An album with a good deal of John Abercrombie and Lookout Farm-like charm that gently unfurls and detours into more rustic environs at its tail end. Born in Perugia in 1984 Paris studied physics at university first. Later he switched to music in Siena. The guitarist here, the very impressive Ruggero Fornari, also is a Siena jazz graduate.
In 2021, Paris’ debut album as a bandleader was the far more hard bop inclined Underneath. Trinta followed in December 2023.
The early Folk Traffic tracks work best. Tunes are the leader’s plus a version of ‘The Death of Queen Jane,’ a ballad that references the death of Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour in 1537.
Trad Irish icons the Bothy Band did an exquisite version of the song on 1979’s After Hours. And a relatively recent version includes one by singer Loreena McKennitt on 2010’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley. The melody of the Folk Traffic treatment is taken on by Lieb-like sax instead of voice. Available from Italian label Encore Music.
MORE FROM MARLBANK
Alcyona Mick and Liam Noble, Distant Plains: The Planets Revisited, Caliban Sounds/One Little Independent ***1/2
Two become one in the moment
Miho Hazama and the Danish Radio Big Band, Frames, Edition **** recommended
Mellow writing, cleanly voiced, strong melodies, big band backing that isn’t like an overkill at all. All these factors are part of the spell the sound achieves. Miho Hazama reaches new heights
Eivind Aarset, Strange Hands, Jazzland ***1/2
Appealing electro ambient Nordic future jazz from Eivind Aarset, violin and ancient Indian bamboo flute contribute an additional dimension to the existing group sound
Anthony Joseph, The Ark, Heavenly Sweetness **** recommended
Another strong showing from London scene British Trinidadian poet, vocalist, singer-songwriter Anthony Joseph and his kicking band
Barbican adds Moses Boyd Pan-African drums night and Ben LaMar Gay date to Project a Black Planet
Diasporic summer sounds ingeniously curated
