Jazz Recommendations – 2012 Releases

May 2 2012

Brian Patneaude – “All Around Us”

 

Triangulation is a pretty useful method to determine where you’re at.  You take a couple known reference points, you check the angles, you extrapolate, and then you get that third point.  And when you’ve got all three, you can see the lay of the land.

It’s also a handy tool for measuring the development of a musician’s sound.  Much can be revealed over the course of three albums.  Musicians who embrace the search for their sound, who accept the challenge with hard work and enthusiasm, charting their development with a little triangulation makes for a nifty device.

Tenor saxophonist Brian Patneaude just gave us point number three.

The key to the Albums of Three rule is in accurately picking the “first” album.  You can’t just start anywhere.  You gotta find an album where the musician says something new, makes a statement about the shape of their music to come.

Patneaude’s first album was Variations, released back in 2003, and followed two years later with Distance.  Both are solid albums with plenty of decent jazz, but nothing that would set them apart from all the other decent jazz released at that time.  But there was a peek into where his sound was going on the title track to Distance, a little something that was incongruous to what came before, that didn’t quite fit in the flow of the rest of the album… but in a good way.  Sort of how a new house with innovative modern architecture can look totally out of place on a block of older classic Victorian homes, but still enhance the quality of the block just because the craftsmanship and design on the new addition is so peculiarly intriguing.  That was how the song “Distance”, from the album of the same name, stood out from the other tunes.

But it wasn’t until 2007’s As We Know It that Patneaude’s current sound broke from the soil and showed itself to the world.  It was a startling development, both in terms of its unexpectedness, but also in the huge leap it had made from the previous album.  Displaying a lyricism shining through the sound of setting sun mist, Patneaude gave a tip of the hat to modern jazz introversion and ambiance while simultaneously embracing the 1980s sound of blistering melodies a la Brecker Brothers.  It also made it an easy pick for album number one of three… the starting point.

The foray into that sound continued with 2009’s excellent Riverview, in which he wielded the sound with more confidence, both through his play and the compositions.  Riverview didn’t just expand on the ideas of its predecessor; it doubled-down on them.  Soloists were allowed to wander further from base camp.  The presence of tranquil introversion was amped up another level.  Melodies burned brighter, but with an emphasis on brightness over heat.  And if As We Know It was the time just after sunset, then Riverview was the hours as the night comes to a close… a shimmering electricity that refuses to quit even after burning through a full tank of gas.

In addition to a rhythm line of drums and bass, both of these albums had Patneaude’s tenor sax matched up with guitar and Fender Rhodes/organ.  The quavering notes of guitar and fuzzy notes of Rhodes & organ lent much to the moodiness of these albums, and were a deft counterbalance to the clean palate of Patneaude’s sax.  They went a long way to setting the environment in which the soloists performed.

So, about All Around Us.

Your album personnel:  Brian Patneaude (tenor sax), Mike DelPrete (acoustic bass), Danny Whelchel (drums, percussion), and David Caldwell-Mason (piano, fender rhodes).

After expanding outward the previous two albums, Patneaude has returned to home.  In some ways, it resembles the straight-forward Distance, but listening to them side-by-side, the gulf that separates the two albums is unmistakable.  The moodiness is most all gone, and introversion has become extroversion.  And whereas on the previous two albums, Patneaude developed a sound more inclined to induce daydreaming, now it an affable warmth that he sends notes out with, an easy fireside chat.  But it isn’t a break from the past, not by any means.  A bit like he has stepped out from the woods and into the studio, but brought some of the forest mist and gurgling stream of previous albums along for the ride.

The change in Patneaude’s approach is noticeable right from the start.  “Lake Timeless” opens the album with some wistful phrases from Patneaude on tenor while piano shades the composition from the edges, drums and bass building slow to end with a roar.  But through it all, Patneaude maintains that extreme likability and warmth.

Never is this new warmth more pronounced than in Patneaude’s rendition of Wayne Shorter’s “Juju.”  Patneaude takes Shorter’s intense song and approaches it with a congenial ease, his phrasing of the melody giving the sense of humming a little ditty.  It’s a startling transformation, one that took me about half the duration of the song to even recognize what tune it was.  It’s an outstanding track, one that demands return visits.

For All Around Us, Patneaude drops guitar from the line-up.  This strategy works to the album’s benefit.  The quartet uses the extra room to let their notes drift and float in space.  And when they do put some pop into their solos, it’s with an unhurried ease that emphasizes an economical use of speed over an extravagant display of power.

It feels live an Arrival Point, that album three of three in this particular arc of Patneaude’s creative development has been achieved.  From this listener’s perspective, it’s always a satisfying experience to hear an artist develop from one plateau to the next.  As an album, All Around Us is a positive indication of the state of things, and a promising signpost of what lies ahead.

Released on the Wepa Records label.  Jazz from the Albany, NY scene.

Download a free album track from Patneaude’s last four albums at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist and label.

Available on Amazon: CD | MP3

By • Artist Overviews, Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2012 Releases • 0

Apr 30 2012

Colin Vallon – “Rruga”

My review of Colin Vallon‘s Rruga has been pubbed over at Music is Good.  After the lead-in paragraph, you can follow the link to read the read of the article at MiG.

*****

The ECM catalog is filled with piano trio albums of austerity and minimalism.  For a piano trio to approach an album with a Doing More With Less minimalism is a daring venture, because the high risk is a drowsy album that ends up sounding flimsy and thin or, worse perhaps, lounge music for the late night dinner set.  It’s not an easy thing to do, the peaceful piano trio recording.

The choice of notes has to be impeccable, since there ain’t gonna be as many to offer the listener.  Honor has to be paid to the silence, and used as effectively as the sound made from the black and whites.  Bass and drums have to be more than just tools of accompaniment, but in the framework of the quiet piano trio, they need to be sure to only use their Inside Voices.  And then there’s the compositions themselves… (read the rest of the article, HERE, at Music is Good).

Your album personnel:  Colin Vallon (piano), Patrice Moret (double bass), and Samuel Rohrer (drums).

Released on the ECM Records label in 2011, and one of the year’s best.

Jazz from the Bern, Switzerland scene.

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Apr 30 2012

Recommended: Lynne Arriale – “Solo”

 

Following up on her strong quartet album Convergence, pianist Lynne Arriale returns with a solo recording—a risky venture for any artist.  In an ensemble setting, a musician has collaborators with whom to work and exchange ideas before the record button is punched, and more importantly, while the session is on the move.  In ensemble play, a musician’s unformed ideas or sound can be made whole by the other musicians in the ensemble; this is a big reason why group improvisation is such a glorious thing in jazz, that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.  Everyone brings something to the moment and it all fits together.  However, in a solo project, the musician is completely alone, his/her artistry naked.  There is no one to talk to but the listeners themselves. Solo albums are revealing moments, and it is because of that that, when they succeed, they elicit such an emotionally profound reaction.

Which brings us to Arriale’s Solo.

Your album personnel:  Lynne Arriale (piano).

The opening notes of Solo are symbolic in the ways that count most. “La Noche” begins with discordant notes in descent, a sense of dramatically falling down a flight of stairs.  Arriale, however, never loses her balance, never hits ground. Instead, she exudes a grace and control that epitomizes her sound throughout.  Can one even fall if they breathe elegance with each step and note?  Is it falling or simply flight?  Arriale gives no insight into these questions, but provides the thrilling sensation of both.

Much like a brief glimpse, the subtlest touch can convey substantive and heavy emotions, as does Arriale with her expressions on piano.  Solo is never fussy, never overbearing.  On “Dove,” a tune of sublime beauty, Arriale gets everything it is possible to get out of each note without meticulously wringing them dry or ponderously studying them from every angle.  Arriale has attained such a level of mastery in her approach that all she requires is a brief moment of polish before she moves on.  It would be easy to describe it as effortless, but accuracy would be better honored by supposing that hard work and deliberation has resulted in a near subconscious fluidity of motion and thought.  Said differently, Arriale knows what notes she’s looking for and can find them right quick.

Solo is a mix of originals and covers.  Two of the selections come from Thelonious Monk.  On “Evidence,” Arriale presents the composition as she sees it, no more, no less.  While she passes on attempting a groundbreaking turn on Monk’s version, she also avoids doing a by-the-numbers rendition.  As such, like the other selections, the tune settles naturally into the flow of the album.  The album flow, from first note to last, remains undisturbed, with Arriale alone at the center of it all.

It’s all about the elegance.

Released on the Motema Records label.

Jazz from NYC.

Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist and label.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

*****

My review of Lynne Arriale’s Solo was originally published at AllAboutJazz)

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Apr 28 2012

Recommended: Josh Maxey – “The Language of Sound and Spirit”

 

Sometimes it’s all about setting the tone.

If done right, if the musician finds a way to indelibly stamp the album’s vision in those brief opening moments, no matter what comes after, those notes are imprinted on the listener’s ears.  And if the music varies from opening note to last, the juxtaposition of the memory of the introductory sound and that which follows, potentially creates a complex sonic palate that makes for the most fascinating music.

Guitarist Josh Maxey does just that.  If trumpeter Miles Davis’ title-track to In a Silent Way conjures up images of a lighthouse looking out over a serene harbor on a cloudy day, then Josh Maxey’s opening track to The Language of Sound and Spirit is the boat drifting in slowly on languid ocean waves and aimed for the pier.  And though the album gets rockier and fiercer as it proceeds, it never shakes that initial sensation of blissful peace.

Your album personnel: Josh Maxey (guitar), Brian Charette (organ), Chase Baird (saxophones), Jeremy Noller (drums), and guests: Michael Cioffero (acoustic guitar, singing bowls), David Nicholson (acoustic guitar, singing bowls), Jessica Martinez Maxey (flute), and David Parnell (vocals).

The opener is simply titled “Part I.” Maxey’s guitar bends notes, twists them like misshapen glass until they sparkle and glow and warp light all over the place.  Jeremy Noller delicately crashes cymbals across the surface, his bass drum a thumping undercurrent.  Chase Baird calls out plaintively on sax, the caw of seagulls over the open water, while Brian Charette’s organ eerily encircles the entire crew. It’s life on open water.

There’s a brief interlude of sax on the loose and drums gone wild.

And that’s when the album starts to swing.

Tracks “Part II” and “Part III” keep an oft repeated phrase on sax in their pocket as the band grooves along.  Maxey and band keep a light step through it all, and their path is untroubled.  It’s not so much that this music sounds well-rehearsed as it does that the musicians’ vision of what the music should be is so clear that they can’t help but hit the right notes.  This, ultimately, provides a seamless presentation of the compositions with all the glorious joy of group improvisation.

“Part IV” is a stunning track.  Rustic, with an easy sway and churn.  It’s a blues, but as viewed in the reflection of disturbed water. Maxey’s electric guitar takes an inquisitive approach to notes, but when it finds one it likes, he sets it on fire.  Michael Cioffero sidekicks on acoustic guitar, adding a rhythmic ingredient that imbues the song with a Big Sky expansiveness that’s as startling as it is exemplary. Baird moves in with sax, and solos over the top, and Charette also, in turn, launches into a solo of his own, but it’s when he and Baird shadowbox that they truly shine here. Throughout it all, Noller’s drums fill in every crevice, his cymbals like glue between the notes, and maintains the tune’s breezy swing.

The album ends with “Rehearsal,” a return to the sound of those opening moments. A little more dissonant this time around, a bit choppier, but no less resonant. That it fades out, slowly, distantly, is not only apropo, but thematically satisfying.

Josh Maxey is on a quest to compose and record six albums in one year’s time. This album counts as number three in that effort. It’s a remarkable statement that he can bring about creativity this inspired on the fly, and in the slim time frame he’s afforded himself.

The album is Self-Produced.

Jazz from NYC.

You can stream the entire album on Maxey’s bandcamp page.  You can also purchase it there.  And remember, bandcamp allow you to download files in many formats, including lossless, at no extra charge.

Download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artist.

Available at eMusic.

By • Announcement - Music, Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2012 Releases • 0

Apr 25 2012

Amit Friedman Sextet – “Sunrise”

 

Amit Friedman Sextet’s Sunrise is one of those rare albums that I want to blast from the rooftops, convinced that if the whole damn world could just hear it, the planet would be a much happier place.

It’s a majestic album that soars without forgetting to swing.

It’s unlikely I’ll be able to contain my enthusiasm in the words of this review.  Pretty sure I’m not even gonna try.

It would be nice to give an objective review, even in the context that I’m an unabashed jazz advocate.  It would be nice, but it’s not gonna happen.  I’m hoping that you overlook my grand statements and melodramatic metaphors, and take from this review that Sunrise is worth your time to listen to and add to your own music library.  I’m hoping that you take from this review that Sunrise is an album that makes it nearly impossible for me to contain my exuberance, that this music instills in me a happiness that makes me want to go up to the rooftops and shout this album all across my wonderful new hometown.  While I do often get excited about much of the music I hear these days, I want you to understand that this is one of those rare albums that transcends music, and makes me appreciate the gift of life and my opportunity to be alive to hear music like this.

Now let’s talk about that music…

Your album personnel:  Amit Friedman (tenor & soprano sax, flute), Amos Hoffman (guitar, oud), Omri Mor (piano), Gilad Abro (bass), Amir Bresler (drums), Rony Iwryn (percussion), Chen Shenar (violin), Avner Kelmer (violin), Noam Haimovitz Weinschel (viola), Maya Belzitsman (cello), and guest: Tamar Eisenman (vocal on final track “Sunrise”).

Opening track “Sunrise,” begins with bass performing a slow two-step as oud enters with a sonorous melody that percolates with happy dreams.  Friedman steps up on sax, rousing the tune from its sleep, eyes fluttering open, arms stretching wide.  When the string trio moves in, it’s magical.  Friedman builds off his repeated phrasing and joins up with the string trio’s flight.  And then he solos, drums keeping a decent trot at his side.  Oh man, uplifting and light as a feather… such a rare and beautiful experience when a song can give the sense of flying away and watching the world from above.

The second track “Or” starts with oud spinning in twirling circles while piano wants to waltz.  Sax brings it further into a waltz, and oud joins in.  It’s the sound of a heart beating.  And then they start running.

Third track “Up and Down Interlude” begins with the string trio, giving way to a piano solo, with strings adding a little accompaniment.  It’s a sensation of the hurricane from within the eye, and bathed in sunlight.  It leads right into the fourth track, an up-tempo piece.  Friedman’s soprano rises up in quick steps, then comes back down, over and over.  Piano leads the charge from behind, maintaining a gallop even when it feels like their feet no longer touch the ground.

Fifth track “Bolero” is a slow dance for romantics, which teasingly lulls things to a calm just for a sudden shift up, way up, in tempo for the furious bop of “The Tales of Hoffman,” which lets Friedman just rear back and blow on tenor.  Everyone gets a chance to solo here.  More importantly, this tune is more straight-ahead than the others, and gives some necessary contrast to the Middle-Eastern jazz styles, and some perspective on the genuineness of their beauty.

Seventh track “La Refarela” doesn’t slow down the pace, but the Latin percussion blended with the skip & hop of piano keep things catchy and cool, and Friedman’s infusion of Middle-Eastern stylings puts a polish on the song’s complexities without letting things get muddled.  The pairing of Friedman’s whirling dervish solo laid over top of the bass maniacally pacing back and forth across the room is a nifty moment.

Another high water mark on this album begins with an interlude, the eighth track “The Archeologist Interlude”, which opens with the string quartet.  Using the sensation of flying as a descriptor for anything a string quartet does has become rather commonplace, but that’s for good reason.  It leads right into ninth track “The Archeologist”, which has the piano repeating the phrasing of the strings, soprano sax joining in, and everyone else falling in behind.  Friedman’s solo here builds up from the lofty heights attained by the strings.

“Optimism (for Sonny Rollins)” transitions back and forth between a mambo and blues.  From a sound perspective, it’s a bit out of the flow of the album, but when viewed in the light that it’s likely to bring a smile to anyone who hears it, well, that sets it plum straight with the emotional perspective of Sunrise.

“You Must Go” begins gently, offering a different facet of a repeated phrasing throughout the album.  Light as a feather and carried blithely away by a warm breeze, even the increasing tempos and chanting do nothing to alter the delicate trajectory this composition takes.  Float, flutter, descend, and float back up all over again.  Enchanting.

The album ends with a love song.  A return to opening track “Sunrise”, this facet of that theme adds vocalist Tamar Eisenman to the mix.  Accompanied by Friedman’s lilting soprano, Eisenman’s easy-going sonics succinctly put a casual touch on the album finale while still conveying all of the profound emotions that mark the album as something very special.

There have been some strong albums released thus far in 2012.  It’s always tricky getting too definitive with this kind of statement, but I’ve got to slot Amit Friedman’s Sunrise near (or at) the top of my Best of 2012 (thus far) list.  It’s outstanding simply in terms of musicianship, but add to that the recording’s transcendent emotional impact, and, well, I’m ready to shout this album from the rooftops.  Compelled.  Beauty has that effect on me.

Peace.  And cheers.

Here’s a video of a live performance of the title track…

*****

Sunrise was released on the Origin/OA2 Records label.

Jazz from Israel.

Available on Amazon: CD | MP3

Available on eMusic: MP3

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2012 Releases • 2

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