JAY ANDERSON -Deepscape
Steeplechase Records: SCCD 31870
Jay Anderson (bass & Tibetan singing bowl) Billy Draws (alto and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet) Kirk Knuffe (cornet) Matt Wilson (drums) Frank Kimbrough (harmonium) Rogerio Boccato (percussion)
Recorded New Paltz, NY, May and June, 2018.
As a leader, sideman and general practioner of the ars musica nova, bassist Jay Anderson has a discography as commodious and wide ranging as the New York telephone directory and in this his ninety second appearance for the Steeplechase label, he captains a crew of similarly prolific and accomplished musicians in a session that fascinates, intrigues and delights at every turn.
For an artist whose C/V includes recordings with Frank Zappa, through Woody Herman to Maria Schneider, to name but three and barely scratching the surface, you can expect music making that exhibits a lively and intelligent comprehension of many genres and the ability to bring them together in an arresting fashion. That much is demonstrated from an initial scan of the playlist which includes versions of material by such diverse artists as Keith Jarrett, Gil Evans, Billy Joel and, one of America’s greatest modernist composers, Morton Feldman. Indeed, Anderson’s choices demonstrate a deeply held veneration of the American musical landscape which he surveys in a selection that takes in popular song, contemporary classical as well as pure jazz vehicles and beyond categorisation improvisations.
To realise this ambition, he employs a core quartet adding the harmonium and additional percussion to several tracks to achieve particular effects. The absence of a harmony instrument like piano or guitar imparts a loose, open feel to the musical structure, providing Matt Wilson with ample opportunity to fill the space with percussive capers. His New Orleans `second line` strut and swagger in dialogue with Anderson’s bass that opens and closes their reading of `Sweet and Lovely` is pure joy.
Given the instrumentation, several free-bop themes and the presence of the remarkable Kirk Knuffke on cornet, it is inevitable that echoes of the Ornette Coleman group are heard ( reference Kirk’s wonderful `Cherryco` session for the same label a couple of years back) and in tandem with the resourceful Billy Drewes on reeds he negotiates the twist and turns of the quirky melodies and metres with dazzling dexterity .Both he and Drewes reveal themselves to be questing, exploratory musicians of huge ability who in the course of distinguished careers have absorbed many jazz morphologies and are able to summon them at will. It makes for exciting and absorbing music.
As well as raising the temperature with their `sharp as tack` interpretations of free and post-bop themes there is plenty to meditate upon. Several of the musicians who appear in this line-up play in The Maria Schneider Orchestra and her pastoral predilections are reflected in Anderson’s beautifully captured solo bass performance of Billy Joel’s hymn like `And So It Goes` as well as the old standard, `Tennessee Waltz ‘in which he duets with Frank Kimbrough’s yearning harmonium in a brief but evocative invocation of rural America.
Kimbrough plays an important part in the delivery of Anderson’s interpretation of a movement from Morton Feldman’s minimalist sound portrait of the building that houses artist Mark Rothko’s abstract expression murals. In `Rothko’s Chapel` the drone of the harmonium, coupled with overtones from something called a Tibetan singing bowl, conveys the sombre intensity of the artist’s huge blocks of colour whilst Drewe’s keening soprano represents the contemplative experience engendered by the installation. The harmonium drone also features in the opening title track which is a multi-tracked bass solo setting the mood for the ensuing musical explorations. This is one of two Anderson pieces, the other being an exercise in serial composition which horns and rhythm negotiate with subtle sensitivity and inspired interplay.
Being a `Steeplechase ‘recording the sound quality is impeccable capturing the timbre of Anderson’s bass to perfection without dominating the other instrumentalists and I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to review this release which has given me enormous pleasure and continues to enrich my collection.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Steeplechase Records: SCCD 31870
Jay Anderson (bass & Tibetan singing bowl) Billy Draws (alto and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet) Kirk Knuffe (cornet) Matt Wilson (drums) Frank Kimbrough (harmonium) Rogerio Boccato (percussion)
Recorded New Paltz, NY, May and June, 2018.
As a leader, sideman and general practioner of the ars musica nova, bassist Jay Anderson has a discography as commodious and wide ranging as the New York telephone directory and in this his ninety second appearance for the Steeplechase label, he captains a crew of similarly prolific and accomplished musicians in a session that fascinates, intrigues and delights at every turn.
For an artist whose C/V includes recordings with Frank Zappa, through Woody Herman to Maria Schneider, to name but three and barely scratching the surface, you can expect music making that exhibits a lively and intelligent comprehension of many genres and the ability to bring them together in an arresting fashion. That much is demonstrated from an initial scan of the playlist which includes versions of material by such diverse artists as Keith Jarrett, Gil Evans, Billy Joel and, one of America’s greatest modernist composers, Morton Feldman. Indeed, Anderson’s choices demonstrate a deeply held veneration of the American musical landscape which he surveys in a selection that takes in popular song, contemporary classical as well as pure jazz vehicles and beyond categorisation improvisations.
To realise this ambition, he employs a core quartet adding the harmonium and additional percussion to several tracks to achieve particular effects. The absence of a harmony instrument like piano or guitar imparts a loose, open feel to the musical structure, providing Matt Wilson with ample opportunity to fill the space with percussive capers. His New Orleans `second line` strut and swagger in dialogue with Anderson’s bass that opens and closes their reading of `Sweet and Lovely` is pure joy.
Given the instrumentation, several free-bop themes and the presence of the remarkable Kirk Knuffke on cornet, it is inevitable that echoes of the Ornette Coleman group are heard ( reference Kirk’s wonderful `Cherryco` session for the same label a couple of years back) and in tandem with the resourceful Billy Drewes on reeds he negotiates the twist and turns of the quirky melodies and metres with dazzling dexterity .Both he and Drewes reveal themselves to be questing, exploratory musicians of huge ability who in the course of distinguished careers have absorbed many jazz morphologies and are able to summon them at will. It makes for exciting and absorbing music.
As well as raising the temperature with their `sharp as tack` interpretations of free and post-bop themes there is plenty to meditate upon. Several of the musicians who appear in this line-up play in The Maria Schneider Orchestra and her pastoral predilections are reflected in Anderson’s beautifully captured solo bass performance of Billy Joel’s hymn like `And So It Goes` as well as the old standard, `Tennessee Waltz ‘in which he duets with Frank Kimbrough’s yearning harmonium in a brief but evocative invocation of rural America.
Kimbrough plays an important part in the delivery of Anderson’s interpretation of a movement from Morton Feldman’s minimalist sound portrait of the building that houses artist Mark Rothko’s abstract expression murals. In `Rothko’s Chapel` the drone of the harmonium, coupled with overtones from something called a Tibetan singing bowl, conveys the sombre intensity of the artist’s huge blocks of colour whilst Drewe’s keening soprano represents the contemplative experience engendered by the installation. The harmonium drone also features in the opening title track which is a multi-tracked bass solo setting the mood for the ensuing musical explorations. This is one of two Anderson pieces, the other being an exercise in serial composition which horns and rhythm negotiate with subtle sensitivity and inspired interplay.
Being a `Steeplechase ‘recording the sound quality is impeccable capturing the timbre of Anderson’s bass to perfection without dominating the other instrumentalists and I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to review this release which has given me enormous pleasure and continues to enrich my collection.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
