June round-up
For After the Real Thing, his debut album as leader, pianist Roy Mor presents a rich mix of his own compositions, standards by Kurt Weill and Hoagy Carmichael, plus two Israeli classics, symbolising his journey from Tel Aviv to New York and back. It’s encapsulated in the opening tracks: the beguiling sound of the oud introduces an atmospheric traditional song, the title track exemplifies classic piano jazz before ‘Jerusalem Mezcla’ melds both worlds splendidly. An elegant and sparkling improviser, Mor has already won several awards and performed with many distinguished international musicians. This album should strengthen his reputation further. (Ubuntu UBO0081) ★★★★★
Recorded last September during a relaxation of Covid restrictions, Sunrise Reprise was a cathartic experience for the Chris Potter Circuits Trio after so long being unable to record with other musicians, although they had previously developed the material on the road. Most of us can readily identify with being severely limited in our contact with others, so the sense of release pervading this album strikes a potent chord, from the somewhat melancholic and tentative opening track emerging into the light, via the heart-on-sleeve tenor sax feature ‘The Peanut’, to the complex exuberance of ‘Serpentine’. (Edition EDN1171) ★★★★★
El Chakracanta by Stefano Bollani showcases two concertos alongside a couple of orchestral tangos by Horacio Salgán and Astor Piazzolla featuring the bandoneon playing of Santiago Segret. The concerto’s titles reference colours associated with two chakras: Azzurro, the throat chakra associated with self-expression; and Verde, the heart chakra associated with love. The former unsurprisingly recalls, in spirit and sometimes in scoring as well as title, Rhapsody in Blue. Bollani’s love of, and experience in, both genres (and others) is evident throughout.
The writing and performances are virtuosic, bravura and colourful. (Alobar AL1009) ★★★★
Coming Yesterday: Live at Salle Gaveau 2019 chronicles what turned out to be the farewell concert by Martial Solal: only when leaving the platform did he decide to stop playing piano. At 92, after seven decades of performing, he said ‘I’ve done my share.’ You can’t argue with that, given his track record. Albeit inadvertently, this recital of jazz and popular standards by the likes of Duke Ellington and Rodgers and Hart, together with some Solal originals (including a witty fantasia on ‘Frère Jacques’), has taken on the role of a testament, and it’s an impressive one. Solal said, ‘When energy is no longer available, it is better to stop.’ This recording indicates that neither his fingers nor his imagination had yet lost their power. (Challenge CR 73516) ★★★★
Reflecting on current directions in jazz, Solal regretted the decline in use of the great standard songs among many contemporary players. He’d be pleased that James Hudson, former vocalist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, says his debut album, Tomorrow, was ‘fuelled by my desire to keep jazz standards alive.’ With elegant support from a piano-guitarbass-drums quartet Hudson draws on the repertoire of the Gershwins, Lerner & Loewe, Jimmy Mchugh, Harry Warren and others of similar distinguished stripe. Prominent among his influences I hear Mel Tormé, but there is plenty of evidence of his own sound and approach in this stylish, urbane, enjoyable album. (JHR001) ★★★★