JENNY SCHEINMAN & ALLISON MILLER'S PARLOUR GAME — Parlour Game (2019) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

While violinist Jenny Scheinman has been a longtime contributor to drummer Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom band, Parlour Game marks the first co-billed outing between the two veteran players and bandleaders. The quartet featured here, which also includes pianist Carmen Staaf and bassist Tony Scherr, is a nimble troupe whose sparkling folk-jazz interplay and deep musical vocabulary make for an immediately pleasing listen. From the start, the band's chemistry is apparent with concise arrangements that still retain a breezy, casual air. The bulk of Parlour Game's compositions are credited to Scheinman, with two originating from Miller and the entrancing mid-album standout, "Michigan," credited to both. The overall impression, however, is that of a collective gelling of minds and aesthetics. As a melodicist, Scheinman is in her element, dancing and weaving through earthy tones and lithe runs as Staaf paints the landscape, weaving her own powerful spells. With Miller and Scheer driving the bottom end, there is a nice mix of rhythmic variance, from the rigorous skittering of the city-flavored "116th & Congress" to the pensive pop bounce of "The Right Fit" and the robust complicated patterns of "Top Shelf." The band languorously stretches out on a pair of dreamy delicate ballads in "Lead with Love" and "Sleep Rider," turning the acreage of space between notes into a silent fifth member. At their most engaging, the quartet dazzles with more up-tempo pieces like "Play Money" and "Miss Battle's Cannonball," two playful cuts that show off all their combined assets: intricate but approachable melodies, effortless chops, and a shared communal language that promotes a sense of relaxed, joyful creativity. Timothy Monger
Tracklist :
1.    Play Money    5:12
 Jenny Scheinman 
2.    116th & Congress    5:13
 Jenny Scheinman 
3.    The Right Fit    3:25
 Jenny Scheinman 
4.    Michigan    5:21
 Allison Miller / Jenny Scheinman 
5.    Fake Weather    5:19
 Jenny Scheinman 
6.    Lead With Love    4:40
 Jenny Scheinman 
7.    Beans & Rice    4:28
 Allison Miller 
8.    Meanwhile    0:47
 Jenny Scheinman 
9.    Top Shelf    3:48
 Allison Miller 
10.    Miss Battle's Cannonball    5:07
 Jenny Scheinman 
11.    Sleep Rider    5:02
 Jenny Scheinman 
Credits : 
Bass – Tony Scherr
Drums – Allison Miller
 Piano – Carmen Staaf
Violin – Jenny Scheinman

JENNY SCHEINMAN With NELS CLINE | JIM BLACK | TODD SICKAFOOSE – Mischief & Mayhem (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Anyone who has seen Jenny Scheinman perform either as a headliner or backing another artist has witnessed the absolute physical delight she exhibits in playing and improvising. Mischief & Mayhem, the title of her self-released album -- after recordings on Avant, Tzadik, Koch/E1, and Cryptogramophone -- is the very first to aurally display this trait. With a star-studded cast -- drummer Jim Black, bassist Todd Sickafoose, and guitarist Nels Cline -- Scheinman offers her canny compositional wisdom, a wicked sense of instrumental humor, and the ability to symbiotically engage in deep, communicative dialogue in improvisation. As a composer, her balance of dynamic, melody, dissonance, and texture are equally remarkable parts of these eight tunes. Opener "A Ride with Polly Jean" commences with Sickafoose playing a repetitive pattern joined by brushed snare and a plucked violin. Scheinman quickly asserts a melody line that actually feels like travel. Cline's guitar playing and effects enter the middle and fill it out, making that scenario complete. "Sand Dipper" begins in the ether and really gets moving about halfway through; it features some wooly soloing by Scheinman and kinetic, almost drum'n'bass-styled drumming from Black. "Blues for the Double Vee" begins as a rock tune but quickly establishes itself as something else entirely without losing the feel. The album's longest track, "Devil's Ink," is also its most haunting and abstract -- for its initial two-thirds. It eventually establishes a fractured groove that's so gnarly and knotty it feels like the Mahavishnu Orchestra with Jean-Luc Ponty. "Ali Farka Touche" finds Cline emulating the Malian guitar giant's phrasing and tone for a bit, but between Sickafoose's and Black's interlocking groove and Scheinman's aggressive soloing, it becomes a driving rock tune. The set closes with the hairy, ever shifting, prog rock-cum-avant-jazz rock number "The Mite." It's the set's most humorous track and has moments of Cline utterly unhinged. These tunes are really small compositional wonders with lots of kinetic space for interplay woven in. Mischief & Mayhem is the most physically attractive album in Scheinman's career thus far, because you can actually feel the collective's delight in each of these performances. It's marvelous, sly, sensual, and rugged from top to bottom.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    A Ride With Polly Jean    6:21
2    Sand Dipper    4:23
3    Blues For The Double Vee    3:56
4    Devil's Ink    7:41
5    The Audit    3:46
6    Ali Farka Touché    4:31
7    July Tenth In Three Four    6:18
8    The Mite    6:37
 Line-up / Musicians
Bass – Todd Sickafoose
Drums – Jim Black
Guitar [s] – Nels Cline
Producer, Presenter, Violin, Written-By [Songs By] – Jenny Scheinman