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Timepieces

Russ Spiegel

Label: RuzzTone Music
Released: 2026
Duration: 01:06:00
Views: 208

Tracks

1. Greener Pastures (6:38) 2. Timepiece (6:18) 3. Cadence (5:51) 4. Tennessee Free Jazz (7:54) 5. Quiet Time (5:47) 6. You Stepped Out of a Dream (8:16) 7. I Dreamt I Was a Cowboy (1:03) 8. Lydian Dream (10:52) 9. Sidewalk Detour (6:28) 10. Last Words (0:05)

Personnel

Russ Spiegel

guitar

Tal Cohen

piano

Vincent Dupont

bass

Brandon Lee Lewis

drums

Hendrik Meurkens

harmonica

Jean Caze

trumpet

Tim Armacost

saxophone, tenor

Javier Nero

trombone

Album Description

Composer, arranger, and guitarist Russ Spiegel continues his run of outstanding releases, with Timepieces being his fourth album as leader since 2019. Spiegel states, “This album is an amalgamation of a number of themes, encompassing compositions from throughout my musical career – beginning in the mid/late-1980s until the present that hadn’t yet (except for “Lydian Dream”) been documented on any of my previous recordings. Following on this concept, many of the compositions on this album are in different time signatures, thus pieces involving time. Finally, I very recently became interested in watches and the beautiful intricacy of both their form and function. Much like a composition, one doesn’t need to know how a watch works to appreciate it; however, the creation and precision of both a watch mechanism and of a composition requires much thoughtful and exacting work.”

For Timepieces, Spiegel has assembled a formidable rhythm section of Tal Cohen on piano, Vince Dupont on bass and Brandon Lee Lewis on the drums, along with guest appearances by Hendrik Meurkens on chromatic harmonica, Jean Caze on trumpet and flugelhorn, Tim Armacost on tenor sax and Javier Nero on trombone.

The songs on the album are, with one exception, all Spiegel originals. Having spent almost two decades living and performing in Europe, the rather sweet and melancholy opening number “Greener Pastures” was written in Frankfurt, Germany in late 1980’s. This is followed by “Timepiece,” Spiegel’s most recent composition, and it quickens the tempo with an intricate melody in 11/4 and features soloistic fireworks by Cohen, Spiegel and Lewis. The jazz waltz “Cadence,” written in Miami in 2015 weaves through numerous keys and is handled masterfully by Hendrik Meurkens on the chromatic harmonica supported by Spiegel, Dupont and Lewis.

“Tennessee Free Jazz,” penned in the early 1990’s in Germany, is an improvisatory free-for-all featuring the spectacular interplay of the quartet. This is followed by the intimate “Quiet Time,” performed by Spiegel on acoustic guitar in duet with pianist Cohen.

“You Stepped Out of a Dream” is the lone jazz standard on the album; however, it is anything but standard in Spiegel’s capable hands. The tune is reimagined in 5/4 and features a powerful three-horn lineup with blistering solos by Spiegel, Caze here on trumpet, Armacost, and Dupont on bass. This is followed by the quartet playing the short Western-inspired, “I Dreamt I Was a Cowboy.” Originally documented on the guitarist’s 1997 debut album Monky, Spiegel rearranged “Lydian Dream” for three horns and highlights him on acoustic guitar, and features Caze on flugelhorn and Cohen delivering a powerful, rhapsodic solo.

The album closes with “Sidewalk Detour” – a song written in Brooklyn, NY in the early 2010s that hosts moving harmonies inspired by all the diversions one needs to traverse due to the constant roadwork in New York with Meurkens, Spiegel, and Cohen navigating the music with grace and style.

If we think of time as the fourth dimension then I can’t think of a better way to spend it than listening to Spiegel’s Timepieces. I think after hearing this album you will agree that Spiegel has produced another fine musical gem and one that you will want to listen to again and again.
-Edward Blanco
Allaboutjazz.com and WDNA, 88.9FM

Album uploaded by Russ Spiegel