Michael Feinberg - Blues Variant

February 2, 2023

Label: Criss Cross Jazz, 2023

Personnel - Noah Preminger: tenor saxophone, flute; Leo Genovese: piano, keyboards; Michael Feinberg: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums + Dave Liebman: soprano saxophone, flute (#5-7);

Boasting two great saxophonists in the frontline of his energizing group, bassist/composer Michael Feinberg can make his elected moods range from portentous to puerile. The horn players are the exciting tenorist Noah Preminger and the accomplished sopranist Dave Liebman. Both had joined him on From Where We Came (Steeplechase, 2020), but here they expand timbral possibilities by adding flute. Argentinian keyboardist Leo Genovese is a regular collaborator, having played on his debut The Elvin Jones Project (Sunnyside, 2012) as well as on the enlivening Hard Times (Fresh Sound, 2021). The novelty here is the distinguished drummer Nasheet Waits who successfully pairs up with the bassist over the course of ten tracks.

Blues Variant is launched with the title track, a spectacular blues exercise carrying a buoyant latin pulse and odd meter signature (13/4). There’s plenty of exuberance and plasticity coming out of the piano solo, in which Genovese dances in and out with an obstinate oblique drive. He goes through it again on the great “Saqqara”, a modal, Middle Eastern-influenced piece in 5/4 that turns to swinging motion to better serve Preminger’s authoritative statement. Before that, there’s imaginative flute fantasy.

The aforementioned numbers are Feinberg’s but there’s a fine rendition of Herbie Hancock’s mercurial and ever-swinging “The Eye of the Hurricane”, which arrives steeped bluesy configurations and features Liebman in a melodically engaging solo that zigzags with laser precision. “The Water Spirit Brought Us, The Water Spirit Will Take Us Home” is a Feinberg composition inspired by Liebman’s waltzes of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The piece has a particularly exciting Preminger solo stacked with Coltranean bends.

The bandleader is in evidence on the latter piece, but he further shines unaccompanied on “Improvisation (for Leslie)”. After “Cycle Song”, in which electric bass and Fender Rhodes pavements refreshingly grounds it in smooth crossover territory, the album comes to an end with “Year of the Ox”, a recipient of a groovy Afro-Cuban pulse, quirky melodies and an acute sense of harmony.

In the space of four recordings, Feinberg has established himself as a resolute bandleader and composer in the traditional sense, who likes to infuse his tunes with rhythmic sustenance.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Blues Variant ► 02 - Saqqara ► 05 - The Eye of the Hurricane

Michael Feinberg - Hard Times

November 10, 2021

Label: Fresh Sound New Talent, 2021

Personnel - Godwin Louis: alto saxophone; Noah Preminger: tenor saxophone; Billy Buss: trumpet; Orrin Evans: piano; Leo Genovese: synth, keyboards, organ; Michael Feinberg: acoustic and electric bass; Jeff Tain Watts: drums; Gabriel Globus-Hoenish: percussion. Guest appearance by Randy Brecker: trumpet (#9)

Bassist/composer Michael Feinberg releases his eight album as a leader, a successful culmination of the challenges and opportunities imposed by the pandemic. He hired a fantastic group of musicians to play some of his own tunes plus four covers, with Miles Davis’ “Nardis” being the most distinguished of them. His rhythmically defiant arrangement of the latter piece, initially handled with a groovy bass figure and hip-hop color in the rhythm, plays with tempo, moods and styles, including hard-swinging passages and sumptuous Latin segments. Besides the energy of Jeff Tain Watts, for whom Feinberg partly wrote his music, there’s also trumpeter Billy Buss’ elegant muted sound.

Feinberg favors a very eclectic writing, and if “Introduction” carries a slick R&B feel with Orrin Evans and Leo Genovese handling the keyboard chores on piano and synths, respectively, “The Husafell Stone” plunges into bouncy tradition while bringing to mind the music of Freddie Hubbard, Blue Mitchell and Hank Mobley. On the latter tune, Watts stretches at the outset, and I admire how Evans handles his improvisation.

While hard-bop is mixed with pronounced gospel tinge to shape the optimistic “Hard Times” (penned by saxophonist David ‘Fathead’ Newman), it’s a Stevie Wonder-esque funky vibe that animates “Janky in the Middle”, where Buss shows his glossy melodic side in opposition to Godwin Louis, whose zigzagging alto arrives with plenty of accentuation and timbral allurement. Both musicians end up having a lively discussion.

Two McCoy Tyner compositions were selected to be included on the track list, with “Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit” standing out through a Latin jazz-meets-rock that suggests Carlos Santana. It features Gabriel Globus-Hoenish’ well-tuned percussion throughout, and a blistering drum solo by Watts at the end.

Boasting propulsive licks in its melodic vocabulary, the synth-infused “Monkeys Never Cramp” provides the most exciting playing of the set. Playful, busy and elastic, the piece features guest trumpeter Randy Brecker.

The music has that enthralling appeal and easygoing vibe that satisfies with aplomb. A positive, energetic response to the hard times.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Nardis ► 03 - The Husafell Stone ► 09 - Monkeys Never Cramp

Michael Feinberg - From Where We Came

November 18, 2020

Label: SteepleChase, 2020

Personnel - Noah Preminger: tenor saxophone; Dave Liebman: soprano saxophone; Gary Versace: piano; Michael Feinberg: bass; Ian Froman: drums.

The seventh outing as a leader from rising star bassist/composer Michael Feinberg offers an accomplished set of tunes and features a well-versed lineup that includes multi-generational saxophonists - veteran master Dave Liebman and today’s revitalizing force Noah Preminger - plus a cohesive rhythm section in which he links up with Gary Versace on piano and Ian Froman on drums.

A notorious swinger, Feinberg demonstrates to have a warm and easily appealing bass playing that sparks with a lovely glow, while composition-wise, he melds tradition and modern jazz sensibilities with an organic disposition.

The leadoff track “Louisville”, named after the city where the boxer Muhammad Ali was born, is the perfect example, sliding between epic modal jazz and blithe Latin-tinged passages. The rhythmically tense melodies unleashed by Liebman propose an avant-garde coating, while Preminger, no less explorative, appraises idioms loaded with verbal elasticity and quick-wit. For his part, Versace, who has a gift for spontaneous melody, sequences rhythmic figures with nimble fingering.

“Cairo”, besides boasting a catchy theme, provides engrossing improvisations, while the ballad “Tyron”, honoring Nina Simone, features the saxophonists and the pianist in a reciprocal relationship.

Bouncing and bopping with optimism, “Pontiac” is illustrated with a ravishing unison melody in the head and sinewy solos. Whereas Preminger cites Mingus’ famous intro of “All the Things You Are”, Liebman goes fully Coltrane here with only drums as a support. Less extravagantly, Versace goes with super-articulated moves. Later, all three improvisers take part in energizing trade offs with Froman, who often evokes Elvin Jones’ phraseology in the course of his bold pronouncements.

In "Hamlet", the frenzied horns are on the loose again, embarking on stunning, sometimes brusque solo turns. This is a seductive piece that refers to the birthplace of John Coltrane and where it’s impossible not to go with the leisurely swinging flow provided by the rhythm team. The idea repeats on the magnetic closing cut, “Nogales”, a tribute to Charles Mingus, whose bravado and danceability reinforce the album’s sense of triumph. The vivid debate between the pair of saxophonists is impregnated with steep diagonals and unending tangents.

Feinberg’s music is as much straightforward as it is extraordinarily appealing. From Where We Came leaves an indelible impression.