Depending on how you count, Ben Goldberg has just come out with his third or fourth CD for Tzadik, "Speech Communication," and it's a good one. He is one hell of a clarinet player and he is joined on this trio outing by the sympathetic accompanists Greg Cohen (bass) and Kenny Wollesen (drums).
Ben has absorbed improvisational clarinet stylists from the Klezmer greats through Perry Robinson and forged anew a personal style. He has remarkable control over his sound and plays some really intriguing music.
Master of the standard clarinet, he also plays some really notable contra alto clarinet (which is similar to the bass clarinet, only even deeper in range). His music combines Jewish influences with modern postbop jazz strains. Goldberg has internalized and re-melded all of this so that it is seamlessly coherent. It's a CD that should establish him in the top ranks of clarinetists working today, if he hasn't already done that. Can you tell I liked "Speech Communication?"
Showing posts with label new jewish music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new jewish music. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Marty Ehrlich's Dark Winds Ensemble
Marty Ehrlich should never be taken for granted. With a track record that includes associations and recordings with some of the finest musicians out there, and a series of excellent recordings under his own name, he has been somewhat quietly making music of the first rank. That does not mean he is now settling comfortably into a style niche and repeating past successes. Not at all.
The 1999 recording Sojourn (Tzadik) with his Dark Woods Ensemble can serve as an example. It cannot be easily classified. It has Marty on clarinet and soprano, Erik Friedlander, cello, Mark Helias, bass, and Marc Ribot on guitar. You would think such a lineup would produce a chamber jazz date, and it is in many ways that. But it is much more. It is first and foremost MUSIC, call it what you will. There are jazz elements, folk-Jewish, middle-eastern elements, rather classical sounding aspects, and just simply Marty-music in the end.
The music is deeply evocative, deeply moving and, ten years down the road, music that still needs to be heard. "Is is said that the only home we have is in a song," Ehrlich remarks in the liner notes. If that is the case, the music of Sojourn opens up a home we can all live in with great pleasure and comfort.
The 1999 recording Sojourn (Tzadik) with his Dark Woods Ensemble can serve as an example. It cannot be easily classified. It has Marty on clarinet and soprano, Erik Friedlander, cello, Mark Helias, bass, and Marc Ribot on guitar. You would think such a lineup would produce a chamber jazz date, and it is in many ways that. But it is much more. It is first and foremost MUSIC, call it what you will. There are jazz elements, folk-Jewish, middle-eastern elements, rather classical sounding aspects, and just simply Marty-music in the end.
The music is deeply evocative, deeply moving and, ten years down the road, music that still needs to be heard. "Is is said that the only home we have is in a song," Ehrlich remarks in the liner notes. If that is the case, the music of Sojourn opens up a home we can all live in with great pleasure and comfort.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
