Jazz / by JOE TANGARI

Jazz / BY JOE TANGARI

Cristina Pato Outside Voices Some of jazz’s greatest players—Eric Dolphy and Yusef Lateef spring to mind—have pep- pered their records with oddball instruments, but true specialists in unusual instrumentation are more rare. These five releases all feature out-of-the-ordinary instrumentation, often to outstanding results. Unusual instrumentation doesn’t nec-

essarily dictate an unusual approach. Paul N O R

Hemmings’ Blues And The Abstract Uke D A P (Leading Tone 15-006; 57:06 ++++) UMO Jazz Orchestra N A may be built around his ukulele, but it X with Michael Brecker has a classic feel, with dips into boogaloo, hard-bop and cool jazz. Hemmings’ original classical themes, interpreting and re-work- Live In Helsinki 1995 RANDOM ACT 1018 “Goodbye Lentil” is even somewhat haunt- ing Strauss, Bartók, Schoenberg, Bernstein ing, teasing sounds out of the little chor- and Dvorák, with occasional odd nods to ++++½ Kurt Weill or Bill Monroe. dophone that fit no stereotype. The uke At any given time, there are dozens of top-fight Ordering info: rovenrecords.com mixes well with the tenor sax and trombone musicians in transit around the globe, settling on the gospel revival “Hello Bean,” and it On the wilder side of things, the Cris- down here and there as guest soloists with var- stands beautifully on its own over minimal tina Pato Quartet’s Latina (Sunnyside ious ensembles. Tis is one aspect of music backing on superb renditions of “Nobody 1415; 36:00 ++++½) is built around ex- Knows You When You’re Down And Out” plosive 6/8 rhythms, and Pato plays her where things don’t difer much between the and “Sittin’ On Top Of The World,” the lat- Galician bagpipes (called gaita) with bold worlds of jazz and classical. In both worlds, the ter of which features Hemmings making authority. Her band—bassist Edward Pe- challenges are legion: poorly rehearsed ensem- hair-raising use of harmonics. It may not rez, drummer Eric Doob and accordionist bles, indiferent conductors, mediocre compo- have the biggest range, but in Hemmings’ Victor Prieto—kicks up a charging racket sitions or arrangements and the general vaga- hands, the little ukulele belongs. behind her. But Pato’s virtuoso playing is ries of long-distance travel. Is it any wonder that Ordering info: paulhemmings.com the clear star of the show. The gaita typi- those soloists—even if they generally sound Daniel Smith’s Jazz Suite For Bas- cally includes a bass drone, but she often amazing in the studio or fronting their regular eschews it in favor of greater harmonic soon (Summit 656; 40:36 +++½) takes groups on their home turf—sometimes sound freedom, finding a surprisingly violin-like more of a hybrid jazz/classical approach less than inspiring at these guest appearances? to jazz bassoon. He leans heavily classical tone. Her melodic lines swoop and flutter, If any of those challenges bedeviled saxo- on the set of baroque compositions he ar- and her command of the instrument’s dy- ranges for himself and a piano/bass/drums namic range is superb; her playing on “Lle- phonist Michael Brecker on this 1995 trip trio to open the album; these would likely gará, Llegará, Llegará” is ferocious, while to Helsinki to appear with the UMO Jazz sound familiar to Purcell and Vivaldi. The on “Landó: Maria Landó,” she concludes a Orchestra, he lef them behind when he hit the middle of the album is devoted to chamber solo with a gentle legato trail-off. The gaita stage. In short, this is one of those performanc- arrangements of Joplin rags, firmly demon- may never take its place alongside the sax- es that made fans love Brecker, and made his strating Smith’s precise technique on his ophone as a common jazz lead, but Latina is premature death—in 2007, at the age of 57—so instrument. But the album’s most exciting revelatory nonetheless. deeply felt. From his frst notes on “Invitation,” portion is the final title suite, composed by Ordering info: sunnysidezone.com Brecker never sounds less than fully engaged, pianist Steve Gray. “Jazz Suite For Bassoon” Jen Shyu & Jade Tongue’s Sounds playing at the top of his game with gruf mus- And Cries Of The World (Pi 61; 61:00 swings, and it’s here that we finally get to cularity and remarkable facility. Not surpris- +++) ventures deep into the avant-garde, hear Smith do extended improvisation. His ingly, he sounds most at home on his own long, unaccompanied cadenza on the “Al- and finds the bandleader playing a closet- compositions—“Slang,” “Song For Barry” and legro” movement is astonishingly complex ful of Far Eastern instruments, including and fluid. the gat kim (a two-stringed Taiwanese lute), “Never Alone”—but he also embraces a pair of Ordering info: summitrecords.com gayageum (a Korean zither), ggwaenggwari Horace Silver compositions, and takes Finnish Also bridging the jazz/classical divide (a Korean gong) and kemanak (a Javanese tenor player Manuel Dunkel to the wall in a is composer and accordionist William idiophone), but this unusual menagerie fery duet on “Ginare,” the piece that will grab Schimmel, whose Theater Of The Ac- is far outshined by her dominant vocals. most listeners. —James Hale cordion (Roven 51115; 58:43 +++) finds The instruments are used less as leads and more for texture, ably merging with her Live In Helsinki 1995: Invitation; Slang; Andrea’s Song; Nica’s him performing almost entirely solo, with Dream; Ginare; The Meaning Of The Blues; The Big Picture; Song the exception of two guest spots by Wyn- band of Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, For Barry; Nutville; Never Alone. (73:32) Dan Weiss on drums, Mat Maneri on viola Personnel: Michael Brecker, tenor saxophone; Pentti Lahti, ton Marsalis. The duo takes on “St. Louis Mikko Mäkinen, Teemu Salminen, Manuel Dunkel, Pertti Päivinen, Blues” and a portion of Mahler’s ninth and Thomas Morgan on bass. The result is saxophones; Esko Heikkinen, Timo Paasonen, Sami Pöyhönen, Tero Saarti, trumpets; Markku Veijonsuo, Mikko Mustonen, Pekka Lauk- symphony together, and the former play- a shifting, uneasy soundscape for her sud- kanen, Mikael Långbacka, trombones; Seppo Kantonen, piano, fully welds Brechtian mordancy to lighter den octave leaps and searching, melted keyboards; Markku Kanerva, electric guitar; Pekka Sarmanto, bass; Pekka Pohjola, electric bass (1, 5, 8); Ricardo Padilla, percussion (1, 4, passages of fleet dialogue. On his own, melodies. DB 5, 8-10); Markus Ketola, drums; Rich Shemaria, conductor. Schimmel is largely immersed exploring Ordering info: pirecordings.com Ordering info: randomactrecords.com

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