Jazz Albums: Pick of the Month

A. Ian Carr - Lynne Arriale Trio: Inspiration

It's always thrilling when a new star shines in the "jazz universe",but pianist Lynne Arriale is an exceptional talent. After training inclassical piano, she turned to jazz because she wanted "the challengeof combining performance and composition on the spot". She says she wasmainly influenced by artist Keith Jarrett, but it's clear she has herown concept of how jazz music can be played to an audience and this iswhat lies behind the frequent creative surprise of her work. Not onlythis, there's often a magical rapport between Arriale and her triocolleagues, Anderson and Davis. "Inspiration" is a celebratoryinvestigation of the songs, composers and performers that have madetheir mark on them over the years. They take a few daring libertieswith some of the pieces: "It don't mean a thing" by legendary musicianDuke Ellington is given a slow, tender performance, but over a reggaebeat; Thelonious Monk's "Bemsha Swing" begins with the whole triomaking up the music as they go along, during which fragments of theoriginal melody gradually emerge, a rhythm is established and thecrazily inventive piano phrases magnify Monk's peculiar style. This isa great album.

B. Richard Cook - Instant Composers Pool Orchestra: Oh, My Dog!

Dutch jazz artists have been stereotyped by some music critics as verytheatrical and this image is largely a result of the light-heartedapproach of Han Bennick, Misha Mengelberg and Willem Breuker, the threemusicians who founded the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra conceptnearly 40 years ago. The three have now been joined by six others, andtheir album "Oh, my dog!" will not confound their reputation: it'scomic and theatrical, as well as urgent and rather profound. Theopening four-minute improvisation, "Write down exactly", is a littlemiracle of nine people making a decent noise without getting in eachother's way. Musician Ab Baars pays peculiar homage to the composerCharles Ives with "A close encounter with Charles's country band" whileMisha Mengelberg's "A la Russe" starts as a stately Russian folk-tunebefore gradually transforming into mild disharmony. Michael Moore playshis pieces with a tight delivery that is an excellent counter to Baars'gloomy style. It is a bizarre world, where you're never sure whetheryou should be grinning or flinching in alarm. Serious fun!

C. Chris Parker - Bobby Previte & Bump: Just Add Water

Since rising to prominence on the crest of the "downtown-style" wave inthe early eighties, drummer/composer Bobby Previte has epitomised thatinfluential movement's open-eared adventurousness: in other words, itsrestless search for inspiration from diverse music styles. His ownprojects, ranging from the electronically oriented Empty Suits, to thefuturistic sounding rock band Latin for Travellers, draw on everythingfrom minimalism to film music, as well as jazz and rock. But whateverthe genre in which his widely disparate bands operate, Previte himselfis right at the centre of the action. "Just add water" is thoughtfuland carefully constructed, yet I also found it infectiously exuberantand irresistibly uplifting. All the band members, save the peerlesselectric bassist Steve Swallow, are long-time Previte associates, andthe rapport between them - particularly on such vigorous pieces as thelengthy, rousing "Put away your crayons" - is the key to the album'sconsiderable subtlety and power.

D. Stuart Nicholson - Wibutee: Eight Domestic Challenges

Wibutee made its debut album in 1999, but it has taken until this, theensemble's second album, to define its voice. Wibutee has dropped thekeyboards and vocals heard on its first album and replaced them with asampling machine. This modern piece of technology has given manypreviously "traditional" jazz artists the opportunity to explore awhole new world of sounds. Hakon Kornstad, the group's leader, clearlydemonstrates that he is well up to the challenge on this album. Aprodigiously gifted young man, he also leads his own Kornstad Trio, butwith Wibutee, however, all the members of the group are equal and areall concerned to focus their considerable individual talent into makingan integrated collective sound. As might be expected from acontemporary jazz group, there is a certain amount of eclecticism; abroad selection from, for instance, contemporary classical music, housemusic and free jazz. But of course it is the end not the means thatcounts, and on a track like "First there was jazz", the group achievesits artistic purpose through its insistence on perfection and clarity.