Customer Reviews

Truth and Beauty

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

 

 

This is wonderful, confident music, full of thought and surprise and understated humor, a modern music that has the self-assuredness not to announce itself as such. These three musicians are possibly the very best we have on their respective instruments, but there is no question but that Yahel's is the sensibility in charge. His writing is cliche-free, yet unashamedly connected to a full spectrum of musical traditions, from bop to pop, from world music to classical. And the arrangements of other writers' work are completely of a piece with the rest of the CD. I can think of no other artist who has so completely captured the spirit of Paul Simon while remaining so thoroughly himself.
And old-timers like myself who remember Lp's and liner notes as an art unto itself will rejoice at the notes by Brad Mehldau, which are chock full of personal and musical information and contain an invaluable disquisition on Gen-X Jazz Musicians. This is the best of the new.

The Yahel/Redman/Blade recordings get better and better. Unlike the other recordings with the same roster (the "Joshua Redman Elastic Band" which is dripping with funk and swagger, and Yaya3's early experiments with these three masters) Truth and Beauty's recordings are subltle, dense, and after a few listens still reveal amazing moments. Similar in energy to the Yaya3 disc, this album seems to be more focused. The melodies are apparent and never stray into the unknown, but the subtle aspects of Yahel, Redman, and Blade are best experienced in this framework.

Brad Mehldau's liner notes focus on this clarity as well, detailing Yahel's use of the draw bars, Redman's flexible tone, and Blade's...well Brian Blade is Brian Blade, what more can be said!

For the uninitiated, folks may like Elastic Band's "Elastic" and "Momentum" which are fun and funky to nod along to, but for the more demanding listener who wants their jazz dynamic and bubbly, this is a remarkable album. Favorite songs are "Bend the Leaves" and "Saba".

Truth and Beauty is the first recording on which I truly enjoyed Joshua Redman's playing and saxophone sound. Drummer Brian Blade is, as usual, thoughtful, inventive and propulsive. But it is organist/leader Sam Yahel who has channeled the spirit of the classic Bill Evans trio (with Paul Motion and Scott LaFaro) writing six very strong originals while tackling three interesting and obscure covers. Together they have produced, by far, the best jazz record of the year.

I haven't really got much to say about this one. Not that the CD isn't any good, quite the contrary. I think it's just one of those cases of less could be more. This is another album I've bought as a result of liking Joshua Redman's Elastic so much and the same three personnel are involved in both projects. On this set, Sam Yahel plays the Hammond B3, Joshua Redman is on tenor saxophone and of course, Brian Blade is behind the drums. Six of the nine songs are Yahel originals and the other three are by Ornette Coleman ("Check Up"), Paul Simon ("Night Game") and Gilberto Gil & Joćo Donato ("A Paz").

Production is by Sam Yahel and Whitney Ashe. As one might expect, the vibe is completely different to that on "Elastic"; it's not quite as funky and is certainly more jazzy, but that's a good thing. "Sam, Josh and Brian" (as Brad Mehldau refers to them on the very detailed and very informative inner-sleeve notes) are obviously very talented guys and obviously work comfortably with each other. A whole album of Hammond B3 might be a bit much for some but Jimmy Smith is one of my all-time heroes, so this one is right up my street. Of particular interest is the way Yahel seems to be able to simulate bass and keyboard lines all at once.

Good album, good fun. My favourite two tracks are "Saba" and "A Paz".

This is my first exposure to this artist as a leader. Joshua Redman, who's featured on this work is of course a monster.
Overall, for me, I believe that the work presents a good starting point but I would have wished, given the talent on board, that the work would have pushed the boundaries, and especially given we're talkin organ here, pushed the boundary in terms of groove. The first piece on the work I believe did push it, but after that it bogged down for me.