Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joe Gilman: Relativity

2

Joe Gilman: Relativity

By

View read count
Joe Gilman: Relativity
M.C. Escher captured the imagination of the world with his perspective-altering artwork. Escher's mind's eye and eye's mind challenged people to see things differently, and pianist Joe Gilman has found inspiration in his brilliant work. Gilman, who previously delved into the music-inspired-by-art realm on Americanvas (Capri, 2010), uses Escher's creations as inspirational seeds and guiding forces for this music. He takes a good, hard look at eleven of Escher's pieces, with music written to capture what he saw.

Gilman's constructs reflect Escher's unique outlook on life, but they're not all about fun house mirrors, oddities and upside down observances. Gilman is just as likely to throw in a burner ("Smaller And Smaller") or a calm wintery suggestion ("Snow") as he is to include a number built on different forms of evolutionary alteration or sleight of hand ("Three Worlds"). Interweaving lines that are oppositional, yet complementary come into play on occasion ("Covered Alley"), but these musicians also know how to band together and move in lockstep fashion ("Three Spheres").

The quintet featured on this date acts a single, well-oiled unit, willing to do what's necessary for the music: capable of touching down in Brazil without fully committing to its climate ("Day And Night"), letting things get fun, funky and fusion-eque ("Encounter"), and driving with the pedal to the metal and quickly shifting gears to open up some space ("Ascending And Descending"). Trumpeter Nick Frenay blends and balances well with saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown when his flugelhorn is in hand, but shines even brighter with his muted trumpet ("Encounter"). Drummer Corey Fonville controls the growth and development of "Waterfall," building new scaffolding behind each performer, while bassist Zachary Brown acts as stabilizing force or counterweight when required by the music.

Gilman's music, like Escher's art, is all about the eye of the beholder. The pianist does a fine job here, bringing Escher's work into the realm of the audible while also creating music that can stand on its own.

Track Listing

Three Spheres; Waterfall; Three Worlds; Smaller And Smaller; Covered Alley; Encounter; Snow; Day And Night; Sky And Water; Dewdrop; Ascending And Descending.

Personnel

Joe Gilman: piano, Fender Rhodes; Nick Frenay: trumpet, flugelhorn; Chad-Lefkowitz-Brown: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Zach Brown: bass; Corey Fonville: drums.

Album information

Title: Relativity | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Capri 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.