Kenny Wheeler • David Friedman • Jasper van 't Hof - Greenhouse Fables (1992)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
John Taylor, Norma Winston, & Kenny Wheeler - Azimuth (1977)

Kenny Wheeler - Deer Wan (1978)

That album cover really is awful, huh? I suppose the actual art itself isn't so bad, but those fonts, and the overall composition? It looks like a self-help book about how bipolar depression can effect your marriage or something.

Which is a shame, because the music is positively gorgeous ambient jazz.  Wheeler's trumpet/flugelhorn, Friedman's vibraphone, and van 't Hof's piano make for beautiful, contemplative bedfellows, effortlessly combining and dispersing, allowing for a sense of dynamic and movement even as the volume rarely goes beyond a gentle murmur.

Track listing:

1. Zambon

2. Everybody's Song but My Own

3. Truvib

4. Greenhouse Fables

5. Farm

6. Salina Street

I follow to the edge of the earth

And fall off

You should also listen to:

Bill Frisell - In Line (1983)

Eberhard Weber - Pendulum (1993)

Manfred Schoof - Meditation (1987)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:

Jasper van 't Hof - Eye-Ball (1974)

Manfred Schoof / Rainer Brüninghaus - Shadows & Smiles (1989)

A curious entry in Manfred Schoof's discography. Airy, synth-heavy, mid-tempo grooves and drifting, reverberating trumpet, at times receding into full, new age-y ambience. Meditation definitely veers very close to smooth jazz, especially on the pillow-y "Timecode". Elsewhere, the title track sounds like something that would have lurked on the back half of Moby's Play, and "Robot" pitches a soundtrack for a PG-13 cut of The Terminator. Strange that it was released as a Manfred Schoof solo album as it is quite clearly a collaborative effort with keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof, the only other musician credited.

Track listing:

1. Meditation

2. Clouds

3. Timecode

4. Robot

5. Silence

6. Zen

Speak to me, baby

In the middle of the night

More smooth sailing:

Carlo Maria Cordio - Shadows and Memories (1979)

Jack DeJohnette featuring Lester Bowie - Zebra (1985)

Jasper van 't Hof - Eye-Ball (1974)

Related:
John Lee & Gerry Brown - Infinite Jones (1974)

Tasty jazz fusion led by Dutch keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof and featuring a killer band. This record has gone through at least three album covers (not to mention being labeled Eye Ball, Eye-Ball, and Eyeball) so I'm just going with the one I like the most, which is from the 1980 reissue.

Track listing:
1. Bax
2. Viber Snake
3. Eyeball I (Piano Solo)
4. Hyrax
5. Schwester Johanna
6. Laur
7. One Leg Missing
8. Eyeball II (Piano Solo)
9. The Rev

Night after the day before

Also listen to:

Cam Newton -
Welcome Aliens (1980)

Spaces -
Border Station (1981)

John Lee & Gerry Brown - Infinite Jones (1974)

Flawless, energetic but spaced jazz-funk/fusion led by bassist John Lee and drummer Gerry Brown. Infinite Jones was the first of a series of excellent collaborations between Lee and Brown. I straight-up cannot fathom being even half as cool as these dudes.

Track listing:
1. Infinite Jones
2. Deliverance
3. Jua
4. Absitively Posolutely
5. Rise On
6. Who Can See the Shadow of the Moon
7. Bamboo Madness

Her celestial body

You would also like:

Herbie Hancock -
Thrust (1974)

Eddie Henderson -
Sunburst (1975)