Label: Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, 2023

Personnel - Sam Bardfeld: violin; Jacob Sacks: piano; Michael Sarin: drums.

Violinist/composer Sam Bardfeld has the ability to employ traditional elements in his music without sounding linear or polished. His music is not totally free, as it is a perfectly structured work with themes and improvisation sections, but the mindset is close to what we find in free sessions, having exploration as its main focus. Refuge, his fourth album as a leader, brings him together with pianist Jacob Sacks, whom I love to hear playing here, and drummer Michael Sarin, who infuses elegance and beneficial understatement in the process. Together they give him a thrilling blend of stable and adventurous support.

The album opens with “It Might Not Work”, which advances with confident, well-measured steps and penetrating melodies. Sacks creates tension with occasional sudden strokes in the lower register, but also infuses lots of harmonic color. He plays unaccompanied for a while, before the rhythmic flow is resumed with a marching-like cadence.

Other Bardfeld-penned titles that stand out are the upbeat “A Ribbon of Sooty Thought” and the world-music-induced “On the Seat of Which”. The former is an AABA-structured piece whose swinging vibration and bop allure suggests an unheard mix between Stephane Grapelli and Don Pullen. Later on, Sacks’ out-of-the-box creativity takes it to more challenging territories, and we can spot a transient shift from quadruple to triple meter. The latter cut, with its violin plucks and bow fluency, recalls Billy Bang as the trio charges through variations.

This is music that exists at the border of post-bop and avant-jazz, and the two covers on the album, although distinct in style, demarcate light and shade with a variety of going-ons. With a strong contemporary pop-rock affiliation, the trio tackles Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” with a propagative brushed drum groove and delicious noir tones, which Sacks makes sure to maintain during Bardfeld’s solo. The other is the epic “Refuge”, a product of the musical mind of late pianist Andrew Hill (from his 1965 masterpiece Point of Departure), which, via smart figures, interesting ideas and slippery slides is turned into an emotionally engaging rendition.

Bardfeld’s approach brilliantly channels the American culture in its most different refuges. The credit goes not only to the violinist but also to his partners who melt their strong personalities into the music.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - It Might Not Work ► 02 - Atlantic City ► 04 - On the Seat of Which

Label/Year: Brooklyn Jazz Underground, 2017

Lineup - Sam Bardfeld: violin; Kris Davis: piano; Michael Sarin: drums.

New York violinist-composer Sam Bardfeld has a natural inclination for avant-garde jazz, yet he has had other enriching experiences in his career such as recording with the rock star Bruce Springsteen (three albums) and Joel Harrison’s String Choir (one album). He’s also a member of The Jazz Passengers and was part of the Anthony Braxton’s prestigious Trillium J Orchestra.

After a 12-year discontinuity (his sophomore album Periodic Trespasses was released in 2007 on the Fresh Sound label), Bardfeld returns alongside Kris Davis, a master pianist in the art of creating dynamic/ecstatic textures, and Michael Sarin, a highly adaptable drummer and genre-bending jazz militant. Together, they render five Bardfeld originals and two covers, bringing The Great Enthusiasms into life.

The trio strides into action through the teasingly provocative “Fails While Daring Greatly”, which displays questioning and exclamative violin expressions hovering a fine piano-drums texture delivered at a 4/4 mid-tempo. Bardfeld strolls in the company of Sarin, but is later joined by the emulation of a walking bass movement put out by Davis. The latter also improvises with the rhythmic inventiveness that got her recognition.

“Resignation Rag” is made of similar material as the previous tune, except that, evoking an older musical style, Bardfeld draws more from the blues in his speech and Sarin becomes fairly playful in his responses. Davis also works dexterously with both hands during the time reserved for her individual expedition.

Full of shifting passages, “Winner Image” starts with wide-ranging violin melodies and soft cymbal caresses, assuming a dreamlike posture with the addition of an ethereal piano. The bandleader suddenly jumps into a spiral of fast, circular moves before giving total freedom to the pianist, who builds an unorthodox bouncy dance that only ends with the theme’s statement.

A beautifully flowing, emotionally charged rendition of “Because the Night”, a 70s pop/rock composition by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, comprises both scaled up accentuations and peaceful moments of relaxation. The album also features another Bardfeld’s American rock favorite, “King Harvest” by The Band.

The conclusive gesture, “The 37th Time I Have Spoken”, evinces a dual nature, mixing lyric and waggish tones as it progressively explores and spreads its concentrated inner energy. The theme is made of an emphatic juxtaposition of whispered strummed violin, delicate piano tact, and accurate percussive awareness.

Bardfeld is very much effective in the way he builds music, experimenting in accordance with his unique vision and taking advantage of the enthusiastic passion he feels for this particular genre. Rather than clashing, the trio advances collectively, finding an exquisite purity and climactic astonishment in their procedures.

Favorite Tracks:
02- Resignation Rag ► 04 - Because the Night ► 07 - The 37th Time I Have Spoken