Jeff Johnson - Tall Stranger - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Named after a scribe at Madrid's Royal Chapel, the Guerra Manuscript is a vital source of the tono humano, a form of secular song characteristic of and exclusive to the Spanish Baroque, from a period when solo accompanied songs were at their most popular. Accompanied by double harp or harpsichord, these texts deal with subjects such as the pain of unrequited love and the balance between suffering and joy, also drawing on mythology and the natural world to symbolize the many facets of the human condition. This is the penultimate volume in a complete edition of these 17th-century gems.

As a teen, bassist Jeff Johnson was inspired by Ernest Hemingway and his way of writing from experience, giving rich, human impressions of events surrounding him. Johnson uses that inspiration as a guide on InchSuitcaseInch as a way to more vividly convey his life experiences through composition and storytelling. Having forged a deeply creative improvisational partnership over the last twenty years with saxophonist Hans Teuber, his decision to team here with newer musical partners - pianist Steve Moore and drummer Eric Eagle - creates a lively balance of the well-known and less-known to assure there will always be more chapters to be written. InchHe plays with a mystique that takes the music out of the ordinary with his inventive improvised lines...Inch - Cadence

Classical and Jazz fusion's Snehasish Mozumder's double-neck mandolin is at the center of the band SOM that swings it North Indian style. Snehasish Mozumder invented his own double-necked mandolin to use in becoming a recognized master of North Indian classical music. With this CD he teams up with Jazz musicians to produce an entrancing, polyrhythmic Jazz fusion recording. Snehasish Mozumder - double-neck mandolin, Nick Gianni - sax & flute, Vin Scialla - drums & percussion, Jason Lindner - piano & keys, Jason Hogue - bass, Bopa - percussion, Sameer Gupta - tabla.