The latest releases reviewed
DAVID TORN
Prezene
ECM
****
Torn's first album for ECM in 20 years reveals him as an aural painter who is also part of the sound pictures he creates; much of the jointly improvised music here with Tim Berne (alto), Craig Taborn (piano/Fender Rhodes/Hammond/mellotron/bent circuits) and Tom Rainey (drums) has been manipulated by the guitarist, using live sampling and microprocessors, during and after the event. And though the results won't be to everyone's taste, there's no denying the discipline this quartet brings to bear on the group improvisations, with the free interplay often grounded in little rhythmic or linear patterns. Essentially, it's a group music, not a soloist's, where sometimes one or more instruments may assume - or be assigned later - a prominent role in the aural mix. Its jazz/rock funkiness harks back to Miles's Bitches Brew and later progeny, but the sonic landscapes it conjures up are of an impressively different order of rigour altogether. www.musicconnection.org.uk RAY COMISKEY
NORDIC CONNECT
Flurry
ArtistShare
****
Nordic Connect - Ingrid Jensen (trumpet/flugelhorn), Christine Jensen (alto/soprano), Maggi Olin (piano/Fender Rhodes), Jon Wikan (drums/percussion) and Mattias Welin (bass) - is a real band, born of familiarity and a shared sense, honed by touring, of what the quintet is about. It's less aggressive than might be expected: New World assertiveness offset by a touch of Nordic melancholy. Intriguing originals bring out the group's dual character and are opened up nicely by the soloists, among whom Ingrid Jensen is consistently outstanding. But sister Christine is also in fine form, rounding out an excellent front line with Olin. On a strikingly well-crafted album, full of gentle lyricism, there's much to admire, particularly their beautiful work on Seafever, Sweet Dream, Flurry, Sweet Adelphi, Things I Love and, above all, Breathe/Quadr'l. Available only online at www.ingridjensen.com RAY COMISKEY
ENRICO PIERANUNZI
Live In Japan
CamJazz
*****
This two-CD memoir of Pieranunzi's Japanese debut with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron is a more unbuttoned affair than any of this great trio's recordings to date. Three marvellous spontaneous trio creations, Impronippo, Improleaves and Improminor, are the most obvious testimony of that, but there's also an edge to their mutual engagement that performing live generates. Johnson, soloing first on most tracks, is a fountain of ideas on bass; Pieranunzi, playing with more assertive eloquence than ever with this trio, seems energised by him, and they're both spurred by Baron's intuitive drumming. Yet Pieranunzi's assertiveness never compromises the innate elegance with which he expresses his ideas, not even on Mio Caro Dottor Gräsler, which contains one of his most ebullient solos. Elsewhere there are gems of trio interplay on Winter Moon, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Ninfa Plebea and a glorious When I Think Of You. http://uk.hmboutique.com RAY COMISKEY
