{"id":9166,"date":"2018-02-21T15:47:33","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T23:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=9166"},"modified":"2018-02-21T15:47:33","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T23:47:33","slug":"rob-clearfield-quiet-and-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2018\/02\/rob-clearfield-quiet-and-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Clearfield: Quiet And Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Rob Clearfield<\/strong>, <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/2HwUAaF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Wherever You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re Starting From<\/em><\/a> (Woolgathering Records)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9167\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/61wQQogG7AL._SS500-e1519256591154.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/>The Chicago pianist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s low-key approach to solo piano might lead to wool-gathering that would justify the name of his label. But he bolsters the album\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s harmonic depth and melodic originality by including Johannes Brahms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 B-flat-minor Intermezzo and John Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Giant Steps.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Every other track on the recording, including Clearfield\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interpretation of the Coltrane piece, takes a harmonic back seat to his interpretation\u00e2\u20ac\u201deven adoration\u00e2\u20ac\u201dof Brahms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 glorious invention.<\/p>\n<p>Still, as he eases into \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Giant Steps\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and ultimately brings it to flower, he takes full advantage of the famous chord progressions that since the early 1960s have had a profound effect on the course of jazz. He ends the piece on an inconclusive chord capped by a triplet fillip that might have made Coltrane smile. Clearfield\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opener, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Prologue\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and closer, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Epilogue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are shimmering sequences of notes that tumble to soft conclusions. Like his eight other original compositions, they emphasize his classical experience and leanings as a composer and player. His \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blues in C\u00e2\u20ac\u009d spends a lot of time in the chromatic neighborhood of the key of B, makes effective use of repetition and keeps the listener guessing. It is one of several tracks that make the album (out this week) a quiet, compelling, listening experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rob Clearfield, Wherever You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re Starting From (Woolgathering Records) The Chicago pianist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s low-key approach to solo piano might lead to wool-gathering that would justify the name of his label. But he bolsters the album\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s harmonic depth and melodic originality by including Johannes Brahms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 B-flat-minor Intermezzo and John Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Giant Steps.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Every other track on the recording, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"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-9166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9166","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=9166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}