N. AHSAN/D. KUCHEROV/V. GUYVORONSKY - Around Silence
Leo CD LR660
N. Ahsan (vocal, swarmandal); D. Kucherov (tabla, percussion);
V Guyvoronsky (trumpet, flute)
The record producer promises that “for 64 minutes you will be carried away by the mysticism of soaring, swinging, incandescent raga.”
‘Around Silence’ consists of four ragas, 10 to 26 minutes long, with
trumpet and voice working together. A raga uses a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. Guyvoronsky, basically a jazzman, is totally at ease
navigating this highly structured music. However, almost certainly, these are probably not classical ragas more russo-indo-jazz-fusions.
Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky is not a young man. He is steeped in all types of music Bach and Mozart are as familiar to
him as Miles Davis. Like all major jazz musicians he has his own sound. It is not a cool sound: there are shrieks, cries, glissandos, pungent moans, brassy rattles, soft sounds , soft songs and primitive talk.
Sometimes during the playing the lines seem separate but then it can be thrilling when they come together and they drive each other. The step-by-step acceleration of the rhythm in the music finally becomes more and more playful and exciting. The dazzling and rapid dialogue between trumpet and tabla, with the trumpet taking the role of the sitar, draws in the audience with the interplay.
The swarmandal works well for jazz and despite the fact that the instrument has an ancient lineage it seems to blend in providing a background and tonal base.
The subtlety of the tabla playing comes out of rhythm, religion and cultural memory. The history of the drum with its many areas of strike goes back centuries and the intricate rhythms can make western music seem crude and
unsophisticated.
Music like this poses the question: how do you listen to it? Many of the sign posts that we normally use are absent. The culture that creates some parts is working to rules and conventions that are shrouded in mystery. Just accept what you hear? Is that enough?
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page
N. Ahsan (vocal, swarmandal); D. Kucherov (tabla, percussion);
V Guyvoronsky (trumpet, flute)
The record producer promises that “for 64 minutes you will be carried away by the mysticism of soaring, swinging, incandescent raga.”
‘Around Silence’ consists of four ragas, 10 to 26 minutes long, with
trumpet and voice working together. A raga uses a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. Guyvoronsky, basically a jazzman, is totally at ease
navigating this highly structured music. However, almost certainly, these are probably not classical ragas more russo-indo-jazz-fusions.
Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky is not a young man. He is steeped in all types of music Bach and Mozart are as familiar to
him as Miles Davis. Like all major jazz musicians he has his own sound. It is not a cool sound: there are shrieks, cries, glissandos, pungent moans, brassy rattles, soft sounds , soft songs and primitive talk.
Sometimes during the playing the lines seem separate but then it can be thrilling when they come together and they drive each other. The step-by-step acceleration of the rhythm in the music finally becomes more and more playful and exciting. The dazzling and rapid dialogue between trumpet and tabla, with the trumpet taking the role of the sitar, draws in the audience with the interplay.
The swarmandal works well for jazz and despite the fact that the instrument has an ancient lineage it seems to blend in providing a background and tonal base.
The subtlety of the tabla playing comes out of rhythm, religion and cultural memory. The history of the drum with its many areas of strike goes back centuries and the intricate rhythms can make western music seem crude and
unsophisticated.
Music like this poses the question: how do you listen to it? Many of the sign posts that we normally use are absent. The culture that creates some parts is working to rules and conventions that are shrouded in mystery. Just accept what you hear? Is that enough?
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page
SUSANNE ABBUEHL - The Gift
ECM 372 7084
Susanne Abbuehl (v); Matthieu Michel (fl-h); Wolfert Brederode (p, Indian harmonium); Olavi Louhivuori (d, perc)
Recorded July 2012
This latest offering from the Swiss-Dutch singer, Susanne Abbuehl, her thrid for ECM is a quiet affair in terms of volume but one of meaning and subltlety in words and the music composed to accompany them.
In her selection of works by poets Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Emily Bronte (1818-1848), and Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) she has chosen a writers who remained reclusive during their lifetimes, yet whose prose looks at the world and landscapes through a different perspective than their own realities.
As a reult of this selection the tempo of the music is very much dictated by the tempo, sparseness and feeling invoked by the text, and therefore the music composed by Abbuehl is suitably pensive and subdued, where the only emphatic rhythmic variation is delivered on 'This And My Heart' with the text from Dickinson permitting a stronger and explicit pulse.
It is this reclusivenessof the poets that is reflected in the open spaces depicted in their words, and captured in the open harmonies employed by Abbeuhl's compositions and the voicings of pianist, Brederode that give the album its poignancy and lyricism.
It is perhaps with the brevity of many of the poems that it is inevitable, and rightly so, that the interest is sustained in the timbral variation, with voice and Michel's flugelhorn floating over the harmonic landscape. The openness of the forms employed by Abbuehl demand an empathy from the musicians that is far removed from push and pull, or tension and release that is perhaps more familiar in a jazz context. Not having to react to each other to create a momentum or build to a climax, the quartet allow their contributions to ebb like a river, meandering through the landscape of the text.
With the gentle and unobtrusive drums and percussion of Olavi Louhivouri, the sensitive accompaniment of Bredrode, and the flugel of Matthieu Michel having the ability to mirror or shadow the vocal line as well as adding his own distinctive solos, Susanne Abbuehl has produced an album of fragile beauty that reveals more with each hearing.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
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Susanne Abbuehl (v); Matthieu Michel (fl-h); Wolfert Brederode (p, Indian harmonium); Olavi Louhivuori (d, perc)
Recorded July 2012
This latest offering from the Swiss-Dutch singer, Susanne Abbuehl, her thrid for ECM is a quiet affair in terms of volume but one of meaning and subltlety in words and the music composed to accompany them.
In her selection of works by poets Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Emily Bronte (1818-1848), and Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) she has chosen a writers who remained reclusive during their lifetimes, yet whose prose looks at the world and landscapes through a different perspective than their own realities.
As a reult of this selection the tempo of the music is very much dictated by the tempo, sparseness and feeling invoked by the text, and therefore the music composed by Abbuehl is suitably pensive and subdued, where the only emphatic rhythmic variation is delivered on 'This And My Heart' with the text from Dickinson permitting a stronger and explicit pulse.
It is this reclusivenessof the poets that is reflected in the open spaces depicted in their words, and captured in the open harmonies employed by Abbeuhl's compositions and the voicings of pianist, Brederode that give the album its poignancy and lyricism.
It is perhaps with the brevity of many of the poems that it is inevitable, and rightly so, that the interest is sustained in the timbral variation, with voice and Michel's flugelhorn floating over the harmonic landscape. The openness of the forms employed by Abbuehl demand an empathy from the musicians that is far removed from push and pull, or tension and release that is perhaps more familiar in a jazz context. Not having to react to each other to create a momentum or build to a climax, the quartet allow their contributions to ebb like a river, meandering through the landscape of the text.
With the gentle and unobtrusive drums and percussion of Olavi Louhivouri, the sensitive accompaniment of Bredrode, and the flugel of Matthieu Michel having the ability to mirror or shadow the vocal line as well as adding his own distinctive solos, Susanne Abbuehl has produced an album of fragile beauty that reveals more with each hearing.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Top of Page
DAVID HANEY - Day for Night at Jack Straw
SLAMCD 541
David Haney ( piano); Julian Priester (trombone); Buell Neidlinger( bass); Marc Smason( trombone, shofar); Doug Haning (contra alto clarinet); Dan Blunck (tenor sax, flute); Frank Clayton (bass); Juan Pablo Carletti drums
"The CD presents two Sessions recorded eight years apart in the same studio – Jackstraw Studios, Seattle, USA – by two different
groups, both led by pianist David Haney.
The first three tracks record a trio comprising Haney and two immensely influential musicians: Julian Priester and Buell Neidlinger.
On the remaining three tracks, recorded 8 years later in 2008, Haney leads a sextet of early members of the Primitive Art Ensemble.
Priester’s curriculum vitae is astounding in its variety: from Bo Diddley to Sonny Stitt; from Roach to Blakey; from Sun Ra to Hampton. He even worked on Coltrane’s Africa Brass. His six months with Ellington meant that he worked on the New Orleans Suite playing the duet with Booty Wood on Second Line. Neidlinger was first noticed with Cecil Taylor. Subsequently he has worked with Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Gunther Schuller, Jimmy Giuffre, John Cage, Igor Stravinsky, Frank Zappa, and even Tony Bennett.
Priester dominates the first three tracks. His inventiveness is spellbinding. He stretches out and alternates between the assertive and reflective. All the time he is himself playing in the tightly controlled way that has characterised his
career.
David Haney’s piano accompanies more than solos when he plays on the first three tracks. Neidlinger seems to have been recessed in the mix meaning that his tone and timbre does not come over as well as the other two.
Strangely Frank Clayton’s bass is much more assertive than Neidlinger was on the earlier tracks. ‘Elephant of Surprises’ has a good shape enabling Marc Smason to build the atmosphere together with drummer Carletti.
Tentative piano from Haney opens ‘Blues Eventually’. Dan Blunck sounding a little like a latter-day Hank Mobley joins the leader and then duets with Smason who is not afraid to explore the deeper notes of the trombone.
The opening rapid pace of the ‘Possession of Foxes’ extends everyone’s technique.
I suppose this is two short albums. The second one gives space to younger musicians to show what they can do.
The first three tracks reassure us that Priester in his seventies is energetic, questing and inventive.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
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David Haney ( piano); Julian Priester (trombone); Buell Neidlinger( bass); Marc Smason( trombone, shofar); Doug Haning (contra alto clarinet); Dan Blunck (tenor sax, flute); Frank Clayton (bass); Juan Pablo Carletti drums
"The CD presents two Sessions recorded eight years apart in the same studio – Jackstraw Studios, Seattle, USA – by two different
groups, both led by pianist David Haney.
The first three tracks record a trio comprising Haney and two immensely influential musicians: Julian Priester and Buell Neidlinger.
On the remaining three tracks, recorded 8 years later in 2008, Haney leads a sextet of early members of the Primitive Art Ensemble.
Priester’s curriculum vitae is astounding in its variety: from Bo Diddley to Sonny Stitt; from Roach to Blakey; from Sun Ra to Hampton. He even worked on Coltrane’s Africa Brass. His six months with Ellington meant that he worked on the New Orleans Suite playing the duet with Booty Wood on Second Line. Neidlinger was first noticed with Cecil Taylor. Subsequently he has worked with Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, Gunther Schuller, Jimmy Giuffre, John Cage, Igor Stravinsky, Frank Zappa, and even Tony Bennett.
Priester dominates the first three tracks. His inventiveness is spellbinding. He stretches out and alternates between the assertive and reflective. All the time he is himself playing in the tightly controlled way that has characterised his
career.
David Haney’s piano accompanies more than solos when he plays on the first three tracks. Neidlinger seems to have been recessed in the mix meaning that his tone and timbre does not come over as well as the other two.
Strangely Frank Clayton’s bass is much more assertive than Neidlinger was on the earlier tracks. ‘Elephant of Surprises’ has a good shape enabling Marc Smason to build the atmosphere together with drummer Carletti.
Tentative piano from Haney opens ‘Blues Eventually’. Dan Blunck sounding a little like a latter-day Hank Mobley joins the leader and then duets with Smason who is not afraid to explore the deeper notes of the trombone.
The opening rapid pace of the ‘Possession of Foxes’ extends everyone’s technique.
I suppose this is two short albums. The second one gives space to younger musicians to show what they can do.
The first three tracks reassure us that Priester in his seventies is energetic, questing and inventive.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page
ERIKA DAGNINO/GEORGE HASLAM/STEFANO PASTOR/STEVE WATERMAN - Narcéte
SLAMCD 542
Erika Dagnino (poetry, voice); Stefano Pastor (violin, bass); George Haslam (baritone sax, tarogato; Steve Waterman (trumpet)
Buy this for Steve Waterman exploring the trumpet with a freedom that is absent when he is in a more conventional setting.
George Haslam in addition to the baritone also plays a tarogato (looks like a clarinet and sounds like a bag pipe). Combined with Stefano Pastor on violin and bass they make some wonderful sounds and textures.
Then we come to Erika Dagnino, the Italian poet. Poetry and jazz has been tempting people since before the 1950s. Erika has not been deterred by the partial successes that have littered the years since Kerouac first attempted to work
with Steve Allen.
Getting the balance right between the words and the music is the goal. It is even more important here because Dagnino’s stern voice and accent makes little attempt to work with the music. Thankfully her words are reproduced on
the album notes. You have to admire her chutzpah. Has anything been lost in translation? Is it great or even good poetry? Who knows? But to this listener the words and music seem to go together like Coltrane and Bublé
The experience reminded me of a concert in the Albert Hall in the 1960s. I remember seeing Yoko Ono work with
Ornette Coleman. Ornette won.
A limited success then? Yes, but worth having for Haslam and Waterman.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page
Erika Dagnino (poetry, voice); Stefano Pastor (violin, bass); George Haslam (baritone sax, tarogato; Steve Waterman (trumpet)
Buy this for Steve Waterman exploring the trumpet with a freedom that is absent when he is in a more conventional setting.
George Haslam in addition to the baritone also plays a tarogato (looks like a clarinet and sounds like a bag pipe). Combined with Stefano Pastor on violin and bass they make some wonderful sounds and textures.
Then we come to Erika Dagnino, the Italian poet. Poetry and jazz has been tempting people since before the 1950s. Erika has not been deterred by the partial successes that have littered the years since Kerouac first attempted to work
with Steve Allen.
Getting the balance right between the words and the music is the goal. It is even more important here because Dagnino’s stern voice and accent makes little attempt to work with the music. Thankfully her words are reproduced on
the album notes. You have to admire her chutzpah. Has anything been lost in translation? Is it great or even good poetry? Who knows? But to this listener the words and music seem to go together like Coltrane and Bublé
The experience reminded me of a concert in the Albert Hall in the 1960s. I remember seeing Yoko Ono work with
Ornette Coleman. Ornette won.
A limited success then? Yes, but worth having for Haslam and Waterman.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page
GOAT’S NOTES - Fuzzy Wonder
LEO CD LR 661
Grigory Sandomirsky - Piano, Melodica; Vladimir
Kudryavtsev – Bass; Maria Logofet – Violin; Piotr Talalay – Drums; Andrey Bessonov – Clarinet] Ilya Vilkov - Trombone
From the first notes you know that you are with the avant-garde and the Russian avant garde at that. This is music with a smile. It is also, in their description, ‘ethno-jazz-rock-folk-avant- garde’. Their aim?
To surprise themselves.
Difficult with music from this area of the world to play spot the innfluence. This Moscow collective is playing music from a
culture that we don’t know enough about. The rhythms are many and varied. In ‘Preface and Gentle Chimeras’ you could be at a dance in a Balkan village: Piotr Talalay on drums and Kudryavtsev are adept at varying the rhythms throughout the whole album.
‘Party Flowers’ is based on a kind of russo-dixieland with Andrey Bessonov’s clarinet sounding improbably like Tricky
Sam Nanton. Throughout the album Bessonov produces notes that Benny Goodman could not have envisaged even in a dream. Vladimir Kudryavtsev’s bass dominates the opening sequence and underpins most of the pieces with an assured sound.
One feature of the album is that none of the fourteen pieces on the album goes over more than seven minutes and most of them are well under that. They ensure that each piece has a definite structure and mood. There is a feeling that the musicians are playing for an audience with self indulgence almost absent. There are minds at work here making sure that there is shape: a beginning, a middle and an end. They are playing engagingly and inventively with all the sounds they can extract from the instruments. Their wide knowledge of music influences their improvising so that it has a European feel.
If you are curious about what is happening in Russia at the moment, the Goats will give you some notes.
I can promise you, you will not be bored.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
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Grigory Sandomirsky - Piano, Melodica; Vladimir
Kudryavtsev – Bass; Maria Logofet – Violin; Piotr Talalay – Drums; Andrey Bessonov – Clarinet] Ilya Vilkov - Trombone
From the first notes you know that you are with the avant-garde and the Russian avant garde at that. This is music with a smile. It is also, in their description, ‘ethno-jazz-rock-folk-avant- garde’. Their aim?
To surprise themselves.
Difficult with music from this area of the world to play spot the innfluence. This Moscow collective is playing music from a
culture that we don’t know enough about. The rhythms are many and varied. In ‘Preface and Gentle Chimeras’ you could be at a dance in a Balkan village: Piotr Talalay on drums and Kudryavtsev are adept at varying the rhythms throughout the whole album.
‘Party Flowers’ is based on a kind of russo-dixieland with Andrey Bessonov’s clarinet sounding improbably like Tricky
Sam Nanton. Throughout the album Bessonov produces notes that Benny Goodman could not have envisaged even in a dream. Vladimir Kudryavtsev’s bass dominates the opening sequence and underpins most of the pieces with an assured sound.
One feature of the album is that none of the fourteen pieces on the album goes over more than seven minutes and most of them are well under that. They ensure that each piece has a definite structure and mood. There is a feeling that the musicians are playing for an audience with self indulgence almost absent. There are minds at work here making sure that there is shape: a beginning, a middle and an end. They are playing engagingly and inventively with all the sounds they can extract from the instruments. Their wide knowledge of music influences their improvising so that it has a European feel.
If you are curious about what is happening in Russia at the moment, the Goats will give you some notes.
I can promise you, you will not be bored.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page
LUCIAN BAN/MAT MANERI - Transylvanian Concert
ECM 372 8258
Lucian Ban (p); Mat Maner (vla)
Recorded 5th June 2011
There are many superb jazz albums that arise out of an impromptu performance, and this debut release from Romanian pianist and composer, Lucian Ban, is another that can be added to the list.
Recorded at the end of a tour of Europe with a project called Tarkovsky Redoux, Ban and Maneri were approached by a local promoter to perform a duo concert in the Culture Palace of Tagu Mures which is very close to the village where Ban had grown up.
Having previously worked with Maneri in an earlier project of his own, Enesco Reimagined, and recognising a kindred spirit Ban immediately saw the potential in the duo, and that potential has been borne out in the stunning performance captured on this disc.
Although born and brought up in a small village in northwest Transylvania and having studied at Bucharest Music Academy, Ban moved to New York in 1999 and in the intervening years whilst has thoroughly absorbed much of what New York has to offer in terms of the jazz tradition, he has not forgotten his roots and heritage, and the influence of Romanian modern classical composers Aurel Stroe and Anatol Vieru.
The music heard here, despite the unusual instrumentation for a jazz duo, is unmistakably firmly within this tradition, with Ban seemingly fully embracing the New York vibe, and in writing specifically for Maneri and his distinctive sound. And it is in his strikingly original compositions 'Not That Kind Of Blues', 'Harlem Bliss' (in which a hint of Harlem stride can de detected in Ban's playing), and 'Monastery' that the pair show there improvising credentials.
The concluding piece, 'Two Hymns' another ban original, lightens the rhythmic impetus, and darkens the mood with its reflective and contemplative dedication to the pianist's grandmother. Rather than bringing the album to a rather dour conclusion, Maneri's viola caresses the melody in a most lyrical way, and supports the piano with great sympathy as Ban's touch at the keyboard reveals his most tender playing of the concert.
Great foresight of the promoter to get the two together in a concert hall, and even greater foresight in recording music that reveals a profound depth of human emotion in music that both captivates and delights. One of
the most beautiful and satisfying duo albums I have heard in a long time.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Top of Page
Lucian Ban (p); Mat Maner (vla)
Recorded 5th June 2011
There are many superb jazz albums that arise out of an impromptu performance, and this debut release from Romanian pianist and composer, Lucian Ban, is another that can be added to the list.
Recorded at the end of a tour of Europe with a project called Tarkovsky Redoux, Ban and Maneri were approached by a local promoter to perform a duo concert in the Culture Palace of Tagu Mures which is very close to the village where Ban had grown up.
Having previously worked with Maneri in an earlier project of his own, Enesco Reimagined, and recognising a kindred spirit Ban immediately saw the potential in the duo, and that potential has been borne out in the stunning performance captured on this disc.
Although born and brought up in a small village in northwest Transylvania and having studied at Bucharest Music Academy, Ban moved to New York in 1999 and in the intervening years whilst has thoroughly absorbed much of what New York has to offer in terms of the jazz tradition, he has not forgotten his roots and heritage, and the influence of Romanian modern classical composers Aurel Stroe and Anatol Vieru.
The music heard here, despite the unusual instrumentation for a jazz duo, is unmistakably firmly within this tradition, with Ban seemingly fully embracing the New York vibe, and in writing specifically for Maneri and his distinctive sound. And it is in his strikingly original compositions 'Not That Kind Of Blues', 'Harlem Bliss' (in which a hint of Harlem stride can de detected in Ban's playing), and 'Monastery' that the pair show there improvising credentials.
The concluding piece, 'Two Hymns' another ban original, lightens the rhythmic impetus, and darkens the mood with its reflective and contemplative dedication to the pianist's grandmother. Rather than bringing the album to a rather dour conclusion, Maneri's viola caresses the melody in a most lyrical way, and supports the piano with great sympathy as Ban's touch at the keyboard reveals his most tender playing of the concert.
Great foresight of the promoter to get the two together in a concert hall, and even greater foresight in recording music that reveals a profound depth of human emotion in music that both captivates and delights. One of
the most beautiful and satisfying duo albums I have heard in a long time.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Top of Page
KETIL BJORRNSTAD - La Notte
ECM 3724553
Andy Sheppard (ts, ss); Anja Lechner (clo); Eivind Aarset (g, elec); Arild Andersen (b); Marilyn Mazur (perc, d); Ketil Bjornstad (p)
Recorded July 21,2010
Recorded live at the Molde International Jazz Festival in 2010, this is hugely enjoyable and satisfying performance of Bjornstad's composition 'La Notte' which can be broadly viewed as a suite in 8
movements.
Commissioned especially for the festival, Bjornstad's piece takes its inspiration from Italian filmmaker, Michaelangelo Antonioni, whom the pianist describes as a formative influence. Indeed, given Bjornstad's own multi-disciplined activites as a novelist, poet and essayist, it is not difficult or fanciful to make the connection between music and the written word with the rhythmic continuity in poems and lyrics, and music and/or words and visiual images that always appear inextricably linked in the arts.
Like any good novel, or movie, La Notte is well paced and with plenty of drama, all of which is dramatically
enhanced by the band assembled for the occasion. All the musicians had worked together with Bjornstad on other projects (and each others), with the exception of Anja Lechner for it was her first experience working with the pianist.
The music fits the septet so perfectly that it is inconceivable to think that Ketil had not written La Notte for these particular musicians, with their distictive and individual voices in mind. Andy Sheppard, Arild Anderson and Eivind Aarset had all recently collaborated on the saxophonist's own debut for ECM, Movements In Colour, recorded the previous year, and again the familiarity with each others playing helps to lift the performance, and there are times that
Bjornstad seems happy to build on this, and mine that creative seam within his own piece.
Great use is made of the strings within the ensemble, notably the blending of cello and double bass on the quieter more reflective parts within the suite, and Aarset's full throttled guitar and use of electronics. This is perhaps most keenly felt on the Part VI with its beautiful cello and piano that draws to a close with Andersen's bass solo that segues into Part VII with the septet in full cry with Mazur powering things along from the kit, and solos from Aarset and Sheppard's soprano.
All in all a superb performance, that as one would expect served well by the quality of the live recording; and an album that will not disappoint.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
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Andy Sheppard (ts, ss); Anja Lechner (clo); Eivind Aarset (g, elec); Arild Andersen (b); Marilyn Mazur (perc, d); Ketil Bjornstad (p)
Recorded July 21,2010
Recorded live at the Molde International Jazz Festival in 2010, this is hugely enjoyable and satisfying performance of Bjornstad's composition 'La Notte' which can be broadly viewed as a suite in 8
movements.
Commissioned especially for the festival, Bjornstad's piece takes its inspiration from Italian filmmaker, Michaelangelo Antonioni, whom the pianist describes as a formative influence. Indeed, given Bjornstad's own multi-disciplined activites as a novelist, poet and essayist, it is not difficult or fanciful to make the connection between music and the written word with the rhythmic continuity in poems and lyrics, and music and/or words and visiual images that always appear inextricably linked in the arts.
Like any good novel, or movie, La Notte is well paced and with plenty of drama, all of which is dramatically
enhanced by the band assembled for the occasion. All the musicians had worked together with Bjornstad on other projects (and each others), with the exception of Anja Lechner for it was her first experience working with the pianist.
The music fits the septet so perfectly that it is inconceivable to think that Ketil had not written La Notte for these particular musicians, with their distictive and individual voices in mind. Andy Sheppard, Arild Anderson and Eivind Aarset had all recently collaborated on the saxophonist's own debut for ECM, Movements In Colour, recorded the previous year, and again the familiarity with each others playing helps to lift the performance, and there are times that
Bjornstad seems happy to build on this, and mine that creative seam within his own piece.
Great use is made of the strings within the ensemble, notably the blending of cello and double bass on the quieter more reflective parts within the suite, and Aarset's full throttled guitar and use of electronics. This is perhaps most keenly felt on the Part VI with its beautiful cello and piano that draws to a close with Andersen's bass solo that segues into Part VII with the septet in full cry with Mazur powering things along from the kit, and solos from Aarset and Sheppard's soprano.
All in all a superb performance, that as one would expect served well by the quality of the live recording; and an album that will not disappoint.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Top of Page
DUKE ELLINGTON & HIS FAMOUS ORCHESTRA - Duke at Fargo
1940
Storyville 1038435
Rex Stewart (Cornet);Wallace Jones (trumpet);Ray Nance (trumpet, violin,vocalist);Joseph Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown (trombones); Barney Bigard (clarinet, tenor sax);Johnny Hodges (alto & soprano saxes, clarinet); Otto Hardwick (alto sax, clarinet); Ben
Webster (tenor sax, clarinet);Harry Carney (baritone sax, clarinet);Duke
Ellington (piano);Fred Guy (guitar, whistle); Jimmy Blanton (bass); Sonny Greer (drums); Ivie Anderson and Herb Jeffries (vocalists)
Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded live at the Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, NorthDakota, November,1940.
November 7th 1940 was important in the Ellington story for a few reasons. Cootie Williams had just left on extended leave and would not return until 1962. In his place was Ray Nance. Jack Towers and Dick Burris had secured permission to record the band during that evening. Not many fans in 1940 recorded whole concerts but they did with a portable acetate disc player, one speaker and three microphones.
What they captured that night in Fargo, North Dakota was a band reaching one its peaks, creating a recording that is now an important part of jazz history. The band seethed with magnificent soloists: Jimmy Blanton pioneering a new way to play the bass; Rex Stewart on cornet, almost making the instrument talk; Tricky Sam Nanton on trombone would play in such a way that Ellington insisted his sound was replicated by someone for the rest of the band’s life; Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges set saxophone styles that influenced thousands of players. Compared to some bands the Ellington band could sound ragged with rough edges but when it was a good night it was incomparable and November 7th was a good night.
The Ellington band was not well drilled. Like all good jazz it was music that was in the process of becoming. At this stage Ellington was writing the bulk of the book and there is great variety in the compositions that can be heard here. Ellington wrote for individuals and the way that they played rather than for specific instruments. Lawrence Brown on trombone sounded nothing like Joe Nanton on the same instrument; Rex Stewart was unlike Ray Nance. That was part of the brilliance of Ellington: he celebrated the individuals, encouraged difference and blended all into an idiosyncratic sound.
In the fifty or so pieces here, there are some that stand out: ‘Bojangles’ is Ellington’s portrait of Bill Robinson an Afro American dancer that he admired. The zesty tune mimics the tap dancer’s steps. Ellington manages to integrate solos from Rex Stewart, Ben Webster and Barney Bigard.
‘Rockin' In Rhythm’ is a piece that Ellington played on every occasion. First recorded in 1931 it changed in subtle ways over the years, It is a spirited piece and was always introduced by Ellington’s piano. In Fargo it is a wild sound with a variety of rhythms. Probably the highlight is Nanton’s trombone declaiming his solo. In later years it was used to open sets and it was always different.
Ben Webster was one of the soloists that people made journeys to hear. He roars through ‘Cottontail’. In later years Webster became known for his way with ballads. Here his tone is rougher and dynamic. His solo on one of the few non-Ellington compositions on the CDs, ‘Stardust’, is closer in many ways to his mature style. Webster realised that his improvisation was special; he requested copies, multiple copies of it from Jack Towers who recorded it.
This period of Ellington’s work is often said to be his best. It isn’t. All the periods are rewarding. However, if you are not used to jazz from this period, the essence might not hit you immediately. The rhythm can sound lacking in fluidity, the recording muffled, sometimes a soloist might edge towards schmaltz. The trick is to try to listen to the music with
1940 ears. Hard to do but worth it. These musicians were individuals with tones that you can recognise immediately and yet they can work individually and collectively and never lose sight of their own voices. In many ways they set standards that have not been surpassed.
Storyville deserve thanks for bringing this concert back in to circulation. Now it seems important but to everyone back then November 7th 1940 was just another night. Later the band would trek off to Duluth before turning east and heading back to New York via Chicago and Detroit. This was the real ‘On The Road’.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
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Rex Stewart (Cornet);Wallace Jones (trumpet);Ray Nance (trumpet, violin,vocalist);Joseph Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown (trombones); Barney Bigard (clarinet, tenor sax);Johnny Hodges (alto & soprano saxes, clarinet); Otto Hardwick (alto sax, clarinet); Ben
Webster (tenor sax, clarinet);Harry Carney (baritone sax, clarinet);Duke
Ellington (piano);Fred Guy (guitar, whistle); Jimmy Blanton (bass); Sonny Greer (drums); Ivie Anderson and Herb Jeffries (vocalists)
Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded live at the Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, NorthDakota, November,1940.
November 7th 1940 was important in the Ellington story for a few reasons. Cootie Williams had just left on extended leave and would not return until 1962. In his place was Ray Nance. Jack Towers and Dick Burris had secured permission to record the band during that evening. Not many fans in 1940 recorded whole concerts but they did with a portable acetate disc player, one speaker and three microphones.
What they captured that night in Fargo, North Dakota was a band reaching one its peaks, creating a recording that is now an important part of jazz history. The band seethed with magnificent soloists: Jimmy Blanton pioneering a new way to play the bass; Rex Stewart on cornet, almost making the instrument talk; Tricky Sam Nanton on trombone would play in such a way that Ellington insisted his sound was replicated by someone for the rest of the band’s life; Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges set saxophone styles that influenced thousands of players. Compared to some bands the Ellington band could sound ragged with rough edges but when it was a good night it was incomparable and November 7th was a good night.
The Ellington band was not well drilled. Like all good jazz it was music that was in the process of becoming. At this stage Ellington was writing the bulk of the book and there is great variety in the compositions that can be heard here. Ellington wrote for individuals and the way that they played rather than for specific instruments. Lawrence Brown on trombone sounded nothing like Joe Nanton on the same instrument; Rex Stewart was unlike Ray Nance. That was part of the brilliance of Ellington: he celebrated the individuals, encouraged difference and blended all into an idiosyncratic sound.
In the fifty or so pieces here, there are some that stand out: ‘Bojangles’ is Ellington’s portrait of Bill Robinson an Afro American dancer that he admired. The zesty tune mimics the tap dancer’s steps. Ellington manages to integrate solos from Rex Stewart, Ben Webster and Barney Bigard.
‘Rockin' In Rhythm’ is a piece that Ellington played on every occasion. First recorded in 1931 it changed in subtle ways over the years, It is a spirited piece and was always introduced by Ellington’s piano. In Fargo it is a wild sound with a variety of rhythms. Probably the highlight is Nanton’s trombone declaiming his solo. In later years it was used to open sets and it was always different.
Ben Webster was one of the soloists that people made journeys to hear. He roars through ‘Cottontail’. In later years Webster became known for his way with ballads. Here his tone is rougher and dynamic. His solo on one of the few non-Ellington compositions on the CDs, ‘Stardust’, is closer in many ways to his mature style. Webster realised that his improvisation was special; he requested copies, multiple copies of it from Jack Towers who recorded it.
This period of Ellington’s work is often said to be his best. It isn’t. All the periods are rewarding. However, if you are not used to jazz from this period, the essence might not hit you immediately. The rhythm can sound lacking in fluidity, the recording muffled, sometimes a soloist might edge towards schmaltz. The trick is to try to listen to the music with
1940 ears. Hard to do but worth it. These musicians were individuals with tones that you can recognise immediately and yet they can work individually and collectively and never lose sight of their own voices. In many ways they set standards that have not been surpassed.
Storyville deserve thanks for bringing this concert back in to circulation. Now it seems important but to everyone back then November 7th 1940 was just another night. Later the band would trek off to Duluth before turning east and heading back to New York via Chicago and Detroit. This was the real ‘On The Road’.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
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ESMOND SELWYN - Renegade
Slam Records – SLAMCD 291 (double C D set)
Esmond Selwyn (guitar); Paul Sawtell (keyboards); Bill Coleman (bass) Tony Richards (drums)
No recording dates or location given.
This is as lively a set of guitar jazz as I’ve heard in a long time and being played in a manner steeped in the DNA of such luminaries as Tal Farlow, Barney Kessell , Herb Ellis, Howard Roberts, not forgetting Wes Montgomery, it is pleasingly retro without being slavishly deferential. This is not a homage but rather, a joyful celebration of
bop guitar conventions before the seismic shift initiated by Jimmy Hendrix moved the artistic pendulum away from melodic invention towards the expressive extremities of distortion and feedback that is found in the work of most post-modern guitarists. In his enthusiastic and informative sleeve note Digby Fairweather tells us that Esmond and his colleagues are first call British session men, highly regarded in the trade but not well known to the general public: if justice is done and this fine double CD set gets the exposure and distribution it deserves the jazz buying public will be well served indeed.
As befits his stylistic ambitions Selwyn offers a programme of familiar jazz standards and songbook ballads, all explored intelligently at some length and taken at a fair lick astutely avoiding the doldrums that can sometimes afflict the jam session format . The overall feel is buoyant and euphoric with headlong swing and melodic invention being the hallmark of both frontline instrumental voices. The presence of a small studio or club audience conveys a
live concert ambience that enhances the spontaneity of the session without tempting the musicians to easy solutions and though Sawtell is guilty of one `shave and a haircut` banality his playing like that of his leader seamlessly switches between speedy linearity and climactic chordal passages with effortless and refreshingly creative élan and vivacity. In their hands old warhorses like `Fine and Dandy`, `China Boy` and `Summertime` are revitalised with fresh licks whilst the `Blue Monk` and `Cantaloupe Island` are retro –fitted with new vamps and even the usually languid `All Blues` is shoved into top gear.
If Esmond Selwyn is the `Renegade` of the title it must be because he refuses to be intimidated by critical opinion that holds that the replication of past styles, however freshly minted they sound, is somehow reactionary and perhaps, like Wynton Marsalis, Nicholas Peyton and Scott Hamilton, he is proud to be a guardian of a living tradition and keeper of the flame. If so, more power to him.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
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Esmond Selwyn (guitar); Paul Sawtell (keyboards); Bill Coleman (bass) Tony Richards (drums)
No recording dates or location given.
This is as lively a set of guitar jazz as I’ve heard in a long time and being played in a manner steeped in the DNA of such luminaries as Tal Farlow, Barney Kessell , Herb Ellis, Howard Roberts, not forgetting Wes Montgomery, it is pleasingly retro without being slavishly deferential. This is not a homage but rather, a joyful celebration of
bop guitar conventions before the seismic shift initiated by Jimmy Hendrix moved the artistic pendulum away from melodic invention towards the expressive extremities of distortion and feedback that is found in the work of most post-modern guitarists. In his enthusiastic and informative sleeve note Digby Fairweather tells us that Esmond and his colleagues are first call British session men, highly regarded in the trade but not well known to the general public: if justice is done and this fine double CD set gets the exposure and distribution it deserves the jazz buying public will be well served indeed.
As befits his stylistic ambitions Selwyn offers a programme of familiar jazz standards and songbook ballads, all explored intelligently at some length and taken at a fair lick astutely avoiding the doldrums that can sometimes afflict the jam session format . The overall feel is buoyant and euphoric with headlong swing and melodic invention being the hallmark of both frontline instrumental voices. The presence of a small studio or club audience conveys a
live concert ambience that enhances the spontaneity of the session without tempting the musicians to easy solutions and though Sawtell is guilty of one `shave and a haircut` banality his playing like that of his leader seamlessly switches between speedy linearity and climactic chordal passages with effortless and refreshingly creative élan and vivacity. In their hands old warhorses like `Fine and Dandy`, `China Boy` and `Summertime` are revitalised with fresh licks whilst the `Blue Monk` and `Cantaloupe Island` are retro –fitted with new vamps and even the usually languid `All Blues` is shoved into top gear.
If Esmond Selwyn is the `Renegade` of the title it must be because he refuses to be intimidated by critical opinion that holds that the replication of past styles, however freshly minted they sound, is somehow reactionary and perhaps, like Wynton Marsalis, Nicholas Peyton and Scott Hamilton, he is proud to be a guardian of a living tradition and keeper of the flame. If so, more power to him.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
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JOHN WOLF BRENNAN/MARCO JENCARELLI/TONY MAJDALANI -
Pilgrims
Leo Records CD LR 664
John Wolf Brennan (piano, arcopiano, sordinopiano, pizzicatopiano, tamburopiano,glockenspiel, Indian harmonium, Irish whistle, kalimba, Hohner melodica, tubes); Tony Majdalani (percussion, steel pan, hang, berimbao, darabuka, djembe, udongo, sea shell, bodhran, kalimba, shakers, tubes, voice); Marco Jencarelli (acoustic and electric guitars, bottleneck)
You have to be open minded.
This is not jazz that Jazz FM would recognise. It might not be what
you would call jazz. It has, in the words of that great critic Whitney Balliett, ‘the sound of surprise ‘.
‘Pilgrims’ has religious connotations and contributors to the notes in the accompanying booklet include a nun and a monk. The music at times does have another-worldly quality. The instruments deployed during the course of the
77 minutes are many and varied. Tony Majdalani is more than a drummer.
Listen to the variety of rhythms he uses on ‘Bird On A Seesaw’ to underpin the piano and the guitar. There are seven tracks called ‘Meditative Moments’. For Brennan the piano is not a drum, he shows that you can be avant-garde by concentrating on musicality without attempting to batter the listener into submission. These are musicians who listen to one another and you can hear the listening. The music is often pensive thoughtful and explorative.
I have never heard a CD quite like this. We all know in jazz what a trio sounds like; this is nothing like that. I suppose a good pilgrimage takes you to places that you have never been to before. Franz Kafka apparently said that paths
'are made by walking'.
Brennan, Majdalani and Jencarelli certainly do that but you have to be prepared to travel.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
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John Wolf Brennan (piano, arcopiano, sordinopiano, pizzicatopiano, tamburopiano,glockenspiel, Indian harmonium, Irish whistle, kalimba, Hohner melodica, tubes); Tony Majdalani (percussion, steel pan, hang, berimbao, darabuka, djembe, udongo, sea shell, bodhran, kalimba, shakers, tubes, voice); Marco Jencarelli (acoustic and electric guitars, bottleneck)
You have to be open minded.
This is not jazz that Jazz FM would recognise. It might not be what
you would call jazz. It has, in the words of that great critic Whitney Balliett, ‘the sound of surprise ‘.
‘Pilgrims’ has religious connotations and contributors to the notes in the accompanying booklet include a nun and a monk. The music at times does have another-worldly quality. The instruments deployed during the course of the
77 minutes are many and varied. Tony Majdalani is more than a drummer.
Listen to the variety of rhythms he uses on ‘Bird On A Seesaw’ to underpin the piano and the guitar. There are seven tracks called ‘Meditative Moments’. For Brennan the piano is not a drum, he shows that you can be avant-garde by concentrating on musicality without attempting to batter the listener into submission. These are musicians who listen to one another and you can hear the listening. The music is often pensive thoughtful and explorative.
I have never heard a CD quite like this. We all know in jazz what a trio sounds like; this is nothing like that. I suppose a good pilgrimage takes you to places that you have never been to before. Franz Kafka apparently said that paths
'are made by walking'.
Brennan, Majdalani and Jencarelli certainly do that but you have to be prepared to travel.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Top of Page