Archive for the ‘Aaron Parks’ Category
Will Vinson: Stockholm Syndrome (2010 – Criss Cross)
Saxophonist Will Vinson performs the oft-attempted but rarely accomplished feat of producing fresh and original music with an open affection for tradition. He carefully walks the tightrope, all the while risking falling—on one side into shallow mimicry, and on the other into art music.
Stockholm Syndrome—Vinson’s first Criss Cross release and an appropriately heady mixture of standards and originals—finds the alto saxophonist developing a distinct and personal lyricism. The album brings together five of New York’s best young musicians, with the express goal of creating a new sound. The product seems to be the grandchild of West Coast jazz, including all of its melancholy, grace, and manner, but leaving out its occasional mawkishness. Perhaps it is no coincidence, then, that Vinson updates compositions by both saxophonist Paul Desmond and pianist Bill Evans.
On Vinson’s originals, serpentine melodies and mesmerizing drum figures quickly draw attention. It is, however, the standards that are the highpoint of this recording. Lage Lund’s acoustic guitar shimmers on the dark and evocative “You Wouldn’t Forget Me,” before an exhilarating rendition of Cole Porter’s “Everything I Love,” which features drummer Kendrick Scott’s impressive technique and exceptional taste. The album closes with a spirited and uplifting take of an obscure Evans composition, “Show Type Tune,” which finds Vinson in a trio setting with just piano and drums.
With Stockholm Syndrome, Vinson continues to prove himself a leading force on his instrument, but perhaps even more importantly as a focused bandleader. He demonstrates the ability to build a commanding narrative with his compositions and with the overall sound of the group. The album is beautifully conceived and seems to say everything it wants to say. As Vinson appears to have chosen brevity over bravado, there are no extra phrases or choruses. He chooses musicality above all else—the simple quality too often spurned by the vanguard of contemporary jazz.
All About Jazz (David Lighton)
01. Squeeze
02. Dear Old Stockholm Syndrome
03. Late Lament
04. Dean Street Rundown
05. Icronic
06. You Wouldn’t Forget Me
07. Everything I Love
08. Party Of One
09. Show Type Tune
Personnel:
Will Vinson (Sop Sax, Alto Sax)
Lage Lund (Guitar)
Aaron Parks (Piano)
Kendrick Scott (Drums)
Recorded on June, 2nd 2010 – Label: Criss Cross
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Terence Blanchard: Bounce – (2004 – Blue Note)
Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard has come further in a sense than any of the 1980s Art Blakey alumni. While Wynton and Branford Marsalis may have higher profiles, Blanchard is the player who has most improved as both a soloist and an ensemble player. He is an excellent bandleader whose great taste in arrangements and sidemen are reflected on nearly all of his recordings. But most of all, Mr. Blanchard has become one of jazz’s most sophisticated and erudite composers. Combining elegance; sleek, shimmering surfaces; and lopping, limpid ambiences with wonderful harmonic and melodic invention — not to mention a great cast of soloists — there’s no wonder why Mr. Blanchard is Spike Lee’s chosen soundtrack composer. On Bounce, Mr. Blanchard and his septet (which includes the brilliant pianist Aaron Parks, saxophonist Brice Winston, drummer Eric Harland, B3 and Fender Rhodes maestro Robert Glasper, guitarist Lionel Loueke, and bassist Brandon Owens) explore various sides of the Latin music experience while not making a “Latin” record per se. Blanchard seems to be interested in the colorations of rhythm on his own modern creative and post-bop experiments in texture, structure, and musical elasticity. And these tunes do stretch into melodic arenas he’s never explored before. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than the achingly beautiful “Passionate Courage,” where a long, slow opening statement form the horns moves in linear fashion to engage both piano and Rhodes at different junctures as they wander at a luxuriant pace through shaded key signatures and satiny harmonic figures, and engage counterpoint without actually delving into it. On “Azania,” Owens’ bass creates the Afro-Cuban motif that is gently funked up by Glasper on B3. Finally, the African side of the rhythm becomes dominant with chanted vocals by Loueke and the tune moves into Abdullah Ibrahim’s brand of township jazz, while never straying from the blues all that much. Remarkable. Ultimately, Bounce is the most perfectly paced of all of Blanchard’s recordings. He divides his time between tempos, but always comes back to silence to ground himself and begin over. In terms of his lyrical lines, they have never been in a sense more simple or more sophisticated (check out the blissed-out harmonics in “Innocence”), where the individual players become identified by their ensemble contributions first and then as soloists. Mr. Blanchard’s own soling has never been more restrained or more profound. In his economy of phrase, entire sound worlds become evident that were never noticeable before. On Bounce, Blanchard proves that he is the trumpet player, composer, and bandleader who is moving jazz, albeit at his own pace, in new directions that encompass both a new look at Western musical systems and never leave the human heart out of the equation. This is his masterpiece thus far and a high-water mark for anybody else to follow.
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
1. On the Verge
2. Passionate Courage
3. Fred Brown
4. Nocturna
5. Azania $0.99
6. Footprints
7. Transform
8. Innocence
9. Bounce / Let’s Go Off
Personnel:
Terence Blanchard (trumpet)
Aaron Parks (piano)
Brice Winston (soprano & tenor saxophones)
Lionel Loueke (guitar)
Eric Harland (Drums)
Original Release Date: August 5, 2003 – Label: Blue Note Records
Across Rhythm 