I have rarely been so pleasantly surprised. I am also ashamed to admit that I have not heard Kerry Politzer until this—her sixth—album. What I have missed!

She moved to Portland, OR a few years ago and now serves as an adjunct professor at Portland State University. In Portland, she has come to know, to appreciate and to perform with some of that city’s great musicians. Some of those appear on this album.

“Below the Surface” brings to bear the talents of Politzer herself on piano, the talented David Valdez on alto sax, Thomas Barber on trumpet, Andrea Niemiec on bass and George Colligan on drums. Colligan is also Politzer’s husband and I admit to a small bit of concern that Polizer might sound “too close to Colligan.”

 I have written several articles and reviews on Colligan’s albums. From the first notes of the first track, however, the only “Colligan sound” was coming from the drums—drums that he was playing.

The compositions were all by Politzer. I like her voice, her rhythmic sense, her depth and her ever-so-slight melancholy. She is skilled and she is deliberate.

“Two Worlds” is the opening piece and it contains all of that plus some cool changes and masterful performances from all of the musicians. David Valdez on alto sax gets a quick jump into the piece. I have been an admirer of Valdez since I first saw him perform with George Colligan’s Quartet a few years ago. Valdez, like Colligan, is a brilliant blogger (davidvaldez.blogspot.com) who writes great pieces on jazz and jazz theory. Valdez can project power and emotional on an equal scale with anyone.

Thomas Barber is the perfect horn-mate for Valdez. Barber has beautiful tonality and a punctuating hit that is excellent for Politzer’s purposes. He can create a seduction usually reserved for the sax.

“Dilemma” follows next and is a fine piece for the horns. Andreas Niemiec’s bass lines, however, are fascinating and work well beneath the horns and piano. The piece almost evokes images of a 60s detective dram or maybe even as an alternate soundtrack for “The Maltese Falcon.” Certainly, there is a dark, cool movement her and I dig it.

Politzer’s solos are beautiful and imaginative. She has been called “post-bop” and perhaps that that fits as well as any description. However, she also reveals a Brazilian taste in touch and tempo in the third track, “Moment of Clarity.”

In that song, George Colligan turns in some of his very best work, as does Niemiec. Valdez cooks right alongside Politzer’s warm but lively piano.

This is top-shelf Jazz going on here. The composition is exquisite and the performers are flawless. I must have hit replay eight or ten times. When I got to the next track though, I was equally delighted.

“Below the Surface,” the title track, didn’t surprise me. Three tracks had already prepared me for the exciting world of listening to Kerry Politzer. I had moved past expectation and was now in the splendid state of expectancy.

“Below the Surface” is Thomas Barber’s limelight track. His legato blasts in step with Valdez are in sweet counterpoint to the short groove laid down by piano, bass and drums. Barber then departs into a soulful lead that is soon followed by Valdez’ equally soulful sax, all on top of that returning groove.

This is one of the coolest pieces on the album with one of the album’s sweetest swings.

As lyrical as the title suggests, “Meandering” again shows Valdez leading with splendid form and and texture until Politzer takes the lead at 2:10 with spot-on support from Niemiec and Colligan. Niemiec gets a solo shot and makes her melodic most of it. Valdez returns to hold the door until the group exits.

Raised in a musical family and beginning musical instruction at the age of four, Politzer received training as a classical musician until attending the New England Conservatory of Music. It was there that she discovered her love for Jazz.

She credits much of her Jazz training to Charlie Banacos and this is evident on every track. It is especially notable in her own unspoken spiritual approach to the music. She is not only gifted, she is blessed.

“Empty House” has a distinct samba feel to it. Politzer’s Brazilan textures are definitely on display here.  Valdez and Barber are in tight tandem and Colligan keeps the proceedings lively, setting up Barber’s seductively slurring solo lines.

Politzer’s solo is an excursion into virtuosic, percussive and energetic coolness. She and Colligan carry the track to its conclusion with Niemiec’s bass holding down the corners.

The seventh track of the album is “Second Thoughts.” Valdez gets prime time again and employs fine intonations and inventions as the group lays a solid foundation for the solos.

Politzer gets (and takes) her turn in a satisfying solo that, in turn, gives way to Niemiec’s bass. The unified departure closes out nicely. What her second thoughts may have been, Politzer approaches this piece with single-minded determination.

Kerry Politzer’s shining piano moments may well be on “Echo Says.”  There are moments of real introspection and reflection in this piano, bass and drums composition. There is also a brilliance and a wonder that follows the composition and performance. The word reverence even comes to mind in the hearing of this piece.

Despite different flavorings in the various pieces, Politzer has put together an album of great cohesion. Part of that may be due to having the same musicians throughout the album instead of different guest artists on every track. Surely the compositions are tightly and straightforwardly Jazz. The result is a tightly-knit group playing interlaced pieces that simply belong together.

“If You Knew” is no exception. The evident swing and pulse is heightened by Politzer’s interaction with Colligan behind Valdez’ fronting. That swing surges to the fore as Politzer solos.

Then, at 3:30, Colligan gets the long-awaited solo. Colligan was a drummer before becoming a pianist and he puts it all on show for two minutes and 22 seconds. The memorable melody is resumed and carried away by the group.

“In Spring” is the final track. At 1:53 it is also the shortest track by far. Politzer takes this moment for her solo piano to weave a meditative and melancholic piece. The chords are almost haunting while the melodic approach is much lighter, almost hopeful. It is a perfect farewell piece until we see her again.

Politzer is anything but predictable. Her composing is intelligent and intriguing. Her performance, as stated, is flawless. Her music sings, dances and strikes yoga poses. She touches everything. My only regret is that I have not been along for the ride of her whole career.




To purchase Kerry Politzer's "Below the Surface," go here: http://pjce.bandcamp.com/album/below-the-surface
or visit her website here: http://www.kerrypolitzer.com/

Toshi composes from the heart as warmly as any composer. So much so that each album is like another chapter in his own tale. The song “Hypocrisy” is in just such a vein. With the Spanish Guitar and Ovation again, he conjures images of all the betrayal one can bear. The picking is, at certain moments, as shrill as the disappointment that he portrays.

One of the most emotionally lavish pieces is the eighth track entitled “The Earth, the Ocean and the Sky.” It is the only piece with vocals on the album. The lyrics were written by Candace Shutter, Toshi Onizuka and Okaidja Afroso and it is Afroso who sings those lyrics.

The lyrics are mesmerizing and Afroso’s vocals are breathless and inspiring. The melody is almost a lullaby that, with those vocals, create a true song of innocence.

One of my very favorite pieces on the album is “Midnight Cruise in PDX.” A tone poem, if there ever was one, it is a flawless description of that midnight drive through Portland. The lights of the city reflecting off the waters of the Willamette River, the hum of the tires over the metal grating on Portland’s many bridges, the rhythmic thump rolling over the road joints—all captured by Toshi’s strum patterns, pickings styles and Las Palmas clapping. It is a memorable piece, indeed.

“Hawaiian Style” is played on the custom Spanish Guitar only. It is the shortest track on the album. That in itself calls to mind a picture of the oh-to-brief smile. Short but delightful.

“Light in Shade” is one of very favorites songs of all-time and is certainly my favorite Toshi piece. And that is saying a lot. There is no other song like this one. The sweet opening pauses, then surrenders to the most wonderful melody, chord changes, rhythms and memories one could ever hope to find.

“Light in Shade” is just amazing. I have never had a piece of music so easily move me. Before now, it was the YES song “Awaken” that had that claim on me. While both songs are introspective and emotional, “Light in Shade” is purely instrumental without the interpretation of lyrics. The song is precise, almost mathematical. After sitting in with Toshi’s trio for a live performance, bassist Victor Little said of it, “it is a demanding piece to play but it is also incredibly warm and emotional.”

“Light in Shade” plays it so emotionally that it is impossible to describe. During one live performance with his trio, Toshi's intro was moving and graceful and one could see his regular bassist Jon Hughes with eyes closed listening, while drummer Reinhardt Melz had his head bowed as they both let the melody and the movement flow over them.

This song is like reaching enlightenment. There is a pull to the music that carries you further and further along until labor and effort cease and you are borne aloft simply by the melody. You stop actively listening and you fall into meditation. This melody is like a stream of joy and it remains even when the music has stopped. It is a changed life that is at the heart of this piece. Every time I hear it, I am not the same as before. Joy is created and enhanced and life is reborn once again.  


It is like a long gaze into a clear pool of water. On the surface is one's own reflection, but looking past that, one can see straight to the bottom with all the wonders so clear for observation. That is the light in the shade--to see what is usually obscure, especially to ourselves.

The album closes out with “Utatane (Doze).” It is played on the Spanish Guitar, the 1984 Ovation and the KAMAKA. Very much a song of repose and relaxation, “Utatane” is a poetic description of a siesta or a daydream or a nap. The song is perfect for such languid luxuries. The duo of ukulele and Ovation is like being on the cusp of wakefulness and dreaming.

Just like the whole album.




"What a Beautiful Day" and Toshi's two previous albums can be purchased here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/toshionizuka3
Visit Toshi's web site at: www.toshionizuka.com

George Colligan can, apparently, do no wrong. His choices in musicians and his compositional skills—not to mention superior musicianship—cannot be second-guessed. “Ask Me Tomorrow” is one more example in a long catalog of examples. Fronting his own trios and quartets or with Jack DeJohnette’s group, as a professor at Portland State University or as a blog-writer himself, Colligan does not disappoint.

“Ask Me Tomorrow”, recorded in January, 2012, Colligan points out in his liner notes was supposed to be a demo. He wanted to document this particular trio, and rightly so, because he calls it “one of the most liberating gigs” that he has ever played. Half-way through the first track the listener can already understand why.

That first track—“Ask Me Tomorrow”—was the only track that was not a first take. The energy is high and the focus is razor sharp. It is all so clear from the outset.

Colligan’s choices of Linda Oh (bass) and Ted Poor (drums) are spot-on. Colligan admits that he played “once or twice with Miss Oh in the band of flautist Jamie Baum” but that he had heard Ted Poor only on recording with trumpeter Cuong Vu. Poor’s reputation, however, was well-established and he was highly regarded.

Again, Colligan’s choice was correct. Poor plays the title track on the deep end of this blues and Oh plays off him and against him very well. Colligan himself, as always, is on top of the proceedings and, as composer, he is second to none. I even named him my “2013 Composer of the Year” for the Jazz Journalist Association poll for that year.

“Two Notes Four Chords” echoes of “One Note Samba” in a more haunting sense. It almost comes across as the jazz soundtrack of a mystery movie. Linda Oh offers a sweet solo that sets up Colligan’s close-to-the-end runs exceedingly well. The chord changes are brilliant.

The third track was written in Prague and thus the title of the song. Ted Poor’s quick roll kicks off “Prague” and the piano and bass share equally quick arpeggios to begin the piece.

“Cathexis” is the penultimate track. “Cathexis”—now there’s a good word. In psychological terminology, it is the process of concentrating emotional energy into an idea or object or even person.

The focus between and among Colligan, Oh and Poor is laser fine. Oh cuts into a cool children’s chant for a couple of bars before returning to the full swing of Colligan and Poor. Colligan’s left-hand groove is especially in the pocket, giving a very memorable line along with Oh’s bass line. This is a favorite.

The album closes with “Jet Blue.” Always one to throw in a fun surprise—like the melodic—Colligan picks up the pocket trumpet on this free improvisational number. It is also a first-take, capturing the energy and skill of the whole trio. The ostinato is a fun feature of the piece. Colligan then fades it out with an exhausted-sounding horn.

As he did with his previous SteepleChase (SCCD 31752) recording, “The Facts” with Jaleel Shaw, Boris Kozlov and Donald Edwards, Colligan pulls in just the right musicians for just the music he intends. The recordings are done quickly and the demand is high for the musicians. None of them have let the music down.

This is Colligan’s recipe for success: fitting musicians, stunning compositions and no time to waste.



Released on June 24, 2014, “Ask Me Tomorrow” by George Colligan can be purchased here.
Have a look at George Colligan’s website at: http://www.georgecolligan.com
Visit Colligan’s fascinating blog at http://jazztruth.blogspot.com.