Slow and steady

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Slow and steady
Live album by The Convergence Quartet

Publication
(s)

2012

Label (s) NoBusiness Records

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

Free jazz

Title (number)

7th

running time

51:28

occupation

Location (s)

Vortex Jazz Club, London

chronology
Song / Dance
(2010) 		Slow and steady Owl Jacket
(2017)

Slow and Steady is a jazz album by the Convergence Quartet by Taylor Ho Bynum , Alexander Hawkins , Dominic Lash and Harris Eisenstadt . The recordings, made on November 13, 2011 at the Vortex Jazz Club in London, were released in 2012 on NoBusiness Records .

background

Slow and Steady was the group's third album after Live in Oxford (FMR, 2007) and Song / Dance (2010). The band was recorded live at Club Vortex in north London at the end of a short UK tour. The drummer contributes the title track, which was initially released on his own album Canada Day III (Songlines, 2012).

Track list

  • The Convergence Quartet: Slow and Steady (NoBusiness Records - NBCD 53)
  1. Assemble / Melancholy (Alexander Hawkins) 4:15
  2. Third Convergence (Harris Eisenstadt) 13:52
  3. Remember Raoul / Piano Part Two (Taylor Ho Bynum [Remember Raoul], Dominic Lash [Piano Part Two]) 8:56
  4. Equals / Understand (Totem) (Alexander Hawkins) 5:50
  5. Oat Roe + Three By Three (Dominic Lash) 7:22
  6. The Taff End (Dominic Lash) 7:18
  7. Slow and Steady (Harris Eisenstadt) 3:57

reception

According to John Sharpe, who awarded the album with the highest rating of five stars in All About Jazz , the third album by the transatlantic Convergence Quartet could be the best yet. With four strong composers who are also talented improvisers, a group identity gradually manifested itself after two albums. The members draw on both the legacy of jazz and the tradition of free improvisation, combining opulence and frugality in insightful conceptual gambits that are delivered with openness, wit and imagination. Although very different, the seven titles provided by each of the members would create a compelling unity, says Sharpe. Cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, known at the time for his connections to Cecil Taylor , Bill Dixon and especially Anthony Braxton , combined world-weary lyricism with adventurous technique, while the aspiring pianist Alexander Hawkins invokes the entire pantheon of keys, sometimes within a single one Recording. On the drums, Harris Eisenstadt demonstrates “a mastery that makes tricky things appear elegantly casual.” Bassist Dominic Lash “has a telescopic sight with which he can start a piece with an agile walk and sound out the possibilities of a creaking roar”. Regardless of the stylistic serpentines, everyone manages the transitions with such a serenity that what could be shocking appears inevitable, says the author.

Stef Gjissels also gave the album five stars in the Free Jazz Blog and wrote that Bynum, Hawkins, Lash am Bass and Eisenstadt are four outstanding musicians who have been playing together for several years. “And the music on this album is pure joy, offering the listener changing perspectives on music and its basic material - sound - to create a form of coherence that extends in its extremes from Keith Jarrett to Anthony Braxton and beyond, from melodic poetry abstract free improvisation is enough. ”The variety and abundance of the material, Gijssels continued, is absolutely phenomenal, with twists and turns, from slow to fast moments, rhythmic subtleties and great adventurous escapades. And it sounds great and gorgeous. The title track "Slow and Steady", an Eisenstadt composition, is one of the most beautiful themes he has heard for some time, with a metrically odd accompaniment to the rhythm section. “A great and sad ending to a fantastic album”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John Sharpe: Convergence Quartet: Slow and Steady. All About Jazz, July 31, 2013, accessed May 19, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Entry on Discogs
  3. ↑ Stef Gjissels: The Convergence Quartet: Slow and Steady. Free Jazz Blog, July 1, 2013, accessed May 19, 2020 .