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Recent Recordings by Area Musicians
Landis likes to play with a variety of rhythms, and eschews simple swinging standard-like patterns; ranging from various Latin to march-like configurations. When she does break out into easy swing on “My Heart Goes Out,” the tenth tune in the recital, it seems welcome and fresh. She then pivots to a waltz, “Lemonade,” which features the apposite bowed bass of Lindberg. Indeed, the bassist is a great addition to her regular trio. We normally hear him in more far-out contexts, but on this recording he proves that he can play in just about any style, contributing mightily to the proceedings. Having said that, one cannot avoid noting that Landis and her musicians take chances here, perhaps inspired by Lindberg’s presence. Things come back to more traditional sounds on the final track, which is a lovely tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, imagining her famous discovery at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. This is an ambitious recording that covers a broad range of styles and sounds focused on unusual lyrics that are sung with sensitivity and conviction. Landis has obviously been inspired by the great Detroit vocalists who imagined themselves instrumentalists using the voice rather than as traditional jazz or pop singers — Sheila Jordan and Betty Carter — but she does not imitate either of them. She has developed her own approach to music and this recording shows her at her best.
This is definitely Napoleon’s recital, with the warm sound of his finger-picked electric guitar up front. In addition to his solo and ensemble prowess, the accent here is also on his pen, as half the tracks are his own compositions, as are all but one of the arrangements. Working with singers requires much subtle background work, so here he obviously takes the opportunity to get down a bit, with the sound of the Hammond organ helping in that regard. There is a gentle but forceful blues feeling to many of the tracks, especially in the guitar solos. All the other musicians play well, sensitively following the leader, their solos short and to the point. This CD is quite different in sound and feeling from any of Napoleon’s previous ones, and uses the organ and the horn section to set down a swinging, bluesy groove as a carpet for his solos.
Eskelin is usually thought of as an “avant” player, but his roots are firmly in the jazz tradition, and his mother was a professional Hammond organist. This is his tribute to her, and the repertoire, unlike any of his other bands, consists of standards such as “Memories of You” and “How Deep is the Ocean.” But these are not head/solos/head performances; the three musicians bend rhythm, melody, and form to recreate the compositions in novel ways, often alluding and dancing around things rather than stating them. Eskelin is an amazing saxophonist, with a warm tone that still has an edge to it, who can create abstractions within and without the harmonies and his sense of melody is all his own. Versace rethinks the role of the organ, constantly changing his approach to match Eskelin, sometimes directly with him, sometimes against. Cleaver dances around the traditional role of the drum set, sometimes marking times, sometimes only suggesting it, and at other moments using his instrument melodically. The result is a complete meshing of three voices that breathes new life into five standards. I N - T H I S - I S S U E : |
