Four More Trios: Outside Looking In

Of the group of piano trios I picked out a couple of weeks ago, these are the furthest outside of the mainstream, but not so far as to be called avant guard or free jazz, etc. Each is characterized by strong melodic lines, with a combination of written and improvised play. Finally, the idea was to pick out trios that wer just that, trios of piano, bass (or stringed instrument) and drums (or percussion) with no guest appearances by wind or brass instruments. Purely trios. One of the three herein breaks the mold a bit, but the other three do not. Anyway....

The first is Hiromi's latest, "Move" (Telarc 2012) with Anthony Jackson on contrabass guitar and Simon Phillips on drums. Perhaps not so out there after all, Hiromi is well-established by now with a host of earlier CDs as a bombastic, enthusiastic, agile, and original pianist. Here her goal was to present a suite of songs that describe her day, from wakening through going to sleep, and much of the original compositions are nicely written with some lovely melodies and interplay with the band. Unfortunately, once again Hiromi emphasizes dexterity, creativity and speed but not so much when it comes to dynamics, contrasts, and expression. I do not wake up this quickly, and surely am more tired out at the end of the day, so the arc of the day here is limited. This is very much a "look at me" production. I have to say I do like the music and there is a time and place to listen to Hiromi, particularly when I am looking for something lively and spirited, but her CDs can get to be tiring to listen to in one sitting given the limited range of expression. She is dazzling no doubt, and when she does go mellow, as she does for parts of "Endeavor", and quite a lot for "Brand New Day" it can be charming to hear. If you like Hiromi, and I do, then you will like this CD, but maybe like me in small servings.

"Space is the Place" (Storyville 2012) is a trio recording by Carsten Dahl on piano, Arild Andersen on bass, and Jon Christiansen on drums, all familiar names from the Northern Europe chamber jazz scene as well as from ECM recordings. This is very much in that same mode, very peaceful music that never goes over the top, and very textured with the addition of bells, chimes, inside piano play, and other percussive effects. It is an album you will feel as much as hear. It is more sound-based than melodically driven, and the space referred  to is clearly not outer-space but the space between notes, and the inner space of one's perceptions. All of the compositons are from Dahl, and his notes refer to his goal to provide a lot of freedom to explore sounds and melodies, and he achieves this with a wonderfully recorded session.

Third on this post is a group I never thought I would sit down, listen to, and enjoy --- Medeski, Martin and Wood, but I have to say that I love their latest, the all-acoustic "Free Magic" (Indirecto 2012). In fact, since listening to it I have dipped back into their discography and have purchased their only other two acoustic CDs, "Live at Tonic" (Blue Note 2000)  and their first, "Notes from the Underground" (Accurate Jazz 1992). Yes, there are still some very frantic parts to each of the recordings, but when they settle in their trio plays pretty conventionally, with the emphasis on melodic interplay and clean lines and imporvisations. There are five tracks in all, with the last one being the only cover, a mash-up of "Nostalgia in Times Square" by Mingus and "Angel Race" by Sun Ra, and despite the known proclivities of the two composers to go to the edges this track is really great stuff and great interpretations of the songs within the trio context. "Blues for Another Day", the second track, starts out with a wild four minute whirlwind of sound, kind of an "uh-oh", but then settles into a relaxed piano blues that slowly goes from a piano solo into a more driven trio blues, with some strong use of the high hat to drive it along. It is a wow piece attributed to Medeski. Track 4, "Where's Sly", is another Medeski piece that starts with the piano in the bass clef playing another blues in a middle tempo, and then picks up into a near frenzy until it settles back again after about 7 minutes. There are all sorts of sounds and textures, major dynamic shifts, and some outstanding play from the percussion by Martin that highlight this track. I strongly recommend this CD, and encourage others like me to give MM&W a chance.

Finally, another musician who I have taken to, at least in certain settings, is John Zorn.  I have posted about him before, "Stretching Out: Discovering John Zorn" (March 13), and this time around I draw your attention to "A Vision in Blakelight" (Tzadik 2012) which is a bit more than a trio recording but still confined to percussion instruments:  John Medeski on piano and organ, Kenny Wollesen on vibes and bells, Carol Emanuel on harp, Trevor Dunn on bass, Joey Baron on drums, and Cyro Baptista on percussion. (One track has a narrator reading from Blake's Jersusalem but I myself skip through it) All of the music was writtenand arranged by Zorn. Some of the works are based on strong melodies and others are more like watercolors with lots of interesting effects from a wide range of sounds. ther are several pieces where I thought of the music of Ronin or The Necks, but with a bit more movement provided; others were more strongly rooted in melody lines and a trio setting. Watercolors in sound, the music engenders feelings of mystery and of the mystical as it weaves through the ten pieces. The packaging is terrific as well, with some outstanding paintings of angels that convey the same sense of mystery.  Zorn's musical compositions are unlike those of any others I can think of and a listen to this CD will be a rewarding experience for those willing to try.

So Much New Music!

Tons of good stuff in the last couple of months that I have not written about. Some big CDs from big names -- Brad Mehldau, Houston Person, Lee Konitz and friends, Anat Cohen, The Bad Plus just to name a few-- that I would recommend any time, but also a lot of CDs from some noteworthy but lesser known, or even in many cases unknown and new players. So without further ado, I have selected a few CDs from players you may have heard of to report on in this post, to be followed with others in succeeding days or weeks.

I'll start with two veterans, Marc Johnson and Eliane Elias, who have released an absolutely exquisite disc, "Swept Away" (ECM 2012). Johnson on bass and Elias on piano are accompanied by Joey Baron on drums and a very lyrical and somewhat subdued Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone. Eleven pieces of which ten are by Johnson and/or Elias, everyone lyrical and deeply moving, with stronger melodies and standard rhythms, and more richness than many might associate with ECM recordings. It kicks off right away with the title piece and, after the piano interoduces the song, a long and lovely solo passage by Johnson. the piece sets the mood of the disc -- romantic but not cloying, rich textures, and elegant. As a trio the group is great, and when Lovano joins in sublime. Lovano melds beautifully into the group sound, with a restrained, smooth tone. This is an elegant, must listen CD that will please anyone who likes the classic form and sound of a piano trio playing originals.  

Next, not new but new to me, and still pretty much down the middle with more well-known tunes, a European master of the bass, Mads Vinding, joins with two other masters of whom I recently wrote, Enrico Pieranunzi on piano and Alex Riel on drums for the CD "The Kingdom (Where Nobody Dies)" (Stunt 1997) and the trio delivers a bravura performance. This is not a CD with a lot of surprises or unusual touches, just one with three masters of their instruments playing some standards -- "Someday My Prince Will Come", "My Foolish Heart", "I Remember Clifford" -- and some Pieranunzi compositions with all of the class and grace one would expect from them. The three blend seemlessly and while Pieranunzi leads the compositions from his bench, watch for some nice soloing byVinding, particualry on "My Foolish Heart." Riel is subtle but always maintains firm control over the tempo from the back. Really wonderfully relaxing music, first rate.

Roberta Piket is a name well known in New York jazz circles, a veteran player and teacher and marvelous pianist with several recordings to her name. On her latest, "Solo" (Thirteenth Note Records 2012) she does just that, playing eleven pieces from a number of sources, including two she penned herself. Other compositions are by such luminaries as Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Marian McPartland, and Sam Rivers, and by the names alone it is clear that these solo explorations are wide ranging, from standards to free jazz. Piket makes the most of the compositions and opportunities, beginning first with a very subdued and beautiful playing of "I See Your Face Before Me," but not before she interduces it with the opening left-hand bass notes from Eric Satie's Gymnopedies. Monk affords her great flexibility for the next two pieces, one her own composition modelled upon the freedom he displayed in his work which allows her some free rein across the keyboard, some unusual harmonies and a range of dynamics; and one interpreting the classic "Monk's Dream" in a very gentle fashion. Assured, relaxed, and creative, Piket demonstrates a sense of restraint on some of the most beautiful compositions, like "Something to Live For" (Strayhorn) to allow the song to speak for itself; and a fertile mind for improvisation on others as she takes tunes such as "Nefertiti" (Shorter)  and "Litha" (Corea) to new places through her explorations. I have many of her earlier CDs, but this one stands out as she expands her vocabulary with this solo outing. Piket's explorations are marvelous and easy on the ears, never too much "in your face", making this a CD that can be appreciated by traditionalists as well as moernists alike.

The next disc worth listening to definitely takes listeners out of the box and into the area of modern creative jazz. The duo of Michael Bisio (bass) and Matthew Shipp (pianist) jointly composed, or in some cases freely improvised, the seven pieces on this recording, "Floating Ice" (Relative Pitch Records 2012). Shipp is the better known of the two players and throughout his body of work has demonstrated his interest in exploration of sounds, both of his instrument as well as of duos, trios, and beyond. Melodies are more angular and shifting, rhythms varied, and the two freely combine soothing harmonies with dissonance within the same pieces. But both also demonstrate a keen ability to play together, to supporting one another, and to trading off solos effortlessly in search of their perfect sound. Interestingly, the liner notes do not distinguish written forms and improvisations, and simply describes the music as magic. Shipp jumps right in with "Floating Ice" a two handed exploration of the lower octaves of the piano with a lot of clustered chords under a running right hand melody line. There is no real tune here, just fantastically interesting blends, sometimes dissonant, sometimes harmonious, sometimes legato and gentle, and at other times heavily played and forte. Bisio takes over midway thorugh the piece and his bass solo is far from traditional but interesting as well. The music is really hard to describe accurately as it moves quickly from passage to passage, heavy hands to light touches, strong melodies to impressions, etc. Sometimes Shipp is too far out there for me --- his duet "Cosmic Lieder" (AUM Fidelity 2011) with Darius Jones is just one example that is too modern for my taste -- and sometimes his experimentation hits me right, like the recent "Elastic Aspects" (Thirsty Ear 2012) or "Art of the Improviser" (Thirsty Ear 2011), both trio CDs with  Bisio.  Here is one that hits the sweet spot for me -- experiemental, different, and yet structured enough to appeal to my sensibilities.

Finally, moving back towards the middle once more, we have Scott McLemore, an American ex-pat drummer living in Iceland, whose new CD is  "Remote Location" (Sunny Sky Records 2012) is a tribute to his various homes -- Virginia, New York, and Iceland. McLemore is accompanied by an all-star group of Icelanders, the best known of whom is Sunna Gunnlaugs on piano. The others are Oskar Gudjansson on tenor sax, Andres Thor on guitars, and Robert Porhallsson on bass. McLemore wrote all 11 pieces, which are very lovely, subdued impressionistic gems. I feel a great kinship to the music, not only because it is lovely, appealling music, but also becaause I feel a kinship to Charlottesville where my kids went to college ("Charlottesville" is the fifth track), to nearby New York City, and to Iceland, where we visited last year and expect to visit again soon. Just an unbelievable place of natural beauty, wonderful people, and amazing open space. McLemore captures all of our emotions about all of the places he cites with lovely melodies and great soloists. His own play is subdued but omnipresent as color, setting tempos, or creating accent points along the way. This is recomended to you as modern creative in-the-pocket jazz by a seamless quintet. And by the way, Iceland truly has an amazing jazz scene for such a tiny place, has an annual jazz festival that draws from Northern Europe in particular, and has a new concert hall that is magnificent.

So there we have it, five CDs of note, from the inside music of Vinding/Pieranunzi/Riel and of Johnson/Elias to the outside sounds of Bisio/Shipp. All very good, I hope you will try some and that you enjoy.

The Dean of Italian Pianists: Enrico Pieranunzi

According to the All Music Guide, Rome native Enrico Pieranunzi has 50 recordings to his credit as a leader, and countless other sessions as a supporting player. His own website numbers over 70 recordings in total. Whatever the number, Pieranunzi is clearly one of the most prolific pianists of our times since he stepped center stage in the 1970s.  His first recording as leader according to the discography was made in 1975, when Pieranunzi was 26, and since then his music has been a staple of the Italian and international jazz scene. Whether in the classic piano trio format, duos, or as a soloist; or in larger groups or as a sideman, Pieranunzi brings elegance to anything he plays.

I am totally hooked on Pieranunzi, and consider him to be my number one pianist.  His works are tremendously varied, not only in the format/groupings, but also in the range of music from which he draws inspiration both as a player and as a composer. His music includes songs from the great jazz standards, Italian standards and folk music, movie scores from Rota and Morricone, the classical pieces of Scarlatti, Bach, and Handel, and tributes to Wayne Shorter and Bill Evans; alongside his own compositions and those of others writing jazz today. His interpretations range from the straight-forward to gorgeous flights of fancy as he interprets, energizes, and recreates the songs in his own vocabulary. He is a classicist at heart and student of that form, as well as a student of Evans and other post bop players. Never straying too far from the melody or basic harmonics, he nonetheless opens new horizons on any song he touches. He thinks large and plays large, not with a lot of single note runs but rather with lots of chordal voicings from both hands, as if he was composing for an orchestra and all of its voices.  

I pulled from my shelves 34 CDs on which Piernanunzi is the leader, ranging from 1980 up to his most recent recording, "Permutation" (CamJazz 2012), a trio with his longest standing group of Marc Johnson on bass and Joey Baron on drums. Johnson, in fact, has played with Pieranunzi regularly since at least 1980, and the two have made two exquisite duo recordings, "Transnoche" (Egea 2003) and "Yellow and Blue Suites" (Challenge 2008).

Rather than trying to describe individual songs or CDs, I would sum up Pieranunzi's play with the following adjectives:

• Elegant
• Lyrical
• Expressive
• Prolific
• Creative
• Sensual
• Eloquent
• Fresh
• Energetic
• Captivating

Furthermore, it is often said that you are known (or judged) by the company you keep.  So here is a list of the most common playing partners of Pieranunzi on his recordings, starting with the non-Italians: 

• On bass, Marc Johnson, Charlie Haden, Hein Van de Geyn, John Patitucci
• On drums, Joey Baron and Paul Motian, Hans Van Oosterhout, Antonio Sanchez, Billy Higgins
• On piano, Bert van der Brink 
• On saxes, Chris Potter, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Ronnie Cuber, Yosvanny Terry
• On trumpet, Kenny Wheeler, Chet Baker, Eric Vloeimans, Diego Urcola, Art Farmer (flugelhorn) 
• On guitar, Philip Catherine, Jim Hall

And Italians galore. Among the best known:

• Roberto Gatto, drums
• Dado Moroni, piano
• Enzo Pietropaoli, bass 
• Enrico Rava, trumpet
• Fabrizio Bosso, trumpet 
• Rosario Guiliani, saxes 
• Gabriel Mirabassi, clarinet 
• Gianluca Petrella, trombone 

Hopefully, the above has established Pieranunzi's incredible credentials and perhaps a sense of his playing in your mind. With that in mind, here is the list of re3cordings that I have in my collection, coded as follows:

• Red writing means solo recording
• Blue writing means trio
• Black writing includes all other combinations
• ***** Five stars indicate the recordings that I might suggest today as the best places to start. By tomorrow, however, that could change. Basically any Pieranunzi is a good Pieranunzi. The best way to select for the first time probably is to decide on the grouping, and then on the mix between standards or other sources of the music. Or perhaps on the supporting players, Motian versus Baron, Haden versus Johson, etc.

In chronological order:

• "Jazz Roads" (CamJazz 1980), with Roberto Gatto, Marc Johnson, and Steve Houghton (d)   
• "No Man's Land" (Soul Note 1990) with Marc Johnson and Steve Houghton
• ***** "The Night Gone By" (Alfa Music 1996) with Marc Johnson and Paul Motian
• "The Chant of Time" (Alfa Music 1997) with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• "Un'alba Dipinta Sui Muri" (Egea 1998) Solo
• ***** "Daedalus' Wings" (Challenge 1999) 2 pianos with Bert van den Brink
• "Don't Forget the Poet" (Challenge 1999) Quintet
• "Plays the Music of Wayne Shorter" (Challenge 2000) With Hein van de Geyn and Hans van Oosterhout
• "Improvised Forms for Trios" (Challenge 2000) Hein van de Geyn, Hans van Oosterhout
• "Evans Remembered" (VVJ Jazz 2001) Sextet  includes Fabrizio Bosso and Gabriel Mirabassi
• ***** "Play Morricone" (CamJazz 2001) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• "Alone Together" (Challenge 2001) Quintet
• "One Lone Star" (YVP Music 2002) Quartet includes Roberto Gatto and Rosario Giuliani
• "Current Conditions" (CamJazz 2003) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• ***** "Transnoche" (Egea 2003) Duo, with Marc Johnson
• ***** "Fellini Jazz" (CamJazz 2004) Quartet with Chris Potter Charlie Haden and Paul Motian
• "Doorways" (CamJazz 2004) Paul Motian and Chris Potter****
• "Play Morricone 2" CamJazz 2004) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• ***** "Live in Paris" (Challenge 2005) Hein van de Geyn and Andre Ceccarelli (d)
• "Special Encounter" (CamJazz 2005) Charlie Haden and Paul Motian
• ***** "Ballads" (CamJazz 2006) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• "Untold Story" (Egea 2006)  Marc Johnson and Paul Motian
• "Jazz Italiano Live 2006" (Palaexpo 2006) Septet, live from Umbria Jazz Festival 
• "Live in Japan" (CamJazz 2007) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• "Parisian Portraits" (Egea 2007) Solo
• "As Never Before" (CamJazz 2008) Marc Johnson, Joey Baron, and Kenny Wheeler
• ***** "Plays Domenico Scarlatti" (CamJazz 2008) Solo
• ***** "Yellow and Blue Suites" (Challenge 2008) Duo with Marc Johnson
• "Seaward" (Soul Note 2009)  Hein van de Geyn and Andre Ceccarelli
• "Dream Dance" (CamJazz 2009) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron
• "Live at Birdland" (CamJazz 2010) Latin Jazz Quintet
• "Wandering" (CamJazz 2010) Solo
• "Plays Bach, Handel, and Scarlatti" (CamJazz 2011) Solo
• ***** "Permutation" (CamJazz 2012) Marc Johnson and Joey Baron

 

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't note three other recordings on which Pieranunzi is not listed as the leader that are rather special:

• "Chet Baker Meets the Space Jazz Trio" (Philology 1988) with Enzo Pietropaoli on bass and Fabrizio Sferra on drums.
• "Silence" (Soul Note 1989) Charlie Haden with Chet Baker, Enrico Peranunzi and Billy Higgins
• "Soft Journey"  (Egea Historic Collection 2007 (recorded in 1979/80) Chet Baker and Enrico Pieranunzi with Maurizio Giammaco tenor sax, Riccardo DelFra, Bass and Roberto Gatto, drums

Try Pieranunzi. You'll find his music as rewarding and memorable as a glass of table red, some cheese, bread, and olives on a warm Tuscan evening. Ciao!