With their debut Brume, the Belgian-based trio Uživati offers up one of those delightfully sublime recordings where the music is just as personable as it is profound. A trio of soprano sax, piano and double bass, melodies are presented without fuss or pretentiousness and get carried away joyfully on the backs of fluid tempos.
The trio touches lightly on a couple of regional music influences. There’s the Balkan jazz of “Romska Elegija,” the Middle-East theme of “Bulgur,” and there’s “Mariù,” which has a Mediterranean flavor.
But mostly, what this album serves up are quiet tunes for quiet rooms. That’s not to say this is sleepy music. The jaunty bounce of “Seventy-Eight” keeps things lively throughout. And though “Trinitron” keeps to a slower pace, the variation of accents and punctuations keep the ear aware and guessing.
But the real winners on this recording are those songs that take their time to fully reveal themselves and do so with a supreme melodic beauty. “Pourquoi Pas Fou?” opens with with a gentle brush of dissonance, but this is just a lead-in to the thick melodic heartbreak of El Gammal’s soprano sax. And the ebb and flow on “As Far As I Can See,” is dictated by saxophone, but when sax drops off, it’s the gorgeous interlude, a duet between pianist Thomaere and bassist Delaere, when the song really shines. On “Presque 23,” the simple sighs and murmurs of sax and bass are crosshatched with the thrilling climbs and descents of piano, further illustrating the trio’s talent at establishing serenity with lively passages.
One of those recordings that doesn’t try to do too much, and by working a small patch of land, is able to deliver one gorgeous gem after the other.
Your album personnel: Jennifer El Gammal (soprano sax), David Thomaere (piano), and Mike Delaere (double bass).
The album is Self-Produced.
Jazz from the Brussels, Belgium scene.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon MP3
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Jun 2 2014
Uživati Trio – “Brume”
The trio touches lightly on a couple of regional music influences. There’s the Balkan jazz of “Romska Elegija,” the Middle-East theme of “Bulgur,” and there’s “Mariù,” which has a Mediterranean flavor.
But mostly, what this album serves up are quiet tunes for quiet rooms. That’s not to say this is sleepy music. The jaunty bounce of “Seventy-Eight” keeps things lively throughout. And though “Trinitron” keeps to a slower pace, the variation of accents and punctuations keep the ear aware and guessing.
But the real winners on this recording are those songs that take their time to fully reveal themselves and do so with a supreme melodic beauty. “Pourquoi Pas Fou?” opens with with a gentle brush of dissonance, but this is just a lead-in to the thick melodic heartbreak of El Gammal’s soprano sax. And the ebb and flow on “As Far As I Can See,” is dictated by saxophone, but when sax drops off, it’s the gorgeous interlude, a duet between pianist Thomaere and bassist Delaere, when the song really shines. On “Presque 23,” the simple sighs and murmurs of sax and bass are crosshatched with the thrilling climbs and descents of piano, further illustrating the trio’s talent at establishing serenity with lively passages.
One of those recordings that doesn’t try to do too much, and by working a small patch of land, is able to deliver one gorgeous gem after the other.
Your album personnel: Jennifer El Gammal (soprano sax), David Thomaere (piano), and Mike Delaere (double bass).
The album is Self-Produced.
Jazz from the Brussels, Belgium scene.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon MP3
Like this:
Related
By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2014 Releases • 0