RECORD REVIEWS

Lehm annaudio - ONE

Beauty lies in

JASON RIGBY & RALPH TOWNERT the ear of DETROIT-CLEVEI.AND TRIO My Foolish Heart One Ralph Towner, classical & 12-string guitars (CD).2017 prod.; Jason Rigby, tenor & soprano saxophones; ECM 2516 , Stefano Amerio, DDD. TT:40:26 the beho lder Cameron Brown, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums eng. Fresh Sound New Talent 505 (CD), 2016. Jason PERFoRMANcE l--E-.! Rigby, prod.; Aaron Nevezie, eng. DDD? TT:52:11 soNrcs EXf,IE PERFORMANCE IE-E-.! Ralph Towner's return to solo-guitar soNrcs EdxSGl work is cause for celebration. His com- Though not prolific as a leader,Jason pletely original approach to playing Rigby has made a mark as an especially classical and 12-string guitar combines fine ifunderrated tenor saxophon- his wonderfully relaxed, conversational ist. One is his first release since Tfre flow of melodic statements and impro- Sage Q008), and only his third since visations with a harmonic logic that is Tlanslucent Space (2006). The earlier emotionally rewarding yet startling in dates respectively found fugby leading its virtuosiry like watching a monarch a quintet and an ensemble with wood- butterfly dancing its way through a winds and cello. Ona by conrrast. is a sun-dappled garden. bare-bones trio, and far more raw. Towner has epitomized the branch Bassist Cameron Brown, who played o{frisior.lazz that is more about ot The Sage and Tlanslucent Space, rs cross-generic influences than amplifi- a native of Detroit, as is drummer calion, an approach exemplified by his Gerald Cleaver (who also played on groundbreaking chamber-j azz band The Sage). Rigby is originally from Oregon and championed by producer Cleveland-the Midwest connection Manfred Eicher, whose ECM labe1 gives the trio its name and perhaps maps the DMZ benveen and Silver Cube Phono Stage informs its aesthetic. But the impro- classical music. Towner here includes a The high art of music listening. visationai fire sounds very like New couple of reinterpretations of Oregon York, where the session was recorded. gems: "Shard" and "Rewind." There's not so much as a hint of reverb The only tune not by Towner is the on the horn. The drums are presented titie track, which offers ribute to Bill with a wide and sadsfiring stereo im- Evans, one of Towner's earliest influ- Distributed by: age. The bass, unfortunately, is panned ences-he began as a pianist, and still hard right, making Brown's playng regards his approach to guitar playrng as ORTOFON INC fainter than the rest and throwing the "pianistic." The song was first released mix offkilter. 7949, when it appeared in the Executive Blvd Suite roz in film of 5oo The warmth of Rigby's tone and that title, and was reanimated by Evans Ossining, NY ro56z the rigor of his ideas come across as an erotic dreamscape on his classic Phone: {9r4) 762-8b4b even in the stormiest free blowing. albrrn Waltz fo r D ebby (tO 0z). lv ans The leadoff tenor-drum duet, "Dive seemed to suspend time in his reading, Fax {9r4) 762-8649 Bar," and the originals "Live by the an aesthetic that some fans have ampli- [email protected] Sword" and "Dewey," are suffused fied into a cult following that evokes the exploratory www.ortofon.us with energy of the visions of syrnbolist poets and sweet 1970s loft scene. Rigby is also radiant narcosis. But Evans needed no such aids in the unaccompanied "Embraceable to arrive at this imaginative landscape, You," and steeped in the tradition in and Towner's spiritually charged hom- the Rodgers &Hart ballad "You Are age underscores that truth. Too Beaudful." Switching ro soprano Towner also pays tribute to another Music to your ears. for Herbie Hancock's "Speak Like a pianist, Paul Bley, in the beautiful Child," he roams freely through that "Blue as in Bley." "Pilgrim," "Saunter," www.lehmannaudio.com/silver-cube rune's shadowy, expansive interiors. "111 Sing to You," and "Clarion Call" -David R. Adler are other highlights.-1"t' Swenson

luly 2017 . stereophile.com