The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
| The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint | ||||
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| Ambrose Akinmusire's studio album | ||||
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CD |
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13 |
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running time |
78:38 |
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Ambrose Akinmusire |
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The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint is the third studio album by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire . The recordings were made in Brooklyn and Toronto in 2013/14. The album was released on March 10, 2014 on Blue Note Records . Akinmusire was awarded the ECHO Jazz International Instrumentalist of the Year for the 2015 album . Newspapers and music magazines such as the Los Angeles Times , Allmusic Stereophile or Pop Matters count it among the best jazz albums of 2014. In the 2014 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll , where 140 jazz critics voted for their annual albums, The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier To Paint came up 3rd place out of 700 albums.
background
At its core, the band with which Akinmusire recorded his third studio album consists of his regular quintet, which he leads with saxophonist Walter Smith III ; the rhythm section consists of pianist Sam Harris , bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Justin Brown . There was also the guitarist Charles Altura : the group was expanded to include guest musicians and vocalists on various tracks on the album, including Becca Stevens , Theo Bleckmann and Cold Specks , who each also contributed the lyrics.
Music of the album
The album begins with a trumpet-piano duet ("Marie Christie"); after the quintet piece "As We Fight (Willie Penrose)" follows "Our Basement (Ed)", a song by the singer / songwriter Becca Stevens. In it the narrator speaks to a loved one:
" Your eyes were aglow like two moons
Your eyes were aglow like two moons
And your smile shot through me
Tranquilizing all the ache "
But then the narrator reveals that the object of his desire is actually just a stranger passing by:
" I imagine you
doing simple things ...
Singing out the words that move you
Down the avenue
while I watch you walk past me. "
The song is built on the basis of a drum kit that pounds like a heart rate , plus piano chords , string quartet (OSSO String Quartet) and Akinmusire itself. “Vartha” is an instrumental piece with sextets and in medium tempo, which with its fanfare by Booker Little and Radiohead can be inspired. Another sextet number (“Memo (G. Learson)”, with a solo by Walter Smith III) follows “The Beauty of Dissolving Portraits”, in which Akinmusire is again accompanied by the strings. A feature for the singer Theo Bleckmann is the "Asiam (Joan)", dedicated to Joni Mitchell , which was commissioned by the New York Asia Society Museum and is initially performed as an art song only with piano accompaniment ( This will be my promise to you / That I love myself as you do ). Then the band fills the gap and Bleckmann contributes wordless vocal layers. The instrumental number “Bubbles (John William Sublett)” is followed by the song “Ceaseless Inexhaustible Child (Cyntoia Brown)”, in which the singer-songwriter Cold Specks tells the moving story of a young woman in great difficulty; it's a song about Cyntoia Brown 'as a 16-year-old convicted of murder and serving a life sentence in Tennessee. Then she added the “gruesome recitation” of the names of victims (including Trayvon Martin ) of gunshots by racially charged police violence (“Rollcall for Those Absent”) by a child's voice (Muna Blake), accompanied by keyboard and drums. After another instrumental number ("J. E. Nilmah (Ecclesiastes 6:10)"), the string quartet is added again in "Inflatedbyspinning". The album ends with the 16-minute live recording "Richard (Conduit)", again with a quintet.
Track list
- Ambrose Akinmusire: The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint (Blue Note / Universal B001972602IN02)
- Marie Christie - 3:17
- As We Fight (Willie Penrose) - 6:25
- Our Basement (Ed) (Akinmusire / Stevens) - 6:28
- Vartha - 7:48
- Memo (G. Learson) - 5:53
- The Beauty of Dissolving Portraits - 4:14
- Asiam (Joan) (Akinmusire / Bleckmann) - 6:03
- Bubbles (John William Sublet) - 3:55
- Ceaseless Inexhaustible Child (Cyntoia Brown) (Akinmusire / Cold Specks) - 6:12
- Rollcall for Those Absent - 3:39
- J. E. Nilmah (Ecclesiastes 6:10) - 5:13
- Inflatedbyspinning - 3:03
- Richard (Conduit) - 16:28
- All other compositions are by Ambrose Akinmusire.
reception
Thom Jurek awarded the album four stars (out of five) in Allmusic and said that, following the critically acclaimed album When the Heart Emerges Glistening from 2011 , Ambrose Akinmusire provided "a wide range of carefully polished, cross-genre compositions - Modern classical music, demanding pop, spoken word - in addition to jazz. ”In the instrumental numbers, the trumpeter crosses free , modal jazz and post-bop , with everyone getting enough space for solo contributions. The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint is “provocative: its capricious, myriadic musical directions and the length of [almost] 79 minutes may be overwhelming at first. What only becomes apparent after repeated listening is that the result of this set is in proportion to the demands. "
Mark F. Turner said in All About Jazz that with The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint Akinmusire is opening a new page, narrating and thereby combining progressive music with songs and lyrics. Akinmusire's band is "absolute top", including guest guitarist Charles Altura, both in complex and melodic numbers such as "As We Fight" and "Bubbles" as well as in the swinging turbulence of the episodic 16-minute live piece "Richard". "Inflatedbyspinning" emphasizes Akinmusire's qualities as a composer, even if the trumpeter doesn't play along.
Mike Diver wrote in Pop Matters that Ambrose Akinmusire knows how to create moods and thus music that has not been heard before. The present album is therefore even more remarkable than his Blue Note debut from 2011. With his band he manages to move on different paths, from a hardbop quintet to an impressionistic chamber ensemble. With the other musicians he brought in, he created subgroups, which enabled him to “slowly cinematic spread of various tensions, [sound] landscapes and emotions”.
The four vocal contributions are distinctive and remarkable; Becca Stevens' contribution is so well worked out that it can be imagined as a radio hit or an indie pop sensation. In contrast, the instrumental numbers are by no means secondary; “Instead of every track having a somewhat standardized sounding propulsive groove ” (which one might expect from a Blue Note recording, as with the drum-heavy memo or the more melancholy “As We Fight”), he gives “an arrangement that breaking new ground in a great way. For example, J. E. Nilmah 'with a set of squiggles and rummages around with guitar, piano and trumpet until a theme slowly develops in the ensemble playing with an unusual time signature ”.
“The merits of The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint are ultimately so diverse and to some readers of this review it may sound incoherent. And the answer is no. Even though Akinmusire controls his music through four different vocal performances and various instrument combinations, mixing genres in the middle of the way, the result is consistent in the best sense of the word. […] “The variations in tone, shape and emotion made the album more of a satisfying journey than a dip in just a single mood, making listening an all in all great experience. "With his last two albums, Ambrose Akinmusire claims to be among the really best musicians in jazz - or in any other style of music."
For Michael J. West ( JazzTimes ), Ambrose Akinmusire's third album is a "composer's record"; all twelve original compositions (including that of Becca Stevens) are "complex pieces: varied sections, tricky meters and the lack of motifs or conventional forms." For example, "Vartha" is based on a cheerful three-quarter time for the rhythm section, "before Akinmusire's entry Groove explodes and then restores it until a new key is modulated, which is then demolished again. Hardly suited to becoming standards , these pieces nonetheless successfully convey deep emotions - and Akinmusire's trumpet playing. ”Even if this turns out to be a bit over-ambitious in“ Rollcall for Those Absent ”with the high, screaming sound of the trumpeter, The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier is to Paint a "splendid, moving album."
Chris Barton said in the Los Angeles Times that Ambrose Akinmusire is breaking new ground with the album and that it is not always easy to follow as he travels. Nevertheless, it is an exciting attempt; and after listening to it several times, the thought arises: Where does he want to go next time?
On National Public Radio , Patrick Jarenwattananon wrote: "The pieces are not particularly danceable or tailored for serenades in the shower," nor be it antagonistic or algebraic music. With all the strings, voices “and other sound alchemy” Imagined Savior is anchored in the playing of Akinmusire's Working Quintet , with the support of Charles Altura on guitar. This impression of almost standard instrumentation centered the plate. The wide range of the game gives ample evidence of a comprehensive vision.
Nate Chinen described the album as brilliant in the New York Times , but it was neither "a blazing postbop performance" nor a concept album , despite the title and thematic undertone of battle. Nor is it an explanation of the similarities between jazz and chamber music , which the inclusion of the Osso String Quartet might suggest. Rather, it shines in the realm of melancholic possibilities of expression ( realm of poignant possibility ) and artful conclusions ( artful implication ), and with a not inconsiderable proportion of beauty. Akinmusire has a “solid aesthetic compass, and as a band leader a sure hand on the wheel; and he doesn't stumble into the dark and restless moods of the album. ”His band glides gracefully through a series of rhythmic and harmonic twists in pieces like“ Bubbles (john william sublett) ”and shows a sophistication without playing down the effort. Akinmusire expresses his “politically engaged humanism” primarily in the three songs; his demanding demeanor is also evident in his trumpet play, such as in the thoughtful ballad “The Beauty of Dissolving Portraits” (with the Osso String Quartet and the flautist Elena Pinderhughes) or in “Richard (conduit)”, “the rough live track that Album in the spirit of a dramatic expedition. "
Davis Inman wrote on the down beat that Akinmusire's new album reflected Akinmusire's desire to write character-focused songs. Instead of impressively emphasizing his brass chops , Akinmusire see to it that the vocalists shine as soloists. On the other hand, the instrumental pieces “Inflatedbyspinning” and “The Beauty Of Dissolving Portraits” showed his affinity for classical instrumentation, the former is very moving with the roaring cello, the latter combines the strings with its own picturesque, supporting tones. Instead of playing with muscles, Akinmusire seduced him with “fascinating arrangements and tonal textures.” In a downbeat interview, the musician said:
“ The annoying 'jazz power trumpet thing' isn't for me. Rather, I want to try to be a leader and let things arise. That is the power of art that can really change people. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ ECHO Prize Winners 2015 ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2015 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.
- ↑ Year in Review Chris Barton's best jazz albums of 2014 in LATimes
- ↑ AllMusic 2014 Year In Review - Favorite Jazz Albums
- ↑ The Best Jazz Albums of 2014 By Fred Kaplan in Stereophile 2014
- ^ The Best Jazz of 2014 by Will Layman and John Garratt
- ↑ The 2014 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll , NPR, December 19, 2014, accessed January 4, 2015
- ↑ a b c d e Review of Mike Diver's album in Pop Matters (2014)
- ↑ a b Review of the album in the New York Times
- ↑ a b c Review of David Inman's album in the Downbeat ( memento of the original from March 9, 2014 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.
- ↑ Discographic information at Discogs
- ↑ Review of Thom Jurek's album at Allmusic (English). Retrieved August 11, 2015.
- ↑ Review of Mark F. Turner's album in All About Jazz (2014)
- ↑ Review of Michael J. West's album (2014) in JazzTimes
- ↑ Review of Chris Barton's album in the LA Times
- ^ Review of the album by Patrick Jarenwattananon in the NPR
