{"id":10236,"date":"2018-09-09T22:05:47","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T05:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=10236"},"modified":"2018-09-10T22:23:45","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T05:23:45","slug":"recent-listening-in-brief-a-sextet-and-three-duos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2018\/09\/recent-listening-in-brief-a-sextet-and-three-duos\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Listening In Brief: A Sextet And Three Duos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafal Sarnecki<\/strong>, Climbing Trees<\/em><\/a> (Outside In Music)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A native of Warsaw, guitarist Sarnecki moved to New York City in 2005. An adventurous\u00e2\u20ac\u201deven daring\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcomposer, he heads a sextet whose members have similar inclinations. His ten compositions here range from the agitated pointillism and serene contemplation of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homo Sapiens\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to a three-part suite, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Little Dolphin,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that includes an intense Lucas Pino tenor saxophone solo and an ethereal vocal part performed by Sarnecki\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fellow Pole Bogna Kicinska. Ms Kicinska is an attractive presence throughout the album, frequently in complex unison passages with guitar or piano. Pianist Glenn Zalenski shines in those demanding duets and in several solos. Sarnecki\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guitar-piano exchanges with Zalenski in the opening \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Solar Eclipse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Colin Stranahan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drumming over a relentless vamp in the closing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homo Sapiens\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are typical of the attention-getting power of this band. Their depth may come as a revelation to those hearing it for the first time.<\/p>\n

Mikkel Ploug\/Mark Turner<\/strong>, Faroe<\/a><\/em> (Sunnyside)<\/p>\n

Mikkel Ploug\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s command of the guitar has brought him acclaim in his native Denmark and, increasingly, throughout Europe and the United States. In Faroe<\/em>, Ploug partners with the American tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, whose associations have included Charlie Haden, James Moody, the San Francisco Jazz Collective and Tom Harrell. The pair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s duets on thirteen of Ploug\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compositions have the solemnity and joy of discovery that the two have established in well more than a decade of making music together. The piece called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Red Album\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a prime example of their interaction, which everywhere In this collaboration is as subtle as it is profound.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During his developmental years, Turner paid close attention to the harmonic and tonal qualities of Warne Marsh and equally to the conceptual changes that John Coltrane brought to the tenor saxophone and to all of modern jazz. The piece Ploug calls \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wagner\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has much of the German composer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s operatic lyricism but none of his fiery bluster. Ploug’s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Como\u00e2\u20ac\u009d draws from the bossa nova tradition without sounding like any other bossa nova tune. In fact, originality is apparent in every aspect of Ploug\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partnership in Faroe<\/em>, including the ascending steps of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Steps,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a descriptive title if ever there was one. The album ends with a piece that has the effect of a drift across placid waters. Its title is, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sea Minor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Guess what key it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in.<\/p>\n

Mark Turner\/Ethan Iverson<\/strong>, Temporary Kings<\/a><\/em> (ECM)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s second recent collaboration brings him together with pianist Ethan Iverson, until recently the leader of The Bad Plus, that audacious, iconoclastic trio. Turner and Iverson go hand in hand, as it were, through six of Iverson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s compositions, two of Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and one by Warne Marsh, who continues as an influence three decades after his death. Something of Marsh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weightless tone and the harmonic audacity he inherited from Lennie Tristano live on in Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work. As in Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s album with Ploug, there is nothing about Turner or Iverson here to suggest pressure, a studio deadline or anything but the pleasure they get in making music together. The relaxed Iverson blues \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unclaimed Freight\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is one example. But, then, so is Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s devilish \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Myron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s World,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a labyrinth of harmonic changes in which they sound as relaxed as in Marsh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bebop classic with its familiar \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All The Things You Are\u00e2\u20ac\u009d harmonies. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wonderful to hear this ideal partnership still in full swing.<\/p>\n

Hans Teuber & Jeff Johnson<\/strong>, Deuce<\/a><\/em> (Origin)<\/p>\n

Three thousand miles across the US, saxophonist and flutist Hans Teuber and bassist Jeff\"\"<\/a> Johnson have been partners for as long Turner and Iverson have collaborated in New York. Teuber has been on all of Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s albums for their hometown Seattle label, Origin. This time, though, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a difference; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the two of them. Their piece \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pretend,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d composed\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat is, improvised\u00e2\u20ac\u201din performance demonstrates how a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153rhythm\u00e2\u20ac\u009d instrument and a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153melody\u00e2\u20ac\u009d instrument can each be both, and how if their players think alike, the melding of minds makes music that washes over the listener. Those who may think of free jazz as space music or music of aggression will hear master players each committed to what the other conceives and helping him achieve it. Not to suggest that this Teuber-Johnson venture lacks substance. Hearing them in the album\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s three standard songs will give the close listener luxuriant helpings of familiar harmonies thoroughly explored in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How Deep Is The Ocean\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve Changed, and in Jimmy Reed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 1961 pop blues hit \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bright Lights, Big City.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Teuber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Johnson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hopi Dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d features the deep tones of Teuber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alto flute and a Johnson solo that somehow evokes the mystery of those people of the Southwest just by the mention of their name in the title. The album is a lovely experience. I should have called it to your attention sooner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rafal Sarnecki, Climbing Trees (Outside In Music) A native of Warsaw, guitarist Sarnecki moved to New York City in 2005. An adventurous\u00e2\u20ac\u201deven daring\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcomposer, he heads a sextet whose members have similar inclinations. His ten compositions here range from the agitated pointillism and serene contemplation of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Homo Sapiens\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to a three-part suite, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Little Dolphin,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that includes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}