Inspiration, Imagination, & Intent

 

There are many listeners of contemporary music no matter the genre are usually looking for spiritual uplift. Listeners say they love technical prowess or "new" sounds but what makes us return to music is how it moves us. Music is a "full-body experience" – for this listener, it usually starts with moving my feet, then enters into my brain, and finally into my heart.  If it feels "real nice", play it twice.  That's why I like the music of John Coltrane, of McCoy Tyner, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bill Withers, Bruce Hornsby, Bonnie Raitt, and others. And Anthony Branker. His music often makes one think, his titles lead one to investigate Black experiences and history, and his rhythms often bring you up out of your seat. Over the course of 10 albums, all released by Origin Records, he's assembled some of the best musicians, given them music to sink their creative teeth, and a created a lot of memorable performances.  

Given the overt political nature of a good number of his albums (2013's "Uppity", 2014's, "The Forward (Towards Equality) Suite", and 2023's "What Place Can There Be for Us"), Dr. Branker's 10th album (and third with his group Imagine), "Songs My Mom Liked" takes a different tack.  His 88-year old mother (she turns 89 on June 27) has been dealing with the ongoing effects of cognitive dementia. Dr. Branker has been driving her to appointment and elsewhere playing his albums in the car. His mother responded so positively to certain songs that he began to collect a group of them, rearranging them for this septet that features Fabian Almazan (piano), Linda May Han Oh (bass), Rudy Royston (drums), Pete McCann (guitar), Phillip Dizack (trumpet), Donny McCaslin (tenor and soprano saxes), and Aubrey Johnson (voice).  Nine of the 12 songs are from Dr. Branker's earlier albums and none recorded by this particular group.

With different "voices" and approaches to the material, this program is brimming with energy, imagination, and joy. Right out of the gate, "Praise" jumps out of the speakers powered by the rhythm section with Royston's drums front and center. This is McCaslin's first recording with Dr. Branker and he shines throughout the program. Listen below to "Sketches of Selim" to hear how he and trumpeter Dizack interact and build off each other's solo. Fabian Almazan also brings a heightened sense of urgency to each one of his solos while his work as part of the rhythm section is a delight. The rollicking "The House of the Brotherhood of Black Heads" takes off at a blistering pace with Ms. Oh and Royston furiously pushing the group forward. Each of the soloists (Dizack, Almazan, and McCaslin) rides the rhythmic waves, sometimes behind the beat but mostly enjoying the frenetic drive.  Later in the program, "To Be Touched (By the Spirit)" gives the listener an insight to one of the composer's touchstone influences; the power and glory of McCoy Tyner. Almazan's incredible solo stands out flowing out atop Royston's stunning drum work and the foundational bass playing. McCaslin comes roaring out out of the piano solo feeding the percussive fire even as his lines raise higher and higher.  A richly melodic and percussive bass solo leads the band back to a quick reiteration of the main theme.

Aubrey Johnson is heard on "Three Gifts (From a Nigerian Mother to God", her lovely wordless solo reading of the theme opens the piece before Dizack and the band enter to repeat the theme.  She can be heard in the background singing in unison with McCaslin's tenor. She drops out for the solos but returns to sing the melody and, later, counterpoint, in the background.  

One of the other highlights is the trio version of "Imani (Faith)" with Ms. Oh and Royston laying down a reggae beat for McCaslin's tenor to soar and roar atop.  The bass solo stands out for its melodic reach and bluesy intent.

Pete McCann performs on a couple of tracks including "When We Said Goodbye", where he states the handsome melody while producing a rippling solo supported by the responsive rhythm section.  McCaslin builds off the energy of the guitar solo for his own splendid spot.

The album closes with the one song not composed by Dr. Branker. "If..." was composed by his daughter Parris at the age of 11! The proud father arranged the piece for the group with McCann replacing Dizack. It's a high tempo, high spirited conclusion to a most excellent program.

"Songs My Mom Liked" is a treat from start to finish. The excellent septet of musicians transform the 12 songs in the program into living representations of Dr. Anthony Branker's spirit, beliefs, and desire to communicate through music.  There are moments where one hears the spirit of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the fire of Max Roach, the cool burn of Miles Davis, the spirituality of John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner, and the Caribbean roots of his family (Trinidad and Barbados). These songs are glorious prayers to the power of belief, love, family, hope, and music.  All of Dr. Branker's albums are recommended, all are excellent: "Songs My Mom Liked" is, arguably, the best he and his groups have yet produced.

For more information, go to www.anthonybranker.com/ – the site needs to be updated but there is still plenty to learn. To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://anthonybranker1.bandcamp.com/album/songs-my-mom-liked-2.

Listen to "Sketches of Selim":

Samuel Torres's Three Universes in A Dance for Birds

 

Percussionist and composer Samuel Torres, a native of Bogota, Colombia, has been in the United States for 25 years during which he has played with many great jazz, Latin, classical, and popular music stars as well as with symphony orchestras around the world.  His own groups have combined rhythms from the African diaspora, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Southern Hemisphere of America with richly detailed melodies and smart solos.  In 2019, Torres won the Latin GRAMMY in Classical Music for his album with the Neuva Filarmonia (Colombia) – titled "Regreso", the program features two four-part suites plus an encore composed for congas and symphony orchestra. For his new project, he was inspired by the artwork of Colombian artist and Jazz promoter Diego Pombo, especially a piece that featured a human-like winged creature. Torres was inspired by the image to create a nine-movement suite "A Dance for Birds" which also takes its inspiration from the various dance styles of Central and Latin America plus the Caribbean.  The title of this post mentions "three universes" which for Torres is contemporary classical music, Afro-Latin rhythms, and jazz.

You'll hear all that and more on the recording of "A Dance for Birds" (Blue Conga Records).   Besides the leader on congas and hand percussion, the ensemble features Alex Norris (trumpet), Troy Roberts (tenor saxophone), Ahmed Alom (piano), Ricky Rodriguez (bass), and Jimmy Macbride  (drums) plus the Bergamot String Quartet – Ledah Finck (1st violin), Sarah Thomas (2nd violin), Amy Tan (viola), and Irene Han (cello).  Not sure what's more impressive – is it how the strings are integrated into the ensemble or how Torres can lead from the congas or how the music easily shifts from one piece to another?  It's fascinating how the instrumentalists interpret bird song, the call-and-response, the joy, the worry, the feeling of never really settling down, always on the move.  You, the listener, sit still and be transported to new dimensions.

The program opens with "From Stillness" which is the "daybreak" of the piece, the time of day when the world wakes up. The music moves the first stirrings of the piano, bowed bass, and cymbal slashes to the stirring of each instrument. As the piece moves into "Horizons Take Wings",  Torres introduces the melody before the music drops into a lively rhythm. Solos by Roberts and Cuban-born pianist Ahmed Alom pour out in joy while the rhythm section romps underneath. During the piano solo, saxophone, trumpet, and strings helps lead the ensemble back to the opening melody. The "breakout" dance before the abrupt finish is a true delight. 

Listen below to "Movement 7: Shall We Fly" to hear how Torres uses melody, the instrumentation, "classic" Afro- Latin rhythms (in this case, the Bambuco rhythm of Colombia), and a structured melody.  The leader's maracas solo is great fun, buzzing like flies around the sound spectrum.  

The album comes to a close with "Strength in Unison", a celebratory piece that draws on the Torres's Colombian roots. The trumpet, saxophone, and piano trade short solos while the rhythm section bounces behind them.  The main melody uses the strings in glorious counterpoint and, yes, unison to pull you up out of your seat and dancing.  

 "A Dance for Birds" is a great success, music that gives one hope and a smile in the midst of our crazy times. When Samuel Torres migrated to the United States, to a professional career that has taken to stages and concert venues around the world, he brought the rhythm and melodies of his native Colombia with him –– the world is so much better for that.  

For more information, go to www.samueltorres.com/. 

Here's "Movement VII: Shall We Fly":

Challenges, Changes, and New Avenues for Expression

 

Photo: Shervin Lainez

In 2021, in the midst of the Pandemic, composer and producer Ryan Truesdell was worried about the future of the Big Band, a genre he has been quite committed to for a long time.  He changed his focus and decided to commission a number of big band composers to write pieces for string quartet.  Truesdell then worked with cellist Jody Redhage Ferber to help him think through the project and to advise on which musicians to invite into the studio to record what turned out to be 17 new pieces for string quartet plus, in several instances, additional instrumentation. He did not give the composers any restrictions but did invite them into the studio to work with the musicians who were interpreting their work.

The results of the experiment can be heard on "Ryan Truesdell Presents: Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions" released through ArtistShare. Besides recording three of of his own string quartet pieces, the producer, who is the Manager of the Bob Brookmeyer Music Estate, used a work that the St. Louis Symphony had commissioned from the late trombonist-composer (1929-2011) but never recorded. Anyone who listens to contemporary Big Band music will recognize Jim McNeely, John Clayon, Christine Jensen, John Hollenbeck, Alan Ferber, Dave Rivello, and, perhaps, Miho Hazama but Truesdell also invited younger composers such as Joseph Borsellino III, Nathan Parker Smith, Vanessa Perica, and Asuka Kakitani. Producer and arranger extraordinaire Oded Lev-Ari debuts a new work as does bassist Rufus Reid, who premieres his "String Quartet #1". 

Photo: Leo Mascaro

How should one approach "Synthesis", a three-CD set containing nearly three hours of music? One obvious answer is with "open ears and an open mind" but that's too easy. You literally have to set aside that these composers, many of whom you've heard in large instrumental ensembles are working with a much different palette. As stated above, there are a few additions to the Quartet; clarinetist Anat Cohen is the main soloist on Truesdell's "Suite for Clarinet and String Quartet", bassist Jay Anderson joins a Quartet on Truesdell's "Heart of Gold", composer Borsellino III uses pre-recorded synth tracks on his "Paper Cranes", and Hollenbeck adds marimba, drums, and piano (not all on the same movements) to different movements of his seven-part "Grey Cottage String Quartets" that closes the album.  The Brookmeyer piece was written for and is performed by a string trio.

Photo: Leo Mascaro

There are pieces that have impressive rhythmic flow (the album opener "Where Can You Be" by Mr. Parker Smith Ms. Hazama's "Chipmunk Timmy's Funny Sunny Day", and Ms. Jensen's "Tilting World") and others that have moments where time is suspended or fractured (the "#1 Movement" of Mr. Reid's "String Quartet #1", Mr. Lev-Ari's "Copycat" movement of "Playground", and Mr. Rivello's "1. "Sorry" section of "Two Reflections for String Quartet". Several of the works jump out on first listening including Mr. McNeely's "Murmuration and Adagio", the leader's lovely "Dança de Quarto" and his four-part "Suite for Clarinet and String Quartet", and Ms. Kakitani's "Melt".

Photo: Dina Regine

This project owes much of its success to the brilliant musicians who interpreted the variety of styles, genres, ideas, and desires of the composers.  Violinist Sara Caswell appears on every track while cellist Redhage Ferber appears on all but two (she's replaced by Noah Hoffeld). The second violin chair features either Joyce Hammann or Lady Jess (who tours with Beyoncé as well as with her husband Jay-Z). Violist Lois Martin performs on the majority of the album save for the three times she is replaced by Orlando Wells.  

Perhaps that's the best way to enter into this glorious project: just listen to the musicians. Throw aside expectations and comparisons. Dive in, test the musical waters – take your time but also make the time to go back and really allow the music to move you out of the everyday and into its special worlds. 

As stated above, "Ryan Truesdell Presents: Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions" is only available through ArtistShare.  Go to www.synthesissqs.com/ for more information. To learn more about Ryan Truesdell, go to https://ryantruesdell.com/.

Here's a little morsel:

This Rock...

How does one use music to teach?  Can a song or song cycle change someone's mind?  Can art persuade a society to move forward?  One imagines this to be a project in futility. Still, many artists over the past six decades have written songs that point to the issues surrounding climate change and here's one new recording that stands out for its creativity, intelligence, and musicality.

Photo: Luke Marantz

Composer, arranger, pianist, and educator Mike Holober has had a fascinating musical career.  Classically trained, he's worked almost extensively with Big Bands.  He's led the Westchester (NY) Jazz Orchestra as well as having worked overseas with the hr-Big Band (Frankfurt, Germany) and the WDR Big Band (Cologne, Germany).  Holober teaches at the City College of New York and the Manhattan School of Music.  On top of all that work, he's an active outdoorsman whether it be leading canoe trips or climbing mountains. He is the leader of a Quintet, of the octet Balancing Act, and co-leads a group with trumpeter Marvin Stamm. Holober also leads The Gotham Jazz Orchestra, a large ensemble he assembled two decades ago to perform large-scale works and whose influences are many and varied.  It's that group that takes center stage on the composer's latest adventure, one that blends his love of sonic and stylistic possibilities with his love and concern for the outdoors to new heights (pun somewhat intended). It's also a way for him to add his voice to the growing of people in the US and abroad who are concerned with climate change.

"This Rock We're On: Imaginary Letters" (Palmetto Records) is an often dazzling, mesmerizing, and highly inventive two-CD collection of songs influenced by the lifework of six people who have shown us the beauty of the natural world as well have warned us of the damage that human beings can create through overuse, through destruction, and neglect.  Not only has Mike Holober composed and arranged the music, he has also composed letters in the mindsets of Rachel Carson, Wendell Berry, Sigurd Olson, as well as Castleton Tower in Utah to Terry Tempest Williams, from a tree to Robin Wall Kimmerer, and from a child to the world.  Holober also sets to music a poem from Ansel Adams to his wife Virginia Best Adams – the tenor solo on "Dear Virginia" is played by Virginia Mayhew, the Adams' granddaughter!

Photo: Luke Marantz

Seven of the 17 tracks feature vocals, the vast majority by Brazilian born Jamile Staevie Ayres who first recorded with Holober on his 2021 Sunnyside album "Don't Let Go" featuring his Balancing Act octet.  The blend of her husky tones with the cello of Jody Redhage-Ferber on "Refuge" is quite lovely. Throughout the album, the words pull the listener into the musical multiverse the composer creates. On "Another Summer", Ms. Ayres sings in the voice of Rachel Carson to her closest friend Dorothy Freeman. Two tracks later is "Another Summer Epilogue" which is the imaginary response of Ms. Freeman. Both pieces are truly love letters to each other and the support Ms. Carson felt from her closest friend.  The music Holober creates for these pieces have a classical feel strengthened by the counterpoint and responses of the cello.

There are plenty of powerful musical moments throughout the album.  Chris Potter opens the album with an adventurous tenor sax solo on "Lay of the Land". I mentioned above Ms. Mayhew's work on "Dear Virginia" – the piece features her in an intimate conversation with trumpeter Marvin Stamm and pianist Holober.  The splendid arrangement on the high-powered "Domes" (for Ansel Adams) suggests the influence of Bob Brookmeyer and features the powerful drumming of Jared Schonig, the smart vibes backing of James Shipp, snaky guitar lines from Nir Felder, and great solos from Ben Kono (alto sax) and Scott Wendholdt (trumpet). "Skywoman Falling" (for Robin Wall Kimmerer) opens with Ms. Redhage-Ferber's richly sonorous cello solo before opening into a medium tempo (inspired by Ms. Kimmerer's Native American heritage). As the piece moves forward, there are lovely moments of section playing plus fine solos from Stamm (flugelhorn) and Charles Pillow (alto flute). Note also the background wordless vocals from Ms. Ayres and James Shipp.

The album with the title song.  The lyrics are first sung by Ronan Rigby, tenor saxophonist Jason Rigby's eight year-old son and then is passed on to James Shipp. After a short solo by Carl Maraghi (baritone sax), Ms. Ayres takes over the vocal with guitarist Felder responding beneath her. The tempo slows, young Mr. Rigby returns to sing the song title only and then his father's tenor sax flutters atop the Orchestra and the story comes to a close.

While the message in the lyrics is loud and clear, take your time to absorb the music that Mike Holober has created for the Gotham Jazz Orchestra. Also take the time to read Terry Tempest Williams' "real" letter in the album booklet. Swirl the words and music around in your senses, let the rhythms pull you along and the solos take you away. Do listen and perhaps you'll understand what needs to done for the survival of what the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft called the "Blue Marble".

For more information, go to www.mikeholober.com. To hear more and purchase the album, go to https://mikeholober.bandcamp.com/album/this-rock-were-on-imaginary-letters.

Here's "Tower Pulse" with solos by Chris Potter (tenor sax) and Nir Felder (guitar):

PERSONNEL
Mike Holober - composer, lyricist, piano, Fender Rhodes
Jamile Staevie Ayres - voice
Jody Redhage Ferber – cello
Ronan Rigby – child voice on This Rock We’re On

Saxophones/Woodwinds
Charles Pillow - alto, soprano, flute, alto flute, bass flute, clarinet
Ben Kono - alto, soprano, flute, alto flute, clarinet (flute on Three Words for Snow)
Jason Rigby - tenor, soprano, flute, clarinet
Adam Kolker - tenor, soprano, flute, clarinet
Chris Potter - tenor, clarinet (Lay of the Land, Tower Pulse)
Virginia Mayhew - tenor (Dear Virginia, Dirt Lover’s Almanac)
Carl Maraghi - baritone, bass clarinet

Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Tony Kadleck
Liesl Whitaker
Marvin Stamm
Scott Wendholt
Stuart Mack (Skywoman Falling, Tower Pulse)

Trombones
Matt McDonald
Mark Patterson
Alan Ferber (Erosion, Domes, Boundary Waters)
Jason Jackson (Tides, Dirt Lover’s Almanac, Skywoman Falling)
Sara Jacovino (Lay of the Land, Tower Pulse, This Rock We’re On)
Jeff Nelson - bass trombone

Rhythm Section
Nir Felder - guitar
John Patitucci - bass, electric bass
Jared Schonig - drums
James Shipp - vibraphone, percussion, synth, voice

Potpourri

Much has befallen (emphasis on "fall') since the previous post. Now I have two fractures to heal! Still listening to plenty of music but writing is slow and cumbersome. Here's a sampling of what I was working on between the two accidents.

Unless you have paid no attention to Black American Music over the past decade-plus, the name Luke Stewart should be quite familiar. The bassist has worked with David Murray, Wadada Leo Smith, Nicole Mitchell, the late Jaimie Branch, Marshall Allen, and so many more.  He leads several different ensembles including the Exposure Quartet, Heart of the Ghost, and the Remembrance Quintet as well as co-leading Irreversible Entanglements.  He also leads Silt Trio, an ensemble featuring tenor saxophonist Brian Settles, and drummers Trae Crudup or Chad Taylor. The Trio's 2020 debut, the self-released "No Trespassing" did not carry the Silt Trio monicker, has Crudup on drums, and sounds like a totally improvised set. 2022's Cuneiform release,  "The Bottom", features Taylor and showsw three voices working as one, not beholden to any one style and also displaying Stewart's ear for melody – the songs are not "blowing tunes" but composition and free improvisation often reside in the same pieces.

Silt Trio's new recording "Unknown River" (Pi Recordings) is made up of four tracks recorded in Tempo House studios in Baltimore, MD, and three recorded live in Trinosophes, a cafe/ performance space in Detroit, MI. The studio tracks open the album with Crudup in the drum chair (he's also worked with saxophonist James Brandon Lewis). Listen below to "Seek Whence", the opening track – the bass and drums lay down a "tight" groove and the underappreciated Settles delivers the melody then creates a solo that is his response to both that melody and the rhythmic drive.  "Baba Doo Way" follows and it's easy to see where the tune got its title.  Doesn't take long for the Trio to move up and away from the melody into a frenetic, at times, improvisation that shows how deeply they listen to each other plus the strength of the bass lines to allow Crudup to explore poly-rhythmic pathways.

Photo: Luciano Rossetti

The three live tracks open with "Amilcar" and Taylor announces his presence from the get-go with the powerful solo that introduces the track. Two minutes in, Stewart joins in, his powerful bass work introducing Settles and a thunderous solo, arguably his most exciting and impressive of the album. Stewart taes the peace to its finish with a throbbing solo which leads into the nearly 13-minute opus "Dudu".  The bowed bass, the steady beat, and Settles playing slow melody lines creates a drone. Three minutes in and there's a shift in dynamics, the tempo picks up, the tenor and bass lines flutter and skitter around each other as the drums sit out.  As Settles and Stewart continue their improvisatory dance, Taylor returns and the intensity begins to climb. Soon, the three musicians are firing on all cylinders withg Settles riding the rhythmic headwinds created by the bass and drums.

"Unknown Rivers" may refer to the numerous underground water sources that fill our lakes, bays, reservoirs, and oceans or, more to the point, to the rivers of music that course through the musicians bodies as they are creating in real time.  Luke Stewart Silt Trio creates fascinating music on this, their third album, and one imagines they must thrive in the concert/ club setting. If you're a fan of saxophone trio music, this album ranks up there with Sonny Rollins' "Freedom Suite", with Air's "Air Time", and Matana Roberts, Josh Abrams, & Chad Taylor's "Sticks and Stones", arguably my favorites. 

For more information and to purchase the album, go to https://lukestewart.bandcamp.com/album/unknown-rivers. 

Here's the opening track:

There's a delightful new recording from percussionist-composer Samuel Torres. Titled "A Dance for Birds",  Torres has created a nine-movement suite of music for the Latin Chamber Ensemble that features the members of his Sextet plus the Bergamot String Quartet.  

Here's the video for "The Song" with graphics created by Colombian visual artist Diego Pombo:

Ernesto Cervini is one busy person, leading several ensembles, playing as a sideman, running his publicity company, touring, and helping to raise a young family.  One of his ensembles is the sextet Turboprop and their new recording is, arguably, its best.  "A Canadian Songbook" (TPR Records) is a seven-song program featuring two interpretations of two Canadian "pop" songs, two Cervini originals, one from Turboprop trombonist William Carn, and one each from friends Allison Au and James Hill. 

Here's the group's take on The Barenaked Ladies "When I Fall":

Turboprop is:

Tara Davidson - Alto Saxophone
Joel Frahm - Tenor Saxophone
William Carn - Trombone
Adrean Farrugia - Piano
Dan Loomis - Bass
Ernesto Cervini - Drums