musicophilesblog – From Keith Jarrett to Johannes Brahms – Page 30 – Writing About and Reviewing Classical Music and Jazz

Brad Mehldau Trio: Blues and Ballads – A Review

Brad Mehldau

I have an ambiguous relationship to Brad Mehldau’s music. On the one hand, I’ve featured him both in my 25 Essential Jazz albums, and My Top 10 Jazz Covers of Pop Songs, which means there is stuff he’s done I really love and would rate 5 star.

I also liked his recent 10 Years Solo Live album which I have yet to review, and had a ticket for one of his recent solo concerts (which unfortunately I couldn’t attend as a gastric flu had knocked me out).

On the other hand, there are albums I just loathe, and give them a solid two stars (really not my cup of tea), e.g. Largo.

Nevertheless, I’ve been following him quite closely, you just never know what you get next.

Blues and Ballads (Nonesuch 2016)

So obviously, the moment the new trio album came out (just some days ago), I started streaming it.

So, are we in two or five star territory here?

Brad Mehldau Trio Blues and Ballads 24 88 Nonesuch 2016

Actually, neither nor.

My first impression here is “quite nice”. And not in the indirect sense that the word nice these days is quite regularly used, I actually kind of like it.

There are some beautiful ballads, several of them 9 or 10 minutes long (something I often appreciate, as it gives the music more time to develop).

Some of my favorite tracks are the two last ones on the album And I Love Her, and My Valentine. These two alone, for my particular taste, make the album worth checking out.

On the other hand, when we go to the first part of the album title, the Blues part, I’m less convinced. There are tracks I personally could easily live without, e.g. Cheryl, where to my ears the trio tries to sound like Monk but doesn’t really succeed.

Another really enjoyable track is the Jon Brion cover Little Person, confirming again that Mehldau plays an important role in bringing the contemporary Pop repertoire into Jazz.

So overall, a slightly mixed bag, but I still like the good tracks of the album enough to recommend the entire thing. Will I buy this (which I do for my personal favorites and to support the artist) or stick to streaming? Time will tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up clicking on the buy button eventually.

In any case, give it a try!

My rating: 4 stars (this is one more of the cases where I was hesitating to give 3.5 stars, but I don’t want to stray away from my own rating scale, and the good songs on this album are really worth it).

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Nonesuch’s own online store)

Pachelbel: Beyond the Canon with Amandine Beyer

Johann Pachelbel

Do you know Pachelbel? Sure you do. Like probably most of the population of the Western world, from his famous Canon and Gigue in D, as the Canon is one of the most popular pieces played at weddings (and by street musicians).

Now do you know anything else from Pachelbel? Well, I must admit, I really didn’t. In my entire classical music library, I have the sad number of 15 tracks from this composer, pretty much entirely on some Baroque compilations.

So I was curious when Amandine Beyer with her ensemble Gli Incognito recently released an entire Pachelbel album.

Pachelbel: Un Orage d’Avril (Harmonia Mundi 2016)

Pachelbel: Un orage d'avril - Amandine Beyer - Gli Incogniti - Hans-Jörg Bammel Harmonia Mundi 2016

Well, I was positively surprised. This is mainly instrumental baroque musique, with the occasional song (beautifully performed by tenor Hans-Jörg Mammel) thrown in.

Let’s admit it, baroque music can be boring. Sometimes it is just a bit too repetitive, to formalized, too much of the same (e.g. quite a bit of Vivaldi’s massive oeuvre IMHO). So it usually takes a genius like Bach to break out of the conventions of baroque music to really make it interesting (and even he doesn’t always succeed).

And obviously, Pachelbel is no Bach, probably not even a Vivaldi. That said, I still think there is enough to discover on this album that I highly recommend you to check it out.

A brief comment on Amandine Beyer: I sometimes find the sound of her violin a bit too “rough” for my taste (e.g. on her celebrated recording of the Four Seasons) This is nicely enough not the case here, the album is quite well recorded.

Give it a try!

My rating: 4 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz) and here (Prestoclassical)

Musicophilesblog 1st anniversary!

Today exactly one year ago, I decided to share my experience of the Keith Jarrett Solo Concert in Lucerne. I honestly had no expectations at all from this activity.

Now, one year and 136 posts later, I still can’t believe what has happened. And all of this is thanks to you, dear readers!

I really appreciate all the positive and constructive feedback I’ve received over the last year, and am grateful to your loyalty!

Looking forward to an exciting 2nd year of this little blog.

Again, if you have any form of feedback, please let me know here!

Thanks again!

Charlie Haden’s Nocturne – Music for the Tropical Summer Nights

For us here in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is finally on it’s way.

The ideal location for this album is outside, in the warm breeze of a tropical evening, sipping a nicely aged Dominican rum, a Pisco Sour, or maybe even just a Gin and Tonic (no Schweppes please though…).

The ideal place would be sitting by a pool, with the sea not too far away. And obviously, the essential part would be sitting there with your favorite other half.

Got the picture? If you’re not there right now, get onto your streaming service of choice and play this album, at least mentally you’ll be there in no time:

Charlie Haden – Nocturne (Verve 2001)

Another way to give you an idea about this beautiful album is a reference to Ray Cooder’s Buena Vista Social Club, that during some points of the late 1990s you simply couldn’t get away from in any bar or restaurant you walked in pretty much anywhere on the planet.

This really overdosed me for the next decade, and I only recently rediscovered the new high-res release of Buena Vista, and now enjoy it again, but in moderate doses.

Charlie Haden Nocturne Verve 2001

However, Nocturne has been with me and on regular rotation since I first discovered it in 2004.

But by now you really get the picture, I assume. Charlie Haden is playing soft latin rhythms, inspired by Cuba and Mexico, and this is really made for the late night.

Charlie Haden

I’ve only seen Haden live once in Paris, but was very fond of him, so his recent passing made me sad. I really don’t know why I haven’t written about him yet, he has done so many beautiful albums, and is one of my favorite bass players. Well, watch this space.

Outstanding Musicians

Charlie has assembled an outstanding team of musicians here. Gonzalo Rubalcaba is a great pianist (saw him once live in solo, great experience), Ignacio Berroa on drums, Pat Metheny (that I’m generally not that fond of, except when he plays with Haden), Federico Britos Ruiz on the violin. Joe Lovano (excellent, he also played when I saw Haden live in Paris at Vincennes Jazz) and David Sanchez keep relatively low profile on this album, but are there when you need them to.

So by now you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Please, given the title of both the album and several songs (Noche de Ronda, Nocturnal, Moonlight, Nightfall), really listen to this album late at night, that is when it does all it’s magic.

Usually receiving a Grammy isn’t necessarily a safe gauge of quality (I still need to figure out what criteria they use, but they not very often get close to my taste), but in this case, the 2002 Grammy for best latin album was spot on.

My rating: 5 stars

You can find it here (Qobuz) or here (Spotify), or quite overpriced at Amazon.

Sol Gabetta, Leonard Slatkin, and the LA Philharmonic play Martinu and Berlioz – May 15, 2016

Disney Concert Hall

I’m a big Frank Gehry fan. Some critics say all of his buildings look a bit the same, and they may have a point. But honestly, given how great they look, I don’t mind a bit.

After having been to the Guggenheim Bilbao, and having stayed at the Gehry-designed Hotel Marques de Riscal in Rioja, a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall was long overdue.

Although I’m in LA on a regular basis, I never had the time to actually go see a concert there. So I was very happy when things turned out different this time.

Sol Gabetta

I just happened to be here during the annual Piatigorsky Cello festival, and saw the chance of seeing Sol Gabetta live. I had already seen her live in the past and was impressed by her passion. She is born in Argentina, but lives in Switzerland now.

The first time I heard about her was with her album Progetto Vivaldi back in 20o7, where she plays among others parts of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Note that these concertos are originally violin concertos, and she just effortlessly plays the violin part on a cello! Impressive.

With Leonard Slatkin and the LA Philharmonic

I wasn’t too disappointed that Gustavo Dudamel wasn’t at the baton, as I’m really not a big fan of him. I had a more neutral opinion of Leonard Slatkin, and he really seems to be a nice guy, based on a long interview I recently heard with him, and the pre-concert talk he did at the Disney Hall (including a “conducting for beginners” improvisation).

The concert started off with Rossini’s William Tell overture. I must admit I’m not crazy about Rossini in general, but the overture really does the trick, and the part of the music that hasn’t been massacred for The Lone Ranger et al. is actually quite pleasant.

Bohuslav Martinu’s Cello Concerto

I’ve said it previously, I’m not too much into 20th century music. I occasionally like the impressionists like Debussy and Ravel, but beyond that I rarely enjoy stuff.

Three exceptions to the rule all come from Eastern Europe, Bartok, Janacek, and Martinu. I really like some of ;Martinu’s chamber music. But I must admit I hadn’t heard his cello concerto yet prior to this concert.

It is actually a nice experience discovering a new work for the first time in concert and not on record. It is a much more vivid experience. And in this case a very rewarding one. The concerto is just beautiful. Especially the second movement is really memorable. You wonder why this concerto isn’t played more often.

And Gabetta played great as expected, with passion and visibly having fun. We even got an encore from her, a solo piece by Peterisk Vasks. Trick question: how many voices can you get playing a solo cello? Regularly usually up to two if you play the strings in parallel. But here we got a third melody: her voice! A magical moment.

Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique

This is really about the only major work I know and love from Berlioz. The story is just fascinating. I’m still looking for my perfect interpretation on record, but “grew up” with the early 1990s recording of Roger Norrington with the London Classical Players, so early-HIP.

The LA Phil under Slatkin sounded anything but HIP, actually in many moments I was reminded of Wagner, but it was a great concert nevertheless. Slatkin went through a lot of efforts in storytelling, including putting one of the two “sheperds” from the pastoral scene on the balcony, or hiding the drums and “church bells” behind the orchestra.

Overall, a really great experience, in a beautiful hall, with great acoustics. The only downside of the great acoustics is that you hear every little noise the audience makes, and they were making a lot of it. I’ve rarely heard so many coughs, and this in spite of this concert being recorded for release.

In any case, I’m looking forward to buying this album eventually!

You can find the Progetto Vivaldi album here (Qobuz)

GoGo Penguin Live At Moods, Zürich – May 8, 2016 – A Review

Jazz has a problem. An age problem. I go to many Jazz concerts, and unfortunately, the typical spectator at such a concert is male, middle-aged at least, and grey haired.

I guess the times of Jazz being the music of the cool kids is over since the 1960’s, and overall this genre has been niched too much as intellectual, and has very little presence in the mainstream media and the public mind. Women and younger people are often clear minorities at this kind of concert.

Therefore I was very happy to see that I was able to attend a Jazz concert where not only the musicians where all in their early thirties, but the average age of the audience must have been not more than 25! Also both genders were pretty much equally represented. A very refreshing sight.

So who was able to pull these younger crowds into Moods, the best Jazz club in Zurich?

GoGo Penguin Live At Moods

Well, obviously we’re talking about GoGo Penguin. I’ve already praised their recent release Man Made Object previously, and was very happy to have such a musically rewarding weekend after seeing Michael Wollny’s trio just the day before.

So, how did it go?

Well, first of all, I was impressed. The trio sound of GoGo Penguin is very much influenced by Electronica, so I imagined a fair share of Logic Pro or Ableton computer wizardry going on on the album.

Well, I obviously was mistaken. While they had their sound engineer with them, and I saw a Macbook connected to the mixing console, the ludicrous speed you here on their albums is nothing but exactly the same what they are pulling off live!

GoGo Pengui Live At Moods May 8 2016 1

Bassist Nick Blacka pictured above was just impressive. Although I was sitting in the first row, I could sometimes barely follow his fingers, they were that fast. And he made generous use of the bow, which is always a nice change.

GoGo Pengui Live At Moods May 8 2016 2

Chris Illingworth on piano sounded at times like a reborn Esbjörn Svensson, but this is probably one of the best compliments you can make to any Jazz pianist.

The real hero of the evening however was Rob Turner on drums.

GoGo Pengui LIve At Moods May 8 2016

The way he kept the beats of amazing syncopating complexity and even crazier speeds was just breathtaking. His pulsating bass drum was of drum machine precision, and was one of the key factors why this evening was so absorbing musically.

Obviously, this is not very traditional Jazz. There was some improvisation, but the music lived much more of the groove and in many moments sounded way more like Drum-and-Bass than Dave Brubeck.

But this is really what we need. Miles Davis famously said “It’s not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change.”

EST really gets the credit for having started to modernize the Jazz trio. But here we truly have a worthy successor!

This is the kind of change I’d love to see more of!

Check out their concert schedule and if they come anywhere near you, you just have to go!

P.S. To close, some impressions of the Schiffbau buildin, where Moods is located, a former ship yard and industrial site, beautifully converted into a complex for theater, dining, and Jazz. Worth checking out if you’re ever in Zurich

All pictures (c) Musicophilesblog 2016

Michael Wollny Trio Live at Kaserne Basel – May 7, 2016 – A Review

Michael Wollny

I already wrote Wollny twice. Most recently about his most recent release, Nachtfahrten, which I really liked, and I have one of his live albums in my list of the 25 Essential Jazz Albums.

He is probably one of the most creative jazz pianists out there these days. Unfortunately, in spite of being extremely popular in his home country, he’s still not as well known in the rest of the world. I really hope this will change.

A Jazz Piano Trio Concert Weekend

I hadn’t really planned on being in Switzerland this weekend, but in the end, concert-wise, it turned out rather a great place to be. I had the extreme pleasure of seeing Michael Wollny’s Trio Live yesterday in Basel, and will be seeing GoGo Penguin live tonight in Zurich (see my review of their latest album here).

Michael Wollny Trio Live At Jazz Festival Basel, July 7, 2016 – Nachtfahrten

I must admit, I initially had some hesitations about a live concert of his most recent album Nachtfahrten. Although I liked it a lot, it is an overall rather quiet, nocturnal album, and I wasn’t sure if this is music that would be well adapted to a live concert.

I shouldn’t have worried. While he played several songs of Nachtfahrten, only the title track, which he played as a great encore, was as slow and meditative as the album.

During pretty much the entire rest of the concert, the trio was truly on fire. Wollny was in great shape, you could really see how physical this was for him (I was lucky to be all the way up front in third row, so had an excellent view). This is a musician that truly lives his music.

Michael Wollny Trio Christian Weber Eric Schaefer Live At Kaserne Basel July 07 2016

A special compliment needs to go to Eric Schäfer on drums. He put so much energy into his solos, that at some point a piece of his drum kit got catapulted into the audience. And the way he kept the groove really was essential to the spellbinding atmosphere of this concert.

Michael Wollny Trio Christian Weber Eric Schaefer Live At Kaserne Basel July 07 2016

Christian Weber, the local Swiss addition to the trio, was in great shape as well. The interplay between him and Wollny was just outstanding.

Michael Wollny Trio Christian Weber Eric Schaefer Live At Kaserne Basel July 07 2016

The trio also played several songs from the previous album, Weltentraum. Actually, the concert was special in a way that the trio didn’t only play individual songs, but actually one song merged into an improvisation seamlessly blending over into the next song. The audience barely got any occasion to clap (so when they did, the applause was over enthusiastic).

Michael Wollny Trio Christian Weber Eric Schaefer Live At Kaserne Basel July 07 2016

If you ever get the possibility to see these amazing artists live, don’t miss it. His Weltentraum Live Album gives you a good idea what to expect.

Luckily, this concert got recorded by Swiss radio (to be played somewhere in summer), so I hopefully will be able to relive this great experience again. And maybe this even makes it into an album. Fingers crossed.

Brad Mehldau

Blues and Ballads (Nonesuch 2016)

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Johann Pachelbel

Pachelbel: Un Orage d’Avril (Harmonia Mundi 2016)

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Charlie Haden

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Disney Concert Hall

Sol Gabetta

With Leonard Slatkin and the LA Philharmonic

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GoGo Penguin Live At Moods

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Michael Wollny

A Jazz Piano Trio Concert Weekend

Michael Wollny Trio Live At Jazz Festival Basel, July 7, 2016 – Nachtfahrten

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