JULIAN COSTELLO QUARTET - Transitions
33 Records 33JAZZ268
Julian Costello (tenor & soprano saxophones); Maciek Pysz (electric & classical guitars); Yuri Goloubev (double bass); Adam Texeira (drums & percussion)
Recorded 6-8th April 2017
This is a hugely enjoyable and accomplished album from saxophonist Julian Costello with a set of original compositions that that are immediately engaging yet reveal more about themselves and the Quartet with each new hearing. Perhaps the clue is in the title? Is the saxophonist alluding to the transition between tunes, which is incidentally seamless (and a point that I will return to) or the transition that occurs within the band from four musicians to one integrated ensemble that is greater that the sum of it's parts as if by metamorphosis? Either way, it can be said that both statements are true, as this album states it's claim for being more than just a quartet date or anything related to a straight ahead blowing session.
When listening to Transitions one is drawn into the orchestral setting of the quartet, as it often feels that there should be more than four voices, and that fact that the material is meticulously prepared yet somehow still retains as openess and spatial awareness within the music. From the opening solo statement from the tenor saxophone on the opening track 'Waves' the attention is immediately grabbed and maintained throughout. It is also evident that the writing is carefully prepared to encompass the musical heritage of each of the members of this international group yet still creating a group identity of their own, which is no mean feat.
Everything that Costello writes is geared around melody and an organic group sound that gets stronger as the album progresses. All the tunes have attractive themes that ear catching and played with a rhythmic buoyancy that is infectious, even when the heat is turned up a little on the subtly titled (?) 'A Manic Episode'. As the album progresses there is the awareness that the tunes are seguing into each other. This is done so cleverly that whilst the pieces are completely different in mood and texture, the music does indeed hangs together as a continuous composition. It transpires that the Quartet often play live as one long continuous set, and I am assured that my ears are not deceiving me and that the first seven tracks were devised and recorded on the day as one long take (the overdubbed saxophones on 'Corners' aside) from the aforementioned 'Waves' to the nattily titled 'Earworm' that does wriggle inside the ear with a reluctance to be removed anytime soon. Of the leader's saxophone playing, both his tenor and soprano playing are on a par, with Costello possessing a full tone on both in all registers and the horns are impeccably matched to Maciek Pysz's use of electric or classical guitars. Both are gifted soloists with much to say and importantly know the value of silence and restraint, and how they react to the commentary from the bass and drums.
There is so much to enjoy on this album from the punchy theme and improvisations on 'Buraki i Ziemniaki'; the beautiful playing of Pysz's classical guitar on 'Mirage Intro' before leading into the Eastern flavoured main theme with the soprano saxophone whirling in an intricate dance with the rhythm section, or the gently swinging 'Walking Through The Jungle'. At the end of the day what remains with the listener is a sense of having heard something a little different and unique to the four participants who have worked tirelessly at this music to present us with an album that has their collective personality stamped all over it.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
33 Records 33JAZZ268
Julian Costello (tenor & soprano saxophones); Maciek Pysz (electric & classical guitars); Yuri Goloubev (double bass); Adam Texeira (drums & percussion)
Recorded 6-8th April 2017
This is a hugely enjoyable and accomplished album from saxophonist Julian Costello with a set of original compositions that that are immediately engaging yet reveal more about themselves and the Quartet with each new hearing. Perhaps the clue is in the title? Is the saxophonist alluding to the transition between tunes, which is incidentally seamless (and a point that I will return to) or the transition that occurs within the band from four musicians to one integrated ensemble that is greater that the sum of it's parts as if by metamorphosis? Either way, it can be said that both statements are true, as this album states it's claim for being more than just a quartet date or anything related to a straight ahead blowing session.
When listening to Transitions one is drawn into the orchestral setting of the quartet, as it often feels that there should be more than four voices, and that fact that the material is meticulously prepared yet somehow still retains as openess and spatial awareness within the music. From the opening solo statement from the tenor saxophone on the opening track 'Waves' the attention is immediately grabbed and maintained throughout. It is also evident that the writing is carefully prepared to encompass the musical heritage of each of the members of this international group yet still creating a group identity of their own, which is no mean feat.
Everything that Costello writes is geared around melody and an organic group sound that gets stronger as the album progresses. All the tunes have attractive themes that ear catching and played with a rhythmic buoyancy that is infectious, even when the heat is turned up a little on the subtly titled (?) 'A Manic Episode'. As the album progresses there is the awareness that the tunes are seguing into each other. This is done so cleverly that whilst the pieces are completely different in mood and texture, the music does indeed hangs together as a continuous composition. It transpires that the Quartet often play live as one long continuous set, and I am assured that my ears are not deceiving me and that the first seven tracks were devised and recorded on the day as one long take (the overdubbed saxophones on 'Corners' aside) from the aforementioned 'Waves' to the nattily titled 'Earworm' that does wriggle inside the ear with a reluctance to be removed anytime soon. Of the leader's saxophone playing, both his tenor and soprano playing are on a par, with Costello possessing a full tone on both in all registers and the horns are impeccably matched to Maciek Pysz's use of electric or classical guitars. Both are gifted soloists with much to say and importantly know the value of silence and restraint, and how they react to the commentary from the bass and drums.
There is so much to enjoy on this album from the punchy theme and improvisations on 'Buraki i Ziemniaki'; the beautiful playing of Pysz's classical guitar on 'Mirage Intro' before leading into the Eastern flavoured main theme with the soprano saxophone whirling in an intricate dance with the rhythm section, or the gently swinging 'Walking Through The Jungle'. At the end of the day what remains with the listener is a sense of having heard something a little different and unique to the four participants who have worked tirelessly at this music to present us with an album that has their collective personality stamped all over it.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
