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David Helm
Kārlis Auziņš Double Trio: Equilibrium Suite
by Mark Corroto
Latvian saxophonist Kārlis Auziņš would never, we can assume, claim that his Equilibrium Suite stands as the equal of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1964). His reverence for Coltrane's seminal work is too deep. Still, listeners may find themselves drawing a natural connection--celebrating Auziņš's own modern spiritual statement, one forged with sincerity, originality and purpose. Auziņš may be most familiar to jazz audiences through his work with the exploratory quartet Mount Meander, which released two albums: Mount Meander (Clean ...
Continue ReadingSimon Nabatov Quartet featuring Ralph Alessi: Lovely Music
by John Sharpe
An alternative title for Lovely Music by Russian-born, German -based pianist Simon Nabatov might be Greatest Hits. He has selected some of his most tuneful works from across his career for interpretation by a quintet which includes American trumpeter Ralph Alessi in a one-off performance. Completing the lineup of this 2021 live date from Nabatov's home from home, Loft in Cologne, are more regular colleagues saxophonist Sebastian Gille, bassist David Helm and drummer Leif Berger. However, it presents not as ...
Continue ReadingFlorian Ross: Architexture
by Jerome Wilson
Writing about music has been compared to dancing about architecture, in that it is a supposedly useless task. Writing music about architecture is a worthwhile proposition, though, as shown by this release from German pianist Florian Ross, composing music for his quartet and the Event Wind Ensemble which is inspired by famous architects and buildings he has encountered in his travels. This music plays like an updating of the Third Stream genre, combining classical formality and jazz fluidity. ...
Continue ReadingFlorian Ross: Reason & Temptation
by Jack Bowers
Midsummer 2019 was quite a busy time for Florian Ross. Apparently, the German-born pianist recorded the quartet date Reason & Temptation from June 29-July 2, then returned the following day to the same studio in Koln and added a wind ensemble to record Architexture for another label (Naxos). Reason & Temptation was self-produced on Ross's own label, Toy Piano Records. In each case the core group consists of the pianist's working quartet—saxophonist Sebastian Gille, bassist David Helm, ...
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