Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky / Andrei Kondakov / Vladimir Volk...

390

Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky / Andrei Kondakov / Vladimir Volkov: In Search Of A Standard

By

Sign in to view read count
Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky / Andrei Kondakov / Vladimir Volkov: In Search Of A Standard
The cleverness of improvisation plays an integral part of this Russian trio's compositions that merely reference jazz standards. The artists reconfigure and loosely interpret while injecting their personal insights. The program consists of thoroughly imaginative compositional vehicles, equating to a rather novel and prismatic string of musical iterations, spanning a wide spectrum of aspects.

"Don't Take The "B" Train" is the trio's reference to Duke Ellington's "Take The "A" Train," and is a freewheeling jaunt, spiked with avant-garde sound-mechanisms and a polyrhythmic reverse engineering foray. Here, trumpeter Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky's singing lines hint at Ellington's primary melody, and abetted by pianist Andrei Kondakov's rollicking piano voicings amid a throng of curves and dips.

Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady," is transgressed into the piece titled, "Unsophisticated Lady." In effect, the musicians remove the urbane element and cast a bluesy, laid-back vibe, complete with an emphatic rendering of the original tune's main theme. Then on "Standard," they completely redefine any notions of a jazz or pop standard via playful exchanges, false endings and staggered flows. Add some doses of humor with a horde of expand and contract maneuvers and you have a composition awash with free-form madness and transitory motifs. It's a rather ingenious affair, shaded with multi-genre components that project a thrilling and action-packed concept. The album breathes renewed life upon repeated listens and unequivocally serves as the antithesis to the tried and true.

Track Listing

Don't Take The "B" Train; Mile's Exercises; On The Other Side Of The Street; Wintertime; Caravansarai; Unsophisticated Lady; Standard; Someday.

Personnel

Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky: trumpet; Andrei Kondakov: piano, percussion; Vladimir Volkov: bass.

Album information

Title: In Search Of A Standard | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Leo Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.