5.0 out of 5 stars
More great European jazz, January 7, 2004
This review is from: Pum'kin Diaries (Audio CD)
Sounding quite a little like Michael Moore, the great expat American clarinetist and alto saxophonist, esp. his Bob Dylan cover album Jewels and Binoculars, Lotz of Music has produced a very fine disc. The Moore connection doesn't surprise; after all, they share a percussionist (Michael Vatcher); they cover three Moore tunes ("Gabriel," "Eth," and "Franz"), they're from Amsterdam (Moore's headquarters), and they also cover a Dylan tune "Every Grain of Sand." They also recall Clouson Three, another Moore band.
In any case, a very attractive vibe surfaces--edgy, modern, rhythmically challenging, lots of space--sometimes slightly creepy, sometimes dreamy, often starkly beautiful. A good deal of this comes from Eric Surmenian on acoustic bass, who plays some very attractive muted arco lines over against the dancing piano of Mark van Roon (check out esp. their otherworldly treatment of Moore's "Eth"). Their reading of Sonny Rollins's classic, "Oleo," also stands out by virtue of its open expressiveness all the while maintaining the Rollins groove; Vatcher's the star here, with leader Mark Alban Lotz's flute also soaring, biting, and fluttering, as appropriate.
Other standouts include "Pygmy Lounge," where the band improvises "over prerecorded ambient sounds from a pygmy village right after rainfall" (from the liner notes); "Franz," another Moore tune, with its eerie sound signature (ethereal piano, odd percussive treatments, including, I think, "glass organ," and an almost Satie-ish feel); "Zingaro," a sheerly beautiful take on a somewhat obscure Jobim tune rendered as a slow samba with a tango-like feel; and their very Moore-ish reading of Dylan's "Every Grain of Sand," with Vatcher employing some of the same percussive moves that made Jewels and Binoculars such a standout disc (unfortunately not available through Amazon).
Very accomplished and definitely worth a careful listen.
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