Jan 24 2018
Recommended: Trio S – “Somewhere Glimmer”
This music is about water. It’s also about dreams. Were that not stated up front, it wouldn’t really have mattered. The nebulous presence of Somewhere Glimmer would’ve inspired imagery of a similar, ethereal nature. The melodies twist and rise like plumes of smoke… or perhaps rivulets of water breaking free from the pool and searching out new directions, or just the hallucination of one. It all comes back to the same place.
This is Doug Wieselman‘s second such album, three years after the release of 2014’s From Water. For his newest, the clarinetist expands from the solo project to include cellist Jane Scarpantoni and percussionist Kenny Wollesen. The impact is immediate. Whether it’s the rising tide of intensity on “Dreambox” or the cry and hum of “New River” or the amicable chatter of “That Way,” Wieselman’s vision is much more fleshed out with the additional melodic and harmonic possibilities the trio format affords him. The wildly creative expressionism that his Kamikaze Ground Crew work elicits was present in the solo set From Water, but by sharing some of the workload, it emerges with more nuance and an enticing dash of restraint.
As part of the year-end wrap up of 2017, I wrote a column that included some of my favorite albums of the year. That column could’ve been much longer. Somewhere Glimmer would’ve been one such reason. I’ve lost count of how often this gorgeous album has hit me right in the heart.
Your album personnel: Doug Wieselman (clarinets, loops, banjo), Jane Scarpantoni (cello) and Kenny Wollesen (drums. wollesonics).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Music from NYC.
Jan 29 2020
Best of 2019 #26: Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux – “Path of Totality”
Your album personnel: Quinsin Nachoff (tenor & soprano saxophones), David Binney (alto sax, C melody sax), Matt Mitchell (piano, Prophet 6, modular synthesizer, Novachord, harpsichord, Estey pump harmonium), and guests: Kenny Wollesen (drums, Wollesonic percussion), Nate Wood (drums), Jason Barnsley (1924 Kimball theatre organ), Mark Duggan (marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, crotales, Tibetan singing bowls), Carl Maraghi (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet), Dan Urness, Matt Holman (trumpets), Ryan Keberle (trombones), Alan Ferber (trombone, bass trombone), Orlando Hernández (tap dance), and David Travers-Smith (Buchla 200E analog modular system, EMS Synthi 100 analog/digital hybrid synthesizer, Arp Chroma (Rhodes) analog synthesizer, clavioline, Oberheim SEM, modular Moog).
Released on Whirlwind Recordings.
Music from New York City.
I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.
Listen | Read more | Available at: Bandcamp – Amazon
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By davesumner • Recap: Best of 2019 • 0 • Tags: Best Jazz of 2019, David Binney, Kenny Wollesen, Matt Mitchell, New York City, Quinsin Nachoff, Whirlwind Records