JOE LOVANO & DAVE DOUGLAS SOUND PRINTS - Scandal
Greenleaf Music Inc. GRE-CD-1063
Joe Lovano (tenor and G mezzo soprano saxophones) Dave Douglas (trumpet) Lawrence Fields (piano) Linda May Han Oh (bass) Joey Baron (drums) recorded Bunker Hill Studios, Brooklyn, NY on September 4th2017.
When the names Lovano and Douglas appear on the cover of a disc you know you are in for something special. They are after all high in the list of contemporary greats with a wealth of fine music at their backs and a reputation for assembling combos of stimulating originality and challenging diversity. Combining their talents to form the group `Sound Prints` is an inspired move and in this their first studio album the highest of expectations are fulfilled from beginning to end.
The music is inspired by the Miles Davis `time – no changes` quintet of the mid-sixties with particular reference to Wayne Shorter and through the inclusion of two of his tunes re-arranged by Douglas and Lovano respectively who are responsible for all the remaining compositions. It is music that combines flashes of abstraction and chromatic development with passages of pure lyricism giving equal weight to collective interplay and sustained solo extemporisation, supported by complex rhythmic underpinning that follows and anticipates the shifting tempi with intuitive brilliance.
Both horns are playing at the top of their game. Having followed these musicians for quite a few years I can honestly say I’ve never heard them play better and the music they produce is neither wilfully avant-garde or self-indulgent nor aims to appeal to popular superficiality: it is simply modern jazz of distinction that heaps manifold pleasures upon the serious listener. Whilst a minor key mood prevails there is plenty of joy in their contemporary be-bop constructions `The Corner Tavern` and `High Noon` where Lovano puts his soprano sax through its paces. Some pieces like the title track have an appealing `film-noir` feel whilst the final track `Libra` has the horns simply stating the melody in unison against swirling piano figures, rather like the Miles Davis quintet’s `Nefertiti`.
In support, but very much stars in their own right, we have a brilliant young pianist Lawrence Fields whose effervescent style creates a bright aspect and illuminates the sound stage with crystalline flourishes that leaven the density of the ensemble passages. Linda May Han Oh plays bass in a warm and fulsome manner and contributes substantial solos from time to time but in an un-showy way that doesn’t impede the flow of the music whilst the hard working Joey Baron uses every trick in the master percussionists book to negotiate and highlight the tempo changes that feature so prominently in the musical concept.
Although we are only half way through the year I doubt I’m going to hear anything as good as this in the time left and so feel confident in claiming `Scandal` as my Record of the Year, in fact I’d go further and say that future commentators may in retrospect cite this as one of the great records of the decade; a `Kind of Blue` or `Time Out` of its day.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Greenleaf Music Inc. GRE-CD-1063
Joe Lovano (tenor and G mezzo soprano saxophones) Dave Douglas (trumpet) Lawrence Fields (piano) Linda May Han Oh (bass) Joey Baron (drums) recorded Bunker Hill Studios, Brooklyn, NY on September 4th2017.
When the names Lovano and Douglas appear on the cover of a disc you know you are in for something special. They are after all high in the list of contemporary greats with a wealth of fine music at their backs and a reputation for assembling combos of stimulating originality and challenging diversity. Combining their talents to form the group `Sound Prints` is an inspired move and in this their first studio album the highest of expectations are fulfilled from beginning to end.
The music is inspired by the Miles Davis `time – no changes` quintet of the mid-sixties with particular reference to Wayne Shorter and through the inclusion of two of his tunes re-arranged by Douglas and Lovano respectively who are responsible for all the remaining compositions. It is music that combines flashes of abstraction and chromatic development with passages of pure lyricism giving equal weight to collective interplay and sustained solo extemporisation, supported by complex rhythmic underpinning that follows and anticipates the shifting tempi with intuitive brilliance.
Both horns are playing at the top of their game. Having followed these musicians for quite a few years I can honestly say I’ve never heard them play better and the music they produce is neither wilfully avant-garde or self-indulgent nor aims to appeal to popular superficiality: it is simply modern jazz of distinction that heaps manifold pleasures upon the serious listener. Whilst a minor key mood prevails there is plenty of joy in their contemporary be-bop constructions `The Corner Tavern` and `High Noon` where Lovano puts his soprano sax through its paces. Some pieces like the title track have an appealing `film-noir` feel whilst the final track `Libra` has the horns simply stating the melody in unison against swirling piano figures, rather like the Miles Davis quintet’s `Nefertiti`.
In support, but very much stars in their own right, we have a brilliant young pianist Lawrence Fields whose effervescent style creates a bright aspect and illuminates the sound stage with crystalline flourishes that leaven the density of the ensemble passages. Linda May Han Oh plays bass in a warm and fulsome manner and contributes substantial solos from time to time but in an un-showy way that doesn’t impede the flow of the music whilst the hard working Joey Baron uses every trick in the master percussionists book to negotiate and highlight the tempo changes that feature so prominently in the musical concept.
Although we are only half way through the year I doubt I’m going to hear anything as good as this in the time left and so feel confident in claiming `Scandal` as my Record of the Year, in fact I’d go further and say that future commentators may in retrospect cite this as one of the great records of the decade; a `Kind of Blue` or `Time Out` of its day.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
