Nitai Hershkovits - "Robin"

So as I understand it, Wah Wah 45 is releasing Time Grove Roots as sort of a teaser for a forthcoming album from Time Grove. Roots gathers older material from the composite parts of Time Grove to give you a taste of what each member is capable of on their own in advance of hearing what they accomplish as a group. This all caught my eye because Amir Bresler and Sefi Zisling are included and the pair have been featured on RR and on my radio show in the past. Plus the details make mention of Rejoicer, a recent addition to the Stones Throw coterie and that's a label I always keep an ear on. The name I didn't know is pianist Nitai Hershkovits, who is credited as guiding Time Grove. Needless to say I was glad that the preview track is Hershkovits' "Robin" so I could get a sense of what their style is and it definitely fits the description of "forward thinking, melodic jazz meets electronic wizardry." Looking forward to hearing what all the players accomplish together.

My Polaris Prize Ballot - 2018 Round Two

So last night at midnight was the deadline for submitting my second-round ballot for the 2018 Polaris Prize. I previously shared my vote for round one and only 2 out of the 5 I voted for made the official Long List from which I then had to submit a new five.

My #1 overall, Jeremy Dutcher, made the cut so it stayed exactly where I put it, while Zaki Ibrahim moved up from #3 to #2 leaving me open slots for #3, 4 and 5.

My own longlist (which I shared in the last post) had sixteen records in common with the official list:  
Allie - Nightshade 
Alvvays - Antisocialites 
Bernice - Puff LP: in the air without a shape 
Bonjay - Lush Life 
Daniel Caesar - Freudian  
Jeremy Dutcher - Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa 
Faith Healer - Try  
Zaki Ibrahim - The Secret Life Of Planets 
Iskwe - The Fight Within 
Pierre Kwenders - MAKANDA at the End of Space, the Beginning of Time 
Partner - In Search of Lost Time 
Snotty Nose Rez Kids - The Average Savage 
U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited 
The Weather Station - The Weather Station 
Weaves - Wide Open 
Charlotte Day Wilson - Stone Woman EP

Subtracting Dutcher and Ibrahim, that meant I had 14 records to consider for the final three slots and after due consideration and a fair amount of 'hemming and hawing' this is what I ended up submitting:

Fingers-crossed I do a bit better on Round Two, but best of luck to all of the artists listed above, and most especially to "my five."

Tsvia Abarbanel - "Mi Nishkani"

I won't pretend to be up on my private pressing Yemenite jazz of the 1970s but I know enough to keep tabs on folks and labels who do know about these things. Fortuna Records are a Soundcloud follow I first came across when they posted material from Grazia. More recently they released the Eastern Soul EP from Tsvia Abarbanel and "Mi Nishkani" is a track I keep coming back to. The thumpy tom drum with its distortion is strangely beguiling and insistent and the same can be said for Abarbanel's soaring vocals. Plus there's this intensely jazzy riff on the piano that comes in and out and could've come from an Erroll Garner track.