The Endless Mysteries
By John Kelman
While music fans often think of the artists they love as gifted people whose lives are consumed by the pursuit of their art, all-too-often they ignore equally important, if seemingly more mundane, needs: making a living, perhaps having a family...things to which most people aspire. With music sales on the decline, most musicians pay the rent by touring and, in some cases, teaching, but for those who've failed to achieve greater recognition, that needn't imply they're anything less than top-tier.
Count pianist George Colligan amongst that group of musicians who may support themselves and their families through teaching and touring with bigger names, but are as deserving of attention as any with whom they play. That Colligan is a triple threat—not just a terrific pianist, but a great drummer (amply demonstrated on pianist Kerry Politzer's overlooked Labyrinth, Polisonic, 2005), and trumpeter of worth (on his own Runaway, Sunnyside, 2008)—only means a musical breadth that makes him an even more valuable recruit for artists like Don Byron, who enlisted Colligan in the studio and on the road for his Junior Walker tribute, Doin' the Boomerang (Blue Note, 2006).
Colligan has also been a key member of veteran drummer Jack DeJohnette's touring band, heard in Ottawa in 2012 and on the download-only Live at Yoshi's 2010 (Golden Beams, 2011). DeJohnette returns the favor by playing on Colligan's The Endless Mysteries, and the chemistry built over the past four years is in clear evidence throughout this set of ten Colligan compositions, where the pianist's intrinsic virtuosity ranges from cool to simmering to flat-out boiling over.
While a purely acoustic set, contrasting other Colligan outings like his fully electrified Mad Science trio, heard on Realization (Sirocco, 2005), and the dual-casted acoustic and electric mix on Blood Pressure (Ultimatum, 2006), The Endless Mysteries still represents an expansive cross-section of Colligan's multifarious interests, even if it doesn't contain the mix of cover material heard on Living For The City (Steeplechase, 2011), where he drew on diverse sources ranging from Stevie Wonder and Bonnie Raitt to Wayne Shorter, Burt Bacharach and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Still, with bassist Larry Grenadier fleshing out the trio, The Endless Mysteries traverses similarly broad territory, from Latinesque and lyrical ("Waiting for Solitude") to modal and hard-swinging ("Song for Tarahumera").
Between the similarly Latin-tiinged bossa pulse of "Her Majesty" and more harmonically oblique, bass riff-driven "It's Hard Work!," Colligan moves away from the piano for "Liam's Lament," which begins with the firm attack of Grenadier's a cappella intro but ultimately turns into a rubato trio piece, with Collligan featured on melodica. DeJohnette plays more colorist than groove-meister here, though his unmistakably loose yet unshakable feel is stamped all over the recording—locked, tongue-in-groove, with the similarly rock-steady Grenadier—as is his ability to play in totally free contexts, as he does on the aptly titled "Outrage," where the drummer's sharp punctuations are matched by Colligan's own aggressive stance.
But Colligan is capable of elegant beauty as well. The haunting miniature, "Thoughts of Ana," is more than enough to suggest that it might be time for another solo piano album; his website suggests a new trio record is in the works for Steeplechase this year, but with more than a decade since his last solo outing, Return to Copenhagen (Steeplechase, 2002)...perhaps in 2015?
Irrespective of what's to come, Colligan continues to grow as a performer, composer and bandleader. In a market flooded with piano trio records, The Endless Mysteries stands out as the confluence of collective chemistry, individualistic strength and compositional breadth. Still in his mid-40s, Colligan's career has been a slow build, but it seems only a matter of time before he reaches critical mass and the larger audience he so deserves discovers what the higher profile leaders, who continue to employ him, already know.
Track Listing:
Waiting for Solitude; Song for Tarahumera; Her Majesty; Liam's Lament; It's Hard Work!; Thoughts of Ana; Outrage; The Endless Mysteries; When the Moon is in the Sky; If the Mountain was Smooth, You Couldn't Climb It.
Personnel:
Personnel:
George Colligan: piano, melodica; Larry Grenadier: acoustic bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums.
Rufus Reid
Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project
By Dan Bilawsky
The beauty of art is often in the taking rather than the making. The art may come to life in the mind of the artist but it often flourishes when the ink dries, the chisel is withdrawn, the dust has settled, or the final brushstrokes have been applied. At that point, the preparation ends and the consumption begins. Creation then begins to fuel creation and a closed inspiration loop is born. This project is the perfect representation of that ideal.
Bassist Rufus Reid's most ambitious project to date was born out of his love for the sculptures of Elizabeth Catlett, a talented African American artist and civil rights activist. Catlett's work triggered something deep within Reid's being so he yearned to capture or reflect the meaning of her sculptures through music.
The four-movement suite that he came up with, delivered by an augmented big band, won the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Composition Competition Prize and was premiered in 2006; later on, Reid added a fifth movement—"Tapestry In The Sky." Since completion, the expanded version of the suite has been performed as part of a multi-media presentation at several colleges, with Catlett's work and the documentary Betty And Pancho, which focuses on the life of Catlett and her husband, being shown in tandem.
The suite itself, when taken as a whole, is a study of contrasts. Refined and noble thoughts, earthy episodes, weighty-and-ominous suggestions, and graceful notions all take hold at one time or another. Plenty of high-powered players get to step into the spotlight, but the real magic has less to do with the individual personalities than with the way Reid stitches this music together. Sure, much can be said about the stinging guitar work of Vic Juris, the mutable and mesmerizing vocals of Charenee Wade, the beyond-category trumpet work of Ingrid Jensen, and the contributions of numerous others, but better to focus on the work itself.
In this music, chamber-esque civility can give way to a feeling of uncertainty which, in turn, can morph into swing. Focus shifts from the textural to the rhythmic, the background to the foreground, and the subtle to the obvious. The music is mutable and multifaceted but that's not really surprising; sculptures can take on different meaning when viewed from different angles so the music should certainly do the same.
Quiet Pride speaks with dignity, class, curiosity, and ingenuity. It stands tall and speaks volumes about the passion that art can bring to art.
Track Listing:
Rufus Reid
Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project
By Dan Bilawsky
The beauty of art is often in the taking rather than the making. The art may come to life in the mind of the artist but it often flourishes when the ink dries, the chisel is withdrawn, the dust has settled, or the final brushstrokes have been applied. At that point, the preparation ends and the consumption begins. Creation then begins to fuel creation and a closed inspiration loop is born. This project is the perfect representation of that ideal.
Bassist Rufus Reid's most ambitious project to date was born out of his love for the sculptures of Elizabeth Catlett, a talented African American artist and civil rights activist. Catlett's work triggered something deep within Reid's being so he yearned to capture or reflect the meaning of her sculptures through music.
The four-movement suite that he came up with, delivered by an augmented big band, won the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Composition Competition Prize and was premiered in 2006; later on, Reid added a fifth movement—"Tapestry In The Sky." Since completion, the expanded version of the suite has been performed as part of a multi-media presentation at several colleges, with Catlett's work and the documentary Betty And Pancho, which focuses on the life of Catlett and her husband, being shown in tandem.
The suite itself, when taken as a whole, is a study of contrasts. Refined and noble thoughts, earthy episodes, weighty-and-ominous suggestions, and graceful notions all take hold at one time or another. Plenty of high-powered players get to step into the spotlight, but the real magic has less to do with the individual personalities than with the way Reid stitches this music together. Sure, much can be said about the stinging guitar work of Vic Juris, the mutable and mesmerizing vocals of Charenee Wade, the beyond-category trumpet work of Ingrid Jensen, and the contributions of numerous others, but better to focus on the work itself.
In this music, chamber-esque civility can give way to a feeling of uncertainty which, in turn, can morph into swing. Focus shifts from the textural to the rhythmic, the background to the foreground, and the subtle to the obvious. The music is mutable and multifaceted but that's not really surprising; sculptures can take on different meaning when viewed from different angles so the music should certainly do the same.
Quiet Pride speaks with dignity, class, curiosity, and ingenuity. It stands tall and speaks volumes about the passion that art can bring to art.
Track Listing:
Prelude To Recognition; Recognition; Mother And Child; Tepstry In The Sky; Singing Head; Glory.
Personnel:
Personnel:
Rufus Reid: bass; Steve Allee: piano; Herlin RIley: drums; Vic Juris: guitar; Dennis Mackrel: conductor; Tanya Darby: trumpet; Tim Hagans: trumpet; Ingrid Jensen: trumpet; Freddie Hendrix: trumpet; Michael Dease: trombone; Jason Jackson: trombone; Ryan Keberle: trombone; Dave Taylor: trombone; John Clark: French horn; Vincent Chancey: French horn; Steve Wilson: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet; Erica Von Kleist: alto saxophone, flute, clarinet; Scott Robinson: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Tom Christensen: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Carl Maraghi: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Charenee Wade: vocals.
Claudio Filippini Trio
Breathing In Unison
By Thomas Conrad at JazzTimes
It should no longer be news that there are so many world-class Italian piano players. But in the United States, we keep getting startled when yet another hits the radar, usually when they move from record labels distributed only in Europe to companies like ECM or CAM Jazz. To a list that includes Stefano Bollani, Enrico Pieranunzi, Danilo Rea, Stefano Battaglia and Giovanni Guidi, add another name: Claudio Filippini.
Compared to his countrymen above, he is a less clearly differentiated voice and a more cautious improviser. But his virtues are seductive. They include poise, taste, a flowing elegance that sounds innate and an ability to just touch a melody and bathe it in new golden light. Sometimes those melodies are his own, like “South Michigan Avenue,” a slow, dramatic hovering. Often they are old standards or songs on the margins of pop culture, like Rufus Wainwright’s “Poses.” With minimal improvisation, Filippini turns Wainwright’s introverted, twisted little tune into something large and lush. “As Time Goes By” seems an improbable choice. But Filippini parts with it so reluctantly, a phrase at a time, that each hesitation is taut with emotional suspense. The resolutions arrive like revelations.
Palle Danielsson and Olavi Louhivuori come from deep within this album’s intimate atmosphere. Danielsson’s counterlines are concurrent alternative poetry. As a bass soloist he can freeze you in your chair, pizzicato (Louhivuori’s “Night Flower”) or arco (Filippini’s “The Sleepwalker”). Luohivuori, one of the most exciting young drummers in jazz, usually works in louder, edgier settings. He is sensitive and subtle here, placing accents with his brushes in unexpected perfect places.
Johnny Mandel’s “A Time for Love” is rapt. Filippini lets the melody chime out again and again, releasing it from where it has long resided, in the heart. You keep changing your mind about your favorite track on Breathing in Unison.
Claudio Filippini Trio
Breathing In Unison
By Thomas Conrad at JazzTimes
It should no longer be news that there are so many world-class Italian piano players. But in the United States, we keep getting startled when yet another hits the radar, usually when they move from record labels distributed only in Europe to companies like ECM or CAM Jazz. To a list that includes Stefano Bollani, Enrico Pieranunzi, Danilo Rea, Stefano Battaglia and Giovanni Guidi, add another name: Claudio Filippini.
Compared to his countrymen above, he is a less clearly differentiated voice and a more cautious improviser. But his virtues are seductive. They include poise, taste, a flowing elegance that sounds innate and an ability to just touch a melody and bathe it in new golden light. Sometimes those melodies are his own, like “South Michigan Avenue,” a slow, dramatic hovering. Often they are old standards or songs on the margins of pop culture, like Rufus Wainwright’s “Poses.” With minimal improvisation, Filippini turns Wainwright’s introverted, twisted little tune into something large and lush. “As Time Goes By” seems an improbable choice. But Filippini parts with it so reluctantly, a phrase at a time, that each hesitation is taut with emotional suspense. The resolutions arrive like revelations.
Palle Danielsson and Olavi Louhivuori come from deep within this album’s intimate atmosphere. Danielsson’s counterlines are concurrent alternative poetry. As a bass soloist he can freeze you in your chair, pizzicato (Louhivuori’s “Night Flower”) or arco (Filippini’s “The Sleepwalker”). Luohivuori, one of the most exciting young drummers in jazz, usually works in louder, edgier settings. He is sensitive and subtle here, placing accents with his brushes in unexpected perfect places.
Johnny Mandel’s “A Time for Love” is rapt. Filippini lets the melody chime out again and again, releasing it from where it has long resided, in the heart. You keep changing your mind about your favorite track on Breathing in Unison.
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