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Recording:
  Esquina  
 
Artist(s):
  Michael Sarian  
 
Label:
  Greenleaf Music  
 
Release Date:
  25.April.2025  
 
Reviewed by:
  PostLibyan  
         
 
Rating:
   
         
 
Review:
 

Michael Sarian is a jazz trumpeter, and in fact he was the trumpeter for The Jonas Brothers on their 2023 tour. Personally, I don't know what The Jonas Brothers sound like, but they are popular, sell a lot of records, and play to lots of people. That might make Mr. Sarian one of the most heard jazz trumpeters in the modern world!

Esquina is his latest record, and here he is joined by Santiago Leibson on organ, bassist Marty Kenney, and drummer Nathan Ellman Bell. I am not really up on contemporary jazz, so none of those names meant anything to me. I will tell you though that after listening to this record, I am impressed with Kenney. The basswork on this record is really cool and impressive.

Now, those three are the band. Sarian is the lead man, playing trumpet through a lot of effects. (If you scroll down on his website, he has a gear list that has eight effects on it! (It's almost like he's in Slowdive or something....) The distorted trumpet makes a cool strange sound. In fact, what Sarian is doing reminds me a little of Spaceheads, although with a fuller band.

There are five songs here. One is 20 minutes long, and one is 25 minutes. And then there are short "radio edits" of those two tracks.

There is a lot of music there, and as a jazz record, it wanders and changes all the time, so there is a lot to take in. However, it is fun. The band does some interesting things, and it's a jazz record, so if one part seems a little dull, wait a minute and everything will be different.

So I was listening to this record, 45 minutes of jazz in, and suddenly the music parted and the bassist stepped forward with a really cool riff. The rest of the band joined in, and I thought "Wow, they really sound like Portishead here." And I went and looked at the promo, and the middle song is in fact their cover of Glory Box, the third single from Portishead's debut record. And Sarian and his band do a great job with it, taking Portishead's jazzy electro pop and making it purely jazz. It's a really cool version.

So: this is a good jazz record featuring some cool playing, and featuring one really nice Portishead cover. Overall, this is cool. Dig it man.

 
         
 
Related Links:
 

https://www.michaelsarian.com/
https://michaelsarian.bandcamp.com/album/esquina

 
         

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