1224 Williamson St.
Madison
WI
The new CD from the Juli Wood Quartet is a follow-up to the highly acclaimed ” Synkkä Metsä /Dark Forest ” recording from 2015. “The melodies are tender and earthy, and the direct arrangements present the essence of the songs with little fuss. The performances have a classic postbop approach; in fact, if the liner notes didn’t explain the provenance of the material, you might not have any idea these are Finnish songs. But sometimes novelty or originality don’t matter when the playing is strong and heartfelt. Wood’s tenor is marked by a warm, grainy sound smeared by a lovely breathiness …” Peter Margasak – Chicago Reader This new recording ” Suomen Salossa ” ( In the Finnish woods ) was made due to a grant from the Finlandia foundation. It draws inspiration from other jazz artists who have taken folk songs and reimagined them as jazz music. For example; Art Farmer’s album ” To Sweden With Love “, Johnny Griffin’s ” The Kerry Dancers “, John Coltrane’s ” Dear Old Stockholm ” ” Suomen Salossa ” features Juli Wood – tenor sax / vocals, Mike Schlick – drums, Chicago Blujazz label recording artists, Paul Silbergleit – guitar, and Clay Schaub – bass. The folk songs are given jazz treatments a la Brubeck, Coltrane, Jobim, and Art Blakey. And of course the weekend will be filled with tunes from our favorite jazz composers ; Monk, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver, Grant Green and wonderful jazz standards from the great American songbook. CD’s will be for sale , just $10 !
