Witness (Kirk Knuffke album)
| Witness | ||||
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| Kirk Knuffke's studio album | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | SteepleChase Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
12 |
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running time |
1:06:19 |
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| occupation |
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Nils Winther |
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Witness is a jazz album by Kirk Knuffke . The recordings, which were made in December 2017, were released on October 15, 2018 on SteepleChase Records .
background
Cornet player Kirk Knuffke has worked in many different musical genres in his career, noted Jerome Wilson. He has recorded albums under his own name that are dedicated to the music of Erik Satie and Don Cherry , and he also covered a song by country singer Ernest Tubb , "Thanks a Lot" (on Arms & Hands , 2015). On the album Witness - the title song is the spiritual "Witness (for My Lord)" - he dealt with a program of spirituals, opera arias (including "Credo in un dio crudel" from Giuseppe Verdi's Otello ), poems and pop and jazz standards , which he interpreted in a quartet with the clarinetist Ben Goldberg , the pianist Russ Lossing and the classically trained baritone singer Steven Herring.
Track list
- Kirk Knuffke: Witness (SteepleChase SCCD 31859)
- Witness (Traditional) 6:34
- Lush Life ( Billy Strayhorn ) 9:30
- Ride On, King Jesus (Traditional) 4:58
- The Satellites Are Spinning ( Sun Ra ) 4:15
- Iago's Credo ( Giuseppe Verdi ) 5:54
- Subway ( Carl Sandburg , Kirk Knuffke) 2:34
- Aria Mustafa ( Gioacchino Rossini ) 6:21
- Charade ( Henry Mancini , Johnny Mercer ) 7:50
- Storm ( Kirby Congdon , Kirk Knuffke) 3:40
- The Voice ( Ellen Mandel , Thomas Hardy ) 4:51
- Questo Amor ( Giacomo Puccini ) 5:10
- A City Called Heaven (Traditional) 4:50
reception
According to Jerome Wilson, who reviewed the album on All About Jazz , Herring's confident, resonant voice is a focus of this music. He succeeds in performing as a crooner of romantic pop songs, a gospel performer or as an opera singer and integrates himself into the material of the instrumental side play. With the old spirituals “Witness” and “A City Called Heaven” he creates a passionate religious feeling, while Knuffkes and Goldberg's serpentine lines surround him like a background choir. The third spiritual "Ride On, King Jesus" will be approached rapidly; the opera excerpts, on the other hand, emphasize Hering's vocal power over a more formal instrumental accompaniment, says the author. On Verdi's “Iago's Credo”, Knuffke and Lossing creep threateningly under the vocals, while on Verdi's “Aria Mustafa” (from L'italiana in Algeri , 1813) they exchange short, lyrical sentences in support of him. " Lush Life " and "Charade" were performed as moody ballads with emotional singing and a melancholy piano; Knuffke play particularly soft and reflective. In addition, there is a version of Sun Ras “The Satellites Are Spinning” (from his album The Solar-Myth Approach , 1971), which is worthy of the Arkestra itself, says the author, “a collage of cracks with the cornet, clarinet groans and Piano fragments that adorn Herring's dramatic mix of recitation and singing. “This album is a fascinating example of Kirk Knuffke's versatility, summarizes Wilson. He succeeds in applying his cornet to a dazzling variety of settings and has an amazing singing partner here in Steven Herring. Witness is a convincing mixture of drama and art song with cheeky jazz aromas.
Peter Margasak said in Down Beat that Knuffke displayed a feverish imagination and a restless curiosity in his career, qualities that enabled him to switch effortlessly between tradition and avant-garde. Yet at Witness he delivered the boldest project of his productive career to date to create surprising connections between opera, spirituals and free jazz . The contributing singer, who reminds of Johnny Hartman when he interprets Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" dramatically, but sings with an articulation that does not bring every syllable to life, criticizes Margasak. The opera arias by Puccini, Rossini and Verdi in particular are a little more difficult to digest, since the singer, with his more formal presentation, collides with a more intuitive reaction from the instrumentalists. It is therefore not surprising that one of the highlights of Knuffke's compositions were Carl Sandburg's poems, in which everything fits perfectly.
Derek Taylor ( Dusted ) noted that with Witness in of eclecticism further displacement announcing marked development Knuffkes, would have to take a leap of faith may be in the acclimatized audience while the music would attract new admirers because of the associated stylistic risks. In contrast to previous projects, this is the first one a singer has been involved in throughout the session and, predictably, one who is not exactly known for circling the same creative musical circles as the band leader. Steven Herring has a rich and nuanced baritone spectrum that is well suited for the opera stage, but also masters the intervals of jazz standards. Instead of tailoring his talents or using them sparingly, Knuffke makes him a fully participating part of the ensemble. Its other members, the clarinetist Ben Goldberg and the pianist Russ Lossing, regularly set counterpoints and open improvisation.
Web links
- Listing of the album on Allmusic (English). Retrieved July 1, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jerome Wilson: Kirk Knuffke: Witness. All About Jazz, February 4, 2019, accessed July 27, 2020 .
- ↑ Kirk Knuffke: Witness at Discogs
- ↑ Peter Margasak: Kirk Knuffke: Witness. Doen Beat, February 1, 2019, accessed on July 27, 2020 .
- ↑ Derek Taylor: Kirk Knuffke - Witness (Steeplechase). Dusted, November 14, 2018, accessed July 27, 2020 .