AARDVARK JAZZ ORCHESTRA - Faces of Souls
Leo Records CD LR 877
Mark Harvey, piano, and the orchestra
Recorded at Kresge Auditorium and Killian Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, between 2015 and 2019.
Mark Harvey and Aardvark have been around – and together – for so long that one forgets that the album you’re listening to is their new one, as there are so many similarities. What you will get right, though, is just how utterly gratifying the music is, and always has been.
Much of the sheer pleasure is brought on by Harvey’s skill with his impressionistic approach to both composition and his sonic illustration of the emotions and moods he intends to convey, relative to the intended theme.
Faces of Souls has at its roots the music known as “The ‘St. Gaudens’ in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)”. This was composed in relationship to two artworks, a poem by Ives and a monument to Col.Shaw. [For more on this, Google it!] Not unusually for Mark Harvey, the compositions throughout are open and far-reaching and the scale is comprehensive enough to hear the detail of all two-score musicians, both in individual and ensemble improvisations.
Described by Jazz Podium, Germany as ‘one of the best jazz ensembles in the world’, Aardvark delivers a warmth of feeling it is hard to resist.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Leo Records CD LR 877
Mark Harvey, piano, and the orchestra
Recorded at Kresge Auditorium and Killian Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, between 2015 and 2019.
Mark Harvey and Aardvark have been around – and together – for so long that one forgets that the album you’re listening to is their new one, as there are so many similarities. What you will get right, though, is just how utterly gratifying the music is, and always has been.
Much of the sheer pleasure is brought on by Harvey’s skill with his impressionistic approach to both composition and his sonic illustration of the emotions and moods he intends to convey, relative to the intended theme.
Faces of Souls has at its roots the music known as “The ‘St. Gaudens’ in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)”. This was composed in relationship to two artworks, a poem by Ives and a monument to Col.Shaw. [For more on this, Google it!] Not unusually for Mark Harvey, the compositions throughout are open and far-reaching and the scale is comprehensive enough to hear the detail of all two-score musicians, both in individual and ensemble improvisations.
Described by Jazz Podium, Germany as ‘one of the best jazz ensembles in the world’, Aardvark delivers a warmth of feeling it is hard to resist.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
