Label: Sunnyside Records, 2024
Personnel - Frank Carlberg: conduction, composition; David Adewumi: trumpet; Sam Hoyt: trumpet; John Carlson: trumpet; Kirk Knuffke: cornet; Brian Drye: trombone; Chris Washburne: trombone; Tyler Bonilla: trombone; Max Seigel: bass trombone; Nathan Reising: alto sax; Jeremy Udden: alto sax, lyricon; Adam Kolker: tenor sax, flute; Hery Paz: tenor sax, clarinet; Andrew Hadro: baritone sax, bass clarinet, flute; Leo Genovese: piano, keyboards; Kim Cass: bass; Micheal Sarin: drums; Christine Correa: voice (#1,3,4); Priya Carlberg: voice (#2,3,4).
Striking a lush, harmonious balance between each tune, Frank Carlberg's new orchestral venture pays homage to Monk's legacy while showcasing his own creative stamp. The album features seven original compositions, skillfully layered by a talented group of musicians and improvisers.
“Spooky Rift We Pat” opens the album with mystery and a dark smudgy tone, featuring vocalist Christine Correa. Subsequently, it transitions into a dynamic get-up-and-go that combines the standard “Tea For Two” and Monk’s “Skippy”, juxtaposed in its sung and instrumental forms, respectively. With the horn players delivering luxuriantly composed lines, the central stage is reserved for soloists, namely tenor saxophonist Adam Kolker and trumpeter David Adewumi.
Operating within a riff-heavy frame, “Out of Steam” is based on “Locomotion”, and despite its title, never slows down in its intervallic defiance and intensive layered exploration, featuring Frank's daughter, Priya Carlberg, on vocals. Less exuberant, “Elegy For Thelonious” is a beautiful composition where Correa recites a poem by Yusef Komunyakaa and infuses "Abide with Me" with a rock posture. Trombonist Bryan Drye, cornetist Kirk Knuffke, and Lyricon player Jeremy Udden deliver captivating solos on this track.
Favoring an aesthetic informed by experimental streaks, the invertebrate “Scallop’s Scallop” is an avant-jazz foray that serves Knuffke’s improvisational facility and ingenuity. In a similar fashion, the contrapuntal “Wrinkle on Trinkle” features a catchy alto solo by Udden, bending and twisting to the point of abstraction while a dissimulated funky rhythm defines the groundwork. The album closes with “Brake Tune” (an allusion to “Break’s Sake”) is introduced by Hery Paz's severe tenor discourse, but ends up in a playful mode, enclosing deft rhythm manipulation, a noticeable synth venture by Leo Genovese, and unabashed counterpoint.
Overall, the album highlights Carlberg’s orchestration capabilities and the quality of his compositions. The positive result is a consequence of the masterful execution by the talented players on this recording.
Favorite Tracks:
04 - Elegy For Thelonious ► 05 - Scallop’s Scallop ► 06 - Wrinkle on Trinkle