Monthly Archives: September 2014

It’s not so easy finding good bass clarinet-led albums.  One such 2014 release I’ve been enjoying is Bleu Archipel 2, the new one from Thomas Savy.  Savy maintains a nice flow on bass clarinet, developing a necessary lyricism without tempering the instrument’s attractive edginess.  As a result, the music on this recording is, at times, both moody and combustible.

The up-tempo opening track “No Time, No Time” allows Savy to go to town and illustrate the strength of the bass clarinet.  Pierre de Bethmann gets his Fender Rhodes to develop a nice space-y vibe and add a bit of fuzziness to the cadence’s perceived speed.

“Anyway” is a bit of cool blue swing.  Bethmann switches over to piano, and provides some nice accompaniment for guitarist Michael Felberbaum‘s solo before taking a lively solo of his own.  Bassist Stéphane Kerecki walks the beat up and down the length of the song.

The title-track is arguably the best thing on this album.  Savy sings out the most beautiful melody on bass clarinet, with piano and drums providing some light and dark shading at the edges, a comforting murmur.  When Felberbaum’s guitar solo applies some heat, the risk is that the opening’s gorgeous, peaceful ambiance gets shattered.  But the serenity doesn’t crack, and when the group returns to that lovely sound to conclude the song, it comes off like it had never left to begin with.  “Lazy Man Blues” works a similar vein, though where the former was highlighted by its fluidity, this song is more punctuated, displaying the kind of melodic shaping typical of a Julian Joseph piece.

Tracks like “O’McHenry” and “Bad Drummer” are celebratory and upbeat.  Drummer Karl Jannuska comes with the big beats, a nice match for Savy’s punchy, almost sing-song delivery for these songs.

They slow things down, too.  The ballad “Father Bear Comes Home” is old school, but doesn’t get in your face with it.  The song smolders until catching fire near its conclusion when bass clarinet ignites for the finale.

“Stories” has a bit of the modern fusion thing going for it, and, at times, echoes the opening track.  But it moves stealthily, and it goes through a few changes to where its identity is forged from those changes and not any one particular sound.  It also provides everyone the opportunity to flex their muscles a bit with a solo.

The cover of Monk’s “Misterioso” starts a little disjointed, which is nice considering the source material.  Sparse, and the bass prominent.  Savy’s bass clarinet gets in some shouts, but it’s Kerecki’s bass doing the heavy lifting in terms of melody.  After that, the rest of the group joins in.  Guitar gets in nice intertwining lines with bass clarinet, and piano wraps them up with small contributions.  A real emphasis on the blues for this fun, ramshackle tune that satisfyingly comes together at the end, the group working the melody in unison.

Th album ends with the upbeat “Kind of Potts,” a straight-ahead modern piece.  It hops around determinedly, stays cheery throughout, and ends with the same enthusiasm with which the album began.

A very enjoyable recording, and definitely one for the bass clarinet fan.

Your album personnel:  Thomas Savy (bass clarinet), Michael Felberbaum (guitar), Pierre de Bethmann (piano, Fender Rhodes), Stéphane Kerecki (contrabass), and Karl Jannuska (drums).

Released by Plus Loin Music.

Jazz from the Paris scene.

Available at:  eMusic | Amazon CD | Amazon MP3

It’s pretty damn impressive how Emilio Solla brings together the quaint and the epic within the span of any one particular song.  Joined by his La Inestable de Brooklyn on the new release Second Half, Solla crafts each song so that it captures moments of calm reserve and breathless euphoria.  It’s not easy to shift the tone and tenor from one extreme to the other and still do it in a way that doesn’t come off as contrived or clumsy, while allowing the development to sound as natural as breathing.  That he accomplishes this feat in a context where jazz, Argentinean folk, tango, and chamber are all in play and a major factor in each and every song is as astonishing as the music itself.

The gentle piano introduction on opening song “Llegara, Llegara, Llegara” and the way it leads into bigger and bigger statements from wind instruments, violin and accordion is the kind of dramatic build common to this excellent recording.  And the way in which a sound so massive as to originate from a jazz orchestra seamlessly shifts into a charming Argentinean folk interlude before building back up to a dramatic finish speaks to the heart of this recording.

So, too, does songs like “Chakafrik” and “Raro,” which filter tango through a jazz net, creating gorgeous strata of melody sealed in place by thick folds of harmony.  It’s symbolic of many of the album’s songs in the way chipper, energetic rhythms slide into and out of harmonic digressions without a hitch.  “Suite Piazzollana, Pt. 1” proves that the changes of pace and influence that mark this album are just as effective at the speed of a ballad as they are in up-tempo mode.  The shift between Argentine folk and NYC swing on “American Patrol” brings even further definition to the craftsmanship at work on this recording.

Solla’s ensemble is a ridiculous wealth of talent, with individual musicians garnering plenty of mentions on this site and the eMusic/Wondering Sound Jazz Picks column.  It’s yet one more reason to scoop up this marvelous recording.  With its abundance of warmth, liveliness and strong musicianship, Second Half should be on listeners’ radars in 2014.

Your album personnel:  Emilio Solla (piano), Tim Armacost (tenor & soprano saxes, alto flute), John Ellis (tenor sax, flute & bass clarinet), Alex Norris (trumpet, flugelhorn), Ryan Keberle (trombone), Meg Okura (violin), Victor Prieto (accordion), Jorge Roeder (double bass), and Eric Doob (drums).

The album is Self-Produced.

Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.

Available at:  eMusic | CDBaby | Amazon CD

Your Sunday edition of Tiny Reviews!

Featuring: Allegretti Friedlander Malaby Stoddard Place, Melanie de Biasio No Deal, and Piero Bittolo Bon Jump the Shark Iuvenes Doom Sumus.

*****

Allegretti Friedlander Malaby – Stoddard Place

Arresting trio session from drummer Damian Allegretti, cellist Erik Friedlander, and tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby.  A languorous recording that sometimes displays a controlled fury, this is proof that a free jazz recording need not be an experience that forces the listener to the outer bounds of the conversation.  The way an alluring track like “Namasté” flows naturally from the slight heat of “Actora I” or how the sharp flurries of “I (#2)” take on a greater melodicism over the course of several tracks, culminating in the beautiful “I (#3)” illustrates the way this album possesses a small-moment and big-picture perspective simultaneously.  Some terribly beautiful moments interspersed amongst the scattered sounds.

The album is Self-Published.

Available at: eMusic | CDBaby CD/MP3 | Amazon CD/MP3

*****

Melanie de Biasio – No Deal

Melanie de Biasio keeps it simple with her delivery, which is pleasantly unfussy, as is the accompaniment of drums, piano and keyboards, which match her minimal delivery with a fuzzy succinctness of their own.  It’s more pop than jazz, more Portishead than Lady Day, and from de Biasio’s own words and music, that appears to have been the intention.  There’s an enchanting quality to some of these songs, but it would’ve been nice had the music possessed a bit more of an edge, which we get a hint of on stronger tracks like “Sweet Darling Pain” and “With Love.”

There isn’t any one track that blows me away, but the surreptitious accumulation of a wispy ambiance, revealed slowly over the course of the album, is pretty damn cool in itself.  Great music when you’ve got a quiet room handy and plenty of time to just sit back, listen, and drift away.

Your album personnel: Melanie de Biasio (vocals, flute), Pascal Mohy (piano), Dre Pallemaerts (drums), and Pascal Paulus (analog synth, clavinet).

Released on PIAS America.

Available at: eMusic | Amazon CD/MP3/Vinyl

*****

Piero Bittolo Bon Jump the Shark – Iuvenes Doom Sumus

Strange, yet riveting session led by saxophonist Piero Bittolo Bon, whose sextet finds a way to mix in some interesting instruments like sousaphone and 12-string acoustic guitar on this modern jazz that often veers into rock territory with an avant-garde flair.  Quirky doesn’t go nearly far enough to explain this music, nor does whimsical do any justice to the sharp teeth this music bares from time to time.  Similar in sound to Lucien Dubuis’ Spacetet, another top eMusic Jazz Pick from not long ago.  The upbeat moments are more frequent, but when the ensemble slows things down and lets trombone and vibes get out front, the music is pretty evocative.

Your album personnel: Piero Bittolo Bon (alto sax, composition), Gerhard Gschlössl (trombone, sousaphone), Pasquale Mirra (vibes), Domenico Caliri (acoustic 12 string guitar), Danilo Gallo (bass), and Federico Scettri (drums).

Released on El Gallo Rojo Records.

Available at: eMusic | Amazon MP3

*****

Some of this material was used originally in the weekly new jazz releases column I write for eMusic’s Wondering Sound, 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,” & “New Arrivals Jazz Picks,“ reprints courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2014 eMusic.com, Inc.

As always, my sincere thanks to eMusic for the gig.