Volume 23 Issue 3 - November 2017

on trying to find a connection to the model
work, and came up with a brilliant, jazzy
number. It, Parish Ode (attention anagram
lovers), by Liduino Pitombeira of Brazil, and
The Three Alcids by Melody Eötvös are my
favourites.
Max Christie
New Discoveries
Cavell Trio
Blue Griffin Records BGR447
(bluegriffin.com)
!!
A trio named
for a heroic WW1
nurse, or for the
mountain named
for Edith Cavell,
I’m not sure which,
has compiled more
than their share of
recordings of new
works and released
them on this disc. Sharing five reeds between
them, they also share a deft rhythmic sense
and more-than-decent pitch; nor is this
surprising, as they work together as section
mates of the Tuscaloosa Symphony.
The material is charming and spunky,
matched by solid and able instrumental
performances by Shelly Myers (oboe), Osiris
Molina (clarinet) and Jenny Mann (bassoon).
They are at their best in the more challenging
works, the opening track Devil Winds by
Greg Simon, Ron Wray’s Trail Mix and Trois
Pièces by Jeanine Rueff. Much of the other
material suffers from an amiable sameness,
exacerbated by unremitting reediness. The
virtue of blend becomes somewhat a cloying
sin over the course of this remarkably large
collection. It is as though the composers who
interest the group all choose similar movement
durations, and stick to conventional
sequences of mood and tempi. Or perhaps the
group has developed a sort of signature set of
tempi for slow, medium and fast. Or maybe
there is simply too ample a range of pieces
featuring this same group and too narrow a
stylistic range of composers presented for it to
be something to listen to straight through.
Carping aside, the playing is consistently
good: their blend, pitch and rhythmic unity
serve the composers well. The disc provides
a resource for other trios who might want
to pick and choose among the material
presented.
Max Christie
Antique Violences: Music of John Mackey
Michigan State University Wind Symphony;
Kevin Sedatoale
Blue Griffin Records BGR449
(bluegriffin.com)
!!
John Mackey (b.1973) is a much-commissioned
American composer. On this disc the
vocal writing and instrumentation of Songs
for the End of the World (2015), written for
the outstanding soprano Lindsay Kesselman,
is appealing. It
vividly re-imagines
part of the Odyssey
from the point of
view of Kalypso
on her island.
Mackey’s setting of
A.E. Jacques‘s text
reflects her weariness
from isolation,
leaving room for Kesselman’s rich voice
to grow vocally throughout the performance.
In the second movement Kalypso recalls
Odysseus washing up on shore after his shipwreck
and, in Lydian mode phrases extending
into Kesselman’s radiant top range, her
healing of him and the love they developed.
Bright harp, vibraphone and piano tones
add lustre. But after seven years Odysseus
leaves for Ithaca where Penelope awaits.
The third movement’s title At Sea indicates
Kalypso’s memory-haunted despair, captured
in Kesselman’s mournful tone backed by an
evanescent harp.
Antique Violences (2017), a four-movement
trumpet concerto premiered with panache by
Justin Emerich, evokes and questions mass
violence throughout history. While admiring
the composer’s wind symphony mastery and
idiomatic trumpet part, I question whether
the work realizes its stated musical ideas.
According to program notes for the second
movement “The music begins in a decadent
French Baroque style, then unravels its
shimmering mask to reveal the barbarism
beneath.” But to me it is poor musical
pastiche, lacking compensating artistic value.
Asphalt Cocktail (2009) is a high-class car
chase, with the Michigan State University
Wind Symphony conducted by Kevin L.
Sedatole attaining peak form.
Roger Knox
JAZZ AND IMPROVISED
The Brightest Minute
Andrew Scott Quartet
Cellar Live CL022817 (cellarlive.com)
!!
Skilled guitarist,
composer, arranger
and highly
respected jazz
educator Andrew
Scott has just
released his new
Quartet CD under
the fine auspices
of the internationally noted jazz label Cellar
Live. Co-produced by Scott and pianist Jake
Wilkinson (who also engineered), the CD
features eight tasty original, contemporary
jazz compositions by Scott, as well as a fine
lineup of players including Scott on guitar,
Wilkinson on piano, Jon Meyer on bass and
Jeff Halischuk on drums.
Kicking things off is My Ears Can’t
Hear Your Voice. Scott’s swinging, soulful,
full-bodied guitar sound brings to mind
elements of Tal Farlow, Herb Ellis and Grant
Green. Combine that with a tight, grooving,
acoustic quartet, propelled by the jaunty,
well-written material and Scott’s facile
soloing, and you have a dynamic jazz track.
Wilkinson’s rhythmic and emotional piano
style is clearly featured here, and is reminiscent
of a young Hampton Hawes.
A highlight of the recording (and in
contrast to the rest of the high-octane
tracks) is the thoroughly gorgeous ballad For
Marilyn, dedicated to Scott’s late mother,
Marilyn Elizabeth Scott, who died in 2016.
Scott is capable of such direct communication
through his music that one can easily
feel the love that inspired this piece. Also of
note is the title tune – a high-intensity, New
York-ish cooker that features not only the
musical tightness of the ensemble, but also
the high level of unspoken communication
between the band members. A final favourite
is Dreamin’ – rendered with an almost Basielike
simplicity and Scott’s perfect, rhythmic
comping and in-the-pocket soloing. Easily
one of the best small jazz group recordings
of the year.
Lesley Mitchell-Clarke
Grey Mirror
Jamie Reynolds
Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 528
(freshsoundrecords.com)
! ! Canadian-born
and New York Citybased
jazz pianist
Jamie Reynolds
has just released
a challenging and
deeply moving
recording, featuring
himself on acoustic
piano and Wurlitzer as well as special guests
Matthew Stevens on guitar (who also served
as co-producer), Orlando LeFleming on
acoustic and electric bass and Eric Doob on
drums. Other key players on this project
are the noted brass quartet, the Westerlies,
featuring Andy Clauson and Willem de Koch
on trombones, and Zubin Hensler and Riley
Mulherkar on trumpets.
In the planning stages Reynolds determined
that in order to achieve the artistic expression,
depth and meaning that he was looking
for, he would arrange most of his 14 original
compositions on the CD to be played in two
diverse ways – by his trio plus Stevens and
also by a brass quartet… thereby illustrating
in a very real way, the constant, and often
distorted and contradictory mirror images
of nature.
The opening track, The Earliest Ending, is
first expressed as a brief intro of stunning,
warm and moving brass lines, and later as an
almost Satie-like piano solo which seamlessly
melds into sensual, lush guitar lines. The
same juxtaposition occurs with Small Worlds,
a hard-driving, face-melting guitar-centric
78 | November 2017 thewholenote.com