Customer Reviews

Contemporary Jazz

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Branford has been the most consistent player for nearly 20 years. His strength of tone, musical conviction and dynamic personality have made him one of the most highly acclaimed figures in modern jazz.In this album, you can hear Branford playing from the fiery hardbopping <Tain Mutiny> to the very elegiac ballad, <Requiem>, a heartfelt farewell to the world greatest pianist, Kenny Kirkland. Joey Calderazzo is the pianist, for this album. I always used to have doubts for Calderazzo to be a fulfilling musician with depth, like I have heard him playing with Micheal Brecker and George Garzone where he seems to be very stiff in his playing although all the notes he played are correct.He doesn't seems to have a kind of pacing or movement, many bland chops and playing like many people had mentioned before, a "talented Berkely student". Forget about that, in this album, hear the matured Joey Calderazzo with those fine touches on the piano, romance with beautiful harmonies and lyrical voices are played like never before (heard that in Requiem).The track Requiem showcase that Calderazzo's ability to be a player quite like Kenny Kirkland, a liquid player.Calderazzo has improved dramatically as a musician, you can hear the contrast in his own playing, in the Micheal Brecker's album <Two blocks from the edge>. After all, K.Kirkland is still the irreplaceable K.Kirkland... What I like about Tain is his ability to play high combustion drum patterns like Elvin Jones in the modern bop music and those majestic classical orchestral backings in Ballad music, truely remarkable. And Eric Revis is Branford's best bassist since Robert Hurst, his instinct for the right propulsive run of notes have given his band a stronger legs to stand on.This is a gifted quartet by God.

<Requiem> is the song that touches me greatly, when you hear that, you can feel joy, happiness and sadness. At the beginning of his solo, Branford evokes Coltrane's <Alabama>, a very solemn start of the solo.The music rise and fall of the chordal cycle lifts Branford from the gravity of the dirge.The music ends with a heartstopping pause inbetween, continues with the last variation of the written head return, and the last chord that that gave a lost finallity like: for the last day of someone's life to fulfill an important task. A mournful tribute to the great K.Kirkland.

It's really hard to describe in words how this album goes, but from the great ballads like <Requiem> and <Ayanna> and modern bops like <In the crease> <Elysium> <Tain Mutiny> or Tain's creative and playful <Countronious Rex> that shifted from dixieland swing to blues to gosel, ending with a hidden track <Steepy Hollow> played in the cool style of Ben Webster, sure the music speaks loud and clear.

If people out there wanna listen to music with depth and some class, please run to the store and get it, don't walk!

I think the best way to describe this CD as a listener very familiar with Mr. Marsalis' work is CHALLENGING, in a good way however. The CD's opener "In the Crease," is a compositionaly triumph. Marsalis combines odd meters with a mesmerizing melody.

Other songs, like "Requiem" for instance, made me feel quite pensive while "Tain's Mutiny" is a thrill a minute. Marsalis and drummer Watts have definitely developed some sort of telepathic ability after all those years of playing together and you can hear it time and again on this record.

I also really enjoyed the song "Contronious Rex"--very soulful. Overall, this album seems to pick up where Marsalis' phenomenal record "Requiem" from 1999 left off. The main difference is that pianist Joey Calderazzo is now filling the piano chair left vacant by the late Kenny Kirland but it certainly sounds like Calderazzo has really found his space in the quartet.

This album is a "must-have" for fans of Marsalis...

The playing of Branford and Jeff "Tain" Watts is outstanding on this disc. The compositions are really good. Unfortunately, Joey Calderazzo passed his "audition" with Branford somehow, and he is unfortunately part of his quartet now. Amazingly, this CD also won a grammy award this year, ahead of some albums that are much better, including Dave Holland's Prime Directive, a really great disc compared to this one.

mr. marsalis takes his time between record releases, but the wait invariably winds up worth it. "contemporary jazz" is what it says it is-- another example of mr. marsalis exploring, contemplating, deconstructing, and reconstructing many, if not all, of the elements that have defined modern jazz since the bop revolution of the 1940s. that such an exercise remains loose, free, and above all fun is simply an indication of the artist at work here. the "modus operandi" here is taking a melody, working it and reworking it, shifting tempos and tonality, feeling where the tune is leading and allowing each soloist room to explore the song. the results are excellent. the album has the feel of a live set, full of energy and interplay. highlights are the opening "in the crease," the extended "elysium," and the wigged version of "cheek to cheek." mr. marsalis sounds at times reminiscent of wayne shorter and sonny rollins, with a bit of trane thrown in for good measure. the band is great. tain watts on drums puts in another fine performance, joey caldarezzo takes the sadly vacated seat of kenny kirkland admirably, and eric revis lays down a deep foundation on bass. this is a fun and exciting set from one of the most solid voices in "contemporary jazz."

Branford is hilarious. This is a great album. Rafi Zabor sort of intellectualizes it in the liner notes, but that's expected. This stuff is just goddamn funny. From the ballsy opening lick of "In the Crease" to the raunchy, goofy "Countronious Rex", this recording is a 10. And a pain to transcribe. I have heard a number of older jazz fans say that this is too hard to get into and it's not worth listening to and when i was a boy, the duke blah, blah, blah ... Well I ask them to please remember what their folks said when they walked into the house toting their first Lester Young albums, back in the day when jazz was practically a four-letter word. Thats right. You sound like your parents. Now go on, buy this thing, get hip.

Everytime I try to listen to this CD, it starts off nicely and then bogs down. I admit I've only listened a few times because I just can't stand this CD. It seems like the band never got their stuff together. They're obviously good musicians but they're playing is so untogether in some places that you can't tell whether it's the music or the performance. Not recommended.

In responce to a previous review, I really can't see how anyone could call this recycled. Apparently, neither can he, since he really makes no case for his statement. Even though it's written in the liner notes, I still am having a really hard time feeling the broken/compount meter in the first track, and whatever it is - whether you like it or not -- it's fresh, as is every track on this album. I love Joey Calderazzo on this recording -- especially his solo on the second track: requim. I'm really not sure how this sounds to other people, but the delicacy with which he plays makes me think instantly of Claudio Arrau playing a Chopin nocturn. Cross refrencing a classical pianist for an anology may not be entirely appropriate, but there's nothing else I can think of and it was my instant association. I had to listen to that track three times to decide that I like Branford's solo. I REALLY like it. It was just very off beat for a balad... not harmonically or rhytmically even, but the whole curvature of how he built and structured it was like absolutely nothing I've ever heard. The third track is my favorite, but I've got nothing to say about it. It's just really good -- and the Cheek to cheek... I don't know... Sun Ra would have really dug it, and I love Sun Ra, so of course I dig it too. Branford is not just artistic, creative and very close to what I would call a harmonic and rhythmic genious, but he's also very clever and apparently has a great sence of humor.
Make sure you listen for a hidden track. I hate being a poor sport and all by giving it away publicly, but it's a really cool track. After the last track, there's about a minute of dead silence and then the hidden tune starts.

This is a great recording. Quality is superb. Each song unique and musically sound. Especially Countronious Rex, a really unique tune flowing in and out of Be-Bop, Traditional Jazz and R & B. I recommend it highly. All the musicians on this recording perform to their highest level.

On this recording the top rate musicians of contemporary jazz stretch out into new fields of music. Each song is a lyrical and screaming jungle of intense textures that would make the pioneers of contemporary jazz, like John Coltrane and eric dolplhy proud. Each song honors the classic players of old as well as moving into new directions of "contemporary jazz." The rhythmic and modal exploration on this disc has proved to me that jazz didn't die with the old greats. Joey Calderazzo and "Tain" Watts,two fairly new faces on the jazz scene, make an extraordinary break out on this CD. I would reccomend this to anyone interested in true-to-its-roots contemporary jazz.

This is one of my favourite Branford CDs and the first one to feature Joey Calderazzo throughout. I can't add much more to the good things that have been said, but I can tell you that the hidden track at the very end is called "Sleepy Hollow" (This comes directly from Branford when I spoke to him during his tour for this album). Features a tasty solo by Eric Revis.

I'm so glad we're not doing the hidden track thing any more. It has always screwed up my playlists.