Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Christian Artmann: Our Story

1

Christian Artmann: Our Story

By

View read count
Christian Artmann: Our Story
There are a number of different stories woven into Our Story, flautist Christian Artmann's first offering since 2015. Quotations in the liner notes from Zen sages Thich Nhat Hanh and Yasutani Roshi point to Artmann's Buddhist faith, but the fifth cut of the record, "Amazing Grace," makes a bit of room for the Christian narrative as well. And the album's cross-pollination of musical styles, from Brazilian inflections to funk to straight-ahead jazz, suggests that Artmann's ultimate purpose here is to draw as widely from the myriad cultural and musical resources at his disposal, in the process arriving at a perspective beyond boundaries—a singular "story" capable of including us all.

With a fine band on hand, including bassist Johannes Weidenmueller and drummer Jeff Hirshfield, both of whom have worked with Artmann before, there's plenty of talent to weave the various threads of the music together. Pianist Laszlo Gardony shares Artmann's stylistic adventurousness, and his rhythmic flexibility is crucial to "The Noctambulist," which pivots sharply from relaxed swing into a more assertive odd-meter groove that allows Gardony the chance to stretch out. And the addition of vocalist Elena McEntire breathes extra life into three of the cuts, including the aforementioned "Amazing Grace," where her steady, unadorned delivery is perfect in conveying the emotional power of the piece, and "Earthling," where her wordless vocals float airlessly atop the track's funk-based foundation.

The music is solidly jazz-based, but Artmann's classical training remains apparent, particularly through the disciplined rigor he brings to his instrument. He unfurls an especially well-crafted solo within the disarmingly tricky structure of "Quixote," and even when he climbs to his most intense emotional peaks, as on "Pan's Blues," he never loses control or succumbs to self-indulgence. In keeping with his overarching vision to find unity amidst diversity, Artmann's warm, ingratiating sound and broadminded concept should expand his audience.

Track Listing

The Noctambulist; Earthling; Quixote; Our Story; Amazing Grace; Tropic of Capricorn; Resilience; Elena; Pan’s Blues; Always Here.

Personnel

Christian Artmann: flute, alto flute; Laszlo Gardony: piano; Johannes Weidenmueller: acoustic and electric bass; Jeff Hirshfield: drums; Elena McEntire: vocals (2, 5, 10).

Album information

Title: Our Story | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Sunnyside 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.