Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Hans Luchs: Time Never Pauses

4

Hans Luchs: Time Never Pauses

By

View read count
Hans Luchs: Time Never Pauses
Not much can be said about Hans Luchs aside from the fact that he lives in Chicago, looks to be fairly young and plays an intense, assertive and agile guitar on Time Never Pauses, which, incidentally, is Luchs' recorded debut as leader of his own group. Luchs is also a writer who composed eight of the album's ten selections (the others are Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" and Cole Porter's "Get Out of Town") and arranged all of them.

As a composer, Luchs draws inspiration from sources close to home—literally so, as the emphatic opener, "Der Lumenmeister," is a tribute to his father, the ballad "Elizabeth" to his mother, "Green DeLuchs" to one of his nicknames (with a further nod to one of his exemplars, guitarist Grant Green). "Janssen," "Taylor Street Swing" and "30 Rue des Martyrs" recall streets on which Luchs has lived, while "January Spring" retraces an unusually warm day spent in Luchs' apartment in Logan Square. As for marking time on Time Never Pauses, that assignment is in the capable hands of bassist Clark Sommers and drummer George Fludas who see to it that waywardness in that area is never a problem. Pianist Stu Mindeman and trumpeter Shaun Johnson round out the ensemble, with conguero Juan Pastor added on "Der Lumenmeister."

Luchs' tunes may best be described as competent but several strides short of memorable. In other words, not many listeners are likely to be humming them afterward. On the other hand, "Come Sunday" and "Get Out of Town," each taken at an unhurried pace designed to enhance its inbred charm, would leave pleasant memories in almost anyone's ear. Luchs and his colleagues handle them with due care, as is true on every number. While Luchs takes the lion's share of solos, Mindeman, Johnson and Sommers are impressive whenever called upon to extemporize, while Fludas also has a handful of shining moments in the sun.

Even though Luchs has entered a crowded field there is no doubt that he belongs. The question is, will his special voice be heard above the storm? Only time, which never pauses, can answer that question.

Track Listing

Der Lumenmeister; Elizabeth; Green DeLuchs; Come Sunday; Tuesday Night Delivery; January Spring; Hello Janssen; Taylor Street Swing; Get Out of Town; 30 Rue des Martyrs.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Time Never Pauses | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: OA2 Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Hans Luchs Concerts

Sep 9 Tue
Sep 23 Tue
Sep 30 Tue
Oct 7 Tue
Oct 14 Tue
Oct 21 Tue
Oct 28 Tue

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.