December 2000

New & Noteworthy
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By Glenn Astarita

Idag Lars-Erik Norrstrom Trio (LJ Records)

A piano trio with verve, savvy and lots of interesting ideas to expound upon, the leader of this date, keyboardist Lars-Erik Norrstrom garners superb support from bassist Bruno Raberg and drummer Terje Sundby as the musicians take the listener on a whirlwind tour of this time honored jazz-based format. Norrstrom’s music and approach to jazz piano spans classic Bill Evans-ish nuance, swing and subtly to synth based free-jazz style dialogue amid synergistic interplay and polytonal themes. (LJ Records)

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Ecumenica – The Swiss Radio Tapes I by Stefano Battaglia (Splasc(h) Records)

With this release, the great Italian pianist/bandleader performs solo piano for Swiss Radio while embarking on a journey brimming with percussive power, Mediterranean themes, poignant melodies and meditative lines along with injections of semi-austere classicism. And while the artist’s name might not be of the household variety on these American shores, Battaglia’s impressive body of work should not go unnoticed! Highly recommended! (Check out Nils Jacobsen’s review of Battaglia’s The Swiss Radio Tapes II – Musica Centripeta in the December edition of All About Jazz.com) (Cadence North Country) handles distribution in North America.

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Don’t Punk Out by Frank Lowe & Eugene Chadbourne (Emanem Records)

Here, guitarist Eugene Chadbourne and tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe perform a series of improvisations while also covering Albert Ayler, the traditional, “Fire Down There” and others as this material was originally released on the 1977 LP, titled Don’t Punk Out. Although the original tracks do not constitute enough material to fully populate a Compact Disc, there are some additional solo performances by Chadbourne and some new solo works that Lowe recorded specifically for this release. Yet the pieces featuring Lowe and Chadbourne performing as a duo consummate this project as the musician’s deeply personalized styles intertwine rather well, especially when the artist’s reconstruct a melody or partake in verbose call and response dialogue. (EMANEM)

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Surfacing by Trio: Friedrich-Hebert-Moreno (NAXOS Jazz)

Pianist Jurgen Friedrich and his world-class rhythm section consisting of bassist John Hebert and drummer Tony Moreno explore cavernous regions of sound and space boasting odd-metered rhythms and the pianist’s adventurous explorations. The trio also provides a few peppery motifs, yet the overall tone and demeanor of this project instills a distinct sense of well being as though the musicians are suggesting notions of trekking through previously unexplored terrain. Throughout, vivid imagery is the key! (NAXOS Jazz)

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Simplicity Bob Nieske 3 – Lydian String Quartet (Accurate Records) New England area bassist/composer Bob Nieske has worked with legends Jimmy Guiffre and George Russell to cite but just a few, as the artist commingles a trumpet, bass and drums format with the “Lydian String Quartet”. Here, chamber music aligns with a piano-less jazz Trio for a series of pieces that offer various perspectives sans the harmonic and rhythmic counterbalancing maneuvers of a pianist. Overall, there are several intriguing passages amid the musician’s crafty utilization of space and strong soloing by trumpeter Phil Grenadier yet on a few occasions the music suffers from a lack of disparate tonal hues. At times the presentation seems to get stuck in a quagmire although the performances and applied concepts outweigh a few minor beefs. Essentially, Nieske’s acute visions and willingness to take risks, translates into a relatively complex menagerie of sprightly themes and motifs augmented by mood evoking sequences and the deterministic adaptability of the “Lydian String Quartet”. (Accurate Records)

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