Label: Intakt Records, 2020
Personnel - Christoph Irniger: tenor saxophone; Raffaele Bossard: bass; Ziv Ravitz: drums; Loren Stillman: alto saxophone; Nils Wogram: trombone.
Formed in 2012, the trio of Swiss tenor saxophonist Christoph Irniger - featuring Raffaele Bossard on bass and Ziv Ravitz on drums - appears on Open City with an augmented frontline, a result from the addition of alto saxophonist Loren Stillman and guest trombonist Nils Wogram. The album title (alluding to New York City) was taken from the 2011 novel of the same name by Nigerian-American Teju Cole, an inspiration in some measure for a new set of music - eight compositions by Irniger and two by Bossard.
The rhythmic delineation of Ravitz introduces “My World”, which opens the session with a strong sense of ‘song’, yet mixing a bit of avant-garde elegance and rock stamina. On occasion, the two sax players create a somewhat off-center feel when blowing in parallel in certain sections of the theme statement due to the quirky intervals produced.
The title track brings fragmented angular melodic ideas in the head. The improvisations are divided in two sections: first Stillman, whose bold intervallic leaps help forming phrases of wise metric, and then a swinging shared moment where Irigner and Wogram are set adrift to chatter and exchange ideas. There are other tunes denoting a similar posture, cases of “The New Dope”, where we can indulge in a passionate saxophone duel, and Bossard’s animated “40 Years of an Old Wise Lady”, in which the group commemorates at a moderately busy pace, adding some muscle to the process.
On “Calling”, Irniger and Stillman coax the folk and the blues right out of their horns, but on the quieter pieces, “Time” and “Ballad”, it’s Wogram who shines brightly as he uses a skilled language to draw a mellow, beautiful brass sound. The latter piece in particular features all three horn players working solidly together.
The unorthodox rhythm that sets Irniger’s “Hot and Humid” captures with bracing clarity the drag and affliction associated with scalding temperatures, while Bossard’s “Mass Media Minion” is catapulted by a groove in seven and crafted with a freewheeling attitude.
Boasting a direct style that strives for sincerity, Irniger provides us with a compellingly structured avant-garde jazz session that goes down nice and easy.
Grade B+
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Open City ► 05 - 40 Years of an Old Wise Lady ► 07 - The New Dope