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Carlo Mombelli — Lulaby for Planet Earth
(Clap Your Hands CYH 0003, 2022, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-07-12

Lulaby for Planet Earth Cover art

Carlo Mombelli is a South African bassist who has been making a name for himself with his compositions and sensitive playing. While grounded in jazz traditions, he’s known for taking advantage of modern looping and electronic technology. On Lullaby for Planet Earth, however, he keeps that side of his musical personality in the background, opting for a set of mostly-acoustic music with fretless electric bass featured prominently. His companions on this outing are Austrican guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy. The album doesn’t feature any energetic workouts, and Muthspiel stays on the acoustic guitar. Rossy also contributes vibraphone here and there. Beautiful melodies are at the forefront here, as befits the lullaby theme. I have a love / hate relationship with music that stays so consistently on the mellow side (mostly hate, to be honest), so Mombelli has an uphill battle for my affections here. His bass work is outstanding, often filling in chords in conjunction with the guitar and arpeggiating fluidly, so while I can appreciate the artistry that went into the music, it’s just not something I would seek out. For jazz fans who do like subtle music that doesn’t qualify as “smooth jazz,” Lullaby for Planet Earth should be a perfect antidote to all the mindless goo that’s given the genre a bad name.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Wolfgang Muthspiel, Carlo Mombelli

More info
http://clapyourhands.bandcamp.com/album/lullably-for-planet-earth

 

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