Apr 27 2015
Recommended: Sean Jones – “Im*pro*vise: Never Before Seen”
One of the final cuts before finalizing the Bird is the Worm Best of 2014 list was Im*pro*vise: Never Before Seen, a quartet session from trumpeter Sean Jones. This is top shelf jazz, and it’s an excellent vintage. This is jazz that everyone will recognize. It’s music that swings. It’s music steeped in the blues. It’s music that carries the torch of the past even when it burns with a flame lit today. It’s a fastball right over the plate and there’s no mistaking this music for anything else other than jazz.
“Dark Times” is a slow blues, smokey and cool, sounding reminiscent of Donald Byrd’s 1968 hard bop recording, Slow Drag. Pianist Orrin Evans kicks up some dirt, which Jones complements with some sharp bursts on trumpet, and the brief flurry of dissonance brings even greater clarity to the quartet’s serious groove. The quartet’s talent at the manipulation of motion becomes even more evident on “Interior Motive.” Drummer Obed Calvaire instigates a choppy tempo that practically glides when it breaks from the dense forest and out into the clearing.
With “The Morning After” and “We’ll Meet Under the Stars,” Jones shows his talent at shepherding a ballad along nice and easy. Of particular interest is the former track, pure moonlight, which grows into a dramatic call into the night.
Jones’s trumpet is all sunny cheer on “I.D.G.A.D Blues,” but it’s the walking cadence of bassist Luques Curtis that starts the song out with a smile. Similarly, Curtis gets “Dr. Jekyll” scooting right along, and the interconnectivity of tempo between bass, piano and drums is terrifically engaging, and lays down a framework for Jones to offer up some thrilling moments.
And it’s an album filled with many more.
Your album personnel: Sean Jones (trumpet), Orrin Evans (piano), Luques Curtis (bass) and Obed Calvaire (drums).
Released on Mack Avenue Records.
Jazz from the Pittsburgh scene.
Available at: Amazon
Apr 28 2015
Recommended: Vincent Courtois – “West”
West is an absolutely captivating chamber jazz session from cellist Vincent Courtois, and it joins an impressive collection of similar projects released over the years, each of them enchanting in their own way.
On his newest, he’s joined by frequent collaborators, saxophonist Daniel Erdmann and multi-reedist Robin Fincker, as well as pianist Benjamin Moussay. Interspersed throughout are solo cello pieces, and the shift between an austere beauty and the subtle, yet dynamic textures of the collaborative pieces creates an ebb and flow that is positively magnetic.
The slow harmonic build of “So Much Water So Close To Home” is matched beautifully with a quivering melody. The gentle raindrops of “1852 Metres Plus Tard” is a slow reveal of sharp flashes of lightning. “Modalites” is a gripping crosshatch of layers and permutations of repetition. “Nowhere” is cold moonlight and “L’intuition” is the lonely soul staring up at it. “West” soars & gallops simultaneously while “Freaks” is an old soul strolling slow.
The frantic march of “Tim au Nohic” dials it down for “Désarçonné” without sacrificing a bit of its fervor. When it dials it back up for “Semaphore,” the flow of the transitions is as natural as water wending its way between rocks in a stream.
Some of the tunes hit a solemn Sunday morning jazz while others veer off into classical and ambient territory more akin to a Steve Reich or Brian Eno. This is peaceful music that flashes some sharp teeth from time to time… and ultimately winds up being a massively sublime affair. The album ends with a reprise of “1852 Metres Plus Tard,” and emphasizes exactly that last point.
Your album personnel: Vincent Courtois (cello, guide chant), Daniel Erdmann (tenor sax), Robin Fincker (clarinet, tenor sax) and Benjamin Moussay (piano, harpsichord, celesta, toy piano).
Released on La Buissonne.
Listen on Bandcamp. Explore the artist on Soundcloud.
Music from France.
Available at: Bandcamp | eMusic | Amazon
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By davesumner • Beyond Jazz Reviews, Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 0 • Tags: Daniel Erdmann, La Buissonne, Paris, Vincent Courtois