Aaron Goldberg - Turning Point

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:47
Size: 126,4 MB
Art: Front

(6:01)  1. Fantasy in D
(7:37)  2. Turning Point
(6:23)  3. Turkish Moonrise
(6:13)  4. Jackson's Actions
(7:39)  5. The Shadow of Your Smile
(6:12)  6. Con Alma
(6:14)  7. Head Trip
(8:24)  8. Mom's Tune

A beautifully recorded session that really percolates. This is essentially a quartet date (Goldberg, Turner, Rogers, Harland) with Josh Redman sitting in for Turner on “The Shadow of Your Smile,” Cook adding wordless vocals on “Fantasy in D” and “Mom’s Tune,” and Kalé making it a quintet on “Jackson’s Actions.” There’s one trio track, Dizzy Gillespie’s luminous “Con Alma,” and Goldberg moves to Fender Rhodes on “Jackson’s Actions” and “Mom’s Tune.” Goldberg, a protégé of Betty Carter who turns 25 this month, plays with remarkable maturity and insight for one so relatively young. For comparison’s sake only, he reminds me of Benny Green, whereas Turner brings to mind Joe Henderson. One has the feeling when listening to Goldberg that while the building blocks are firmly in place, he’s flying by the seat of his pants, and it’s that sense of spontaneity and surprise which frames the core of Jazz, after all  that makes what he has to say so consistently absorbing. He’s a capable writer too, and that’s a good thing, as five of the selections on Turning Point are his including the lovely ballad “Turkish Moonrise,” the quirky “Head Trip” and easygoing “Mom’s Tune.” Johnny Mandel wrote “Shadow of Your Smile,” Cedar Walton the picturesque “Fantasy in D.” Rogers and Harland were new names to me, but they’re a solid yet unassuming duo, and based on this performance we should be hearing much more from them. Redman’s name, on the other hand, is well known in Jazz circles, his reputation is widening, and it says something for Goldberg’s talent that he’s now a member of Redman’s working quartet. But a more convincing snapshot of that blossoming talent is embodied within this album, which marks an impressive debut for an up and coming young Jazz artist. ~ Jack Bowers https://www.allaboutjazz.com/turning-point-aaron-goldberg-j-curve-records-review-by-jack-bowers.php

Personnel: Aaron Goldberg: piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano (4, 8); Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Joshua Redman: tenor saxophone (7); Reuben Rogers: acoustic bass; Eric Harland: drums; Carla Cook: vocals (1, 8); Karsh Kale: tablas (4).

Turning Point

---

Dave Holland Quintet - Points Of View

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop 
Year: 1998
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:01
Size: 163,3 MB
Art: Front

( 9:18)  1. The Balance
(10:54)  2. Mr. B.
( 8:48)  3. Bedouin Trail
( 8:23)  4. Metamorphos
(10:12)  5. Ario
( 9:40)  6. Herbaceous
( 6:53)  7. The Benevolent One
( 6:49)  8. Serenade

The eight compositions which make up Points of View are so varied that this in itself becomes a hallmark of Dave Holland's style here. Consistency instead comes from the interaction of the players, whom Holland's arrangements give ensemble roles during each other's solos; from the unusual instrumentation, used both for frank exoticism ("Bedouin Trail", "Serenade") and to leaven more traditional compositions with surprise. The soloists are imaginative, and swinging on those tunes where swing is part of the picture. Holland and Kilson power the ensemble, Holland with his rich tone, Kilson with clarity and a fine percussionist's melodic sense, both with impeccable time."The balance" seemingly begins with the sound of a bass tuning, as if for a live date, with the other players joining in with an improvised ensemble worthy of Mingus. The tune turns into a characteristic opener, but with a difference: swift and exciting, to be sure, but with a tricky time signature and a restlessness about settling on a major or minor mode."Mr. B" is like one of those great 1950's hard bop tunes seen through a post-modern prism, Holland playing a walking bass line throughout."Bedouin trail," beginning with Eubanks high on the trombone, almost a French horn sound, moves into a medium tempo clave groove. The virtues of Holland's group stand out in this sensous tune, which seems almost to suspend time."Metamorphosis" alternates rapidly between swing and funk, terms that don't do justice either to the edgy composition or the impassioned improvisations.The rhythm section opens "Ario" with an ostinato feel, moving eventually into a Latin groove. As usual on this recording, the horn parts belie the small group size. Likewise the vibes' fills provide a bigger than usual sound in the percussive/chordal instrument's role: richer than a piano, fuller than a guitar. The track shifts between the mellowness of a medium-tempo ballad and a series of climaxes."Herbaceous" has a samba-then-swing feel, opened up by spontaneity and virtuosity of the ensemble, making for a tumultuous ride. "The benevolent one" begins out of tempo as a duet between Nelson's ringing vibes and Holland's bowed bass, before turning into a ballad, with Kilson's brushes shimmering like aspen leaves. The rhythm section is nearly equal in the foreground during the solos, giving the tune a chamber-music intimacy "Serenade" concludes the recording with a taste of Latin folk-music, the marimba trilling a simple melody over the initially unchanging harmony implied by Holland's repetitive bass figure. This track's optimistic serenity, played only by the rhythm section, creates yet another musical world among the several in this unusual and brilliantly realized production. ~ Larry Koenigsberg https://www.allaboutjazz.com/points-of-view-dave-holland-ecm-records-review-by-larry-koenigsberg.php

Personnel: Dave Holland, bass; Robin Eubanks, trombone; Steve Wilson, soprano and alto saxophone; Steve Nelson, vibraphone and marimba; Billy Kilson, drums

Points Of View

---

Ralph Towner - Lost And Found

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:52
Size: 134,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:36)  1. Harbinger
(3:00)  2. Trill Ride
(6:19)  3. Elan Vital
(5:12)  4. Summer's End
(3:15)  5. Col Legno
(2:16)  6. Soft Landing
(4:56)  7. Flying Cows
(4:04)  8. Mon Enfant
(5:15)  9. A Breath Away
(1:27) 10. Scrimshaw
(3:24) 11. Midnight Blue ... Red Shift
(4:37) 12. Moonless
(3:44) 13. Sco Cone
(3:06) 14. Tattler
(4:34) 15. Taxi's Waiting

This 1995 date shows guitarist and composer Ralph Towner in estimable form. For a guy who's released literally dozens of records under his own name and with his band Oregon and played on dozens more, he still seems to have plenty to say with only two guitars in his arsenal (well, there was the period where he used a Prophet Five synthesizer with Oregon, but we won't go into that here). Using familiar (Marc Johnson and Jon Christensen) and new (Denny Goodhew) faces, Towner goes searching for that elusive muse he has been pursuing for over 30 years: the root of what makes complex harmonic and melodic improvisation possible. His relentlessness is in fine shape here. Using the horns and Johnson's large dynamic range for texture and shading, he, with Christensen in tow, can go ferreting through intervallic forests of prismatic chromaticism and changeling modal systems to place notions of "song" firmly within the context of spontaneous composition. Nowhere is this more evident than on the striking "Élan Vital." Towner opens the track and Goodhew follows him playing soprano. There are three melodic exchanges, each more far-reaching than the last, before Towner goes off with Christensen trading fours and slipping through chorded wreaths and trills of augmented sevenths and ninths. There is a space at midpoint where Johnson, for the sake of adding color to the melodic abstraction, begins by playing chords and then others based on those, singly, then doubly, until the bass sings! There are 15 tunes on Lost and Found, most of them Towner's compositions, but two by Johnson -- "Col Legno" and "Sco Cone" deserve special note. On the first, his bowing of this wrinkled, out of time immemorial melody, and his restraint to keep the timbres in the piece from mixing too much, are stunning. On the second, a solo work, his subtle lyricism is in dramatic contrast to his funkiness and staccato playing. It was gracious of Towner to include them. This is a guitar player's recording, but it is obvious that Towner writes for ensembles equally well, and he has clearly written the vast majority of this recording for this particular ensemble. It's seamless from start to finish; it moves and is far less ponderous than some of his earlier outings; it's a winner for sure. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/lost-and-found-mw0000181545

Personnel: Ralph Towner - Classical Guitar, 12 String Guitar; Denney Goodhew - Saxophones; Marc Johnson - Double-Bass; Jon Christensen - Drums

Lost And Found

---