Catching Up to 2020 (Still Trying)

Photo: J. Rerych

 Pianist/ composer Marc Copland was a good friend of and collaborator with guitarist John Abercrombie (1944-2017) for nearly five decades.  Copland, who started his professional career as a saxophonist, first recorded with Abercrombie in 1972 (an album issued in 1973 titled "Friends" released by Oblivion Records).  Copland was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, moved to New York City to attend Columbia University and got involved in the music scene. After the release of the album, Copland decided to switch to piano, moving to Washington, D.C. where he worked with many great musicians at the various clubs in the area. He released his first album as a leader in 1988 and has since with many great artists including Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian, Drew Gress, and, of course, John Abercrombie –– in fact, the pianist appeared on the guitarist's final two albums for ECM, 2013's "39 Steps" and 2017's "Up and Coming".  

Copland's latest release, "John" (Illusions/ Mirage), is a solo tribute to his friend and also serves to pay tribute to what a fine composer Abercrombie was over his career.  In fact, the nine songs come from a wide swath of the composer's oeuvre. Opening with "Timeless", the title track of Abercrombie's 1975 debut on ECM Records.  It's a beautiful ballad (listen below) whose descending chord pattern has such a wistful feel. Here, Copland creates a Erik Satie-like opening with floating chords that set the listener up for the body of the tune.  The touch of dissonance during the last 90 seconds feels as if we are waving goodbye to the composer before moving into the quiet final few seconds.  The following track, "Isla", comes from Abercrombie's 1982 collaboration with Ralph Towner ("Five Years Later") –– the music has a determined feel as it pushes forward but slows down on occasion as if to take stock of the musical situation.  

Three of the tracks come from the two ECM albums that the pianist appeared on.  "Flip Side" possesses a gentle swing and a sweet melody that, on occasion, Copland adds a breezy bounce to.  "Sunday School", like the previous track, was first recorded on "Up and Coming"; the pianist works within the tune's solid structure, imbuing the melody and his solo with the feeling of floating.  "Vertigo", from 2013's "39 Steps", closes the program with the melody first moving around a continuous note in the lower register but soon takes off and you hear the poetry in the phrases and the different shades of colors in the piano solo.  

Photo: Francesco Prandoni

"Love Letter" is an Abercrombie composition that the guitarist played many times in concert but never recorded.  Copland recorded the piece with his trio (bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron) in 2017 and released on 2019's "And I Love Her."  Here, the music opens in a state of wonder the moves into the handsome melody.  Copland blends chordal phrases with single-note runs, his left hand as active as the right yet the music is not cluttered.  There's a generosity to this performance, to creating moods of wonder and adventure, of happiness and peace.   

"John" does great honor to the music of John Abercrombie and to the many memories that Marc Copland made playing alongside and traveling with the guitarist.  Wistful but neither maudlin or sad, the album celebrates music and friendship –– sit down and let the music flow through you!

For more information, go to innervoicejazz.com/artists/marc-copland/.  To listen to more and to purchase the album, go to. https://marccoplandjazz.bandcamp.com/album/john. 

Here's Mr. Abercrombie's classic "Timeless":

Photo: Jessica Carlton-Thomas

Kevin Sun, tenor saxophonist, composer, and writer, produced one of 2019's most impressive albums, "The Sustain of Memory."  The music covered a lot of territory over the course of the 2-CDs, 21-song, program.  His followup endeavor, "(Un)seaworthy" (Endectomorph Music), seems modest in comparison: five songs in just over 35 minutes.  Don't be fooled by the album's brevity as there is a lot of music packed into the program.  Featuring his "working" trio of Walter Stinson (bass) and Matt Honor (drums), Sun's material gives both the musicians and the listener much to chew.   

Recorded in Brooklyn, NY, right after the trio returned from a residency in Beijing, China, the musicians dig into the music and create an adventurous program that blends blues, mainstream jazz, delightful solos, and even more delightful interactions.  Listen to how the trio travels through the opening minutes of the first track, "Bad Lady" –– they all play the melody before the bass drops into a two-note patterns and Honor dances around the cymbals as Sun digs into his solo.  As the music moves forward, the foundation expands and Sun joins Honor is quite a dialogue.  "Seaworthy (Unseaworthy)" reminds this listener of the interactions of Henry Threadgill with Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall (in the trio Air). Hear in how Sun moves the melody line over the rhythm section then moves in sync with them. The  tenor sound has hints of Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter without imitation.  

Photo: Clara Periera

While it would be fun to describe every track, the avid listener is encouraged to discover the music on his/ her own.  One can really hear the musicians fully involved with the material and "conversing" with each other.  Each one of Sun's compositions is written with these musicians in his mind's ears.  The trio had time to play with these pieces before recording and it shows. There's no clutter, no wasted moments, just exciting forward motion, excellent solos, and the joy of "living" music.  There is nothing unseaworthy, unsafe, or dangerous about "(Un)seaworthy" –– this is a journey worth taking many times as there is so much to hear!

For more information, go to www.thekevinsun.com.  To hear more of the music and to purchase the album, go to https://thekevinsun.bandcamp.com/album/un-seaworthy.  

Listen below:

Thanksgiving Musing + Endectomorph Music: Part 1 - Kevin Sun + Earprint

I have to admit that the current state of American politics is dizzying; accusations of "lies", "human scum", and worse pass from the lips of politicians and their followers each and every day. It seems so melodramatic and would be quite silly – in the fashion of a Three Stooges short film – if peoples lives weren't being held in the balance. Empathy is gone; hail the gods of "fake news"!  "Spin" doctors have been a way of life for time immemorial yet seem to be ubiquitous today, "he said – she said" taken to the nth degree.

Still, time to take stock.  Election season is upon us, a season that won't come to its conclusion until three weeks and two days before next Thanksgiving.  How does live through the next year? I will read my share of articles from all sides of the political spectrum – I do have my own leanings but I need to know what other people in the United States and elsewhere think about the issues that affect us the most.  An informed electorate is what we should be: not just the "educated" class but everyone. Not easy. People do not like to think; they react to the voice or face or opinions that most appeal to them and act on that. Or don't. In the 2016 Presidential election, 61.4% of the electorate voted, up from 2012's 58.7% and  below the benchmark set in 2008 of 64.6%.  Less than two out of every three possible overs ventured to the polls or cast absentee ballots.  With all the freedoms one has in the United States, the freedom "not" to vote is just as important.

My fallback has always been music. In the Sumer of 1968 as the United States was reeling from assassinations, the violence at the Democratic Convention, and the ongoing escalation of the War in Vietnam, it was the music that helped me through Through recessions, the loss of parents and close friends, the birth of children and grandchildren, music has been my constant guide and companion. My best friend, my wife, tolerates that relationship and has done so for five decades. Music is so much a part of who I am.

Thanks for reading – I hope you have a warm and enjoyable Thanksgiving plus a contemplative Holiday Season.

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There is not a lot of biographical information online about saxophonist-composer Kevin Sun's early years (other than he was born in New Jersey) but one can find out he's been involved with contemporary music as a blogger ("The Horizontal Search",  since 2012), formed a trio (since 2016) and a quintet.  He has been the editor of The Jazz Gallery's in-house blog "Jazz Speaks" and, since 2018, the Artistic Director of the Blue Note Beijing Jazz Orchestra. While at Harvard, Sun served as a teaching assistant to Vijay Iyer and also helps musicians by offering grant-writing services. He's also a founding member of the creative collectives Great on Paper, Mute, and Earprint (see review below) plus the founder of Endectomorph Music, the home for the majority of his recordings as a leader or co-leader.

His new recording, a two-cd set titled "The Sustain of Memory", is a fascinating swerve in direction.  The program is composed of three multi-sectioned original works, one each for trio, quartet, and quintet. The album opens with the six-part "The Middle of Tensions", a 36+ minute work for the quartet of Sun (tenor saxophone), Dana Saul (piano), Walter Stinson (bass), and Matt Honor (drums).  The sections illustrate the musicians versatilities,  with rhapsodic piano flourishes, strong melodic work from the saxophone, and an "open" feel from the rhythm section. Every person solos at one point or another plus the presence of the chordal instrument helps define the various structures. Stinson is a powerful soloist while Honor has great artistic sensibilities, especially with his use of cymbals as color.  Saul's piano work verges on the introspective tending more towards poetical phrases than powerful percussive runs. Sun created this music to have many possibilities, not as a solo vehicle for his saxophone.  Therefore, every member of the quartet has multiple roles throughout.

Photo: Jessica Carlton Thomas

"Circle, Line", a 12-part and 29+ minute suite, features Sun's trio of Stinson and Honor. In essence, it's a musical haiku with the shortest tracks at under two minutes, the two longest at over three, and the rest in the middle.  There are several moments that may remind listeners of the music created by Henry Threadgill, Fred Hopkins, and Steve McCall (the trio Air) – like the best trio music, the pieces are conversations, a push-pull of melody and percussive tension with Stinson serving as "foundation", counterpoint, and soloist.  Each setting the saxophonist creates, each "voice" he writes and plays, makes the music stand out again not for his solo work but for the interplay and "collective" sound. Still, both Stinson and Honor get solo sections ("IV" for bass with drums, "VIII" just for bass, and "X" plus "XI" for drums); "XII" closes the suite with just Sun and his tenor.

The third suite takes up all of CD II.  At 48+ minutes and in three distinct sections, "The Rigors of Love" covers even more musical territory than the other suites. Sun plays both tenor sax and clarinet, the second "voice" is trumpeter Adam O'Farrill (pictured above left), Dana Saul on piano, with the rhythm section of Simón Willson (bass, a member of Earprint) and Dayeon Seok (drums). There is one element that you hear on each suite; Sun writes a melody built off a stop-start melody and rhythmic structure, choosing to move away from that into short solos and then back.  Here, that technique shows up in section "II" and, because the piece is longer than any of the other instances, the soloists get to stretch out. The pianist goes first and romps through several choruses – the front line interjects in the middle and Saul plays over them before taking off on an even more power-filled tangent. Halfway through the 13-minutes, he cedes the solo space to a conversation between the tenor sax and trumpet.  Underneath, the rhythm section states the "theme" while Sun and O'Farrill continue to spar, come together, and break apart. Soon, the pace slows down, Sun returns to clarinet, O'Farrill to muted trumpet, Saul playing flourishes in the background and the rhythm section sitting out.  Soon, the rhythm section reenters to give the music foundation before a quick trumpet-clarinet rondo brings the section to a close. The final section is nearly 26 minutes in duration with  plenty of group interactions, tempo and mood changes, plus solos from every musician with kudos to the bright attack of the trumpeter and Ms. Seok's poly-rhythmic attack (and short, delightful, solo). The piece closes with unaccompanied music-box tinkling piano.

Kevin Sun displays his compositional and arranging maturity throughout "The Sustain of Memory" – his instrumental voice remains strong and true plus he makes sure to leave room for the others voices in the featured ensembles to come through loud and clear.  This recording is an excellent musical adventure that is worth exploring over and over.

For more information, go to www.thekevinsun.com.

Here's one of the tracks (the full album can be purchased through the Bandcamp website):

Photo: Jonas Tarm

Earprint, in existence since 2016, is composed of four friends who met while attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA.  Composed of Kevin Sun (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Tree Palmedo (trumpet), Dor Herskovits (drums), and Simón Willson (bass), the quartet released its delightful self-titled debut (my review is here) mere months after the group was formed. Each member composes and they play with a joy that is hard to ignore – why would you want to ignore such timeless sounds?

Yes, the setup is like that of Ornette Coleman's classic Atlantic Records quartet.  Just as that ensemble used blues and bebop as its initial influence, one can hear the influences of blues, hip hop and composers such as Julius Hemphill, Steve Coleman, and Dave Holland in Earprint's root sounds. "Easy Listening" (Endectomorph Music) shows the band in good form, using the lessons learned from its earlier album and the subsequent live dates to create an impressive 11-song program. Each musical voice is distinctive, from the clear-toned trumpet to the angular and sometimes raucous tenor sax to the melodic bass work and delightful percussion.

Photo: Jonas Tarm

Note how composer Palmedo uses unison melody and counterpoint for the theme on the album opener "Sink Song."  Listen to the subtle change of the rhythm section under Sun's solo.  That's followed by a delightful drummer solo over bass ostinato before heading back to the main theme (with some subtle changes there as well). Willson's "Volume" follows with contributions from all including strong drummer and soloists interactions. Just from the first two tracks, you can hear that this is a band that follows no trend other than making good music to listen to.

And, music to groove to as well.  Herskovits lays down a wicked beat on Palmedo's "Hey Wanna Dance." The drummer does the same on his own piece "Big Bear" – Both the tenor sax and trumpeter push the tempo during their solos and, of course, Herskovits responds in kind during his own spot at the end of the track.  The drummer sets an on again-off again pace over the bass obstinate on Sun's "Silo", carrying on a musical conversation with Palmedo (muted trumpet) while Willson does his own dance moves beneath them.  The composer uses his clarinet for color but not to solo.

The album closes with two more fascinating tracks.  First is the title cut; composed by the bassist, the piece dances along on a funky beat  with a melody line reminiscent of the sound of the Daniel Bennett Group.  The drummer's "Tú" (my downloaded version titled the track "Trump University"!) is the final track, filled with sing-song melody line, the occasional discordant note and chords, tempo changes, and no overt reference to the now defunct educational institution that may have been the piece's original monicker.  Nevertheless, it's a fun way to close a delightful album.

"Easy Listening", as the title of this album, may lead you to expect much different music than what Earprint produces.  There is nothing "easy" about this program but there is a lot good about it.  If you enjoy music that challenges you to be less complacent, pokes you in the ribs, and makes you smile, acquiring "Easy Listening" is a must!

For more information, go to www.endectomorph.com/earprint.

Here's the opening track (from the group's Bandcamp where you can also purchase the entire album):

Two Masters at Play, One Trio Exploring

Recorded at the 2016 Jazz & Wine Festival Bordeaux, "Masters of Bordeaux" (Sunnyside Records) finds pianist Martial Solal in a set of duo conversations with saxophonist (soprano and tenor) Dave Liebman. The two did not play together until the tour that accompanied the appearance at this Festival but they sound like old friends as they move through the program, six recognizable standards that the duo make sound fresh.  Solal, 19 days short of his 89th birthday, and Liebman, one month shy of his 70th, do what one hopes masters will do; that is, the music they create keeps the listener glued to his/her seat wondering where the pieces will go next.

photo by Jean-Baptiste Millot

Opening with "All The Things You Are", the duo, with Liebman on expressive soprano sax, dance their way through the Jerome Kern/ Oscar Hammerstein II classic. Liebman switches to tenor for their exploration of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" yet, after his excellent solo, Solal's far-ranging solo stands out for its inventive is of melody and shifting rhythms.  Back to soprano for Miles Davis's "Solar", the duo dance through the melody while the solos will make smile, even gasp at times, at the melodic and harmonic leaps both musicians take.

Honestly, there's not a weak moment on this recording. Both Martial Solal and Dave Liebman are on top of their game, taking chances because of their mutual trust and love for improvisation yet never ignoring the songs.  "Masters of Bordeaux" is an apt title for these two musicians are truly masters of music and, in the parlance of the best red wines from the region in which this concert took place , are "Premier Cru Classe."

For more information, go to www.sunnysiderecords.com/release_detail.php?releaseID=896.

Give a listen to one of the fine collaborations:

Kevin Sun may be recognizable from his work with the quartets Great on Paper (cd review here) or Earprint (reviewed here) or his byline as a transcriber of several of Ethan Iverson's interviews. The Harvard/New England Conservatory graduate (he was the first to complete the schools' combined 5-year degree program) studied composition with Miguel Zenón and John Hollenbeck and has written on his blog ("A Horizontal Search")  an understanding of both the history and forward motion in jazz. "Trio | Kevin Sun" (Endectomorph Music) is his debut recording as a leader. Like the best saxophone trio recordings (Sonny Rollins's "Way Out West" and "Freedom Suite", Joe Henderson's "The State of the Tenor Vols. 1 & 2", Bernie McGann's "Bundeena"), this music works because it is a collaboration of Sun (tenor saxophone, c-melody saxophone, clarinet) with the impressive rhythm section of bassist Walter Stinson (Adam O'Farrill Quartet) and drummer Matt Honor (Cowboys & Frenchmen, Cat Toren).

photo by Jessica Carlton-Thomas

"Trio" contains a lot of music (72 minutes), is composed of most original works (11 Sun tunes, one standard, and two group pieces), and goes in myriad directions.  Opening with "Tranaccidentation", one immediately hears how the three musicians listen closely to each other, how Sun does not force the action and has a subtle, softer,  tone on tenor sax.  In fact, it's Stinson and Honor who push the piece forward in the manner of bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall of Trio Air.  Sun moves to clarinet on the next track "Loading Screen", the angular melody paired with the clanging percussion and bass counterpoint.  The C-melody saxophone shows up twice, first in the mysterious group piece "One Never Knows Now" (Stinson's impressive bowing underpinning the improvisations) and then on the standard "All of Me" - Sun's softer approach on the saxophone leans more towards Lester Young yet the brisk tempo and his delightful solo has a good dollop of Sonny Rollins in it.

photo by Jessica Carlton-Thomas

Several pieces contain great power. "Announcements" is a frisky romp that drives for the entire 2:13 while "Misanthrope" has a "heavy metal" feel at the open, Nirvana-like with bleating saxophone and crushing drums.  "Air Purifier", at nearly 12 minutes, is the longest track and goes through a number of changes in tempo and dynamics, with Sun moving from clarinet to tenor after the opening section.  There's a powerful bass and drum conversation before the piece slows again; Sun goes back to clarinet, plays a somber melody, and the bassist takes the lead. The somber tone lasts through the close of the piece.

There is so much to explore on "Trio | Kevin Sun" and I know hard it can be sitting through a long program.  But this music is worth the time and effort.  The compositions are adventurous, the skill, effort, and ideas of the musicians stand out, and one wishes to be in the audience when they explore these pieces.  Go to thekevinsun.com/p/upcoming.html to find out when this Trio is playing near you - this is "alive" music and should be seen and heard.

Here's a taste of the Trio: