This week's Jazz releases reviewed
New York Days ECM *****
On these beautiful pieces, the empathy shared by Enrico Rava (trumpet), Stefano Bollani (piano), Mark Turner (tenor), Larry Grenadier (bass) and Paul Motian (drums) is impressive. It's in the details: their close, mutual awareness, especially Rava's and Turner's; Bollani's uncanny sense of what's needed as accompanist and soloist; Motian's feel for texture; and Grenadier's sensitivity all unite to make these performances complete. In the finest – Lulù and Certi Angoli Segreti, which mix rubato with a slow, elegant 3/4; the veiled melancholy of the tango, Luna Urbana; the sensuous lyricism of Lady Orlando; and the mysterious, songlike Interiors – each solo builds musically on the one before and amplifies its emotional weight. There's a sense of a journey taken and a story told, and of order aligned with freedom (even in two group improvisations) that only the best are privy to. www.ecmrecords.com
RAY COMISKEY
JOACHIM KÜHN & MICHAEL WOLLNY
This encounter between two generations of German pianists is an absorbing affair. Even allowing for a prior agreement on the harmonic approach (and it’s clear that the duo are shaped by Kühn’s ideas in this), their mutual understanding is astonishing. Impressionistic and varied in tone, the duets The Colours of the Wind, Hexentanz, Seawalkand Encorerevolve brilliantly round shapes determined by the material, with the occasional free moments co-opted seamlessly into the arc of improvisation and agreed references. (Wollny, by the way, is on the left channel, Kühn on the right.) Each also has a solo outing. Wollny’s is Elmau, a lovely, nostalgic, rustic tribute to the venue. Kühn’s is an amazing, almost prismatic refraction of Bach’s Chaconne. Cerebral and full of high seriousness, it makes for compelling listening – as does the whole session. www.actmusic.com
RAY COMISKEY
DENNY ZEITLIN
Rarely recorded because of his main career in psychiatry, Zeitlin is overdue a reissue of these near- classic mid-1960s Zeitgeist, Cathexisand Carnivalalbums. His piano reflected the influence of Bill Evans and Ornette, an individual blend of lyricism and forward-thinking superbly caught in the Zeitgeist dates with Charlie Haden and Jerry Granelli, or Joe Halpin and Oliver Johnson, on bass and drums. Not many pianists back then could so persuasively handle the freedom of Mirageor Labyrinth, the complex time signatures of The Decision, the lyric beauty of Here’s That Rainy Day, or the incendiary recasting of I Got Rhythm. Almost as good are Carnival, with Haden and Granelli, and his Columbia leader debut, Cathexis, with Cecil McBee and Freddie Waits. A bonus is 11 previously unissued performances, none an alternate take. www. mosaicrecords.com
RAY COMISKEY
The Columbia Studio Trio Sessions (3 CDs) Mosaic *****ACT
