Aug 10 2014
Farmer serenades cattle with trombone
Like the title says…
Thanks to Ted Gioia for pointing this one out to me on Twitter.
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
Cheers.
Monthly Archives: August 2014
Aug 9 2014
Brad Mehldau – “Highway Rider”
Highway Rider isn’t my favorite Brad Mehldau album, but it is the one I keep coming back to most frequently. It is sonic comfort food for my ears. At the end of a long exhaustive week, it is the first thing I put on after closing the door behind me and attempt to transition from weekday to weekend. The way the album opens with the pretty melody and sussurant rhythmic chatter of “John Boy” is an invitation to decompress. And then the orchestra enters with some deeply resonant textures to which Joshua Redman joins with on soprano sax. There is a tranquility and a redolence to this song, and, really, to the entire album.
The addition of the orchestra, especially of the string section, I find particularly appealing. While my favorite Mehldau recordings are typically his trio sessions, it was Largo that first got me hooked on his creative vision. Largo is a bit of an oddball recording in the Mehldau discography. The songs have a presence not unlike other favorites such as Day is Done, Where Do You Start? and Anything Goes, which have a cerebral bent and a heart that beats quietly but carries far and strong. But the instrumentation on Largo and its eccentric expressions got me good, and it wasn’t long after that I dove into Mehldau’s other recordings.
Highway Rider, like Largo, has more depth in the instrumentation pool, and it expresses itself differently than other recordings. The melodies are what bind the album together into a cohesive whole. From a melodic standpoint, Highway Rider is a room of mirrors, where each reflective surface has its own shape and surface and presents a similar melody with just enough differentiation to allow the qualities of complexity to emerge, but with enough similarities to present the recording in a nice tiny bundle.
It was an early Sunday morning and I was heading out of Louisville, headed back home. The sun was lighting up a countryside of slight, rolling hills and green green fields. The horizon was a mix of yellows and blues and large billowy clouds. I turned on the radio and the local station greeted me with Mehldau’s “The Falcon Will Fly Again.” Mehldau’s ensemble finds the sweet spot between mid-tempo activity and languorous sighs of melody. Redman’s soprano sax dances spryly atop a tableau of dynamic rhythms. It presents a sing-song disposition while allowing for some wonderful development of the opening statements. It’s a beautiful song that went so well with driving through bluegrass country, early on a Sunday morning when the world seemed at peace. That I came upon it by chance on the radio was one of those happy surprises that makes a person feel in synch with the movement of life about them.
The quiet piano interlude of “At the Tollbooth,” the way in which “Don’t Be Sad” builds up to a roar and gets carried along on the waves of strings, and the way those strings are thick as storm clouds and just as beautifully fearsome on “Now You Must Climb Alone” and “Walking the Peak” construct environments in which Mehldau and crew provide rhythmic phrases and permutations of melody that provide some necessary, wonderful contrast from the thick, lovely harmonies from the orchestra.
The masterful way in which Mehldau employs melodies on Highway Rider is most evidenced in how the jaunty tune “Sky Turning Grey [For Elliott Smith]” is the closest thing to a pop song on this album, which is signified by many many songs that are catchy in their own right and which I find myself singing under my breath with some regularity. This, on an album that doesn’t shortchange on edgy solos.
It’s a rainy Saturday morning. Thick with grey clouds, the gloomy skies have captured just enough sunlight to counteract the oppression of the thick mist and lighten up the trees and grass and plants to a bright, fairytale shade of green. There was a sense of peaceful quiet in the air, as if this tiny town had come to a consensual agreement that no one would break the stillness of the morning. It was the perfect moment for Highway Rider.
I just wanted to share that.
Your album personnel: Brad Mehldau (piano, pump organ, Yamaha CS-80, orchestral bells), Jeff Ballard (percussion, drums, snare brush), Joshua Redman (soprano & tenor saxes), Larry Grenadier (bass), Matt Chamberlain (drums) and the Orchestra with Dan Coleman (conductor) and special guests The Fleurettes (vocals). Handclaps attributable to band members.
Released in 2010 on Nonesuch Records.
Album cover by Richard Misrach, “Drive-In Theatre, Las Vegas, 1987.”
Available at: eMusic | Amazon CD
Aug 8 2014
Tiny Reviews: Leslie Pintchik, DC Improvisers Collective, & Mike Parker’s Unified Theory
Tiny Reviews edition!
Featuring: Leslie Pintchik In the Nature of Things, DC Improvisers Collective In the Gloam of the Anthropocene, and Mike Parker’s Unified Theory Embrace the Wild.
*****
Leslie Pintchik – In the Nature of Things
A vibrant sextet session from pianist Leslie Pintchik, on an album that betrays a heavy presence despite its easy-going exterior. In the Nature of Things is one of those recordings that sounds suspiciously introspective even as it bops right along at a brisk pace and with a light touch.
But that’s not to say there’s a surfeit of brooding melancholia here. The track “I’d Turn Back If I Were You” comes out swinging, and the mid-tempo “Sparkle” adds some sunny rays via sax and trumpet, as well as the ever-present chatter of percussionist Satoshi Takeishi. And it’s Takeishi’s nifty articulation in a support role that gives the album an extra boost of personality. And on the subject of support roles, saxophonist Steve Wilson contributes some nice solos, but it’s his accompaniment when Pintchik is leading the way that really leads to some shining moments.
When it all shakes out, though, it’s tunes such as “With You In Mind” that shape this album’s presence. Even the choice of the album’s sole rendition, that of “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face,” falls right into place with those Pintchik originals that burn something moody from the interior of chipper, bright passages. Good stuff.
Your album personnel: Leslie Pintchik (piano), Steve Wilson (alto & soprano saxes), Ron Horton (trumpet, flugelhorn), Scott Hardy (bass), Satoshi Takeishi (percussion), and Michael Sarin (drums).
Released on Pintch Hard Records.
Available at: eMusic | CDBaby | Amazon: CD
*****
DC Improvisers Collective – In the Gloam of the Anthropocene
Thrilling set from the DC Improvisers Collective on their new release In the Gloam of the Anthropocene. It begins with some fiery jazz-rock fusion, free and dissociative, yet cohesive in that way fireflies seem to move in unison while careening in all directions. That they occasionally stray into a little 70s-style trip-rock is an appealing texture to throw into the middle of the ferocity.
Guest Natalie Spehar adds her cello into the mix on two tracks, which really brings a thick melodic aspect to music that had spent plenty time up til that point speeding right along. This is especially true on “Rosslyn Suite,” where cello lifts off from a riveting intro of bass clarinet’s deep hum and a flurry from drums. First half of the album shows the group knows how to hit the gas pedal, while the second half displays their talent at simply letting the music cruise at an easy speed (excepting a mad dash to the finish line). I really enjoy this recording. Its energy is an arresting feature, but it’s the sense of completeness, of a well-rounded vision that is most striking.
Your album personnel: Ben Azzara (drums), Jonathan Matis (piano, guitar), Mike Sebastian (sax, bass clarinet), Natalie Spehar (cello), and Chris Brown and Jon Steele share responsibilities on (bass).
The album is Self-Produced.
Available at: eMusic | Bandcamp | CDBaby | Amazon MP3
*****
Mike Parker’s Unified Theory – Embrace the Wild
There’s no way to pigeonhole Embrace the Wild, the interesting new release by bassist Mike Parker’s Unified Theory. Featuring some solid names from the Krakow, Poland scene, this mix of post-bop, indie-rock, avant-garde and some inclinations for modern classical leads to music that shifts between sounds like scene-changes at the theater and all the drama inherent in just such a production. The quintet possesses a big voice, even when it’s used for comfort, not chaos. The three-part “All Saints” ends the album pretty spectacularly, with the big sound and flailing motion that dominates much of this album ending with a tranquil sigh. There is something so satisfying about an album providing a gentle landing to a wild ride.
It’s an album that makes a pretty decent first impression, but, ultimately, it’s gonna be one that earns a listener’s appreciation through time and attention. I say this from experience.
Your album personnel: Mike Parker (bass), Dawid Fortuna (drums), Bartek Prucnal (alto sax), Slawek Pezda (tenor sax), and Cyprian Baszynski (trumpet).
The album is Self-Produced.
Cool album art from Agata Kotula.
Available at: eMusic | Bandcamp | Amazon: CD
*****
Some of this material was used originally in the weekly new jazz releases column I write for eMusic, so here’s some language protecting their rights to the reprinted material as the one to hire me to write about new jazz arrivals to their site…
“New Arrivals Jazz Picks” & “New Arrivals Jazz Picks,“ reprints courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2014 eMusic.com, Inc.
As always, my sincere thanks to eMusic for the gig.
Aug 7 2014
Tobias Preisig – “Drifting”
Sitting on the cusp of jazz and indie-pop, , by violinist Tobias Preisig‘s Drifting is filled with passages of melodic beauty and dramatic builds of intensity. The core of most songs lies at the foot of violin, with drums, bass, and piano jumping off from that point, often into moments of startling beauty.
The album title doesn’t appear to be coincidental. Preisig leads right out with “Free Falling,” a tune that trades in form for atmospherics, and where percussion percolates below the surface while violin hovers just above it. The song neither begins nor ends, just simply materializes before fading from existence.
Other tracks don’t go quite to that extreme. For instance, the title-track is the prime example of the quartet’s winning formula. A focused, driving force, it charges straight ahead with intermittent melodic glides that linger sweetly. “Splendid” charts a similar course, but slows things down a bit, providing the melody a little extra room to breathe until the dramatic conclusion.
It’s tracks like those, where the quartet aims for some structure, that illustrate what the quartet is capable of now. However, it’s the formless tunes, those that drift atmospherically, show the seeds of where this group can go next. “Walking Twilight” and “Floating Causes” both insinuate form where none exists, which provides the musicians all kinds of space to expand on ideas, and yet still offers up a sense of cohesion. It’s that cohesion that makes all the difference between creative pursuits and instrumental noodling, and the more that Preisig is able to manipulate that sense of cohesion, the stronger his music will resonate.
Typically, those tracks that attempt to attain a definitive shape are keyed in on what piano is doing, and those tracks that eschew structure for abstract expressionism, they are led there by violin. In both instances, though, the results are quite beautiful and often riveting.
Your album personnel: Tobias Preisig (violin), Stefan Aeby (piano, rhodes), André Pousaz (bass), and Michi Stulz (drums).
Released on Traumton Records.
Jazz from the Zurich, Switzerland scene.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon CD
Aug 11 2014
Fire! Orchestra – “Enter”
Enter is about as thrilling as it gets.
And whereas the ensemble brings to the studio the same combustible personality and the dense walls of dissonance and harmonies, they produce a tighter sonic bundle, whereas the live recording tended more to formlessness and wandering. But don’t misinterpret… thankfully, Fire! Orchestra is still all over the place, but there is a greater sense of focus and unison in how they go about it. The term “organized chaos” is undoubtedly apt… a crowd of moving parts in perpetual states of collision, and yet possessing a pop music sensibility that makes this recording supremely embraceable.
“Part One” begins with the slow exhalation of melody, growing increasingly combustible. The lovely harmony of voices ignites into a flash of dissonance, returning only later, now heavy with the blues and not a little bit aggressive. The dissonance lights back up, this time with horns and saxes providing the flame while bass and drums go to town.
“Part Two” grinds out a catchy groove, which, in turn, gives way to a wall of dissonance… the sound of a bank of circuitry crashing down, lacking subtlety, a hard unforgiving poetry. But this is just another moment for a big reveal, as the dissonance sputters out and the peaceful harmony of wind instruments fills the void. It’s these shifting tides and the way listenability isn’t sacrificed for raw energy that elevates the album up a notch or three. The build-up to the grand finale inches forward, gaining strength through accretion and perseverance.
“Part 3” is all about the vocal experimentalism, in particular how voices and woodwind shrieks become almost indistinguishable, leaving the ears to figure out who is true and who is the chameleon. The rising tides go out with one final big wave, and that it crests heavy with the blues makes all of the unconventional sounds and expressions sound comfortingly familiar.
In the 90s, a group of disparate artists made a proclamation about a new movement. They called it Avant-Pop, and its goal was one in which challenging art, rich with complexities and nuance, would be shrouded in a populist sensibility, and thus subversively become entrenched in the minds and hearts of the masses. When I hear a song like “Part 4,” I can’t help but think that this was something that the Avant-Pop creators had in mind. A delectable melody, cooed out by vocalists and shouted out by instruments, an easy melody to ride as an army of avant-garde musicians march an avant-garde album to a close… with a song that seems almost simple, a final impression on an album that is anything but. The song repeats that catchy melody, sometimes gently, sometimes in a powerful surge, and the song’s momentum becomes almost mesmerizing as a result. The final surge, however, is sufficiently fierce to break any hypnotic state, but, amazingly, the song retains its tunefulness amidst the jarring intensity of the finale. It’s amazing, until one considers that Fire! Orchestra began doing it right from the album’s first note.
Immeasurable and transcending classification, this is creativity that crashes through boundaries and preconceptions. So damn good.
Your album personnel: Mariam Wallentin, Sofia Jernberg, Simon Ohlsson (voices), Goran Kajfes (cornet), Niklas Barnö, Magnus Broo, Emil Strandberg (trumpets), Mats Äleklint (trombone), Per Åke Holmlander (tuba), Anna Högberg (alto sax), Mats Gustafsson (tenor sax, conductor), Elin Larsson (tenor sax), Fredrik Ljungkvist (baritone sax, clarinet), Martin Kuchen (baritone sax), Christer Bothén (bass clarinet), Jonas Kullhammar (bass sax), Andreas Söderström (lap steel), Sören Runolf (electric guitar), David Stackenäs (electric & acoustic guitars), Martin Hederos (Fender Rhodes, organ), Sten Sandell (keyboards, mellotron), Joachim Nordwall (electronics), Johan Berthling (electric bass), Joel Grip, Dan Berglund (basses), and Andreas Werliin, Johan Holmegard, Raymond Strid (drums).
Released on Rune Grammofon.
Music from the Scandinavian scene.
Available at: Amazon
You can also purchase directly from the label, Rune Grammofon.
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2014 Releases • 0 • Tags: Andreas Söderström, Andreas Werliin, Elin Larsson, Fire! Orchestra, Goran Kajfes, Johan Berthling, Martin Kuchen, Mats Gustafsson, Rune Grammofon, Scandinavia