It can't be easy to keep thinking of different places to go when one's career is already as eclectic as Jake Hertzog's, but he doesn't seem in any danger of running out of ideas. The guitarist has run an impressive gamut already, from the electric Pat Metheny-inspired fusion session Evolution (Buckyball, 2011) to the more straightforward jazz of Throwback (Zoho, 2013) and the conceptual solo outing Well Lit Shadow (Self Produced, 2016). Teaming up with classical guitarist Yishai Fisher for an all-acoustic expressionist work is really right in character—a step that's natural, inventive and completely unexpected.
'Natural' is indeed the key word here. Stringscapes leans closest to Well Lit Shadow, in that it's based on painting musical pictures rather than playing 'songs' in any recognizable mode—but that's where any similarity to Hertzog's past works (or indeed anyone else's) ends. This is a series of multi-part suites themed around picturesque settings and landscapes. While the simplicity of the two-guitar format could potentially be limiting, these two turn it expansive instead: their respective backgrounds and string tones beautifully complement without any clash.
Within such a bare-bones framework, the remaining variety comes from Hertzog's compositions themselves, each with a story or image behind its structure. "Oceans" starts with the pair bouncing from one not-really-formless motif to another with the suddenness of sloshing waves, for example, before they slow down to portray the quiet mystery of the lower depths. The lines of "Forest" overlap like endless layers of branches, complete with a few skittering taps to suggest wild creatures in the trees. "Arctic" moves from some surprisingly busy counterpoint (the descending notes meant to represent ice caves collapsing), before a sparse stretch that's calm and empty as the tundra. Hertzog and Fisher deliver their intimate recital in fluid unison with taste and eloquence. An affair for engagement over mere passive listening, Stringscapes spins these seemingly simple motifs into a sharply-crafted and evocative journey for the mind.
Track Listing: Forest 1 - Endless Trees; Forest 2 - Funeral in Green; Forest 3 - Leaves in the Dark; Arctic 1 - Stone Blue Veil; Arctic 2 - The Great White Space; Arctic 3 - Cold Life; Oceans 1 - Cascade; Oceans 2 - The Deep; Oceans 3 - Tides; Desert 1 - Dream Catcher; Dream 2 - Ghost of the Mine; Desert 3 - Where the Red Sand Lives.
There is more to bassist and composer Dine Doneff's record Rousilvo than simply a blending of styles and genres and eras and approaches. Certainly among his many talents is his uncanny ability to blur the line between the avant-garde, free-improv, classical, world music and jazz. It's a maneuver he has perfected over the years as the leader of his adventurous projects or as a sideman musician in other bands. With this project, Doneff certainly expands on that aesthetic and dives deep into his past.
Rousilvo is the Slavic name of a village of Doneff's birth in today's Northern Greece that is now known as Xanthogeia. The village is abandoned now as are many villages that were once populated by Macedonians in this region also known as Aegean Macedonia. Even though Doneff has resided in Germany for the past several years, he is a descendant of the Macedonian community that has survived years of series of ethnic cleansings and forced Hellenic assimilation of the Slavic population in Greece. Not only were Slavic names to cities and people changed but the territory Macedonia was forbidden for use. It's an ongoing clash and struggle that still has not been forgotten. Even today, on the eve of the historic agreement between Macedonia and Greece, the term Macedonia and its citizens still pose a problem which hopefully will resolve with this agreement.
Effectively depicting the struggles of the Macedonians during that era presents a challenge for anyone, but Doneff has been able to channel his emotions into his skills as a sensitive and free-thinking composer. And for this album, he dives deep into his past and emotions in order to come out with music that is emotional, spiritual and panoramic. Rousilvo is like a musical drama with several suites with spacious, clean, disciplined arrangements and long, reflective, graceful and mournful improvised melodic lines. In between the compositions, he inserts elderly women singing acapella songs and laments which adds weight to this music. These were recorded on locations scattered throughout Northern Greece. Much of what he reconstructs is a picture of people's lives from a bygone era or that were either killed during the Civil War in Greece or have fled across the borders to run from the ethnic cleansing that ensued when the Civil War ended. That mournful feel is an elegy to the uprooted people, a part of his childhood memories.
As a musician, Doneff's thrives on empathy. His musical inspirations have come in response to his experiences and memories. As a result, it follows that Doneff would seek out empathetic musicians and provide them with open-minded compositional vehicles that deliver myriad opportunities to share that emotional load. Rather than the standard supporting role, the musicians here have unusually lyrical, impressionistic contributions that seem to be as much a part of the narrative, thus advancing the overall moods and themes.
This record is a debut release on the author's own label neRED which is strongly supported by the German record label ECM from Munich, both distribution and promotion-wise. The artwork is also done by Fotini Potamia who has also worked on ECM's recent cover art designs. All of this may also reveal why the production qualities on this record closely resemble this renowned label's own.
Rousilvo stands up even if the listener is not aware of the subject matter, but knowing the backstory definitely helps. This work is Doneff's most personal project, and he has laid his soul bare. If in the end we are the sum of our experiences, then the work of the musicians is a reflection of the events that touch our lives. Rousilvo is a spiritual narrative that explores the depth and the vast range of human emotions.
Track Listing: Narrative; Penelopes Of Xanthogeia; Oblivion; Mirka; Natsko; Requiem; Aide Sl'ntse; Zaidi (Traditional Macedonian); Apatris; Kaimaktsalan; Implacable Grief; Song Of The Unquietness; 12 As A Story.
Nobuki Takamen is, in all probability, the best jazz guitarist Japan has ever produced. Nowadays he lives in New Jersey but tours his homeland regularly. His playing is marked by good taste and sensitivity. He is a highly inventive guitarist, his runs and progressions never quite going where you expect them to go but always making perfect sense.
He doesn't overburden his playing with technique, staying accessible to a wide range of listeners. He names his influences as Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Pat Martino, George Van Eps, Jimi Hendrix and—somewhat strangely—Akira Takasaki, of the Japanese glam rock band Loudness. As usual, Takamen is accompanied on this, his seventh album, by fellow countrymen, Toshiyuki Tanahashi on bass and Naoki Aikawa, drums.
Ten of Takamen's own compositions are featured. Mostly these are in honour of the countries visited on his last European tour. One of them—the Latin-tinged "A-Tico-Ta"—was named by his four-year-old daughter and features special guest Akhito Yoshikawa on percussion. It's highly attractive, light and airy, one of the best numbers on the CD.
The album opens with a fast bop piece, "The Circle Game," on which Takamen goes to town, demonstrating his fabulous technique. His solo is followed by one from Aikawa on drums, backed by Tanahashi, before the song returns to its theme. It's followed by the wistful ballad, "Helsingin Taivas," Finnish for "Helsinki Sky," conjuring up summer nights when the sun never truly sets.
"3AM" is a gentle up-tempo piece with a very catchy theme—at times there is almost a country feel to it. Takamen's solo is masterly, visiting all manner of places while never completely losing touch with the melody.
"Wonderful Days" speaks for itself, the days concerned long and lazy—perhaps Scandinavian? Wes Montgomery's influence is to the fore, though without recourse to the master's trademark use of octaves. "Blues Alberta" is the album's only blues, laid-back but solid, featuring some fast runs by the leader in his solo, which is followed by one from Tanahashi, interspersed with tasteful drumming by Aikawa.
Takamen's rock influences come out in "25," which is fast and (almost) flashy. "Piece For Peace" is very different, far more reverent and reminiscent of Oscar Peterson's civil rights anthem "Hymn To Freedom."
Track Listing: The Circle Game; Helsingin Taivas (Helsinki Sky); 3AM; Fox’s Tail; Wonderful Days; A-Tico-Ta ; Blues Alberta; Sjećanja za Pamćenje (Memories to Remember); 25; Piece for Peace.
Hungarian drummer Balázs Balogh leads a multinational group on his intelligent and charming debut Borderline Inspirations. For it he has also penned seven elegant, poetic and sometimes provocative originals. Balogh has been leading an award-winning quintet since 2014 that includes several of those who appear on this captivating album which also showcases Balogh's noteworthy compositional skills.
One of the highlights of this uniformly engaging release is the multilayered "Metamorphosis." Opening with a dark, expectant mood, Balogh's compatriot, pianist Lajos Toth, lets loose tense lines as the leader takes a thrillingly polyrhythmic solo. The second half of the track becomes warmer and more expansive yet no less dramatic as it features Hungarian guitarist Márton Fenyvesi's intriguing and intricate improvisation and Austrian saxophonist Tobias Pustelnik's muscular phrases.
Balogh drives the engrossing and effervescent "Daybreak" with his understated beats and lays down complex rhythms with Austrian bassist Thomas Wilding. Brazilian flutist and saxophonist Marcelo Valezi and Montegroan guitarist Pippo Corvino exchange mellifluous refrains that coalesce around Tóth's bright and chiming keys. The bluesy piano contrasts nicely with Corvino's blistering rock and roll influenced chords.
Elsewhere, on the mystical "Evening Song," Croatian bassist Ivar Roban Krizic matches with his lyrical eloquence Valezi's lilting and contemplative saxophone. A crepuscular ambience permeates the tune as Tóth mixes silent pauses and cascading notes into a stimulating extemporization.
Tóth opens the suave and melancholic "Things That Should Have Been Said" with haunting chimes. After Balogh and Brazilian bassist Gustavo Boni joins the trio and creates a crystalline and shimmering harmonic backdrop. Czech flutist Andrea Sulcová flitters over the kaleidoscopic piece in fluid lines.
With this delightfully unique work Balogh has proven himself a mature composer, an exciting performer and deft bandleader. As a recording that is both creative and accessible Borderline Inspirations should have a wide appeal. It sounds like the beginning of a brilliant career.
Track Listing: Intro; Evening Song; Remonkable; Daybreak; Passing Fancy; Metamorphosis; Things That Should Have Been Said.
Personnel: Balázs Balogh: drums; Tobias Pustelnik: tenor saxophone; Andrea Slucová: flute; Marcelo Valezi: tenor saxophone, flute; Lajos Tóth: piano; Márton Fenyvesi: guitar; Pippo Corvino: guitar; Ivar Krizic: bass; Gustavo Boni: bass; Thomas Wilding: bass.
Title: Borderline Inspirations | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Unit Records
French-canadian alto saxophonist and composer Mehdi Nabti is at a creative peak, developing new systems of composition based on improvisation, melodic and rythmic researchs into North-African culture.
As a composer, his methodology is derived from ancient musics, scripts, history and myths in North Africa. It is neither a style nor a subgenre, but a process of composition that Nabti calls "ethno-engineering". He incorporates also ideas that borrows from philosophy, heroic fantasy or to science fiction and he qualifies his music as part of the "Afro-Berber Continuum". As a musician, Mehdi Nabti has everything he needs to be a rising star on the jazz scene. He's technically impressive, intelligent, adventurous, he has chops for days. Nabti's tone on alto sax is gorgeous, warm and very clean with a sense of rhythm quite remarkable. He is a real stylist : his saxophone doesn't offend the ears and he's tough enough to take on your mind with great lines without jazz clichés.
Nabti’s previous recording with his trio ''Pulsar3'' titled ''Hybridations and Transformations'' (2016), an ambitious hybrid of afro-maghreban and jazz techniques, revealed another facet of his ever-evolving artistry. Bigger in scale, this new quartet ''Mehdi Nabti & Prototype'' expands the scope of Nabti’s oeuvre. It features Nabti joined by canadians musicians Nicolas Lafortune (electric bass, a regular on Nabti's albums), and new to the fold, Bertil Schulrabe (drums) and indo-canadian Joy Anandasivam (electric guitar). The album includes 10 studio tracks including two live tracks in trio format ''Pulsar3'' with Nicolas Lafortune on electric bass and congolese drummer/singer Lionel Kizaba.
The most exciting thing on this album is how Nabti builds the hybrid songs, where he incorporates his North African heritage with other forms of music. Nabti’s compositional approach involves interweaving shorts melodics phrases played by each members of the group – in unison and counterpoint – that cumulatively multiply and shift creating a polyrhythmic complexity. Lafortune’s pliant bass lines serve as the central rhythmic or melodic anchor like Gnawa songs, while the ensemble’s syncopated phrasing and myriad overlapping chords and lines imply forward momentum. Resulting in dense, sophisticated and groovy music with sometimes sax and vocals re-recording, Using the ensemble’s entire color palette, each piece dynamically evolves in concert with the musicians’ improvisations.
Songs like ''Principe Fondamental'' or ''Vernaculaire'' pull in the african side of the Maghreb, and it also allows Lafortune the latitude to pull off wildly enjoyable bass lines with fascinating drums parts by Schurlabe. ''Atlas'' and ''Apeiron & Seikilos'' are the two centerpieces of the set, and are indicative, through numerous ideas, alternating hypnotic fragments that gradually transform which culminate in increasingly new lightings of the original heads. Other tracks include the swinging ''Volubilis'' with a very nice drums solo by Schulrabe, ''Atlantes'' a post-bebop-inspired cup with a walking bass; "Cyborg" and "Samsara" which offer to Anandasivam the opportunity to play two great improvisations characteristics of his Indian background. On his side Nabti is capable of gliding through ballads and punching through up-tempo numbers while still always sounding like himself. The band plays with precision and conviction; that gives off a feeling of strength but also fullness.
Nabti regularly draws inspiration from berber and antic music, invoking alternative history to imagine a parrallel world, as with the historical references on his previous record; many of these new compositions stem from technics found in Sci-Fi, folklore and myths from North Africa. It's a dancing music, very sophisticated but always readable and accessible. From the futuristic lyricism of ''Cyborg'' to the multidirectional grooves of ''Vernaculaire'' there are ample examples of the broad sweep of Nabti’s artistry. More so than many of his recent efforts, ''Les Regles de l'Art'' stands as a key document in the development of Nabti’s compositional progress.
Andrew Rathbun is a Canadian saxophonist who has made a major musical statement here with this collection of suites, two of which are based on the poetry of author Margaret Atwood. Rathbun's writing shows the influence of another Canadian, Kenny Wheeler, in its lush sonority, the frequent gorgeous flugelhorn solos by Tim Hagans and the role of Luciana Souza, who both sings Atwood's poetry with gentle forcefulness and moans wordlessly within the orchestral ensembles, the same way Wheeler often utilized Norma Winstone.
"Two Islands" begins with Souza singing simply over Jeremy Siskind's piano. Then the entire ensemble comes in with a controlled turbulence propelled by Bill Stewart's drumming and a beautiful, warm solo by Hagans whose flugelhorn is really featured within the darker, more somber sound of Part II. In Part III Stewart breaks down his drum beats like Joe Morello leading into soaring ensemble music with the rich fullness of Gil Evans. Souza sings brightly, Hagans does his thing again and saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff takes a hard swinging tenor solo.
"Power Politics" begins with Souza and Siskind again starkly declaiming Atwood's words before the horns weave in. Hagans makes another strong, flowing statement and Souza's voice becomes a wordless instrument melting into the massed surge of the ensemble. Siskind's piano starts Part II with a dark, agitated bounce that leads into a tempestuous tug of war between the reeds and brass before Souza's voice spreads over everything like a cooling balm. There are also strong solo statements by Hagans, trombonist Mike Fahie and tenor player Dan Pratt here. Part III is an extended slow-rolling climax underpinned by funky vamping from Stewart with massive group harmonies and a brawny, rippling alto solo from John O'Gallagher.
That is the meat of the set but there is a second CD with additional music. "Fractured" is a commentary on our current political situation with staccato horns and a stomping jazz-rock beat. Aubrey Johnson handles the wordless vocalizing this time and Siskind's electric piano and Nate Radley's burrowing guitar do an extended bit of jamming. There are also three movements from yet another, untitled suite full of wide, ambient harmonies, wary guitar and careful Bach-like progressions that bounce between piano, voice and the entire ensemble.
Andrew Rathbun is another contributor to that lineage of rich, impressionistic orchestral jazz that includes figures like Gil Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider and Jim McNeely. He writes warm, intriguing melodies and can create powerful backgrounds for soloists. The ones he has here, especially Souza, Hagans and Stewart, are all excellent. This has been an exceptional year for large ensemble jazz recordings and this is one of the best.
Track Listing: Two Islands I; Two Islands II; Two Islands III; Power Politics I; Power Politics II; Power Politics III; Fractured; V; I; II.
Personnel: John O'Gallagher: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone; Ben Kono: alto saxophone, flute, clarinet; Quinsin Nachoff: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Dan Pratt: tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet; Carl Maraghi: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Seneca Black: trumpet; Matt Holman: trumpet, flugelhorn; Dave Smith: trumpet, flugelhorn; Russ Johnson: trumpet, flugelhorn; Alan Ferber: trombone; Mike Fahie: trombone; JC Sanford: trombone; Chris Olness: bass trombone; Luciana Souza: vocals (disc one); Aubrey Johnson: vocals (disc 2); Nate Radley: guitar; Jeremy Siskind: piano, rhodes; Dave Ambrosio: bass; Bill Stewart: drums; Owen Howard: drums (1, 2 on disc 2); Tim Hagans: flugelhorn; Andrew Rathbun: composer, arranger.
Title: Atwood Suites | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Origin Records
American road trips have long inspired writers, from Jack Kerouac, John Steinbeck and Tom Wolfe, to Hunter S. Thompson, Robert M. Pirsig and Bill Bryson. Fewer are the extended works, similarly inspired, written by musicians. Some things, it seems, may be easier put into words. Umbra's West is inspired by founding member Chris Guilfoyle 's 2017 road trip, as evidenced through the song titles, through North America's Western states to Canada. It marks Umbra's full debut, but can be seen as a logical stepping stone from the band's eponymous debut from 2016.
That EP announced Guilfoyle's penchant for complex interweaving threads, melodic and rhythmic, with the guitarist playing tag with the twin horns of tenor saxophonist Sam Comerford and soprano/altoist Chris Engel. Then as now, the rhtyhm section of bassist Barry Donohue and drummer Matthew Jacobson rounds out a quartet where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Like his father, renowned bassist/composer Ronan Guilfoyle , Chris Guilfoyle writes for the individuals, delighting in the juxtapositions between knotty lines and handsome melodies, contrasting simultaneous tempos, soft plateaus and soaring peaks.
All these elements color "L.A.." Swirling, fuzzy electronics and serene dual saxophones entwine on the intro before a gnawing guitar riff kick-starts the rhythm section. Staccato motifs circle like a stuck needle on vinyl, an impasse resolved when Engel cuts loose on soprano over a visceral bass and drums groove. Guilfoyle's entry coincides with a pulling back on the quintet's reins, the guitarist's lyricism contrasting with Engel's fire. The quintet unites in a punchy unison sprint to the line. It's a punchy calling card and would make a great live opening number.
The harmonic finesse of "San Francisco"'s motif, underpinned by Jacobson's feathery brush work, soon gives way to more urgent rhythms and bright, call-and-response between alto and tenor saxophones that frame Comerford's tenor flight. An unaccompanied drum feature concludes that chapter and bleeds into "Intro to Portland"—an atmospheric electro-acoustic vignette. It's Jacobson's emerging groove that announces "Portland," inviting a sparkling solo from Guilfoyle, who then dovetails with the arrival of the closely harnessed saxophones. Comerford's' mazy tenor solo is the centerpiece of a mellow number that winds its way elegantly and without fanfare, to its conclusion.
Without pause, Guilfoyle's ruminative solo spot on "Intro to Seattle" follows on like an unfinished thought. The reverie is broken by the rocky guitar and driving beat of "Seattle"—an appropriate homage to the city of grunge; here, the soaring saxophones are at their most melodic and uplifting. A change of gear ushers in staccato horn phrasing, with Guilfoyle and Donohue picking up the knotty pattern when Engel stretches out on alto. In a stirring finale, Guilfoyle rocks out in brief but incendiary fashion over bouyant saxophones. The episodic "Vancouver" toggles between tightly-woven melodic-rhythmic lines and overlapping free-form flights. A hypnotic guitar-and-bass ostinato flares briefly before Jacobson's cymbal, as soft as sea breeze, put a full stop on the narrative.
Emotionally engaging and technically impressive, Guilfoyle's Umbra makes a significant statement with West. Hopefully, this vibrant yet lyrical outing will launch Umbra to the wider touring its talents most definitely merit.
Track Listing: L.A.; San Francisco; Intro to Portland; Portland; Intro to Seattle; Seattle; Vancouver.
Personnel: Chris Guilfoyle: guitar; Sam Comerford: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Chris Engel: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone; Barry Donohue: bass; Matthew Jacobson: drums.
Title: West | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Self Produced
This Serbian band often develops passages with the impetus and intent of a hunter stalking its prey. With asymmetrical jazz-rock, punk-jazz and free-form excursions amid Balkan folk themes, the musicians' animated buildups and intertwining motifs are anchored by drummer Aleksander Hristic and bassist Vanja Todorović power-packed grooves and fluent outbreaks. As the band's second album reaffirms its distinct personality with imaginative song-forms, deriving inspiration from The Haywain Triptych panel painting by Hieronymus Bosch.
Nascent Portuguese trumpet star Susanna Santos Silva helps launch the festivities on the opener, "Dance No. 3." Here, the ensemble mixes it up via a gradual uprising and fiery convergence, spiraling towards a zenith. Consequently, the artists judiciously pick their spots. Sure, there's some razzle-dazzle type moments but they methodically dish out burgeoning thematic processes, often intensified by electric guitarist Igor Mišković's sweltering crunch chord strumming and ominous jazz rock leads.
"II The Haywain" is initially framed on Hristic's prodding medium-tempo backbeat, morphing into a scorching jazz rocker, slightly chilled by tenor saxophonist Srdan Mijalkovic's searching and drifting lines, culminating in the soloists' ballsy and brazen dialogues. They sport a deterministic gait. However, the final track "III Satantango" is an up-tempo blitz elevated by the saxophonist's popping notes, yet tempered by the guitarist's off-kilter phrasings during the bridge, as a one-note bass and drum timestamp provides lucid imagery for the frontline's howling riffs.
While the album clocks in at 39:24, there is no filler material to be found. Each piece is a standalone storyboard, shaded with exploding dynamics and sinuous sound designs, as the ensemble seemingly breaches the vaults of forbidden dwellings.
Track Listing: Dance No.3; Iris of the Eye - The Haywain Triptych; Ray of the Microcosm; II The Haywain; III Satantango.
Personnel: Srdan Mijalkovic: tenor saxophone; Igor Miskovic: guitar; Vanja Todorovic: double bass; Aleksander Hristic: drums; Susana Santos Silva: trumpet (1).
Title: The Haywain | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Metropolis Music
Great music is all about passion, and this is definitely the fundamental ingredient behind Daniel Biro's heartfelt new release, 120 Onetwenty. This amazing music project really blurs the lines between a wide variety of styles, including ambient, instrumental experimental composition, jazz, and a lot more. Biro is proceeding forward while simultaneously looking to the past. His stated goal here is paying homage to the challenging, futurist vision of '70s and '80s synthesizer architects such as Vangelis and Kraftwerk as well as progressive rock icons such as King Crimson, jazz fusion pioneers such as Herbie Hancock, and ambient experimenters such as Brian Eno. They all seemed to fly in a similar circle of avant-garde artistry, liberated from commercial conventions and stylistic rules. Biro relishes this creative freedom on every track; you never know where he's headed.
This project has a tasteful and understated overtone, which gives it a stark, minimalist feel. However, the sound is also rich and nuanced, really allowing Biro to come up with very expansive sonic ideas. If you closed your eyes while listening to this music, you might be able to see some beautiful vivid images—the music is very expansive and emotional, suggesting stunning visual connections. 120 Onetwenty actually has a really cinematic feel, which stands out for its powerful and emotionally relevant approach. There is nothing that sounds quite as compelling as a musician pouring his heart out, and this is definitely Biro's case.
Just the fifth release from Wayne Shorter's celebrated acoustic quartet in its near two-decade career, the triple-CD plus graphic novel that is Emanon marks something of a creative high point in its journey. The first CD, a four-part suite for quartet and the thirty-four-piece Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, is Shorter's first studio recording since Alegria (Verve, 2003), while the second and third discs capture the quartet live in London. The accompanying forty-eight page comic-book, co-written by Shorter and Monica Sly, with illustrations by Randy Duburke, is a science-fiction epic of Homer-esque proportions.
The comic-book tale is thematically related to the suite and depicts a dystopian world of tyrannical government, censorship and a climate of fear that engenders apathy, suspicion of the foreign and dehumanisation. Changing the status quo can only come about via change within the individual. A revolution is called for. A parable of our times? Perhaps so. Although the musical narrative is open to interpretation, the tensions and drama inherent in Shorter's orchestral score broadly reflect the heroic struggle of the comic-book hero, the rogue philosopher, Emanon.
All the music was recorded in 2013, which begs the question as to why it's taken so long for this recording to see the light of day. In effect, Emanon musically represents a snapshot of the quartet half a decade ago. The live music on CDs two and three is as thrilling, for the most part, as we've come to expect from this rather unique improvising unit, but it's the orchestral suite that stands out for its originality.
The fifteen-minute "Pegasus" sees early sparring between Danilo Pérez, and Shorter on soprano, the pianist's probing creating little stepping stones for the saxophonist's improvisations. A brief strings and brass call-and-response ensues before a three-note brass motif ignites the string section. Melody and rhythm are inextricably linked as short, staccato phrases from brass and strings in turn, strung together like beads, provide a punchy rhythmic current. Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Perez trace the orchestral pulses, with Shorter arriving late to ride the cresting wave with a spiralling solo.
The full orchestral voice regally announces the intense yet repetitive "Prometheus Unbound," which toggles between gently treading quartet interludes and bouyant orchestral passages. The lush romanticism that opens "Lotus" is soon swept up in an epic orchestral wave, a grand, three-note ostinato transferred to piano, which then underpins a quartet dialogue where Perez and Shorter's free blowing is anchored by Blade and Patitucci's steady course. The baton passes back and forth between orchestra and quartet in a sustained segment that marries lyricism and bold phrasing. The quartet eventually tears loose with skittering exchanges between Shorter and Perez, the three-note ostinato resurfacing as the prelude to a stirring, closing fanfare.
Shorter plays soprano, and to a lesser extent tenor, on "The Three Marias," an episodic piece where restless quartet exploration is framed by distinctive orchestral lines that are melodically pronounced and rhythmically vibrant in turn. The greater ebb and flow of this final piece, with its dramatic denouement, provides an emotionally intense, uplifting conclusion to the stirring fifty-minute suite.
The live discs faithfully document of one of contemporary jazz's most exciting small ensembles. Disc two features a sprawling, twenty-seven minute version of "The Three Marias," where protracted collective ruminations, with Shorter on tenor saxophone, seem always on the point of lift-off. In the final few minutes a quickening rhythmic pulse briefly signals collective release, before the quartet makes the softest of landings. Without pause, the quartet slides into a medley of "Lost" and "Orbits," Perez' riffing stoking the quartet's fire as Shorter follows his muse. Perez and Blade gradually force their way to the forefront of the narrative in a fiery finale that provides dramatic release after nearly forty minutes of simmering tension.
The subtle percussive stirrings of "Lotus," which kicks off disc three, quickly give way to more robust terrain, with Perez' restless tilling freeing Shorter, on soprano, and cajoling Blade, whose explosive accents are all the more effective for their sparing release. "She Moves through the Fair," unrecognizable from the quartet's studio version from 2003, begins with a burrowing Patitucci solo before developing into a Perez' feature, the pianist's animated solo punctuated by Blade's snap and crackle. A short but lively "Adventures aboard the Golden Mean" sees the quartet go straight for the jugular, with Shorter on soprano leading the way, without preamble, through an uncluttered, blues-edged workout colored by Perez' Latin-tinged vamps.
The set concludes with a hypnotic, fourteen-minute "Prometheus Unbound," the soft initial stirrings of bass arco, high-register piano, rumbling mallets and lowing soprano ceding way to greater rhythmic impetus. A middle section of delicate understatement—lightly coursing, bluesy piano and earthy bass—is steered by Perez and Shorter into exuberant collective exploration, with a mantra-like motif, played in unison by Shorter and Perez, unleashing Blade's fire and guiding the quartet towards a spectacular finish.
Shorter's most ambitious project in his sixty-year career, Emanon is in some ways a curious release. The orchestral arrangements represent some of the most impassioned and arresting music Shorter has ever committed to disc. The two live discs, as tirelessly inventive as the performances are, serve up more of what has come before and arguably detract from the singularity of the orchestral collaboration. The graphic novel is a take it or leave it affair. Still, it's cause for celebration that Shorter and his remarkable quartet are still fearlessly pushing the sound barrier with such evident joy.
Track Listing: Disc I: Pegasus; Prometheus Unbound; Lotus; The Three Marias. Disc II: The Three Marias; Lost and Orbits Medley. Disc III: Lotus; She Moves through the Fair; Adventures Aboard the Golden Mean; Prometheus Unbound.
Personnel: Disc I: Wayne Shorter: tenor and soprano saxophones; Danilo Perez: piano; John Patitucci: bass; Brian Blade: drums; The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra: violin I: Richard Rood, concertmaster, Martha Caplin, Laura Frautschi, Joanna Jenner, Renee Jolles, Sophia Kessinger; violin II: Calvin Wiersma, principal, Ronnie Bauch, Adela Pena, Eriko Sato; viola: Dov Scheindlin, principal, Mark Holloway, Daniel Panner, Nardo Poy; cello: Eric Bartlett, principal, Melissa Meell, Jonathon Spitz, James Wilson; double bass: Donald Palma, principal, Jordan Frazier; flute: Susan Palma Nidel, principal, Elizabeth Mann; oboe: James Austin Smith, principal, Alexandra Knoll; clarinet: Alan Kay, principal, Alicia Lee; bassoon: Frank Morelli, principal, Marc Goldberg; horn: Stewart Rose, principal, Julie Landsman; trumpet: Louis Hanzlik, principal, Carl Albach; trombone: Michael Powell; timpani: Maya Gunji.
Title: Emanon | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Blue Note Records
South Korean reedman Kang Tae Hwan is one of the foremost exponents of solo saxophone in the Far East. While he has featured in groups, notably Ton Klami who can be heard on Prophecy Of Nue (NoBusiness, 2017), his conception is so singular that it may be best appreciated in undiluted form. Which makes Live At Cafe Amores a prime exhibit to further awareness of his extraordinary art. It's another in the Lithuanian label's ongoing series of unreleased Chap Chap label recordings licensed from Japan. His combination of multiphonics, overtones and sustained circular breathing recalls some of AACM reedman Roscoe Mitchell's solo outings, while he also sometimes suggests a more serene Evan Parker.
Kang thrills with astonishingly controlled use of overblowing to reveal the vibrating harmonics of his alto saxophone. What's all the more impressive is that it sounds completely purposeful but is achieved almost naturally without any ostentation. "Solo I" presents the perfect example of the rarefied atmosphere on offer. Kang sets out a sequence of deliberately-paced prolonged notes remarkable for their consistency and purity, spiced with split tones, in a meditative stream. He occasionally dips into a broad vibrato by way of variation, then later introduces a spiraling equivalent to a double time passage amid the continued drawn-out notes.
Pentatonic melodies create an Eastern vibe, and sometimes as in "Solo II" even evoke Scottish folk music, a feeling exacerbated by use of a skirling bagpipes-like pitch. Although Kang works with the same building blocks throughout, he succeeds in giving each of the five pieces a distinct flavor, no mean feat when working with such a self-imposed restricted palette, as many other improvisers have discovered to their cost. In "Solo III" he intersperses intermittent short dancing phrases and rhythmically-inflected oscillating frequencies, while in "Solo IV" he juxtaposes flutter-tongued wickering with the elongated tones.
At over 68-minutes it's an hypnotic if somewhat intense listen, so perhaps the most appropriate strategy is to sample one track at a time when in the mood to admire Kang's unrivalled mastery.
Track Listing: Solo I; Solo II; Solo III; Solo IV; Solo V.
Personnel: Kang Tae Hwan: alto saxophone.
Title: Live At Cafe Amores | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: NoBusiness Records
Decades after he had migrated from Chicago to New York to briefly play in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, saxophonist/composer Steve Coleman took to the Village Vanguard stage that Jones and Lewis had occupied for more than twenty years. Since 2015, Coleman and his Five Elements group have made the club an annual event in their global schedule. Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. I (The Embedded Sets) documents two nights' performances recorded in May 2017.
The Five Elements have been a remarkably stable group for the past fifteen years with trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, bassist Anthony Tidd and drummer Sean Rickman having a long history with the leader. Guitarist Miles Okazaki has released five albums as leader or co-leader working with drummer Dan Weiss on four of those albums. Okazaki's Pi Recordings debut, Trickster (2017), featured Tidd on bass and Craig Taborn as well.
Coleman's two previous Pi Recordings releases, Synovial Joints (2015) with Council of Balance, and Morphogenesis (2017) with his Natal Eclipse group, were—in Coleman's M-Base format—extravagantly prepared and exhaustively composed, relying on his cognitive process, and absence of predictable time signatures. Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. I represents a paradigm shift as Coleman focuses on spontaneous composition and free improvisation. Unusual and complex time signatures are still present throughout this two-disc set, though the overall context is shaped in the moment.
"Horda" opens the first set but is revisited mid-way through the second set as well, in the latter case with a bit more of a world music touch. Along with "Djw," the first fifteen minutes of the combined two and one-half hour program grows steadily in intensity. The medley of Bunky Green's "Little Girl I Love You" and "Embedded #1" provide a more expressive respite that continues with the lyrical "idHw." Once the forceful improvisations resume, the quintet doesn't come up for air again until well into the second set where a similar version of "idHw" reappears. Coleman and Finlayson tend to be center stage for much of the collection though Okazaki gets his share of lead time on the quieter pieces.
As with the five numbers mentioned above, Coleman has opted for a significant amount of repetition here with all but two tunes having a second version. While the alternates vary to some extent, this very long collection would have been quite a bit above average were we given access to the best of each piece. That said, Coleman's music is so different from most everything we hear that the multiple listens deliver somewhat deeper insights to the composer's development of works. Moreover, these sparer approaches provide a well-rounded view of an artist with an ear for the street, current and relevant, and without sacrificing cultural references or the bebop fundamentals that Coleman grew up with.
Track Listing: CD 1: Horda; Djw; Little Girl I'll Miss You-Embedded #1; idHw; twf; Figit Time; Nfr, Little Girl I'll Miss You; Change the Guard.
CD 2: rmT-Figit Time; Nfr; idHw; Horda; Embedded #1; Djw; rmT-9 to 5.
Personnel: Steve Coleman: alto saxophone; Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet; Miles Okazaki: guitar; Anthony Tidd: bass; Sean Rickman: drums, percussion.
Title: Live at Village Vanguard Vol. 1 (The Embedded Sets) | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Pi Recordings
The fulsome clarity of the monaural sound on Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album by John Coltrane may be just the gateway necessary to entice those listeners used to a single home speakers, ear buds or their smart phones. After all, as Ashley Kahn notes in his lengthy essay, this double set of compact discs features the iconic saxophonist's classic quartet in its prime, and so deserves to be heard by musiclovers of all stripes and equipment setups, not just the audiophiles and jazz connoisseurs.
Rudy Van Gelder recorded Coltrane wielding both tenor and soprano horns as he displayed a profound sense of freedom in his instrumental interactions with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. It's a liberation including, but not limited to, release from worry about mistakes or repetition; even with multiple takes of the same tunes, like "Impressions" (which appears here four times, once without Tyner), there's not a whit of suspicion about duplication of effort or ideas: when players of this high caliber replicate a progression of melody or rhythm, even a single note, it can be an epiphany. Little wonder saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter, an arguable genius himself, would be quoted in the enclosed booklet, talking in awed terms about the music these artists.
The music itself speaks volumes through the uncanny intuitive sense(s) the foursome share. By the time of this Bob Thiele-produced session, those well-honed collective instincts had been sharpened both in studios such as this one in New Jersey and on stages like that of Birdland's to which the band repaired immediately upon completion of the recording. Ravi Coltrane's description of his response to this afternoon interlude as "a kicking-the-tires sessions" may arise from the appearance of "Nature Boy" and "Vilia," not yet set as regular repertoire for the group, but cover material which Coltrane and company nonetheless imbue with an infectious sense of play.
Neither dilettante nor the reserved aficionado should be apprehensive Both Directions At Once contains four tracks labeled "Untitled Original." The Lost Album does manifest some movement on Coltrane's part to the more open- ended likes of Interstellar Space (Impulse, 1974), but the performances here are just sufficiently loose to allow the evolving arrangements breathe and, in turn, further nurture the quartet's musicianly camaraderie. To explain too much of how this happens somewhat demeans the product of this group's creative impulses, but that's certainly not the case with the liner notes: the aforementioned jazz scholar writes with an emphatic logic, communicating as much information as insight, into which he infuses a passion that's a direct reflection of its subject.
As edifying as it is to read that esteemed author, the sensation isn't all that dissimilar from admiring the design of the two-CD package: die-cuts, gold embossing and all are an ingenious reflection of the imagination within the music it encloses. Consequently, as precious a possession as this deluxe set will become for those who own it, the greatest delight rightfully derives from the sounds it contains.
Track Listing: CD 1: Untitled Original 11383; Nature Boy ; Untitled Original 11386 (Take 1); Vilia (Take 3); Impressions (Take 3); Slow Blues; One Up, One Down (Take 1). CD 2: Vilia (Take 5); Impressions (Take 1); Impressions (Take 2); Impressions (Take 4); Untitled Original 11386 (Take 2); Untitled Original 11386 (Take 5); One Up, One Down (Take 6).
Personnel: John Coltrane: saxophone; McCoy Tyner: piano; Jimmy Garrison: bass; Elvin Jones: drums.
Title: Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album Deluxe Edition | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Impulse!
Planet MicroJam is yet another imaginative product of guitarist-composer David Fiuczynski’s macro-vision. In this instance, his global perspective inspires 11 curious, surprising and often witty sonic excursions. Beethoven rubs-or bumps-shoulders with Sun Ra. Arabic, African, Turkish and Chinese influences surface here and there (to say nothing of rock, jazz and blues elements), and several microtonal pioneers, including Mexican composer Julián Carrillo, play a significant role in mapping out the pathways. No question about it: Fiuczynski knows how to keep listeners not only guessing but intrigued with his fretless and fretted guitars and the support of several likeminded fellow travelers.
Among his colleagues are two special guests, both master drummers: Kenwood Dennard, who helps Fiuczynski set the mood with the vertigo-inducing “Micro Emperor,” which references Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto ; and Jack DeJohnette, who, among other things, makes the ballad “Madoka Blue” sound as enticing as it is mysterious-no small feat. Most of the players, though, are previous or current students of Fiuczynski, who heads up the Microtonal Groove Institute at Berklee College of Music. The instrumentation-electric and acoustic guitars, drums, violin, bass and keyboards-is colorfully deployed, in both skittish microtonal jam settings and more spacious arrangements.
Like some kindred spirits-guitarists Bill Frisell and Adrian Belew come to mind-Fiuczynski disarms audiences with his inquisitive spirit and lighthearted audacity. In fact, as peculiar as some of this music initially may sound to Western ears, a taste for it is easily acquired when Fiuczynski is at the top of his game. That’s where you’ll find him here.
www.planetmicrojam.com
Personnel: David Fiuczynski : guitars, keybards, percussion
Helen Sherrah-Davies : violin
Yazhi Guo : suona (Chinese oboe) and percussion
Utar Artun : microtonal keyboards, fender rhodes
Jake Sherman : microtonal keyboards, fender rhodes, piano
Cross-pollination of jazz and hip hop has spread fast during the 2010s. In-the-moment creativity and giving-the-drummer-some are powerful synergies. In the US, key players include Kamasi Washington, Thundercat and Christian Scott. In Britain, they include the extended family of musicians associated with reed player Shabaka Hutchings and the Brownswood Recordings label. Some of the British players are featured on the previously reviewed We Out Here (Brownswood, 2018), which is a great snapshot of the scene as it exists in London in spring 2018.
Among Brownswood's alumni are keyboard player Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu) and drummer Yussef Dayes. As Yussef Kamaal, the pair debuted with Black Focus (Brownswood, 2016), a thrilling blend of hip hop-derived British musics and the jazz-funk legacies of Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith and Roy Ayers. In 2017, the duo were booked to perform at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, but at the last moment US homeland security refused to give visas to members of the party. Yussef Kamaal broke up shortly after this.
Happily, Williams and Dayes both remain active, albeit separately. Dayes is prominently featured on Toshio Matsuura Group's previously reviewed Loveplaydance: 8 Scenes From The Floor (Brownswood, 2018) and on Tenderlonious's soon-to-be-released The Shakedown (22a). Williams has resurfaced with the appropriately titled The Return on his fledgling Black Focus label, made with the ferocious rhythm section of drummer MckNasty and bassist Pete Martin. The fourth member of the group is engineer Richard Samuels, whose studio expertise is crucial to the music. Brownswood regular, guitarist Mansur Brown, guests on "LDN Shuffle," tearing off a solo which gives more than a nod to John McLaughlin's work with Mahavishnu Orchestra.
The Return takes up where Black Focus left off, harnessing classic jazz-funk and fusion with hip hop and its British offspring grime, broken beat and drum & bass. Beats are key, and so are great melodies and trippy ambiances. It is jazz, Jim, but only as we have recently got to know it, and it all hangs together beautifully.
Track Listing: Salaam; Broken Theme; The Return; High Roller; Situations; Catch The Loop; Rhythm Commission; Medina; LDN Shuffle; Aisha.
Personnel: Kamaal Williams: keyboards; Pete Martin: bass; MckNasty: drums; Mansur Brown: guitar (track 9).
Title: The Return | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Black Focus
As trumpeter Terence Blanchard is wont to do, he blends spoken word, rock, funk, the electrified, the experimental, the second line, the bop, blues, and hip hop on the swaggering, often staggering, Live, his latest Blue Note release.
Bidding us to ..."find our voices..." Marcus Miller's "Hannibal" evolves from a floating piano intro (courtesy of Fabian Almazan) into a Zappa-like wash of horns, synths, and lots of guitar, bass 'n' drums. The music swims, the horn heralds and we're caught in the tidal waves of Blanchard's visceral statement concerning America's worship of guns and the daily violence that ensues. All the music here is in response to the seemingly-endless loop of active shooters and the lives—mostly black, yet blind to color, creed, and moral code—lost to the avalanche of guns in our ever-corrosive society. "Hannibal" slips into "Kaos" as it should and—a hallmark of Blanchard's singular composing, where anything is possible at any possible moment—moves into double time, amplified horn, and a frenzied Charles Altura guitar solo. Drummer Oscar Seaton somehow makes sense of it all, muscling his way into the maelstrom. Blanchard soars like angry mothers marching, like the voices of tens of thousands shouting "Enough!"
"Unchanged" begins with Altura lulling us into a dreamy state until the rest of the band—led by Blanchard and bad-ass bassist David DJ Ginyard Jr.—each take several hot minutes to declare themselves. "Dear Jimi" and "Can Anyone Hear Me" come on as full-fledged, guitar-driven fusion over synth walls of texture and the unstoppable rhythm section. Blanchard may not, as he comments in the one-sheet, put the band together to play protest music, but the proof, as they say, is in the very hot mix. The E-Collective and Live are very hard and angry. Forgiving, and utterly human.
Winner of the USA 2015-16 International Songwriting Competition Jazz Category, Carl Bartlett Jr. showcases his skills on PROMISE!. The album's warm, vivacious compositions offer plenty of cheer and good feelings. The result is guaranteed to bring a Billy Higgins smile to your face. Bartlett's alto sax playing is equally sunny. Like Bobby Watson or Donald Harrison, he offers strong and graceful phrases that slip and slide through the songs in clever and fascinating ways.
Not to be outdone, Bartlett's bandmates reinforce the sweet, friendly, jovial ambience of the album with exceptional playing. There are no weak links in this chain. Every member cooks with gas.
The album opens with the title cut, "PROMISE!" Bartlett's solo quickly evolves from a sharp intro into straight-ahead bop and engaging motifs. It's as if his music were floating in the clouds. Listen to the tonguing of the reed and the rapid-fire sax notes—always controlled and centered on the melody. Yoichi Uzeki contributes with a boisterous piano solo of his own, and Sylvia Cuenca adds to the mix with some top-notch drumming.
More serious in nature, "Dialed In (Like a Laser)" begins with a flutter on the reed—followed by a sax improvisation. The tune gives Uzeki a chance to stretch, and his solo exhibits lots of ups and downs, strikes and sprawls. Cuenca adds her rhythmic skills and uses the entire trap set to shift the music in meter and syncopation.
Of all the joyful tunes on the album, "The Bartlett Family" may be the most jubilant. This one highlights the trumpet playing of Bartlett's uncle, Charlie Bartlett. Together, the Bartletts and Uzeki provide sharp bop playing while the bass and drums settle in behind the magic.
With a bluesy solo, Uzeki begins the ballad, "As the Gift Unfolds Before My Eyes." What follows is Bartlett's solo, conjuring city lights emerging on a late afternoon in setting sun, thoughts of a pleasant stroll along a beautiful river that opens to the ocean. The atmosphere is echoed in Marcus McLaurine's bass playing over Cuenca's brushwork.
The graceful theme of "Ethereal Heartbeat," swoops forward as if flying through the sky. McLaurine's poetic and intense solo leads into a Uzeki solo that delights and sparkles.
The closing number, "It's Been So Grand" features Bartlett and his uncle. The theme is never forceful; the music just flows. Uzeki follows the duo with a blues modal solo. His fingers dance and cascade on the piano until Bartlett takes over with a bubbly hot sax solo. Drummer Cuenca gets into the action again with some choice statements that go back and forth with the ensemble.
PROMISE! is open, heartfelt, and sincere. Nothing is hidden. Everything is exposed. For those who relish walks in the sun, the fragrance of flowers, fresh air, and the warmth of family and friends, this album is for you. Recommended.
Track Listing: PROMISE!; High Pizzazz; Dialed In (Like A Laser); As The Gift Unfolds Before My Eyes; The Bartlett Family; Ethereal Heartbeats; Fidgety Season; It's Been So Grand.
Personnel: Carl Bartlett, Jr.: alto saxophone; Yoichi Uzeki: piano; Marcus McLaurine: bass; Sylvia Cuenca: drums; Charles Bartlett: trumpet
Title: Promise! | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Self Produced
It is always interesting when a musician's newest release zigzags away from previous works, making an abrupt change of course. Often it happens at the request of a producer or record company, and probably because his/her previous disc was not well received. This in no way explains Starebaby by drummer Dan Weiss. Sixteen: Drummers Suite (Pi Recordings, 2016) and Fourteen (Pi Recordings, 2014), both larger ensemble recordings, composed and arranged by the drummer were critical successes. He could easily have continued down the same path.
Not a chance. He assembled a cast of superstars; keyboardists Craig Taborn and Matt Mitchell, guitarist Ben Monder, and bassist Trevor Dunn to create a jazz-meets-doom metal power lunch at the corner of electro and acoustic street. A piece like "The Memory of My Memory" hits as hard as anything by the band Blind Idiot God, where massive hulking bass line and thunderous drums follow a dream sequence of echoey synth notes and a guarded piano. The music was inspired by David Lynch's TV show Twin Peaks and "Badalamenti" is dedicated to Angelo Badalamenti who wrote the soundtrack for that show. Eerie doesn't begin to describe the music. Painted at night, the music is propelled by Weiss' varied pulse. He draws from his background in Indian drumming and his association with the sludge metal band Bloody Panda to propel this session.
Please don't get the wrong impression. This recording is as thoroughly composed and orchestrated as his large ensemble recordings. Weiss brings that same musicianship to this heavy metal plus outing. Where a metal band might be a one trick pony, Weiss has the talents of Mitchell and Taborn to create elaborate piano and synthesizer confections. Both work in pulse and dissonant effects, as does Monder, whose guitar work ranges from chamber music to chainsaw shredding. With Trevor Dunn on bass, Weiss has circled back to the days of Fantômas and Secret Chiefs 3, but with a mutated DNA that allows for stronger melodies and more compelling instrumental interactions.
Track Listing: A Puncher's Chance; Depredation; Annica; Badalamenti; Cry Box; The Memory of My Memory; Veiled; Episode 8.
Personnel: Craig Taborn: piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers; Matt Mitchell: piano, Prophet-6, modular synthesizers; Ben Monder: guitars; Trevor Dunn: electric bass; Dan Weiss: drums.
Title: Starebaby | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Pi Recordings
The alliance of Latin music and American jazz ripened on these shores more than seventy years ago, nourished by pioneers such as Mario Bauza, Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, Machito, Tito Puente and others. It has been carried forward and enhanced since then by a succession of remarkable innovators including in recent years the Cuban-born drummer Dafnis Prieto who has chosen on his seventh recording as leader to honor a number of his forebears and musical heroes in a big-band format.
To help assure its success, Prieto assembled a blue-ribbon corps of New York-based musicians to dispatch nine of his tasteful compositions and arrangements. As one would expect, rhythm has the upper hand throughout, amplified by Prieto and ace percussionist Roberto Quintero . Prieto also makes good use of a trio of esteemed guest artists: altos Henry Threadgill (adapting better than one might envision on "Back to the Sunset"), Steve Coleman (the earnest "Song for Chico") and trumpeter Brian Lynch ("Uno Vez Mas," whose opening passage calls to mind Gillespie's "Manteca"). As everyone in the ensemble is a well-endowed soloist in his own right, there are no letdowns in that quarter.
Neither are there any concerns about Prieto's compositions, which are bright, rhythmic and melodious in the best Afro-Cuban jazz tradition. There are dedications to Gillespie and Pozo ("The Triumphant Journey"), Bauza and the O'Farrills, Chico and Arturo ("Song for Chico"), as well as to Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Egberto Gismonti, Jerry Gonzalez, Michel Camilo, Chucho and Bebo Valdes, Art Blakey, Jane Bunnett, Bobby Carcasses, Dave Samuels and even Buddy Rich ("Two for One," on which Prieto takes his only extended solo). Lynch solos with Quintero, Prieto and pianist Manuel Valera on "Una Vez Mas," Threadgill on "Sunset," Coleman with Quintero, Prieto and trumpeter Nathan Eklund on "Chico."
As noted, all of the soloists are splendid, with Peter Apfelbaum's melodica especially welcome on the colorful "Danzonish Potpourri" (Apfelbaum is heard to good advantage on tenor sax on "The Sooner the Better" and "Two for One"). Others whose eloquent voices are raised at various times include bassist Ricky Rodriguez, flugel Alex Sipiagin, alto Roman Filiu, baritone Chris Cheek, trumpeter John Deutsch, soprano (and piccolo) Michael Thomas, soprano / tenor Joel Frahm, trumpeter Mike Rodriguez and the trombone section (Tim Albright, Alan Ferber, Jacob Garchik, bass Jeff Nelson) who are showcased with Cheek on "Out of the Bone."
As an homage to Latin / American jazz, this is exemplary. More than that, it is an album whose rhythmic intensity, harmonic discernment, intuitive brilliance and impressive group dynamic should enhearten jazz lovers of every persuasion.
Track Listing: Una Vez; The Sooner the Better; Out of the Bone; Back to the Sunset; Danzonish Potpourri; Song for Chico; Prelude Para Rosa; Two for One; The Triumphant Journey.
Personnel: Mike Rodríguez: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Nathan Eklund: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Alex Sipiagin: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Josh Deutsch: Trumpet, Flugelhorn; Román Filiú: Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute, Clarinet; Michael Thomas: Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute, Piccolo; Peter Apfelbaum: Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax, Melodica; Joel Frahm: Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax; Chris Cheek: Bari Sax; Tim Albright: Trombone; Alan Ferber: Trombone; Jacob Garchik: Trombone; Jeff Nelson: Bass Trombone; Manuel Valera: Piano; Ricky Rodríguez: Acoustic & Electric Bass; Roberto Quintero: Congas, Bongos, Percussion; Dafnis Prieto: Drums & Music Director; Brian Lynch: Trumpet (Track 1); Henry Threadgill: Alto Sax (Track 4); Steve Coleman: Alto Sax (Track 6). itle: Back to the Sunset | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Dafnison Music
On his third release Peninsular, pianist and composer Tarek Yamani continues to explore the amalgamation of Arabic music and American jazz. His work is more than a simple juxtaposition of disparate styles as it is built upon shared elements in both genres. On the current album, commissioned for the Abou Dhabi festival, Yamani's focus is folk tradition of the countries on the Arab peninsula that border the Persian Gulf.
The melancholic "Gates of Tears" opens on a somber note with bassist Elie Afif''s unaccompanied and introspective lines. The ensemble's undulating refrains form the core of this cinematic piece that is laced with Near Eastern mysticism. Yamani thrills with his agile improvised flourishes that are quite lyrical and showcase his superb virtuosity. The individual expressions seamlessly emerge from and fade back into the main theme.
Equally captivating is the hypnotic "Ayyala Cubana." The haunting chants and heavy percussive rhythms are common to both the Omani traditional dance, the Ayyala, and the Afro Cuban Son. The passion and poetry that fill Yamani's own pianism are also rooted in the dual heritages of the tune.
At various moments throughout the recording guest musicians enhance the core trio's performance with local color. On the title track percussionists Ahmad Abdel Rahim and Wahid Mubarak drive the melody with their galloping beats. Over these infectious vamps, Yamani lets loose flowing, resonant chords. Drummer Khaled Yassine and his thundering kit together with Yamani's chiming notes and Afif's dark reverberations contribute a touch of elegant and delightful dissonance.
Elsewhere on the emotive "Al Qorbi Nasnas" vocalist Adil Abdallah articulates the intriguing lyrics with yearning ardor. Yamani's elegant solo on the quarter tone keyboard reflects the poignancy and wistfulness of this deceptively simple song.
With each project, Yamani continues to highlight the universality the musical language. This emphasis on the cross-cultural nature of creativity, particularly the spontaneous kind, is what makes his forays into fusion successful. Of course, his superlative artistry does not hurt either.
Here's a good rule of thumb to consider when reviewing a jazz record and by that, I mean any jazz record. Jazz music is live music so if it sounds good in the studio will it sound even better on the stage? In other words, if you're willing to pay $50 for a ticket, you're probably not getting burned spending $15 for a record.
Of course, if it's a live album and Hiromi & Edmar Castenda/Live in Montreal is a live album just like it says in the title, so disregard the previous paragraph and consider this instead: do you wish you had been there? Eh.
Not this time I don't. When you can do nearly anything on your chosen instrument, the temptation is to try anything. This can lead an artist to some rather interesting places because when it works the results can be gratifying and enriching. The inherent risk is when it doesn't work, the end product can be a jarring misfire or an unmitigated disaster.
Hiromi & Edmar Castaneda: Live In Montreal is neither of those things. What it is is an experiment that succeeds sporadically more than it fails spectacularly. Hiromi Uehara is an adventurous and restless soul. She does duets with Chick Corea, trios with Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips, quartets with David Fuzcyzinski, Tony Grey and Martin Valhosa and solos all by herself. A true virtuoso, Hiromi has carved out an impressive career with more killer crossovers, head fakes, Eurosteps and mad hops than a NBA point guard. She can dish the rock, take it to the hole, and knock down the "j." She's bad and she knows it too.
But even Steph Curry occasionally dribbles a ball off his foot.
Here she's teamed up with Castaneda, who opened for Hiromi's Trio Project at the 2016 Montreal International Jazz Festival. The Japanese pianist was blown away by the Colombian harpist saying, "It was a jaw-dropping experience. I didn't realize the harp could create such rhythm and groove." Out of that exposure came a conversation about collaborating and he would go on to join Hiromi during a weeklong engagement at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club.
This collaboration is no air ball, but it tends at times to clang off the rim rather than swoosh through the net. Even when she's not on her "A" game, Hiromi's "B" game is still pretty bad ass. The flaw in Live in Montreal is where she's normally astonishing, here she's just pretty good.
Point of fact is, same as the aforementioned point guard, Hiromi excels as part of a team. One such team was her Trio Project with Phillips and Jackson where six years and four albums composing some of the most vibrant and thrilling jazz fusion since Weather Report was a thing. You get the best out of Hiromi, when she has other musicians who can both keep up and push her harder.
Phillips' drumming and Jackson's bass got that from her. A harp does not. Call it eclectic or exotic, but a harp does not command attention, does not funk, does not rock, does not jazz. A harp is pretty, but it does not stand-out as a musical instrument. Personal tastes only and your mileage may vary. No shade on Casteneda's skill set; he extracts sounds from his instrument which defy expectations of what a harp is supposed to sound like. It's interesting and at times like "The Elements" suite the combination exceeds those expectations, but for this reviewer's ears it is not going to spark a revolution where street corner musicians playing for spare change toss their saxophones in the trash and pick up the harp.
Hiromi has never made a flat-out bad record and still hasn't, but there's nothing here which to make Live In Montreal the definitive go-to album her discography. This is the sound of the young artist in a holding pattern between what has gone before and what comes. Boilerplate product this is not. What it is an adequate placeholder.
Venerable West Coast-based trumpeter, cornetist and instructor, Bobby Bradford has carved out a big slice of modern jazz history due to his recordings and performances with iconic jazz artisans, reedmen Ornette Coleman, John Carter, Eric Dolphy and bassist Charlie Haden among other luminaries. On this superb release recorded at the University of Massachusetts as part of the Magical Triangle Jazz Series, he shares the billing with saxophonist, recording artist and leading-edge music theorist, Hafez Modirzadeh.
With first-call support specialists, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer, Royal Hartigan, the album duly highlights the musicians group-focused chemistry and distinct characterizations they bring to the vanguard. And while I was provided with a promo CD, consumers will need to purchase the LP, which is slated for an initial run of 500 copies.
Bradford solely uses the cornet and launches the opener "She," by making his horn talk, laugh and weep, propelling the events into a loosely flowing vibe amid an airy theme that evolves atop a slow gait, in concert with searching choruses, enveloped with mystical overtones. But "Silhouette," is a heated jaunt, escalated by Filiano's frenetic arco lines. As the quartet's variegated mode of execution continues during "Bayraktar," which is a composition designed with the hornist's spirited unison choruses, yearning notes and layered themes, for what stacks up to be a deeply personal medium-tempo ballad.
"Wadsworth Falls" is an extended piece that highlights the multidirectional aspects of the band. Constructed like a suite, Hartigan kicks off a pulsating African jazz type groove in concert with Filiano's prominent lines and robust line of attack. However, Modirzadeh's bold and commanding lines are offset by his playful dialogues with Bradford, adding a clever component to the up-tempo movements, along with contrasting call / response maneuvers. No doubt, the hornists are masters of invention as they goad each other into newly created mini-plots and by dishing out changeable melody lines in spontaneous or controlled fashion. The drummer also intersperses a Latin-jazz pulse with rolling toms patterns into the divergent storyboard. No doubt, each composition is a standalone treat, honed down by the artists' extraordinary communication skills, enviable technical gifts and tantalizing improvisational frameworks.
In celebration of her sixtieth birthday, pianist/composer Satoko Fujii plans to release twelve albums in one year; one for each month of 2018. With many other artists it would be fair to question whether such output would compromise the integrity of the music but Fujii is—and has been—one of the most inexhaustible artists of her kind. Foregoing excellence has never been an option for her, and on the first issue of the planned sequence, Solo she exceeds expectations.
Solo was recorded at Yumemikan Hall in Japan and contains seven pieces combining spontaneous improvisation, a standard and selections mostly from Fujii's own Libra label songbook. She opens with "Inori," first recorded by her Orchestra Tokyo on Zakopane (2010). The slowly building solo version is in stark contrast to the original. Fujii uses the entire piano—inside and out—on the improvised "Geradeaus" then moves on to an extended version of "Ninepin" from Live In Japan (PolystarINatSat, 2004). "Spring Storm," from the album of the same name (2013) precedes Fujii personal favorite, "Gen Himmel." The peaceful composition is in memory of Fujii's late bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu and has appeared on two of her previous recordings. The album closes with the sole cover piece, Jimmy Giuffre's "Moonlight" where Fujii again plays inside and outside the piano.
"Gen Himmel" is an excellent example of how Fujii reworks her creations in ways that make them stand out as singular accomplishments. This particular piece has appeared as the title track of her 2013 solo release, on Shiki with the Orchestra New York (2014) and on the live solo, double-CD Invisible Hand (2017). In each case, there are discrepancies in pacing and accenting, none of which dispense with the original emotion of her composition. Solo is only the fourth such outing for this exceedingly prolific artist who should be more highly regarded by Western audiences. With this first release in a year's worth of events, Fujii sets the bar high. That's not unusual for an artist who seems to create new benchmarks with every release.
Ruby Rushton are something of a mysterious force. Having released their debut record, Two For Joy, in 2015 without much fanfare, the group has since amassed a steady following that reaches beyond their jazz genre. Referencing hip-hop, bass culture, merengue and more in their compositions, the group have also played a key part in the South London jazz resurgence, with individual members featuring on live shows with Yussef Kamaal, Moses Boyd and others. Now their second album, Trudi’s Songbook: Volume One, is due for release this week, with Volume Two slated for later in the year, and it heralds the group’s proper arrival.
By way of the vinyl structure – a double format of three a and three b tracks – Ruby Rushton hark back to the ‘50s and ‘60s recordings of John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef and Sonny Rollins. Lateef’s presence is particularly felt, specifically on Prayer for Yusef Master. Bandleader Ed Cawthorne, aka Tenderlonious, has spoken of how discovering Lateef encouraged him to take up the saxophone. The tribute certainly conjures the afro-spritual atmospherics of the master himself. Although, as the track moves into solo territory and Cawthorne pushes his saxophone into higher registers, his evocations of Lateef’s beautifully emotive phrasing falter. Similarly, the free jazz referencing The Camels Back is cut short before its improvisations gains a sense of coherence.
Where Trudi’s Songbook is strongest then, is in its form, more so than its content. Funk-inflected opener Moonlight Woman is an insidious groover featuring Herbie Hancock-style keys playing from Aidan Shepherd and solid rhythmic work from bassist Fergus Ireland. Following number Elephant and Castle is an upbeat Latin take featuring delicate harmonies from Cawthorne and trumpeter Nick Walters, while the record reaches a climax on the double-time Where Are You Now. Here Eddie Hick displays his ferocity behind the kit, accompanied by the light touch of percussionist Joseph Deenmamode.
Ultimately, Trudi’s Songbook: Volume One is a record full of earthy rhythm, punctuated by moments of introspection as well as loud self-expression. Ruby Rushton have managed to capture the impactful looseness of the live show on wax, which is no easy feat. While elements of the soloing might falter when scrutinised, this is a record that operates on a macro level, designed to reflect the spontaneous feeling of its playing upon listening.
