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PoleStar

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Andy Wasserman

Label: TransMedia Sound & Music
Released: 2021
Duration: 00:47:26
Views: 1,899

Tracks

1. Centrality 2. Lighthouse 3. Togetherness 4. Ataraxia 5. Progeny 6. Loose 7. Effulgence 8. Abound

Personnel

Album Description

Recorded from this Live Stream Concert: REVIEW in the NYC Jazz Record —- During the pandemic, pianist Andy Wasserman has been presenting regular live-stream concerts with one ear toward the therapeutic, healing qualities of music. His latest (Dec. 13th) was dedicated to northern Pole Stars; for astronomy-leaning jazzbos, these are currently Polaris and Polaris Australis. Wasserman produced forays into the bright, the glimmering, the burning, the clouded-over, icy and distant, with use of falling phrases over shifting, widely gripped harmonies as well as blues-drenched, ringing major sevenths, ninths and elevenths. But this was far from what we used to call ‘new age’ music. “Togetherness”, a slow, meandering work, conjured thoughts of Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock. While feelings of unity can be subjective, the rolling complexities in Wasserman’s works are beautifully, almost mystically woven together. More so, much of the pianist’s repertoire is built on his mastery of George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (indeed, Wasserman was certified by Russell to teach it). “Ataraxia” offered the most profound modal quality, leaving the listener with that odd feeling of hollowness that arises with such tonalities. This piece also carried a motive nothing short of haunting in its reach for simplicity. Other works incorporated lonesome, roving basslines opposite right-hand postmodern jazz, one inspired by Eric Dolphy’s iconic postcard to Russell proclaiming that he’s working on “the new concept, but with an outward-bound feeling.” ( written by John Pietaro)

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