ZACH BROCK / JON DEITEMYER / MATT ULERY - Wonderment
Woolgathering records
Zach Brock: violin; Matt Ulery: double bass; Jon Deitemyer: drums
Recorded May 15th 2018 by Vijay Tellis-Nayak at Transient Sound, Chicago
You might, like me, have first come across Zac Brock in his time with Snarky Puppy, especially on their ‘Culcha Vulcha’ album. On this new album with his trio partners, Brock’s violin has, at times, the feel of a fiddle in folk tunes; rich with harmonics and layered tones that create a mood that is both plaintive and lyrical. At other times, he plays with the richness of the early pioneers of jazz violin. And between these twin poles, his playing has the richness and complexity of modern classical music (Bartok, in particular, sprang to mind). This mix of violin styles, of folk, classical and jazz, permeate the music on this set, but do so in a way that leads you to conclude that Brock has a sound of his own. Ulery’s bass provides a sonorous, often stately, pulse that accompanies the violin along the paths that it weaves. Beneath the strings, Deitemyer works his drum kit with subtle finesse, more often than not sounding as if he is using brushes to create a shuffling backbeat. What the three players have (and this becomes apparent on repeated listens) is an ingenious way on marking time and passing the rhythm between each other; so that each instrument can be the pulse of the piece or can create musical ideas that the other players pick up and develop. The rhythms shift from graceful loping (‘Wonderment’, track 1, or ‘Nightshade’, track 5), to Hot Club de France (‘Cry face’, track 7), to post-bop (‘Wokey dokey’, track 6, or ‘Pumpkin patch’, track 9). The twelve compositions on this recording are each listed against one of the trio (so they all have credits to four tracks), but the playing and the development of each piece carries a strong air of improvisation.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Woolgathering records
Zach Brock: violin; Matt Ulery: double bass; Jon Deitemyer: drums
Recorded May 15th 2018 by Vijay Tellis-Nayak at Transient Sound, Chicago
You might, like me, have first come across Zac Brock in his time with Snarky Puppy, especially on their ‘Culcha Vulcha’ album. On this new album with his trio partners, Brock’s violin has, at times, the feel of a fiddle in folk tunes; rich with harmonics and layered tones that create a mood that is both plaintive and lyrical. At other times, he plays with the richness of the early pioneers of jazz violin. And between these twin poles, his playing has the richness and complexity of modern classical music (Bartok, in particular, sprang to mind). This mix of violin styles, of folk, classical and jazz, permeate the music on this set, but do so in a way that leads you to conclude that Brock has a sound of his own. Ulery’s bass provides a sonorous, often stately, pulse that accompanies the violin along the paths that it weaves. Beneath the strings, Deitemyer works his drum kit with subtle finesse, more often than not sounding as if he is using brushes to create a shuffling backbeat. What the three players have (and this becomes apparent on repeated listens) is an ingenious way on marking time and passing the rhythm between each other; so that each instrument can be the pulse of the piece or can create musical ideas that the other players pick up and develop. The rhythms shift from graceful loping (‘Wonderment’, track 1, or ‘Nightshade’, track 5), to Hot Club de France (‘Cry face’, track 7), to post-bop (‘Wokey dokey’, track 6, or ‘Pumpkin patch’, track 9). The twelve compositions on this recording are each listed against one of the trio (so they all have credits to four tracks), but the playing and the development of each piece carries a strong air of improvisation.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
