Summertime presents a number of obstacles to listening, so I’m going to try to catch up on a few previous releases while also checking out some newer ones by posting some briefer reviews. This week, we feature five releases from five very different jazz neighborhoods: cellist Janel Leppin’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash; clarinetist Anat Cohen’s Quartetinho; guitarist and bassist, respectively, Rich Peare and Don Messina; drummer Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble quintet; and flautist Jamie Baum’s Septet +. Something for just about every jazz fan.

Janel Leppin’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash
To March Is to Love (Cuneiform Records)
A review
To March Is to Love, the arresting new release from cellist, pianist, composer Janel Leppin’s Ensemble Volcanic Ash (Anthony Pirog, guitar; Sarah Hughes and Brian Settles, saxophones; Luke Stewart, bass; and Larry Ferguson, drums), is bookended by a darkly expressive “Ode to  Abdul Wadud,” the boundary-breaking cellist who inspired Leppin’s aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach to composition and performance, and the delicate “Casals’ Rainbow,” an appreciation, on piano, of her other great influence. Leppin combines her precise classical training with her incendiary avant-garde expression in the nine chamber jazz tracks between the bookends, which range from the mesmeric Satie-esque “Sateatime” to the excoriating “To March Is to Love Pt. II,” with its wildly intense, highly interactive ensemble improvisation. The highest point on this musical adventure of a release comes with Leppin’s astounding cello solo on “As Wide as All Outdoors.” Inspired by Julius Hemphill’s statement, “Jazz is as wide as all outdoors,” that performance redefines the possibilities of the cello’s expressive range. Leppin and her colleagues deliver a molten musical flow that incinerates the ordinary.

Richard Peare and Don Messina
Blues for Peter (New Artists)
A review
You don’t very often get to hear an accomplished jazz duo on a nylon-stringed classical guitar—that’s Richard Peare—and a gut-stringed double bass—that’s Don Messina. On their new release, Blues for Peter, these two master improvisers, both of whom stand in the tradition of such folks as Lennie Tristano and Sal Mosca, among others, offer an old-school paean to melody and swing on seven standards and one original. Dedicated to the late Peter Prisco, an esteemed Staten Island guitarist and teacher with whom both Peare and Messina were connected, the album opens with a swinging version of “Strike Up the Band,” which sets the scene for what’s to come—good-time music whose inventive improvisational lines unpack the melodic and harmonic possibilities encapsulated in familiar tunes. Richard gets the lion’s share of the foreground, but Messina, whose swinging, irresistible pulse grounds the entire album, gets an expressive cameo on the original title track. They both shine brightest on “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” which captures the intoxication of new love. Blues for Peter puts a new shine on the old school. (CDs and MP3s are available here. Will begin streaming in the usual places the week of 10/4/24.)

Anat Cohen
Bloom (Anzic Records)
A review
On their second release, clarinetist Anat Cohen and her Quartetinho colleagues (bassist-guitarist Tal Mashiach, pianist-accordionist Vitor Gonçalves, and vibraphonist-percussionist James Shipp) luxuriate in their musicality and invite you to luxuriate along with them. Each member of the quartet contributes compositionally, and the overarching theme seems to be playful delight, delivered in a variety of flavors—with touches of tango, flamenco, Brazil, Cuba, NOLA, and swing. In addition to eight originals, they offer Monk’s “Trinkle, Tinkle,” completely reimagined but capturing Monk’s characteristic humor, and the third movement of Agustín Barrios Mangoré’s “La Catedral” (originally composed for guitar), whose stately peace is topped off with a dancing close. Among the abundant highlights are Cohen’s “Night Owl,” rearranged from one of her clarinet études; the pensive, late-evening “Paco,” from Tal Mashiach, featuring his sensitive guitar work; the juicy “Tango para Guillermo,” from Gonçalves; and Cohen and Shipp’s “Coco Rococo,” with its sliced-and-diced rhythms and lovely lullaby section. Sophisticated, fun, and accessible, Bloom is pretty much guaranteed to brighten your day.

Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble
Good Trouble (Palmetto Records)
A review
Unapologetically irrepressible, irresistibly playful, politically conscious, and seriously musical, drummer Matt Wilson delivers, with serious intent and a joyful spirit, yet another collection of finely crafted tunes on Good Trouble. The title of the album comes from a quote by the late John Lewis, civil rights activist and member of Congress: “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America.” Wilson—along with his Good Trouble quintet: alto saxophonist Tia Fuller, tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Jeff Lederer, pianist/vocalist Dawn Clement, and bassist Ben Allison—has embraced that call to action and honors the legacy of Lewis. At the center of the 10 tracks are the three tunes of the Wilson/Lederer “Good Trouble Suite:” “RBG,” sizzle and substance, delivered with a Latin touch; “Walk with the Wind,” a stately and reverent appreciation of Lewis’s integrity; and “Good Trouble,” which shakes up the proceedings with a Gospel feel. Other high points include Wilson’s swinging opener, “Fireplace,” with Clement skating on the border of inside/outside; Ornette Coleman’s “Feet Music,” which will have you dancing with your arms in the air; and Wilson’s “CommUnity,” with its island breeze and a terrific celebration between Fuller and Lederer. With its top-drawer jazz music and performances, Good Trouble testifies that good trouble can also be joyful trouble. (I can’t embed the YouTube version of the title track, but you can listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsGO9ChTlQs.)

The Jamie Baum Septet +
What Times Are These (Sunnyside Records)
A review
With the pandemic having canceled all her gigs, composer and flautist Jamie Baum and her husband were stuck inside their 500-square-foot Manhattan apartment with lots of free time. Baum decided to focus on composing, and encountering Bill Moyers’ “A Poet a Day” website in early 2020, she found the material she needed for her latest album (released months ago—sorry to take so long getting to it), What Times Are These. She should be sequestered in her apartment more often. The album’s 10 tracks include 7 hung on a poem and 3 instrumentals. All 10 of album’s deeply intelligent, intensely felt compositions are distinguished by their suppleness of line; Baum’s willingness to draw from a broad palette, from funk to art song to hymn; the warmly textured arrangements; and a perfect coordination between composed and improvised sections. The heart of these compositions is eloquently expressed by an exceptionally disciplined, virtuosic, and improvisationally adept band: Baum, compositions, flutes, spoken word; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet, spoken word; Sam Sadigursky, alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet; Chris Komer, French horn; Brad Shepik, guitar; Luis Perdomo, piano, Fender Rhodes; Ricky Rodriguez, bass, electric bass; Jeff Hirshfield, drums; guest vocalists Theo Bleckmann, KOKAYI, Sara Serpa, Aubrey Johnson; and guest percussionist Keita Ogawa. The album presents a musical and poetic banquet (you might want to take a break between courses), with poems from a cohort of 20th- and 21st-century female poets (Adrienne Rich, Marge Piercy, Tracy K. Smith, Lucille Clifton, and Naomi Shihab Nye). Baum does not shy away from the dark emotions engendered by the pandemic, but nonetheless keeps moving toward the light. What Times Are These gives us a profound statement from an artist contending with existential uncertainty and determined to live. Brava!

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