January Hibernation
Gearing up for 2024 with some final thoughts on music from 2023
Berlin remains in a kind of post-holiday haze this week, with only a couple of recommended shows, below. I’m suffering from the same lethargy, as I slowly get back into work mode. So this week’s newsletter is short, but there’s a lot of action on the horizon and next week the normal action will resume in this space. But I wanted to draw attention to a few more recordings from 2023 that I haven’t had a chance to weigh in on—they’re all very much worth hearing. So, thanks for your patience and thanks for reading. On another note, tomorrow the last episode of Nowhere Street radio will air tomorrow, January 9 here in Berlin at 4 PM (10 AM EST) on Collaboradio (88.4 FM) and online everywhere. I’ve enjoyed doing the show, but it’s been harder and harder to find the time to program it properly.
Four More Recommended Albums from 2023
Myra Melford’s Fire and Water Quintet, Hear the Light Singing (Rogue Art)
The material on the debut album from this all-star group led by pianist Myra Melford was written before the quintet actually started working together and the results fell short of its massive promise, functioning more like a schematic than a repertoire forged with the group chemistry in mind. That problem was eliminated after the combo spent time together playing, with the pianist writing the music for the group’s second album Hear the Light Singing that reveals a real sense of interplay and familiarity. Guitarist Mary Halvorson, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, and cellist Tomeka Reid have worked together for years in different contexts, and those connections fuel the collaboration, which now features Lesley Mok on drums—replacing Susie Ibarra—who proves to be an ideal, more tuned-in fit for the ensemble. The music is knotty, marked by all sorts of multi-layered interplay closer to chamber music than jazz, although it’s ultimately driven by flinty, focused improvisation. Melford’s writing here offers more inspiration, kindling a much more sophisticated, heated, and lucid ensemble approach.
Paul Gialllorenzo Trio, Play (Delmark)
Chicago pianist Paul Giallorenzo has never gotten the recognition he deserves, and this latest transmission only underlines his unique presence in the city, where he embraces a more old-school sound than most of his contemporaries. Adroitly supported by bassist Joshua Abrams and drummer Mikel Patrick Avery, his spry playing evokes a variety of pianists from the 50s and 60s like Herbie Nichols, Hasaan Ibn Ali, and Elmo Hope but with a much more elastic attack. The trio expands and contracts at will within the pianist’s hard-swinging originals, blending elusive yet catchy melodies and brisk rhythmic shape-shifting. Abrams and Avery have a special bond, which clearly enhances these performances, as they constantly tinker with the groove. At times Avery taps into some Vernell Fournier patterns, which offers a nice contrast to Giallorenzo’s angular, cubist approach. It ain’t splashy, but it’s one of the most pleasurable albums I heard in 2023.
Jason Roebke, Four Spheres (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Bassist Jason Roebke is another overlooked Chicagoan, best known for his sturdy, empathetic ensemble work in the Tomeka Reid Quartet, Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things, and loads of other groups. He’s made a handful of recordings as a leader, including two superb albums with an octet where he extends a Charles Mingus-like conception with a contemporary sensibility. One of his most prevalent, long-term concerns is screwing around with time, specifically exploring how suddenly halting the groove can impact a group conception. That’s one of the central premises in his new quartet, where he’s joined by a knockout band—pianist Mabel Kwan, drummer Marcus Evans, and the titanic, frequently overlooked saxophonist Edward Wilkerson Jr. His loose-limbed post-bop themes are treated like raw material. All of the musicians are credited with metronome, vandalizing time with cross-cutting interuptions, and the leader adds simultaneous playback of real-time cassette recordings of the band, delivering a kind of hall-of-mirrors vibe side-by-side within elegant tunes and ferocious improvising.
Michael Moore/John Pope/Johnny Hunter, Something Happened (New Jazz and Improvised Music Recordings)
Reedist Michael Moore carries himself with an understated elegance that can be easy to take for granted, but he invariably makes everything he’s involved with better. This casual session features the Amsterdam-based great fronting a nimble British rhythm section—bassist John Pope and drummer Johnny Hunter—on a thoroughly engaging, soulful selection of originals by all three players. As with the Gialllorenzo album above, there’s no conceptual underpinning, but the easy rapport on display, with a buoyancy that’s irresistible, allows Moore to thrive, uncorking his agile alto saxophone and clarinet through a variety of contexts that all celebrate the simplest post-bop pleasures with refined precision. Pure delight.
Recommended Shows in Berlin This Week
January 11: Sáez/Attias/Westerrgaard/Ott (Sando Sáez, piano; Michaël Attias, alto saxophone; Jonas Westergaard, bass; Nathan Ott, drums), 8:30 PM, Donau115, Donaustraße 115, 12043 Berlin
January 14: UNZEIT4tett (Céline Voccia, piano; Frank Paul Schubert, saxophone; Meinrad Knee, bass; Joe Hertenstein, drums), 3:30 PM, Industriesalon Schöneweide, Reinbeckstraße 10, 12459 Berlin