Feb 26 2018
You really need to check out these new releases from Pericopes
Alessandro Sgobbio and Emiliano Vernizzi have been working under the project name Pericopes for a number of years now. Those of you who have been with me since my eMusic Jazz Picks days will recognize the name. Well, the duo have two new albums out, and it goes a long way to illustrating the vast emotional range at their disposal.
Their 2018 release What What is a case in point. It possesses a solemn tone reminiscent of a chamber jazz session recorded in an old church somewhere out in the countryside. It’s a tone that carries even through those moments when the duo jacks up the heat several notches… as they frequently do on this lovely recording. The tides of intensity shift to and fro with a suddenness that is often quite stunning. The unexpectedness of these changes never dims, even in the face of their common occurrence. There are times when it seems a shame that they’d break the spell of serenity that had settled in, but that interruption gradually is revealed as a blessing, because not only does the spike in volatility have a captivating quality all its own, but there’s also the satisfaction of the inevitable return to a state of peace.
Your album personnel: Emiliano Vernizzi (soprano & tenor saxophones) and Alessandro Sgobbio (piano).
Released on Unit Records.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Soundcloud page.
But it’s not uncommon for the duo to expand their numbers when the moment calls for it. Their other new release, Legacy, is one such example of the benefits to this creative flexibility. Adding Nick Wight to the fold gives the affair a much more lively and excitable demeanor… a result that can be measured in how the drummer spurs the melodic voicings on to greater heights and speeds, but also in the way Wight gives the melody greater definition in the way he dances spryly around it. The sharp precision the latter approach burns into the song is best heard in “November Tears.” The song smolders with thick emotion, and though this would seem to be a moment ripe for a drummer to exploit for dramatics, Wight’s undercurrent of accompaniment resonates far stronger than any burst of fireworks could have achieved. That said, the thrilling rhythmic curls of title-track “Legacy,” and how they suddenly break into stretches of insistent pulsing tempo certainly add to the reasons why this album is so damn enjoyable.
Equally notable are the parallels to be drawn between Legacy and What What, and how Sgobbio and Vernizzi are in no way inhibited from applying some of the same approaches to intensity with either recording, and regardless of the line-up. It was this way, too, when they worked as a trio on their 2015 release These Human Beings.
Your album personnel: Emiliano Vernizzi (tenor sax) and Alessandro Sgobbio (piano, Fender Rhodes) and Nick Wight (drums).
Released on Auand Records.
It’s strange how the lingering impression of peacefulness hangs over die Beobachtung, even as it devolves into dissonance. The quartet Tauchgang instills a chamber jazz atmosphere about things, and so when they attain an unmanageable velocity and the melody starts to come apart at the seams, there’s a contemplative sense about things that is more than a bit appealing. Of greater appeal, however, are those transitory moments of changing intensity, and how the context of the entire piece shifts into a different state of being. That’s pretty cool, and pretty damn addictive.
Mar 3 2018
In April, you should plant some roots on the Pi Recordings Bandcamp page: Preview new albums by Henry Threadgill and Dan Weiss
First up is a new recording by the legendary Henry Threadgill. It never fails to amaze me the way Threadgill weaves improvisation into the fabric of his compositions, and gives avant-garde music the cinematic allure of a movie soundtrack. His newest recording Dirt… And More Dirt sinks its hooks with the accumulation of addictive melodic phrases, providing you a source of focus as his 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg ensemble shifts the entire landscape beneath your feet. Threadgill is a master at doing something different and presenting it as the ghost of something intimately familiar.
Stream two of the album’s tracks for a preview of what’s to come…
Your album personnel: Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone, flute, bass flute), Chris Hoffman (cello), Liberty Ellman (guitar), Jose Davila (tuba), Ben Gerstein (trombone), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Jonathan Finlayson (Bb trumpet, F trumpet), Stephanie Richards (Bb trumpet), Curtis Robert Macdonald (alto saxophone), Roman Filiú (alto saxophone, alto flute), David Bryant (piano), David Virelles (piano), Thomas Morgan (bass), Elliott Humberto (kavee) and Craig Weinrib (drums, percussion).
Learn more about the album, and pre-order it, on their Bandcamp page.
And due out April 6th, 2018 is the new album from Dan Weiss. Starebaby doesn’t sound like the drummer’s excellent electro-acoustic spiritual jazz recording Sixteen: Drummers Suite, but its odd eclecticism of influences and expressions certainly tags it as a bird of a feather recording. First and foremost, Weiss brings a different kind of heat on his new one, and the electricity flows with a velocity all its own. Also, every musician contributing to the album is a future inductee into the jazz hall of fame. Those are just a few of the many reasons to scoop this one up.
Stream two of the album’s tracks for a preview of what’s to come…
Your album personnel: Dan Weiss (drums, compositions), Ben Monder (guitars), Trevor Dunn (electric bass), Craig Taborn (keyboards, piano) and Matt Mitchell (keyboards, piano)
Learn more about the album, and pre-order it, on their Bandcamp page.
Like this:
By davesumner • Album Preview • 0