Denny Zeitlin, Solo Piano, Crazy Rhythm: Exploring George Gershwin

Ever since the early '60s pianist Denny Zeitlin has excelled as an original improvisational voice that has all the harmonic nuance of a Bill Evans but too all of a later tonality and line abstraction of the New Thing dispensation beyond what is exemplified in Paul Bley, etc., along with an electric acumen that is as orchestral as it is all-encompassing. Today's offering has nothing to do with that third and all to do with his pianoforte prowess and identity, his original stance in regards to a set of standards by Gershwin, namely his solo piano adventure Crazy Rhythm: Exploring George Gershwin (Sunnyside SSC 1693). The concentrated set is from the live concert as part of the annual Zeitlin solo spot in the Oakland Piedmont Piano Concerts.

Many of the must-include Gershwin songs are a go here, so "Fascinating Rhythm," "Summertime, " "My Man is Gone Now," etc. There are also some lesser known ones here, nicely done, like "I Was Doing Alright," and "I've Got a Crush on You."

The rapid modulation possibilities come into play at choice moments, and as expected, there are exceptional voicings and substitutions. At the same time it all swings well when appropriate and goes in a forward momentum to paraphrase and invent inventive alternative phrases throughout, in a sublime Piano Jazz sort of way.

This is the 2018 concert and no surprise but it sounds as timeless as when it was made, the proverbial day before yesterday. Inspiration is abundant and it all makes for an excellent go round, affirming Zeitlin as a true master of the Jazz arts, up there with the heavies no matter how you want to stack it. He gives us some thrilling line weaving in the process and it is a ride of exhilaration and satisfaction. We get the aromatic spice of Modernism with an overarching sense of totality that just works.  Nice work, and what a command!

To get a free sample stream of the album and find out how to order go to BandCamp at https://dennyzeitlin.bandcamp.com/album/crazy-rhythm-exploring-george-gershwin

The set has so much to like I expect it will appeal to confirmed Jazz ears as well as musically inclined newcomers. Wonderful album. Top ratings!

Yumi Ito, YSLA

 

Singer-Songwriter Yumi Ito happily sent me her new album and hey, it sounds so good. It is called YSLA  (ENJA yeb7831). I am taken by her intonationally impressive, gifted, stylistically rangy and ultra-musical voice, which may remind you slightly and nicely of Byork or Imogen Heap or sometimes even Edie Brickell only more sophisticated but not in any obvious way. She can scat wonderfully well in a contemporary zone, What else? The Milk Eyed Mender, that artist, Joanna Newsom? Maybe, but just as an affine so to speak, perhaps not a sister per se, but most emphatically herself. Her new album has seven very tunefully advanced songs bursting over with originality, with a feelingful content and lyrically bracing presence one does not encounter the likes of often, but even so this is very much her own way about it, arrangements, compositions and artistry Zazzy Jazzy-ish in ways that will perhaps floor you like it did me. Ah, Madame Zazz, as Duke might have exclaimed!

Throughout she plays a nicely conceived set of piano and Rhodes parts, she is also well accompanied by a tastefully wrought set of accompanists that she arranges deftly for, and she produces it all with impressive sonic results. So what don't I like about the album? Nothing! The lyrics are often personal, poetically acute and amorously situated, which is cool. I will not say she is a new Joni Mitchell but she has a kind of vastness about her music here which does not diminish her in any way, and there is something there that you will probably like if you like Joni. Either way this is substantial fare.

She is Japanese-Polish if you wonder, and her music is her way through the world we live in today. The music is very contemporary, sometimes a bit riffy, with progression expression, and tangy, soundscape-y growths of musical sound. The vocals ride atop it all with a yodel and a yip, a nuance of phrasing that is a beauty to hear and a triumph of the wonderfully rangy perfection that makes you perk up and listen. Bravo.

To do a free stream of the album, to find out more details about the album,  and to order a copy go to https://yumiito.bandcamp.com/album/ysla-2 and to find out about the ongoing world tour this year go to her general site https://www.yumiito.ch/concerts

Devin Gray, Most Definitely, Solo Drum Album

 

An unaccompanied solo drum album was a rare thing when I was growing up, so I especially appreciated a Max Roach album that had select solo gems that came out back then,  and then Milford Graves' solo percussion ensemble (with Sonny Morgan) followed by another essential,  Andrew Cyrille's BYG solo album from 1969. There have been others since but those three examples still stay in my musical memory as the most influential and iconic to me in formative years.

Today we have a new one that deserves our attention, namely Devin Gray's Most Definitely  (Rataplan 40). This is a thoroughgoing exploration of the drum set improv space that virtually converges today in a sort of New Music percussion ensemble view with a Free Jazz extended techniques articulation of it all. There are also a few moments here where the drum audio is altered by electronic transformations and it works fine and widens the aural possibilities as it comes and goes from the program. But otherwise it is a tour de force of sound color in miniature and sometimes in a maximum torrential wash of drumming, impressive and original. This is one of the most interesting and creative solo drum albums I have heard in recent years. You give it a couple of close listens and if you are like me you will start to appreciate the subtle, nuanced and often powerful expressions that put Devin in the "thinker's drummer" category. The musical trip throughout has dramatic pacing and an ending that will stir you up for sure, I suspect. Bravo!

Stream the album and check out digital, CD, or LP ordering options at Bandcamp: https://devingraymusic.bandcamp.com/album/most-definitely

Vaster than Empires, Three Days

 

Every day moves forward the presence of time, of history, of where we have been and then might in turn be. Today that needle moves decidedly forward with the Avant Improv trio Vaster Than Empires and their recent CD Three Days (New Focus Recordings PAN 28). It is a full album of intelligent, extended techniques invention that brings us forward in the experimental language of abstracted Modernism with sound explorations and noise-pitch dialogues for violin (Erica Dicker), percussion (Allen Otte) and sound artist composer-improviser (Paul Schuette).

This ensemble formed in the course of an intersection in Cincinatti of two of the trio doing graduate  work and the other flourishing in local New Music performance. The  resultant trio gives us a spontaneous and virtuoso bead on sonic arts that hearkens back to classic improvisers like MEV, AMM and Il Gruppo as it simultaneously looks ahead to the world we will hear and see going forward from this day.

Maybe I say this too much but I believe the sure method for hearing this music properly (as well as any else of the advanced kind) is an open mind and a clear deck while listening and then the patience to let the music flow through your hearing in multiple listens. Now for me right as I pen these lines I am working on listen four and I must say it all is making rewarding sense to me. After repeated hearings it does not sound arbitrary but rather smart and timely in its interactive whole. It is complicated and ever-changing but it is excellent and without a doubt some of the best of this sort of thing that has come by me in the past decade. Vaster Than Empires is decidedly inspired on this album. They are the real thing in Improv today, at the top of the heap in results and good sounds. Do not miss it. Give it a streaming listen at bandcamp. https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/three-days Bravo, bravo!

Allen Lowe, In the Dark

 

Allen Lowe has it all going for him in terms of artistry--his saxology, his Jazz composing brilliance, his determined directionality, his historical grasps and insights. Alas his health has not been with him lately with a malevolent cancer and many operations under his belt The good news is that he is back with two new releases that mark him as reassuringly continuing to excel and flourish. 

Today a good look at his more ambitious undertaking, the multiple CD project dubbed In The Dark (ESP-Disk 5080 3-CD) featuring the Constant Sorrow Orchestra. His bandmates are an interesting choice for a stylistic diversity and a wide period coverage of post-eclectic, wholistic Jazz expression from quasi-New Orleans to Bop to Post-Mingus post-Blues and Roots revisited,  ultimately to profundity and beyond. So we have an effective and winning lineup of clarinet great Ken Peplowski in tandem with Allen's eloquent and kicking tenor sax, Aaron Johnson's alto sax and clarinet, Lisa Parrott a most pleasant surprise on baritone, Brian Simontacchi on trombone,  Kellin  Hannas on trumpet, Lewis Porter on piano, organ-synth and synth, Alex Tremblay and Kyle Colina on basses and Rob Landis on drums.

The sprawling 31 composition triumph pits excellent players with memorably appealing and seriously impactful compositions for one of the greatest comebacks ever. Get this one, do not hesitate. Stay tuned for a discussion of his other new release.

Mats Gustaffson, Merzbow, Balazs Pandi, Cuts Open

 

Mats Gustaffsen is something of a world apart as a saxophonist when it comes to a style association. Yes he is free, but he can be very electric too. So today's recent offering is a case in point. Cuts Open (Rare Noise  RNR 0122 2-CD). This one has long extended free articulation for Gustaffson and band. His baritone sax and flute are out front nicely at times but he is as, or even more active throughout with his own live electronics. The well known artist Merzbow (Masami Akita) gives us his usual highly evolved noise electronics and with Matts additional percussion., Finally Balazs Pandi gives us a gradually unfolding blanket of bash on drums and percussion. It has some of the essence, that pioneering vibe heard decades ago the early electronics groups like Il Gruppo amd Musica Electronica Viva. It is still way ahead and not perhaps for everybody with ears. It takes a few listens perhaps before you start working to an understanding of what they do here.

The whole is an extraordinary, long unfolding and a truly orchestra blend of extreme electronics and band with dynamics that keeps evolving and growing until you want to shout at the squirrels. Well I do anyway.

Nicely nuanced and well recommended. Listen here on the BandCamp Site and order if you like: https://matsgustafsson.bandcamp.com/album/cuts-open

Paul Van Gysegem Quartet, Square Talks

 

What yearly developments new and serious music manages to achieve are not always the sort of thing you hear about in the mass media these days. This blog page tries to cover as big a swatch of what's new as possible. Today is no exception with a release worth hearing and consideration, namely the Belgian  New Free Jazz ensemble known as the Paul Van Gysegem Quintet and their live album  Square Talks (el Negocita Records eNR079, Bandcamp).

It is an absorbing, very successful effort from start to finish. All features a nicely adventurous Quintet of Paul Van Gysegem on double bass, Cel Overberghe on tenor and soprano sax, Patrick De Groote on trumpet and flugelhorn, Erik Vermeulen on piano, and Marek Patrman on drums and for one selection a second trumpet.

The open improvisational game plan is to listen to one another and create a mutually inventive set of interactions. This has passion but also a kind of free logic that rings true with nicely tempered contributions from all concerned. There is a specially lucid and thoroughgoing vision to this music that perhaps identifies it as European more so than not, surely in its vocabulary at any rate. At the same time it is not in any way a gratuitous or hasty sort of bundle so much as it is a very successful effort to thrive in a free improvisational state.

Listen and order here: https://elnegocito.bandcamp.com/album/square-talks

Recommended heartily. Not to be missed if you seek the new edges of jazz freedom.