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Wolfert Brederode QuartetCurrentsECM B0011581AAA 1 /2The 11 pieces on Currents are as shimmeringand delicate as ice sculptures, hoveringin the same limbo between solidityand dissolution. Dutch pianist WolfertBrederode has an exacting method ofcomposing fragility, building each track asan aural house of cards ready to fall at thefirst errant wisp of breath.While this is Brederode’s debut as aleader for ECM, he has two outings on thelabel with singer Susanne Abbuehl, whoalso shares credit with Brederode on Currents’“As You July Me.” He leads a quartet of sympatheticplayers: Norwegian bassist Mats Eilertsen,drummer Samuel Rohrer and clarinetist ClaudioPuntin, both from Switzerland.Puntin is especially well-suited forBrederode’s minimalist romanticism. He playswith intense concentration and unwaveringcontrol, emitting languorous moans that seemto float gracefully around the pianist’s brittlerepetitions. Eilertsen and Rohrer add the rightsheen, rounding out the sound without everbecoming overbearing—a difficult tightrope towalk. If Brederode’s own work often seems toexist in a cloud of thought bordered by Puntin’sclarion keening, Eilertsen and Rohrer work tokeep it aloft as a balloon, careful not to puncturethe thin surface.Brederode’s compositions occupy a spacesomewhere between Philip Glass and JimmyGiuffre, a modernist chamber jazz that fitsthe hushed, airy ECM esthetic without fallingprey to the frigidity so often threatened bythat style. Currents is heady and introspective,but an essential warmth tints the minorkeyatmosphere.—Shaun BradyCurrents: Common Fields; Empty Room; As You July Me; HighAnd Low; With Them; Frost Flower; Scarabee; Desiderata; Soil;Ebb; Barcelona. (58:13)Personnel: Wolfert Brederode, piano; Claudio Puntin, clarinets;Mats Eilertsen, bass; Samuel Rohrer, drums.Ordering info: ecmrecords.com»SUBSCRIBE!1-800-554-7470WilliamParkerQuartetPetit OiseauAUM FIDELITY 050AAAAIf William Parker’srecent pan-ethnicbig band recordingDouble SunriseOver Neptune constituteshis mostspecifically orchestratedrecord to date, this album represents theother side of the coin. He asks his quartet towork from a minimal starting point—on the titletune only the melody’s notes are preset—andsee where they can take it.Sometimes the journey is fairly direct, othertimes it is long and winds through contrastingterritory, but it’s never less than absorbing. Thisis also, despite its looseness, a coherent andapproachable performance. Parker and his confederatesmake liberal use of identifiable genreelements, from the acoustic funk and reggaerhythms that subdivide “Groove Sweet” to“Malachi’s Mode”’s Kwela-like theme to “FourFor Tommy”’s frantic bebop head, which ensurethat there’s always something for the listener tohang onto when they play heads out.Parker’s sense ofhumor is also on display,whether it’s thejoyous humor that infuses“Malachi’s Mode” or“Four For Tommy”’swry wit. Dedicated tothe “bebop look” thatParker used to get whenhe gigged with TommyTurrentine and strayedfrom the changes, thelatter tune is full of justright“wrong” notes thatwould doubtless have earned just such aglance. Trumpeter Lewis Barnes and saxophonistRob Brown speak in the inside-out languagefirst articulated nearly a half-century agoby Ornette Coleman; they know and lovewhat’s come before, and their playing isinfused with its lore, but they won’t let themselvesbe fettered. Instead, they take Parker’smelodies, fill them with joy, sorrow and adventure,and make them fly. —Bill MeyerPetit Oiseau: Groove Sweet; Talaps Theme; Petit Oiseau; TheGolden Bell; Four For Tommy; Malachi’s Mode; Duet From AMountain; Shorter For Alan. (70:23)Personnel: William Parker, double bass, Ojibwa cedar flute;Lewis Barnes, trumpet; Rob Brown, alto saxophone, B-flat clarinet;Hamid Drake, drums, percussion.»Ordering info: aumfidelity.com76 DOWNBEAT November 2008