jazz and opens with a wonderfully contagious banjo and bass hook courtesy of (at least in part) Alberto Popolla. Uh oh, checking that note I see the bass solo mentioned above might be his as well. Either way, all the musicians are deft and on point throughout.
Warmth Highest 