You have options
| You have options | ||||
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| Studio album by François Houle , Alexander Hawkins , Harris Eisenstadt | ||||
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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) |
10 |
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running time |
59:40 |
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Studio (s) |
Afterlife Studios, Vancouver, BC |
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You Have Options is a jazz album by François Houle , Alexander Hawkins and Harris Eisenstadt . The recordings, made on July 5, 2016 at Afterlife Studios, Vancouver, were released on Songlines Recordings in 2018 .
background
The late co-founder and artistic director of the Vancouver Jazz Festival , Ken Pickering, who had regularly put together ad hoc groups that brought musicians from Vancouver together with their international colleagues, recommended that British pianist Alexander Hawkins form this trio with the two Canadians, the drummer Harris Eisenstadt and the clarinetist François Houle. Aleander Hawkins had previously worked with Eisenstadt in the Convergence Quartet (with Dominic Lash and Taylor Ho Bynum ). The first meeting of the three musicians took place in 2014, the three then got together again during the 2016 festival and then went to the recording studio. In addition to pieces by Hawkins, Houle and Eisenstadt, this album contains three cover versions, including interpretations of Steve Lacy's "Art" and Charles Ives ' "Largo" as well as a "measured but groovy rendition" of Andrew Hills "Dusk". The resulting CD, “an essay in chamber jazz”, is dedicated to Pickering's memory.
Track list
- François Houle - Alexander Hawkins - Harris Eisenstadt: You Have Options (Songlines Recordings SGL 1628-2)
- Clue (Alexander Hawkins) 5:17
- Art ( Steve Lacy ) 7:14
- Run Riot (François Houle) 3:16
- The Pitts (Harris Eisenstadt) 6:17
- Prayer (François Houle) 6:14
- Advice (Alexander Hawkins) 4:18
- Largo ( Charles Ives ) 5:34
- You Have Options, I Have a Lawyer (Harris Eisenstadt) 6:43
- Le Concombre De Chicoutimi (François Houle) 6:14
- Dusk ( Andrew Hill ) 7:19
reception
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. "
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Nick Ostrum (Squidsear) wrote that the music was "elegant, intimate and discreetly dynamic"; the topics would be drawn up gradually. Although melodies also arise, float and then disappear, the focus remains on the process and the establishment of a sparse and balanced three-person dialogue. The third track with the apt title “Run Riot” is the first to be driven by energy rather than ballad-like tension, according to Ostrum. “Here, Houle's lively runs ride on Hawkins' and Eisenstadt's spirited but incoherent rhythmic interplay. To keep the flow from getting too much out of control and the ride not getting too bumpy, the following tracks revert to a more gradual, meditative stance, generally consisting of Eisenstadt's muted drumming, Houle's patient melody, and a strikingly beautiful several-minute piano solo by Hawkins. "Some of the album, including the extremely engaging" Prayer, "walked lightly on the" tight and treacherous line between the honeyed and the saccharine, "says the author. Some pieces, like “You Have Options”, offer gentle and impressive meditations on simple topics.
According to Stuart Broomer, who reviewed the album on The Whole Note , the group's lyrical potential first shows in Hawkins' opening track "Clue" and Steve Lacy's "Art". Houle's rich, warm clarinet playing goes perfectly with Hawkins' fluid lines and Eisenstadt's subtly impulsive drumming. Houle's nervous “Run Riot” and Eisenstadt's “You Have Options I have a Lawyer” would interrupt this magic for a moment, but it is the reflective depths of the group that define the album: “Houle's gently winding, passionate lines on 'The Pitts', the group's persistently winding sentences about the modal 'Prayer' and the very light, traditional blues of 'Advice' ”. The breadth of the group is evidenced by a free interpretation of Charles Ives' “Largo”, while Andrew Hill's “Dusk”, sometimes calmly, sometimes gently animated, provides a fitting conclusion, from Houle's a cappella introduction to his shimmering conclusion.
Aaron Novik ( Bird is the Worm ) praised: “What I like about it: I like that this music has a tone that borders on ghostly, and how its driving presence gives it an ethereal feeling. I like it to have a more traditional sound of a bygone jazz era when the trio is channeling the music into something that is very timely. I like how a melodic perspective stays intact no matter how resolutely the trio breaks things down into a mere resemblance to their first volley of notes. I like how the music has an innate calm, even though the music gets restless and excited.
Web links
- Listing of the album on Allmusic (English). Accessed January 1, 2020.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d You Have Options - François Houle; Alexander Hawkins; Harris Eisenstadt. The Whol eNote, November 27, 2018, accessed May 18, 2020 .
- ^ Glenn Astarita: Francois Houle - Alexander Hawkins - Harris Eisenstadt: You Have Options. All About Jazz, March 26, 2017, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ^ Francois Houle - Alexander Hawkins - Harris Eisenstadt: You Have Options at Discogs
- ↑ Eric McDowell: Francois Houle - Alexander Hawkins - Harris Eisenstadt: You Have Options. Free Jazz Blog, January 6, 2020, accessed May 15, 2020 .
- ^ François Houle - Alexander Hawkins - Harris Eisenstadt: You Have Options. Squidsear, April 18, 2019, accessed May 18, 2020 .
- ^ Aaron Novik: Album of the Day: "You Have Options" by Houle, Hawkins and Eisenstadt. Bird is the Worm, May 3, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 .