Label: Not Two Records, 2021

Personnel - Yuma Uesaka: tenor saxophone, clarinets; Marylin Crispell: piano.

Purveyors of an irresistible avant-garde jazz, the up-and-coming Japanese-American saxophonist Yuma Uesaka and the experienced American pianist Marilyn Crispell set off in an explorative duo session that merges their modern free universes. Although belonging to different generations, the musicians display a formidable sense of unity that makes their music a genuine pleasure to listen to.

Connecting contralto clarinet and piano, “Meditation” ushers in low-pitched droning patterns to create an atmosphere of stillness that is not devoid of tension. The deep tones become brighter on “Iterations I”, in which imperfect parallel phrases make this music so human. This number by the saxophonist, intensely fixated on an atonal melodic synchrony that has the earmarks of Anthony Braxton, flows with a fragmented narrative via Crispell’s marvelous configurations of chords and textures. Wielding his tenor with authority, Uesaka throws a consistent flow of ideas on top of that, in advance of a pacific and harmonically logic ending.

“Streams” starts as an idyllic composure, maintaining its sonic cultivation even when the dissonance increases and the terminology gets as much accentuated as passionately intense. The twosome is awesome in balancing delicacy and exuberance, but “Torrent” leans on the latter quality, starting with piano leaps, sharp pulses and steep angularity. In the course of this piece, Uesaka switches from tenor sax to clarinet, showing incisiveness when attacking the former instrument and being a bit more ruminative on the latter.

The funny cadenced movements that wrap up the formerly described piece take us to the closing track, “Ma/Space”, which signals the most outstanding moment on the album. Nearly prayerful, this number aims to another dimension. It’s a nod to Uesaka’s Japanese heritage and the ancient court music of Gagaku, and features a third element as a guest: Chatori Shimizu on shō, a Japanese free reed aerophone.

Don’t sleep on this record because there’s plenty of detail to be admired and enough sagacity and enchantment to make it notable.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Iterations I ► 03 - Streams ► 06 - Ma/Space

Jakob Bro: guitar; Thomas Morgan: double bass; Joey Baron: drums.

Jakob Bro is a Danish jazz guitarist with a highly identifiable sound and deep intimacy inherent to his poetic approach and pallid textures. Streams, his second album on ECM, is a more-than-competent follow-up to Gefion, released one year ago on the same label.
In this transcendent body of work, Bro kept the outstanding bassist Thomas Morgan on his side, giving the drummer’s chair to Joey Baron, who replaced Jon Christensen.

“Opal” starts with a comprehensive circumspection. The trio embarks on a touching quietude that envelops us profoundly, instigating us to fly, open our hearts and souls, and gaze the infinite light beams that can traverse the scattered clouds up in the sky.
“Heroines” assumes a song format, shinning with Bro’s blissful melodies, Morgan’s dedicated bass notes, and Baron’s frequent gentile ruffs. It conveys a glowing harmony that I refuse to let go, even when the following track arrives.

The relentlessly atmospheric “PM Dream”, dedicated to Paul Motian, expands horizons after developing delicate layers of guitar-synth that fall on top of bass free moves and pertinent percussion. Baron almost feels geometric in its strokes, eagerly trying to give the last retouches on a flawless canvas.
Cerebrally designed, “Full Moon Europa”, precedes the surprisingly groovy “Shell Pink”, which gracefully flows amidst the floating sounds created by Bro’s guitar fingerings. The rhythm section boasts an enviable tightness, fundamental to attain this level of quality.
The indelible classical undertones of “Heroines” echoes again, this time in an enchanting solo version.

Jakob Bro relies heavily on his peers to create an elegant album, free of individual exhibitionism, which is an assured itinerary for his compositional concepts. The collective does miracles as it distinctively shapes idle, hypnotizing, nocturnal, and intellectual streams of pacific nature.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – Opal ► 02 – Heroines ► 05 – Shell Pink