July round-up
In jazz circles, bassist Liran Donin is bestknown for his membership of the group Led Bib, though he works in other genres, too. On 8 Songs he leads 1000 Boats, a quintet of similarly fine, versatile musicians including pianist
Maria Chiara Argirò and tenorist Josh Arcoleo. Donin’s cleverly-constructed, highly-engaging compositions are often developed in exciting trajectories of density and intensity, but are also capable of subtler effects. Deftly occupying territory between nu-jazz, fusion and pure jazz, the session is exhilarating and enjoyable. (Cavalo LDCD001 ★★★★)
Apart from Scandijazz, Norway produces fjords-full of adventurous leftfield music in heady mixtures of jazz, extreme-rock genres, free improvisation, electronics and folk. On Live At Victoria, Solveig Slettahjell shows that there is still plenty of mileage in the mainstream jazz tradition, opening this Oslo concert with two standards from the Great American Songbook. Next up is the first of three inventive settings of Emily Dickinson poems and an original, ‘Be Steady’. The arrangements are strong, Slettahjell’s voice is rich and soulful, and her piano-playing is well-supported by drummer Pål Hausken with, on two tracks, a gospel choir. ( Jazzland
377 9167 ★★★★)
The title track gets Contra La Indecision by the Bobo Stenson Trio off to an enchantingly lovely start. It’s a Silvio Rodríguez composition, which keeps company with one apiece by Bartók and Satie, but five tunes (plus one co-credited) are by bassist Anders Jormin, who succeeds in keeping faith with that beguiling beginning even when the trio is ramping up the volume, tempo and complexity. With Jon Fait’s subtle and responsive drumming completing the organically-integrated trio, this beautiful session proves that there is still much to be explored and revealed within this simple format. (ECM 578 6976 ★★★★★)
And here’s the Kenny Barron Quintet demonstrating that the archetypal trumpet-sax-piano-bass-drums bop line-up is still full of life, too. Bop as a genre may no longer have much capacity to surprise us, but individual performances can, and there is plenty to enjoy on Concentric Circles. I first heard Barron when he was with one of the best editions of Dizzy Gillespie’s quintet, and later was addicted to his 1968 LP, You Had Better Listen. He has had some fine groups in the intervening years, and this current line-up, with its versatile front-line, supple rhythm-section and varied repertoire, can stand comparison with any of them. Barron himself is, as ever, a tremendously appealing player. (Decca 674 7897 ★★★★)
For Uncharted Territories bassist Dave Holland, saxophonist Evan Parker, keyboardist Craig Taborn and percussionist
Ches Smith use only three precomposed pieces. Everything else is created spontaneously by various combinations. Parker, elder statesman of British free improv, is always fascinating to hear – even if you sometimes feel you miss a step and trip into empty space – but that feeling attracted many of us to jazz in the first place: what critic Whitney Balliett dubbed ‘the sound of surprise’. Despite some tuneful and rhythmic sections, this double album is not easy listening, but surrender to the ebb-and-flow, the often mysterious sonorities, and the way the musicians react to each other whether reinforcing or challenging each other’s ideas, and you’ll find it very rewarding. (Dare 2 Records DARE-010 ★★★★★)