Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jay Rosen: Songs for Samuel

173

Jay Rosen: Songs for Samuel

By

View read count
Jay Rosen: Songs for Samuel
Dedicated to Jay Rosen's recently deceased father Samuel, this solo date carries an abiding air of necessary solemnity. But as he asserts in his notes, Rosen's wish was to celebrate his father's living rather than lament his passing. The disc's dozen tracks do just that in dynamic fashion, relying on a kit augmented by peripheral devices like a propeller, organ pipes, and xylophone in addition to the usual battery of snare, toms, cymbals, chimes, etc.

Rare for a CIMP release, producer Bob Rusch admits a fair amount of trepidation in the months leading up to the session. His worries appear a bit warranted in the context of the first several tracks, which roll out in a regimental order that feels a bit stiff and mechanical; an analogue to the extremely talented teenager in his basement banging out a series of athletic exercises that has his parents either beaming or cringing in the kitchen upstairs, depending on the relative catholicism of their tastes.



The situation limbers up quickly and Rosen soon hits an elastic stride with a succession of tracks emphasizing a more narrative focus. "Part 4 traffics in muscular rolls that dance off the drum heads in tight gravity-suspending syncopations. For "Part 5 the focus lands on a purposefully overwrought slow drag shuffle that winds tempo down to a crawl without sacrificing any weight or brawn.

A eulogy documenting Samuel's final days comes in the guise of "Part 6, an atmospheric rumination that relies on Rosen's precision stick-play and the incessant chink-chink-chink of a locomotive high-hat. It's all lead in for the disc's apogee "Part 7, a protracted episodic piece of morphing meters that ranks as one of Rosen's most rewarding solo creations on record.



Denis Charles' spirit seeps through in the deliciously rolling tom tom and rims rhythms of "Part 10 where Rosen sustains a sliding Caribbean-tinged flavor. Its predecessor, "Part 8, and successor, "Part 11, elaborate on similar grooves, adding crackling cymbal tinder and staccato snare rolls to the already toothsome blend.

Rosen winds the program up with another extended foray rich in texture and slow boil development that sounds like a small drum choir rather than a solitary man behind his kit. Garlands are also due to Kara Rusch for the stunning cover art and to Marc Rusch for the viscerally crisp fidelity. As of this disc, Rosen's CIMP count now stands at forty releases. Based on the evidence here he's got the creative means to foster fourscore more.

Track Listing

Songs For Samuel: Parts 1-12.

Personnel

Jay Rosen
drums

Jay Rosen: drums. (Recorded: March 21, 2005, Rossie, NY.)

Album information

Title: Songs for Samuel | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: CIMP 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.