Break Stuff
By Thom Jurek
Though Break Stuff is Vijay Iyer's third appearance on ECM in less than year, it is the debut offering from the longstanding trio on the label. The pianist and composer has been working with bassist Stephen Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore for more than a decade. They've issued two previous recordings together. Iyer usually works conceptually, and Break Stuff is no exception. In the press release he states that "a break in music is still music: a span of time in which to act." We hear this all the time in modern music, whether it be the sounds that emerge from composer Morton Feldman's extended silences, breakbeats by funky drummers or hip-hop samples of them, or instrumental breakdowns in heavy metal and bluegrass -- they follow a moment where everything previous seems to stop. The Iyer Trio illustrate their concept in a 71-minute program that works from a suite of the same title: three works named for birds were adapted from his multi-media collaboration with author Teju Cole on Open City (illustrating in performance the novel of the same name), three standards, and works that deliver directly on the premise, including the stellar "Hood," which was inspired by Detroit techno DJ Robert Hood. The head patterns are all single-note and chord pulses, fractioned by Gilmore's precise skittering beats, breaks, and martial fills, and accented, stretched, and fragmented again by Crump. Despite its staggered parts and shifting dynamics, it is quite organic. The reading of Thelonious Monk's "Work" commences straightforwardly, following head-solo-head formula, but moves toward the margins in both the pianist's and bassists's solos. The trio's interplay offers a very pointillistic illustration of the composer's coloristic and rhythmic invention. John Coltrane's "Countdown" is taken further afield. While it retains the composer's sense of energy and flow, the pianist breaks down and reassembles its melody and sections with funky snare drops, stop-and-start legato runs, and an exceptionally syncopated bassline. The tune remains utterly recognizable despite their liberties. While opener "Starlings" is the most consciously lyric of the bird pieces, and the band begins to open up into a decidedly internal sense of swing, "Geese," with its arco basslines, intermittently placed choirs, and brushed snares is almost wholly abstract until its lyric side comes into view little more than half-way through. Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count" is performed as a piano solo and played with a lyricism, spaciousness, and taste that would make the composer smile. The title track opens briskly with fleet statements, yet gradually reveals an inherent lyricism via Crump's solo. Break Stuff is modern jazz on the bleeding edge, a music that not only asks musical questions but answers them, and it does so accessibly and immediately, no matter the form or concept it chooses to express. This trio aims at an interior center, finds it, and pushes out, projecting Iyer & Co.'s discoveries.
Ellis Marsalis Trio
On The First Occasion
By Jim's Jazz Notes
Anytime Ellis Marsalis releases a new CD it’s likely to get my attention. This brand new release was no exception, but it wasn’t until I started reading thru the liner notes that I fully understood. This CD is being released on ELM music, the resurrection of a self-made label dating back to 1974 when Marsalis self-released a solo piano recording. Now, close to 40 years later his youngest son and resident drummer Jason has produced this CD, but the featured music was actually recorded in 1998 and wasn’t mixed until five years later, in 2003. And now it is finally being reissued on ELM. What I’m not sure of is whether this music was actually released in some other format previously, thus making this a reissue, or whether it sat dormant all this time. The liner notes are sort of hard to figure out. Ellis talks about this CD being the second chapter of the resurrected ELM label. But then Jason talks about reissuing old masters under the ELM label and also mentions ELM releasing new recordings as well. Yet the liner notes clearly list the recording date as October 5-6, 1998 and he never makes it entirely clear if this is a reissue, and if so, what and when the original release was.
So enough of the background. This is a collection of standards and in his typically refined manner the senior statesman of the New Orleans Jazz world gives us an impeccable performance with trio members who provide a very tight, cohesive and smooth sound. This kind of music really is pretty timeless… and for an older recording, the sound quality is quite nice. Jason was still in his early twenties at the time of this recording but already displays a very light touch that is just perfect a repertoire that goes from lush ballads to uptempo bop with irresistible elements of swing and New Orleans second line. New or old, this music is welcome in my home any day!
Personnel:
Ellis Marsalis: piano; Bill Huntington: bass; Jason Marsalis: drums
Aaron Goldberg
By Jim's Jazz Notes
Anytime Ellis Marsalis releases a new CD it’s likely to get my attention. This brand new release was no exception, but it wasn’t until I started reading thru the liner notes that I fully understood. This CD is being released on ELM music, the resurrection of a self-made label dating back to 1974 when Marsalis self-released a solo piano recording. Now, close to 40 years later his youngest son and resident drummer Jason has produced this CD, but the featured music was actually recorded in 1998 and wasn’t mixed until five years later, in 2003. And now it is finally being reissued on ELM. What I’m not sure of is whether this music was actually released in some other format previously, thus making this a reissue, or whether it sat dormant all this time. The liner notes are sort of hard to figure out. Ellis talks about this CD being the second chapter of the resurrected ELM label. But then Jason talks about reissuing old masters under the ELM label and also mentions ELM releasing new recordings as well. Yet the liner notes clearly list the recording date as October 5-6, 1998 and he never makes it entirely clear if this is a reissue, and if so, what and when the original release was.
So enough of the background. This is a collection of standards and in his typically refined manner the senior statesman of the New Orleans Jazz world gives us an impeccable performance with trio members who provide a very tight, cohesive and smooth sound. This kind of music really is pretty timeless… and for an older recording, the sound quality is quite nice. Jason was still in his early twenties at the time of this recording but already displays a very light touch that is just perfect a repertoire that goes from lush ballads to uptempo bop with irresistible elements of swing and New Orleans second line. New or old, this music is welcome in my home any day!
Personnel:
Ellis Marsalis: piano; Bill Huntington: bass; Jason Marsalis: drums
Aaron Goldberg
The Now
By Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph
Aaron Goldberg is one of that younger generation of super-aware and self-conscious American jazz pianists. They’re terribly serious, and tend to harp on about things we know already, such as the fact that jazz "lives in the moment". They know the tradition inside out, but can’t help coming at it from a distance because they know so many other things too.
The PR blurb tells us Goldberg graduated from Harvard, "with a focus on Mind, Brain and Behaviour". There are signs Goldberg knows the tougher end of classical music as well, such as the strict canon he inserts in Parker’s Perhaps. When he takes a familiar chord-change pattern, like the one from Joe Henderson’s Serenity, he cuts one bar from it just to keep us on our toes, and makes a whole new number out of it.
So for all Goldberg’s stated emphasis on ‘risk’ this is a very polished album, divided between his own compositions, a few jazz standards, and some delightful reworkings of Brazilian songs. The best of these is Chico Buarque’s gently sad Trocando Em Miudos Buarque, which Goldberg makes into something interestingly dark. Like everything on the disc it shows a fleet quality which goes beyond a delicate touch, though Goldberg has that too. It's a speed of both finger and brain, which in Warne Marsh’s Background Music in particular is astounding.
Bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland are old sparring partners, and they can certainly more than keep up. On the final track guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel joins the trio for Goldberg’s own One Life, a beautifully sad, subtle number that only reveals its heart on a second or third hearing.
It’s a marvel in so many ways, but if only there were more sign of the risk Goldberg prizes so much. There’s a certain coolness about everything, partly due to the oppressively beautiful recorded sound, but also Goldberg’s constantly soft touch gets frustrating. This oyster would have made a better pearl, with some grit inside.
Track List:
1. Trocando Em Miudos; 2. Yoyo; 3. The Wind In The Night; 4. E-Land
5. Perhaps; 6. Triste Baía Da Guanabara; 7. Background Music; 8. Francisca
9. One\'s A Crowd; 10. One Life
Personnel:
Aaron Goldberg - piano; Reuben Rogers - bass; Eric Harland - drums
Kurt Rosenwinkel - guitar (track 10)
João Donato
By Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph
Aaron Goldberg is one of that younger generation of super-aware and self-conscious American jazz pianists. They’re terribly serious, and tend to harp on about things we know already, such as the fact that jazz "lives in the moment". They know the tradition inside out, but can’t help coming at it from a distance because they know so many other things too.
The PR blurb tells us Goldberg graduated from Harvard, "with a focus on Mind, Brain and Behaviour". There are signs Goldberg knows the tougher end of classical music as well, such as the strict canon he inserts in Parker’s Perhaps. When he takes a familiar chord-change pattern, like the one from Joe Henderson’s Serenity, he cuts one bar from it just to keep us on our toes, and makes a whole new number out of it.
So for all Goldberg’s stated emphasis on ‘risk’ this is a very polished album, divided between his own compositions, a few jazz standards, and some delightful reworkings of Brazilian songs. The best of these is Chico Buarque’s gently sad Trocando Em Miudos Buarque, which Goldberg makes into something interestingly dark. Like everything on the disc it shows a fleet quality which goes beyond a delicate touch, though Goldberg has that too. It's a speed of both finger and brain, which in Warne Marsh’s Background Music in particular is astounding.
Bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland are old sparring partners, and they can certainly more than keep up. On the final track guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel joins the trio for Goldberg’s own One Life, a beautifully sad, subtle number that only reveals its heart on a second or third hearing.
It’s a marvel in so many ways, but if only there were more sign of the risk Goldberg prizes so much. There’s a certain coolness about everything, partly due to the oppressively beautiful recorded sound, but also Goldberg’s constantly soft touch gets frustrating. This oyster would have made a better pearl, with some grit inside.
Track List:
1. Trocando Em Miudos; 2. Yoyo; 3. The Wind In The Night; 4. E-Land
5. Perhaps; 6. Triste Baía Da Guanabara; 7. Background Music; 8. Francisca
9. One\'s A Crowd; 10. One Life
Personnel:
Aaron Goldberg - piano; Reuben Rogers - bass; Eric Harland - drums
Kurt Rosenwinkel - guitar (track 10)
João Donato
Live Jazz In Rio, Vol. 1
By Galeria Musical
Com o mote de celebrar os 80 anos de João Donato – que serão comemorados em 17 de agosto de 2014 -, acaba de sair pelo selo Discobertas os discos “Live Jazz In Rio Vol.1” e “Live Jazz In Rio Vol. 2”, que juntos trazem a apresentação feita por Donato em dezembro de 2013, que encerrou o “Festival Jazzmania 30 Anos” em Ipanema.
A forma como os discos foram lançados é bem interessante. Ao invés de acomodar a apresentação em um CD duplo, o que seria o natural na maioria dos casos, Donato colocou no mercado, para ser vendido em lojas, apenas o disco chamado “Vol.1”, enquanto o “Vol.2”, só poderá ser adquirido nos shows do artista, conforme sugere a inovação criada pelo diretor da gravadora Discobertas, Marcelo Fróes.
Tal fato é ainda motivado por um convite presente em ambos os encartes dos CDs, ou seja, no “Vol.1” há o convite para ir comprar o “Vol.2”, enquanto no “Vol.2” há o convite para adquirir o “Vol.1” nas lojas.
Em ótima forma ao piano, João Donato é acompanhado por seu trio, composto por Robertinho Silva (Bateria), Luiz Alves (Contrabaixo) e Ricardo Pontes (Sax e Flauta), e juntos divertem os presentes com canções como as divertidas “Bananeira” (João Donato, Gilberto Gil), “Nasci Para Bailar” (João Donato, Paulo André Barata) e “Suco de Maracujá” (João Donato, Martinho da Vila), além dos ótimos números instrumentais como “Song For My Father” (Horace Silver), “Paradise Found” (Shorty Rangers), todas do primeiro CD, apelidado de “O Couro Tá Comendo”.
Já o segundo disco, alcunhado de “O Bicho Tá Pegando”, traz como destaques as instrumentais “Minha Saudade” (João Donato, João Gilberto), “No Clube do Choro” (João Donato), além de “Bolero Digital” (João Donato, Nelson Motta) , “Por Aí...” (João Donato, Moacyr Luz) e “Menina do Cabelão” (João Donato, Gabriel Moura), mas cabe também apontar “Amazonas” (João Donato, Lysias Enio), faixa de incríveis dez minutos, como apropriado encerramento (antes da faixa bônus) do segundo volume.
Paulo Francisco Paes
By Galeria Musical
Com o mote de celebrar os 80 anos de João Donato – que serão comemorados em 17 de agosto de 2014 -, acaba de sair pelo selo Discobertas os discos “Live Jazz In Rio Vol.1” e “Live Jazz In Rio Vol. 2”, que juntos trazem a apresentação feita por Donato em dezembro de 2013, que encerrou o “Festival Jazzmania 30 Anos” em Ipanema.
A forma como os discos foram lançados é bem interessante. Ao invés de acomodar a apresentação em um CD duplo, o que seria o natural na maioria dos casos, Donato colocou no mercado, para ser vendido em lojas, apenas o disco chamado “Vol.1”, enquanto o “Vol.2”, só poderá ser adquirido nos shows do artista, conforme sugere a inovação criada pelo diretor da gravadora Discobertas, Marcelo Fróes.
Tal fato é ainda motivado por um convite presente em ambos os encartes dos CDs, ou seja, no “Vol.1” há o convite para ir comprar o “Vol.2”, enquanto no “Vol.2” há o convite para adquirir o “Vol.1” nas lojas.
Em ótima forma ao piano, João Donato é acompanhado por seu trio, composto por Robertinho Silva (Bateria), Luiz Alves (Contrabaixo) e Ricardo Pontes (Sax e Flauta), e juntos divertem os presentes com canções como as divertidas “Bananeira” (João Donato, Gilberto Gil), “Nasci Para Bailar” (João Donato, Paulo André Barata) e “Suco de Maracujá” (João Donato, Martinho da Vila), além dos ótimos números instrumentais como “Song For My Father” (Horace Silver), “Paradise Found” (Shorty Rangers), todas do primeiro CD, apelidado de “O Couro Tá Comendo”.
Já o segundo disco, alcunhado de “O Bicho Tá Pegando”, traz como destaques as instrumentais “Minha Saudade” (João Donato, João Gilberto), “No Clube do Choro” (João Donato), além de “Bolero Digital” (João Donato, Nelson Motta) , “Por Aí...” (João Donato, Moacyr Luz) e “Menina do Cabelão” (João Donato, Gabriel Moura), mas cabe também apontar “Amazonas” (João Donato, Lysias Enio), faixa de incríveis dez minutos, como apropriado encerramento (antes da faixa bônus) do segundo volume.
Paulo Francisco Paes
Chão de Nuvens
By: Isabella Pedreira at Conexão Jornalismo
A música instrumental brasileira ganha um sopro de renovação: Paulo Francisco Paes. Pianista e compositor de apenas 30 anos já ganhou alguns prêmios e concursos, como o "Magda de Tagliaferro" e o título "Melhor intérprete de Bach". Além disso, está se destacando como autor de trilhas sonoras originais para o cinema e teatro. O lançamento do seu primeiro Cd, "Chão de nuvens", aconteceu na quarta-feira (10) no Espaço Tom Jobim no Rio de Janeiro.
A paixão pela música começou aos 11 anos, quando ao escutar seus tios tocando piano, decidiu estudar o instrumento. Aos 15 já estava decidido internamente que seria músico profissional. A composição veio só mais tarde, depois de um longo período de estudo para se formar como instrumentista.
"As composições todas sempre vieram de uma maneira muito natural enquanto eu tava tocando ou estudando alguma coisa. De repente vinha uma melodia, eu parava para escrever, desenvolvia para uma peça para piano, ou uma canção. É muito difícil dizer de onde vem a fonte de inspiração, acho que vem da paixão pela música mesmo", explica Paulo Francisco.
Alguns músicos consagrados estão no repertório de influência do pianista: Betthoven, Villa lobos, Tom Jobim, Piazzola, Egberto Gismonti, Chico Buarque, entre outros. Paulo Francisco mistura os ritmos de uma forma natural criando seu próprio estilo. "É engraçado como essas influências aparecem de uma maneira muito inconsciente, é muito interessante porque não é uma coisa racional. Eu vou compondo e de repente quando eu vou ver aparece um ritmo de baião, que eu não tinha pensado ou um tango."
Tracks:
1. Poema; 2. Giz; 3. Chão de Nuvens; 4. Quem Dera; 5. Valente; 6. Naquela Tarde
7. Improviso; 8. Chora Coração; 9. Madrid; 10. Marés; 11. Sempre Perto; 12. Sens
By: Isabella Pedreira at Conexão Jornalismo
A música instrumental brasileira ganha um sopro de renovação: Paulo Francisco Paes. Pianista e compositor de apenas 30 anos já ganhou alguns prêmios e concursos, como o "Magda de Tagliaferro" e o título "Melhor intérprete de Bach". Além disso, está se destacando como autor de trilhas sonoras originais para o cinema e teatro. O lançamento do seu primeiro Cd, "Chão de nuvens", aconteceu na quarta-feira (10) no Espaço Tom Jobim no Rio de Janeiro.
A paixão pela música começou aos 11 anos, quando ao escutar seus tios tocando piano, decidiu estudar o instrumento. Aos 15 já estava decidido internamente que seria músico profissional. A composição veio só mais tarde, depois de um longo período de estudo para se formar como instrumentista.
"As composições todas sempre vieram de uma maneira muito natural enquanto eu tava tocando ou estudando alguma coisa. De repente vinha uma melodia, eu parava para escrever, desenvolvia para uma peça para piano, ou uma canção. É muito difícil dizer de onde vem a fonte de inspiração, acho que vem da paixão pela música mesmo", explica Paulo Francisco.
Alguns músicos consagrados estão no repertório de influência do pianista: Betthoven, Villa lobos, Tom Jobim, Piazzola, Egberto Gismonti, Chico Buarque, entre outros. Paulo Francisco mistura os ritmos de uma forma natural criando seu próprio estilo. "É engraçado como essas influências aparecem de uma maneira muito inconsciente, é muito interessante porque não é uma coisa racional. Eu vou compondo e de repente quando eu vou ver aparece um ritmo de baião, que eu não tinha pensado ou um tango."
Tracks:
1. Poema; 2. Giz; 3. Chão de Nuvens; 4. Quem Dera; 5. Valente; 6. Naquela Tarde
7. Improviso; 8. Chora Coração; 9. Madrid; 10. Marés; 11. Sempre Perto; 12. Sens
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