Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Myriam Alter: If

208

Myriam Alter: If

By

View read count
Myriam Alter: If
Myriam Alter's latest album is attractive; like radiant sunshine through a winter window, it pulls you gently closer with nuance and charm, then seduces with intelligence, style, and grace. Following the blueprint of her earlier albums, Alter has once again written all of the compositions here. Instead of playing on the album herself, she chose to be content with composing and left the realization of the pieces in the very capable hands of others.

The album begins with the dark whispers of Dino Saluzzi's bandoneon followed by the sensitive interplay of the rest of the band. The combination of instruments is exquisite; the bandoneon and clarinet both possess dark wooden voices that ruminate upon each theme with singularity, while the piano and acoustic bass cast light and dark asides into a harmony of shadows. Joey Baron plays his drums with such feeling and vulnerability on these songs; he shapes the music like a great dancer that charges the air around them.

Alter's compositions carry a sense of Andalusian memories, Tango Nuevo, and modern jazz that brings to mind an overall Sephardic feel to the songs. Flowing clarinet melodies bump against hints of bandoneon tango fused with surging jazz explorations on bass and drums, and everywhere is the warmth of sunlight and soft sands.

If is Alter's fourth album to date, and like her Silent Walk album and the beautiful Alter Ego she pursues her muse in a most compelling way. In her music one can forget about form and the shape of solos—instead, explore the feelings, memories, and lost moments of your life that this music conjures. "I Think of You" is traveling music for when you have nowhere left to go, but still you move on through the deserts of your heart and mind, content in the simple sensation of putting one sandal in front of the other.

Her compositions have an ungraspable quality that is terribly seducing. Singing melodies dancing in a dusty road are suddenly brushed gently away and replaced with chiaroscuro shadows from the side of the road, then another singing melody appears from the depths and joins the shadows in an evolving dance of life.

With this recording Ms. Alter continues to delve into the riches of her spirit. She is an important voice in the world of modern jazz—she is exploring new territory, and that should be of interest to anyone traveling the modern road of jazz composition.

Visit www.enjarecords.com and www.justin-time.com

Track Listing

Waking Up; Home; If; I Think of It; It's all there; Children play; An intrigant melody; Moving somewhere; You should stay; Where you belong

Personnel

Dino Saluzzi-bandoneon; John Ruocco-clarinet; Kenny Werner-piano; Greg Cohen-bass; Joey Baron-drums;

Album information

Title: If | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Enja Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About 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 make 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.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves 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

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

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

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.