Feb 3 2015
Recommended: Sequoia Ensemble – “Sequoia”
The Pacific Northwest scene has been incubating music like this lately. Some of this is attributable to the effect of émigrés like Wayne Horvitz, Bill Frisell, Cuong Vu and Eyvind Kang… artists whose creative lives are spent in the fuzzy areas where multiple genres connect. There’s also the effect of a musician’s natural inclination to assimilate the qualities of the music they encounter, and with commercial music being as varied, perhaps, than its ever been, the odds of it being reflected in a disparate range of expressions in a single work increase dramatically.
Sequoia Ensemble‘s debut album Sequoia can trace its routes to both of those causations. They bring together chamber music with indie-rock, jazz improvisation, ambient electronica, pop music succinctness and a number of other ingredients whose effect is heard if not easily ascribed. Thankfully, they don’t fall victim to the risk of muddied influences and neutralize the best characteristics of each school of music. This album has personality.
There’s very little conventional structure to this music. There’s no relying on a return to a previously traveled spot and the shape of a song may not become apparent even after it’s reached its conclusion. The obligation of an ensemble who takes this approach is to make every moment interesting… which Sequoia Ensemble does with a remarkable consistency.
Opening track “Hand of Dog” is the immediate evidence of the Ensemble’s success with this approach, however, the medley “Scandinavian Cannery Rd./Dear Friends, Farewell” and the three-part “Suite for Bosnia & Croatia” is where the music becomes a marvelous coalescence of attributes.
Plenty of intrigue and amazement to be found here… an equation that results in an abundance of fun.
Your album personnel: Levi Gillis (tenor sax), Brennan Carter (trumpet), Nick Rogstad (trombone), Evan Smith (clarinet), Andrew Olmstead (synthesizer), Carmen Rothwell (bass) and Evan Woodle (drums).
The album is Self-Produced.
Music from the Seattle scene.
Available at: Bandcamp
Feb 4 2015
Recommended: Jean-Michel Pilc – “What Is This Thing Called?”
A seriously absorbing solo set from pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, who casts a myriad of reflections off the classic gem, Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?” More vignettes than songs, most of the album’s 31 tracks don’t go over two minutes in length. But in those brief moments, Pilc finds a way to say quite a bit. Impressive without being showy, succinct without being trite, Pilc gets right to the heart of the matter with each piece. The effect is one of clarity in the moment and a gradually increasing expanse of imagery over the course of the album… tiny snapshots that allow a view of the big picture to slip in along the way.
Cole Porter’s song is the inspiration, tether, jump-off point, binding agent and thematic device. Pilc deftly ranges both near and far from the original, but he never gets too close and turns the album into some by-the-numbers tribute album, and he never strays so far from the theme to nullify the concept in its entirety. Pilc changes things up.
The scattering marbles of “Glide” is followed immediately by the Sunday morning solemnity of “Look,” which, in turn, is followed by the glittering downpour of “Cross,” and each sounds as natural flowing one from the other as if they were all poured from the same glass. None are glaringly obvious homages to the Porter original nor do they completely turn their back on where they’re from. And speaking of that original, Pilc’s minute-twenty reverie on Porter’s classic tune is endearingly sweet, gently touching upon the melody with the care of a parent brushing hair away from their child’s eyes.
Pilc answers the titular question with the closing track “Now You Know What Love Is,” a song that is reverential, arresting and sometimes a bit whimsical.
Your album personnel: Jean-Michel Pilc (piano, whistling).
Released on Sunnyside Records.
Jazz from NYC.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 0 • Tags: Jean-Michel Pilc, Sunnyside Records