GEORGE COLLIGAN - More Powerful
Whirlwind WR4708
George Colligan - piano; Linda May Han Oh - bass; Rudy Royston - drums ; Nicole Glover - tenor and soprano saxophone
Colligan is one of the generation of play-anything virtuosi who can inhabit virtually any contemporary style and make it their own. This is his 28th album as a leader; his CV could be modestly described as ‘extensive’; last year he toured the UK with Andrew Bain’s ‘Embodied Hope' band. ‘Whiffle Ball’ is a storming piece of contemporary post-bop swing with a showpiece drum statement from the equally impeccable Royston - ‘Waterfall Dreams’ is more in the contemplative, harmonically static vein of Pat Metheny, and allows space for a fluid solo from sometime Metheny employee and bassist -of-the-moment Linda May Han Oh. Colligan’s piano is utterly assured, especially as evidenced by trio track ‘Effortless’, where the rippling super-fast right hands are matched by a tricky ostinato figure of the left, all executed as effortlessly as the title suggests. There are echoes of Corea in his rhythmic accuracy and fluency, and the unashamed high-wire pyrotechnics that burst out of these tunes. The whole impression is of a band simply humming with energy, very much at ease with the contemporary scene that comes under the label ‘modern mainstream’.
‘Today Again’ allows relative newcomer Glover to demonstrate her diamond-hard, centered tone, confident articulation and wealth of creative ideas in a brief solo space, and Oh to give a run-down in what’s fresh in modern bass soloing. ‘More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine’ (titled after a Star Wars quote) has echoes of McCoy Tyner - ‘Empty’ is a chaotically conversational free-time showcase for the outstanding Glover on tenor. ‘The Nash’ is like Thelonious Monk on steroids.
This is powerful, accessible, exciting contemporary jazz by a crack team of high-level operatives, treading a fine line between maintaining the tradition and pushing at the frontiers. The flash and fire may exhaust some as much as it exhilarates others, but there’s no denying the sheer level of confident, endlessly creative musicality on display from all involved.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
Whirlwind WR4708
George Colligan - piano; Linda May Han Oh - bass; Rudy Royston - drums ; Nicole Glover - tenor and soprano saxophone
Colligan is one of the generation of play-anything virtuosi who can inhabit virtually any contemporary style and make it their own. This is his 28th album as a leader; his CV could be modestly described as ‘extensive’; last year he toured the UK with Andrew Bain’s ‘Embodied Hope' band. ‘Whiffle Ball’ is a storming piece of contemporary post-bop swing with a showpiece drum statement from the equally impeccable Royston - ‘Waterfall Dreams’ is more in the contemplative, harmonically static vein of Pat Metheny, and allows space for a fluid solo from sometime Metheny employee and bassist -of-the-moment Linda May Han Oh. Colligan’s piano is utterly assured, especially as evidenced by trio track ‘Effortless’, where the rippling super-fast right hands are matched by a tricky ostinato figure of the left, all executed as effortlessly as the title suggests. There are echoes of Corea in his rhythmic accuracy and fluency, and the unashamed high-wire pyrotechnics that burst out of these tunes. The whole impression is of a band simply humming with energy, very much at ease with the contemporary scene that comes under the label ‘modern mainstream’.
‘Today Again’ allows relative newcomer Glover to demonstrate her diamond-hard, centered tone, confident articulation and wealth of creative ideas in a brief solo space, and Oh to give a run-down in what’s fresh in modern bass soloing. ‘More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine’ (titled after a Star Wars quote) has echoes of McCoy Tyner - ‘Empty’ is a chaotically conversational free-time showcase for the outstanding Glover on tenor. ‘The Nash’ is like Thelonious Monk on steroids.
This is powerful, accessible, exciting contemporary jazz by a crack team of high-level operatives, treading a fine line between maintaining the tradition and pushing at the frontiers. The flash and fire may exhaust some as much as it exhilarates others, but there’s no denying the sheer level of confident, endlessly creative musicality on display from all involved.
Reviewed by Eddie Myer
