Cold Bleak Heat - It's Magnificent But It Isn't War - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Australian minimalist-jazz trio The Necks' 20th studio album, Bleed, explores a sublime language of stillness. With a single, 42-minute composition, The Necks masterfully express the unspeakable beauty of decay and space in yet another totally distinct entry in a vast and stunning body of work

In a jazz era that bristles with young talent, releasing an album that's sure to be shortlisted for best debut recording of the year is impressive but Chicago drummer and composer Lily Finnegan's consistently enthralling band Heat On album introduces her powerhouse, multi-generational, inside-out quartet. The group features legendary Chicago tenor saxophonist Ed Wilkerson Jr.[of 8 BOLD SOULS], Chi-town alto sax great Fred Jackson Jr., and consummately versatile Nick Macri on upright and electric bass. Finnegan's affirmation of freedom and groove, dissonance, dance and lyricism runs throughout Heat On. In many ways the project embodies the intergenerational nature of the Chicago scene, and Finnegan is both proud and humbled to be joining that history and lineage.

Funk. Bop. Forro´. Brass. Pounded by calloused hands, blasted from tightened lips, it calls across time and continents, uplifting hearts and moving hips and feet. It's the force that blew through Louis Armstrong in the twenties. It's the power that gets Brazilians dancing in the streets for Carnival. It's the freedom that sets the music on fire. It's Nation Beat.