MICHAEL GIBBS & NDR BIG BAND - In My View
Cuneiform Records RUNE 401
Any album release by Michael Gibbs is to be treasured. There are not enough recordings of his work. When you have two released on the same day, it is a musical feast. Gibbs has studied with some of the giants of the last hundred years such as Gunther Schuller, Iannis Xenakis, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss and, of course, and probably more importantly, he has been inspired by Gil Evans as he showed on last year’s album for Whirlwind ‘Mike Gibbs + Twelve Play Gil Evans’.
The NDR (Nord Deutscher Rundfunk) Big Band started life in 1945 as a dance band. Since 1971 the NDR has honed its jazz credentials by working with musicians such as Chet Baker, John Surman, Johnny Griffin, Herb Geller and Joe Pass. Gibbs has developed a strong association with the band. The band has some strong soloists who are featured in the sensitive compositions of Gibbs. The only interlopers are Adam Nussbaum and Gene Calderazzo. Since 1973 Gibbs has worked with the band a number of times. He did the 2011 album: ‘Here’s A Song For You’ with Norma Winstone and the NDR. His other album for Cuneirform: ‘Back in the Days’ was a collection of pieces recorded between 1995 and 2003.
The first track here features the inimitable sonorous, sensuous sound of Gibbs’ writing. ’Tis As It Should Be’ features Claus Stotter on flugel plus of course the individual voicings that are the signature of Gibbs.
The highlight of the album is the track ‘As A Matter of Fact’. It is insistent, mysterious and haunting. Christof Lauer (tenor) and Ingolf Burkhardt (trumpet) play as the band surges round them, wrapping them in the enigmatic, gently unrelenting rhythms. This is as good as anything that Gibbs has written.
Carla Bley’s’ ‘Ida Lupino’ was introduced on the Whirlwind album. Here it benefits from the larger ensemble and the wider palette. Vladyslav Sendecki on piano and Lutz Buchner on clarinet decorate the delightful melody.
Two other jazz masters are saluted with arrangements: Monks’s ‘Misterioso’ and Ornette Coleman’s ‘Ramblin’’. Ingmar Heller on bass pays homage to Charlie Haden he bases his solo on Haden’s original from the 1960 recording. ‘Misterioso’ is also featured on the Frisell recording but is completely different. Here the trombones of the NDR are featured over the punchy brass in, at times, an electrifying sequence of solos that announces loudly that the NDR can stand comparison with anyone.
‘Spanish Sketch’ is obviously inspired by Gibbs’ residency in Malaga. It is not hard to imagine the movements of Spanish choreography as Lauer, this time on soprano, encourages the dancers.
The recording does not draw attention to itself but concentrates on the kind of clarity that this sophisticated, layered music needs.
Obviously, in the NDR, Gibbs has found a sympathetic environment and somewhere he can place his music in the knowledge that it will be played with skill and sensitivity and probably love.
Should you buy this? Of course you should; this is playing, writing, celebrating, and imagining of the highest order.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Cuneiform Records RUNE 401
Any album release by Michael Gibbs is to be treasured. There are not enough recordings of his work. When you have two released on the same day, it is a musical feast. Gibbs has studied with some of the giants of the last hundred years such as Gunther Schuller, Iannis Xenakis, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss and, of course, and probably more importantly, he has been inspired by Gil Evans as he showed on last year’s album for Whirlwind ‘Mike Gibbs + Twelve Play Gil Evans’.
The NDR (Nord Deutscher Rundfunk) Big Band started life in 1945 as a dance band. Since 1971 the NDR has honed its jazz credentials by working with musicians such as Chet Baker, John Surman, Johnny Griffin, Herb Geller and Joe Pass. Gibbs has developed a strong association with the band. The band has some strong soloists who are featured in the sensitive compositions of Gibbs. The only interlopers are Adam Nussbaum and Gene Calderazzo. Since 1973 Gibbs has worked with the band a number of times. He did the 2011 album: ‘Here’s A Song For You’ with Norma Winstone and the NDR. His other album for Cuneirform: ‘Back in the Days’ was a collection of pieces recorded between 1995 and 2003.
The first track here features the inimitable sonorous, sensuous sound of Gibbs’ writing. ’Tis As It Should Be’ features Claus Stotter on flugel plus of course the individual voicings that are the signature of Gibbs.
The highlight of the album is the track ‘As A Matter of Fact’. It is insistent, mysterious and haunting. Christof Lauer (tenor) and Ingolf Burkhardt (trumpet) play as the band surges round them, wrapping them in the enigmatic, gently unrelenting rhythms. This is as good as anything that Gibbs has written.
Carla Bley’s’ ‘Ida Lupino’ was introduced on the Whirlwind album. Here it benefits from the larger ensemble and the wider palette. Vladyslav Sendecki on piano and Lutz Buchner on clarinet decorate the delightful melody.
Two other jazz masters are saluted with arrangements: Monks’s ‘Misterioso’ and Ornette Coleman’s ‘Ramblin’’. Ingmar Heller on bass pays homage to Charlie Haden he bases his solo on Haden’s original from the 1960 recording. ‘Misterioso’ is also featured on the Frisell recording but is completely different. Here the trombones of the NDR are featured over the punchy brass in, at times, an electrifying sequence of solos that announces loudly that the NDR can stand comparison with anyone.
‘Spanish Sketch’ is obviously inspired by Gibbs’ residency in Malaga. It is not hard to imagine the movements of Spanish choreography as Lauer, this time on soprano, encourages the dancers.
The recording does not draw attention to itself but concentrates on the kind of clarity that this sophisticated, layered music needs.
Obviously, in the NDR, Gibbs has found a sympathetic environment and somewhere he can place his music in the knowledge that it will be played with skill and sensitivity and probably love.
Should you buy this? Of course you should; this is playing, writing, celebrating, and imagining of the highest order.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
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