CRAIG TABORN - Daylight Ghosts
ECM 571 3805
Craig Taborn: piano, electronics; Chris Speed: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Chris Lightcap: acoustic bass, electric bass; Dave King: drums, electronic drums
Pianist Craig Taborn has for many years been one of the top New York musicians able to play anything from straight ahead, funk and avant leaning jazz. The multitude of interests he has displayed have been showcased with the great Roscoe Mitchell and also with fellow ECM label mate, Chris Potter to name just a few. Taborn has released two acclaimed ECM recordings Avenging Angel (2011) a solo disc, and the trio Chants (2013), “Daylight Ghosts” his third release for the label is the first to feature his fantastic new quartet with Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Chris Lightcap on acoustic and electric basses, and the Bad Plus’ Dave King on drums.
What’s fascinating about much of the music on this disc is the focus on free interaction within the form, and various elements of the music spinning threads off of each other hinting at the African origins of jazz. Another aspect of interest is how Taborn’s subtle use of electronics serves not as a separate voice but as one being an extension of the acoustic nature of the program. The subject of interaction within the form between Lightcap’s ostinatos, King’s chunky grooves, and rubato playing along with the leader and Speed’s intertwining of lines is immediately apparent as the album hits the ground running with “The Shining One”. King drops just a smidgen of a rock beat before moving into an Afro-Latin groove on the winding melody portion with the pianist and saxophonist in unison, and the drummer effortlessly becomes more free flowing as Taborn and Speed engage in a thrilling high speed chase as a prelude to the pianist’s volatile, percussive musings. Lightcap’s ostinato keeps things grounded for Taborn to fly, and Speed to add sparse bits of commentary.
The music morphs into various threads with the dark “Abandoned Reminder” starting as a ballad, but moving into a torrential slice of rubato interplay, and the title track while being a ballad at it’s core, uses ostinato in another thought provoking manner. The ostinato is used here by the pianist and saxophonist building the emotional intensity of the piece’s ending. “New Glory” uses light electronic and synth textures that put the listener in mind of Thelonious Monk’s charming use of celeste on “Pannonica” from the classic “Brilliant Corners” (Riverside, 1956) but employed in a thoroughly modern way that suggests contemporary electronic music. “The Great Silence” exploits shimmering electronics, and King’s electronic percussion (faintly recalling Phil Collins) in a sensual slow dance. The emphasis on ostinatos and extensions from the device reaches their apex on the ritualistic “Ancient”, the herky jerky rhythm conjuring a trance ceremony, Taborn’s lines fluid and intense.
Daylight Ghosts”manages to brilliantly reconcile the musical world of Craig Taborn, a highly compatible group of musicians and the New York side of ECM. ECM’s recordings in New York deftly balance Manfred Eicher’s cinematic concerns and decidedly European melancholic approach to melody with the heat that New York jazz recordings generate from blistering improvisation. A sure winner and contender in year end best of lists.
Reviewed by C J Shearn
ECM 571 3805
Craig Taborn: piano, electronics; Chris Speed: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Chris Lightcap: acoustic bass, electric bass; Dave King: drums, electronic drums
Pianist Craig Taborn has for many years been one of the top New York musicians able to play anything from straight ahead, funk and avant leaning jazz. The multitude of interests he has displayed have been showcased with the great Roscoe Mitchell and also with fellow ECM label mate, Chris Potter to name just a few. Taborn has released two acclaimed ECM recordings Avenging Angel (2011) a solo disc, and the trio Chants (2013), “Daylight Ghosts” his third release for the label is the first to feature his fantastic new quartet with Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Chris Lightcap on acoustic and electric basses, and the Bad Plus’ Dave King on drums.
What’s fascinating about much of the music on this disc is the focus on free interaction within the form, and various elements of the music spinning threads off of each other hinting at the African origins of jazz. Another aspect of interest is how Taborn’s subtle use of electronics serves not as a separate voice but as one being an extension of the acoustic nature of the program. The subject of interaction within the form between Lightcap’s ostinatos, King’s chunky grooves, and rubato playing along with the leader and Speed’s intertwining of lines is immediately apparent as the album hits the ground running with “The Shining One”. King drops just a smidgen of a rock beat before moving into an Afro-Latin groove on the winding melody portion with the pianist and saxophonist in unison, and the drummer effortlessly becomes more free flowing as Taborn and Speed engage in a thrilling high speed chase as a prelude to the pianist’s volatile, percussive musings. Lightcap’s ostinato keeps things grounded for Taborn to fly, and Speed to add sparse bits of commentary.
The music morphs into various threads with the dark “Abandoned Reminder” starting as a ballad, but moving into a torrential slice of rubato interplay, and the title track while being a ballad at it’s core, uses ostinato in another thought provoking manner. The ostinato is used here by the pianist and saxophonist building the emotional intensity of the piece’s ending. “New Glory” uses light electronic and synth textures that put the listener in mind of Thelonious Monk’s charming use of celeste on “Pannonica” from the classic “Brilliant Corners” (Riverside, 1956) but employed in a thoroughly modern way that suggests contemporary electronic music. “The Great Silence” exploits shimmering electronics, and King’s electronic percussion (faintly recalling Phil Collins) in a sensual slow dance. The emphasis on ostinatos and extensions from the device reaches their apex on the ritualistic “Ancient”, the herky jerky rhythm conjuring a trance ceremony, Taborn’s lines fluid and intense.
Daylight Ghosts”manages to brilliantly reconcile the musical world of Craig Taborn, a highly compatible group of musicians and the New York side of ECM. ECM’s recordings in New York deftly balance Manfred Eicher’s cinematic concerns and decidedly European melancholic approach to melody with the heat that New York jazz recordings generate from blistering improvisation. A sure winner and contender in year end best of lists.
Reviewed by C J Shearn
