Last desert
| Last desert | ||||
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| Studio album by Liberty Ellman | ||||
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| Label (s) | Pi recordings | |||
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CD |
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Title (number) |
7th |
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running time |
44:47 |
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Last Desert is a jazz album by Liberty Ellman . The recordings made in 2019 were released on March 27, 2020 on Pi Recordings .
background
On his previous albums Ellman worked with quintets and sextets; On his third album, Ophiucous Butterfly (2006), the guitarist added Mark Shim on tenor saxophone and the rhythm section, Steve Lehman on alto saxophone and José Davila (tuba), which made the music more complex. The same band that acted on Ellman's album Last Desert also played on Radiate in 2015 , Damion Reid again on drums and Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) instead of Mark Shim's tenor; Added to this is the bassist Stephan Crump . Although some passages are clearly composed, others blur the line between written and improvised ensemble work, so that the music seems forever in flux between Ellman's intentions and his ensemble's voices, wrote JD Considine.
Track list
- Liberty Ellman: Last Desert (Pi Recordings PI85)
- The Sip 5:16
- Last Desert I 7:30
- Last Desert II 7:38
- Rubber Flowers 5:54
- Portals 8:35
- Doppler 4:51
- Liquid 5:11
- All compositions are by Liberty Ellman.
reception
Thom Jurek awarded the album four (out of five) stars in Allmusic and says, in contrast to many of his colleagues who play guitar, Ellman rarely tries to dazzle with technique and intensity. Instead, “the identifying signature, both in his playing and in his composition, is an intimate, communicative language that harmonizes emotional intimacy and economic melody lines with complicated rhythmic and spatial signatures.” Last Desert's compositions offer a harmonious depth and rhythmic breadth together, Jurek continued, “that goes wider and deeper than anything Ellman has done before. While he's not the most flashy guitarist or composer, his inherent lyricism, expansive tonalities, and lush textures combine with carefully controlled dynamics that allow his sidemen to be vulnerable in the moment to the music they are playing. ”Those traits So common in Last Desert , showed that Ellman was one of the most competent and engaging composers and stylists in modern jazz .
Will Layman wrote in Pop Matters that guitarist Liberty Ellman has developed a versatility and an ease with which he improvises over a complex new jazz composition in Henry Threadgill's Zooid band or when he plays polyrhythmic afropop jazz with singer Somi. Ellman has so far submitted several recordings on Pi Recordings, "and each brings him closer to a composer and player who demands increasingly serious attention." As a result, the album is "an exciting adventure, but not a test," says Layman. The music demands that you pay close attention, but not that you have to tolerate harsh tonalities. The unusual structures are captivating; the general influence of Henry Threadgill's compositions is unmistakable, but Liberty Ellman adds "a decent layer of icing to his boss's cake."
According to JD Considine, who reviewed the album in JazzTimes , Last Desert , which was commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works program, had the feel of "new music" as such. Nor does Ellman resort to the traditional jazz demarcation between rhythmic and melodic roles, as Crump's Coll'Arco lines and his own single notes regularly mix with the horns, while Damion Reid's drumming often has less to do with time (control) did than with the reinforcement of the counterpoint of the ensemble. Steve Lehman's Old is nimble and expressive as always, and the way he goes from "clear tone to passionate screeching" in "Last Desert II" is really impressive, while Jonathan Finlayson's trumpet is the epitome of modern brass cool. " But it is the tuba player Jose Davila, according to the author, who impresses most, not with his skills in the upper register, but because he uses the lower end of the instrument so expressively and offers pedal tones that bring him even below crumps reach.
S. Victor Aaron wrote in Something Else !, Last Desert is cerebral jazz, but avoids the clutter of some music that often falls into this category. Ellman's compositions are what could be described as " storytelling without words". They often contain mini-movements or chapters in which the plot moves forward to keep the listener engaged. Ellman likes it when his songs also seem like a story. He begins cautiously, picks up the pace in the middle and finds a solution at the end. And there is always plenty of scope for individual improvisation in order to use all of these skills.
Every single moment on the album has an immediacy, wrote Dave Sumner in Bandcamp Daily. “The way Liberty Ellman guides the listener from one passage to the next keeps the ear focused. This is the equivalent of walking through winding tunnels where the lines of sight are constantly broken by sharp turns. So the best approach is to focus on the few feet in front of you. Arguably best known as a contributor to Henry Threadgill, the guitarist has a track record of making music that goes its own way. His last is no exception. "
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Will Layman: Liberty Ellman's 'Last Desert' Is Unafraid to Charm You and Challenge You. Pop Matters, May 1, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 .
- ↑ a b J.D. Considine: Liberty Ellman: Last Desert (Pi). JazzTimes, May 2, 2020, accessed May 3, 2020 .
- ↑ Liberty Ellman: Last Desert at Discogs
- ^ Review of the album at Allmusic (English). Accessed April 30, 2020.
- ↑ S. VictorAaron: Liberty Ellman - 'Last Desert' (2020). March 28, 2020, accessed May 3, 2020 .
- ↑ Dave Sumner: The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: March 2020. Bandcamp Daily, April 1, 2020, accessed July 22, 2020 .