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George Colligan and "The Endless Mysteries"

11/24/2013

This is one of those albums where you look at the line-up and know that you are in for something extraordinary. George Colligan has been enjoying an increasingly visible profile and continually takes giant leaps forward. This album sees him with Larry Grenadier on bass and the incomparable Jack DeJohnette on drums.

George’s relationship with DeJohnette began years ago when George was subbing in a rehearsal session for him. The way George describes it in his liner notes is that George made Jack keep his phone number and--in 2009--Jack called him to come aboard and George has been a part of Jack’s group since then.

The album was recorded at NRS Studio in Catskill, NY on December 18, 2012. That date will play a part in the story of the album.

Maybe it is the December setting that makes the first track “Waiting for Solitude” sound like a soundtrack for a wintry night with snow falling outdoors. The delicate introduction from George’s piano creates just such an image. Larry Grenadier and Jack DeJohnette join in with the same light touch. Grenadier gets a good solo in the piece and shows himself sublimely comfortable in this group.

Then DeJohnette opens “Song for the Tarahumera” with a quick-step pacing and is joined in the fast pacing by piano and drums. The Tarahumera are a Native American tribe in northwestern Mexico and are renowned for their barefoot long-walks, sometimes covering as much as 100 miles in a day. The piece is indeed a barefoot stride of light-hearted optimism and engagement. DeJohnette is brilliant as always and is a great contributor to the flow and feel of the piece.

“Her Majesty” confirms my appreciation for Colligan not just as a performer but as a composer. It is an extremely well-constructed piece with well-timed stops and smooth flowing bass lines. The song truly allows the trio to show how well-suited they are to interacting with each other.

Larry Grenadier has performed in Brad Mehldau’s Trio and is accustomed to the piano trio setting. He began playing bass at the age of 11 and began his life of jazz at 12 years of age. He has played with Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and the great Paul Motian. This trio with Colligan and DeJohnette shows his exemplary skill in that setting.

“Her Majesty” allows for that display. I’m not sure if the piece is inspired by Colligan’s wife--the talented and adorable Kerry Politzer--but it is certainly an inspired and inspiring piece.

“Liam’s Lament” is launched by Grenadier’s bass. It is very subtle introduction. This is the third setting in which I have heard this particular piece, dedicated to George’s son when the boy was only two years old.

The first setting was a YouTube video featuring Boris Kozlov on bass. The second was with George’s quartet at a live performance in Portland, OR in May of 2012 with Eric Gruber on bass and Todd Strait on drums. Kozlov had played electric bass while Gruber (and now Grenadier) played the double-bass. Each of the three performances carry their own characteristics and particular strengths but this recording of the piece may be the crowning achievement.

The song features George on the melodica with its own peculiar sound under George’s touch. He carries that haunting melody as Grenadier and DeJohnette contribute their own uniqueness. At 1:30 in the track, Grenadier strikes a doubled note that made me rewind it several times to hear it again and again. It was a sound that added so much and yet in a minimal way.

Todd Strait had gone to the brushes on the piece in the live performance but DeJohnette equals that light touch with the sticks. His light cymbal work makes this remarkable piece even more remarkable.

However, as I stated in my review of that live performance of May 2012, it is the melodica that makes “Liam’s Lament” truly touching. It is this particular piece that has become an almost signature piece of George’s. If a collection of George’s music were ever recorded, “Liam’s Lament” must surely be at or near the top of the list.

“It’s Hard Work!” is a composition closely coupled with “Lydian Domination” from George’s 2013 album entitled “The Facts.” The former’s bass line is very reminiscent of the latter piece but the piano melody is from a completely different place. The bass groove is a thing of beauty. The track itself is very well placed behind “Liam’s Lament.”

The Master, Jack DeJohnette

At this point in the album there is a turn in the mood and emotions. “Thoughts of Ana” and “Outrage” are the sixth and seventh tracks and are both improvisational pieces. They are the results of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The murder of the 26 children and adults took place on December 14, 2012 and the trio was in the studio on the 18th. Nerves and emotions must have been raw and these two tracks reveal that.

“Thoughts of Ana” is a memory of Ana Marquez-Greene. She was the first-grade daughter of saxophonist and former Colligan colleague, Jimmy Greene. The song is heart-rending in its fragility and innocence. The images of the children’s faces march across the memory while the heroic sacrifice of the teachers and school staff stirs the indignation and fury at policies and politics that bemoan but do not amend the laws that allow for such evil.

George’s solo piano carries the sad imagery and the song fades out with the piano’s highest note struck in intervals like little souls moving heavenward. And that gives way to…

“Outrage.” It is the piano again leading in with a cacophonous anger. Grenadier’s bass adds its voice to be followed by DeJohnette’s indignant drums; a chorus of condemnation against monstrosity and moral evil. Not just the evil of action but the equal evils of inaction and service to greed. It is a piece that empties the emotions.

“The Endless Mysteries” attempts to heal and feels like a psalm of existence. It carries with it an honor for life and a recognition of not-knowing. Perhaps it is because of the previous two pieces that the song makes one thankful that--though we despise and regret the loss of those little martyrs and their guardians--there is thanksgiving that they graced our planet at all. They were here, if only for a little while, and we should be grateful.

Larry Grenadier

“When the Moon is in the Sky”, after an audible count-in, is jump-started by the the trio in unison. Grenadier gets an early solo on bass and creates a line of great interest and attractiveness. DeJohnette is in the back being his masterful self. When recalling that this album was recorded in just a few hours with no rehearsal, the organic and fluid quality is astounding. Colligan did it that way with his album “The Facts”, also.

And it works so well. After all, Colligan has served as DeJohnette’s pianist for four years now. DeJohnette himself is a splendid pianist and understands how his drumming should interact with George’s piano. This is indeed a stand-out piece.

“If the Mountain Were Smooth, You Couldn’t Climb It” is a superb end to this album of joy and heart-break. This song is a summary of the message of the album--a song of what life is. The album covers the craggy and painful parts of life and it ascends to the heights of joy.

The performance is incredible, on this piece and on the whole album, and the composition is brilliant. It is the best possible way to close out the album. So life-affirming. So uplifting. It is almost as if the three of them were pouring out everything on this final track and they are just on fire.

I have heard all of George Colligan’s recordings and I have always enjoyed his performances, both heard recorded and experienced live. “The Endless Mysteries” is the best thing he has yet done. What excites me most is that he is not finished.

George Colligan's "The Endless Mysteries" can be purchased at Origin Records here.

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Keith Jarrett's talent for composition shows "No End"

11/21/2013

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“How could I have left this in a drawer all these years?” Keith Jarrett asks himself in the liner notes to his forthcoming double-album “No End.” The CD is due to be released on November 26, 2013 and will cause the listener to ask the same question.

Recorded at Cavelight Studio in Jarrett’s home in 1986, it represents a hitherto undocumented exploration in Jarrett’s composing and multi-instrumental performance where, surprisingly, the piano is not the featured instrument. Rather, Jarrett plays electric guitar, electric bass, drums and percussion amidst tribal dances of Jarrett’s own devise.

He describes the studio as “a drum set in the corner. Tablas and percussion, instruments of all kinds strewn around the room.” He recalls the deep red Gibson solid-body and the blond wood classic Fender bass.

Describing the improvisation, Jarrett says “There was really, to my knowledge, no forethought or ‘composition’ (in the typical sense) going on; just a feeling or a rhythmic idea or a bass line concept or melody. But none of this was written down. Beginnings and endings were either hit-or-miss or just plain astoundingly intuitive.”

Most surprisingly, he states that “I have always been drawn to instruments that you touch directly, without a mechanism in between. Therefore I cannot say I have ever loved the piano as much as the drums or guitar. Although I have a reputation for being in the acoustic world, I have always loved electric guitar.”

This stands in distinct contradiction to his previously stated position as being anti-electric as some of his liner notes from the mid-70s disclose as well as various interviews in Jazz magazines. All that, however, is easily overlooked once hearing this incredible album.

The album is presented in two CDs with each disc containing 10 tracks. The tracks are listed simply as their track numbers.

The first disc and the first track grabs you from the opening. The light percussion with the delicate electric guitar on top is quickly seen instrumentally as anything unheard from Keith Jarrett before. The melody, however, is pure Jarrett. There is an almost Eastern meditative feel to it. In fact, the feeling is very reminiscent of “Reading Sacred Books” from the “Sacred Hymns” album. The Gurdjieff effect is in full force here.

The second and third tracks are similar to each other in the cool kind of funk-soul groove. The guitar is cool and unobtrusive. The third track is a little more soulful and can almost put the listener in a Curtis Mayfield mindset.

The fourth track is more exploratory in the rhythmic sense. Even Jarrett’s guitar approach is more percussive and turns the whole piece into an organic exposition of rhythms. That exposition is nearly stream-of-consciousness in its liquidity and flow.

There is a quick turn in the fifth track as Jarrett generates a Gospel/Folk feel with his vocalizations and percussion. It is the vocal swing that catches the attention here. In fact, it must be that the vocals were recorded first and became the foundation for the instrumentation.

One of the jazziest pieces of the entire album is the succeeding piece that recall some of the “Sun Bear Concerts” sublime moments. Here the guitar work is foremost but the doubled drum hits create and almost triumphant march beneath the cool and quirky guitar.

Jarrett follows this with a return to soul in a Donny Hathaway sense. There is a bit of a country swing to the guitar with the funky rhythmic undercurrent. Country over soul brings “Valdez in the Country” to mind.

The eighth and ninth tracks are tribal rhythms with meditative guitar lines. The ninth track starts with raga imagery alongside the steady shaker and tabla lines. A delightfully punctuating guitar brings the attention to the melodic meditation.

Track Ten closes the first disc beautifully in its sweet chord changes and ascending melody. It is a piece born of imagination and illumination. Probably my favorite piece from the whole project.

The second disc further explores the rhythmic tapestries woven by Jarrett. The first track is another study in vocalizations underscoring the Native American rhythms. Atop it all is a guitar movement that recollects The Doors, of all sources! One begins to understand that perhaps every music ever heard by Jarrett is being channeled on the album and he surrenders to that impulse splendidly.

There is a certain inevitability to the second track in its pacing and tone. It is captivating and inspiring. A dual melody between bass and guitar develops that occasionally interweave then separate again.

Rhythmic considerations take over the third and fourth tracks with a bluesy guitar developing in the former piece. While the drumming carries that piece, the guitar and bass are extraordinary and present a nearly progressive jazz front in their structure and execution. The latter of the two tracks features cymbal dominance in the percussion and is a very intriguing approach which allows for the surprise late in the piece as it transitions from avant-garde to a rhythm and blues groove.

A sweet melody over strident drums is the hallmark of the fifth track. At this point, one begins to wonder if the album was going to start getting repetitive but those fears are allayed by the fascinating reminiscence in the piece.

The sixth tracks opens with a hot intra-jam between Jarrett and Jarrett. It recalls the opening jam of Transatlantic’s “Suite: Charlotte Pike.” If anything, the tracks get progressively more interesting and more spellbinding.

Tracks 7 and 8 sound as though they might be two movements of the same suite. One flows easily into the next and are both built on similar rhythmic patterns with the former piece featuring overdubbed vocalizations, giving it a tribal chant atmosphere.

The penultimate piece carries an accelerating sense that is a great set-up for the final track of the CD and album which contains aboriginal droning vocalizations from Jarrett. The underscoring percussion fashions a solid base for the guitar work.

The whole album is a work of rhythm and melodic rhyme. It springs from a love of instruments that require no intermediary--such as the hammers of a piano--to generate the sound. In a very visceral way, Jarrett has shortened the distance between the composing heart and the expectant ear.

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"The 6th Story"...Alchemical Jazz from simakDialog.

11/6/2013

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It’s difficult to believe that this band has been around since 1993. While they have garnered great praise from all over southeast Asia, the western world is only now beginning to catch on to the brilliance of this progressive jazz band. The exposure to the West has largely been due to their three most recent albums on the MoonJune Records label.

The third and current release from MoonJune is “The 6th Story” and is the long-awaited follow-up to 2009’s “Demi Masa.” The simakDialog sound has been honed and shaped for 20 years and the band itself are hitting a new stride that is fittingly concurrent with their widening exposure and acceptance.

The band is lead by the compositional creativity of keyboardist Riza Arshad who wrote all of the material on the current album. Arshad plays the Fender Rhodes, synthesizers and acoustic piano and is a musician extraordinaire. He is joined in the band’s leadership by the brilliant guitarist--and MoonJune recording artist--Tohpati Ario Hutomo.

The rhythm section is formed by bassist Adhitya Pratama, metal percussionist Cucu Kurnia and Sundanese kendang percussionists Endang Ramdan (left) and Erlan Suwardana (right). They create the intricate and fascinating rhythms of the Sundanese to support the equally intricate melodies of Riza and Tohpati.

The riveting interplay between Riza and Tohpati are evident from the opening track entitled “Stepping In.” There are moments recalling Return to Forever’s “Hymn to the Seventh Galaxy” and Bill Bruford’s “One of a Kind.” That, of course, is enough to keep anyone nailed to the music.

This is not just modern Jazz but modern-modern-modern Jazz. Some have made references to Joe Zawinul and others but this is more than simply fusion.

In “Stepping In,” the mesmerizing left-right body blows of the kendang percussionists keep the rhythm anchored as Adhitya’s bass jabs in cool syncopated pulses. The hook hits you from the first track.

simakDialog is from Jakarta, Indonesia and were founded in 1993. Leonardo Pavkovic of MoonJune Records saw their talent and brought them aboard his label along with other bands from Indonesia where incredible musical talent lay waiting to be introduced to the West. Pavkovic has done the musical world a great favor.

The second track, “Lain Parantina” is an exercise in off-tempos and demanding exactness. The kendang players plus Kurnia are captivating in their polyrhythms. The guitar of Tohpati and Fender Rhodes of Riza are in perfect compliment. The quick times and lock-step runs are brilliant.

The drive of Riza is well-accompanied and even accentuated by Tohpati’s splendid guitar is such pieces as “Harmologic” and “What Would I Say.” One thinks of the hand-in-glove partnership of Chick Corea and Al DiMeola.

The compositions are striking indeed with the western-influenced melodies underscored by the Sundanese rhythmic constructs. “What Would I Say” has a beautiful and melancholy arrangement that highlights the loveliness of the piece.

“For Once and Never” is strident in its cadence and Tohpati’s guitar is almost noble in presentation and expression. Adhitya’s bass lines are also interesting to follow, often in progression with the keyboard as the guitar is more exploratory. It is Riza’s keyboard performance and compositional mastery, however, that are incredibly elegant and eloquent.

As aggressive as anything from Zawinul without the arrogance is “Common Leagues.” Tohpati indulges in sweet and blistering guitar riffs here while the next track, “As Far As It Can Be (Jaco),” is maybe the most lyrical piece on the recording. There is a delicate sadness to the song and Riza and Tohpati develop it remarkably.

“5, 6” employs challenging time shifts and demands virtuosity in this precision piece. The rhythms are gruelling for any except master percussionists like Endang, Erland and Cucu. The melody is certainly servant to the rhythms here. And nobody minds.

“Ari” is Riza’s showcase track. The piano and synth work is beautiful and captivating. When the rhythm section joins in force at the end, it is an astonishing conclusion with unity and force. It is a fine way to close out an album.

Categorization of simakDialog is impossible. Freestyle Jazz, Fusion, Psychodelic Jazz, even Progressive Jazz all seem to fall short. This should be called Alchemical Jazz--not just combining elements but rising above the various elements to create something newer, greater and truly unheard before. But I certainly want to hear more.

"The 6th Story" from simakDialog can be ordered from MoonJune records here.

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George Colligan and "The Endless Mysteries"

Keith Jarrett's talent for composition shows "No End"

"The 6th Story"...Alchemical Jazz from simakDialog.

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