Andrew Downing, Jim
Lewis, David Occhipinti, Bristles
(OM007, 60:13 ****) The average winter temperature in Toronto, Canada
hovers breezily around the teens. It takes a hearty soul to lug around an
instrument in that kind of weather rather than crawl into a cave and wait for
the flowers to bloom. With just ten strings and three valves, Andrew Downing
(double bass), Jim Lewis (trumpet) and David Occhipinti (guitar) attack
seasonal affective disorder head on with a sparse landscape of brief
meditations on painters like Cy Twombly and Wassily Kandinsky interspersed with
a lengthier half a dozen standard ballads recorded in mid-January. Occhipinti
possesses a growly Jim Hall sound that occasionally evokes a flute while Lewis
embraces the spaces between. Downing is equally patient, urging the proceedings
with gentle runs. This is the sound of winter, cool and mysterious, stark but
beautiful. Ordering info:
davidocchipinti.com
John Chin, Undercover (BJUR044, 52:48, ***) Pianist
John Chin released his debut album in 2008 and finished his second in 2010. So
it must be a frustrating experience to wait four years for that sophomore
release to actually see the light of day. Chin’s style falls into the
Jarrett/Mehldau lineage that eschews the hard-swinging past in exchange for a
more malleable and impressionistic take on the traditional piano/bass/drums
setting. His hands seem to always be in constant movement, not necessarily busy
but floating at all times in as many different directions as the brain will
allow. A delicate take on Chaplin’s “Smile” is juxtaposed with the swagger of
one of three Chin originals, “If For No One” which is molded by drummer Dan
Rieser’s up-front ride cymbal. Throughout the album, Chin has a confident
vulnerability that is broken up by welcome bluesy bursts. Hopefully it won’t
take as long to find out what he sounds like today. Ordering info: bjurecords.com
Organ Trio East,
Chemistry (No catalog number or label, 67:41, **1/2) It has been said that the
trombone is the most human-sounding of all instruments but that is only if the
human likes to yell. The trombone often appears to be one of the hardest
instruments to convey a lot of ideas, most of them pertaining to the softer
side of the sonic palette and despite a tune called “Quietly,” trombonist Jay
Vonada’s range prefers blasts over whispers. As the sole horn on the trio recording,
Vonada has to carry a lot of weight (he also wrote five of the tunes) but
organist Steve Adams has his hands full too. He composed four of the tunes
including the brisk “Wandering” which highlights drummer Jim Schade’s lithe
brushwork. Unfortunately, a muddy recording quality pushes the proceedings a
bit too far into the mire. The addition of another horn could add considerable
depth here. Ordering info: jayvonada.net
Matana Roberts, Sam
Shalabi, Nicolas Caloia, Feldspar (TDB9008, 47:21, ***) Is there something
going on in Canada that is creating bleak, percussion-less avant-garde trios?
Or is it simply a winter trend? This disc recorded in Montreal in December of
2011 has the sharp edges of a sheet of ice and seven song titles named after
equally jagged minerals. Roberts’ alto saxophone on “Spinel” evokes a deranged
Paul Desmond as bassist Caloia and guitarist Shalabi generate simmering
refractions of her soulful flutters. The title track builds into a wailing
assault, heightened by Shalabi’s percussive shudder. The juxtaposition of
Roberts’ more earthy humanistic tone with her Canadian compatriots’ spasming
dissonance forms a complex and difficult puzzle that occasionally becomes too
complicated to suss out. Despite those sounds, silence is the prevailing
uniter. Each band member is unafraid to listen and wait, filling the gaps with
the sound of falling snow. Ordering info:
tourdebras.com
Michael Musillami
Trio, Pride (PSR112613, 124:17, ****)
Though this sturdily packaged two disc set is billed as a trio recording
there are just as many guests brought on board. There are studio sessions that
include tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene (a pair of bleating appearances
including a masterful build on the optimistically titled “Bald Yet Hip”) and
pianist Kris Davis who makes attentive contributions to the trembling “Old Tea”
while Musillami digs in deep. The guitarist’s interpretation of a wild rumpus,
part of four tunes intended for Where the
Wild Things Are, is menacing and offers a brief glimpse of the shadowy
shredder lurking just under his fingertips. The second disc features four live
recordings with violinist Mark Feldman. The result is a harder swinging,
see-sawing sound. The band doesn’t
hesitate to stretch out with drummer George Schuller maintaining a tense pulse
as bassist Joe Fonda grips tight for a swelling undertow. Ordering info: playscape-recordings.com
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