After a summer overstuffed with seven-day work weeks, I am now trying to catch up on my listening. To speed things along, I’m limiting myself to short reviews. So here are reviews of new albums from the Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Dafnis Prieto (featuring Luciana Souza), and Steven Bernstein and the Millennial Territory Orchestra—plus a new single from Isaac Aragon.
Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Mesmerism (Yeros7 Music)
A review
On Mesmerism, drummer Tyshawn Sorey departed from his usual practice of recording “thoroughly rehearsed, rigorously notated music for piano trio,” he stated, opting instead for only an hour or two of rehearsal despite working with two musicians who had never worked together before. It could be a recipe for disaster, but when you have musicians of the caliber of pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer on hand, you can be assured that the session will be rigorously creative and thoroughly engaging. Multi-instrumentalist/composer Sorey, long pigeonholed as an avant-gardist, wanted to record material from the American Songbook, or that he felt belonged in that book. Mesmerismoffers up a wide selection, from Horace Silver’s “Enchantment” to the inviting “Detour Ahead” to the chestnut “Autumn Leaves” (roasted and cracked wide open) to Ellington’s “REM Blues.” The songs provide a scaffolding from which the musicians can exercise their advanced architectural imaginations. The approaches range from the swinging Ellington blues to a gorgeous atmospheric take on Paul Motian’s “From Time to Time,” whose melody gets conjured out of the mist into existence at the very end. Every track runs deep and offers surprises in abundance.
Dafnis Prieto featuring Luciana Souza
Cantar (Dafnison Music)
A review
As charming as it is kinetic—and it is highly kinetic—Cuban drummer/vocalist/composer Dafnis Prieto’s Cantar, featuring vocalist/percussionist Luciana Souza, casts Prieto for the first time in the role of multilingual lyricist, and he proves to be up to the task. Souza gets lyricist credits on two tunes and also translates Prieto’s Spanish lyrics into Portuguese on another. Prieto’s melodic lines present some challenges, and Souza, one of the most articulate—both linguistically and emotionally—vocalists on the planet, meets them head on. Check out her command of the wide tonal range and the rapid-fire delivery required by the opener, “Guajira en Sol.” She shines on the slower tempo tunes, as well, particularly “Amanhecer Contigo” and “Sueño de Amor.” Prieto’s English lyrics for “The Muse” offer an insightful view on the process of inspiration, and Souza’s lyrics on “Houve um Tempo” plumb the sweet memory of a past love. “To the Concert” offers intoxicating fun with its percussive “lyrics” and musical exuberance. The exceptional band includes Peter Apfelbaum (woodwinds, melodica, percussion, keyboards), Martin Bejerano (piano), and Matt Brewer (acoustic and electric bass—is there any music this guy can’t play to perfection?).
Steven Bernstein and the MTO
Popular Culture (Royal Potato Family)
A review
Popular Culture, the fourth and final installment of the Community Music series from trumpeter/composer/arranger Steven Bernstein, adds a musical exclamation mark to the year-long project. Enlisting his Millennial Territory Orchestra nonet, Bernstein puts his sui generis arranging talents to work on six tunes that range from Duke Ellington to the Grateful Dead, Bessie Smith to Charles Mingus, the Beatles to Eddie Harris. As on the three previous releases, Bernstein (trumpet, slide trumpet, flugelhorn) delivers vivid, highly colored, and exhilarating arrangements and entrusts them into the able hands of his superb colleagues: Curtis Fowlkes (trombone), Charlie Burnham (violin), Doug Wieselman (clarinet), Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax), Erik Lawrence (baritone sax), Matt Munisteri (guitar, vocals [Black Peter]), Ben Allison (bass), and Ben Perowsky (drums). From Eddie Harris’s gritty, swaggering “I’m Going to Leave You by Yourself” to the ethereal “Long Long Long” (George Harrison), the terrifying “Black Peter” (Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter), Bernstein’s arrangements plunge deep into the music and expose its juicy, beating heart. (Reviews of the two of the previous releases can be found here and here.)
Isaac Aragon and the Healing
“Brown” (indie)
A sharing
Isaac Aragon, my brother in peace, love, and justice, and a fellow New Mexican, has released a new track, “Brown,” from his forthcoming album, now slated for a 2023 release. These cats are cooking: Aragon (acoustic guitar, vocals), Artha Meadors (electric bass), Paul Palmer III (drums), Dee Brown (organ, keyboards, background vocals), Kevin Cummings (electric guitar), Imua Garza (nylon acoustic guitar), and Hakim Bellamy (spoken word). Enjoy.
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