Label: Sunnyside Records, 2021
Personnel - Ethan Iverson: piano; Ingrid Jensen: trumpet; Dayna Stephens: tenor saxophone; Ben Street: bass; Lewis Nash: drums + Umbria Jazz Orchestra
The imaginative pianist/composer/arranger Ethan Iverson celebrates the music of Bud Powell, a leading figure in the development of bebop and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all times, through a big band work recorded live at the 26th edition of Umbria Jazz Winter in 2018. In addition to the Umbria Jazz Orchestra, the suite features a core quintet of renowned first-call jazz musicians - trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, bassist Ben Street, drummer Lewis Nash and Iverson himself - in an attempt to evoke the only session recorded by Powell to include horns (1949).
In terms of arrangements, the inspiration came from Stravinsky, Carla Bley, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie, in a program of 16 tracks - eight by Iverson, seven by Powell and Thelonious Monk’s “52nd Street”.
The lyrical melodic intricacies and flying chordal scents of a number of Powell’s hits are executed with incredible power - “Celia” is given a lush arrangement with luminous hard-bop flair and where sax and trumpet float over the automatic rhythmic interlock of Street and Nash; the 1949 composition “Tempus Fugit” is delivered with orchestral punch, announced by the brilliancy of Nash’s drumming and featuring searing solos from Iverson and Jensen; “Bouncing With Bud” leisurely swings after an authoritative sax/trumpet statement in unison; and the defiant swagger of “Wail” finds purpose in a faster tempo and brisker workout.
Iverson’s “Bud Powell in the 21st Century” is split into two parts, the first of which is a chorale expressed with reasonable linearity, and the second, a swinging stream that includes not only Powell’s nimble piano improvisation over “Cherokee” but also an explicit tenor avowal of passionate post-bop delivered by Stephens, with layered contrapuntal horn fills as stereo reinforcements. Another composition by the bandleader, “Nobile Paradiso”, also employs Powell’s thoughts on “All The Things You Are”, presenting no clutter of any kind as it straddles between relaxation and buoyancy. There are also five Iverson-penned ‘simple spells’ intercalated throughout, and the last of them serves to give notice of “I’ll Keep Loving You”, where Giovanni Hoffer’s French horn comes to the fore.
The rhythmic eccentricity of the Latin-soaked “Un Poco Loco”, one of Powell’s most cherished pieces, brings a sensational closure to a record that, sealed with Iverson’s unique creativity, opens up a glorious new phase in his career.
Grade A-
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Bud Powell in the 21st Century, Part 2: Continuity ► 03 - Celia ► 16 - Un Poco Loco