Jekyll2021-11-20T06:22:18-06:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/feed.xmlJazzCoffeeStuffA blog about jazz, coffee, and stuff!Relaxin at Camarillo and La Esmeralada Special Gesha2021-11-20T00:00:00-06:002021-11-20T00:00:00-06:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Relaxin-at-Camarillo-La-Esmeralda<!--
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This week we have a very special coffee featured on the blog. The coffee was roasted by Denmark's Coffee Collective - this is reason to celebrate in itself since they are one of the greatest coffee roasters out there. But what really makes this coffee special is it is a Gesha cultivar from Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, Panama.</p>
<p>In some sense this is the "Gesha that launched a thousand Geshas" - as you may recall from prior blog posts: the Gesha cultivar was just an obscure cultivar until the "best of Panama" competition in 2005 whereby a Gesha grown by the Peterson family at Hacienda La Esmeralda shattered the competition and achieved record prices for green coffee. Through the rest of the 2000s and 2010s Gesha became the "in" cultivar and reached unprecedented demand, leading to ever climbing prices. Without Hacienda La Esmeralda we may have never witnessed the "Gesha boom".</p>
<p>This particular coffee was grown in the "Mario 5" lot on the farm and the cherries were allowed to fully ripen to a deep red colour before being picked. Only a few of the lots grown get labeled with "Esmeralda Special" status - and this is one of them. So it is indeed a "best of the best" sort of coffee. After picking the coffee undergoes a fully washed process, the farm also has lots that undergo other processing methods. For me, however, washed is king. Especially with a special coffee like this: I want to taste the coffee/terroir not the process!</p>
<p>As you would expect a coffee like this does not come cheap, and as a result the bag weight is only 120g. Because of this I decided not to play around with espresso with this one, the thought of having a "sink job" shot is too painful. So this week we only have filter coffee on the blog, normal espresso service will presume next week.</p>
<p>Diving into the coffee itself: the dry aroma gives off subtle floral notes. This is what we have come to expect from Gesha, they tend to be understated but complex. There are also the characteristic bergamot notes there too, in Gesha that has undergone more "exotic" processing methods often miss this note so it's nice to see it so prevalent here.</p>
<p>Moving onto what's important: the cup itself. The first thing that stands out is how clean the cup is. There is an insane amount of clarity in the brew. Despite the rather delicate nose on the dry aroma the cup itself is fairly intense for a Gesha. There is a high level of sweetness in the cup that I would describe as being quite "sticky" like a particularly ripe peach. Alongside, of course, comes the florals we come to expect. It is a very perfumed cup that evolves and changes as the cup cools. The bergamot note comes through in the finish and lingers on through the aftertaste. I would describe the length of the aftertaste as being medium - not super long, but not shortlived either. You can also miss the aftertaste all together because the cup is so clean.</p>
<p>This was a coffee I was really looking forward to so it is great that it lived up to my internal hype. Of course it is not an "everyday" sort of coffee but a special "once in a while" experience. A big thanks to Coffee Collective for making this coffee available and doing such a good job roasting. It is often difficult for "the general public" to get hold of coffees such as these as they often end up being used for barista competitions and the like.</p>
<p>Alongside this rather special coffee we are heading back to 1979 and Joe Henderson's "Relaxin at Camarillo".</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/082-Relaxin-at-Camarillo/Relaxin-at-Camarillo.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>The first thing to note about the album is the fantastic cover art - the silhouette of Joe smoking, wearing his trademark glasses against the vivid red background is certainly one of the coolest and most iconic album covers of the era. At least for my money.
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Long time readers of the blog will know that Joe Henderson is a firm JazzCoffeeStuff favourite and he often appears on the blog. "Relaxin at Camarillo" is one of his more "obscure" recordings - he's much better known for his standout Blue Note recordings or even his Milestone or Verve releases later in his career. "Relaxin at Camarillo" appears on the Contemporary label - Joe's only release on this label. What makes this album particularly noteworthy however is the addition of Chick Corea on piano (who also appears on another "obscure" Henderson recording "Mirror Mirror").</p>
<p>Of course Chick himself needs no introduction, being a true jazz legend in his own right. On "Relaxin at Camarillo" he eschews the electric keyboards and synths in favour of an acoustic piano. This gives the album an "organic" feel to it, something that Joe seemed to favour as his records rarely feature electric instruments. It is always a pleasure to hear Chick playing acoustic, on electric instruments he tends to play very technically while acoustically we get to really appreciate his phrasing.</p>
<p>The record consists of 2 recording dates, Chick (and obviously Joe) appear on both dates which bass and drum duties are split between: Richard Davis and Tony Dumas (on bass) and Peter Erskine and Tony Williams (on drums). While there is not a huge difference in bass styles (although you can notice the difference) the two drummers have very different approaches which adds to the albums intrigue. Williams certainly swings harder and is a much "louder" drummer wheras Erskine is much more restrained.</p>
<p>Somewhat unusually Chick takes writing credit for 2 out of the 5 tracks on the album with Joe taking just 1 of 5 (the remaining being comprised of a standard and the Charlie Parker track from which the album gets its name). Joe clearly buying into the mantra: "hire good people, then get out of their way".</p>
<p>With a relatively short track listing it is quite hard to pick out "choice tracks" since every one of them is worthy of a listen. The album opens with the Henderson penned "Y Todavia La Quiero" (embedded at the start of this post) which has all the hallmarks of a Henderson composition. A modern jazz vibe combined with an afro-cuban rhythm. This gives Joe a chance to show off his soloing prowess as he pushes and pulls the meter with ease as he darts from the lowest to the highest register of his horn.</p>
<p>Another highlight is the Chick Corea penned "Crimson Lake" (above). This piece walks the line between hard-bop and free-jazz that Joe does so well, it gives him ample opportunity to pull out his trill and ghost note trickery while still remaining somewhat "inside" with his soloing. The drumming from Tony Williams is really a standout here too, he is a bundle of energy and manages to push Joe to play more and more "outside" before switching to an audacious swing for Chick's bop-inspired solo.</p>
<p>Lastly the album closes with "Relaxin at Camarillo" (below) - a take on the Charlie Parker piece of the same name. Of course Joe has reworked the tune to impart his character to it. While the original has a swinging nature to the main theme, Joe's take has a much more syncopated feel. And while Parker punctuates his slippery be-bop lines with blues like phrasing - Joe's solo is firmly in hard-bop territory and at times strays very much outside before finding his way back home. It is a really cool and interesting take on the original and so it is easy to see why the album was named after the piece.</p>
<p>While "Relaxin at Camarillo" might not be the first on the list of Joe Henderson recordings to check out, it is certainly worth hunting down if you are a fan of either Henderson or Corea.
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Birds of Fire and Icon 112021-11-13T00:00:00-06:002021-11-13T00:00:00-06:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Birds-of-Fire-Icon-11<!--
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For our coffee this week we are back to Woolwich's finest: Plot Coffee Roasters and another one of their "Icon Series" coffees. As you may recall these represent some of the most rare and interesting coffees available.</p>
<p>This time the coffee is called: Milenio Carbonic Maceration Enrique Navarro Caravajal - this is a bit of a mouthful so let's break down the name bit by bit. Firstly "Milenio" represents the coffee cultivar, you would be forgiven for not having heard of this cultivar before since it is fairly rare. This cultivar is also known as H10 and it is a hybrid (F1) cultivar that is a cross between TS296 and Rume Sudan. Hybrid cultivars are likely to become more and more prevalent as disease, pests and climate change continue to challenge coffee production. By hybridizing very distant ancestors we are able to produce cultivars that are high yielding, resistant to disease, resistant to pests, resistant to changing weather patterns yet still retaining the cup qualities we desire.</p>
<p>The next part of the name "carbonic maceration" refers to the processing methodology. This is an idea which originated in wine making but we are seeing more and more in coffee processing. Coffee cherries are place in a sealed tank with a 1-way valve at the top. Carbon dioxide is forced into the tank from the bottom - since this is heavier than oxygen this pushes oxygen out of the 1 way valve and so a very controlled anaerobic environment is created. This allows fermentation to occur in a very predictable way.</p>
<p>The last part of the name: "Enrique Navarro Carvajal" represents the producers name. He owns a farm Hacienda Santa Anita located in West Valley, Costa Rica. The farm is extremely focussed on sustainability and is certified carbon neutral. 85% of all electrical consumption for the farm comes from solar panels.</p>
<p>Onto the coffee itself: on the dry aroma I get a strong "funk" note, almost to the point of being unpleasant. I'm not a big "funky coffee" guy and I tend to favour cleaner more refined cups so this was a bit of a shock. Alongside the funk I get notes of bruised blueberries and fudge.</p>
<p>As a filter the funk is still noticable but is not the "hit in the face" I got when first opening the bag. The funkiness comes in the form of bruised blueberries to my palate, a slightly boozy sherry note too but this quickly gives way to a lot of sweetness which I consider to be a sort of fudge-caramel in nature. There is some acidity there but compared to most coffees on this blog I would describe it as fairly muted, the emphasis is more on the sweetness. The body is interesting, in the opening it feels fairly thin but it grows on you and the aftertaste has a decent body to it which helps it linger.</p>
<p>As an espresso I found this one fairly easy to dial in, although I did need to set my grinder to be very fine - potentially some may struggle to grind fine enough here. I ultimately settled on a fairly standard: 1:2.5 ratio in 22s which has become my "normal" shot recipe with my new grinder. In the filter this coffee was a bit wild and funky, but as an espresso these flavours blend together a bit better and you're left with quite a powerful and direct shot with flavours of blueberry, sherry and caramel. In the filter this coffee was on the verge of too funky for me, but it makes for a fantastic (and very drinkable) espresso shot.</p>
<p>It goes without saying but Plot have come up with another fun and interesting coffee for their Icon series - we have 1 more left in the year so will be eagerly awaiting what might be in store.</p>
<p>For our iconic jazz this week we're heading deep into fusion territory with Mahavishnu Orchestra and their 1973 release "Birds of Fire"</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/081-Birds-of-Fire/Birds-of-Fire.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Fusion still remains somewhat of a contentious issue with some jazz fans, many traditionalists refusing to even consider it "jazz". I don't get involved in the "where jazz ends" discussions as they tend to be counter-productive - the influence of fusion, however, is undeniable. Through the 1970s and 1980s many jazz artists started to ditch their acoustic instruments in favour of electric and began taking more influence from the classic rock sounds that were popular at the time. As with any movement there were plenty of bad fusion acts around, but one of the forefathers and most popular acts (to this day) were Mahavishnu Orchestra.</p>
<p>Mahavishnu Orchestra was started by English guitarist John McLaughlin in 1971. Over the years the band underwent many changes in personnel, but the original line-up (who feature on "Birds of Fire") consists of:</p>
<ul>
<li>John McLaughlin - Electric Guitar</li>
<li>Jerry Goodman - Electric Violin</li>
<li>Rick Laird - Bass Guitar</li>
<li>Jan Hammer - Keyboards/Synth</li>
<li>Billy Cobham - Drums</li>
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<p>At the time these musicians were relatively unknown (although at this point McLaughlin had worked with Miles) but through Mahavishnu Orchestra they had a major impact on both jazz and music more widely. Initially all compositions came from John McLaughlin who was becoming increasingly inspired by Indian spirituality (and later went on to record with Indian musician Shakti). This was combined with a hard hitting rock ethos and their live shows were known for being some of the loudest and most energetic performances around. One of the first tours for Mahavishnu Orchestra came supporting Frank Zappa's group, at the time Frank was playing fairly refined music to "college educated" audiences. Reportedly after experiencing Mahavishnu Orchestra live he decided to change direction, sacked his current band and hired a whole new band. He wanted to "blow audiences away" as Mahavishnu did.</p>
<p>Some fusion now suffers from "curse of the 1980s production" whereby the use of highly processed electric instruments, recording and mixing styles now sound very dated. This is not the case with Mahavishnu Orchestra (at least the early records) - this is definitely a positive for today's listener.
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To better understand what Mahavishnu Orchestra are all about it's easiest to just dive into some tunes. The title-track album opener "Birds of Fire" (embedded at the start of this post) is one of the bands signature tunes and encapsulates the band's sound. It starts off with some almost meditative chords from McLaughlin in 9/8, combined with a simple yet grounding bass-line from Laird. The main theme then kicks in featuring some very loud, brash and outside playing with an almost punk-rock attitude. Some very high octane solos follow as Cobham increases the energy with his powerful yet sophisticated drumming.</p>
<p>Another highlight is the tune "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters" (above) where the odd time signatures really get going - the tune being based around a groove in 19/16. Cobham manages to keep things swinging despite the complicated time signature and break-neck speed - it is perhaps the piece which really shows off Cobham's playing best on the album. Another highlight is the section where McLaughlin and Goodman trade bars in a classic "call and response" style - but as you would expect this isn't your typical be-bop piece.</p>
<p>It is important to note that although Mahavishnu Orchestra is all about high octane and powerful playing they can also play down-tempo too. This is most apparent on the piece "Thousand Island Park" (below) where the band decide to ditch the distortion and synths. Anybody familiar with McLaughlin's back catalogue will know from records like "Friday Night In San Francisco" and the Shakti records that John is a monster acoustic player so it is nice to hear this here. It procides a great contrast to the rest of the album and is just an all round beautiful composition that is easy to forget about given the craziness of the rest of the record.</p>
<p>As with all of my "Icon Series" posts: "Birds of Fire" is essential listening for any jazz fan. Even if you're not the biggest "fusion" person around there is plenty to enjoy on this album. If you're relatively new to jazz as a whole you might have the impression that jazz is "relaxing background music" - this album proves that it need not be.
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Fletcher Moss Park and da Matteo2021-11-06T00:00:00-05:002021-11-06T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Fletcher-Moss-Park-Da-Matteo<!--
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This week we take a (rather belated) look at the October offering from my KaffeBox subscription. Due to a bumper haul of "exotic" coffees lately I put these coffees on ice (literally - in the freezer) for a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>This time the featured roaster is da Matteo, located in Gothenburg, Sweden. This is a completely new roaster to me and one I don't know much about. The first thing that I notice on their understated packaging is that they offer 2 distinct set of taste (and aroma) notes depending on whether you use soft or hard water. This is a first for me and I think I approve. Water makes such a big difference to the flavour experience it makes sense to have alternative notes. On the flip side however, just the overall "hardness" of the water is not necessarily a good estimator for how the water will work for coffee. It is nice to see a roaster try and deal with the water problem though, so brownie points to da Matteo on this.</p>
<p>As you may recall in my KaffeBox subscription I get 2 bags of 125g each, so I tend to dedicate one to filter and one to espresso for testing. In this case I made my selection based on origin: I tend to find Kenyan coffees more enjoyable in a filter setting.</p>
<p>The Kenyan in question is called Murang'a AA, as you would expect it is a washed coffee and it comprises of SL28, SL34, Ruiru, Batian and K7 cultivars. On the nose the dry aroma gives me the familiar thwack of blackcurrant we all love about Kenyan coffee. Alongside this is a sort of candy or sugary sweetness. As a filter my instant reaction is one of shock, this coffee has an extremely high flavour intensity. If you like your coffees to beat you round the head with flavour this is one for you. The overarching flavour is of course the blackcurrant and blackberry you would expect. But alongside are a lot of florals, I would describe them as more violet and lavender floral than say a jasmine. The cup is extremely clean which seems to amplify the intensity of flavour. In terms of body I'd describe it as medium to low, it's not water-y thin but nor is it a chewy cup. This coffee really impressed me and for my money one of the best KaffeBox offerings so far this year.</p>
<p>On the espresso side of things we have a natural Colombian: Manos Juntas, consisting of Castillo, Colombia and F6 cultivars. On the nose the dry aroma gives off notes of strawberry and jasmine like florals. I found dialing in this espresso relatively easy and I ended up settling on a rather typical (for my set-up) 1:2.5 in about 22s. Again on first sip the things I note down are "clean cup" and "flavour intensity" - maybe this is somewhat of a "house style" for da Matteo? In terms of flavour profile I get more tropical fruits: papaya, mango and melon coming through along with the strawberry note from the nose. Alongside is an almost custard-y vibe in both flavour and mouthfeel.</p>
<p>Another solid pair of coffees from KaffeBox in this instalment - possibly my favourite so far. There may have been more "complex" cups in the past but the flavour intensity here is something special. As a result da Matteo is certainly on my radar and one I'll keep an eye out for.</p>
<p>On the jazz side this week we take a trip back nearly 10 years to a recording from Matthew Halsall and "Fletcher Moss Park".</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/080-Fletcher-Moss-Park/Fletcher-Moss-Park.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Matthew Halsall is an English trumpet player based out of Manchester. He released his first album in 2008 and (at time of writing) has 8 albums to his name. His style certainly falls into the "spiritual" side of modal jazz with Alice Coltrane being the most clear influence on his work. At times you can also hear shades of Miles Davis modal period in his playing and especially his phrasing. Alongside these jazz influences he has also taken influence from hip hop and electronic dance music - this is not so much in "sound" (he sticks to acoustic instruments in his arrangements almost entirely) but in vibe.
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A Matthew Halsall album tends to have an almost meditative feel to it. This experience is doubled if you ever get to see him live. He is not much of a "show man" there is very little in the way of crowd engagement, but he has the ability to transport the audience to a different place. There are very few acts around today who do the whole spiritual jazz thing as well as Halsall.</p>
<p>"Fletcher Moss Park" marks the fourth record in the Halsall back catalogue and for me it is the first where his sound fully developed. On the previous albums he was at perhaps 90%, but everything just fell into place with "Fletcher Moss Park" (and subsequent). Each track on the album has a certain "Halsall quality" that is unmistakable, you can hear his influences come through but at the same time his own personality and vision remains clear.</p>
<p>As with all spiritual jazz "Fletcher Moss Park" is less about specific details of the music and more about a vibe. The name of the album and the artwork gives a good impression of what to expect: I get the impression of a contemplative walk through the woodland while listening to the album.</p>
<p>With an album like this it is difficult to pin-point individual tracks as "highlights" since this album is best appreciated from start to finish. The album opener "Cherry Blossom" (embedded at the start of this post) is one of the high points of the album and does a good job setting the scene. The Miles influence on Halsall's playing is particularly apparent here as he plays some tasty sparse modal lines. "Mary Emma Louise" (above) is another track that sticks out for being the most "uptempo" number on the album and probably the closest thing to a swing you'll hear on the album. The penultimate track on the album "The Sun in September" (below) is another track worth highlighting for being one of the more ambitious tracks on the record. This track almost provides the blueprint for some of his later works - it shows great maturity for a band leader to sit out for the majority of a track. Halsall manages to say a lot without actually playing much and that is a real skill.</p>
<p>If Matthew Halsall is a new name to you I would definitely recommend checking him out, and "Fletcher Moss Park" is a good place to start. I'm a big fan of his music and live performances and you can't really go wrong with any of his albums/gigs. Be sure to also check out other artists on his "Gondwana Records" record label if you enjoy what you hear also.
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Life To Everything and El Zafiro Wush Wush2021-10-30T00:00:00-05:002021-10-30T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Life-To-Everything-El-Zafiro-Wush-Wush<!--
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This week our featured coffee comes from Assembly Coffee Roasters located in Brixton, London. It's been a while since Assembly has featured on this blog (not for any particular reason) so it is a welcome return. I find Assembly to be one of the best and most consistent roasters in the UK so I'm sure this coffee will be a good one.</p>
<p>The coffee in question comes from their "Limited Edition" series of coffees. As the name suggests these are not your "everyday" coffees but something a bit more special. Assembly don't seem to have a particular release schedule for these and they turn up as/when something interesting becomes available, which is probably a better way to do it than "committing" to finding top quality coffee every month/whatever. Of course being limited edition this coffee costs more than the "regular" Assembly offerings but the pricing is not in the stratosphere.</p>
<p>As you have probably summised from the title of this blog post, this week we have another Wush Wush cultivar. I guess Wush Wush is like busses: you wait all year and then 2 arrive at once. As we noted last week, Wush Wush is "kinda" like Gesha in a way: its origins are in Ethiopia and it has since been exported to (mainly) the Americas. As with last weeks example this example comes from Colombia.</p>
<p>The coffee comes from the El Zafiro farm owned by Don Oscar located in Cauca, South Western Colombia. If we consider Hacienda La Esmeralda the "original" Gesha farm in some sense we could consider this farm the "original" Wush Wush farm, as I believe they offered the first Wush Wush available to the wider market. This initial sale actually became Assembly's first ever "Limited Edition" coffee.</p>
<p>This weeks coffee has undergone a washed process. This is my favourite type of processing for coffees as it allows the terroir to come through most clearly (in my opinion).</p>
<p>Let's dive right into the coffee itself: on the dry aroma I get hit with a hit of sugary sweetness along with a heady floral bouquet. It is quite punchy on the nose compared to what one might expect from a "floral" focussed coffee. In terms of the type of florals I would describe them as the stickier elderflower, honeysuckle types as opposed to say a jasmine or lavendar.</p>
<p>Moving into the filter the sweetness comes through again. It is what I'd describe as a candy sweetness or sugar-syrup even. The sweetness level of this coffee is very high but it is not cloying. The main flavour notes I get are again the honeysuckle and elderflower type florals. If you have ever had a "fancy" cake or pattiserie with candied flowers on it, that is the sort of vibe I get. Beneath this I get the stonefruit quality of a peach or apricot. The cup is very complex and it takes you on a journey as it cools, I found it most enjoyable once left to cool for a little while so the florals can speak. It is also a very "clean" cup and the flavour separation is very good, a "downside" of this is that it perhaps lacks a little body/mouthfeel compared to others.</p>
<p>As an espresso I found this a particularly easy one to dial in, it benefits from being pulled a bit longer in the 1:2.5-2.75 range. Going shorter than this led to a more intense cup but I found it harder to appreciate the complexity. In terms of flavour notes the stonefruits come more to the front along with the sugary hit. This makes for a very sweet shot of espresso with essentially no bitterness, so if this is something you crave in a shot it's a good coffee for you. Again owing to the washed processing and the act of pulling the shot a bit longer the body/mouthfeel do suffer as a result.</p>
<p>As I expected another knock-out coffee from Assembly. I don't really like to do comparative tastings between coffees but given we have 2 Wush Wush cultivars back to back: I feel this one is more "me", the washed processing and cleanliness of the cup really speak to me. In terms of complexity the previous Plot Icon offering I'd say is more complex and certainly offers more in the way of mouthfeel and texture. Both share the "sweet but floral" flavour profile of the Wush Wush.</p>
<p>For the jazz this week we are heading back to 2015 and the jazz trio Phronesis with their "Life To Everything" record.</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/079-Life-To-Everything/Life-To-Everything.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Phronesis were founded in 2005 by Danish bass player Jasper Høiby, originally with Magnus Hjorth on piano and Anton Eger on drums. In 2009 Magnus was replaced by Ivo Neame, at which point the band remained unchanged until 2020 when the band announced they were taking an "extended break" to allow each member to work on individual projects.</p>
<p>It is safe to say that Phronesis take a huge inspiration from Esbjörn Svensson Trio (EST) - though this could be said of just about any jazz trio from the 2000s onwards. Many reviews of the band start by making the comparison between the bands, but I feel it is only superficially true. While there are some similarities in their arrangements there is a totally different vibe to the bands - EST compositions tend to be more contemplative and meditative while Phronesis compositions are much more firey and energetic in approach.
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The energy and attitude of the music from Phronesis directly lends itself to live performances. For my money they were/are one of the best live acts around. By controlling the tempo and intensity they are the masters at working the crowd energy to their advantage and you leave one of their gigs with a sense of excitement that one might expect from a stadium rock concert. Jasper's stage patter also helps in that regard, while Phronesis are on hiatus he could quite easily make a living as a stand-up comedian also. It's quite rare to find jazz musicians who also have the charisma to work a crowd while the music stops.</p>
<p>The live performance prowess of the band is perhaps the reason why they opted to record "Life To Everything" live (at the Cockpit, London) - in someways a follow up to their "Alive" live recording a few years prior. As much as I love their studio recordings "Life To Everything" is one I find myself continually coming back to, of course it is impossible to capture all the energy of a live gig on record - but it does a damn good job. Live albums often have the issue of poor sound quality or mixing, but thankfully that is not the case here and you could easily be forgiven for not even noticing it is a live recording (aside from the occassional crowd cheering/applause).</p>
<p>The album gives each band member their chance to shine: Høiby gets ample opportunity to flex his bass chops playing some of the most intricate bass lines at break-neck speeds without dropping a beat and still managing to groove. Eger gets a chance to play all the complex fills he can muster at peak intensity and push/pull the tempo of the music at will. With such energy going on around him Neame has to play the "straight man" to hold the whole thing together, often hanging back to allow the others to shine. It is easy to overlook some of the delightful chord voicings he's playing amongst the chaos. And it goes without saying that the band is completely tight throughout, you can tell that they have played together for a long time and are totally comfortable with each other.</p>
<p>Some of my choice picks on the album include the opener "Urban Control" (embedded at the start of this post) - which has become a bit of a "signature" tune for the band. It starts around a cool, complicated but grooving bassline by Høiby that quickly undergoes a metamorphosis via changes in time-signature and tempo and some very singable melodies from Neame's piano. Another highlight for me is "Herne Hill" (above) which quickly takes on a bossa-nova and latin feeling but still retains the Phronesis DNA. Again the time signatures and tempos remain fluid throughout. The closing track "Dr Black" (below) features a melody somewhat reminiscent of a Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band tune before it turns very-Phronesis and the soloists get a chance to really show off their chops.</p>
<p>While "Life To Everything" cannot capture all of the energy of a Phronesis gig it does act as a good "2nd best". While I'm looking forward to hearing some of the individual projects - I hope that Phronesis will be back, even for the odd gig at some point in the future.
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Virtuoso and Icon 102021-10-23T00:00:00-05:002021-10-23T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Virtuoso-Icon-10<!--
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This week we have another "Icon Series" coffee from Plot Coffee Roasting in Woolwich, London. As you may recall the Icon series represents some of the more sort after and rare coffees available, and as part of the 10th installment in this series we have another special coffee.</p>
<p>As with many of the Icon coffees its the cultivar that makes this coffee unique: in this case we have a "Wush Wush" cultivar. You can think of Wush Wush as the precocious younger brother to the Gesha cultivar. Like Gesha it has its origins in Ethiopia but has since been exported to other areas, with most (that I've seen at least) being grown in Colombia. Also like Gesha, Wush Wush is low yielding and quite difficult to grow - but the cup profile makes up for this. At date of writing the Wush Wush cultivars haven't quite gained the popularity of Gesha, and while not "cheap" they typically don't reach quite the stratospheric prices of the most prized Gesha coffees.</p>
<p>In addition to cultivar this coffee is interesting for its processing which is described as a "Honey, Carbonic Maceration". The fruits are picked and fermented for 24 hours before being pulped and paced in a carbonic maceration tank to (anaerobically) ferment for another 24 hours. The coffee is then dried for a total of 20 days split between a drying structure and a poly-tunnel until the desired humidity levels are reached.</p>
<p>But all of this is moot unless the resulting coffee tastes great, so let's dive into it. On the dry aroma the first thing I note is "sweet", upon opening the bag you can tell this one will be a very sweet one. I would describe the sweetness as being like a honey or quite a dark caramel type sweetness. Alongside there are some fruity notes but they're hard to pick out due to the honey being dominant. I also pick up some florality but again it's somewhat masked.</p>
<p>As usual moving onto the filter cup: the sweetness I picked up on the nose is instantly noticable here. This is a very sweet cup indeed. Whereas a Gesha might lean more onto floral notes the Wush Wush is known for leaning more into sweetness. The fruity notes on the nose become clearer in the cup and I would desribe them as being like a pommegranate or sharp citrus. This is not a highly acidic cup but there is enough there to cut the sweetness. As the cup cools the cup becomes more complex and some of the floral notes come out. Elderflowers, jasmines and chamomile type notes are present as the cup cools. The tasting notes include "lemongrass" as a descriptor but this is not something I really notice personally. I would describe the body of the cup as being a medium, I've certainly had chewier cups but there is something there.</p>
<p>As an espresso I found this coffee to be very strong also. I ultimately landed on a 1:2.5 sort of ratio in around 22s (as is typical with my new grinder). Again the major note in the cup is the honey sweetness. As an espresso you can really notice just how "clean" this coffee is too. Unfortunately some of the more complex notes are a little harder to pick up on but it is still a fantastic cup and very drinkable. I would say as a filter is where this coffee shines however.</p>
<p>At this point the Plot Icon series has gone 10 for 10 in terms of picking some great coffees, I'm very interested to see if they close out the year with a bang.</p>
<p>For the iconic jazz this week I found myself dusting off a 1973 release: "Virtuoso" by Joe Pass.</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/078-Virtuoso/Virtuoso.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Joe Pass is widely considered to be one of the all time great jazz guitarists. He often played with the likes of Oscar Peterson and, perhaps most famously, Ella Fitzgerald. In addition he also recorded with the likes of Milt Jackson, Zoot Sims, Herb Ellis, Count Basie and many more. His discography reads like a "who's who" of the jazz world spanning from the early 1960s through to his death in 1994. He has inspired countless jazz guitarists (and other musicians) through the years and is one of the first names you'll hear if you ask anybody to name a jazz guitarist - and for good reason.
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"Virtuoso" is considered one of the highlights of his career. We have to start by mentioning the title, it takes a certain amount of balls to release an album called "Virtuoso". In doing so you essentially put a target on your back and every other musician picking up the album listens with an attitude of "oh really?". This goes to show the ability of Joe, since nobody holds that against him (and in fact he even released follow up albums "Virtuoso no.2", "Virtuoso no.3" and "Virtuoso no.4"). In fact "Virtuoso" even became somewhat of a blue-print for how all future solo jazz guitar should be played. Even now we can hear the influence in (for example) a modern player like Pasquale Grasso.</p>
<p>On "Virtuoso" Joe manages to combine his chord playing (although he didn't refer to them as chords rather: "grips") with single note lines. While his chops are, obviously, impressive - it is the musicality with which he plays that is the real star. The album is made up of (almost) entirely standards and so there's a certain amount of "respecting the tune" that is required. There is often a temptation, especially when playing solo, to just throw all your chops and re-harmonization ideas at a tune. When the album is called "Virtuoso" that temptation is likely even stronger. But Joe manages to toe the line perfectly, managing to show off his enviable abilities but at the same time create something that is enjoyable to listen to.</p>
<p>The choice of tune on the album is fairly "basic": they're pretty much all "crowd pleaser" type standards that we all know and love. This adds another level of pressure to the performance since we've all heard these tunes performed in all variety of ways previously. There is one Joe Pass original on the album "Blues for Alican", which as one would expect is a swinging jazzy blues.</p>
<p>Picking out my "choice tunes" on the album is very difficult here, each tune is a masterclass in jazz guitar and worthy of investigation. From the opening "Night and Day" which is pure Joe, through the improvised take on "Cherokee" featuring some manic single note lines, through the dark an pensive rendition of Monk's "'Round Midnight".</p>
<p>Perhaps the highlight of the album, however, is the stunning take on "All The Things You Are" (embedded at the start of this post). Which manages to mix some beuatiful voicings on the main melody with some toe-tapping high tempo swing and dazzling single-note lines. When I think of "Virtuoso" this is usually the first tune I think of. Another track that comes to mind is "Have You Met Miss Jones?" (above) - partly because it's not a tune that I know many good renditions of, but also due to Joe's use of walking basslines throughout. The album closer "The Song Is You" (below) is another highlight owing to Joe's playful use of timing throughout.</p>
<p>As with all of the "Icon Series" albums: "Virtuoso" is certainly in the "essential listening" category. If you are a fan of jazz guitar, or jazz in general, you owe it to yourself to check out Joe if he is new to you - and "Virtuoso" is possibly the best place to start.
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)For Centennial Reasons and Montero Gesha2021-10-16T00:00:00-05:002021-10-16T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/For-Centennial-Reasons-Monteros-Gesha<!--
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This week we have a bit of a special coffee on show. Whenever a gesha cultivar ends up in JazzCoffeeStuff HQ it is always a cause for celebration, but in this case the excitement doubles since it is from one of my favoruite coffee roasters (and one I don't get to purchase from as much as I'd like) - Morgon, located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Unfortunately this means there is a high level of expectation behind this coffee so let's see if it can live up to it.</p>
<p>We have featured Gesha cultivars a few times in the blog before. As a quick reminder for those unfamiliar: the Gesha varietal quickly became the "in" cultivar during the mid-2010s owing to a coffee competition in Panama. This combined with how difficult it is to grow has led to prices reaching stratospheric levels. Of course as the popularity and demand increase there is also an increase in "lower grade" Gesha cropping up. These don't have the subtlety and flavour profiles of the top Gesha coffees and you're a bit beholden on importers/roasters to pick out the best lots.</p>
<p>Fortunately the roaster in question this week is Morgon. They have featured a few times in the blog in the past and are an all time favourite of mine. I've yet to have anything less than stellar from them and I've had some of my favourite coffees of the past few years from them. What I particularly respect is their "no nonsense" approach to coffee roasting, they don't try and claim there's any "magic" in what they're doing. They just pick good green coffee, treat it with respect and let it speak for itself. I was particularly interested in trying a Gesha from them because this slightly goes against the ethos I associate with them.</p>
<p>The coffee itself was grown in Tarrazu, Costa Rica. I have a bit of a soft spot for Costa Rican coffee as one of the first coffees that made me take specialty seriously was a Costa Rican. In this case the coffee comes from a farm owned by Carlos Montero - one of the most respected growers in Costa Rica. The processing is described as being "natural" but I do not have the exact details behind this.</p>
<p>So let's just dive in: as usual starting with the dry aroma I get the sophisticated floral bouquet you associate with Gesha. It is not a heavy hitter in this regard (nor would you expect it to be) - but it gives a hint towards the complexity in the cup. Alongside florals I get a sticky-fruity type of sweetness on the nose, perhaps reminiscent of boiled sweets.</p>
<p>As a filter using my trusted method: the first thing I notice is the sweetness of this coffee. This is not something I normally associate with Gesha, but I guess it is the "Costa-Rica-ness" coming through. I would describe the sweetness as being apricot or peach like and the bag descriptor of "strawberry fields" also seems relvant. Alongside of course you also have all the floral notes you would expect, these seem to come to the fore as the cup cools down a touch. The cup itself is very clean with just enough acidity to avoid being cloying.</p>
<p>Moving onto the espresso: for this coffee I found I had to grind very fine on the dial. With my new grinder I still had enough play to get to reasonable levels but I could forsee some grinders struggling to get fine enough to produce a good shot. Ultimately I landed with a 1:2.5 ratio is about 22s for best results on my set up. The flavour profile is essentially the same as the filter just more concentrated. Whereas the filter might be "apricot juice" the espresso is "apricot syrup". As is typical with these sorts of coffees some of the more complex floral notes are lost at the more concentrated levels of espresso.</p>
<p>While the espresso is very good, for me the extra complexity from the filter makes it the more natural choice for this coffee. Despite the very high expectation levels I had for this coffee it certainly lives up to it. Morgon once again showing they know their stuff when it comes to coffee roasting and green selection.</p>
<p>For this weeks jazz we're hopping back to 2019 with the John Pizzarelli Trio and their tribute to Nat King Cole: "For Centennial Reasons".</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/077-Centennial-Reasons/Centennial-Reasons.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>This album is a bit different to others featured on this blog: it is the first album that (prominently) features singing. (The more eagle eared will note that there are some previously featured albums that do have "singing" but these tend to be 1 or 2 tracks on the album as opposed to the majority). This is simply down to my preference, I tend not to listen to many jazz vocalists.
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John Pizzarelli is perhaps best known as being the son of jazz guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli. Bucky was one of the true pioneers and one of the first (along with the likes of George Van Eps) to push the use of a 7 string guitar for jazz - something that John has since carried the torch for. John started his career in the early 1980s often working with his father. After releasing a string of albums under his own name he has gone on to work with the likes of Paul McCartney and James Taylor. He also has a brother Martin Pizzarelli - a double bassist who appears on much of his recorded works.</p>
<p>John has also listed Nat King Cole as the main influence on his career. As such "For Centennial Reasons" is not the first tribute album he has recorded. There is also the 1994 release "Dear Mr Cole" and the 1996 follow up "PS Mr Cole", you will also find countless Nat King Cole songs (or songs associated with him) dotted around his other albums. Following a couple of decades of career development and working on his craft I feel "For Centennial Reasons" is the most polished and complete of these however.</p>
<p>As a first vocalist to appear on this blog John Pizzarelli might appear a bit of an odd choice. He does not have a particularly strong nor unique voice, but what he does have is bags of charisma and charm to pull it off. As a live act he is one of the most enjoyable around and always puts on a great performance consisting of great music interspersed with jokes and anecdotes. I remember seeing an interview with him a few years ago where the reporter asks: "on the New York scene your music isn't viewed as very cool, have you ever thought about changing your style?" to which John responds: "If you want to listen to a certain kind of music: my band is the best around. What can be cooler than that?"</p>
<p>As you would expect from a tribute album the majority of the material comes from the Nat King Cole canon. John does however pen 2 original pieces: "A Hundred Years from Now" which one could certianly mistake for an undiscovered Nat King Cole recording. And also "Nat King Cool" one of two instrumental pieces on the album where John and the band can flex their chops.</p>
<p>The rest of the album is all about the swing however, over the years John has clearly fine-tuned every piece to find the optimal tempo and groove. With the focus being on swinging his way through a bunch of well known (and some less well known) tunes it is easy to overlook just how good a guitar player John is too. Some of the guitar solos and his trademark guitar-scat style is mindblowing on this album.</p>
<p>For the selected tracks this week I have taken the 3 tunes that John recorded promo videos for (each embedded in this blog). First we have the album opener "Straighten Up and Fly Right" - here John plays with the tempo and note accents of the original to make a track that really swings. Compared to his earlier recordings of this tune the version here just feels more polished and allows more of his personality to come through. This is one of the highlights of the album. Next we have the signature tune "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" - a signature tune for both Cole and Pizzarelli. Again by just subtly tweaking the timings and groove the song takes on a new life and it becomes an instant crowd-pleaser. The last select tune is "It's Only a Paper Moon" - perhaps a tune that one wouldn't necessarily associate with Nat King Cole, but it is one of my favourites. It is also one that features heavily in the John Pizzarelli repertoire. The version on the album represents the arrangement of the tune that John has been using live for the past decade or so and I think the only studio version he has of this arrangement so it is nice to get this one of disc.</p>
<p>"For Centennial Reasons" is a record well worth hunting down if you've not heard it before. If you're a Nat King Cole fan you'll recognise a lot of the tunes here (even if you're not you'll recognise a few). If you're new to jazz or come from a "pop" background and sometimes struggle with the density of some of the instrumental music featured on this blog this might be a good record to use as a "gateway drug" into jazz.
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Out Here and Banko Gotiti2021-10-09T00:00:00-05:002021-10-09T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Out-Here-Banko-Gotiti<!--
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This week we head back to Devon based roaster: Crankhouse Coffee. Crankhouse have appeared on the blog a few times before and they're a very dependable roaster and regularly provide stellar coffee. As of late I've noticed they're particularly good for the "funkier" styles of coffee with more ambitious processing methods. And this weeks coffee provides an example of this.</p>
<p>This weeks coffee comes from Yirgacheffe, Eithiopia - one of the more recognizable and prized growing regions within Ethiopia. The name of this coffee is: "Banko Gotiti Anaerobic (Strawberry)". Banko Gotiti is the name of the wet-mill where the coffee is processed. As you would expect this coffee has undergone an anaerobic processing step within sealed containers at a specific temperature, this allows more complex and interesting flavours to develop. This particular lot has code-name "strawberry" which gives some indication as to what we can expect in the cup. As with many Ethiopian coffees the cultivar is just listed as "heirloom".</p>
<p>Let's dive straight in to the coffee itself: on the dry aroma I am initially hit with a somewhat typical "boozy" note you'd expect from a Yirgacheffe natural, however alongside this are some strong fruity notes and hints of chocolate and baking spices. Before even making a cup you can tell this is going to be a very complex cup.</p>
<p>As a filter the "strawberry" from the name is instantly apparent, along with the other notes we had on the nose. The best way I can describe the flavour is a dark chocolate liqueur with a strawberry cream type filling. But I could also be persuaded by a "black forest gateau" as a descriptor. As you would expect from a funky flavour profile such as this the cup is not the cleanest you'll ever have in your life but it is certainly not a "farmyard" natural either. The sweetness is very high and the acidity somewhat muted while the mouthfeel and body are fairly high. While the flavour profile is quite complex this cup is quite "linear" with temperature and the profile doesn't really change much as it cools. This quality means that while it's complex, you can enjoy it just as much as an everyday cup while doing other acitivities.</p>
<p>Moving over to the espresso side of things now. As you may recall I recently bought a new espresso grinder and I'm still getting to grips with it. Usually I like to talk about how easy a coffee is to dial in, but that is hard until I get a good baseline with this grinder. That said I didn't have a single "sink job" with this coffee so I feel it can't be an absolute pig to dial in. I found that I liked a fairly short ratio with this one, around 1:2.1 or so, as with other coffees on this grinder I liked a pull time of 22s. Keeping things shorter emphasised the body and mouthfeel a bit more and going longer didn't really increase sweetness or clarity any more. The flavour profile is much the same as the filter and the "dark chocolate strawberry liqueur" comes through even stronger. To me this is really where this coffee shines, the filter was good but the espresso spectacular.</p>
<p>As you'd expect from Crankhouse another good coffee that will be missed. I also like the price-point that Crankhouse hit with this (and other coffees) where it's a bit more expensive than your "typical" coffees but not an over-the-top unobtainium pricing. It allows you to try more of these super interesting quality coffees without busting the bank.</p>
<p>On the jazz side this week I found myself digging out a 2013 release: "Out Here" from the Christian McBride Trio.</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/076-Out-Here/Out-Here.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Christian McBride is one of the most critically acclaimed and in-demand jazz bassists out there today. His career started in the early 1990s and he has been consistently active ever since. He has worked with some of the greatest jazz musicians ever including: Joe Henderson, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Roy Haynes and many more. Outside of jazz he has even worked with the likes of Paul McCartney, Sting, Isaac Hayes, Carly Simon and others. Through the 2000s and 2010s he saw his career shift from being a "new kid on the block" to one of the pre-eminent artists in the jazz world. This is something that does not come easily. His personality and demeanour likely helped with this as he is one of a select few jazz musicians who can combine chops with genuine charisma and stage presence. This is very evident in his radio show on NPR "Jazz Night in America" - which is well worth a listen as it is always fulled with insights, stories and of course great music.
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On "Out Here" Christian is joined by two younger up and coming musicians in the form of: Christian Sands on the piano and Ulysses Owens Jr on the drums. Both of whom also appeared on McBride's other 2013 release "People Music". While "People Music" leant more into original compositions in the post-bop style within the quintet format; "Out Here" is more of a straight swinging trio affair with 7 of the 9 tracks being standards. I feel this makes "Out Here" very approachable as an album, but that is not a slight at the musicianship.</p>
<p>Playing such "simple" swinging tunes there is no place to hide and as jazz has grown to become increasingly complex finding younger musicians who can really swing is increasingly rare. Under McBride's tutelage Sands and Owens do a fantastic job. The tunes are energetic amd the solos wild but respectful of the music. I'm sure many other young musicians would have come in and thrown down needlessly show-y solos which would feel out of place. Sands in particular really stands out to me and this was probably the album that made me really take notice of him as a musician.</p>
<p>When curating an album of (mostly) standards track selection becomes crucially important. Obviously there are "crowd pleaser" standards that people want to hear, but an album consisting of these will typically get quickly forgotten. Instead you typically want to balance these with "non-standard standards" - tunes that few musicians have thought of interpreting. McBride has done a great job here, we have a few crowd pleasers: "Cherokee", "East of the Sun" and the fantastic rendition of "My Favourite Things" (above) along with some slightly more obscure standards like "Hallelujah Time" (at the start of this post) and "Easy Walker" and then perhaps the highlight of the album: a take on Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love?" (a Stax record classic).
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Albums like "Out Here" are easy to forget about or overlook, so it is fun to look back at these every now and again. While not a "groundbreaking" album in any sense, it acts as a great example of what happens when you get three musicians into a room and just let them play. It is a joy to hear the energy between all the musicians here. Of course the real standout is McBride's band leading and it is a shining example for any bass player on how to drive a tune forward.</p>
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Extrapolation and Gakuyu Ini AA2021-10-02T00:00:00-05:002021-10-02T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Extrapolation-Gakuyu-Ini<!--
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This weeks featured roaster is Curve Coffee Roasters from Margate. As you may recall Curve have featured on the blog a few times and rarely disappoint. For my money they're one of the most dependable roasters around and I don't think I've ever got a "bad" coffee from them.</p>
<p>This time I ordered a Kenyan coffee from them. It is called: Gakuyu-Ini AA. It is a washed processed lot consisting of the classic Kenyan cultivars SL28 and SL34. As with other Kenyan coffees the "AA" refers to the screen size of the beans - AA being the largest size. When I first got into specialty coffee there was a lot of talk around whether AA or AB or PB are better in the cup, I don't believe there is any relation truth be told. I have had great coffees in all screen sizes and some duffers too.</p>
<p>I don't often go for Kenyan coffees, I enjoy them when I do but they're just not something I hunt down. I think everybody who's into coffee remembers the first time they tried a Kenyan coffee however because it is such an iconic and distinctive flavour profile. It is probably the easiest terroir to recognise. In recent years there have been movements within Kenya to produce more honey and naturally processed coffees (owing to the water usage of washed) - but I've not yet tried any of them. It would be interesting to test how much of the "Kenya-ness" comes through with alternative processing methods.</p>
<p>Let's dive right into the coffee itself: as you would expect on the dry aroma there is a strong whack of blackcurrant. Before even tasting there is no confusing the origin of this coffee. Alongside there is a delicate herbaceous and perfumed note, but it takes some concentration to find these.</p>
<p>Diving into the filter: the first sip greats you with a big juicy cup. The blackcurrant note is so intense it is almost like Ribena and it has that sticky almost jammy mouthfeel also. If you favour flavour intensity this is definitely a good choice of coffee for you as it is a cup that smacks you round the head with the juicy fruity notes. Alongside the blackcurrant I noted down notes of rosehip and hibiscus as well as an almost mint-like herb note. As a cup it is quite complex and one to ponder over. Sometimes Kenyan coffees can be overly acidic, but this is not the case here. The acidity levels are high but not to the point of being uncomforable, owing to the great roasting by Curve.</p>
<p>Moving in to the espresso: this is where I often struggle with Kenyans. The acidity can get too much (especially for a coffee like this that is roast for filter) - but I found this one never got too battery-acid-y. I settled on a 1:2.5+ ratio for this coffee, going shorter didn't really increase the mouthfeel or body so it made sense to amplify the sweetness with a longer pull. As is the case with my new grinder I was running a 20s pull for optimal results (some would now call this a "turbo shot" or before an "EKspresso" but I just call it a shot, the names just feel like marketing). Some of the complexity of the filter is lost as an espresso but you're left with a very intense hit of blackcurrant jam. This is one of the best Kenyan's I've had as an espresso in a while. It is easy to drink and highly enjoyable.</p>
<p>As expected Curve produce the goods again with another great coffee. I have no doubt that they will be a featured roaster on the blog again in the future.</p>
<p>On the jazz side this week I found myself digging out an album I had not listened to for many years: the 1969 debut recording from John McLaughlin: "Extrapolation".</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/075-Extrapolation/Extrapolation.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>John McLaughlin needs no introduction, he is one of the most commercially successful jazz guitarists of all time with a career spanning 7 decades (just about). He could have comfortably fit into the "Icon" series of posts because he is surely an icon (and I'm sure he'll end up there soon enough with some of his other work). His "big break" came when working for Miles Davis on the "In a Silent Way", "Bitches Brew", "A Tribute to Jack Johnson" and other Miles hit albums. He is however best known for his work with fusion super-group "Mahavishnu Orchestra" which he formed and led. He is one of the revolutionaries of jazz guitar and was hugely influential in how distorted electric guitars were used in jazz.
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"Extrapolation" appeared before all this fame and acclaim however, upon its release John McLaughlin was relatively unknown. THe album was released on an independent British record label: Marmalade Records initially. Following John's fame from his work with Miles the album got re-released by Polydor records. The album features an all British line-up of McLaughlin on guitars, John Surman on saxes, Brian Odgers on bass and Tony Oxley on drums. At the time of recording they were all relatively unknown British musicians with very few select releases under their own names and a few side-man appearances. I think this is what gives "Extrapolation" such vibrancy, each player is playing with complete freedom not being tied down to tradition.</p>
<p>John is obviously most associated with "fusion", but "Extrapolation" is perhaps the most "jazz" album in his his discography. If you have listened to Mahavishnu Orchestra and it's too much, then "Extrapolation" is a good place to start. You still get the signature "widdly" guitar playing of McLaughlin but it is less in your face. Reportedly jazz guitar supremo Joe Pass (who disliked Mahavishnu Orchestra and didn't consider it jazz) said upon hearing this album "I guess he can play jazz".</p>
<p>While the album is closer to a traditional jazz sound than other records in the McLaughlin discography that doesn't mean it is not an ambitious project. The album takes a thematic approach to composition, John establishes a theme in one piece and then it might appear again later and be resolved. It is for that reason it makes most sense to listen to this album in one sitting from start to finish rather than picking out individual tracks. Owing to the format of this blog I can't really embed an entire album so consider the tracks here just a "taster".</p>
<p>McLaughlin's compositional voice and guitar playing obviously take centre-stage on this album, but some of the most memborable parts come from saxophonist John Surman (certainly a musician who is underappreciated). While the album is not "free-jazz" in the strictest sense, Surman does bring an edge of free-jazz to keep things interesting.
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If "Extrapolation" is not an album you've heard before it is definitely worth checking out. You can hear some of the early formings of the McLaughlin sound so if you're a Mahavishnu fan you'll definitely get a kick out of it. Conversely if you are not a fan of Mahavishnu it is far enough away from that sound to keep you entertained. The album manages to remain fresh even after all this time, if you were to tell somebody this was released in the 2020s they'd unlikely question it. Even the recording quality for a (relatively) low-budget release on an indy label is pretty good.</p>
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Wolo So and Jacu2021-09-25T00:00:00-05:002021-09-25T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Wolo-So-Jacu<!--
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On the blog this week we feature the latest coffees from my KaffeBox subscription. This time they feature Jacu Coffee Roastery ( <a href="https://www.jacu.no/">https://www.jacu.no/</a> ) another roastery I haven't tried before. The coffee blog this week may be a little shorter than usual as I also recently took delivery of a new coffee grinder:</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/074-Wolo-So/Lagom.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>The coffees supplied by KaffeBox this month were used as the first coffees to try this grinder out and compare to my old grinders back to back. As such I wasn't really giving the coffees themselves as much attention as usual.</p>
<p>On the filter side we have a washed Ethiopian coffee: Chelchele. The cultivar is just listed as "Heirloom" - which we have talked about many times in the past. Aside from this and the altitude (2000masl) I don't have all that much information about this one. On the nose I get the usual "washed ethiopian" profile of florals and stone fruits, but in addition a hint of spice. These flavour notes carry over to the cup along with a lemon citrus note. The cup quality is very clean as you would expect and the body and mouthfeel are quite low. It's not the sweetest nor the most acidic cup you'll ever have but it is very balanced. As a filter it is very easy to drink.</p>
<p>On the espresso side we have another Ethiopian coffee, but this time a natural: Tula. This time the cultivar has been listed as 74110 - one that I often see identified. It is always nice to see the cultivar listed, hopefully in time I will have enough of a back catalogue of coffees to really know how the 74110 differs from the Krume (for example). On the nose this coffee is completely different to Chelchele - it has a much bigger tropical fruit hit. These overpower any hint of floral or stone fruit notes that may be present. As an espresso I found this coffee rather flat using my old grinder compared to my new grinder which made it sing. Since the bag was small (125g) I couldn't dial each in to perfection but the difference was noticable. The coffee itself came across as quite a "clean" natural coffee and the tropical fruits were striking: I noticed notes of pineapple, passionfruits and papayas. Alongside these was quite a sharp acidity that I would describe as being a bit like a gooseberry. While this coffee does have the sweetness that comes from a natural process it definitely leans towards the acidic. I also found it likes to be in ratios longer than 1:2.5 - so you don't get too much in the way of body (which is fine by me!)</p>
<p>Given my love of Ethiopian coffee it was really great to see a pair of Ethiopians arrive as part of this month's KaffeBox delivery. Both of these coffees were very high quality and I'll definitely keep an eye out for Jacu again, I might order from them again in a few months after I really get to grips with the new grinder so I can tell how much of my enjoyment I can attribute to the grinder versus the coffee itself.</p>
<p>On the jazz side this week we're going to take a quick look at another 2021 release from UK based: Balimaya Project, with their album "Wolo So".</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/074-Wolo-So/Wolo-So.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Balimaya Project may not be a name familiar to you, they were certainly new to me. By chance I was making my way through the 2021 jazz releases and "Wolo So" instantly grabbed my attention. The music is daring and complex yet still has heart and authenticity.
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Balimaya Project is a "big band" consisting of 16 members, led by Djembe player Yahael Camara Onono. The make-up of the band is not your typical "jazz big band", the instrumentation consists largely of the traditional instruments used by the Mandé people of West Africa. As such this group falls into that "no-mans land" between Jazz and World Music where lots of great music lives but rarely gets the recognition it deserves.</p>
<p>The music itself is said to be based around the Mandé traditions and folklore, but having no experience with this I have no idea how closely Balimaya Project sticks to those traditions. What I can say however, is that music is fantastic. Alot of the focus is placed on creating a dense and multi-layered percussion track. There are plenty of polyrhythms and odd note groupings to get your teeth into. Despite this the music is incredibly easy to listen thanks to the "party" vibe to the music, you can get your music nerd on and try and understand what is going on rhythmically - or you can just get up and dance to it. This combination is something that is incredibly difficult to achieve.</p>
<p>While the focus is definitely on celebrating the culture of the Mandé people, Balimaya Project combines this with contemporary jazz stylings. There are horns and electric guitars there too, and they do not feel out of place. At times there are even hints of Frank Zappa, modern fusion and even prog-rock. Naturally perhaps the closest analogue in the jazz world is Sun Ra's Arkestra - but this comparison gives both artists a disservice.</p>
<p>It's rare to find such a fresh and unique sound, almost every release you can tie back to a specific set of influences. "Wolo So" manages to create an entire vibe all to itself, it feels almost pointless trying to describe the music itself - to understand it you have to listen to it. For me this is definitely a contender for "album of the year" and its a record that will be in my rotation for a while. It is definitely worth hunting down a copy, especially if you enjoy the few tracks dotted through this blog post.
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<a href="https://www.balimayaproject.com/">https://www.balimayaproject.com/</a></p>
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)Ascenseur Pour L’échafaud and Icon 92021-09-18T00:00:00-05:002021-09-18T00:00:00-05:00https://jazzcoffeestuff.com/Ascenseur-Pour-Lechafaud-Icon-9<!--
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This week we take another trip back to the Plot Roasting Icon Series - this is the 9th instalment of this coffee subscription that has so far offered up some fantastic coffees. As you may remember the Icon series is meant to represent the best, most interesting and rare coffees that Plot offer.</p>
<p>The coffee featured is another from Diego Bermudez - a farmer who has featured many times on the blog previously. One of the true masters of the "alternative processing" methods. This time the coffee showcases how a careful processing can elevate even the most humble of cultivars: in this case a Castillo lot. The Castillo is the result of years of experimentation to develop a cultivar that is suitably resistant to leaf rust. It can trace its lineage through the "Colombia" cultivar which is itself a hybrid of robusta and arabica (specifically the hybrid of Timor Hybrid and Caturra). The Castillo (named after researcher Jamie Castillo) is favoured for its resistance but the cup quality is not quite as sought after as some other cultivars - if careful processing can make a big difference to cup quality this offers many positives for the future of coffee.</p>
<p>The process undertaken on this "Red Plum" lot is: an initial fermentation at 19 celcius for 28 hours followed by a pulping and another fermentation for 40 hours at 21 celcius. The seeds then undergo a "thermal shock" washing first at 40 celcius then at 12 celcius. The coffee is then dried for 28 hours at 42 celcius and a relative humidity of 25% until the moisture content is 10-11%. It is no wonder that coffees from Diego Bermudez end up costing so much.</p>
<p>Unlike earlier Icon offerings this coffee was offered in a reasonable sized bag which means I was able to dial in both espressos and filter coffees this week.</p>
<p>Diving right into the dry aroma: as you would expect from the processing the intial hit is sweet tropical fruits. This is certainly a "fruit bomb" style aroma that is very punchy and intense. The smell when grinding is also incredible and fills the room, who needs an essential oil diffuser?</p>
<p>In the filter the first thing I noticed was the intense sweet-candy quality to this coffee. The flavour notes on the bag say: "like a bag of skittles" and frankly that is a perfect descriptor. You also get a candy-floss sort of quality too, it's quite a "clean" sweetness of candy-floss as opposed to say a caramel. Alongside you also get the tropical fruit notes on the nose: watermelon and papaya are the two I wrote down, the official flavour notes say strawberry and pineapple. The sweetness is balanced with some acidity but it is note a battery acid coffee by any means. The body and mouthfeel are low, some might even say a bit hollow. If you're a fan of more traditional "big" feeling coffees this won't be one for you.</p>
<p>Onto the espresso: I had one issue here, this coffee grinds very coarse - so even at the minimum setting on my grinder I could only get to a 1:2.5 ratio in about 25s. Thankfully this is where this coffee liked to be so it was not a big issue, but with different equipment I could see this coffee being a real hassle. When dialed in however you're left with a more intense and concentrated version of the filter coffee - full of candy and tropical fruits.</p>
<p>Overall I prefered this one slightly more as a filter but it was still great as an espresso. Plot knocked it out of the park again with the Icon series and I'll be eagerly awaiting what the 10th edition holds.</p>
<p>For the iconic jazz this week I decided to introduce Miles Davis to the blog.</p>
<p><img src="https://github.com/jazzcoffeestuff/blog/raw/master/images/073-Miles/Miles.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p>Miles is somebody who I've been in two minds about including on this blog. The first reason being that the world doesn't need yet another recommendation for "Kind of Blue" (although it is fantastic). Miles is so well known and there's so much information out there already I'm not sure I have much to add. The second reason is: personally I do not enjoy anything Miles released from "Bitches Brew" and beyond.</p>
<p>Instead I have decided to take a bit of a different track with this post and talk about: "Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud" - both the album/soundtrack and the film itself (in the English speaking world this is typically referred to as: "Elevator to the Gallows" or sometimes "Lift to the Scaffold").
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"Elevator to the Gallows" is a 1958 film from Louis Malle adapted from a 1956 novel of the same name by Noël Calef. Outside of jazz and coffee I also enjoy classic film-noir - "Elevator to the Gallows" is not strictly a noir but it does have many elements that could be considered noir. As a film it also helped establish some of stylistic elements of French New Wave and New Modern Cinema.</p>
<p>The plot revolves around a pair of lovers Florence and Julien who decide to kill Florence's husband. Julien does this by climbing via a rope into the husband's office, shooting him, then leaving the scene to look like a suicide. Unfortunately he leaves the rope outside and so has to re-enter the building to retreive it. It is at this time he boards the elevator just as the security man turns off the power to the building for the evening and so Julien is stuck in the elevator between floors. As this is happening Julien's getaway car gets stolen by low level crooks who then find themselves accidentally (and unbeknownst to them) involved in a murder. The film follows how this whole situation begins to spiral out of control.</p>
<p>It is clear to see why many associate this film with "noir" given the plot-line, however stylistically it is very different. It is shot in a much more "artistic" way than a typical noir - some might even say more "pretentious". It is certainly a style that will divide people, but personally I think the blend of the noir and new wave is seamless. The biggest departure from typical noir however is the soundtrack from Miles.</p>
<p>The soundtrack is fairly brief, in its original form around 26 minutes in length (with alternate takes and so on current releases are much longer). The magic of the soundtrack however is the fact the entire thing was improvised when watching the film. This in itself is quite remarkable, but add to that the soundtrack also features some incredible jazz and memorable hooks that stick with you. It is really a testament to how good of a musician Miles really was, he manages to capture the mood of the film perfectly. Without his soundtrack I do wonder how good this film would be, often film soundtracks just fade into the background - but in this case it is an integral part of the whole vibe the film gives off.</p>
<p>In terms of choice tracks the most memorable is likely "Générique" which accompanies Jeanne Moreau walking through the French streets (embedded at the start of this post). It creates the perfect melancholy and loneliness that required and truly transforms the scene. As a result this has become one of the most iconic and best loved scenes in film history, without Miles it would not have this acclaim. Another piece that stands out to me is "Sur l'autoroute" (above) - a frantic bop inspired piece that captures the spirit of a getaway drive. My other choice track is the below "Chez le photographe du motel" - which features at the films climax (which I shall not give spoilers to). It manages to encompass the entire film's feeling and provide a resolution and closure.
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Ordinarily I talk about "essential listening" in these Icon series posts, in this case we have "essential watching" - as great as the soundtrack is as a standalone piece of work, to truly appreciate it I think you need to watch the film to see how it all fits together. So if you've exhausted Netflix and are looking for a piece of classic cinema to watch you could do much worse than hunting down "Elevator to the Gallows".</p>
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</div>Lewis Cole (2021)