Feb 10 2015
Recommended: Art Hirahara – “Libations & Meditations”
There’s two things in play here for why Libations & Meditations is such a strong album. First off, Art Hirahara situates his melodies at the center of each song’s universe. Those melodies are expertly crafted and supremely radiant… a melodic beauty that resonates strongly at any speed. And that leads into the second quality of this album’s success: The trio of pianist Hirahara, bassist Linda Oh and drummer John Davis are a seamless rhythmic unit, their intentions spread out like a map so that no matter how far and wide they travel, it’s simple to follow along. This, in addition to the North Star quality of each song’s melody is what makes this such a winning album.
The bubbling personality of up-tempo tunes is hard not to fall for. Hirahara leads out with the quirky “With Two Ice Cubes” and the speedy “D.A.Y.” is adorned with a series of missives and asides to keep the ear on its toes even as its attention stays riveted on the tightly focused stream of melody. The jaunty “Only Child” has a cadence made for a Sunday afternoon stroll through the park and is just as affecting as the melodically headstrong “Be Bim Bop” and “Bop Bim Be,” which offers up a rare instance of free, random motion before it transforms into something structurally straight-ahead.
However, the most striking album tracks are those where the trio eases off the gas pedal. The surging “Father’s Song” wears its heart on its sleeve, and it’s why the dramatics that mark the song ring with sincerity. It’s a similar effect with “Big Country,” but here, the melodic drama is paired with just the right amount of restraint, pulling it back in for a graceful landing. There’s also the graceful elegance of “Karatachi No Hana,” a quiet solo piece. “Dead Man Posed” exudes those same qualities, but gets expressed with greater emotion.
The album ends with “Nereids and Naiads,” a song that smolders with a magnetic quality, its embers growing brighter as the song approaches its conclusion. But even when the trio lights the song up bright in the home stretch, the melody never loses its comforting glow, radiating the strong beauty and powerful dialog that reflect the album in its entirety.
Your album personnel: Art Hirahara (piano), Linda Oh (bass) and John Davis (drums).
Released on Posi-Tone Records.
Jazz from the Brooklyn scene.
Available at: Amazon
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Feb 11 2015
Recommended: Rudresh Mahanthappa – “Bird Calls”
Additionally, it’s proof how creative ideas inspire more of the same in those they affect, and how that chain reaction carries from person to person and generation to generation. Bird Calls is the spirit of Charlie Parker’s music, but this is a Rudresh Mahanthappa album.
Using bits of Parker melodies and solos as the seeds of inspiration, Mahanthappa cultivates those music fragments into his own expressions and in his own voice, and the bloom is dramatically changed from its origins. This music doesn’t echo the bop of the past. It hardly even resonates with the jazz of the modern day. The music of Mahanthappa always seems one step ahead of the present tense, as if he’s perpetually navigating away from the danger of his next note becoming a derivative of past successes. There is something very Now about Mahanthappa’s music and there is something very Next about it, too.
The album opens with the surging “On the DL,” which shifts between a driven ferocity and a loose detachment. It’s a powerful opening statement and immediate proof that this music belongs to the modern era.
However, it’s the song-in-its-heart “Chillin’,” with its potent melody and a cadence that screams all kinds of excitement and fun where the album’s personality shines through, occupying a space where it can exist in the absence of the album’s premise as easily as it can exist in its embrace.
“Maybe Later” is the most open acknowledgment of the source material. A refracted image of a straight-ahead sound, though it’s the way the quintet captures Parker’s captivating motion that gets to the heart of the matter. The ballad “Sure Why Not?” occupies the same space, but explores it with greater patience.
“Gopuram” is one of the rare instances of Mahanthappa’s incorporation of Indian music on this recording. And though this influence does cause the song to stand out in terms of its overall sound, intriguingly, the range and shape of its motion snaps right into place with tunes such as “Both Hands” with its speedy delivery and whip-smart melody and the fierce melodicism and stormy turmoil of “Talin is Thinking.”
A handful of interludes provide additional room to explore the themes presented and utilizes them as heady intros to the songs that follow.
An outstanding album.
This powerful recording signals the start of the 2015 year in Jazz and, undoubtedly, it will be a part of the conversation at year’s end as Best of 2015 lists are constructed.
Your album personnel: Rudresh Mahanthappa (alto sax), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Matt Mitchell (piano), François Moutin (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums).
Released on ACT Music.
Jazz from NYC.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2015 Releases • 2