Stanley Clarke is what we can call an epos, not just a legend. He confounds himself with the history of the modern bass, and his contribution to the broadening of this instrument's expression capacities and to the creation of jazz styles and fusions are the topics of an academic study. The unbelievable shape he is in at his seventy years old and the clarity with which he articulates the music and the energy which he imprints to it are present on one of the most rhythmic and well-made album of his and which he named Up. His technique and signature are omnipresent, as are the pleasure and joy of interpreting alongside his friends, who are equally-good artists. If his previous albums contain more acoustic bass, on the Up album the acoustic section is almost entirely equal to the electric one.

His old concert partner Ruslan Sirota is sitting at the piano, and we discover a young rhythmic phenomena at the battery, whose name is Roland Bruner Jr.. Two other very virtuoso young men, who are also his studio and road partners, are present on the album, pianist Beka Gochiashvili and drummer Mike Mitchell, who is the drummer of the The Police rock band, as well as other illustrious friends of his, such as pianists Greg Phillinganes and Chick Corea. The compositions for bass are inlaid with solo moments which pose a strange clarity or rather an impressive artistry as strong connecting points between the themes which are undertaken with an intense intuition by the rest of the group. The name of the collection, Up, indicates precisely the level, direction and tempo which the great artist Stanley Clarke maintains at an age when other people are thinking of retiring. This is one of the best bass albums which it has ever been released and one of the best albums of the year of 2014 without any shadow of a doubt.

AARON GOLDBERG - 'THE NOW'

Aaron Goldbern is part of the very successful generation of young jazz pianists; he situates himself at a very high level musically and distinguishes himself through harmonic reflexes, personal solutions, a fluid command of the melody and a direct and clear narrative logic. He convinced the public through its collaborations with Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel or Guillermo Klein, but especially through his own productions, where his style and composition are well defined. The Now album presents the reunited formula of Goldberg's trio, alongside bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland, who are having the same energy as they had at their debut, with the Turning Point album in 1998. The fifth album is presenting a more intimate, mature version of the central truth which relates to the art of jazz, where nothing can repeat, because the music is created on the dynamic plain of the present. Each work captures those minutes of interplay, nothing more and nothing less. You do not choose the best version from several identical interpretations, but offer the precise moment you lived then. The trio is going through several idiomatic areas carefully, without skipping any unmarked measure, disclosing the lesser-known areas of jazz, with a lot of spirit, in a warm and accessible language. Aaron Goldberg is inspiring from the music of the entire world, in order to equilibrate all his features in a creative environment, which only jazz music can create.