Label: Self released, 2020
Personnel - Foo Jeng Wong: piano; Robert Mac Vega-Dowda: trumpet; Anton Derevyanko: tenor sax; Ethan Santos: trombone; John Koh: upright bass; Ilya Blazh: drums + string quartet.
Hailing from Malaysia, pianist Foo Jeng Wong holds a degree in Music Performance from Berklee College of Music and was recently admitted at Manhattan School of Music for the Fall 2021. His debut album, Quiet Night Thoughts, is a musical cocktail comprising six tracks limned with both compositional discipline and fetching improvisation. However, the final outcome gets slightly compromised by an imposed diversity that bombards the listener with contrasting elements in tone, not within each song, but from track to track.
“Canvas” and “Inner Monologue” have enough sustenance for our ears, becoming the most accomplished pieces on the album. The former, introduced by Ilya Blazh’s drum work and delivered in seven, is dramatized with strings and boosted by vibrant solos from trumpeter Robert Mac Vega-Dowda and tenor saxophonist Anton Derevyanko, whose zigzagging lines are unerringly backed by Wong’s sequential harmonies. Conversely, the latter piece, driven by a strong post-bop force, swings aplomb after the head as an invitation for the soloists - Wong, Vega-Dowda and Blazh in the case - to create further.
Completely disparate in the mood, “Oration” is a solemn piano-less chamber piece written for a quartet of strings - violinists Derek Song and Myra Choo, violist Jace Kim, and cellist Yi-Ming Hsu. It feels completely out of context here, even considering some relatable patterns on the closing number, “Marco”, a song written for a Berklee friend who passed, and in which Wong combines pop and classical atmospheres to achieve a dramatic effect.
If the disc’s opener, “A Prayer in Spring”, is gently stirred by the noticeable propulsive motion of the drummer and the fine brass melodies delivered by trombonist Ethan Santos, then “Blackberry Winter”, the sole non original in the lineup, places the trumpet in the lead, while piano, bass and brushed percussion keep riding gentle waves and shifting tempos with hushed sensitivity. Both pieces mix a certain invention with an air of familiarity.
Surrounded by skilled players here, Wong shows to possess his own vision and approach. Even if, in the present case, the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts, there are pieces with particular moods/arrangements that made me want to them.
Grade B-
Favorite Tracks:
01 - A Prayer in Spring ► 02 - Canvas ► 03 - Inner Monologue