Someone on this thead recommended the new Greg Abate double CD which featured both the piano and compositions of Kenn Barron. This album has received some excellent reviews on line and a lot of comment has been made of the fact that Abate has augmented the core quartet with a range of other saxophones and flutes by multitracking the parts. Barron himself has commented in the liner note how staggered he was to hear the recording session enhanced in this fashion and was full of compliments for the job Abate has done. I am a big fan of Kenny Barron but Abate was previosly just a name to me and he seems like a consumate musician working in the modern / mainstream field with plenty of chops to make the discs interesting.
Oddly, the larger the enemble with multi-tracked parts, the more successful the music is. I am a bit suspicious of this but you can appreciate the budgetry and Covid-safety logic of doing this. The core quartet is very much "real." This is in contrast to the recent John mcLaughlin album which would appear to be fabricated in a remote studio. i am not sure of the degree of interaction amongst the musicians on this disc. The Abate record comes across as a routine recording session. There are a few interesting elements in the music. Abate has re-harmonised the music to the extent that Barron's compositions seem a bit more tart than is familiar . The other aspect is the quasi- big band reed section tracks which are absolutely spot on but make you wish for the complimentary brass. This begs the question regarding the transformation of the work of pianists in to a big band format. Other than Monk, Ellington, Corea, Hancock, Silver and Hill, I would have thought that a lot of jazz piano has not made it's way in to the big band repertoire or been transformd in this fashsion. It is not the way we think of pianists like Evans, Peterson, Jamal, Jarett, etc. I was surprised to hear Barron's compositions refashioned in this manner and it did make me think how good some of his writing would sound reinterpreted by a big band.
I have also been playing the new Dave Holland trio disc which is up to his usual standard although I think I prefer some of his othrr goups. Not as good as the other DH group with Kevin Eubanks , Steve Coleman and Smitty Smith. Still one of his strongest albums and one of ECMs most "on point" jazz releases.
Oddly, the larger the enemble with multi-tracked parts, the more successful the music is. I am a bit suspicious of this but you can appreciate the budgetry and Covid-safety logic of doing this. The core quartet is very much "real." This is in contrast to the recent John mcLaughlin album which would appear to be fabricated in a remote studio. i am not sure of the degree of interaction amongst the musicians on this disc. The Abate record comes across as a routine recording session. There are a few interesting elements in the music. Abate has re-harmonised the music to the extent that Barron's compositions seem a bit more tart than is familiar . The other aspect is the quasi- big band reed section tracks which are absolutely spot on but make you wish for the complimentary brass. This begs the question regarding the transformation of the work of pianists in to a big band format. Other than Monk, Ellington, Corea, Hancock, Silver and Hill, I would have thought that a lot of jazz piano has not made it's way in to the big band repertoire or been transformd in this fashsion. It is not the way we think of pianists like Evans, Peterson, Jamal, Jarett, etc. I was surprised to hear Barron's compositions refashioned in this manner and it did make me think how good some of his writing would sound reinterpreted by a big band.
I have also been playing the new Dave Holland trio disc which is up to his usual standard although I think I prefer some of his othrr goups. Not as good as the other DH group with Kevin Eubanks , Steve Coleman and Smitty Smith. Still one of his strongest albums and one of ECMs most "on point" jazz releases.
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