Summertime Hues (Part 1)

Life has been busy around this reviewer's household and different communities but that does not stop (thankfully) the new releases coming through the mail or the ether.  This column starts a series of shorter reviews of recordings that arrived over the past few months.

Saxophonist, composer, and arranger Quinsin Nachoff is no stranger to utilizing strings in his compositions and performances––in fact, his 2006 debut "Magic Numbers" (Songlines) featured his quartet paired with a string quartet. Violinist Nathalie Bonin played on that project as well as on 2008's "Horizons Ensemble" so she asked her fellow Canadian (she's from Montreal while Nachoff is from Toronto) to write her a concerto.  It took the composer a number of years but the piece was first workshopped in 2014 and then recorded in 2018.  Nachoff decided to collect his classical or classically-inspired works on one album. The results, three different pieces, can be heard on "Pivotal Arc", released this month (August 2020) on Whirlwind Recordings.

The "Violin Concerto" is in three parts, nearly 46 minutes long and features all the musicians listed below save for the composer. Very much in the traditional form but quite non-traditional orchestration, the music features Ms. Bonin's striking and powerful playing throughout but one cannot ignore the work of the Molinari String Quartet as well as the rhythm section of Michael Davidson (vibraphone), Mark Helias (bass), and Satoshi Takeishi (drums, percussion) plus the colorful reeds and brass (kudos to bass trombonist Bob Ellis for his strong low tones).  In his research, the composer paid close attention to a number of 20th Century composers, among them Alban Berg, Igor Stravinsky, Kurt Weill, and others but one also hears folk, jazz, and African elements in the rhythms.

Photo: Evan Shay

The 16+ minute "String Quartet" was commissioned by and is performed by the Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based Molinari Quartet. This music is brash like the Concerto but with even more allusions to the experimentation of 20th Century classical composers.  Through-composed, there are moments in each of the movements that feel "free', as if the musicians were "cueing" each other to make quick shifts in intensity.

The 15-minute title track closes the album opening with a powerful bowed bass solo from Helias.  Ms. Bonin plays the first theme, joined first by the string and then the composer on tenor saxophone.  Various voices move in and out but pay close attention to impressive and, at times, playful percussion of Takeishi.  The brashness of the earlier pieces is replaced by an airiness, a sense of swing instead of flow: listen to the sections float around above the tenor solo and how, as the intensity picks up, for just an instance, so does the tempo.  Ms. Bonin returns closer to the end, the storminess of the middle section is not replaced by a lengthy melody shared by several instruments until the bowed bass returns to take the piece to its gentle conclusion.

As an album, "Pivotal Arc" serves to show the world the versatility and maturity of the composer Quinsin Nachoff.  Listeners might prefer to listen to the "Violin Concerto" in its entirety then come back at a later time to listen to the "String Quartet" and the title track.  There's a lot happening in this music and you really want to pay close attention to hear the richness of the melodies, the excellent musicianship, and the powerful work of violinist Nathalie Bonin. One of this year's more fascinating releases, "Pivotal Arc" is worth your time.

For more information, go to www.quinsin.com.  To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://quinsinnachoff.bandcamp.com.

Here's the "Second Movement" of composer Nachoff's "Violin Concerto", Natalie Bonin, violin soloist:



Personnel:

Nathalie Bonin - violin soloist 

Molinari String Quartet: 
Olga Ranzenhofer - violin I 
Antoine Bareil - violin II 
Frédéric Lambert - viola 
Pierre - Alain Bouvrette - cello 

Quinsin Nachoff - tenor saxophone, composer 

JC Sanford - conductor  
Michael Davidson - vibraphone 
Mark Helias - bass 
Satoshi Takeishi - drums, percussion 
Jean-Pierre Zanella - piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano sax 
Yvan Belleau - clarinet, tenor saxophone 
Brent Besner - bass clarinet 
Jocelyn Couture - trumpet I 
Bill Mahar - trumpet II 
David Grott - trombone 
Bob Ellis - bass trombone 

Photo: Brian Cohen

Bassist and composer Michael Formanek has been in ears of creative music listeners for nearly five decades. He first came to critical attention when he joined drummer Tony Williams's ensemble and has gone on to play with Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Fred Hersch, Jane Ira Bloom, Marty Ehrlich, Harold Danko, Tim Berne, and a host of others. Currently, he is one/third of the cooperative trio Thumbscrew with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. He's recorded for ENJA Records, Screwgun, Intakt Records, and ECM, the label that issued "The Distance" by his amazing Ensemble Kolossus. His latest release is the third in a trio of albums that bassist Adam Hopkins issued in July and August of this year on his Out of Your Head Records label. All of the albums (the others include bassist Nick Dunston in a quintet setting and saxophonist Anna Webber's Quartet) were recorded live under less-than-ideal conditions or "Untamed" as the label has written on each release).

Formanek's contribution is "Pre-Apocalyptic": recorded in 2014 (but the artist is not sure where), the music, all tracks composed by the bassist, features Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Craig Taborn (piano), and Gerald Cleaver (drums), the same group that recorded his first two albums for ECM in 2010 and 2012––in fact, five of the seven songs come those albums, one from Ensemble Kolossus, and one newer work.  This quartet lives and breathes the music with the ability to stop and start without a dropped note, play complicated melody lines, and all solo with creativity.  Because the four musicians had worked together so often by the time of this gig, their familiarity with the music gives them license to push it forward.  And they do!

The album opens with "Pong", a melody built of repeated three-note phrases which shift in to a circular five-note phrase.  Then Berne and Taborn take off soloing in and around each other, both building off the intensity of Formanek and Cleaver. The bassist leads off the expansive (14:07) "Rising Tensions and Awesome Lights" with a long solo, melodic and percussive, before dropping into a walking bass line while the saxophone and piano work through the melody.  Taborn's wide-ranging powerful, and exciting solo leads into Berne's exploratory jaunt supported by throbbing bass hand-held percussion.  The other 14-minute track, "Intro and Real Action", starts quietly before Cleaver takes over for a lengthy solo that builds in intensity but drops back into a quiet mode for Berne to begin his statement.  There's a bluesy feel in many of his short phrases but he soon begins to interact with the other musicians, making the music louder. Yet, the music never boils over.  This Quartet may have been the first of Formanek's groups to perform "The Distance"––it's such a lovely ballad with an excellent solo from Berne, strong counterpoint from the composer, and excellent colors created by the pianist and drummer.

"Pre-Apocalyptic" overcomes its supposed "lo-fi" beginnings, hence a tip of the hat to mixing and mastering engineer Nathaniel Morgan for making this music sound so alive.  Michael Formanek has always been an impressive musician plus he is also one of the better composers in Creative American Music.  At times noisy, at others subtle, this album documents a quartet at the height of its power. Let these sounds move you!

For more information about the bassist, go to www.amibotheringyou.com. To listen to more songs and purchase the recording ($1.00 of every sale goes to Black Lives Matter), go to https://outofyourheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pre-apocalyptic.

Here's a lengthy piece from the album:

O, The Adventures You'll Hear & Share

Canadian born saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff has a new double album about to be released in February (2/08) and it's a stunning collection of pieces that run the gamut from free jazz to experimental interactions and beyond.  "Path of Totality" Whirlwind Recordings) features his group Flux, a quartet-quintet that has the tenor and soprano saxophonist in the company of David Binney (alto saxophone, C-Melody saxophone), Matt Mitchell (piano, Prophet 6, modular synth, Novachord, harpsichord, Estey pump harmonium), Kenny Wollesen (drums, Wollesonic percussion on cuts 1, 3, 4, and 6), and Nate Wood (drums on cuts 1, 2, 5, and 6) and, my goodness, do they create a sound! Of the six tracks, two are over 19 minutes long, one at 14, one at 13, one at 8:10, and one at 6:36. Each track is different, four have added musicians, and the overall effect is surprising as well as fascinating.

There is a part of me that wants to illuminate each track for you while, in reality, you just need to find this album, turn it up loud, and dive in.  The project was inspired by a total solar eclipse that took a path from the Northwestern part of the United States across the lower Midwest and into the Southern states. Nachoff, the composer, related the experience to his music, opening his compositions up to different tonalities and ideas that sprang from experiments with melodies, harmonies, and rhythms he had not worked with before.  It certainly helps that Flux is such a talented ensemble, that Mitchell can make any keyboard he touches sound unique.  The use of electronics is both subtle and powerful, the addition of a five-man reed and brass section on "March Macabre" creates a huge sound (plus there's also a tap dancer), and the brilliant interaction of Nachoff, Mitchell, Binney, Wollensen, and multi-percussionist Mark Duggan (marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, crotales, and Tibertan singing bowls) on "Toy Piano Meditation" creates a mini-Gamelan orchestra that obliterates then rearranges your sense of time.

The more I listen, the more I believe this sonic adventure is a form of alchemy, a magical science beyond explanation.  Both drummers capture your attention by how they not only color the surroundings  but push the music forward.  The sound of Binney and Nachoff together will make you listen as they blend their voices as well as stand out individually.  Mitchell shines every time he makes a recording, either on his own or in support of someone else's visions. He can disappear into the ensemble to fill the bottom layer of sound, he can stand out as a soloist, and he puts an indelible touch on every track

"Paths of Totality" contains so much music you'll need to listen numerous times before you begin to hear all that is going on.  Don't be shy as this music will challenge you from note one until the powerful final track, "Orbital Resonances", fades slowly away on the pounding percussion of both Wollenson and Wood.  What a treat - Quinsin Nachoff continues to mature as a composer, musician, and arranger and we are the lucky beneficiaries.

For more information and to watch a series of videos that goes with the music on the album, go to www.quinsin.com.

Here's the exciting title track:

For her third album as a leader, "Wander Wonder" (self-released),  alto saxophonist and composer Allison Au opens the program with a delicious curve ball. The sounds of producer Todd Pentney's Prophet Rev2 synthesizer washes over the Quartet not unlike the synthesized sounds that dominated several of Wayne Shorter's CBS albums in the mid-1980s ("Phantom Navigator" and "Atlantis" in particular).  The rest of the program uses the synth sparingly but the sense of experimentation heard at the top of the album, which one can hear on the other albums Ms. Au has made, is heard throughout.  With the splendid rhythm section of Jon Maharaj (acoustic and electric bass) and Fabio Ragnelli (drums), the music flows forward. Maharaj is a wonderfully melodic bassist whose counterpoint to Pentney's left hand shines on several of the tracks - that counterpoint can be heard during a number of the saxophone solos as well.

Take the time to roll with the music, to follow the dancing alto sax solos that, at times, remind this listener of a bird in flight. Listen to the dancing interactions of "Red Herring" as Ms. Au interacts with Ragnelli while the synth strings color the background.  Her alto sax flies easily to the higher registers on "Looking Up" as Maharaj and Ragnelli dance joyously beneath her.  Dig Marahaj's thick electric bass lines on "The Rest Is Up To You" and the funk passages the rhythm section falls into under the alto theme. During Ms. Au's delightful solo, the rhythm section kicks with glee (also, notice how Pentney rises out int his solo while Ragnelli gives him a martial beat to move in and around.

Really, what I like most about "Wander Wonder" is how this quartet interacts intuitively, how important melody is to each song, how the themes help set up the solos, and how the rhythm section does not play it safe at all.  Sit down, let the music wash over you. Close your eyes, listen to each musician. This is also an album to enter on your own without preconceptions; don't worry about influences or who everybody sounds like, just listen. Then, listen again.  This is not music for impatient people. Take your time. The thrills on this album are often sublime but they are there to savor.

The Allison Au Quartet has won numerous awards in its native Canada and deservedly so. "Wander Wonder" illustrates the band's strengths and how Ms. Au continues to mature as a composer. Check this out!

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

Here's the AAQ in the studio: