Aaron Irwin Trio - (after)

Label: Adhyaropa Records, 2024

Personnel - Aaron Irwin: alto saxophone; Mike Baggetta: guitar; Jeff Hirshfield: drums.

Brooklyn-based saxophonist and composer Aaron Irwin explores similarities between music and poetry as forms of expression in his ninth album, (after), featuring long-time bandmates Mike Bagetta and Jeff Hirshfield on guitar and drums, respectively. 

The opening track, “Recuerdo”, draws inspiration from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem of the same name, featuring pointillistic harmonization, precise and direct saxophone terminology, and subdued percussion. “Frederick Douglass” incorporates electronics, firm guitar pedal points, and a brushed rhythmic flux, evoking a country music vibe that feels even stronger on “The Cemetery”, reminiscent of a Western movie soundtrack. “Daniel Boone” embraces Americana in a combination of slide guitar, dry hi-hat pulsation, and iterative bass clarinet melody. Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem is narrated by Emily Wong.

While “When I Heard at the Close of the Day” offers a folk dance atmosphere with bass clarinet at the front, while “Five Bells” veers from jazzy to noise rock, driven by Baggetta’s saturated sounds. His distorted infusions return in the audacious “The President Visits the Storm”, complemented with swinging cymbal drive and clarinet circularity. Another standout, “Pikes Peak”, is a waltzing ballad where, during the intro, Irwin’s unaccompanied alto suggests the motif at the center of its theme. There’s an interesting dialogue between the threesome here, with Baggetta forging a terrific comping, momentarily put on halt by a productive saxophone-over-drums synergy.

The music in (after) is well played but not game-changing as most tracks fail to transcend expectations. Yet, you can give it a try, especially if you’re into American music or curious about how the trio explores the expressive parallels between poetry and music.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - Five Bells ► 05 - Pikes Peak ► 09 - The President Visits the Storm

Bill Frisell - Orchestras

Label: Blue Note Records, 2024

Personnel - Bill Frisell: guitar; Thomas Morgan: bass; Rudy Royston: drums + Brussels Philharmonic and Umbria Jazz Orchestra.

The incomparable Bill Frisell, whose remarkable guitar prowess and compositional genius have left an indelible mark on the jazz scene for over four decades, ventures into new territory with Orchestras, a double album that sees him expanding his trio sound with the accompaniment of two European orchestras. This ambitious project features arrangements of some of Frisell's most iconic original compositions, along with a jazz standard, a couple of American folk songs, and a piece by Michael Gibbs, who provides all the arrangements on this captivating release. Frisell’s trio, consisting of the adaptable Thomas Morgan on bass and the tastefully diverse Rudy Royston on drums, imbues each piece with an intimacy that lends emotional potency to the ensemble's performance.

The CD1, featuring the Brussels Philharmonic under the baton of Alexander Hanson, begins with the grandiose cinematic quality of Gibb’s “Nocturne Vulgaire”, later jazzified with bluesy guitar chops set against an airy accompaniment. The standard “Lush Life” by Billy Strayhorn follows, elegantly spreading glamour and romanticism. “Beautiful Dreamer”, an early folk piece by Stephen Foster, waltzes slowly in a richly layered communion impregnated with a deep Southern feel.

Another heart-rending waltz, “Throughout”, is nestled among a collection of Frisell’s old favorites. Tracks like “Rag” traverse from folk revivalism to jazz fanfare with refinement and excitement, while “Electricity”, a country-influenced number pelted with guitar harmonics, loose drumming, and unobtrusive bass lines, becomes slightly reggae-ish as a consequence of the horn section’s counterpoint. In turn, “Richter 858 No. 7”, solidly sustained by a rhythmic foundation based on an eight-note, six-beat cycle bass groove, culminates in a majestic orchestral crescendo with the strings on vivid display.

CD2 further captivated my ears, with the musicians coloring and texturing agreeable sonic landscapes, reaching a genuine universality in their musical commitment as they listen to each other so closely. Moreover, the repertoire contains two of my favorite Frisell tunes, both enhanced by magnificent arrangements and executions. They are “Strange Meeting”, here featuring a disarmingly simple guitar solo, and “Lookout For Hope”, a marvelous jazz-rock hybrid aggrandized by Royston’s fine drum chops by the end. There’s also “Levees”, a stress-free, ternary exercise with bold horn lines, while Frisell’s guitar counterpoints by exuding more sparky than mellow tones.

Armed with Gibbs’ impeccable arrangements, Orchestras showcases Frisell's enduring creativity and marks yet another significant chapter in his illustrious discography.

Favorite Tracks:
01 (CD1) - Nocturne Vulgaire ► 04 (CD1) - Rag ► 01 (CD2) - Lookout For Hope ► 03 (CD2) - Strange Meeting

Bill Frisell - Four

Label: Blue Note Records, 2022

Personnel - Bill Frisell: guitar; Gregory Tardy: tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Gerald Clayton: piano; Johnathan Blake: drums.

The unmatchable American guitarist and composer Bill Frisell soars his six-string chords in the company of long-time collaborator Gregory Tardy on reeds, and recent partners: pianist Gerald Clayton and drummer Johnathan Blake. Four is Frisell’s third outing on the Blue Note imprint, and consists entirely of originals - nine newly composed and four taken from two previously recorded albums. They form a wonderful set of folk-rooted meditations on loss, renewal and friendship.

The record is dedicated to the late cornetist Ron Miles, but some specific tracks pay tribute to some of Frisell’s recently departed friends. The opener, “Dear Old Friend (for Alan Woodward)” is a solo-less, far-from-overwrought country song with a lullaby-ish melody. There’s also the gently persuasive “Waltz for Hal Willner”, and the wonderful collective work of “Claude Utley”, which celebrates the amazingly colorful painter of the same name, a native from Seattle who passed away in September 2021. This piece, carrying a post-bop leverage, incorporates the tenets of the bandleader’s style. Clayton gets the spotlight in the introductory section, after which an inducted three time feel stimulates Frisell and Tardy (on clarinet) to provide counterpoint.

The 3/4 time signature dominates great part of the album, and besides two of the above-mentioned pieces, you can also hear it on the expressively bluesy “Monroe”, the softly brushed “Wise Woman”, and also “Good Dog. Happy Man”, a folk piece that sports a jubilant optimism. Both latter tunes, together with the Americana-soaked ballad “The Pioneers” were previously recorded, just like the classic “Lookout For Hope”, here re-sculpted with a dreamy feel that binds the tearfully intoned bass clarinet and the warm sounds of guitar and piano.

“Invisible” navigates tranquil waters with silken melodicism, while “Holiday”, more playful, has the group tossing in organic doses of slight funk, whose freedom starts in Blake’s nimble snare rhythms.

The members’ attentive listening to one another are not hard to find, but “Dog on a Roof” is definitely special. It closes out the album in absolute delight, going from abstraction - made of relentless ostinatos, drones and other surprising effects - to an hypnotic melody-driven passage that vamps and waltzes in the background.

Displaying intelligent, anti-show-off conversations delivered with controlled intensities and precise color combinations, Four reaffirms the depth of Frisell’s musical vision.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Claude Utley ► 06 - Lookout For Hope ► 13 - Dog on a Roof

JD Allen - Americana Vol. 2

Label: Savant Records, 2022

Personnel - JD Allen: tenor saxophone; Charlie Hunter: guitar; Gregg August: bass; Rudy Royston: drums.

Saxophonist/composer JD Allen has been hailed as one of the most creative musicians of our time. His work is varied and resulted in several tour de force albums, but he found a particular voice in the American roots by playing the blues and folk songs with a unique touch. The album Americana came out in 2016, and its follow-up, Americana vol. 2, is here, a testament-in-sound that reflects the plight of southern Black sharecroppers and their early mid-1900’s exodus to the North and Midwest.

This idea frames the entire album, which features longtime associates, bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston, as well as a new partner: Charlie Hunter on guitar. Playing eight of the 11 tracks, the latter shows to be fully equipped to join the trio, and that becomes evident right from the start. “Up South” alludes to Detroit, Michigan, intensifying our imagination with vast plantations and sparse dedicated farms in operation. Here, Auggust lays down a 12-beat-cycle bass substratum that supports the intense guitar and torrid saxophone playing.

“The Battle of Blair Mountain” sonically depicts the 1921 labor uprising and armed resistance in West Virginia, sounding half-heroic and half-doleful in its procedures. The flickering vibrations of Hunter’s guitar makes it a harmonically expansive workout, and its mood gets closer to the traditional song “This World is a Mean World”, where Allen demonstrates to dominate the language profoundly. This last piece opposes to the sweet ballad “You Don’t Know Me”, a country song turned standard by Ray Charles in 1962, which doesn't fall outside the scope of the record. The triple time feel of “The Werk Song” also contrasts with the uptempo 4/4 of “Hammer and Hoe”, a piece that, inspired by the historian Robin Kelley’s book of the same name, depicts the struggling black farmers with enough sonic abrasion to make us sweat. 

Three pieces are stripped down to the trio format, allowing some tension to break underneath the seemingly idyllic surfaces. They are: “Jackie and Johnny”, notably delivered with an abstract feel and disengaged posture; “Mickey and Mallory”, a communicative effort with a strong bass pedal and coruscating brushwork by Royston; and “A Mouthful of Forevers”, which features arco bass in brooding cogitation with the sax and drums.

This is another brilliantly assembled work by Allen, who demonstrates his command of the saxophone and the genre proposed with articulated lucidity.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Up South ► 02 - This World is a Mean World ► 09 - The Battle of Blair Mountain

JD Allen - Americana

JD Allen: saxophone; Gregg August: bass; Rudy Royston: drums.

Owner of a penetrating sound and an impressive technique, the saxophonist JD Allen turns his focus to the roots by picking some wrinkled old blues and giving them the necessary retouches to fit in the actual jazzistic landscape. Another saxophone player, Noah Preminger, has followed this same concept in “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground”, in which a few Delta blues got fresh rearrangements. 
“Americana” is a respectable follow-up to “Graffiti”, Allen’s previous, and was also recorded with the glaring rhythm section composed of Gregg August on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. Powerful without being aggressive, Allen and his peers embark on irresistible grooves and strong dynamics that cause immediate empathy on the listener. Oscillating between beseeching and hard-hitting, the calls emitted by the leader’s tenor sax find consistent support in the pungent bass plucking and bowing of August, and in the laudable maneuvers of Royston, whose resolute drive and dry timbre feel quite fresh. The collective sounds simultaneously feisty, raw, and erudite.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil ► 02 – Another Man Done Gone ► 03 – Cotton