32 SEPTEMBER 2018 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Meeting of Minds teams together the Bob Mintzer Big Band (five previous albums for the MCG label) with New York Voices who had appeared (along with the Count Basie Orchestra) on the very first MCG release over 20 years ago. Mintzer provides the arrangements for his 17-piece orchestra while Darmon Meader wrote the vocal charts. New York Voices (Peter Eldridge, Lauren Kinhan, Kim Nazarian and Meader) is celebrating their 30th year. Originally a quintet with Caprice Fox and Sara Krieger, the latter was succeeded by Kinhan in 1992 and Fox left the group in 1994. The personnel has stayed the same since. The group has recorded over a dozen albums, Meeting of Minds its first in several years. Mintzer, a busy tenor saxophonist/composer who is a long-time member of the Yellowjackets, has been leading big bands since the early ‘80s with over 20 recordings. While one album was made in collaboration with Kurt Elling (2004’s Live At MCG), Meeting of Minds is the first with New York Voices. For this project, nine jazz standards (most from the Swing Era) and Mintzer’s “Weird Blues” are performed. But rather than being a swing-oriented date, the arrangements are harmonically adventurous and several tunes are practically reinvented. New York Voices fits well into the ensembles, sometimes sounding like a vocal section (in conjunction with the brass, reeds and rhythm sections) and in other spots taking the lead. Two of the strongest performances, “I Concentrate On You” and “Speak Low”, have additional lyrics contributed by Kinhan, Eldridge is in the spotlight during a quietly dramatic rendition of “I Get Along Without You Very Well” and everyone swings well on “I’ll Remember April”. The Mintzer Orchestra is well featured during instrumental versions of “I Want To Be Happy” (given a surprisingly complex chart) and “Weird Blues”, which is highlighted by a high-powered baritone solo from Roger Rosenberg. Other notable soloists include alto saxophonist Bob Sheppard, trumpeter Scott Wendholt (explosive on “You Go To My Head”), pianist Phil Markowitz and Mintzer during his two spots.

For more information, visit mcgjazz.org. Mintzer is at Birdland Sep. 25th-29th with Yellowjackets. See Calendar.

Following the success of three earlier ECM recordings and reeling from the death of bassist Harald Johnsen, Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen decided to pursue other sources of light. Here his trio is relit, carrying over the torch of drummer Jarle Vespestad and adding the new flame of bassist Sigurd Hole for a veritable

candelabrum of poetic originals, folk songs and church music. Although 11 years separates this from the last trio session, Gustavsen’s self-styled approach of “radical listening” is more vibrant than ever—a mood only confirmed by the crispness of this album’s engineering and the humbling interactions it documents. Like a prism, colors change throughout The Other Side as a matter of perspective. Upon first listen, I find myself drawn to an anthemic subtlety such as only Gustavsen can articulate. It’s all there in the inaugural “The Tunnel”, which feels like a slow-motion flashback into the deepest corners of my happiest memories. A slight change of angle highlights the band’s newest member. Hole is an intrepidly lyrical bassist whose approach to folk tunes and hymns alike reveals a buoyant physicality of execution. His spirited contributions to folklorist Ludvig Mathias Lindeman’s “Kirken, den er et gammelt hus”, for instance, reveal a heart rooted deeply in tradition. His arco whispers in “Duality” and “Taste and See”, both of which float in softest beds of electronics, are haunting and precise and the continuity of his playing in “Re-Melt” is nothing short of romantic. Another shift brings out the deeper hues of three Bach chorales, lovingly arranged in dramatic braids. Of these, “Schlafes Bruder” teases out great joy from solemn hymnody and frames butterfly-winged drumming. The piano solo “Left Over Lullaby No. 4” is yet another band of a spectrum that speaks for itself and, like the title track and the concluding “Curves”, has a classic feel that beckons us into Gustavsen’s back catalogue. All of which yields a life-affirming record and a profound leap of faith for one of ECM’s most indelible trios. Welcome home. For more information, visit ecmrecords.com. This project is at Dizzy’s Club Sep. 25th. See Calendar.

The best and only real way to categorize this album is that it is a Hans Tammen. The leader is a composer and his combination of ideas and materials would in mainstream company of any genre be eccentric, except his focus, rigor and sense of humor make them fascinating and meaningful. This is an album of Tammen’s compositions for an ensemble made up mainly of musicians playing modular synthesizers alongside drummer David Keay. Live modular synthesizer is already atypical and the instruments are gathered in forms that Tammen leads using, as he notes, “Earle Brown’s open form conducting”. Roughly, that means scores that fall along the range from notated to graphic, with sections laid out in a modular fashion, enabling the conductor to reorder and/or repeat things on the fly—not far from Butch Morris’ Conduction™ method. Musically, the result is echt-Tammen, weird and wonderful and wonderful in great part because it is so weird. Keay lays down a propulsive rock beat and on top the ensembles’ Euroracks, Pocket Operators, Moogs (there’s a “Modified Moog Etherwave Theremin”) and more burble, squawk, rattle and soar. Despite the unusual means, this has the excitement of a great live jam. There are individual tracks like “Poker Star” and “Black Magic and Its Full Expose”,

but everything runs together as a piece, the orchestra playing as an orchestra. There are churning peaks and compelling valleys, everything has a coherent musical shape, a purposeful trip to an unexpected destination. The quality of the music speaks for and defines itself. Once it starts playing, it’s difficult to turn it off, it’s always interesting, especially as one’s reaction often balances at the point of disbelief, an “is this really serious?” question. The answer has to be in the next note and the next. Of course it’s serious, that’s what makes it so fun.

For more information, visit goldbolus.com. Tammen is at Nublu Sep. 25th and Downtown Music Gallery Sep. 30th. See Calendar.

Ten Minutes Late With No Bus In Sight And No Taxi Either

Hans Tammen & Dark Circuits Orchestra (Gold Bolus)

by George Grella

Meeting of Minds Bob Mintzer Big Band/New York Voices (MCG Jazz)

by Scott Yanow

The Other Side Tord Gustavsen Trio (ECM)

by Tyran Grillo