Jeremy Danneman: Help

New York City resident, reedman and pianist, Jeremy Danneman is the founder of the Parade of One Project, an organization that "engages the international community with a unique blend of performance in public spaces, recording, and educational programming." He's also an educator and lecturer. On his second release for Ropeadope as a leader he garners the estimable talents of bassist and supreme improviser, William Parker along with progressive jazz, improvising guitarist Anders Nilsson and drummer Tim Keiper. Besides his commendable technical acumen, Danneman shines as a strong composer as he incorporates Middle Eastern exotica, pensive balladry and spry Latin grooves into his jazz-centric repertoire.

As a reedman, Danneman possesses a blustery attack amid clearly defined notes and gritty inflections while occasionally reaching for the stars, including passages reminiscent of latter day Coltrane. But on the final track "Help," he performs solely on piano in concert with Parker's use of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). With deeply crafted and mystical overtures, the leader's melodic block chords help anchor the buoyant current atop Keiper's use of small percussion instruments and rumbling toms patterns. Here, the drummer is quite effective at broadening the peripheries of sound and scope as the proceedings heat up to a boiling point and gracefully subside. Thus, Danneman finalizes the jazz element with a cunning world music vibe. It all alludes to a promising outlook for this enterprising artist who seems to have a solid grasp of multiple jazz formats to complement his rather industrious theme-building initiatives.