Recent Developments
| Recent Developments | ||||
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| Harris Eisenstadt's studio album | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Songlines Recordings | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
14th |
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running time |
41:00 |
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| occupation |
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Harris Eisenstadt, Tony Reif |
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Studio (s) |
Water Music, Hoboken, NJ |
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Recent Developments is a jazz album by Harris Eisenstadt . The recordings, made on June 13, 2016 at the Water Music Studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, were released on Songlines Recordings in 2017 .
background
Eisenstadt drew his first composition sketches for the album on a flight back to Brooklyn after a tour and when asked which players he wanted to work with, he relied on his longstanding collaboration with musicians such as Nate Wooley , Jeb Bishop , Dan Peck , Eivind Opsvik and Sara Schoenbeck . Bassist Eivind Opsvik played Canada Day II (Songlines, 2011); Dan Peck's tuba was featured on Canada Day Octet (482 Music, 2012) and trombonist Jeb Bishop on the Eisenstadt trio album Tiebreaker ( Not Two Records , 2008). Also present are the bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, the saxophonist Anna Webber (who does play the flute), the banjoist / guitarist Brandon Seabrook and the cellist Hank Roberts . Eisenstadt rehearsed the material with the band and tested it live, saving some final decisions for the day of recording, wrote Eric McDowell.
Despite the Newsletter -title's Recent Developments (dt. Recent developments ) is much more than a collection of songs that are united only by their chronological proximity, says McDowell. Instead, Eisenstadt presents a suite made up of six parts, which were pervaded and deliberately set with interludes. The album builds on this quasi-novel-like structure and begins with a contrasting “introduction” and a “prologue”. The former is a nimble duet for Anna Webber's flute and Schönbeck's bassoon, the latter a dark and booming duet for bass (Opsvik) and tuba (Peck). Of the twelve remaining tracks - some less than a minute long, others five or six - parts one to six are longer and more through-composed, with an emphasis on groove , melody and the complex counterpoint . "While they are often piled up like Motown hits and have some strong conventionally structured solos, they also offer the opportunity to end in challenging solo or duo features with no return to melody." These six tracks are the ones that make it up are likely emotionally moving, says McDowell - "Part 2" swings, "Part 4" begins with tuba in the second line, Jeb Bishop's smoldering solo in "Part 3", the play of cellist Hank Roberts on "Part 6". While Eisenstadt underpins even the more abstract moments of the main suite with interrupted unison figures, the interludes - or at least sounds - are freely improvised. Karl Ackermann wrote that the selection of pieces with the titles “Part 1” to “Part 6” covered a number of styles and instrument combinations. Part 1 begins with a duo of Peck and Seabrook, which Wooley later joins. The trumpeter finishes the otherwise bucolic piece at a frenzied pace. “Part 2” follows a similar pattern, but here Eisenstadt steps in to disrupt the pastoral pace.
In an interview on his website, Eisenstadt made an explicit connection between the overlapping colored circles of the album cover and the "large selection of tone color combinations ... in the center of the recording". "From the dark, deep registers of bass and tuba on one end to the flying, brittle sounds of flute and banjo ( Brandon Seabrook ) on the other - with cello, trombone, trumpet and bassoon in between - Eisenstadt has a real palette to paint."
Track list
- Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments (Songlines Recordings - SGL 1620-2)
- Introduction 0:26
- Prologue 0:57
- Part 1 6:33
- Interlude (group 1) 1:58
- Part 2 6:27
- Interlude (Quartet) 1:37
- Part 3 3:10
- Interlude (Duo) 0:27
- Part 4 5:13
- Interlude (Group 2) 1:20
- Part 5 5:33
- Interlude (Duo) 1:41
- Part 6 2:53
- Epilogue 2:18
reception
Bill Meyer awarded the album in Down Beat four stars and wrote that the composer and drummer Harris Eisenstadt exceeded two questions in the development of his work: “The rich, differentiated string and wood-blown textures expand the chamber-like instrumentation of his Golden State Quartet, but the size of the ensemble and the episodic, album-long progress of the music add this record to a number of projects such as Fight Or Flight [2002] and the Canada Day Octet [2012]. "For every action that Eisenstadt undertakes as a composer and arranger, he gives one equally considered answer, said Meyer. Brandon Seabrook's banjo and the band leader's swinging drums balanced the generously deployed bassoon, flute and strings. And while the officially named parts of the suite represent a very detailed piece in their own right, each is bracketed by shorter, looser segments that ease the tension of the music.
According to Eric McDowell, who reviewed the album on the Free Jazz Blog, the way Eisenstadt exchanges melodic material both within a track, from one instrument to another and between parts is masterful and efficient, and creates echoes, that hold the whole thing together. In the freely improvised intermediate sections and more abstract moments in the main suite, the diverse instrumentation of the nonet really pays off , the author believes. “He uses different types of density and texture to layer his players. The result is perfectly balanced - like twenty albums in Eisenstadt that are never satisfied with staying in one place or playing too long after an expectation. "
Karl Ackermann wrote in All About Jazz that the “ latest developments ” had their name from a cheeky anecdote about “development” as “scalable points on a diagram compared to the photographic definition of the word.” The latter is the feeling that Eisenstadt is conveying here, and in fact the album plays out as a vignette that is linked more by the atmosphere than by a running narrative. The similarly titled parts could be chosen at random with minimal impact on the listening experience. "This is a highly unusual and appealing collection," Ackermann sums up, "containing some of Eisenstadt's most creative writings and a remarkable collection of talented musicians."
Mike Borella ( Avant Music News ) said that Eisenstadt was conducting “a nonet with a who's who of creative music” on the album , making the overall sound part of a jazz orchestra that played rather bulky music. Think of Anthony Braxton , but not only because some of his collaborators are presented here. Not only is Schoenbeck's bassoon particularly appealing (which offers some fantastic bouncing lines in the low registers and droning), but also Seabrook's punk banjo playing. "The instrument not only gives the mix a unique color, Seabrook also has a penchant for assertiveness, quick selection and adding notes in unexpected moments." Part 4 is an outstanding track, according to Borella, in which Schönbeck, Webber and Eisenstadt are in Trio format but eventually framed by the rest of the ensemble to create a complex, angular series of overlapping melodies that end with a burst of Webber and Roberts. This is followed by "Interlude Group 2", an aggressive free improvisation by all participants.
Web links
- Information about the album at Songlines Recordings
- Listing of the album on Allmusic (English). Accessed January 1, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Eric McDowell: Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments. Free Jazz Blog, March 17, 2017, accessed May 7, 2020 .
- ^ A b Karl Ackermann: Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments. All About Jazz, March 26, 2017, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ^ Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments at Discogs
- ^ Bill Meyer: Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments (Songlines). May 6, 2019, accessed May 7, 2020 .
- ^ Mike Borella: Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments. Avant Music News, April 28, 2017, accessed May 15, 2020 .