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October 2024 Jazz Record Reviews
Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life
ECM 1073 552 3892 (auditioned on LP). 1978/2024. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Martin Wieland, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
ECM 1073 552 3892 (auditioned on LP). 1978/2024. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Martin Wieland, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
Finding a voice is usually slow for most jazz players. Yet on this sparkling reissue of Pat Metheny's debut as a leader, his technique, approach, and attitude arrive almost fully formed. Recorded in December 1975 in the Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, Germany, when the guitarist was 21, Bright Size Life has been reissued on LP, cut from the original analog masters, as part of ECM's Luminessence vinyl reissue series.
The strengths here are many. The guitarist's ideas are fruitful and flowing. The arrangements, many assisted by vibes player Gary Burton (in whose group Metheny played and recorded with during the mid-'70s) are wisely focused.
Sonically, this is the ECM sound writ large and in its most elemental form. Produced by label owner/founder/continuing inspiration Manfred Eicher, the dynamic range, the depth of the soundstage, the clarity of the stereo image, are all breathtaking. Metheny's clear ringing tone, which he would return to many times in his long career, was already in full force. As a composer who wrote every track, the Missouri native salutes his midwestern upbringing in the album's longest, the moody, open "Midwestern Nights Dream." In another salute to the middle of the country, "Omaha Celebration," the trio seamlessly mesh their distinct visions around a lively theme. After Metheny's obvious genius, the other reason to cherish this session is the limber, sensitive bass playing of a very young Jaco Pastorius. Drummer Bob Moses, another alum from Burton's quartet, provides tasteful interlacing rhythms and is particularly adept in his cymbal work.
The album closes with a mashup of two Ornette Coleman tunes, "Round Trip/ Broadway Blues," a harbinger of Metheny's later successful collaboration with Coleman on 1985's Song X. A glorious opening statement to one of the most towering figures in jazz guitar.Robert Baird
Bill Charlap Trio: And Then Again
Charlap, piano; Peter Washington, bass; Kenny Washington, drums
Blue Note 00602465324679 (auditioned as 16/44.1 WAV). 2024. Charlap, prod.; James Farber, Tyler McDiarmid, Geoff Countryman, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****½
If there is a jazz group that is moneya slam dunkit is Bill Charlap's trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. Their quality standards are reliably beyond reproach. Their work has been well documented, but even though And Then Again is their 11th album, it is more necessary than ever. This ensemble embodies jazz values that are at risk with the passage of time.
The current jazz art form is dynamic and volatile with experimentation. Charlap is an outlier. His boundless creativity occurs within the framework of the great jazz tradition. He plays standards. He expresses his innermost self through the inspired interpretation of timeless songs.
The pieces on this album are especially well chosen. The trio's ways of engaging with them are deep and diverse.
"All the Things You Are" is many things in five minutes. The opening is meditative, as if Charlap, with his pregnant pauses, is engaged in a real-time act of discovery. His subtle rephrasing reshapes the song. Then the two Washingtons kick into double time and run away with it. Then Charlap turns it into formal block chords. Just before the end, he breaks it open and spills it free. "In Your Own Sweet Way" is unmistakably itself yet reimagined, with new tension and release. "The Man I Love," that yearning, wistful song, becomes a headlong romp.
With Charlap, the ballads are always best. "Darn That Dream," "Ghost of a Chance," and "'Round Midnight" all come out of that rapt hush that Charlap owns.
And Then Again is an atypical live recording at the Village Vanguard. The mix puts the piano on the left and the drums on the right, with the bass in the middle. The verdict is that it works. It sounds like you're there.Thomas Conrad
Altus: Mythos
Dave Adewumi, trumpet, flugelhorn; Neta Raanan, tenor and soprano saxophones; Nathan Reising, alto saxophone; Isaac Levien, bass; Ryan Sands, drums
Biophila BREP0033 (auditioned as 16/44.1 WAV download). 2024. Adewumi, Levien, prods.; Michael Perez-Cisneros, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
That the jazz art form today is healthy is confirmed by the great work being done by living masters such as Charles Lloyd, Maria Schneider, and Bill Frisell. Further evidence is provided by more recent arrivals like Ambrose Akinmusire and Immanuel Wilkins. But the best proof may come from albums like Mythos. That a record this freshly creative could come from a young band so far under the radar says a lot about the depth of the current jazz talent pool.
Altus plays original material composed by trumpeter Dave Adewumi and bassist Isaac Levien. At first hearing, none of the tunes sound radical, but they are assembled according to the band's proprietary principles. Each of the nine performances is a synthesis of disparate elements. The music is a little like a Jackson Pollock painting: You can't come up close and look at parts. You've got to stand back and take in the impervious, self-contained, enigmatic whole.
Altus is amoebic. It forms itself into dirge-like continuums. Strange requiems, like "Embrace" and "Mountain March," are ambiguous with disharmony. The arrangements can be exacting, like "Innocence and After." But suspenseful, cinematic narratives end mid-story. The music mysteriously moves you. It turns you inward.
Altus is communal. They are all about collective ensemble form, whether preconceived or raw in the moment. They solo together more than apart. Yet they could not be what they are without individual brilliance. Adewumi has a remarkable number of interesting ideas per song. On tenor and soprano saxophones, Neta Raanan is an exciting new voice; she already sounds like no one else. On soprano, she rises up out of "The Last Gift" and flies. Altus: You heard it here first.Thomas Conrad
Brian Landrus: Plays Ellington & Strayhorn
Landrus, low woodwinds; three others
Palmetto BL202301 (auditioned on CD). 2024. Landrus, John Kilgore, prods.; Kilgore, eng.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
Brian Landrus is a low-woodwind specialist. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, but his arsenal also includes bass saxophone, bass clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, and bass flute. Here, he puts them all to unique use. Working with engineer John Kilgore and playing all the instruments himself, Landrus creates a "virtual orchestra," to which he adds his piccolo, C flute, and alto flute. This ensemble of Landruses, plus a rhythm section, backs Landrus the soloist, in a program of works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.
What happens sounds surprisingly organic. Landrus's baritone saxophone lingers lovingly on the haunting melody of "Chelsea Bridge." When the entire reed choir looms into the song, the atmosphere deepens. Landrus's deft, meticulous arrangements organize his array of woodwinds into alluring blends.
Most of the tracks are short. Landrus subtly rephrases famous themes like "Isfahan," "Lotus Blossom," and "Daydream," then takes concise, concentrated solos as his virtual orchestra flows all around him. On "Come Sunday," the ensemble whispers behind Landrus's quietly passionate baritone. "Sophisticated Lady" is wonderfully weird: a bass saxophone solo.
Longer, more complex charts draw upon all available resources: those magic woodwinds, with their silken textures; Landrus's gifts as an improviser; the special players in the rhythm section. "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" is a gentle unfolding of languid romanticism in which Dave Stryker's glowing guitar, Jay Anderson's late-arriving bass throbs, and Billy Hart's whispering brushes are essential. On "Warm Valley" and "Lush Life," Landrus's voice is dark, but his touch is light as he celebrates, then elaborates, these enduring melodies.
This album must have been hard work. It sounds like a labor of love.Thomas Conrad
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