Label: Adhyaropa Records, 2023
Personnel - Quinsin Nachoff: tenor saxophone; Mark Helias: acoustic bass; Dan Weiss: drums + Bergamot Quartet and The Rhythm Method (#2).
Innovative Canadian saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff infuses his music with subtleties and complexities, providing a unique listening experience. His most recent CD, Stars and Constellations, delves into long forms and draws inspiration from mythology. Musically, the off-kilter successor to Ethereal Trio (Whirlwind Recordings, 2017) guarantees powerful orchestration that absorbs disparate elements from Coltrane and Bartók. Nachoff’s resourceful jazz trio, featuring Mark Helias on bass and Dan Weiss on drums, is strengthened by two New York-based string quartets (Bergamot and Rhythm Method) in a three-piece volume where they excel at sounding fully integrated.
“Stars and Constellations: Scorpio” opens the curtain to a fantastic sonic world with pizzicato strings, thoughtful soft drumming, and combined arco work from bass and cello. Tapestries are reworked, altering intensities, and the ever-growing bass lines of Helias create monologues for certain periods. Fantastic harmonic progressions and mutating rhythms trigger a gorgeously extended saxophone improvisation in which Nachoff showcases his spontaneity, range, and systematic articulation. The finale generates cheerful movements by blending modern classical dynamics with adventurous post-bop, making it the most jazz-oriented piece of the three.
“Stars and Constellations: Sagittarius” embarks on a journey with intriguing ascending glissandi, part of the instrumental mosaics and experimental observations that constitute the whole. This progressive 20-minute crusade was inspired by the mapping procedures of physicist Stephen Morris from the University of Toronto and is sculpted with elegance, discipline, and ambition. Nachoff hits the high registers with force during a revolutionary section prone to improvisation, while Helias plunges into a more pensive state. Weiss’ rhythm flows transition from understated accompaniment to a salient and elaborated solo. The piece finishes with melodic conjoint actions.
Bridging these pieces is “Pendulum”, a tasteful chamber abstraction comprised of spiraling melodies and evincing a high degree of responsiveness and calibration. Although featuring the two aforementioned string quartets engaging with each other, it’s Weiss who stands out by enlivening the rhythmic foundation with cleverness, while the coordination and teamwork between tenor sax and strings takes the form of a conclusive call-and-response.
Finding an exceptional connection between improvisation and notated music, Nachoff continues to forge a path of his own, moving in a revelatory line of action that separates him from other creatives.
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Stars and Constellations: Scorpio ► 02 - Pendulum