Difficult to label

Indian Fusions mixed with Jazz: Mantra Revealed

5. Duo Runedako
Benjamin Broening: Recombinant Nocturnes
(Innova)
Duo Runedako is pianists Ruth Neville and Daniel Koppelman; they actually perform together on only two pieces, though those are the second- and third-longest tracks; one is for two pianos, the other for piano four-hands. Another track is Neville alone; the other ten are by Koppelman alone, though in one case he's playing four pianos via overdubbing. Furthermore, one of the duo tracks is the combination of two solo tracks. As the composer puts it, "The interconnected pieces of Recombinant Nocturnes all share the same musical DNA: materials, gestures, rhythmic ideas and brief melodic fragments drift from one piece to another in the set, constantly recombining in new ways...." On two tracks, he adds an electronic element, but largely this music is a meditative exploration of bell-like timbres deployed in kaleidoscopic patterns. The nocturnal title is apt; shadows and flickerings of light dance about, intertwining in striking juxtapositions.

Room temperature fusion just got hotter

Out today for accordion maniacs everywhere: The Multiple Personality Reunion Tour by Guy Klucevsek on the iTunes Store. 

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Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition : Apti

#9 - Fred Ho and the Afro-Asian Music Ensemble, Big Red (Innova). Admittedly, I’m a sucker for Asian-American jazz, especially when it comes in the guise of a multi-saxophone front line – in this case, alto, tenor, and the leader’s baritone – and the swaggering rhythms that Charles Mingus bequeathed to modern jazz. And I do love a good comeback story: off the scene for several years as he’s valiantly fought advanced colon cancer, Ho this year released two albums that reaffirmed his warrior nature and esthetic obstinacy.

innova artists aren't just pretty faces, ya know.