Stefano Bollani - Piano Solo (2006)

Stefano Bollani - Piano Solo (2006)


I listen to a lot of jazz piano. By now rarely does anything make me really, I mean really, sit up and listen. But this one did.
A lot of jazz piano, especially ensemble work, is relatively monodynamic, hovering around the mezzo and rarely troubling itself with subtlety or nuance. This guy, however, has a gift for touch that is rare in jazz. He can turn on a sixpence, and possesses a lightness and sinuous agility that is refreshing. Plus a real gift for invention and sylistic pick-and-mix. Some of these harmonies should be illegal.
If you want something muscular and straight ahead, then this won't be for you. But if you want a feeling of a recital in an intimate venue ( that's ECM for you...) then you won't be disappointed. His version of Maple Leaf Rag is worth the price alone. Deconstructed, disassembled and delightful.

1     Antonia
2     Impro I
3     Impro II
4     Impro On A Theme By Sergei Prokofiev
5     For All We Know
6     Promenade
7     Impro III
8     Media Luz
9     Impro IV
10     Buzzillare
11     Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
12     Como Fue
13     On The Street Where You Live
14     Maple Leaf Rag
15     Sarcasmi

John Scofield - Quiet (1996)

John Scofield - Quiet (1996) 

John Scofield didn't even own an acoustic guitar when Pat Metheny brought along a pair of them for the guitarists' 1993 duo session, "I Can See Your House From Here". Scofield was so intrigued by the experience that he went out and bought his own nylon-string instrument, spent hours playing it and ultimately composed eight pieces especially for his new plaything. Those eight tunes (plus a ninth by producer Steve Swallow) comprise Scofield's album, aptly entitled Quiet. Scofield was too smart to simply transplant his electric-guitar techniques--which rely so heavily on distortion and attack--to the acoustic instrument. Instead, he took advantage of the nylon strings' intimacy and responsiveness to compose romantic melodies and play them in a clean, understated style.--Geoffrey Himes

Tracks

1 After The Fact

2 Tulle

3 Away With Words

4 Hold That Thought

5 Door #3

6 Bedside Manner

7 Rolf And The Gang

8 But For Love

9 Away

Personnel

    John Scofield - acoustic guitar

    Lawrence Feldman - flute, alto flute, tenor saxophone

    Charles Pillow - alto flute, English horn, tenor saxophone

    Wayne Shorter - tenor Saxophone

    Roger Rosenberg - bass clarinet

    Randy Brecker - trumpet

    Fred Griffen - french horn

    John Clark - french horn

    Howard Johnson - tuba and baritone

    Steve Swallow - bass

    Bill Stewart and Duduka Da Fonseca - drums

    Additional instruments are French horns and woodwinds

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Heartcore (2003)

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Heartcore (2003)

With this recording, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel creates a unique sound world, blending elements of jazz and rock with electronica, occasional Third World strains, and other grooves in an absorbing, inward journey that defies classification. In doing so, Rosenwinkel refuses to limit himself to the guitar, often contributing keyboards, drums, and voice, and at times he takes over entire tracks all by himself via layerings in his Brooklyn studio. The way Rosenwinkel extends his strings of endless melody over an ever-changing harmonic backdrop reminds one of the winding compositions of Wayne Shorter. Indeed, at times he produces a sax-like tone from his guitar, with Mark Turner's duskier tenor sax as a unison co-voice and a foil. "Blue Line" finds Rosenwinkel drumming in the left channel, keeping up a complex groove with drummer Jeff Ballard on the right, eventually overcome by synthesizer washes. "All the Way to Rajasthan" evokes the Pat Metheny sound but the rhythm is fractured and the music seems to have and lack direction at the same time. "Your Vision" is a loop out of a sci-fi film — all Rosenwinkel except for Andrew D'Angelo's bass clarinet, a truly strange track — while "Interlude" is another fascinating gauzy bit of electronica at the CD's halfway point. "Thought About You," another one-man track, takes a Turkish rhythmic vamp and gradually builds a moody, enveloping texture. Rosenwinkel claims that the music of Arnold Schoenberg and hip-hop alike inspired another technique on this CD — producing unusual harmonic textures by means of different dynamic levels on the instruments in the mix. Well, maybe, but in a way, this is 21st century expressionism of a sort, creating levels of ambiguity and uncertainty, leaving the listener out on a limb yet always intrigued. Give it a shot; you may not want to leave this twilight zone.

Tracks

1 Heartcore
2 Blue Line
3 All The Way To Rajasthan
4 Your Vision
5 Interlude
6 Our Secret World
7 Dream/Memory
8 Love In The Modern World
9 Dcba//>>
10 Thought About You
11 Tone Poem

Personnel

    Kurt Rosenwinkel – Guitar, Keyboards, Drums, Programming
    Mark Turner – Tenor Saxophone (1, 2, 6, 9), Bass clarinet (11)
    Ben Street – Acoustic bass (2, 3, 6, 8, 11)
    Jeff Ballard – drums (2, 3, 6, 9, 11)

With:

    Ethan Iverson – Piano (9), Keyboards (6)
    Andrew D'Angelo - Bass clarinet (4)
    Mariano Gil - Flute (5, 8)