CD Reviews

Music by Handel and Jack DeJohnette

HANDEL Water Music: Akademie für Alte Musik

Berlin (Harmonia Mundi) The three orchestral suites of Handel’s

Water Music were written to accompany King George I and his entourage on a 1717 boating excursion on the Thames, plus an on-shore banquet at their turnaround point. The two “outdoor” suites, in F major and D major, are the more popular, being extroverted in mood and sporting colorful orchestration rich in oboes, trumpets, and horns. Handel included no drums, since playing them on the small boats in which the musicians were packed could have caused the craft to roll; but the crackerjack period-instrument players of Berlin use them selectively anyway, their studio being on terra firma. The G-major Suite, apparently played at the banquet, has a calmer loveliness, and the players here invest it with insinuating gentility reminiscent of Couperin. The challenge with thrice-familiar music like this is to inject it with a distinct personality while still hewing to listeners’ general expectations. This the Berliners do superbly. Most of their interpretation would qualify as top-drawer “early-music mainstream,” but in a few movements they take unusual tempos that reveal surprising possibilities in the score. Two of the most arresting movements are the beloved Air and the fleet-footed Bourrée of the F-major Suite. The players craft both with dynamic gradations that suggest the approach and receding of the musical barge as heard by listeners watching it sail past. — James M. Keller

JACK DEJOHNETTE In Movement (ECM) This is an intriguing stew by veteran drummer Jack DeJohnette, recalling his guest appearance 50 years ago with saxophonist John Coltrane and bassist Jimmy Garrison. DeJohnette here interacts with the bassist’s son, Matthew Garrison (bass, electronics) and saxman Ravi Coltrane, son of John and harpist Alice Coltrane. “We are connected at a very high, extremely personal level that I believe comes through in the music,” the leader said about his bandmates, whom he has known since they were kids. First up is a reworking of the 1963 John Coltrane anthem “Alabama.” DeJohnette’s subtle yet heatedly dynamic work on cymbals and drums, and Coltrane’s powerful but not overcrowded tenor riffs on the epic melody yield a consistently suspenseful atmosphere. The title piece opens with beautiful string work and swirling electronic figures, which presage fiery flights on soprano saxophone. “Two Jimmys” is an impressionistic, fusionistic homage to Jimmy Garrison and Jimi Hendrix, and there are lots of electronics — although the low-key phenomena sound more like Jean Michel Jarre than Hendrix. “Rashied” is a satisfyingly wild duet, Coltrane on sopranino and DeJohnette all over the kit, wrapping rhythms with thunder; however, these proceedings are several shades more accessible than their inspiration, Ravi’s father’s Interstellar Space. Overall, this is an exciting recording, especially for those of us who were riveted by the band’s performance at the 2014 New Mexico Jazz Festival. — Paul Weideman