1 Sem 2018 - Part Eleven

Bobo Stenson Trio

Contra La Indecisión




By Karl Ackermann
With a few exceptions, Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson has spent his long recording career with the prestigious ECM label, dating back to his oddly named Underwear in 1971. That particular album turned out to be more a showcase for bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen than for Stenson, and the pianist did not lead again on the label for twenty years. Stenson was hardly absent from Manfred Eicher's iconic label in those intervening years, appearing as a sideman for Don Cherry, Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko and Charles Lloyd. On Contra La Indecision, Stenson reconvenes the trio that last issued the 2012 release Indicum.
Stenson and double bassist Anders Jormin have a three-decade history beginning with a mutual association with saxophonist Lenart Åberg. It was the pair's contribution to Lloyd's Notes from Big Sur (ECM, 1992) that brought both to prominence. Percussionist Jon Fält is the youngster in the trio—still in his thirties, he has mostly played with well-known artists inside of Sweden; his initial recording being Indicum.
Jormin is credited with five of the seven original compositions on Contra La Indecision. The album opens with Cuban guitarist Silvio Rodríguez's "Canción Contra La Indecisión" (Song Against Indecision), a light and catchy piece, ironically, from a composer known for his literary seriousness. Erik Satie's familiar "Élégie" begins quietly before Stenson moves it to a bright and punchy treatment with the rhythm section adding subtle, intricate textures. Béla Bartók's "Wedding Song From Poniky" is a beautiful rendition of the jovial original and features a pair of brief, but excellent, solos from Jormin. The bassist's own composition "Three Shades of a House" provides him with more opportunity in the form of an extended intro solo. The piece briefly veers toward abstraction when Jormin picks up the bow, but it doesn't stray far from the overall charm of the melody. "Stilla" has a rambling bluesy quality with an intriguing dialog between Stenson, Jormin and Fält.
Stenson's strong suits have always been his playing—his mastery of the measured build up—and his talent for arraigning other's compositions to put a unique stamp on each. His blending of classical, jazz and folk influences and uncommon time signatures has led to comparisons (not necessarily precise ones) with Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau. Stenson's own style is easily recognizable and is especially well-served in the company of Jormin and Fält. Not all of Stenson's work has the bursts of color that we hear in Contra La Indecision and that makes it one of his most interesting albums to date.

Track Listing: 

Cancion contra la indecision; Doubt Thou the Stars; Wedding Song from Polinky; Three Shades Of a House; Elegie; Cancion y Danza VI; Alice; Oktoberhavet; Kalimba Impressions; Stilla; Hemingway Intonations.
Personnel: 

Bobo Stenson: piano; Anders Jormin: double bass; Jon Falt: drums.


David Rees-Williams Trio
Time Scape



By John Fordham
David Rees-Williams follows up his best selling second CD with "Time Scape" featuring a lovingly maintained 1931 Steinway grand piano,lovingly played.The trio is completed by Neil Francis on electric bass and Phil Laslett on drums.Think Jacques Loussier and then some.The album includes compositions spanning four centuries from,among others, Purcell, Bach, Ravel and Watlock."David Rees-Williams is an accomplished pianist whose repertoire contains some of the most eloquent themes ever composed in Europe, the group recalled the Modern Jazz Quartet's meticulous relaxation.


Tomás Improta
Olha Pro Céu



Por Anderson Nascimento
Com mais de 45 anos de carreira, o músico Tomás Improta chega ao seu 10° disco solo, gravado entre novembro de 2015 e abril de 2016, apresentando novas e velhas canções.
O pianista abre o disco com “Olha Pro Céu”, canção de Tom Jobim, também escalada para abrir o disco, enquanto a sequência traz “Risque” de Ary Barroso, em versão cativante. Entre os artistas relidos estão ainda Edu Lobo e Torquato Neto, Heitor Villa-Lobos e Cole Porter.
O disco se concentra no piano do Tomás, com poucas participações especiais, a saber, o contrabaixista Tony Botelho na canção “Silvestre: Nascente do Rio Carioca” (Tomás Improta) e Gabriel Improta, seu filho, em “I Concentrate on You” (Cole Porter). Este fato contrasta com o seu álbum anterior “A Volta de Alice” (2015), repleto de músicos e texturas diferentes.
Embora esbanje bom gosto ao longo de todo o álbum, alguns dos melhores momentos são a lindíssima “Poema Singelo” (Heitor Villa-Lobos) e “Karen B.” (Tomás Improta), faixa que fecha o disco transmitindo um clima radiante.
Com produção do próprio artista, “Olha Pro Céu” é um disco que vai agradar em cheio aos amantes do piano, já que neste disco ele reina soberano, juntamente com o talento de Tomás Improta, claro.


Gilson Peranzzetta

Tributo a Oscar Peterson



By Mauro Ferreira
Três meses após ter lançado em janeiro um álbum gravado ao vivo em show com Ivan Lins, Cumplicidade (2018), o pianista, compositor e arranjador carioca Gilson Peranzzetta já apresenta outro disco. Tributo a Oscar Peterson chega ao mercado fonográfico em abril pela mesma gravadora, Fina Flor, que editou o álbum ao vivo de Peranzzetta com Ivan.
Como o título Tributo a Oscar Peterson já explicita, o CD solo de Peranzzetta celebra o legado do pianista canadense de jazz Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (15 de agosto de 1925 – 23 de dezembro de 2007), músico prodígio celebrado pela destreza e velocidade no toque do piano.
Embora a extensa discografia desse pianista de técnica exuberante seja formada essencialmente por álbuns em que o músico priorizou a interpretação de obras alheias, Peterson também foi compositor, registrando eventualmente músicas próprias ao longo de obra fonográfica que atingiu picos de produção entre as décadas de 1950 e 1970.
Na capa do álbum Tributo a Oscar Peterson, Gilson Peranzzetta é visto em foto de Aloizio Jordão.