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Downbeat, May 2020 elusive ambiguities. “The Fanfold Hawk (For Franz Wright)” is a Pastorius line for voice and bass whose vocalese combines a bird metaphor with self-help motivation. Even if it never comes to a point, the music is impressive, in part because it frames the virtuosity of Elling’s sound so open- ly. But soon, listeners are pulled into philosophi- cal questions without answers, made more puz- zling by the knotty musical settings, which Elling and Pérez navigate with silky skill. Elling’s breathy interior monologue on “Stages II, III” floats on Pérez’s pools of calm chords. On “Beloved,” they move like shadows of each other, roaming the scales with an elusive logic that seems theirs alone. But voice and music converge on pitches and phrases that remind lis- Kurt Elling teners how exactly the musical specifications are Luciana Souza Secrets Are The Best Stories laid out. Elling sings lines that seem impossible. Storytellers EDITION 1151 Dystopian dissonance and nightmarish musical SUNNYSIDE 1575 +++ images feed dense metaphors wrapped in poetic ++++ camouflage. The passion is earnest and pitch per- Secrets Are The Best Stories has a little secret of its fect. Now, if only I understood exactly what he Big band singers were such a ubiquitous fixture in own. Do Kurt Elling’s opaquely metaphysical lyr- was singing about. —John McDonough jazz at one time that the model seemed set in ics actually mean anything? Combined with the stone. Arrangers like Gil Evans, Bob Brookmeyer music of Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter and col- Secrets Are The Best Stories: The Fanfold Hawk (For Franz and Maria Schneider brought new shadings and laborator/pianist Danilo Pérez, the result is one of Wright); A Certain Continuum; Stays; Gratitude (For Robert Bly); textures to the instrumentation, but the perky or Stage I; Beloved (For Toni Morrison); Stages II, III; Song Of The Rio his more challenging projects. Grande (For Oscar And Valeria Martinez-Ramirez); Rabo De Nube; heartbroken role vocalists played stayed locked in Audiences find Elling’s dry, powdery bari- Esperanto; Epílogo. (46:53) the past. Personnel: Kurt Elling, vocals; Danilo Pérez, piano; Miguel Zenón tone warm and welcoming at first. Then, just as (6), alto saxophone; Chico Pinheiro (10), guitar; Clark Sommers, Vince Mendoza is one of those arrangers who bass; Jonathan Blake (2, 6), drums; Rogerio Boccato (3, 4, 6, 10), they’re getting comfortable, he’ll bite them with a Román Diaz (2), percussion. has introduced new, subtle voicings, and Luciana sharp twist of tartness; the seductive voice hides Ordering info: editionrecords.com Souza is one of the few singers who has ably moved between singing with both symphonies and contemporary jazz orchestras. Given those credentials, it should be no surprise that combin- Amina Figarova ing them with the WDR Big Band Cologne—a Edition 113 frequent vehicle for Mendoza’s arranging—and a Persistence broad selection of Brazilian compositions would AMFI 015 yield impressive results. ++++ Souza’s vocals—sung either in Portuguese or wordlessly—are exceptionally well integrat- Genre-splicing fusion is a tricky thing to get ed with the band, to the extent that she sounds right. Strike the wrong balance between structure like a 22nd instrument on “Varanda.” Highly and sound, and you can end up with a pastiche cinematic, the piece serves as the perfect intro- that does a disservice to each component part. duction to a carefully crafted version of “Matita For pianist Amina Figarova, it’s a risky move to Perê,” Antônio Carlos Jobim’s sweeping tribute produce an electronic-inflected, part hip-hop to his country’s ecology and the common man. and funk-jazz fusion album after 20 years leading Mendoza’s arrangement is multilayered, with a an acoustic ensemble. flawless tempo shift at its midpoint and an effec- Aptly titled, Persistence is a surprising delight age to create a convincing sonic collage of acous- tive soprano solo by Johan Hörlen. But the pri- and one that seemingly avoids many of the pit- tic and electric sounds: jazz swing and hip-hop mary strength of WDR is that it can execute both falls of fusion. The opening title track launch- swag, and a rollicking funk bottom end. Figarova the buttery blends Mendoza wrote for a version of es into enthralling rhythmic interplay between does trip up on the somewhat gratuitous inclu- “Beatriz” and clear the decks for expressive solos. drummer Rudy Royston and bassist Yasushi sion of rapper JSWISS for “I’ve Got No Time.” In addition, veteran drummer Hans Dekker has Nakamura, while flutist Bart Platteau chan- But Paul Jost’s open vocalizations, mirroring the lithe touch and supple feel to provide the ideal nels the spirit of the Headhunters in his soaring Platteau’s melody on “Horizons,” are genius. accompaniment for Storytellers. —James Hale melodies. Figarova, meanwhile, artfully comps, Ultimately, Persistence stands as a worthy switching between piano and synthesizer. The template for a wholly open approach to jazz that’s Storytellers: Varanda; Matita Perê; Se Acontecer; Beatriz; Choro record continues in this breathless vein, riff- generous enough for the inclusion of myriad #3; Meu Pai; Baião A Tempo; Chora Coração; Mar De Copacabana; ing off of Robert Glasper’s hip-hop mentality for influences. —Ammar Kalia Sim Ou Não. (59:34) Personnel: Luciana Souza, vocals; Wim Both, Rob Bruynen, “I’ve Got No Time,” while “R Song” highlights Andy Haderer, Ruud Breuls, John Marshall, Bastian Stein, trumpet; Persistence: Persistence; I’ve Got No Time; Lil’ Poem; Morning Ludwig Nuss, Shannon Barnett, Andy Hunter, trombone; Mattis Platteau and Figarova’s almost telepathic inter- Blue; R Song; Horizons; Bliss. (43:07) Cederberg, trombone, tuba; Johan Hörlen, Karolina Strassmayer, weaving with guitarist Rez Abbasi. Personnel: Amina Figarova, keyboard; Rez Abbasi, guitar; Bart Olivier Peters, Paul Heller, Jens Neufang, Stefan Karl Schmid, saxo- Platteau, B-flat flute d’amore, EWI; Yasushi Nakamura, bass; Rudy phones; Paul Shigihara, guitar; Rainer Böhm, piano; John Goldsby, Even on slower numbers—“Morning Blue” Royston, drums; JSWISS (2), Paul Jost (6), Skye’s World (7), vocals. bass; Hans Dekker, drums; Marcio Doctor, percussion. and “Horizons”—Figarova and her band man- Ordering info: amfi-records.com Ordering info: sunnysiderecords.com 50 DOWNBEAT MAY 2020.
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