Customer Reviews

Ivey-Divey

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

 

 

"Ivey-Divey" may very well be clarinetist Don Byron's finest album since his debut over a decade ago. Where most of his previous albums seem to have been stylistically limited by genre conventions in order to properly market them, this effort showcases Byron the improvisor instead of Byron the conceptualist.

Joined by piano phenomenon Jason Moran and elder statesman and masterful drummer Jack DeJohnette, Byron and co. stretch out on a varied selection of tunes, half of them old standards associated with Lester Young, who also once lead a similar bass-less trio. But this is no nostalgic look back to jazz's humbler origins. Classic standards are torn asunder and re-imagined as vehicles for extended improvisation. Nothing is sacred on this disc. Even an old chestnut like "Somebody Loves Me" gets deconstructed and utilized as a springboard for intensive rhythmic, harmonic and melodic free-interplay. An acoustic take on Miles Davis' electric classic "In a Silent Way" provides the group with a launching pad into the stratosphere, transforming the original ambient melody into an anthem of catharsis. It is in their expansion and elaboration of these tunes that their interpretive skills come to the fore. Although the group is occasionally joined by bass and trumpet it is the core trio and their telepathic interplay that dominate the proceedings here.

Easily one of the best jazz albums to come out so far this year, Byron finally makes good on all the promise alluded to on albums past by finally delivering the goods.

Overview:
Ivey Divey is primarily a trio album with Byron on clarient & bass clarinet, Jason Moran on piano, and Jack Dejohnette on drums. Ralph Alessi (trumpet) and Lonnie Plaxico (bass) join in as guests on a few tunes as well. Throughout the album Moran, Dejohnette, and Byron have amazing chemistry as they play off each other's every move. The arrangements of classic tunes (I Want to Be Happy, Somebody loves me, I've found a new Baby, Freddie Freeloader, and In a Silent way) are creative and classic. Who would have thought a trio could pull off in a silent way, but it's done brilliantly here. The overall sound is post bop, with a 30's swing feel and a little flare of avante garde. This is my second favorite Don Byron album (after Bug Music).

Song Highlights:

In a Silent Way: Wow! where do I start with this one. Just a killer arrangement for a trio (Bryon, Moran, & Dejohnette). Byron opens with reflective clarient, and Dejohnette, taps a wide array of symbols for an emotional intro which culminates in passionate screams from Byron's clarient. Next the faster pace section begins which Dejohnette hitting the drums and Moran just doing a killer take of the faster melody on the low keys of his keyboard. Absolutely classic.

I've found a new Baby: One of my favorite standards. This is a great take, once again done by the trio. It's got kind of a 30's swing feel to it, and reminds me a bit of the mood and feel from Bug Music. Passionate playing abounds from Byron.

The Goon Drag: The best of the originals on the CD. Features the full band (R.Alessi + L. Plaxico join the trio). It's got a swing feel with a melody that features inter-twining horn parts. Once again reminds me a bit of the feel of bug music. Ralph Alessi has a great tone on the trumpet and he is my favorite contemporary trumpet player after Dave Douglas. He plays well with Byron.

This is the best clarinet featured cd that I've ever heard. The only real question I find myself having about this cd is whether the old standards are better than the new material or vice-versa. In the past I have not been overwhelmed by Byron's material so orginally passed this by but I am glad that I took the leap.

I still think Tuskugee Experiments is Mr Byron's most satisfying album. There is no doubting the talent on offer on IVEY DIVEY but to me it sounds like a practice session or at least an album suggested by the A and R man at EMI rather than something fully in tune with (what I perceive to be) Mr Byron's artistic possibilities. When he was playing I confess I was thinking of Jimmy Guiffre and his great trio work of "free" music on ECM and his other great album on Columbia and what the trio before us are capable of - my God!! Either get together some great arrangements or let the music go where it may whereas the album before us seems to fall between those two stools.