Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Live at the Village Vanguard-Vol. 1

September 4, 2018

Label: Pi Recordings, 2018

Personnel – Steve Coleman: alto saxophone; Jonathan Finlayson: trumpet; Miles Okazaki: electric guitar; Anthony Tidd: electric bass; Sean Rickman: drums.

How infectious and original is the music of M-Base disciple and pioneer Steve Coleman! The alto saxophonist/composer has been a true creative force on the jazz scene for more than three decades, contributing with great recordings where he showcases striking new ways of improvising along with an impressive ability to play with texture and mood.

On the trail of last year's Morphogenesis, orchestrated with the extended Natal Eclipse ensemble, the saxophonist releases the double CD-set Live at the Village Vanguard-Vol. 1 (The Embedded Sets) with his most emblematic group, The Five Elements, featuring Johnathan Finlayson on trumpet, Miles Okazaki on electric guitar, Anthony Tidd on electric bass, and Sean Rickman on drums.

The band not only brings the necessary tension but also illumination on several tunes of the first set, starting with “Horda” (from the previous album), superiorly driven by a spasmodic rhythm section that underpins powerful staccato notes expelled by the frontline. Coleman overcomes conventions and transcends in an inflamed improvisation before embarking on unison lines with Finlayson, who also gleams in his own idiomatic style.

Full-throttle riffs resonate on “Djw”, inspiring a pressurized funky thrust that never loses intensity. After Okazaki’s congruent exploration, coordinated with timbral perspicacity, Coleman forges ahead in his statements by infusing incredible patterned cadences and steep accentuations. By the end, Rickman puts his flexible percussive technique at the service of the band through colorful attacks.

Slow-moving clouds are gently portrayed on “idHw” and Bunky Green’s “Little Girl I’ll Miss You”, here gradually layered with the sequential addition of drums, guitar, and then bass, flowing with a slightly Latin feel.

Marvelous intricacies and rich details are detectable, even when the groove is primal, like on “twf” or “Figit Time”, a jazz-funk piece written by Doug Hammond. This latter tune keeps bouncing oddly before touching the spiritual with Coltranean inspiration in its final segment.

“Nfr” is a legitimate swinging explosion of avant-funk and neo-bop that convinces and captivates with enraptured sensitivity. It anticipates the arrival of the closing tune, “Change of Guard” (first recorded in 86), where Coleman even scats at a blazing tempo and then slows down the pace to a swinging 4/4 finale.

Even avowing form and structure, the sense of freedom/adventure is everywhere. Coleman excites the listeners, constantly stepping outside comfort zones through unpredictable arrangements suffused with spiraling movements and a free-funk infectiousness that dazzles.

Favorite Tracks (first set):
01 – Horda ► 02 – Djw ► 07 - Nfr

Mark Turner / Ethan Iverson - Temporary Kings

August 30, 2018

Label: ECM, 2018

Personnel - Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Ethan Iverson: piano.

Tenorist Mark Turner and pianist Ethan Iverson, two resplendent titans of the current jazz scene, join forces for an intimate outing. Temporary Kings aggregates nine compositions - six by Iverson, two by Turner and one by Warne Marsh - that, besides bristling with competence, allow for space, reflection, and expansion. Ten years after meeting for the first time in New York, the two distinguished players and members of the Billy Hart Quartet release their first duo album on the ECM label, opening with the introspective wistfulness of Iverson’s “Lugano”, whose melodic traits recall “Autumn in New York”. Turner’s ethereal contribution tints everything with a celestial blue, while Iverson, a marvelous accompanist, creates intriguing textures, contributing for the permeation of yellow sun rays through the scattered soft clouds. The title refers to the Swiss city where the album was recorded.

The title track offers great contrapuntal sections with folk-like melodies running on top of stunning chords colored with contrasting tonalities. Iverson’s initially spacious solitary incursion is transformed in patterns of pointillistic notes as soon as Turner starts to explore unanticipated melodic trajectories, which continue in a brisker way on the luminous “Turner’s Chamber of Unlikely Delights”. Composed by Iverson, this chamber piece doesn’t hide jazz, classical, and even pop influences, evoking at times the successful aesthetic of Marsh/Tristano. However, a bona fide tribute to these two musicians arrives with a strong swinging feel on Marsh’s “Dixie’s Dilemma”, a bop-derived study with the same harmonic progression of “All The Things You Are”, frank bluesy lines, and propelled by Iverson’s nimble bass conduction on the left side.

The game of timbres becomes particularly noticeable on the final section of “Unclaimed Freight”, a blues with a scent of third stream, whose theme blossoms through repetitive phrases expressed in unison.

Delivered with a cool, quiet precision, “Yesterday’s Bouquet” is a lyrical ballad that sounds more ambiguous than Strayhorn’s “Lush Life”, despite some similarities between them. Iverson digs it alone, finding rich sonic palettes within an interesting arrangement.

Turner’s “Myron’s World” kicks off with a radiating saxophone introduction that shines further with the emergence of the pianist’s intuitive steps. Here, the mood comes closer to the snug post-bop of Kenny Wheeler/John Taylor, in a mix of charm and complexity.

The 3/4 melancholy of “Seven Points” is another product of Turner’s mind, closing out the record with a dreamy ambiance, equally graceful and intriguing.

Temporary Kings is a guileless jazz session whose bi-directional moves converge and diverge with an astounding conviction.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Lugano ► 06 - Unclaimed Freight ► 09 - Seven Points

Jeff Siege Siegel Quartet - London Live

August 29, 2018

Label: ARC, 2018

Personnel - Erica Lindsay: tenor saxophone; Francesca Tanksley: piano; Uli Langthaler: bass; Jeff ‘Siege’ Siegel: drums.

Drummer Jeff ‘Siege’ Siegel, a sculptor of rhythm with a tendency to spiritual post-bop and gospel-inflected modalism, showcases London Live, an 8-track album recorded at the Pizza Express Jazz Club on the last night of a 2010 European quartet tour. The band features habitual co-workers Erica Lindsay on tenor saxophone and Francesca Tanksley on piano, both contributing with originals, plus Vienna-based bassist Uli Langthaler.

Lindsay-penned “Meet Me at The Station” anchors in a radiant modal jazz, evoking the work of Coltrane, McCoy, and Chico Freeman. The piece has Siegel’s effervescent drumming highlighting ride cymbal attacks and evincing a natural ability to swing distinctively. The quartet maintains the Coltrane invocations and spiritual connotations on Tanksley’s exuberant “A New Freedom”, in which the saxophonist embarks on circular agitation and angular figures, having the pianist building harmonic blocks with perfect pedal-points. Defining the layer beneath with magical tension, Tanksley works together with the bandleader and Langthaler, who both improvise after employing skittering percussive methods and grooving pizzicatos, respectively.

If Siegel’s “Art’s Message” follows a blues-based modal form to honor the inspiring drummer Art Blakey, then “Crescent Sound” opens with the bandleader dancing on the toms before adding cymbals in an Elvin Jones-inspired drum solo. A brief hard-swinging passage holds up Lindsay’s rhythmically inventive improv fueled by crisp exclamations, which totally come to a halt when Tanksley takes the lead. Having just bass as accompaniment, she becomes unpredictably bluesy prior to the reinstatement of the avant-gardish short theme.

Tranquility is found not only on Coltrane’s “Peace On Earth”, which opens with a bass solo, but also on “M Song”, a ballad Siegel wrote for his wife, implementing harmonic movements typical from jazz standards.

With the exceptional level of interplay that characterize them, the band renders the African American spiritual “I Want Jesus To Walk With Me”, arranged by tenorist Arthur Rhames, with rock-steady tonalities and a riveting pose.

Even if not so strong as last year's King of Xhosa, London Live has an uplifting quality deriving from a rich combination of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic senses that also shows the generous and thoughtful temperament of Siegel’s compositional style.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Meet Me at The Station ► 02 - A New Freedom ► 04 - I Want Jesus To Walk With Me

Gilad Hekselman - Ask For Chaos

August 28, 2018

Label: Hexophonic/Motema Music, 2018

Personnel - Gilad Hekselman: guitar; Aaron Parks: keyboards; Rick Rosato: bass; Jonathan Pinson: drums; Kush Abadey: drums.

The demand for and accomplishment of New York-based jazz guitar stylist Gilad Hekselman, a native from Israel, is a predicted reward for his enormous talent.

Comprising 10 striking originals brought into play by two distinct new trios, Ask For Chaos is to be released on his own imprint Hexophonic Music in partnership with Motema Music. Following the classic guitar formation, The gHex Trio features bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Jonathan Pinson, whereas the adventurous bass-free ZuperOctave has Aaron Parks on keyboards and Kush Abadey on drums. Strategically, Hekselman interspersed the work of both bands so surprising effects hailed from the contrasting sounds could be a constant.

The album kicks off in ZuperOctave-mode with “Prolog00001101”, a 23-second exercise on guitar pointillism mixed with a binary-patterned electronic vibe that clearly alludes to digital technology. This piece serves as an introduction to “VBlues”, an asymmetric blues with round and methodical funky bass lines and conspicuous hi-hat monitoring the pulse. Displaying his terrific technique, Hekselman naturally builds a highly developed vocabulary with an incredible sound and extremely tasteful guitar effects. Although the melodic paths of the blues throughout the theme are easily identifiable, the piece sounds unconventionally agreeable through shifting tempos, hauntingly scintillating chord changes, and the alternation of passages that range from strenuous to delicate.

The other pieces delivered by ZuperOctave are the well-cooked “Tokyo Cookie”, where pinpointed keyboard and guitar sounds give its place to a blend of acid funk and electronica before veering again toward a prog rock direction; “Stumble”, a downbeat item based on Wayne Shorter’s “Fall”, which still allows the shinning rays of the sun crossing through its texture; “Home To You”, an enchanting song harmonically driven by Parks’ tonal chords and with improvisational guitar-piano interspersion; and the lifting “Clap Clap”, a crossover jazz celebration with Metheny-esque passages and an impactful percussive work by Abadey.

The gHex Trio starts with the hopeful ballad “It Will Be Better”, featuring Rosato’s hefty bass solo over a moderately intensive yet texturally rich guitar-drums accompaniment; the sparkling Brazilian-jazz of “Milton”, a tribute to the musical genius of Milton Nascimento; the folk-tinged “Little Song For You”; and the country pop feel of “Do Re Mi Fa Sol”, whose indelible melody can be easily whistled.

The two trios cohabit the same space seamlessly, creating a diverse program outlined with fresh artistic ideas. This is definitely a career peak for Hekselman, an already consummate young guitarist whose fulfilling music consolidates rock-steady rhythmic engagement and singing quality.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - VBlues ► 04 - Tokyo Cookie ► 07 - Home To You

Carol Liebowitz / Bill Payne - SpiderWebMandala

August 24, 2018

Label: Line Art Records, 2018

Personnel - Carol Liebowitz: piano; Bill Payne: clarinet.

Pianist Carol Liebowitz and clarinetist Bill Payne show their uncurbed appetite for sonic exploration in a spontaneously improvised setting. The amorphous nine tunes on their new album, Spiderwebmandala, were recorded live at Albuquerque’s Output Performance Space in May, 2016.

American poet Mark Webber, besides curator of the concerts, enriches “Spiderweb Mandala Flower Explosion Poem: Drishti” with his confident, hypnotic words: ‘I do not ask you to accept me, I ask you to release me…’, which sound ideal for a film noir or any enigma directed by David Cronenberg. Quite attractive in its restlessness, the piece is an intermittent boil that never escalates into a proper climax but rather scouts striking chordal movements, an interspersion of incisive runs and facile melodic susurrations, as well as multiple sharp moves coming from both instruments. Webber also narrates “Mixtures of Aroma in the Smoke” with an unhurried pace and insouciant posture. The course of action gradually leads us to places where the lyrical and the turbulent cohabit.

Dancing to the “Desert Dance” may be hard due to its sinuous contortions and asymmetries, but it's definitely doable. The soft and tender clarinet goes along with the dreamy piano textures on certain occasions, yet, colliding here and there with the vehemence of Liebowitz's harmonic dissonances.

If “Secrets” upholds communication by having complex yet never meandering pianistic textures and fragments responding to the clarinet’s melodies, then the dramatic “Tempest” becomes one of the most satisfying collective improvisations on the album, offering rapid clarinet squawks on top of lower and middle-register mosaics of pianistic energy.

Expertly controlled in intensity, mood and timbre, “Hidden Canyon” contains floating labyrinthine lines over whether delicate or gusty harmonic drives delivered in a broad registrar range. The skittish “Vanishing Point” encloses all the above in its entangling parts, but also has Payne probing several rhythmic figures with a wider sense of melody.

Spiderwebmandala is a purely explorative duo album that, without transcending, should be well received by the avant-jazz communities.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Spiderweb Mandala Flower Explosion Poem ► 05 - Tempest ► 09 - Vanishing Point

Trygve Seim - Helsinki Songs

August 22, 2018

Label: ECM Records, 2018

Personnel - Trygve Seim: tenor and soprano saxophones; Kristjan Randalu: piano; Mats Eilertsen: double bass; Markku Ounaskari: drums.

Norwegian reed player Trygve Seim puts a new quartet together with Kristian Randalu on piano, Mats Eilertsen on bass, and Markku Ounaskari on drums. Most of the material on Helsinki Songs, his eighth album as a leader/co-leader for the ECM label, was written in the capital of Finland, conveying a lyrical sentiment that gravitates toward the contemplative. Throughout the 11 originals, autumnal and wintry tones are combined in gracious perfection.

The crystalline opener, “Sol’s Song”, emulates ravishing landscapes that take over our imagination thanks to the efficacious integration of relaxed melodies, simple pop-derived harmony, and a velvety rhythm, in a replication of Jan Garbarek’s space/time aesthetic.

Sweetly waltzing at its core, “Helsinki Song” is another idyllic trip to a forlorn, untouched piece of nature with no peaks nor valleys. Eilertsen never abandons completely the rhythmic figure of his bass ostinato, working together with the disciplined harmonic progressions of the piano to sustain the lethargic unison phrasing by Seim and Randalu. The Estonian pianist was emotionally catchy in his inventive improvisation.

Unfolding like Eastern laments, “New Beginning” and “Sorrow March” show deep spiritual intention. The former develops from a static course of action, created by low-toned pedal suspensions and effective mallet drumming technique, to an unclouded ballad; the latter, as the name suggests, is a melancholic meditation sparked off by Ounaskari’s amiable snare gnarls and cymbal colors. In turn, the pastoral reverie in “Katya’s Dream” took inspiration from Stravinsky.

You won’t find the quartet only creating feathery moments of pure reflection like on “Ciaconna Per Embrik” and “Birthday Song (For Mats Eilertsen)” - nostalgically penned for the bassist’s 40th anniversary, but also ensuring bolder adventures while stretching musical boundaries like on “Randalusian Folk Song”, a piece driven by beautiful drum attacks and depth of groove, and the surprising “Yes Please Both”, a short Ornette-inspired composition that boasts a malleable foundation through expressively plucked bass statements and responsive drumming. A glorious ascendant movement from Seim produces a great point of entrance while Randalu supplements through audacious swirls that burn with melodic engagement.

Stimulating in its quietness and hauntingly poignant in its textures, Helsinki Songs favors slow-drag tempos and embraces a memorably dusky lyricism, exposing an attractive anti-climax nature. It’s an endearing work by Trygve Seim, who definitely deserves wider attention.

Favorite Tracks:
03 - New Beginning ► 06 - Sorrow March ► 08 - Randalusian Folk Song

Tord Gustavsen Trio - The Other Side

August 20, 2018

Label: ECM Records, 2018

Personnel - Tord Gustavsen: piano; Sigurd Hole: acoustic bass; Jarle Vespestad: drums.

Generating deeply moving sounds through a close interplay, the Tord Gustavsen Trio, inactive since 2007, takes us to The Other Side with staggering new originals and admirable renditions of traditional songs and classical pieces, including three by J.S. Bach. The Norwegian pianist and composer plays alongside his longtime drummer Jarle Vespestad and the new bassist Sigurd Hole, two excellent accompanists who provide him with all the rhythmic sustenance and enchanting texture he needs to make this one of the most gratifying releases of his career.

The opening title, “The Tunnel”, shows Gustavsen and his partners plunging into tranquil, limpid waters that reflect their ability to create beautiful, intimate moods with a ample musical spaciousness. The graceful pianism stresses the poignant primacy of the melody while the autonomous pulse emphasizes it even more.

The piece that follows, “Kirken, Den Er Et Gammelt Hus”, was penned by the 19th-century Norwegian composer Ludvig Mathias Lindeman and comes to life through a radiant bass intro. It maintains a haunting sophistication in sound as the folk intonations increase. The melodies, true poetic declamations, have a remarkably soothing effect, soaring on top of an undeviating pulse that never ceases to underline diligence, unity, and generosity.

If “Re-Melt” is a sensitive 3/4 composition with a few occasional Jarrett-esque rhythmic accents, then, I would call “Duality”, a pure, free, and minimalist improvised meditation where scattered tom-tom initiatives, gliding bow work, and profound melodic inspirations carve out abundant room for us to picture immeasurable, resplendent landscapes.

The influence of classical music is unconcealed on tunes like the traditional “Ingen Vinner Frem Til Den Evige R”, a parade of deep-toned textures that make up a mournful love song; “Taste and See”, which I can imagine being sung by Sting with the same expressionism of “My One and Only Love”; and the soft-as-a-whisper “Jesu Meine Freude - Jesus, Det En”, where the interpretation of a chorale by Bach splices with a traditional song, falling in between the liturgical and the nocturnal.

The downbeat yet fluent “O Traurigkeit” is another Bach’s hymn, which, despite taciturn in tone, is rich in emotion and solid in texture. It’s a good example on how the trio puts delicate fragility and tensile creativity in the same context.

Returning to a slow triple meter, they dig the sedate title track with the habitual curvy lines that characterize Gustavsen’s music, but it is on the introspective “Curves” that they get closer to perfection. This is a magnificent illustration of an extramundane world filled with bliss, tenderness, and sensitivity.

There are no extravagances but plenty of utterly beautiful moments that take you to another dimension. The record is soulful and inspired, and Gustavsen and his bandmates are all refined musical taste, originality, and perception.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Tunnel ► 02 - Kirken, Den Er Et Gammelt Hus ► 12 – Curves

Matt Lavelle & Reggie Sylvester - Retrograde

August 11, 2018

Label: ESP Disk, 2018

Personnel - Matt Lavelle: trumpet, flugelhorn, clarinet; Reggie Sylvester: drums.

Trumpeter/clarinetist Matt Lavelle and percussionist Reggie Sylvester, two former members of the Bern Nix Quartet, have been active participants in the New York avant-jazz scene. Lavelle was a student of Ornette Coleman and recorded with William Parker, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, and Jameel Moondoc. The latter two also played with Sylvester, who has saxophonists Charles Gayle and James Brandon Lewis on his list of collaborators.

Retrograde, the duo album they are now releasing on ESP Disk, was envisioned as a sonic interstellar journey that continues Interstellar Space, Coltrane/Ali’s outstanding enterprise. It’s a risky move that couldn’t have been more successful. Taking alternative routes and orbits to reach five other planets and one star, they invite us to sonic realms where the gravity varies according to the different sites.

“Uranus” is their first stop and the sounds brought from there are marvelous. They assemble cuíca hums, soft and intelligible flugelhorn melodies that are later expanded into circular or motivic movements with occasional perplexing runs, and a percussive approach that may rely on the simplicity of a single drum stroke or on the energetic flux of multiple cymbal colors.

The following destination is “Neptune”, another icy planet, whose sounds are more scorching than frigid. Devised as an odd dance with rhythmic discontinuances, it’s slightly more aggressive than its predecessor. Well backed by the percussionist, the clarinetist blows emphatic lines, whether creating sweet or ferocious passages that are brought to an equilibrium through a gritty avant-jazz facility.

The self-restraint “Pluto” starts off with dry and wet percussion thumps and cavernous cuíca timbres. Progressing at its own leisure, the tune finds unimposing meows that get further momentum when Lavelle makes his clarinet descend to lower registers.

The thermometer reaches high levels on “Mercury”, a torrid experience with heavy trumpet-percussion crossfire. The undimmed rhythmic figure placed at its center follows the direction of the blues while Sylvester’s rhythmic adherence feels very supportive of the force and ardor that comes out of the melodic construction.
If “The Sun” attaches the rumble and wail of the clarinet to resonant spanking cymbals, “The Earth” blossoms with jauntiness while funneling trumpet perambulations into a pop/rock rhythm that grows in syncopation.

Highly energizing, Retrograde is a mature conceptual work; an intense set of music that shines with brilliance. It was dedicated to late guitarist Bern Nix.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Uranus ► 02 - Neptune ► 04 - Mercury

Charles Lloyd & The Marvels + Lucinda Williams - Vanished Gardens

August 8, 2018

Label: Blue Note Records, 2018

Personnel - Charles Lloyd: tenor saxophone, flute; Lucinda Williams: vocals; Bill Frisell: guitar; Greg Leisz: pedal steel guitar and dobro; Reuben Rogers: bass; Eric Harland: drums.

Exceptional saxophonist Charles Lloyd reconnects with The Marvels - Bill Frisell on guitar, Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar and dobro, Reuben Rogers on bass and Eric Harland on drums - in order to release their conjoined sophomore album, Vanished Gardens, on the Blue Note imprint. For this work, the band summoned singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams, who lends her voice to half the tunes on the ten-track album.

Among the songwriting credits for this work we find not only Lloyd and Williams but also Jimi Hendrix, Thelonious Monk, and Tommy Wolf/Fran Landesman. The latter’s “Ballad of the Sad Men”, a tune popularized by Roberta Flack and instrumentally rendered by Keith Jarrett, is amiably cooked with Lloyd jumping in halfway to blow our minds with his sui generis vocabulary. This strategy is also put into effect on “Monk’s Mood”, a marvelous duet with Frisell, who prepares the ground for the saxophonist’s musical enlightenment with a relaxed introduction. This song is the closest they get to jazz since the project’s philosophy falls more into a blend of country, folk, blues and rock genres.

Take Lloyd’s brand new “Defiant”, for example. Molded as a country jazz song, it explores the lyrical quality of the melody with reflexive intuition, taking us to vast green landscapes swept by a smooth, breezy wind. If the sturdiness of Rogers’ bass lines feels great with the guitars soaring atop, then the title track pushes us to more explorative adventures. An effect-infused guitar riff borrows some influence from traditional Japanese and electronic music alike, while the band interlocks it with a country-rock tinge. Lloyd breaks free with avant-garde ambiguity and flanked by a compound of stellar riffs and voicings on top of a static rhythm. After flickering guitar waves and a rhythmic decrescendo, he concludes the tune alone.

Sporting interesting timbral idiosyncrasies, Williams is confident and strong on “Dust”, an original in which she shows off brittle and compact tones in the lower and higher registers, respectively. While she sings with deep sentiment, we occasionally hear Lloyd’s fills in the background. He phrases with elliptical elasticity, fervor and sophistication. Also from Ms. Williams’ repertoire we have “Ventura”, a Tom Waits-esque 4/4 pop song; “We’ve Come Too Far To Turn Around”, a 3/4 country pop tune with introductory Eastern sounds by Lloyd; and “Unsuffer Me”, which recalls the demonstrative country rock style of Patti Smith, here delivered with a bluesy feel.

The album is complete with one of those magnificent flute-driven blues by Lloyd, “Blues For Langston and LaRue”, and a soulful rendition in trio of Jimi Hendrix’s “Angel”, beautifully sung by Williams and adapted to befit her style.

Drawing inspiration from the roots of American music, the band effortlessly coat these songs with a charming charisma. With The Marvels establishing an unshakable bridge between styles, Lloyd/Williams collaboration is indeed successful.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Defiant ► 03 - Vanished Gardens ► 09 - Monk’s Mood

Jason Robinson - Resonant Geographies

August 6, 2018

Label: PfMentum Records, 2018

Personnel - Jason Robinson: tenor and alto saxophones, flute; JD Parran: alto saxophone, contra-alto clarinet, bass flute; Marty Ehrlich: alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute; Oscar Noriega: bass clarinet, clarinet, alto saxophone; Michael Dessen: trombone; Marcus Rojas: tuba; Bill Lowe: tuba, bass trombone; Liberty Ellman: guitar; Drew Gress: bass; George Schuller: drums; Ches Smith: drums, glockenspiel.

Jason Robinson is a sure-footed reedist, composer, bandleader and improviser, who might not be as prolific as some of the ten peers that join him in this seven-movement suite recording, but he definitely knows where he wants to take his Resonant Geographies. All tracks on the album have different sonic topologies as they were inspired by specific locations and memories.

Robinson’s unaccompanied saxophone suggests a sort of chant in the preliminary statements of ”Facing East”, a jaunty post-bop imagination that has 1981 Presidio as picturesque stimulus. However, instead of following that approach, he exerts circular and elliptical movements, multiphonics, and configures nimble ostinatos before embarking in extended unison phrases with the horn section. His inflamed, fluent, groove-inflected solo finds room to breathe on top of a percolating swinging rhythm. He is preceded by Marty Ehrlich on alto saxophone, and followed by guitarist Liberty Ellman, also a fabulous accompanist, who picks up the tail of his solo to give a great speech tinted by vigorous horn fills. Going in an opposite direction, “Facing West” doesn’t hide Henry Threadgill’s blatant influences in a smart orchestration that has tuba, trombone, guitar, and shuffled drum sounds as key textural elements.

Sonically picturing Virgin Creek in 1996, “Confluence” challenges our ears with intricate accents and rhythm juxtapositions, dissolving into a frantic swing that rolls forward after Drew Gress’ extrovert bass solo. Robinson conducts a soulful, boppish statement with invigorating excitement until a vamp spotlights Ches Smith, who innately infuses ritualistic Afro thumps.

Borrowing the Afro groovy moods of Nubians of Plutonia by Sun Ra, “Futures Unimagined” moves with an irresistible, temperate rhythm, and is spiced by sinuous melodies commanded by flute. The single improviser here is Bill Lowe, who pervades his muted bass trombone digression with hoots.

“Dreaming” exposes a 3-minute introductory dance for reeds and woodwinds before setting off in a collective journey whose caravan pace allows the full range of JD Parran’s clarinet to standout. The pace is accelerated in the final section, ending up as a whimsical snare-driven parade.

The final piece, “Outcropping”, is a searching expedition that, besides thriving with fidgeting improvisations by Oscar Noriega on bass clarinet and Michael Dessen on trombone, comes energetically charged with intense percussive permutations between Smith and Schuller.

Although flooded with aesthetic influences, Jason Robinson preserves a strong artistic identity through captivating arrangements of his original material. There is certainly jazz tradition here, but also a blissful sense of contemporary vitality.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Facing East ► 02 - Futures Unimagined ► 05 - Facing West

Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas' Sound Prints - Scandal

August 2, 2018

Label: Greenleaf Music, 2018

Personnel – Joe Lovano: tenor and soprano saxophones; Dave Douglas: trumpet; Lawrence Fields: piano; Linda May Han Ho: bass; Joey Baron: drums.

Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano, two incredible composers/arrangers and stalwarts in the art of playing trumpet and saxophone, respectively, co-lead the Wayne Shorter-inspired quintet Sound Prints, for which they composed original material. Their high caliber rhythm section - pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Linda May Han Ho, and drummer Joey Baron - spends time creating intuitive bounces that would better serve the soloists while solidifying rapport. Scandal was released on Douglas' Greenleaf Music imprint and marks the band’s first studio session, following Sound Prints - Live at Monterey Jazz Festival, released on Blue Note Records in 2015.

The album’s opener is Douglas’ “Dream State”, a 5/4-metered piece whose magnificent groove underpins a pungent, gospel-inflected motif uttered with conjoint twin-like sympathy by the horn alliance. Subsequently, it becomes two separate lines that burst in a soulful combination of timbre and vocabulary. The trumpeter shows off his wide range and authority while the saxophonist engages in those inimitable, sinuous phrases that are as strapping as they are dizzying.

On Lovano’s bop-fueled “High Noon” and “The Corner Tavern”, the quintet dwells in a state of buoyant elegance. If the former swings uptempo, then the latter conquers with a calypso-like groove, featuring the horn players exchanging improvised lines with edgy moves and logic sequence. Han Ho and Fields also show their affirming soloing skills before re-entering the final theme section, while Baron edits his percussive jabs to wonderful moderation.

“Full Sun” and “Full Moon” are contrasting in tone and essence since the former, in opposition to the lyric, spacious, and quizzical latter, is an elated post-bop ride typically structured with flexible solos from bass, saxophone, and trumpet.

Shorter’s “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” and “JuJu” are equal parts inventive and reverent, and the band brings them back to life with very satisfying rhythmic ideas and melodic peculiarities. Shades of the honored saxophonist are also present on the beautiful title track, which adds some Miles and Coltrane to the mix, and also on the dreamy ballad “Ups and Downs”, both products of Douglas’ creative mind.

This is a great comeback from Sound Prints, whose effervescent and sagacious playing sounds pretty damn good.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Dream State ► 02 - Full Sun ► 09 - Full Moon

Dave Holland - Uncharted Territories

July 31, 2018

Label: Dare2 Records, 2018

Personnel: Evan Parker: tenor saxophone; Craig Taborn: keyboards, electronics; Dave Holland: upright bass; Ches Smith: percussion.

Everyone into jazz knows about the extreme versatility of English bassist/composer Dave Holland, an extraordinary bandleader and valuable sidemen. The ability and competence to play in a variety of settings - from post-bop to free jazz and from solo to big band - with a voice of his own are remarkable.

For his new quartet recording, Uncharted Territories, Holland teams up with the adventurous English saxophonist Evan Parker, inventive pianist Craig Taborn and multi-faceted percussionist Ches Smith, both American. This was the first time the latter has recorded with the bassist while Evans first joined forces with Holland in a 1968 free improvisation session for John Stevens/Trevor Watts’ Spontaneous Music Ensemble. On the other hand, Taborn was one of the four musicians on the 2013 Prism CD.

This comprehensive adventure consists of a double record mostly composed of improvised material - in duo, trio, and quartet configurations - selected from a two-day recording session. Except for three scored compositions, they entitled the 23 tracks with a code that indicates the instrumentation, the day they recorded it (Tuesday or Wednesday), and which take.

Smith’s “Thought On Earth”, the opening tune, achieves a state of meditative enchantment. It includes bowed bass, sensitive saxophone melodies, and sumptuous vibes. The quartet then casts around for tension before returning to the primitive form and texture. Prior to weaving percussive tapestries of varied intensities, Smith holds on to vibes until Taborn’s relentless voicings take their place. In turn, Holland brings his pizzicato wonders into the game while Evans’ contemplative lines are replaced with others of an untamed nature. The remaining written material consists of Holland’s tenaciously communicative “Q&A”, which first appeared on his avant/free jazz masterpiece Conference of the Birds, and Smith’s “Unsteady As She Goes”.

If “Piano Bass Percussion T1” (trio configuration, recorded on Tuesday, first take) runs loose and sketchy in its cinematic ambiguity, then “Piano Bass Percussion T2” feels rousing as it continues to burst with a rough-and-tumble beauty until a bass pedal and steady pulse gives it a rest. “Tenor Percussion W2” is a perfect vehicle for Evans’ timbral explorations and Smith’s eerie sounds; “Piano Percussion W3” displays a rock-tinged strength in a brief yet vertiginous passage; “QT12” propagates an acute swing that favors the attractive eloquence of Evans and the twisty, hasty linear notes of Taborn, before shifting in rhythm; “QW2” also boasts an odd, grooving flux that comes appended with saxophone outcries, intelligent piano work, arco bass abrasions, and cymbal screeches. Moreover, it was great to listen to the gorgeous bass-percussion duets whose tangible grooves had an immediate effect on me.

The entire program, manifesting the individual freedom and collective unity of four confident risk-takers, folds into amorphous figures, passionate interplay, and irregular trajectories pelted with rugged and decorous textures.

Favorite Tracks:
01 (disc1) - Thought On Earth ► 05 (disc1) - QT12 ► 08 (disc2) – Bass Percussion T1

Lee Konitz / Dan Tepfer - Decade

July 30, 2018

Label: Decca Records, 2018

Personnel – Lee Konitz: alto saxophone; Dan Tepfer: piano.

To celebrate a decade of intense musical collaboration and friendship, the masterful 90-year-old altoist Lee Konitz and the resourceful pianist Dan Tepfer, 36, release Decade on Verve Records, an auspicious follow up to Duos With Lee (Sunnyside, 2009). The duo has been performing extensively throughout the years, but their mature sense of impromptu comes bolstered throughout these 15 spontaneous short tunes.

In possession of an enviable originality in terms of sound and language, the pair takes the same direction and overcomes any possible generational gap with their modernistic facility. This aspect becomes immediately perceptible on “Thrill”, the illuminated, if enigmatic, opening piece, which shows Tepfer into a fantastic textural work while insisting on a specific note, chromatically bent at regular times. The delicate tension that arrives from it, favors Konitz's cliché-free vocabulary.

Comprising three distinct parts, “9/11 Suite” kicks off with introspective piano melodies entering our ears like raindrops on a breezy spring day. The melodic lyricism conducted by the veteran saxophonist frequently takes you to the unexpected. If the second part of the suite, marked by scattered call-response actions, points out to an uncertain destiny by carrying a flaring turbulence and an unregulated plasticity typical of the avant-garde genre, then the touching third part is enveloped by a sequence of high-pitched piano swirls whose dreamy tones urge the saxophone to search for a hidden secret with yearning musicality.

Three title puns, “Alter Ego”, “Egos Alter”, and “Eager Altos” feature Konitz’ overdubbed sax lines in a merry polyphony, but it’s with “Through the Tunnel”, an overwhelming piece of aurorean transcendence that the duo reaches a subliminal state of unearthly contemplation. If Konitz evokes the melody of “Peacocks” at an early stage and makes use of his unmistakable scat singing by the end, then Tepfer’s improvised lines have prompted responses from a programmed Disklavier piano. The saxophonist repeats the vocalization on Johnny Green’s “Ceaseless”, where circular and arpeggiated movements, typical from classical music, sustain his liberal yet never-misplaced ruminations.

There are other moments of extraordinary creativity: “Body and Soul” is completely transformed through a snazzy re-harmonization and entirely fresh melody; “Rebounds” claims a contrapuntal groove that is later expanded into grandiose chords; and “A Place We Know” shapes into a more traditional song format through balladic harmonic progressions flanked by profound saxophone impressions.

Wielding a delightfully quirky style, Konitz and Tepfer provide the listener with those truly magical moments that will keep them sigh with pleasure.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Thrill ► 04 - 9/11 Suite Part III ► 07 - Through the Tunnel

Alex Lefaivre Quartet - Yul

July 26, 2018

Label: Multiple Chord Music, 2018

Personnel - Erik Hove: alto saxophone; Nicolas Ferron: guitar; Alex Lefaivre: electric bass; Mark Nelson: drums.

In order to sonically describe the urbanity of his hometown - Montreal, Canadian electric bassist Alex Lefaivre assembles a solid quartet, establishing an interesting rhythm team alongside guitarist Nicolas Ferron and drummer Mark Nelson. Rounding out the group is alto saxophonist Erik Hove, who really knows how to build articulate phrases and crescendos, and then resolve them with no hesitation. This was exactly what he offered on the opening “The Righteous”, a laid-back 3/4 composition with an undeniable quest for beauty and singing melodicism. Yet, and before his turn, you may indulge yourself in a high-wire exteriorization by Ferron, who has a talent for saturated harmonies and melodic phrases sculpted with in-and-out luster.

The quartet is also in big on John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, the sole cover on the CD and where a cool, jaunty drumming and sparse bass accompaniment underpin the guitarist and saxophonist’s mysterious moves and individual flights. This is the first of three tunes played in five. The others are “Skyline”, a breezy yet disciplined effort with guitar/sax melodic unisons at the end, and the wishful closing piece “Yul”, which doesn’t reach an end without giving the drummer an opportunity to express himself with freedom.

Lefaivre doesn’t limit his actions to simply outline the harmonic progressions with notes of the chords since he improvises on six of them. He delivers in “Estelle”, a medium-tempo 4/4 song delineated by an amiable melody and rhythmically propelled by a jazzy brush drumming; “The Juggernaut”, which boasts a funk-enlivened bass groove over a well-crafted pulse that slowly bends into a rock tang; “Nostagia”, whose title discloses the mood; and also “Cascade”, which is positioned midway between a convivial Brazilian pulsation and the rigorous stability of a march.

Practitioners of an expressive modern jazz, the members of this quartet navigate different signature meters, maintaining typical song structures. The well-established communication among them drives us safely through reliable, engaging soundscapes.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Righteous ► 02 - Halloween ► 07 - Cascade

Tim Berne / Matt Mitchell - Angel Dusk

July 24, 2018

Label: Screwgun Records, 2018

Personnel – Tim Berne: alto saxophone; Matt Mitchell: piano.

Last year, innovative pianist Matt Mitchell released Forage, a great solo album whose audacious material consisted exclusively of compositions by alto saxophonist Tim Berne, the man who had hired him in 2012 to play in the progressive Snakeoil band. The musical bond between the two men is so strong that a duo album was almost inevitable. Hence, Angel Dusk is now available and features eight tracks that pair Berne’s agile phrasing and resonant angularity with the perceptive, if intricate, tapestries of Mitchell.

The session opens with “Perception/Reception”, which gets strong forward momentum without being constantly busy. It shapes into a lyric reflection imbued with precise movements and emotional force. At some point, Berne embarks on circular crusades, having Mitchell's regularly paced chords darkening the mood for the time they last. Even remaining enigmatic until the end, there’s light in the sharp unison lines, which also endure on the subsequent short tune, “Not Too Two”.

“Exception/pest” flows with an instant liquidity. Mostly amiable in nature and exhibiting a classical-tinged artistry on the piano, the piece is temperate in its last section with a sort of rebelliousness that surfaces under the guise of explosive saxophone statements. Things are maintained hot on “Starfish Blues”, in which the swift interplay becomes massive and irreverent, and on the hyperactive “Petulance”, a recipient of ritualistic saxophone drives delivered with scorching trills in the mix and a complete command of the language. Denser harmonic progressions are adopted as accompaniment.

Both “Chance” and “Snail’s Pace” take their time to evolve, embracing a melodic parallelism that, even cerebral to a certain degree, is no less interesting or provocative than the sonic outbreaks. If the former piece goes from balmy to eloquent before returning to the written section, then the latter opens with Mitchell’s mystic rainbows of beautifully contrasting notes, proceeding in 'searching' mode after Berne jumps in with a combination of intimate melodicism and rhythmic agitation.

The constituent pieces of this collaborative work are extremely hard to separate in upbeat or downbeat. It’s much easier to associate their organic sounds with light and darkness due to the timbral coloring of the knotty textures. Berne and Mitchell sculpt and engrave with an absolute sense of anticipation and direction, making their set of explorations a stimulating listening experience.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Perception/Reception ► 05 - Starfish Blues ► 06 - Chance

Angles 3 - Parede

July 23, 2018

Label: Clean Feed, 2018

Personnel - Martin Kuchen: tenor and soprano saxophones; Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: bass; Kjell Nordeson: drums

Effusive saxophonist Martin Kuchen, a mainstay of the free improvised Swedish scene, spearheads the avant-jazz band Angles, whose formation keeps changing throughout the years. The nonet (Angles 9) is probably the most popular of its ensembles, but for Parede, a live recording made in the Portuguese city referred in the title, the band was narrowed to a trio. The adventurous Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten enrolls for the first time, replacing Johan Berthling, while the drums are entrusted to the regular Kjell Nordeson.

“Equality & Death” opens the session with the bassist and the drummer exploring a simple sextuple meter groove. The naked sound is intensified when, in a crescendo, the tempestuous growls of Kuchen attain a peak. This rowdy exertion is abruptly interrupted for an abstract unagitated passage. But after a few minutes, it regains its muscle as the bass oozes groove again, shoulder to shoulder with the rocking rhythm of the drums. The duality dynamic-static perdures until the end.

A nearly three-minute pizzicato dissertation with some occasional strumming is at the origin of “Satan in Plain Clothes”, which flows with a straight-eight rhythm and a danceable bass thrust. Kuchen’s intensely abrasive lines bring Thomas Chapin back to mind, while Nordeson embarks on a summer-shower solo by the end, preceding the theme’s playful statement. I felt I was listening to punk music without guitars.

The 23 minutes of “Francisco / By Way of Deception”, penned by Haker Flaten and Kuchen, respectively, follow the same recipe that includes sturdy yet grooving foundation and unvarnished melodies on the saxophone, becoming more and more intense and explorative with the passage of time. The bandleader, wielding the soprano saxophone, performs timbral examinations, whether alone or in the company of a thrilling percussive navigation that pays homage to Famadou Don Moye’s style. Pure avant-garde forms and moods are discernible in this Afro dance, evocative of Ornette Coleman, Julius Hemphill, and Frank Wright.

“Don’t Ruin Me / Love, Flee Thy House (in Breslau)” starts off with a dark tenor supplication uttered with an Eastern accent, before screams of agony take place. A poised unaccompanied bass solo balances the vehemence of the music for a while, just until violent saxophone eruptions fill the air with a self-absorbed invention. However, these energetic moments find counterpoise in certain segments where a more melodic approach is followed.

Kuchen and his like-minded cohorts give each tune a stimulating, uncompromising execution that is as much ardent in emotion as it is agile in technique and craft. The band’s raw sound is all compressed in this record, which comes out unfailingly infectious.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Satan in Plain Clothes ► 03 - Francisco / By Way of Deception ► 04 - Don’t Ruin Me / Love, Flee Thy House (in Breslau)

Pete McCann - Pay For It On The Other Side

July 18, 2018

Label: McCannic Music, 2018

Personnel – Pete McCann: guitar; John O’Gallagher: tenor saxophone; Henry Hey: keyboards; Matt Clohesy: bass; Mark Ferber: drums.

Guitarist Pete McCann has been heralded as a convincing voice of the contemporary jazz guitar world, showing the skills to combine hard rock, blues, and post-bop in a legitimate manner. His latest record, Pay For It On The Other Side, is an extremely versatile work that features some of the brightest musicians on the scene, cases of saxophonist John O’Gallagher, keyboardist Henry Hey, bassist Matt Clohesy, and drummer Mark Ferber. Together, they bring ten McCann compositions to life.

Suffused with those vigorous energies that no one is indifferent, the title track is a pressurized exercise with a steamy rhythm and temporary swinging verve. The mercurial improvisations have its starting point with McCann, who throws ardent phrases like flaming arrows, and then proceeds with O’Gallagher, owner of a portentous technique that allows him to create mightily articulated phrases of irrefutable quality. They deliver again on “Is April Okay?”, a contrafact of the jazz standard “I’ll Remember April”, which, following a similar style and structure, also features a final vamp so that Ferber can put his personal signature in a bouncing rhythmic declaration. The only variance in regard to the opening piece is Hey, who enriches the latter composition with spot-on flurries within an elegant phrasing.

Guitarist and pianist team up for a blistering collective improvisation on “Cookout”, a flamboyant piece with a scintillating bebop tempo, while the overt blues is exerted on “Mud Flap”, an urban Scofield-esque piece that brims with distorted guitar riffs and an attractive keyboard groove. Also, “Floor Three” is a 12-bar blues in six, which, despite displaying McCann and Hey in great shape, is completely shaken by O’Gallagher, who pours his guts out with a fiery solo.

Recalling Stevie Wonder in some of its passages, “Yonder” is drenched in R&B and soul-pop and features McCann playing acoustic guitar. He reutilizes this instrument on “Indemnity”, a delicate ballad.

Advocating for versatility, the band mutates completely on pieces like “Nikhil”, an Eastern-influenced song that also draws from the prog rock genre to homage the classical Indian sitar player Nikhil Banerjee; “Polygons”, a beautifully intriguing rock sensation that flows with a 5/4 feel and features the bandleader in a powerful metal-like solo; and “Conventional Wisdom”, an energetic jazz funk that closes out the album with wha-wha effect and a progressive jazz touch.

Exploring the full range of possibilities, McCann shows a fierce sense of independence regardless of the numerous styles that influence his compositions. His skilled bandmates provide the right elasticity for his music to thrive with focus, brio, and motivation.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Pay For It On The Other Side ► 06 - Polygons ► 09 - Floor Three

Davy Mooney & Ko Omura - Benign Strangers

July 17, 2018

Label: Sunnyside Records, 2018

Personnel – Davy Mooney: guitar; John Ellis: saxophones and clarinets; Glenn Zaleski: piano, Matt Clohesy: bass; Ko Omura: drums.

American guitarist Davy Mooney and Tokyo-born drummer Ko Omura first met in 2012 in Japan, acknowledging right away a strong musical chemistry. They gigged in the subsequent couple of years and recently have decided to release their first album together on the Sunnyside Records. Contributing five compositions each, the two artists are in the command of a flexible quintet of rising-stars, including John Ellis on saxophones and clarinets, Glenn Zaleski on piano, and Matt Clohesy on bass.

The title Benign Strangers refers to the fact that Omura, who returned to Tokyo after living in the US and Australia, only met the other members of the group last January in New York, right before the album has been recorded.

The album’s opener is the title cut, whose theme's beautiful melodicism, mostly carried out in unison, sticks to the empathic rhythmic bond established between Clohesy and Omura. The latter, whose press rolls and transition fills spark in color, finds extra room to shine in a final vamp devised to absorb his free creativity.

The benign nature of Omura’s compositions is observable on titles such as “Subconscious Partner”, which stresses subtly nuanced rhythmic variations; “Unimagined Virtues”, a Zen-like meditation that advances with the supple propulsion of the tabla; “Hiraeth”, a polished hymn hooked by the quivering, marching steps of the snare drum; and the polyphonic closing piece “29th Road”, named for a street in suburban Mumbai.

Equally skilled and clever in the way he composes, Mooney proves me no wrong with numbers like “Shady Shores”, whose melodic statement flourishes with interesting rhythmic accents; the fluent “Polly Pulse”, which progresses through challenging undercurrents and syncopated rhythms; and “The Heights”, a carrier of modern post-bop energy further elevated by Ellis’ bass clarinet grooves and Coltranean saxophone lines. More reflective in their essences are “Dim”, a richly harmonized setting dipped in fluffy clouds, and “In This Balance of Time”, initially a medium-slow 5/4 effort that shifts without obstacles, spotlighting Clohesy in a jaunty pizzicato solo over a shrewd guitar comping and brushed drumming. The roles are inverted when the guitarist makes his personal statement right before Ellis wraps up the tune, materializing great rhythmic and melodic ideas into flawlessly descriptive enunciations.

Throughout this work, made of both unfettered collectivism and creative individualism, there’s a constant search for harmony and consensus in preference to clash and friction. Besides likable, the listenings are very accessible.

Favorite Tracks:
02 – In This Balance of Time ► 08 – Polly Pulse ► 09 - The Heights

Dwiki Dharmawan - Rumah Batu

July 16, 2018

Label: MoonJune Records, 2018

Personnel - Dwiki Dharmawan: acoustic piano; Nguyen Lê: guitar; Carles Benavent: bass guitar; Aaron Stavi: upright bass; Asaf Sirkis: drums + guests.

Indonesian keyboardist Dwiki Dharmawan teams up with the great French guitarist of Vietnamese descent, Nguyen Lê (Paolo Fresu, Uri Caine) in Rumah Batu, his sixth record for the eclectic MoonJune Records. Maintaining his world fusion style vividly alive, the pianist summons the Spanish flamenco bass guitarist Carles Benavent as well as his regular foundation builders, double bassist Aaron Stavi and drummer Asaf Sirkis. Throughout the program, which features six Dharmawan originals and two traditional Indonesian compositions, there are several contributions of guest musicians whose individual expressiveness gives a distinctive touch to each tune.

The premise of “Rintak Rebana” pictures peaceful landscapes, sharply designed by the harmonious coalition formed by the rhythm section and Sa’at Syah’s suling flute. Meanwhile, the tune evolves into a progressive world jazz covered with traditional melodies and impassioned rhythmic textures brought to life by the percussionists Ade Rudiana, Teuku Hariansya, and Indra Maulana Keubitbit. Then the band departs to a rocking harmonic convergence that sustains Lê’s high-powered improv. The bandleader is also exemplary in his intricate discourse, fluently voiced with multiple shifting patterns, astounding swirls, and a playful yet solid sense of rhythm.

His conspicuous playfulness comes also attached to the lullaby-ish melody of “Paris Barantai”, which later falls into rich, empyreal chord progressions. Pianist and guitarist excel once again in their respective solos, while Benavent operates under a synth effect with wha-wha pungency in his individual explorations. The sinuous voice of Syah fits hand in glove.

Ethnic diversification allied with an adequate flexibility is widely sensed on the two-part “Rumah Batu Suite”. In the first part, after an uncluttered intro, the band lands on an Afro folk-rock runway, adding a dash of funk as they echo Brazilian masters Milton Nascimento and Gilberto Gil. The part two, credited to the collective, sets the musicians free to extemporize ideas within a busy avant-jazz romp. The musical narrative morphs into a crossroad where moods juxtapose with a light, Latin-flavored pulse appended.

The uptempo “Samarkand” guarantees a 6/8 vibe for the improvisers. Benavent opens the ad-libbing section, after which Dharmawan and Lê exchange groups of eight and four bars of responsive soloing.

Blending raw traditional elements with feisty contemporary spins, Rumah Batu bridges worlds and cultures. Even though some passages may sometimes feel a bit drawn-out, there’s a palpable energy in the group's dedicated interplay.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Rink Rebana ► 06 - Rumah Batu Suite, Part 2: Perjalanan ► 07 - Samarkand

Alchemy Sound Project - Adventures in Time and Space

July 12, 2018

Label: Artists Recording Collective, 2018

Personnel – Erica Lindsay: tenor saxophone; Samantha Boshnack: trumpet, flugelhorn; Salim Washington: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; flute; Michael Spearman: trombone; Sumi Tonooka: piano; David Arend: double bass; Johnathan Blake: drums, percussion.

Originally a quintet, Alchemy Sound Project was expanded into a septet for their second outing, Adventures in Time and Space, which features six sonic adventures composed by five of its members.

Throughout the album, we spot pitch-perfect horn arrangements appealingly executed by saxophonist Erica Lindsay, trumpeter Samantha Boshnack, multi-reedist and woodwind player Salim Washington, and their new frontline collaborator: trombonist Michael Spearman. The rhythm section comprises Sumi Tonooka on piano, David Arend on bass and the second novelty in the personnel, the inventive Johnathan Blake on drums. The inaugural five-piece ensemble first recorded in 2016, years after the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, a Columbia University program, have selected them to be part of their agenda and explore the challenges of writing for the symphony orchestra.

Lindsay’s “Adventures in Time and Space” carries a sort of 70’s mood between its lines, bringing the music of bassist Graham Collier to mind. A mighty bass clarinet is dominative on an introductory horn-driven section arranged with melodic gusto. This happens before a 4/4 locomotion is set in motion by the fabulous rhythm gurus Arend and Blake. The improvisations, placed atop, are from Tonooka, whose combination of single-note phrases and rich voicings are supported by tardy horn fills, a brief speech by Arend before an intermediate collective passage takes us to Washington, who, switching to tenor saxophone, operates nimbly on top of a joyful swinging rhythm.

Lindsay didn’t improvise on his own tune, but conveyed her explorative and expansive vision on Arend’s 5/4-metered “Ankh”. The piece, generous in offering harmonic modulations, kicks off with a symbiotic dance between flute and trumpet melodies. Whereas Washington’s flute solo stands in the middle of a profound dream and the restless reality, the charming pianism of Tonooko and the gallant, husky arco work from Arend complete the improvisational rounds with prodigious outputs.

The horn section keeps functioning in absolute concordance on Boshnack’s “Song of the Whistle Wing”, where the freedom of the piano/bass/drums interplay gets emphatically out of the convention. A blatantly written passage rushes toward Lindsay’s flaming trills, which get rhythmic responses from the pianist’s wise chordal comping. Then, it's Blake who spreads exotic perfumes with his full-fledged snare-driven rhythm, supporting Boshnack’s improv with dramatically epic tones.

Washington's 4/4 Ellingtonian ballad “Odysseus Leaves Circe” nods to tradition, shifting tempos along the way and presenting a fluid dialogue between acoustic bass and bass clarinet, only with some occasional percussive rattles underneath.

Radiant in their own way is Tonooka's lyric “Transition Waltz”, but also Lindsay’s “Jeff’s Joy”, which stimulates our metrical perception through a spirited groove in seven. After the composer’s solo, we can hear Blake crafting nice and tense rhythmic figures through opportune transition fills and thinly veiled embellishments.

This eclectic ensemble possesses the required organic vitality and soulful grit to succeed, offering a fairly accessible set with plenty of creative ideas. Their musical aesthetics, favoring the spiritual side, transmits a beneficial energy that soars high above the subliminal.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Adventures in Time and Space ► 02 - Ankh ► 03 - Song of the Whistle Wing