Customer Reviews

Lawn Chair Society

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kenny Werner, long a mainstay on the ultracompetitive NY scene, here produces not only his finest disc but one for the ages.

First off, he's assembled perhaps the Ultimate Jazz Band: reigning postmodern trumpeter Dave Douglas; Sonny's heir on sax, Chris Potter; Scott Colley, bassist extraordinaire (with his own great 2007 release, Architect of the Silent Moment); and drum monster Brian Blade. Some of these musicians, I venture to say, here turn in their finest performances on record. Chris Potter, especially, seems fully on his altogether formidable game (check out, e.g., his mesmerizing solo on "The 13th Day).

Second, he's on Blue Note, and he gets nothing but the finest treatment as regards promotion, packaging, and, most significantly, production--Lenny Picket doing his best Tucker Martine electro-acoustic imitation, and coming up with stunning instrumental clarity and imaging.

Third, and this is impossible to adequately express, but it graces the proceedings with the profoundest pathos: Kenny lost his lovely daughter, Katheryn, sometime within the timeframe of this recording. How tragic for a parent to bury his offspring! One wonders how he could even proceed under such grave and tragic circumstances. The lovely ballad, "Uncovered Heart," one of the most poignant and beautiful ballads ever composed, first recorded on a Sunny Side disc of the same title as a tribute to his new-born Katheryn, here takes on an almost unbearable pathos with her untimely death. There's a simplicity and, one might almost say, holiness, about this recording that nearly rends the heart. I regard this as perhaps the absolute high-point of my nearly thirty years of jazz listening experience. For me, this tune conjures up my most beloved memories: the Santa Ynez Valley outside Santa Barbara at sunset, the hills bathed in golden loveliness, scrub oak and native grasses all aglow.

Fourth, Kenny has written a handful of brilliantly quirky tunes, brimming with impossibly infectious rhythms and wacky harmonies, to engage even the most jaded jazz warrior. Weirdly, they're perfectly accessible, even when they go way out as on "Inaugural Balls." Kenny Werner has here certainly found his compositional métier.

Twenty-first century jazz of the absolute highest accomplishment: edgy, hip, profound, and stone brilliant.

Kenny Werner has been a mainstay on the scene for almost thirty-years now. During this time he has been an in-demand sideman who has also gigged regularly and recorded albums as a leader for a few different labels.
With his new disc "Lawn Chair Society" the pianist joins forces with Blue Note and delivers his masterpiece to date.
Comprised of ten tunes that are as hip and intelligent as they are idiosyncratic, Werner offers up an invigoratingly fresh spin on "tradition" as he traverses the modern jazz spectrum.
Augmenting his piano duties with keyboards and computer, assistance is provided by the jazz equivalent of a dream team- reedman Chris Potter, bassist Scott Colley, drummer Brian Blade, and trumpeter Dave Douglas in a rare sideman appearance.
Opting to sculpt a "studio" album as a departure from the more "performance" oriented nature of his previous outings, the pianist expertly wields a broader compositional and sonic palette.
A trio of vignettes spotlight Werner's playful yet artistic knack with integrating technology into the jazz milieu. "burble_burble-splerk" features Douglas' at his rubbery best, "west_coast_variant" is a springboard for an inspired foray by Potter, and the aptly titled "Loss" features Blade's inimitable minimalist shadings against a wash of mournful keyboard swells.
"The 13th Day" and "Uncovered Heart" form the disc's emotional and artistic centerpiece, the inspiration for both being Werner's daughter Katheryn who was tragically killed in a car accident last fall at the age of 16.
The previously recorded "Uncovered Heart" (which Werner had already intended to reprise before the accident) was composed the day his daughter was born in 1989. "The 13th Day" refers to the pianist's spiritual belief that the souls of the departed remain on Earth for twelve days before moving on to other realms on the 13th.
Celebratory as opposed to maudlin, Werner turns what must be the unwieldy weight of a broken heart into a tribute in which his many emotions are vivid and palpable. Even as the ensemble chimes in with heartfelt empathy these tunes resonate with a highly personal touch. Movingly poignant and hauntingly beautiful, the goose-bumps and lump in your throat remain long after the music ends.
Werner's previous two discs were "Democracy" and "Peace." Here he continues to address political themes with the confident strut of "Inaugural Balls" and the cool-detachment of "Lawn Chairs (and Other Foreign Policy)."
The delicate disc-closing "Kothbiro" is the only tune not to spring forth from Werner's pen. Heard during the closing credits to the movie "The Constant Gardner," the pianist notes that, "Though it is a somber piece, it's not just about sadness. It's about consciousness, awareness, hope, and joy."
This is highly recommended listening.

There was a buzz about this CD online, in jazz magazines and here on Amazon, long before I finally decided to give it a try. I'd never heard of Kenny Werner before but I took additional heart from the fact that some of my favourite people are on this album - Dave Douglas on trumpet and cornet, Chris Potter on tenor sax and bass clarinet, Scott Colley on bass and most of all, my man Brian Blade on the drums.

I felt like a lot of previous reviewers did when I played it for the first time (I was like, what the..?) and by the time I'd listened to the first two tracks, I actually began to think that I'd made a huge mistake. They just sounded like computer-programmed gobbledegook. But then, "The 13th Day" started and I began to relax. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I thought to myself.

After the tune finished, I actually went back and listened to "Lo's Garden" and "New Amsterdam" again and it might sound strange but I suddenly heard them in a new light. I found myself playing those two songs again and again and the more I played them, the more they made sense. By the time I finally got to "burble_burble_splerk", another computer-based intriguing number (that at 2mins 29 secs, was over before I could really get my head round it until I'd listened to it at least three or four times), it was as if a light had come on in my head and I finally got where Werner was coming from. This keyboardist (and computer programmer) has a very unique and totally unconventional approach to composition and improvisation but he's incredibly exciting once you get used to him. He seems to use the computer mostly to create sound effects, including voices. Give this a couple of listens and the magic in it becomes crystal clear. Now I know why he's held in such high regard in jazz circles.

It's not all experimental or avant-garde stuff though. There are a couple "traditional" jazz tunes - "The 13th Day" (12mins 25secs of pure rhythmic fun and a real head-nodding, toe-tapper); "Uncovered Heart", a beautiful ballad penned by album producer Lenny Picket; "Inaugural Balls", another joyful kicker of a tune (and the "voices", when they come in, are a really interesting idea); "Lawn Chairs (and Other Foreign Policy)", another beautiful ballad in two movements; "Loss" is as it suggests and "Kothbiro" is also slow and mournful, and like a jam session where all the musicians involved get to say something on the one song. A brilliant album closer.

I'm glad I picked this one up. It totally merits the buzz.

There seems little point to classifying this music. When standard tunes from the American Songbook and jazz idioms such as swing and bebop spark little to no recognition among the general public, music that could once be called "experimental" or "avant garde" necessarily defines the modern mainstream. If there are similarities with early landmark recordings (e.g. Miles Davis' 70s fusion groups), "Lawn Chair Society" would definitely qualify as the less raw and extemporaneous, more polished and civil descendant of its once-controversial forebears.

Aside from electronics and musical synthesis, three qualities in particular stand out about this music: composition is emphasized above improvisation; creativity and craftsmanship count for more than interpretation and invention (both of which require a standard repertoire); tonal colors, dynamics and humor receive the kind of attention they enjoyed with Duke Ellington, before the "bebop revolution."

Lest any listeners require the "jazz" label to enjoy this music, Kenny Werner has called on the A Team for this multifarious collection of tone poems and programmatic pieces. The trumpet of Dave Douglas and bass clarinet of Chris Potter descend on "Lo's Garden" like a busy, darting pair of humming birds (joined at the hip, naturally). Soon a more vegetative pace is established by Scott Colley's firmly grounded bass while Brian Blade's percussion alternates between following movement at the sub-particle and quantum-field levels. Meanwhile, Werner's keyboards paint patterns in waves of sound, moving from prepared piano to phased Fender wahs, with a dab of string synth for highlighting.

"Burble_burble_spleek" is as onomatopoeic as the title--wind chimes, telephone rings and Douglas playing some of the most vocalized (and intestinal) trumpet sounds this side of Clark Terry and Rex Stewart. "Uncovered Heart," a calming guitar-like ballad in E Major, is soon followed by the ambitious title number-- a collage of funked-up chatter, vocalized demagoguery by each horn player, some thoughtful discourse by Werner on piano, a ghostly dirge-like refrain intoned by unison horns, and finally the faint sounds of birds and hunters (certainly not a reference to a familiar White House-Halliburton figure?). Closure comes not with a bang but with "Loss," essentially a richly-textured chorale by synthesized strings, followed by "Kothbiro," an extended peaceful incantation based on a simple African melody.

In conclusion, if "Kind of Blue" and Bill Evans' Vanguard Sessions are in your blood, this one is unlikely to replace either one. All the same, it's well-conceived, smartly-executed, cutting-edge mixed-genre jazz.

Mr. Werner has always blazed his own distinctive trails as composer, soloist and band member and, on this album, he takes the listener far into the deep places artists go to express the inexpressible in life. The band is phenomenal and completely in sync with him, frequently taking front and center roles on the various cuts. A very personal album, "deep" in all its meanings, this ranks up there with the Shorter/Hancock "1+1" album in the strength, compassion and raw emotion it conveys.

An all star band playing great songs. Douglas, Potter, Colley and Blade all sound great on this and Kenny Werner writes some of the most memorable melodies I have heard in a long time. This record covers it all. Its fun, funky, intelligent, challenging and the closing tracks will make you weep. Contemporary Jazz at its finest. Don't pass on this.

This one suprised me over time. I didn't like it at first--it seemed heavy on abstraction and light on substance after two or three listens. But I kept coming back to it. Even when I thought I didn't like it, I found myself eager to listen again. And finally, it made sense. A better way to say it, actually, would be that it "cohered" for me. I'm not sure this recording is meant to "make sense," steeped as it is in a variety of aesthetics. Another reviewer has commented on this being essentially unclassifiable music, and I think he's right. Once I stopped trying to hear it as "jazz" or as some amalgamation of genres, I started to appreciate it.

My favorite songs are, hmmm...all of them! Great listen all the way through, but it is challenging. If you're a fan of Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch" and don't mind so-called "electronic" jazz, I'd recommend this. If you want to hear straight up acoustic head-solo-head jazz, this one might be frustrating, especially in light of the fact that that's pretty much been Werner's bag up to this point. Even then, though, there are a couple of excellent more "traditional" tunes--the third track, and "Uncovered Heart," for example.

Oh, and "Inaugural Balls" totally RULES!

Highly recommended.

a light deft touch and a tinkle mark kenny werner's style. moments he's breaking your heart, other moments he has you laughing out loud with joy. his style is influenced, seems to me, by a feel of keith jarrett's solo recordings and chuck mangione's land of make believe.

and he writes well for dave douglas and chris potter who play exceptionally well together on this cd. new amsterdam has them in tandem blowing like the fabulous flames of james brown segueing into a blues. everyone involved, werner, douglar, potter, brian blade and scott colley, get sufficient playing time on the 13th day. and werner's uncovered heart is, well, heartbreaking.

a really good recording.

This collection of songs is a great journey to a free, peaceful and profound place.
I highly recomend it. (cool cover art too).

I wasn't familiar with Kenny Werner before I got this CD, but I must have nearly 30 CD's that have Dave Douglas, Chris Potter, Scott Colley, or Brian Blade. So, I picked it up on the strength of the other players. Kenny Werner makes a reference in the liner notes to incorporating electronics into his music for the first time. That's very noticeable on the first song, "Lo's Garden", which have a tinkly synthesizer line running throughout. The rest of the band plays chopped up, jagged phrases which are undoubtedly played live, but sound like something an electronic producer might have manipulated. "Lo's Garden" is a bit of the feint, most of the rest is more acoustic. "New Amsterdam" is a tricky-sounding funk. Everyone stretches out on the mid-tempo "The 13th Day". There are two interludes, "burble" and "West_coast" which (like most interludes on jazz albums) quickly pass by without making much of an impression. Songs like "Uncovered Heart", "Loss", and "Kothbiro" may be related to the tragic loss of Kenny Werner's daughter, and all are beautiful songs. "Lawn Chairs" brings back some bleeps in the beginning, but settles into first-class improvisation. You could almost say Kenny Werner plays a lot of composers piano on this CD, he takes very few solos. This is a strong CD, a fine example of modern jazz.