Tiny Reviews: David Caldwell-Mason, Michael Feinberg, Andrei Pushkarev, Flu(o), Massimorganti Quartet & Parallaxe

Tiny Reviews edition!

Featured album: David Caldwell-Mason Cold Snap.

Plus:  Michael Feinberg The Elvin Jones Project, Andrei Pushkarev Bach VibrationsFlu(o) Encore Remuants, Massimorganti Quartet Musiplano, and Parallaxe Der Zweite Raum.

*****

 

David Caldwell-Mason – Cold Snap

David Caldwell-Mason - "Cold Snap"Possessing an intuitive knack at creating strong melodies, pianist David Caldwell-Mason displays that he also knows how to showcase them.  Because there’s more to the melody than just making it memorable.  Equally important are the abstractions and sleights-of-hand, the heady deconstructions and altered restatements of the melody to get it to sit plumb with the other song elements while simultaneously keeping things interesting.  On Cold Snap, Caldwell-Mason nails it.

Your album personnel:  David Caldwell-Mason (piano), Kellen Harrison (bass), and Ari Hoenig (drums).

There is a clear pop music presence to this msuic, and Caldwell-Mason’s unpretentious embrace of that characteristic allows him to mutate it into shapes and sizes that take it a refreshing distance from a product designed for mass consumption, all the while ending up with a recording that might just appeal to the tastes of that same crowd.

The album opens with “Unfold.”  A melody with an appealing staggered gait, it triggers a sense of deja vu, of something memorable dipped in nostalgia of things past.  “Don’t Worry, Mama” is a series of diagonal passes perpetually intersecting… a game of hopscotch where the chalk lines never stay in one place.  The playfulness with the motion around melodies continues on “With Fear and Trembling,” where Caldwell-Mason develops phrasings on piano like mysterious staircases leading upward, then glides down the bannister before beginning the climb all over again.  His rendition of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” is genuine and unironic, which is the reason he’s able to pull it off.  He treats the composition’s melody with care and respect, and then launches off into his own view of the song from there.

It’s an album of moments like these.  Music that remains fun and easy to engage.

This album is Self-Produced.

Jazz from the

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

 

Other Albums of Interest:

 

Michael Feinberg – The Elvin Jones Project

Michael Feinberg - "The Elvin Jones Project"Bassist Michael Feinberg‘s inspiration for this album was the result of his observations of the relationships various Coltrane bassists had with drummer Elvin Jones. For this session, he has drummer-extraordinaire Billy Hart sitting in “Elvin’s chair”… an inspired choice that gives the room some extra space to breathe.  A wonderful album of beautifully textured music, and one hundred percent Jazz, top-shelf vintage.

Your album personnel: Michael Feinberg (bass), Billy Hart (drums), George Garzone (sax), Tim Hagans (trumpet), Leo Genovese (piano), and guest: Alex Wintz (guitar).

Released on the Sunnyside Records label.

Available at eMusic.

 

Andrei Pushkarev – Bach Vibrations

Andrei Pushkarev - "Bach Vibrations"Solo vibraphone performance of Bach’s “Inventions For Two Voices.” A surprisingly vibrant album, and not unlike how pianist Bill Evans would approach jazz through classical music. Nice.

Your album personnel: Andrei Pushkarev (vibes).

Released on the Gramola Records label.

Available at eMusic.

 

Flu(o) – Encore Remuants

Flu(o) - "Encore Remuants"Modern jazz-rock fusion, often heavier on the latter of those two elements. Electronic effects, mostly for the sake of textural dissonance. Some interesting moments. I don’t know if Cuong Vu was the father of this type of jazz-rock fusion, but this album sounds as if inspired by him.

Your album personnel: Christian Pruvost (trumpet), Olivier Benoit (guitar), Stefan Orins (piano), Christophe Hache (bass), and Peter Orins (drums)

Released on the Circum-disc label.

Available at eMusic.

 

Massimorganti Quartet – Musiplano

Massimorganti Quartet - "Musiplano"Trombonist Massimo Morganti leads a peaceable quartet in an exploration of the melodic side of trombone.  A few covers, a few originals.  It’s mostly straight-ahead jazz, though with a modern flair, both in terms of composition and the occasional use of effects.  Very likable.

Your album personnel:  Massimo Morganti (trombone), Angelo Lazzeri (guitar),  Gabriele Pesaresi (bass), and Stefano Paolini (drums).

Released on the Neuklang Records label.  Stream an album track on their soundcloud page.

Available at eMusic.

 

Parallaxe – Der Zweite Raum

Parallaxe - "Der Zweite Raum"The Parallaxe quartet is very much from the mod Euro-Jazz scene, which means you’ll get some avant-garde-ish stuttering tempos and angular melodies, but somehow they’ll fit in some time to swing and bop, too.  Enjoyable album.

Your album personnel: Daniel Schmitz (trumpet), Oliver Maas (piano), Jan Östreich (bass), and Christian Fischer (drums).

Released on the Gligg Records label.

Available at eMusic.

 

*****

The David Caldwell-Mason review is original to Bird is the Worm, but portions of the other reviews were originally used in my Jazz Picks weekly article for eMusic, so here’s some language protecting their rights to that reprinted material as the one to hire me to write about new jazz arrivals to their site…

“New Arrivals Jazz Picks,“ and “New Arrivals Jazz Picks“ and “New Arrivals Jazz Picks” reprints courtesy of eMusic.com, Inc.
© 2012  eMusic.com, Inc.

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