Joshua Redman: "Wish" Warner Brothers 9 45365-2
Joshua Redman: Tenor Saxophone ; Pat
Metheny: Guitars ; Charlie Haden: Bass
Billy Higgins : Drums rec. 1993 NYC
If you keep your ear to the ground in the jazz world then Joshua Redman will be no stranger to you. The young tenor saxophonist has shot to stardom and acclaim in the last few years, touted by many as the new sensation in jazz. Close listening to his new album "Wish" offers an expansive view of Redman's conception. His music is deep from the soul, original, and opens clear lines of communication to the listener. For a musician who previously had just one album to his name, he's hauled in very heavy company for this, his second solo outing. His elite sidemen have acknowledged Redman's talents. Charlie Haden notes that Redman "plays very original solos...mature and consistent with a lot of maturity" and Pat Metheny has said "It's like hearing the entire history of jazz saxophone playing to date." "Wish" is a strong album, and from the opening lines of Ornette's "Turnaround" shows a rapidly maturing musician more than holding his own in the company of modern masters. Redman leads on every tune with a quiet authority while Metheny, Haden and Higgins play just like you'd expect a dream line-up to play: solid, assured and swinging. The real highlights are in store when the final two tunes kick off. The quartet plays live at the Village Vanguard on Redman's "Wish" and then burns with thrilling intensity on Haden's "Blues for Pat", Redman and Metheny both putting in their most fiery playing. "Wish" fulfils Redman's dream to play with these great musicians while his own remarkable ability seems destined to one day place him amongst them.
Available on order through your local CD shop.
Reviewed by Matt Krieg
Source: Jazz Notes
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Howard Riley : 'Feathers With Jaki' Slam CD215
Riley may not be so well-known in this country. He is an established
English pianist who has played a major role in the development of
Modern British and European jazz, playing with bassist/composer Barry
Guy, the London Jazz Composer's Orchestra, saxophonist Elton Dean and
many other prominent players on the free jazz/improvised music scene.
Riley's playing situations also cover solo piano, duos with Jaki Byard
and Keith Tippett and trio and quartet work. This new recording from
SLAM returns to the spotlight the majority of two excellent episodes
in Riley's recent history (which spans back some thirty-odd years).
Firstly, there are two Monk pieces performed live at the Royal
Festival Hall in 1984 with Riley in duet with pianist Jaki Byard.
'Round Midnight' opens the recording with a long and curious seventeen
minute exploration, the two players arriving at a beautiful
Trans-Atlantic symmetry, wringing the tune for all it's worth in a
fashion that delivers royally. They continue with a shorter, but no
less original take on 'Straight No Chaser'.
The latter part of the CD presents a trio session from 1988 which was
originally released on LP as 'Feathers' on the Spotlite label.
The sound is more upfront and immediate, with equal emphasis placed
on Riley's piano, Mario Castronari's double bass and Tony Marsh's
drums. This unit is able to improvise as naturally as breathing
and they set about creating melodic themes and textures that you'd
swear were written down. You can certainly hear a deliberate momentum
being created for the fullest exploration of the moment. This is
excellent stuff and seems to reveal more of it's intricacies with
every successive play.
CONTACT: SLAM PRODUCTIONS, 3 THESIGER RD. ABINGDON, OXON. OX14 2DX ENGLAND
Reviewed by Matt Krieg
Source: Jazz Notes
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Ned Rothenberg : 'Power Lines' New World 80476-2
American multi-reedsman Ned Rothenberg may be a new name to South
Australian contemporary jazz followers. His early associations with
the New York Eighties Downtown scene and Free Music in general have
seen him arrive at a place quite removed from contemporaries John Zorn
and Elliot Sharp, whose frenetic, scalding collisions-in-sound now
stand as definitive statements in Post-Modern cut and paste.
Rothenberg's journeying has led to a very personal vocabulary on alto
sax and bass clarinet that sets him within the lineage of modern
masters Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker. As a soloist he qualifies as
one of the most significant of his generation. On this particular
outing, Rothenberg has assembled a large ensemble of his peers to
form Power Lines, a ten-strong collective of similar-minded musicians,
questing into the new territories forged by the amalgam of jazz,
classical, free, funk and international music. The focus, as the
name suggests, revolves heavily around the strength of melodic
linearity and attendant harmonies. With a string quartet embedded
firmly within the ensemble, Rothenberg's writing and arranging brings
out striking textures in each of the five pieces on the disc.
With the shortest piece 'Bellhop Vontz' clocking in at nine-and-a-half
minutes ('In The Rotation' unfolds gradually over twenty-one) Power
Lines offers a surprisingly wide-ranging array of carefully constructed
themes and arrangements which provide ample space for improvisation
from the soloists. Watch out for trumpeter Dave Douglas'statements:
he's one of the new wunderkind of this type of music. Violinist Mark
Feldman also possesses a strikingly exploratory capacity for pushing
the parameters of a tune. And Rothenberg, of course, conjures an
alphabet of sounds and patterns. This is great multi-directional
music, full of fresh sounds, clearly articulated ideas and a great
ensemble feeling. When a large group of individual players can come
together to play music that adds up to much more than the sum of its'
parts, you know you've got something special on your hands.
CONTACT: NEW WORLD RECORDS, 701 SEVENTH AVE. NEW YORK, N.Y. 10036
or BIRDLAND RECORDS, 3 BARRACK ST. SYDNEY, 2000.
Reviewed by Matt Krieg
Source: Jazz Notes
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