Sep 24 2017
Your Sunday Morning Jazz Album: Florian Hoefner – “Coldwater Stories”
Sunday morning is when the serenity comes down. Sunday morning is the cocoon from the heavy exhaustion of too much Saturday night fun. Sunday morning is when the city agrees to use its inside voice. Sunday morning is when a hush settles in over the land. It is a time for sitting still and listening to quiet music and silently praying the aspirin and coffee do something to stop your head from exploding. Drama and stress are strictly forbidden on Sunday morning. Your Sunday Morning Jazz Album is just for you, for times just like these.
Florian Hoefner knows how to work a melody. His 2012 release Songs Without Words was one of the very best things to get released that year, and it was in no small part a result of the pianist’s vibrant display of melodicism. Two releases since then did nothing to diminish that reputation.
This 2016 performance at the Bremen, Germany venue Sendesaal provides the opportunity to hear that melodic talent unfold in a solo setting. Live and all by his lonesome, Hoefner has all the space he wants to explore and execute his melodic inventions, and it’s an opportunity he doesn’t waste for even a moment. Right from the start, he switches things up. “The Great Auk” delivers the melody more as a presence than a statement, whereas the melody of “Migration” is an amassing of glittering melodic fragments all packed in tight. Tracks like “The Send” and “Never” show that Hoefner is equally capable of delivering the melody succinctly. Catchy, too, when he wants to, as he does on “Green Gardens.”
The songs of Coldwater Stories were inspired by Hoefner’s new digs in Newfoundland, and perhaps no better piece reflects the tranquility of that place than the album finale “With the North Atlantic.” It’s a lovely ending for a lovely album.
You need this album today, right now.
- Artist-Title: Florian Hoefner – Coldwater Stories
- Personnel: Florian Hoefner (piano).
- Proper Use: 1) Gentle coaxing the aspirin to work harder at killing your hangover, 2) A soundtrack for the coffee & Irish cream soothing your weary soul, or 3) Watching your cat snore peacefully by your side and attempting to decipher the formula it uses to attain the massive serenity radiating from its sleeping form.
Released in 2017 on Origin Records.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Music from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
There’s plenty of individual moments to enjoy on the new installment of John Zorn’s Book of Angels series, but what ultimately reveals itself to be the greatest factor in this album’s success is the nature of the changes between pieces and how their accumulation delivers a seriously powerful emotional impact. There’s the more obvious examples like the transition between storm and eye on consecutive tracks “Jekusiel” and “Diniel,” then “Akzariel” and “Palaleil,” and then all over again on “Parymel.”
There’s really no sense breaking this album down for you. This is a gorgeous recording, and there’s not a whole hell of lot more to say about it. The self-titled album from
Sep 25 2017
The Round-up: When words fail, the heart beats stronger
Here is some very good new music.
Ben Allison – Layers of the City (Sonic Camera Records)
The newest from bassist Ben Allison dials things back a bit, but that seems the natural outcome of streamlining an approach that’s bolstered the electronic and rock infrastructure of past recordings. For instance, the title-track’s edginess is a prominent feature, but how Allison’s group swiftly unrolls its tight melody embodies the song’s most striking quality. It’s a revealing moment in that it shows Allison hasn’t so much sought out a balance between divergent elements as he’s found a way for them to coexist with a measured peacefulness. Beneficially, it allows the more extreme qualities to stand out, side by side, one not dulling the sensation of the others, even as they work together to forge a middle-ground. “The Detective’s Wife” takes a stroll through some old-school territory, but the electronic squiggles of “Get Me Offa This Thing” is a final reminder that there’s nothing straight-forward about this album. And, thankfully, that’s a quality typical to Allison’s work. Allison’s Think Free ensemble is an all-star cast featuring trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, guitarist Steve Cardenas, pianist Frank Kimbrough and drummer Allan Mednard.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Amazon
New Simplicity Trio – Common Spaces (Babel Label)
After a number of thematically intriguing concept albums, it’s nice to hear pianist Bruno Heinen just play some tunes. Along with bassist Henrik Jensen and drummer Antonio Fusco, the New Simplicity Trio digs into a well-crafted melody and then takes it for a ride. The strongest tracks are those where they give it some gas and let the motion drive the melody while the melody drives the song. That said, the lilting beauty of “Across the Pond” and how, at times, it just floats in space could easily become a listener’s favorite. And then there’s a groovy rendition of Mingus’s “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” and that’s worth the price of admission alone. This album is all kinds of friendly.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Sexmob – Cultural Capital (Rex Records)
It’s pretty damn refreshing to hear the Sexmob quartet focus on original compositions for a change. Inventive renditions of popular songs is something they’ve been at for near about twenty years, and while it’s been the source of all kinds of fun, their latest album of original pieces is the equivalent of a team of chefs highlighting the wonders of their favorite ingredients rather than focus on the totality of the recipe. It’s why the heart of Steven Bernstein‘s slide trumpet beats just a little bit stronger, and why the soul of Briggan Krauss‘s saxophones burns off just a little bit more sin, and why the bass and drums of Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen often strikes a rhythm that resonates with the hum of the earth. There’s a pervasive sense throughout Cultural Capital that it encapsulates the scope of everything they’ve done since they played their very first notes. That’s pretty cool. And after twenty years, it’s a nice gift to their fans.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Amazon
Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble – Ted the Bellhop (WhyPlayJazz)
This is big band played in the beer hall. This is whip smart jazz rolled out as boozy fun. Stefan Schultze‘s 18-piece ensemble is about as unconventional as a big band gets, and yet their personable enthusiasm and magnetic charm and a willingness to dive into a blues at will create an environment that makes this music completely embraceable. Included among the ensemble’s personnel is saxophonist Charlotte Greve, who has been mentioned frequently on this site and anywhere else I’ve laid my pen.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp – Amazon
Darren Johnston & Tim Daisy – Crossing Belmont (Relay Recordings)
There’s a raw artistry in play on this duo session from trumpeter Darren Johnston and drummer Tim Daisy. The sense isn’t so much of a conversation, but instead the narrative of two complementary topics overlapped atop one another and resulting in an entirely new subject. Recorded live at Chicago’s re-booted Hungry Brain, the duo displays an endless supply of energy and a willingness to try to burn it all off. The thrill of all that intensity, however, is nicely balanced by a rich lyricism, and so the meaning is just as engaging as how the message gets delivered. And besides, it just sounds like they were both especially in sync on this day, and locked into their own flight patterns and the trajectory of their counterpart.
Artist site | Listen | Buy: Bandcamp
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2017 releases • 0 • Tags: The Round-Up