Christian Finger: Zeit Zirkel

Whether German-born, New York based drummer/composer Christian Finger (Lee Konitz, Ron Carter, Donny McCaslin) is well known within this circle or that circle holds no bearing on the shape of things and the highs heard on Zeit Zirkel. Making peace with grief and rooted in resilience, space, and spirit, the music makes its way through our daily distractions and focuses our vision on something much larger than an iPhone.

Choosing instead to define grief as something to be expected and experienced and not endured, Finger, frisky yet rock-steady, employs trumpeter Ralph Alessi, guitarist Ben Monder (fresh from The Bad Plus), pianist Vadim Neselovskyi and trusted sidekick, double bassist Adam Armstrong to help him unravel the mystery, then tie the ends together. 

That process gives way to music like "Stimmung M" (or "Mood M" in our crass tongue), a high point among high points within Monder's wide legacy. (Think David Bowie, Maria Schneider, Kenny Wheeler) The guitarist crackles in so many ways, his sound precise, his crunch, crunchy. The radio sparkle of "Fifteen PM" is so evident that should Finger decide to edit this track down from its seven jazz minutes to four tight, Top Fifty minutes, he might have himself a hit!

From the coursing, Alessi-led opener, "Alta Anima" ("high soul") to the rocking "Hope and Hope," the dreamy "Dawn Dream"—where Monder, Alessi, and Neselovskyi share theirs, straight through the brief tune; Armstrong's intuitive bass interpreting Finger's meaning throughout "Gentle Garden" or the taut solo closer "Time Flows For Us," Zeit Zirkel holds a steady pulse.