Live In Marciac - August 5th 2014
By TheGuardian
Octogenarian pianist Ahmad Jamal’s recent albums have served as fine reminders of his spirited gigs – full of familiar treatments of familiar materials, foxy rhythm-swaps with alert partners, dramatic surges impishly retreating to hushed tinkles. This CD+DVD live set from Marciac in France last August, accompanied by bassist Reginald Veal and percussionists Manolo Badrena and Herlin Riley, catches the warmth and charm the same band had displayed in London earlier in the year, and adds two tributes to just-departed fellow pianist Horace Silver. Jamal lets the groove do much of the work on Sunday Afternoon, astutely pitching zippy short runs, quotes, and elbowing chords against the elegant hubbub of his drummers; mixes lyricism and scrambled resolutions on The Gypsy; plays Silver’s Strollin’ as a glossy swinger; and makes his uptempo, hook-prefaced version of Blue Moon a high point. That sensitivity to group dynamics that Miles Davis long ago admired in Jamal is as effortlessly tuned in as ever.
Lorenz Kellhuber Trio
State Of Mind
By Von Thomas J. Krebs
Der Pianist Lorenz Kellhuber dürfte bisher in erster Linie Jazzconnoissieurs bekannt sein. Bisher! Seine neue, dritte CD Veröffentlichung „State of Mind“ wird das hoffentlich ändern und Kellhuber mit seinem Trio auch einem breiteren Publikum erschließen. Seit gut 20 Jahren spielt er nun Piano, absolvierte unter Prof. Massinger eine klassische Ausbildung und zu seinen wichtigsten Einflüssen zählen Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Hampton Hawes, Wynton Kelly und Keith Jarrett, wobei in seinen Stücken manchmal durchaus auch mal groovende Läufe á la Vince Guaraldi eingestreut sind. Mit 8 Jahren gab Kellhuber sein erstes Konzert, mittlerweile ist er 25 Jahre alt und legt eine für sein Alter unglaubliche musikalische Reife an den Tag! So etwas lässt aufhorchen, zumal sein junges Spiel erfrischend unique und selbstbewusst ist. Im Sommer 2011 formierte er sein „German“ Trio mit dem er eigene Kompositionen spielt, seit 2012 spielt Kellhuber auch frei improvisierte Solo-Konzerte, die ausnehmend spannend sind und seit 2014 performt er zusätzlich mit seinem „Standard Experience“ Trio, das in New York beheimatet ist und Stücke aus dem Great American Songbook interpretiert. Lorenz Kellhuber ist ungemein umtriebig ohne sich dabei zu verzetteln. Bereits auf seinen ersten beiden („German Trio“) CD’s bekommt der Hörer Kompositionen aus eigener Feder präesentiert und diesem Konzept bleibt er auch auf seiner neuen CD treu. „State of Mind“ ist aufgeteilt in 9 Stücke, die, songähnlich aufgebaut, Kellhubers gesamten Pianokosmos widerspiegeln. Energiegeladen geht er mit seinem Trio voran, spielt technisch präzise und kondensiert aus seinen Einflüssen einen eigenen Sound. Der Bassist Arne Huber und Gabriel Hahn am Schlagzeug sind konstante Wegbegleiter und man hört die kontinuierliche, harmonische seit 4 Jahren währende Zusammenarbeit des Trios. Die eigentliche Stärke dieser Band liegt in ihrer dynamischen Ausdruckskraft, die sie den Kompositionen verleihen. Es ist ein durchgehend spannungsgeladenes Spiel, mit treibenden Rhythmen, manchmal bluesig inspiriert, dann wieder introvertiert auf hohem Niveau, niemals trivial – alles kann, nichts muss passieren! Das Lorenz Kellhuber Trio präsentiert perlendes, (er)frischendes Klaviertrio vom Feinsten – nix für zwischen Tür und Angel, sondern für aufmerksame Hörer gedacht, die neugierig sind auf die „Gemütslage“ eines jungen Pianisten mit seinem Trio, dessen Spiel äußerst facettenreich ist, voller Überraschungen steckt und der gerade dabei ist richtig durchzustarten.
Stefano Bollani
arrivano gli alieni
By Peter Bacon
The pianist has made solo albums before but nothing quite like this, where he not only plays concert grand but also Fender Rhodes and, on a few tracks, sings too.
His exuberant style, his technical facility and his sense of fun are clear throughout, from the opening, funky Alleanza and a darkly toned, choppily-rhymed romp through Italy’s most popular song Quando, Quando, Quando to Ary Barroso’sAquarela Do Brasil, the soul-jazz evergreen, Horace Silver’s The Preacher and Duke Ellington’s Mount Harissa, closing with the classic ballad You Don’t Know What Love Is.
Along the way there are originals and more popular songs. Sadly Bollani doesn’t sing You Don’t Know What Love Is, but he does add his vocals to the album’s title tune (it translates as Aliens Are Coming) and onMicrochip. Both are sharp, fast-talking and clearly witty, though immeasurably more so, I imagine, if you understand Italian.
Bollani’s touch, and the sound he gets from the Fender Rhodes – richly metallic but never harsh – add to the sonic pleasure of what is an album of bubbling joy.
Thomas Rückert Trio
Parvaneh
By Chris Spector Midwest Record
In which we find the jazz piano trio as chamber outfit, this piano man isn’t afraid to use white space. As used here, it lets you glide across the tunes, filling in the blanks yourself letting you comprehend as fast or as slow as you wish. Impressionistic music in the hands of a master, this set is blissfully free of any of the clichés that could easily run rampant yielding an incredibly personal set that everyone can bring their own listening vision to. It might just be too subtle to recognize what a classic it on the first few passes, but classic it is. Well done.
Antonio Faraò
Boundaries
By Carlo Boccadoro
Dopo tanti anni di collaborazioni illustri con musicisti stranieri, da Joe Lovano a Jack DeJohnette e Wayne Shorter, per il suo esordio su Verve Italia Antonio Faraò ha messo insieme un nuovissimo quartetto tutto italiano davvero esplosivo, in grado di rendere al meglio la complessità ritmica e armonica delle sue composizioni. Faraò è un pianista ben noto anche a livello internazionale grazie alla sua dirompente carica ritmica e allo swing massiccio che caratterizza le sue interpretazioni, anche se il suo virtuosismo non è mai autoreferenziale o puramente spettacolare. Non è facile stargli dietro, ma quando si ha a disposizione una band con Mauro Negri (grandissimo leader anche per conto proprio) al sax e una sezione ritmica al fulmicotone come Mauro Beggio alla batteria e Martin Gjakonovski al basso il gioco è fatto. Decisamente uno dei migliori album di jazz della scena europea (e non solo) attuale, Boundaries rende omaggio idealmente al quintetto storico di Miles Davis inserendo anche due composizioni scritte da Herbie Hancock e Tony Williams, il cui linguaggio articolato ben si unisce a quello dei pezzi scritti dallo stesso Faraò.
Stefano Bollani
arrivano gli alieni
By Peter Bacon
The pianist has made solo albums before but nothing quite like this, where he not only plays concert grand but also Fender Rhodes and, on a few tracks, sings too.
His exuberant style, his technical facility and his sense of fun are clear throughout, from the opening, funky Alleanza and a darkly toned, choppily-rhymed romp through Italy’s most popular song Quando, Quando, Quando to Ary Barroso’sAquarela Do Brasil, the soul-jazz evergreen, Horace Silver’s The Preacher and Duke Ellington’s Mount Harissa, closing with the classic ballad You Don’t Know What Love Is.
Along the way there are originals and more popular songs. Sadly Bollani doesn’t sing You Don’t Know What Love Is, but he does add his vocals to the album’s title tune (it translates as Aliens Are Coming) and onMicrochip. Both are sharp, fast-talking and clearly witty, though immeasurably more so, I imagine, if you understand Italian.
Bollani’s touch, and the sound he gets from the Fender Rhodes – richly metallic but never harsh – add to the sonic pleasure of what is an album of bubbling joy.
Thomas Rückert Trio
Parvaneh
By Chris Spector Midwest Record
In which we find the jazz piano trio as chamber outfit, this piano man isn’t afraid to use white space. As used here, it lets you glide across the tunes, filling in the blanks yourself letting you comprehend as fast or as slow as you wish. Impressionistic music in the hands of a master, this set is blissfully free of any of the clichés that could easily run rampant yielding an incredibly personal set that everyone can bring their own listening vision to. It might just be too subtle to recognize what a classic it on the first few passes, but classic it is. Well done.
Antonio Faraò
Boundaries
By Carlo Boccadoro
Dopo tanti anni di collaborazioni illustri con musicisti stranieri, da Joe Lovano a Jack DeJohnette e Wayne Shorter, per il suo esordio su Verve Italia Antonio Faraò ha messo insieme un nuovissimo quartetto tutto italiano davvero esplosivo, in grado di rendere al meglio la complessità ritmica e armonica delle sue composizioni. Faraò è un pianista ben noto anche a livello internazionale grazie alla sua dirompente carica ritmica e allo swing massiccio che caratterizza le sue interpretazioni, anche se il suo virtuosismo non è mai autoreferenziale o puramente spettacolare. Non è facile stargli dietro, ma quando si ha a disposizione una band con Mauro Negri (grandissimo leader anche per conto proprio) al sax e una sezione ritmica al fulmicotone come Mauro Beggio alla batteria e Martin Gjakonovski al basso il gioco è fatto. Decisamente uno dei migliori album di jazz della scena europea (e non solo) attuale, Boundaries rende omaggio idealmente al quintetto storico di Miles Davis inserendo anche due composizioni scritte da Herbie Hancock e Tony Williams, il cui linguaggio articolato ben si unisce a quello dei pezzi scritti dallo stesso Faraò.
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