Michel Portal, Stephen Kent, Mino Cinelu: Burundi (2000)

Multiinstrumentalist (clarinets, saxophones, bandoneon, etc.) and composer Michel Portal can be considered as the father figure of the French modern jazz scene.

Classically trained, Portal gained notoriety through his association with various modern and contemporary music composers. His performance as the featured soloist on Pierre Boulez's Domaines remains a highlight of his career. However, this exceptional musician also had a serious interest in folk music and jazz. In the late '60s, he initiated the free jazz movement in France with François Tusques, Bernard Vitet, and Sunny Murray. He went on to form New Phonic Art with Vinko Globokar, Carlos Roque Alsina, and JeanPierre Drouet to encourage collective improvisation, sonic explorations, and instant composing. In 1970, Portal developed a fruitful collaboration with John Surman. The following year, he created the longlived Michel Portal Unit, a structure designed to have European and American musicians meet in a freely improvised setting. In 1975, writing movie soundtracks became a regular activity, which is welldocumented on Musiques de Cinémas. In the '80s and '90s, Portal went through countless new musical encounters, never following a plan and always seizing the moment. During that period, his most notable collaborators included Pierre Favre, Dave Liebman, Martial Solal, Mino Cinelu, and Jack DeJohnette. At the turn of the century, Portal finally started to make a serious connection with the U.S., and Minneapolis in particular. He enlisted the help of some of Prince's musicians to develop a rocktinged project which represented yet another departure.
Personel: Michel Portal (soprano saxophone, bass clarinet), Stephen Kent (didgeridoo, percussion, cello), Mino Cinelu (percussion, vocals).

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Burundi (RS) / Burundi (HF) @ 320K

Dhafer Youssef: Electric Sufi (2001)

Tunisian-born oud performer/vocalist Dhafer Youssef attains a happy medium while integrating the oud (an Arabic lute instrument) with jazzy grooves and wide-ranging improvisational forums. On this outing, the artist crafts an appealing worldbeat/jazz scenario partly due to his nimble plucking and mood-evoking unison choruses with trumpeter Markus Stockhausen. There's also a drum'n'bass element here, as the leader utilizes the talents of ex-Living Colour rhythmic aces Will Calhoun (drums) and Doug Wimbish (bass). Jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel adds textural patterns to many of these pieces while embarking on a pleasant mainstream jazz-based solo passage on the piece entitled "Farha." Youssef also displays a multi-octave vocal range on several tracks — as he renders wordless vocals that often conjure up notions of religiously inclined mantras. A good portion of this affair features lightly rumbling percussion vamps intertwined with North African modalities and alternating dialogue among the soloists. A nice effort that ages well upon repeated spins.

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Electric Sufi

Miles Davis Septet: Live in Poland (2008) [2 cd]

Personnel : Miles Davis, trumpet; Bill Evans, soprano & tenor sax, flute; John Scofield, electric guitar; Robert Irving Iii, keyboards; Darryl Jones, bass; Al Foster, drums; and Mino Cinelu, percussion. Recorded at Congress Hall, Warsaw, Poland, October 13, 1983.

Richard Galliano: Love Day - Los Angeles Sessions (2008)

Accordionist Richard Galliano did for European folk — specifically, the early-20th-century French ballroom dance form known as musette — what his mentor Astor Piazzolla did for the Argentinean tango. Galliano re-imagined and revitalized a musical tradition, expanding its emotional range to reflect modern sensibilities, and opening it up to improvisation learned through American jazz. In fact, Galliano was more of a jazz musician than a folk one, although he blurred the lines so much that distinctions were often difficult to make. Born in France of Italian stock, Galliano began playing accordion (as his father did) at a young age. He later picked up the trombone, and studied composition at the Academy in Nice; he also fell in love with jazz as a teenager, particularly cool-era Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, and made it his primary focus by the late '60s. Making a living as a jazz accordionist naturally proved difficult; fortunately, after moving to Paris in 1973, he landed a position as conductor, arranger, and composer for Claude Nougaro's orchestra. He remained there until 1976, and went on to work with numerous American and European jazz luminaries, including Chet Baker, Joe Zawinul, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Michel Petrucciani, and Jan Garbarek. After meeting Astor Piazzolla, Galliano refocused on his European heritage, and set about reviving and updating musette, widely considered antiquated at the time. He signed with Dreyfus in 1993, and the label gave him enough exposure to cause a stir first in his home country, then among international jazz and world music fans. Regular recordings followed, some with clarinetist/soprano saxophonist Michel Portal, some with guitarist Jean Marie Ecay, some with his favorite rhythm section of bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark and drummer Daniel Humair (after Jenny-Clark's untimely death, Rémi Vignolo took his place). In 2001, Dreyfus released Gallianissimo, a compilation drawing from his seven albums for the label.