EDWARD SIMON - 25 Years
Ridgeway Records: RRCDO16 (2 CD Set)
Edward Simon (piano & keyboards) with various combos and artists including Mark Turner (tenor sax) David Binney (alto sax) Larry Grenadier, Scott Colley, John Patitucci, Avishai Cohen (bass) Brian Blade, Eric Harland, Adam Cruz (drums) Adam Rogers (guitar), featuring tracks from 13 albums recorded between 1995 and 2018
My only previous encounter with the work of Venezuelan born pianist and composer Edward Simon came by way of a session from his formative years which was issued by Blue Note in 1990. `Post Motown Bop` featured altoist Bobby Watson’s quintet `Horizon` in a refreshingly vibrant take on the hard-bop genre, shaped, in no small measure, by the pianist’s elegant extension of the melodic stylings of pioneers like Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan. Edward Simon was 21 at that time and after moving on to work with Terence Blanchard and Greg Osby in similar settings he appeared to disappear from general view.
Happily, the best was yet to come for though a move to more, specialist labels like Kokopelli, Sunnyside and Criss Cross shaded him from the glare of high profile publicity his creative impulses were given every opportunity to blossom as the music on this two-disc retrospective, taken from 25 years of performance, so amply demonstrates. Issued to celebrate his 50th birthday we find him in diverse settings aided and abetted by musicians with whom he has developed a particular rapport over the years; whose technique and talent have enabled him to fully realise the fusion of the three streams that inform his musical inspiration, namely; classical and Latin American in close combination with the jazz tradition.
There are many highlights amongst the 17 pieces that example his work and stellar performances abound from all concerned. Notably, there are the refined articulations of Mark Turner on tenor contrasting with the soaring energy of Dave Binney on alto supported by some of the most able bass and drum practitioners of the contemporary scene. Their work is featured extensively on the first disc which includes amongst the quintets and quartets a remarkable 15-minute live performance for piano trio featuring John Patitucci and Brian Blade, both superstars of their craft, in which free form ruminations gradually coalesce, gathering form and tension to evolve into a powerful, epic melody before splintering into celestial arpeggios and subsiding into brooding quietude.
Whilst the first disc features mainly small group sessions, the second offers us more in the way of Simon’s work as an orchestrator and bandleader including one of his appearances with the celebrated SF Jazz Collective where we find him the company of such luminaries as sax men Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez and vibraphonist, Warren Wolf. In these ensemble pieces Simon’s skill as a manipulator of tonal colour is excitingly evident and reaches something of an apotheosis in a selection from his `Venezuelan Suite` of 2014 which features a spine tingling, headlong passage for the cuatro (a sort of South American ukulele), harp and maracas.
Finally, there is Simon the composer. Even in his hard-bop days his Latino leanings were evident but here they are given full reign albeit tempered by his classical sensibilities and animated by his love of the jazz groove. His melodies are typically complex and lingering, infused with that Iberian melancholy that is a close relation of the blues. They tend to lurk about within each piece, sometimes alluded to and at other times openly stated and reinforced with a wordless vocal. This adds to the mystique of his work which, notwithstanding its depth and complexity is totally accessible and engaging, with the dynamism of exotic rhythms ever present.
For those, like me, who missed this music first time around this beautiful and sturdily packaged set represents an ideal way of getting up to date with Simon’s mature work and an appetiser for the delights that are yet to come.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Ridgeway Records: RRCDO16 (2 CD Set)
Edward Simon (piano & keyboards) with various combos and artists including Mark Turner (tenor sax) David Binney (alto sax) Larry Grenadier, Scott Colley, John Patitucci, Avishai Cohen (bass) Brian Blade, Eric Harland, Adam Cruz (drums) Adam Rogers (guitar), featuring tracks from 13 albums recorded between 1995 and 2018
My only previous encounter with the work of Venezuelan born pianist and composer Edward Simon came by way of a session from his formative years which was issued by Blue Note in 1990. `Post Motown Bop` featured altoist Bobby Watson’s quintet `Horizon` in a refreshingly vibrant take on the hard-bop genre, shaped, in no small measure, by the pianist’s elegant extension of the melodic stylings of pioneers like Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan. Edward Simon was 21 at that time and after moving on to work with Terence Blanchard and Greg Osby in similar settings he appeared to disappear from general view.
Happily, the best was yet to come for though a move to more, specialist labels like Kokopelli, Sunnyside and Criss Cross shaded him from the glare of high profile publicity his creative impulses were given every opportunity to blossom as the music on this two-disc retrospective, taken from 25 years of performance, so amply demonstrates. Issued to celebrate his 50th birthday we find him in diverse settings aided and abetted by musicians with whom he has developed a particular rapport over the years; whose technique and talent have enabled him to fully realise the fusion of the three streams that inform his musical inspiration, namely; classical and Latin American in close combination with the jazz tradition.
There are many highlights amongst the 17 pieces that example his work and stellar performances abound from all concerned. Notably, there are the refined articulations of Mark Turner on tenor contrasting with the soaring energy of Dave Binney on alto supported by some of the most able bass and drum practitioners of the contemporary scene. Their work is featured extensively on the first disc which includes amongst the quintets and quartets a remarkable 15-minute live performance for piano trio featuring John Patitucci and Brian Blade, both superstars of their craft, in which free form ruminations gradually coalesce, gathering form and tension to evolve into a powerful, epic melody before splintering into celestial arpeggios and subsiding into brooding quietude.
Whilst the first disc features mainly small group sessions, the second offers us more in the way of Simon’s work as an orchestrator and bandleader including one of his appearances with the celebrated SF Jazz Collective where we find him the company of such luminaries as sax men Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez and vibraphonist, Warren Wolf. In these ensemble pieces Simon’s skill as a manipulator of tonal colour is excitingly evident and reaches something of an apotheosis in a selection from his `Venezuelan Suite` of 2014 which features a spine tingling, headlong passage for the cuatro (a sort of South American ukulele), harp and maracas.
Finally, there is Simon the composer. Even in his hard-bop days his Latino leanings were evident but here they are given full reign albeit tempered by his classical sensibilities and animated by his love of the jazz groove. His melodies are typically complex and lingering, infused with that Iberian melancholy that is a close relation of the blues. They tend to lurk about within each piece, sometimes alluded to and at other times openly stated and reinforced with a wordless vocal. This adds to the mystique of his work which, notwithstanding its depth and complexity is totally accessible and engaging, with the dynamism of exotic rhythms ever present.
For those, like me, who missed this music first time around this beautiful and sturdily packaged set represents an ideal way of getting up to date with Simon’s mature work and an appetiser for the delights that are yet to come.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
