Stefan Aeby Trio
Utopia
By Anthony Shaw Despite its ambitious, other-worldly title, this album by the young Swiss piano trio is a very grounded product, highlighting the compositional skills of its leader Stefan Aeby. On this his second album with the trio, Aeby continues his relaxed, sometimes lugubrious style of tune, making for a selection of tracks that meander along well trodden routes but also can bring the listener up short.
"Bruine," the sixth track, epitomises this with a languorous fade out that tempts the listener repeatedly to check that the disc is still playing, before merging directly into the combatively assertive "Riot" where Aeby takes on his rhythm section's grinding riff and gradually worms it into submission. The source of the convoluted percussive resistance appears to be the trio's former drummer Julius Sartorius, now replaced by fellow countryman Michi Stulz.
This is a very engaging disc, from the heady opening "Vevey" through some minimalist, delicately treated sounds to the final gentle chords. Aeby's partnership with bassist André Pousaz continues where it left off on the previous album in 2010 Are you..? His steady phrasing brings the album to its mellow conclusion, with Aeby's melodic but cheeky, light runs never stretching the envelope more than it can bear.
Track Listing:
Vevey; September; Utopia; Es schneit doch hüt; Mingma; Bruine; Riot; Mindarai.
Personnel:
Stefan Aeby: piano; André Pousaz: bass; Julian Sartorius: drums.
Mark Murphy
Memories Of You: Remembering Joe Williams
By Joel Roberts It only takes a few moments for Mark Murphy to remind listeners why he's been one of the top vocalists in jazz for a generation. His new CD is Memories of You, a set of songs associated with the late, great Joe Williams.
It's not so much Murphy's voice, which is fine, if a little thin, as it is those intangibles that separate a singer from the pack: timing, delivery, confidence, and that unique ability to make everything swing. Over the years, Murphy has honed those skills to the point where he can swing almost effortlessly, conveying more with a whisper than most singers can with a shout. Just check, for example, his hushed approach to Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me" here. Less, with Murphy at the mic, is definitely more.
Murphy's particular brand of beatnik bebop has little in common with Williams' deep Basie blues, and he's wise to shake up his interpretations of Williams' best-known tunes, like "In the Evenin'," which he takes at a slower than slow pace, and "Everyday (I Have the Blues)," which he gives a full-on funk treatment. With backing by an exceptionally sympathetic quartet (Norman Simmons on piano, Paul Bollenbeck on guitar, Grady Tate on drums and Darryl Hall on bass), Murphy delivers a master class in jazz singing and one of the best albums of his career.
Track Listing:
1. The Comeback (Chatman) - 5:21 2. In the Evenin' (Carr/Raye) - 6:38 3. Everyday (Chatman) - 5:02 4. Memories of You (Blake/Razaf) - 5:59 5. Just Squeeze Me (Ellington/Gaines) - 4:29 6. If I Were a Bell (Loesser) - 3:06 7. Close Enough to Love (Mandel/Williams) - 4:34 8. Love You Madly (Ellington) - 3:23 9. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Ellington/Webster) - 5:20 10. Sposin' (Denniker/Razaf) - 3:05 11. A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry (Gimbel/Reid) - 6:25
Personnel:
Bill Easley - Soprano and Tenor Sax; Mark Murphy - Vocals; Norman Simmons - Piano; Grady Tate - Drums; Paul Bollenback - Guitar; Darryl Hall - Bass.
Chip Stephens Trio
Relevancy
By Carlo Wolff Chip Stephens is an impeccable technician, a clever, even daring composer, and a restless explorer of melody. Adept at swing and complexity, he unfurls piano lines with a restless authority that marries brawn to delicacy in this collection of originals and transmogrified standards.
Bracketed by a brisk, darting take on Carla Bley's angular "Syndrome" and a breakneck rendition of Bill Evans' "34 Skidoo," Stephens' second Capri CD never flags. It traverses the blues ("Somewhere Before the End"), swing (Sammy Cahn's "Be My Love," done proud and strutting), and the introspective and modernistic ("A Day in May," perhaps the most autobiographical tune, starts as a ballad, then devolves into something more narrative and architectonic).
Far less known than he should be, Stephens is a rippling player equally at home in Bley's "Syndrome" as in Rodgers and Hart's pensive "This Funny World." He's strong in both hands, giving his forays an equity of unusual mass and power. Sparked by the tasty drums of Joel Spencer (check out how he channels Philly Joe Jones on "Be My Love," also a showcase for Dennis Carroll's pointillist bass), "Relevancy" is a kind of comeback.
Stephens' third CD—the first, Bootcamp, was released on the Cleveland label Azica in 1994—is a lamentation-celebration for his father, who died in 2012, as well as a tribute to his own resiliency. In 2008, Stephens and his two sons were in a car accident so bad it was not known whether Stephens would be able to talk or walk again, let alone resume playing piano.
Stephens has indeed returned to playing piano, in spades. "C Hip's Blues," a sassy, heavily chorded affair, swings like a lost Bobby Timmons cut, and "This Funny World"—patient, rubato-steeped, darkling—addresses his reinvigoration with appropriate gravity. The one complaint is that the order of tunes on the jacket doesn't reflect the recording's sequence: "C Hip's Blues" precedes "A Day in May," not the other way around. But that's a design-layout issue.
As a sideman, Stephens is dramatic without ever being a showboat. As leader of this trio, he's authoritative and original, even in his interpretations. What the listener is likely to take away from this excellent CD is an impression of power and clarity, attributes that always make for memorable jazz. Good to have Stephens back on the set.
Track Listing:
Syndrome; Like Someone in Love; Somewhere Before the End; This Funny World; C Hip’s Blues; A Day in May; Be My Love; 34 Skidoo
Personnel:
Chip Stephens, piano; Dennis Carroll, bass; Joel Spencer, drums.
Basquiat Strings
With Seb Rochford
By Joby Waldman Ben Davis’ stated aim is to make 'alternative string music that people want to listen to'. His group, Basquiat Strings, started life as a standard string quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello). Only later did cellist Davis decide to add double bass 'to strengthen the rhythmic accompaniment', and listening to the raucous, propulsive motion driving many of these compositions it’s understandable why he went a step further and asked drummer Seb Rochford to join the band for the group’s debut recording.
As a regular guest in Rochford’s Polar Bear it would be easy to assume, when listening to tracks like ''Forceful Beast'', that some of Seb’s rhythmic invention has rubbed off on Davis. But I suspect it’s more the case that the two musicians share some of the same sources of inspiration. There are strains of Mingus here, as well as perhaps a smattering of Shostakovich, and fans of Julius Hemphill’s brilliant early 70’s bass-less records such as Dogon A.D. and The Hard Blues may also recognise hints of the inspired, under-rated cellist Abdul Wadud.
Alongside the jazz and the classical influences, there are also folk elements including Macedonian tapan rhythms and Hungarian processional marches. Three standards receive the Davis treatment, which are sufficiently distinctive that the term reassessment is perhaps more apt than arrangement. Wayne Shorter’s ''Infant Eyes'' becomes a chilling meditation on the uncertainty of childhood and Ornette Coleman’s ''Lonely Woman'' depicts a degree of desolation perhaps only an all-string ensemble can achieve.
The rest of the album is comprised of finely-honed originals giving the impression this document has been a long time in the making. ''How Do Birds Hear Music'' is a joyful workout with passages of tight unison alongside sections of spirited improvisation, ending with a fantastically resonant dirge where the drums drop out entirely.
Basquiat Strings is not a pure jazz album but it does present a cohesive vision. And a very listenable one at that.
Danilo Pérez
Panama 500
By Victor L. Schermer
Danilo Perez is one of our finest contemporary jazz pianists and educators. Most recently, he has recorded and toured extensively with the ground-breaking Wayne Shorter Quartet. Residing in the Boston area, Perez maintains close ties with his native Panama and has initiated jazz education and festival programs there. In this album, devoted to his cultural origins, he becomes the creator of a multi-dimensional musical suite in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Spanish explorer Balboa crossing the Isthmus of Panama.
Perez combines Panamanian, European, Latin-Hispanic, and Native Central American styles into a beautifully coherent musical feast, using two iconic jazz trios, strings, percussion, and native instruments, chants, and narratives to convey images and stories of Panamanian mythology, folklore, and personal memory. The result is musical magic and wonder, evocative of inner and outer worlds. In this respect, it becomes part of the repertoire of impressionist tone poems, such as Debussy's La Mer, or, closer to home, Villa Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras. While the album has fifteen tracks, each consisting of its own musical development, it emerges as a unified composition that is best heard in its entirety.
Three of the tracks will illustrate how Perez weaves together several ensembles and diverse musical influences. (A detailed description of all tracks, with comments by Perez, is available at Mack Avenue Records:
http://www.mackavenue.com/artists/detail/danilo_perez/)
"Rediscovery of the South Sea" is a prelude that takes the listener to the place of Balboa's first encounters. A laconic mixture of sounds is followed by a dance-like sequence with rhythm supplied by plucked strings, sticks, claves, and hand drums evocative of warm forests and beaches. Roman Diaz enters briefly as a storyteller. The first trio, consisting of Perez, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Adam Cruz frames the music. "Rediscovery" is suggestive of sequential images like Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, in this case a walk on an island paradise. Violins reinforce the imagery with colorful and impressionistic suggestibility, with Perez playing reflective chord clusters. The violins return with a rumba-like dance sequence aided by percussion, and Diaz recapitulates his narrative.
"Panama 500" is sustained by the continous rhythm of La Denesa, a traditional Panamanian folkloric dance. The second trio of John Pattitucci, Brian Blade and Perez forms the rhythm section. The atmosphere is made festive by violins and sensuous rhythmic pulses. Here, Perez's piano is vaguely reminiscent of Erik Satie's Gymnopedies with their limbic lightness. Throughout the album, Perez negotiates seamlessly and imaginatively between European classical and varied Latin American influences.
"Reflections On The South Sea" (i.e., the Pacific Ocean that faces south of Panama as the Isthmus twists between two continents) opens reflectively with an elegant contrapuntal exchange between the piano and cello. The rhythm develops a tango-like tension and accentuation, as if influenced by Astor Piazzola. Throughout the album, there are allusions to Brazilian, Argentinian, and other South American and Carribean musical idioms. Perez establishes a fascinating triangle between trio jazz, European classical variations, and a mix of Latin-Hispanic influences. All the while, native Panamanian and deep historical African gestures hold the music in a secure place, like the stilts on an elevated beach house. When you go to this place of Perez' invention, you'll want to stay.
Track Listing:
Rediscovery of the South Sea; Panama 500; Reflections on the South Sea; Abita Yale (America); Gratitude; The Canal Suite: Land of Hope; The Canal Suite: Premonition in Rhythm; The Canal Suite: Melting Pot (Chocolate); The Expedition; Narration to Reflections on the South Sea; Panama Viejo; Celebration of Our Land.
Personnel:
Danilo Pérez: piano, cowbell; John Patitucci: electric bass (2); acoustic bass (3, 4, 9); Brian Blade: drums (2 – 4, 9); Ben Street: bass (1, 5, 8, 11); Adam Cruz: drums (1, 5, 8, 11); Alex Hargreaves: violin (1, 2, 8); Sachi Patitucci: cello (3); Román Díaz: percussion, chant (1); Rogério Boccato: percussion (2, 3, 8); Milagros Blades: ripcador (1, 7); caja, pujador (7); Ricaurte Villareal: caja, güiro (1); José Angel Colman: vocals in guna language (3); Eulogio Olaideginia Benítez: gala bissu; gala ildi (4) (12); José Antonio Hayans: Gammuburwi (12); Marden Paniza: director and coordinator of guna musicians, author of the narration.
