Sweet & Sour - Parisien/Regard/Peirani
By Dave Gelly at The Observer
Even if you didn't know that Humair is one of France's top percussionists, you might guess that this was a Gallic offering by the presence of an accordion in his quartet, in place of the customary piano. Not that this is by any means an easy-listening cafe experience. In fact, some if it is so abstract that it's quite hard going, but the way these players develop whole musical narratives out of the simplest initial ideas can be mesmerising, if you give it a chance. The veteran Humair has certainly found kindred spirits in musicians half his age, especially the remarkable accordionist, Vincent Peirani.
Carlos Franzetti & Allison Brewster Franzetti
By Dave Gelly at The Observer
Even if you didn't know that Humair is one of France's top percussionists, you might guess that this was a Gallic offering by the presence of an accordion in his quartet, in place of the customary piano. Not that this is by any means an easy-listening cafe experience. In fact, some if it is so abstract that it's quite hard going, but the way these players develop whole musical narratives out of the simplest initial ideas can be mesmerising, if you give it a chance. The veteran Humair has certainly found kindred spirits in musicians half his age, especially the remarkable accordionist, Vincent Peirani.
Carlos Franzetti & Allison Brewster Franzetti
Alborada
By Dan Bilawsky
By Dan Bilawsky
Pianist Carlos Franzetti's versatility is one of his many virtues. Few artists could pull off a solo piano project like Mambo Tango(Sunnyside, 2009), and then turn right around and create such moving music for orchestra and piano. Fortunately, Franzetti has the talent, drive and discipline to match his ambitions andAlborada is the proof.
Both Franzetti and his wife, Allison Brewster Franzetti, alternate between the podium and the piano bench throughout the album, and share a similar philosophy about the overall arc of these works. They seem to be in complete agreement that mood should win out over muscle and, while they get their fill of solo space, both pianists wisely prefer to integrate their playing into the overall orchestral web of sound, rather than forcing it to stand too far apart from the general atmosphere of each piece. Some of the music has overt Latin ideals, like Franzetti's tribute to author Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Mombosa"), while other pieces are more European at heart ("Illuminata"). The latter number moves from a menacing place to placid impressionism and beyond, while the former stays the course that's set from the beginning.
The funky orchestral patterns on "Mirage" almost sound like a vastly reworked version of the rhythmic landscape from Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay," and Carlos Franzetti takes things further afield into fusion territory with his Fender Rhodes work. "Pasacaglia" is breathtakingly gorgeous and cinematic in scope, and the balance between the orchestra and Allison Brewster Franzetti's piano is simply perfect.
The rhythm duo of bassist Robert Balzar and drummer Jiri Slavicek work their way into the music in subtle ways during the majority of this music, but their presence is essential. They add a little bounce to the music ("Iguazu"), deliver superbly understated swing on the trio-meets-orchestra music of "Song Without Words," and provide finishing touches in other places throughout the album. Maurice Ravel and Bill Evans were the primary inspirations for the A and B sections (respectively) on the title track, and this piece proves to be a wonderful showcase for the female Falzetti.
"Serenata" sizzles with the heat of Latin America and Allison Brewster Franzetti's playing is elegant, yet enticing, as she delivers the most passionate piece on the album. The final composition on the album, "For Ever Milton," is dedicated to Milton Nascimento, and a bit of a Brazilian funk hybrid feel underscores the orchestra and piano. Alborada is truly a triumph for the Franzettis, and a fine example of how jazz and classical can meet on common ground without giving up their own identities in the process.
Track Listing:
Both Franzetti and his wife, Allison Brewster Franzetti, alternate between the podium and the piano bench throughout the album, and share a similar philosophy about the overall arc of these works. They seem to be in complete agreement that mood should win out over muscle and, while they get their fill of solo space, both pianists wisely prefer to integrate their playing into the overall orchestral web of sound, rather than forcing it to stand too far apart from the general atmosphere of each piece. Some of the music has overt Latin ideals, like Franzetti's tribute to author Gabriel Garcia Marquez ("Mombosa"), while other pieces are more European at heart ("Illuminata"). The latter number moves from a menacing place to placid impressionism and beyond, while the former stays the course that's set from the beginning.
The funky orchestral patterns on "Mirage" almost sound like a vastly reworked version of the rhythmic landscape from Freddie Hubbard's "Red Clay," and Carlos Franzetti takes things further afield into fusion territory with his Fender Rhodes work. "Pasacaglia" is breathtakingly gorgeous and cinematic in scope, and the balance between the orchestra and Allison Brewster Franzetti's piano is simply perfect.
The rhythm duo of bassist Robert Balzar and drummer Jiri Slavicek work their way into the music in subtle ways during the majority of this music, but their presence is essential. They add a little bounce to the music ("Iguazu"), deliver superbly understated swing on the trio-meets-orchestra music of "Song Without Words," and provide finishing touches in other places throughout the album. Maurice Ravel and Bill Evans were the primary inspirations for the A and B sections (respectively) on the title track, and this piece proves to be a wonderful showcase for the female Falzetti.
"Serenata" sizzles with the heat of Latin America and Allison Brewster Franzetti's playing is elegant, yet enticing, as she delivers the most passionate piece on the album. The final composition on the album, "For Ever Milton," is dedicated to Milton Nascimento, and a bit of a Brazilian funk hybrid feel underscores the orchestra and piano. Alborada is truly a triumph for the Franzettis, and a fine example of how jazz and classical can meet on common ground without giving up their own identities in the process.
Track Listing:
Mombasa; Illuminata; Mirage; Pasacaglia; Iguazu; Song Without Words; Alborada; Serenata; For Ever Milton.
Personnel:
Personnel:
Carlos Franzetti: piano (1, 3, 5, 6, 9); Allison Brewster Franzetti: piano(2, 4, 7, 8); Robert Balzar: bass; Jiri Slavicek: drums; City of Prague Philharmonic.
Walter Norris & Leszek Mozdzer
The Last Set - Live at the A-Trane
Last Set: Live at the A-Trane album by Leszek Mozdzer / Walter Norris was released Feb 12, 2013 on the Act Music + Vision label.
Walter Norris & Leszek Mozdzer
The Last Set - Live at the A-Trane
Last Set: Live at the A-Trane album by Leszek Mozdzer / Walter Norris was released Feb 12, 2013 on the Act Music + Vision label.
Recording information: A-Trane, Berlin (11/02/2008). Last Set: Live at the A-Trane
Songs Editor: Leszek Mozdzer. Last Set: Live at the A-Trane
Personnel: Walter Norris (grand piano); Leszek Mozdzer (grand piano).
Liner Note Author: Herb Geller. Last Set: Live at the A-Trane CD music contains a single disc with 8 songs.
Kirk Lightsey
Kirk Lightsey
Lightsey to Gladden
By CrissCross
In 1990, when he recorded this scintillating date, now released for the first time, pianist Kirk Lightsey was one of New York's first-call pianists, a regular in the rotation at Bradley's, the legendary New York piano saloon, with the likes of John Hicks, Walter Davis, Jr., Tommy Flanagan, George Cables, and Roger Kellaway.
Here he convenes a cohort of New York A-listers --- trumpet giant and fellow Detroiter Marcus Belgrave; tenor saxophonist and flutist Craig Handy, then making his first impact on the scene; bassist David Williams, who could boast a decade's experience as Cedar Walton's bassist of choice; and drummer Eddie Gladden, Lightsey's bandmate with Dexter Gordon's group before --- to play a program that includes strong repertoire by Lightsey, Wayne Shorter, Detroit drummer Lawrence Williams, and choice standards.
By CrissCross
In 1990, when he recorded this scintillating date, now released for the first time, pianist Kirk Lightsey was one of New York's first-call pianists, a regular in the rotation at Bradley's, the legendary New York piano saloon, with the likes of John Hicks, Walter Davis, Jr., Tommy Flanagan, George Cables, and Roger Kellaway.
Here he convenes a cohort of New York A-listers --- trumpet giant and fellow Detroiter Marcus Belgrave; tenor saxophonist and flutist Craig Handy, then making his first impact on the scene; bassist David Williams, who could boast a decade's experience as Cedar Walton's bassist of choice; and drummer Eddie Gladden, Lightsey's bandmate with Dexter Gordon's group before --- to play a program that includes strong repertoire by Lightsey, Wayne Shorter, Detroit drummer Lawrence Williams, and choice standards.
Tracks:
1. Donkey Dust (Kirk Lightsey); 2. Number Nine (Lawrence Williams)
3. Everyday Politics (Craig Handy); 4. Wayne Shorter (Harold Danko)
5. Pinocchio (Wayne Shorter); 6. Moon (D. Durrah); 7. Working Together (Lawrence Williams)
8. Midnight Sun (Lionel Hampton)
Total Time: 66:40
Recorded January 3, 1991 in New York City, NY, USA by Max Bolleman
Gogo Penguin
1. Donkey Dust (Kirk Lightsey); 2. Number Nine (Lawrence Williams)
3. Everyday Politics (Craig Handy); 4. Wayne Shorter (Harold Danko)
5. Pinocchio (Wayne Shorter); 6. Moon (D. Durrah); 7. Working Together (Lawrence Williams)
8. Midnight Sun (Lionel Hampton)
Total Time: 66:40
Recorded January 3, 1991 in New York City, NY, USA by Max Bolleman
Gogo Penguin
Fanfares
By Bruce Lindsay
By Bruce Lindsay
Jazz musicians are some of the most musically imaginative souls on the planet, but their imaginations often desert them when it's time to choose a band name. So thanks must go to whoever decided to name this group GoGo Penguin: it's a suitably imaginative name for a trio full of imaginative music. Three young men who met at the Royal Northern College Of Music in Manchester, with a sound that combines jazz, dance music, electronica and rock: that's Gogo Penguin. Fanfares, on Manchester-based trumpeter Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Records, is an emphatic opening statement for the trio's career.
GoGo Penguin may be a piano trio, but it's by no means a piano-led trio. Grant Russell takes on more than the usual bassist's share of the melodies. Drummer Rob Turner's constantly inventive percussion reveals new joys on repeated listening. The tunes are all originals—the rather minimalist sleeve notes don't give credits for individual tunes, suggesting that they may all be group compositions in some shape or form, and the equally minimalist band website isn't giving much away either.
There are attention-grabbing tunes and performances throughout Fanfares. "Seven Sons Of Björn" wears its influence on its sleeve: the title giving a strong hint, the music—driving, energetic, full of movement—making it clear. This is GoGo Penguin's tribute to theEsbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.). Elsewhere, there are resemblances to pianist Neil Cowley's Trio ("Fanfares") and to Phronesis ("I Am That"), two bands that also share GoGo Penguin's openness, drive and passion.
The hypnotic "Last Words" is underpinned by pianist Chris Illingworth's repetitive three-note bass line, the melody shared between Illingworth's right hand and Russell's bounding bass while Turner's busy, skittering, drumming displays a resemblance to the style of e.s.t.'sMagnus Ostrom. "Unconditional" is another tune built around a hypnotic groove but it's a gentler affair altogether; Russell and Turner keep things cool while Illingworth takes the lead role on this beautiful and melancholy piece. "Akasthesia" begins with Russell's confident and soulful bass solo, becoming a brief drum and bass duet and, with Illingworth's entrance, opening up into a graceful, expansive melody. The punchy, assertive "HF" demonstrates GoGo Penguin's more muscular side, yet Turner's arco playing on the tune has a spectral beauty.
So, GoGo Penguin gets the award for Band Name Of The Year: an impressive accolade in itself, but of little consequence if the band were to fail on a musical level. But Fanfares doesn't fail; this would be an impressive fourth or fifth album, let alone a debut release. 2012 year end Best Oflists await.
Track Listing:
GoGo Penguin may be a piano trio, but it's by no means a piano-led trio. Grant Russell takes on more than the usual bassist's share of the melodies. Drummer Rob Turner's constantly inventive percussion reveals new joys on repeated listening. The tunes are all originals—the rather minimalist sleeve notes don't give credits for individual tunes, suggesting that they may all be group compositions in some shape or form, and the equally minimalist band website isn't giving much away either.
There are attention-grabbing tunes and performances throughout Fanfares. "Seven Sons Of Björn" wears its influence on its sleeve: the title giving a strong hint, the music—driving, energetic, full of movement—making it clear. This is GoGo Penguin's tribute to theEsbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.). Elsewhere, there are resemblances to pianist Neil Cowley's Trio ("Fanfares") and to Phronesis ("I Am That"), two bands that also share GoGo Penguin's openness, drive and passion.
The hypnotic "Last Words" is underpinned by pianist Chris Illingworth's repetitive three-note bass line, the melody shared between Illingworth's right hand and Russell's bounding bass while Turner's busy, skittering, drumming displays a resemblance to the style of e.s.t.'sMagnus Ostrom. "Unconditional" is another tune built around a hypnotic groove but it's a gentler affair altogether; Russell and Turner keep things cool while Illingworth takes the lead role on this beautiful and melancholy piece. "Akasthesia" begins with Russell's confident and soulful bass solo, becoming a brief drum and bass duet and, with Illingworth's entrance, opening up into a graceful, expansive melody. The punchy, assertive "HF" demonstrates GoGo Penguin's more muscular side, yet Turner's arco playing on the tune has a spectral beauty.
So, GoGo Penguin gets the award for Band Name Of The Year: an impressive accolade in itself, but of little consequence if the band were to fail on a musical level. But Fanfares doesn't fail; this would be an impressive fourth or fifth album, let alone a debut release. 2012 year end Best Oflists await.
Track Listing:
Seven Sons Of Björn; Last Words; Unconditional; Fanfares; I Am That; Akasthesia; HF.
Personnel:
Personnel:
Chris Illingworth: piano; Grant Russell: bass; Rob Turner: drums.
Alexi Tuomarila Trio
Seven Hills
By John Kelman
By John Kelman
While not entirely rare, it is relatively uncommon to find relationships forged so strongly that the musicians find themselves working together in multiple contexts, where the names remain the same, only the leader changes. Finnish pianist Alexi Tuomarila and drummer Olavi Louhivuori have been working together in a variety of contexts for the past several years, most notably with Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's quintet responsible for Dark Eyes (ECM, 2010), but together withMats Eilertsen, they've not only worked together as the trio responsible for the pianist'sConstellations (Jazzaway, 2006), they've also been at the core of the Norwegian bassist's SkyDive quintet, heard on its self-titled 2012 Hubro debut.
Reconvening under the pianist's leadership for his trio's long overdue second release, Seven Hills is, however, the first to receive international distribution from UK pianist Dave Stapleton's Edition Records. Continuing to build on the trio's intrinsic chemistry in a program of all-original music, Seven Hills positions Tuomarila as not just a pianist of watch-worthy merit, but a composer of equal value.
These days, when the words "European" and "piano trio" are put together in a sentence, comparisons are made, all too often, to that now defunct superstar of European piano trios,Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.), whose career was cut short by the untimely death of its pianist in 2008. More often than not it's a lazy, superficial association so let's get one thing out of the way right now: Alexi Tuomarila Trio is not the next e.s.t., nor does it need to be. Tuomarila's early quartet records, from just after the turn of the millennium, were good enough to capture the ear of American pianist Brad Mehldau, and for good reason: unlike young pianists for whom Mehldau is an obvious touchstone, the distinctive Tuomarila's references are far more subsumed.
On "Prologue"—one of two tracks featuring guest guitarist (and album engineer) Andre Fernades, whose gently overdriven tone further expands the trio's soundscape with quirky, idiosyncratic inevitability—Tuomarila's motivic approach to soloing in the second half of this episodic, irregularly metered piece floats over a modal foundation. The pianist's gently majestic tack during the opening title track's folkloric intro gives way to a fiery solo over Eilertsen's robust 7/4 groove, further bolstered by Louhivuori's flexible mesh of light touch and frenetic polyrhythms, as the trio's mitochondrial connectivity makes the equally graceful "Jibeinia" a rubato tone poem of rare perfection that contrasts with the swinging free-bop of "Visitor Q."
None of these players has yet to reach 40—with Louhivuori the youngest at 31 and Tuomarila the oldest at 39—but they've already amassed such a broad collective resume that none of them have anything left to prove. Virtuosity may be a given—and there are plenty of glimpses to be found throughout Seven Hills—but it's equally clear that this trio's concerns are focus and collective interpretation rather than singular spotlights.
Tuomarila, Eilertsen and Louhivuori represent a different kind of piano trio to e.s.t.-aspirants—one that, based on the commanding, challenging and accessible Seven Hills, values real improvisational acumen reliant on motif-based, in-the-moment development rather than catchphrase predictability and access-driven familiarity.
Track Listing:
Reconvening under the pianist's leadership for his trio's long overdue second release, Seven Hills is, however, the first to receive international distribution from UK pianist Dave Stapleton's Edition Records. Continuing to build on the trio's intrinsic chemistry in a program of all-original music, Seven Hills positions Tuomarila as not just a pianist of watch-worthy merit, but a composer of equal value.
These days, when the words "European" and "piano trio" are put together in a sentence, comparisons are made, all too often, to that now defunct superstar of European piano trios,Esbjorn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.), whose career was cut short by the untimely death of its pianist in 2008. More often than not it's a lazy, superficial association so let's get one thing out of the way right now: Alexi Tuomarila Trio is not the next e.s.t., nor does it need to be. Tuomarila's early quartet records, from just after the turn of the millennium, were good enough to capture the ear of American pianist Brad Mehldau, and for good reason: unlike young pianists for whom Mehldau is an obvious touchstone, the distinctive Tuomarila's references are far more subsumed.
On "Prologue"—one of two tracks featuring guest guitarist (and album engineer) Andre Fernades, whose gently overdriven tone further expands the trio's soundscape with quirky, idiosyncratic inevitability—Tuomarila's motivic approach to soloing in the second half of this episodic, irregularly metered piece floats over a modal foundation. The pianist's gently majestic tack during the opening title track's folkloric intro gives way to a fiery solo over Eilertsen's robust 7/4 groove, further bolstered by Louhivuori's flexible mesh of light touch and frenetic polyrhythms, as the trio's mitochondrial connectivity makes the equally graceful "Jibeinia" a rubato tone poem of rare perfection that contrasts with the swinging free-bop of "Visitor Q."
None of these players has yet to reach 40—with Louhivuori the youngest at 31 and Tuomarila the oldest at 39—but they've already amassed such a broad collective resume that none of them have anything left to prove. Virtuosity may be a given—and there are plenty of glimpses to be found throughout Seven Hills—but it's equally clear that this trio's concerns are focus and collective interpretation rather than singular spotlights.
Tuomarila, Eilertsen and Louhivuori represent a different kind of piano trio to e.s.t.-aspirants—one that, based on the commanding, challenging and accessible Seven Hills, values real improvisational acumen reliant on motif-based, in-the-moment development rather than catchphrase predictability and access-driven familiarity.
Track Listing:
Seven Hills; Cyan; Prologue; Jibeinia; Skuld; Pearl; Visitor Q; Miss; Ceremony.
Personnel:
Personnel:
Alexi Tuomarila: piano; Mats Eilertsen: double bass; Olavi Louhivuori: drums; Andre Fernades: guitar (3, 9).
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