Label: Hammer Recordings, 2023
Personnel - Florian Arbenz: drums; Greg Osby: alto saxophone; Arno Krijger: Hammond organ.
Swiss drummer Florian Arbenz reunites with American saxophone heavyweight Greg Osby, one of his jazz heroes with whom he recorded previously at least three times, and adds Dutch organist Arno Krijger to the team. Targeted is the ninth installment of his Conversation series, which features a different lineup in every session. Of the six cuts on this album, two emanated from the pen of Arbenz and one from Osby, while the remaining three are scintillating readings of jazz standards.
Eddie Harris’ jazz-rock gem “Freedom Jazz Dance” opens the album with a free posture, but rather than conveying abstract states of mind, the trio goes straight to the gut. All layers are slowly distended. The alto saxophone introduction expands into sophisticated phrases that keep dancing in and out of the harmonic scope; the percolating tom-tom accompaniment of the first phase ends up in a locomotion propulsion; and the groovy sounds of the Hammond go from conciliatory to acerbic while infusing a psychedelic rock touch.
The program also stands out thanks to a pair of duets that lean hard on turns with risk-taking propensity. On the Osby-penned “Vertical Hold”, which first appeared on his 2005 Blue Note album Channel Three, resolute saxophone lines roll over the brushed percussive gait of the bandleader. It’s not just their dazzling vocabulary but the purity of their sounds that astonishes. The other duo effort pairs Arbenz and Krijger in a psychedelic, hard-driving interpretation of “Seven Steps to Heaven” by Victor Feldman and Miles Davis. Before attaining a rugged organ epiphany, there’s an introductory drum section with just enough transference of energy between resonating toms and effervescent cymbals.
Arbenz’s “Sleeping Mountain” conjures serene landscapes in its contemplation, but there are brief soaring moments where some mystery is felt. Gershwin’s “I Loves You Porgy” is delivered in a hushed murmur, unlike “Old Shaman”, which bubbles up with a triple time feel, having post-bop and rock elements clashing in positive ways. This trio proves capable of sonically panoramic views.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Freedom Jazz Dance ► 03 - Vertical Hold ► 06 - Old Shaman