Impressions (Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Album)
| Impressions | ||||
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| Live album from Aardvark Jazz Orchestra | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Leo Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
7th |
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running time |
71:33 |
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Leo Feigin , Mark Harvey |
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Studio (s) |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
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Impressions is a jazz album by the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra that was recorded in 2006, 2012 and 2013 at various Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) venues in Cambridge, Massachusetts and released on Leo Records in 2014 .
background
Impressions was the eleventh album by the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and the seventh production for Leo Feigin's label Leo Records. The material composed by band leader Mark Harvey takes a. a. Reference to social grievances such as the housing situation in Boston (“Urban Renewal / Loss & Lament”), the civil rights movement of the 1960s (“The Journey”) and the story of Sacco and Vanzetti (“Passione”).
Track list
- Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Impressions (Leo Records - CD LR 695)
- Impressions 4:51
- Urban Renewal / Loss & Lament 9:46
- Vistas 6:34
- The Journey 10:41
- Passione 5:14
- Elemental 4:58 pm
- Neanderthaleology 17:04
All compositions are by Mark Harvey. The tracks Impressions, Urban Renewal / Loss & Lament, The Journey and Passione were recorded on April 20, 2013 in the Kresge Auditorium of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge (Massachusetts). The title Vistas was recorded on June 1, 2006 at MIT's Broad Institute, Elemental and Neanderthaleology on April 14, 2012 at MIT's Kresge Auditorium.
reception
In All About Jazz , Angelo Leonardi compared the orchestra's music to that of George Russell , Gil Evans , Claudio Roditi , Howard McGhee , Sam Rivers and Kenny Dorham ; Characteristic for Harvey's band is an eclecticism , which creates musically contrasting situations; the compositions oscillate from abstract moments, academic experiments to quasi-rock set pieces, with the electric guitar playing rhythmically. Neanderthaleology creates an episodic flow of free improvisation; In contrast, there is the swing-emphasized "Urban Renewal / Loss & Lament" with references to Gil Evans' pre-electrical phase. The randomly controlled and simple “Vistas”, the timbres varying, passionate “The Journey”, with a vocal introduction by Grace Hughes and gripping orchestration with solo contributions by saxophonist Arni Cheatham , bass trombonist Bill Lowe and guitarist Peter Herman have a different identity . Even if there were some weaknesses (for example in the long vocal sequence by Jerry Edwards), Leonardi concluded that the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra was a notable ensemble that deserved attention.
For François Couture, Mark Harvey's Aardvark Jazz Orchestra delivers his “most normal” and most successful record to the same extent. There are "no trumpets clumped together, no concept [album] for 9/11 , just a creative big band performing live a new set of Harvey's compositions". The band's influences range from Duke Ellington and Sun Ra ; the music is decidedly more jazz-oriented than in the orchestra's previous releases. The highlights of the album are the three tracks in which the singers Grace Hughes and Jerry Edwards are highlighted. Harvey succeeds in playing with durations; he manages to work out topics in short pieces, and in the longer pieces he doesn't shy away from letting the band pause before turning to a new topic. Impressions is a highly entertaining record with convincing pieces and a strong performance.
The author of JazzTimes judged about impressions , the album title picks up on the impressionistic music of the band in this production, which creates a variety of moods, emotions and timbres, as well as impressions of historical events. The orchestra is thus in the tradition of the music of Duke Ellington , Charles Mingus and Charlie Haden , when Harvey's compositions deal with sociocultural Boston themes, such as The Journey with the struggle to end segregation in schools, West End Rundown , which deals with the fiasco of urban renewal in Boston's West End neighborhood, or Passione , which recalls the tragedy of Sacco and Vanzetti. The exploratory music ranges from lyrical to Dadaistic, from meditative to monumental sound elements.
In view of the choice of topics in Cadence Jazz Magazine, Stuart Kremsky argued that Harvey's heart was certainly beating on the right side, but for him it was the question of why such important concerns led to such static and uninspired music. This may be due to the academic environment in which the pieces were recorded on three separate occasions on the MIT campus in Cambridge. The band name Jazz Orchestra on the front cover leads to false expectations as to what concerns the performances of guest vocalists Jerry Edwards and Grace Hughes, with the "floating flies of the indefinite vistas or the sedate, massive sound of Passione ." Radio rhythms would only briefly enliven Neanderthaleology , otherwise the piece trot on for over 17 minutes. The solo by trombonist Bob Pilkington is noteworthy, making it the most entertaining minutes of the entire session. The author sums up his reservations: “If you deliberately like artificial orchestral music, Impressions is just the thing . In the other case you should avoid this. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Review of Stuart Kremsky's album in Cadence Jazz Magazine (2015)
- ↑ Discographic information at Discogs
- ↑ Album information at Leo Records
- ↑ Review of Angelo Leonardi's album in All About Jazz (2015)
- ^ Review of François Couture's album
- ↑ Brief discussion in JazzTimes (2014) ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
