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KyungGu Lee: New Song
ByLee is a modernist who doesn't go too far afoot from latter-day conventions; he makes music for himself and his musicians, but understands that an audience is needed in order to complete the cycle of creation and dissemination. His band mates are all higher profile players who happen to fall in line with this line of thinking. Johannes Weidenmuller's round bass sound fills in the bottom end of spectrum, and drummer Adam Cruz provides crisp direction, whether laying down a steady groove, nailing the hits or simply sprinkling cymbals over the band. Pianist Kevin Hays proves to be the most valuable player here, creating flowing undercurrents, conversational lines, and authoritative and compelling solos.
Lee proves himself a lyrical player, but doesn't fall into the sentimentality trap that snares so many players, as "The Princess" and "New Song" make clear. As a composer, he proves to be a fan of the middle ground, without resorting to extremes in any direction. One minute he might be taking liberties with his own rewrite of an oft-covered standard ("All The Things") and the next minute moving between an odd-metered groove and some straight- four backing ("The Rose"), but he's always in control.
Lulled into a comfort zone with the first four songs, the clear direction that Lee establishes is abandoned with the wonderfully sensuous, tango-influenced "Intuition," the album's standout track. While swing feels aren't a big part of Lee's vision here, he ends the album with a mid-tempo swinger that also proves to be one of its strongest entries ("Mr. W"). Both Lee and guest saxophonist Steve Wilson, who appears on three of the album's seven tracks, shineboth as individuals and in back-and-forth trade-offs.
KyungGu Lee has found his voice on New Song; now he just needs to keep on growing. This is an excellent debut record from an up-and-comer willing to push beyond his comfort limits.
Track Listing
All The Things; The Rose; The Princess; New Song; Intuition; Visitors; Mr. W.
Personnel
KyungGu Lee
saxophone, tenorKyungGu Lee: tenor saxophone; Steve Wilson: alto saxophone (1, 2, 7); Kevin Hays: piano; Johannes Weidenmuller: bass; Adam Cruz: drums.
Album information
Title: New Song | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Self Produced
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About KyungGu Lee
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
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