RENEE ROSNES - Beloved of the Sky
Smoke Sessions Records: SSR -1801
Renee Rosnes (piano) Chris Potter (saxophones & flute) Steve Nelson (vibraphone) Peter Washington (bass) Lenny White (drums). Recorded live on October 16 & 17, 2017 at Systems Two, Brooklyn, New York.
Canadian pianist Renee Rosnes has assembled a band of `all the talents` for her latest recording which takes inspiration from the paintings of Emily Carr, also a native of the Canadian northwest, who, through her work in the nineteen thirties, drew attention to environmental issues, particularly commercial deforestation and the loss of pre-colonial habitats. The cover art utilises her painting `Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky` which depicts a solitary pine, rejected by the lumberjacks but standing defiantly in a devastated landscape
.
The theme is expressed most explicitly in the second piece on the album which takes its title from the painting and captures the mood perfectly, opening with elegiac bleakness and ending with soaring resilience. The struggle between light and dark characterises many of the pieces on the album and is ably articulated by the contrasting styles of her musicians and the timbres of the instrumentation. The muscularity of Chris Potter’s tenor is effectively off-set by the simmering luminosity of Steve Nelson’s vibes whilst the whole is driven by Lenny White’s, at times, pugilistic, drumming. Potter is undoubtedly one of the big beasts of his instrument on today’s scene and Rosnes’s scores give him ample opportunity to display both his robust virility on the larger horn and his sensitive side when he takes up his soprano and flute as he does on two numbers, one being the title piece, the other, a liquidly impressionistic `Rhythm of the River`.
All but two of the pieces are Rosnes originals and she proves to be as adept at concocting memorable themes as she is at embellishing them with her lithe variations. Added to her programme is a pleasantly melodic piece by vibist Bobby Hutcherson honouring her long association as a member of his band and also as colleague in the SF JAZZ Collective. She also includes a tune by Alec Wilder and Ben Ross Barenberg, an unsettling lament entitled `The Winter of My Discontent` which opens with a sombre rubato prelude by Rosnes before being subjected to a steely, hard edged examination by Potter and concluded with a dark hued bass solo from Peter Washington. The recital ends with the rousing “Let the Wild Rumpus Start`, referencing the children’s illustrated book by Maurice Sendak, which sounds as boisterous as the larger than life creatures which appear in his pages.
Although described as a live recording no audience noise is evident and the sound is captured with studio precision making for a very attractive release of high quality music that will stay the course in a crowded field – a winner in every respect.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Smoke Sessions Records: SSR -1801
Renee Rosnes (piano) Chris Potter (saxophones & flute) Steve Nelson (vibraphone) Peter Washington (bass) Lenny White (drums). Recorded live on October 16 & 17, 2017 at Systems Two, Brooklyn, New York.
Canadian pianist Renee Rosnes has assembled a band of `all the talents` for her latest recording which takes inspiration from the paintings of Emily Carr, also a native of the Canadian northwest, who, through her work in the nineteen thirties, drew attention to environmental issues, particularly commercial deforestation and the loss of pre-colonial habitats. The cover art utilises her painting `Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky` which depicts a solitary pine, rejected by the lumberjacks but standing defiantly in a devastated landscape
.
The theme is expressed most explicitly in the second piece on the album which takes its title from the painting and captures the mood perfectly, opening with elegiac bleakness and ending with soaring resilience. The struggle between light and dark characterises many of the pieces on the album and is ably articulated by the contrasting styles of her musicians and the timbres of the instrumentation. The muscularity of Chris Potter’s tenor is effectively off-set by the simmering luminosity of Steve Nelson’s vibes whilst the whole is driven by Lenny White’s, at times, pugilistic, drumming. Potter is undoubtedly one of the big beasts of his instrument on today’s scene and Rosnes’s scores give him ample opportunity to display both his robust virility on the larger horn and his sensitive side when he takes up his soprano and flute as he does on two numbers, one being the title piece, the other, a liquidly impressionistic `Rhythm of the River`.
All but two of the pieces are Rosnes originals and she proves to be as adept at concocting memorable themes as she is at embellishing them with her lithe variations. Added to her programme is a pleasantly melodic piece by vibist Bobby Hutcherson honouring her long association as a member of his band and also as colleague in the SF JAZZ Collective. She also includes a tune by Alec Wilder and Ben Ross Barenberg, an unsettling lament entitled `The Winter of My Discontent` which opens with a sombre rubato prelude by Rosnes before being subjected to a steely, hard edged examination by Potter and concluded with a dark hued bass solo from Peter Washington. The recital ends with the rousing “Let the Wild Rumpus Start`, referencing the children’s illustrated book by Maurice Sendak, which sounds as boisterous as the larger than life creatures which appear in his pages.
Although described as a live recording no audience noise is evident and the sound is captured with studio precision making for a very attractive release of high quality music that will stay the course in a crowded field – a winner in every respect.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
