Label: Self released, 2024
Personnel - Alex Scott: saxophones; Anais Pasanau Miró: clarinets; Willem Suilen: piano; Conrad Noll: bass; Carl Zinsius: drums.
Carl Zinsius, a German drummer based in Cologne, brings together an European quintet of colorists to perform music from the late groundbreaking pianist Carla Bley. The group places a strong emphasis on Bley’s harmonic and melodic nuances, opting for a contemporary chamber charm that eschews harsh textures.
The journey begins with the mesmerizing quintuple meter of “Five Banana”, where subtleties within the unison melody and expansive harmonic progressions are explored. There’s a bass solo at the outset by Conrad Noel, followed by rich contributions from Dutch saxophonist Alex Scott and pianist Willem Sullen. The latter is also featured in the melodically intriguing “Three Blind Mice”, organizing a powerful discourse full of energy.
“Donkey”, underlined by a swinging pace, reveals humorous Monk-esque accents, while the splendid “Ida Lupino”, offering a strong slide of nostalgia, glides gracefully with elegance and poise towards a final section immersed in intensity and emotion. “Sad Song” maintains a softer register, featuring shuffling brushwork, poignant pianism, lachrymose clarinet, and soulful tenor blowing.
Fragmentation and disruptive moves anchor “Real Life Hits”, whose sultry rhythm provides a warm atmosphere for Spanish clarinetist Anais Pasanau Miró’s chromatic designs and pleasant trills. The bandleader also stretches out here in the course of the vamping closing section. Prior to conclude the album with the straightforward storytelling of “Dreams So Real”, Zinsius and his peers present an intuitive reading of “King Korn”, whose loose intro incorporates both unisons and counterpoint with sax and bass clarinet at the fore, as well as intimate moments for bass and piano.
Through their own interpretations of Bley’s compositions, the Carl Zinsius Project delivers an accessible yet fully realized debut album that should draw attention on both sides of the Atlantic. The effort and emotion poured into this album is palpable, and would be great to hear them playing their own tunes in the future.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Five Banana ► 06 - Sad Song ► 08 - Real Life Hits