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Enrico LeNoci Common Ground (ZenneZ 2023)

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NEW RELEASE – ENRICO LENOCI

Young LeNoci modernizes that good ol’ jazz guitar style in his own fashion.

Enrico LeNoci - Common Ground

Personnel

Enrico LeNoci (guitar), Pietro Mirabassi (tenor saxophone), Arno Krijger (drums), Eric Ineke (drums)

Recorded

in 2022 at De Smederij, Zeist

Released

as ZenneZ 2023013 in 2023

Track listing

Pied Fries
Arjun’s Blues
In The House
Common Ground
Night Fears
Keys
Small Changes


Guitar players are an endearingly wacky lot. They are crazy about their iconic wooden toy, which replaced the saxophone as the lead instrument of popular music in the fifties and never looked back. I remember John Scofield telling me that he regarded himself as a guitarist first and foremost. (“My roots are the blues and Cream, I didn’t start off with bebop.”)

Enrico LeNoci, whom fellow Italian jazzers may soon dub “il nostre uomo a Den Haag”, is a guitarist that oozes the jazz feeling from the golden age of mainstream jazz. At the same time though, there is ample evidence of a passion for blues and blues rock. His debut album features veteran drummer Eric Ineke, mentor of generations of Hague students, penultimate sideman that played with Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin and Chet Baker, among countless others. Ace organist Arno Krijger and tenor saxophonist Pietro Mirabasi complete the line-up.

Sprightly hard bop tunes are marked by the juicy sax of Mirabassi and sassy playing by LeNoci. In The House is sweet as honey, a string of melody lines that are as charming as the solos are enchanting. It has LeNoci replacing sassiness for tender and thoughtful romanticizing. Keys is comprised of fluid lines that bite each other’s tails, as if one hears Jimmy Raney working on a tune with Atilla Zoller, discussing various keys. The beautifully paced solo by Krijger steals the show. Here’s a band that fluently shifts through lanes, not least because of chauffeur Eric Ineke, either burning rubber or honking horns to keep everybody on his toes or gently cruising the crew back home.

Sleazily bended notes, tad of Sco’, pinch of Robben Ford even. These are facets of Arjun’s Blues and Night Fears. They won’t earn LeNoci a place in the Blues Hall of Fame but are fine additions of a promising real jazz debut.

Enrico LeNoci

Find Common Ground here.

This spring also finds LeNoci releasing his trio album Electric Nuts.

Arbenz/Krijger/Osby Conversations #9: Targeted (SR-9)

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NEW RELEASE – ARBENZ/KRIJGER/OSBY

Ain’t no jive talkin’.

Arbenz:Krijger:Osby - Targeted

Personnel

Florian Arbenz (drums, percussion), Greg Osby (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone), Arno Krijger (organ)

Recorded

on May 1, 2022 at Hammer Studios, Basel

Released

as SR-9 in 2023

Track listing

Freedom Jazz Dance
Sleeping Mountain
Vertical Hold
Seven Steps To Heaven
I Loves You Porgy
Old Shaman


Florian Arbenz knows very well that the DANCE part of the title of Eddie Harris’s signature tune Freedom Jazz Dance was not a random but deliberate choice, as much so as FREEDOM. Up until now, we have enjoyed nine versions by the Swiss drummer, three to go. It is included on each of Arbenz’s twelve-part Conversations series of albums with musicians of all creeds and scenes. A wondrous, hilariously ambitious and multifaceted project that to date has delighted many jazzophiles, more so since Conversations is also released on vinyl. Each version of Harris’s freewheeling groove anthem is marked by original rhythmic and harmonic discoveries.

Yet again, on #9: Targeted featuring longtime Arbenz collaborator Greg Osby and Dutch Hammond organist Arno Krijger, Arbenz offers an interesting interpretation. Before the Basel-based percussionist commences with his muscular, layered jazz rock groove, Osby vigorously introduces the triangle of freedom, jazz and dance on soprano sax, picking up a short while later during their greasy excursion into Harrisland with hi-octane jumps on, over and right through the fence. Krijger follows suit and, free as a bird and freed from ch-ch-changes, oozes liberating energy.

Sure enough, Victor Feldman’s Seven Steps To Heaven (remember Lonnie Smith’s version?) kicks it up a notch. Like companion piece Freedom Jazz Dance, it is cut and deboned like an ox and subsequently the meat is seasoned and grilled, bon appetit. A classy case of deconstruction and rebuilding. Gritty and crunchy, it merits definition as neo-Tony Williams Lifetime-ish. (Remember Emergency?) Once more, it features an appropriate introduction, here in the form of West-African-tinged percussion. In fine and fiery form, Krijger cuts loose and performs his album highlight.

Throughout, the prolific organist is an incisive storyteller and sound wizard, his mind constantly focusing on the big picture. Acclaimed in Europe, it should be only a matter of time until his prowess is equally valued by American aficionados.

Dreamy and fairylike, Arbenz’s Sleepy Mountain sets the alarm at half past six, so you can just stay still and doze. Elves are awakened by Osby’s flexible alto sax story, which resembles the flight of the eagle, the sound of the flapping of its wings echoing and carrying across green and foggy hills. The extremely tranquil take on Gershwin’s I Loves You Porgy (remember Miles Davis famously covering no less than 3 tunes included here?) focuses on Osby’s hushed soprano playing. The sanding of his tone and the backdrop of Krijger’s eerie David Lynch slash John Carpenter-sounds make it all the more poignant.

Listening to #9: Targeted, one gets the distinct feeling that the rapport of this intriguing ‘organ’ trio is such that they would come up with something original and spontaneous by every new visit to the studio. Or live stage, a situation that is eagerly awaited.

Arbenz/Krijger/Osby

Find Conversations #9: Targeted here.

D.B. Blues

- Francois Leave a comment

PROFILE – DANIEL BULATKIN

Promising Czech keyboardist works on his career from location Rotterdam.

It pays to wander off Main Street and take side streets and alleys. I was not familiar with Daniel Bulatkin but visited a performance of his organ trio at café De Twee Spieghels in Leiden, The Netherlands – this was where Ben Webster played the last show of his life. A funky soul jazz set, tinged with some hip modern jazz burners.

In conversation, the Czech keyboard player modestly stated that he still feels himself to be a “beginner on the Hammond organ”, regarding Larry Goldings and Brian Charette (who provided him with tips) as the modern B3 giants.

It turned out that young Bulatkin, who studies at Codarts in Rotterdam and cooperated with saxophonist Tineke Postma and drummer Gary Husband among others, has ambitiously been exploring different terrains. The New Beginning (2020) from his former band B/Y Organism with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Kyrill Yakovlev (duduk! balalaika!) is a wildly diverse and layered world fusion album. Bulatkin plays piano, synth, Fender Rhodes and Hammond organ. His convincing and challenging organ lines bring to mind the aural canvases that were laid out long ago by the likes of Joe Zawinul and Doug Carn.

Daniel Bulatkin
B:Y Organism - The New Beginning
Allison Wheeler - Winterspring

Bulatkin currently leads the Daniel Bulatkin Cinematic Ensemble, which combines jazz and strings. Furthermore, he produced and played piano and keyboard on American singer Allison Wheeler’s Winterspring. (2022) A highly recommended album that links strong compositions and solo statements to a – partly overdubbed – voice and delivery that puts Sandy Denny, Kate Bush, Blossom Dearie and Joni Mitchell in one original brand new bag. Beautiful album.

So you can see that versatile Daniel Bulatkin has been involved in a number of high-level affairs. Very talented cat.

Daniel Bulatkin

Find Winterspring here.
Check out Daniel’s website here.

Talking To Myself

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – PATRICK MANZECCHI

Equally energetic as his late father, Patrick Manzecchi asserts himself in a solo setting.

Feelings of desperation were palpable during the pandemic. There you are, suddenly on your own. Yes, modern technology allows you to play in realtime with a bassist in Tirana or Baltimore or Kyoto. It’s cool but it’s different. Life’s a struggle, then again the serenity of the lockdown is inspiring and you get fresh ideas… like drummer Patrick Manzecchi, whose passion for drums remained undimmed and who recorded various rhythms all by himself, hence the title of his new album: Talking To Myself.

Patrick Manzecchi - Talking To Myself
Patrick Manzecchi - Rectilinear
Franco Manzecchi

It’s a collection of titles as Challenge, Memories, Conflict, Patience and Gratitude, as Manzecchi explains in the booklet, insights and perspectives… ranging from doubts and conflicts to love and peace… By no means an ego trip, Manzecchi instead explores concise beats, variating with dynamics and colors and including bells and even toys. He knows the meaning of space. By its very nature, Talking To Myself is an acquired taste, which can’t be said of Rectilinear from 2016, Manzecchi’s trio session with pianist Richie Beirach and bassist Jens Loh. Pre-Covid spirited post-bop that includes hi-octane interpretations of Nardis and All Blues and a couple of suave original compositions.

Konstanz-based Manzecchi cooperated with Barry Harris, Teddy Edwards, Sheila Jordan, Scott Hamilton, Gary Smulyan and Bobby Watson to name a few. He is the son of Franco Manzecchi, who played with Chet Baker, Eric Dolphy, Clark Terry, Lou Bennett, René Thomas and many others. It’s all in the family. Patrick dedicated Talking To Myself to his father, who passed away in 1979. Perhaps talking to himself invariably means talking with his great drummer dad as well.

Patrick Manzecchi

Find Talking To Myself here.
Check out Patrick’s website here.

Rob van Bavel & Joris Teepe Dutch Connection (The Uploaders 2023)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – ROB VAN BAVEL & JORIS TEEPE

Middle age fails to slow down two Dutch jazz heavyweights.

Rob van Bavel & Joris Teepe - Dutch Connection

Personnel

Rob van Bavel (piano), Joris Teepe (bass)

Recorded

on December 28, 2021 in Roelofarendsveen

Released

as Sena in 2023

Track listing

A Summer’s Day
The Left Side
Nascimento
In April
Con Edison
I’m Old Fashioned
Joriscope
Malcolm’s Minuet
Workaholic
Remember The Time
Steepian Faith
Take The A-Train
Little Felix
Star Eyes
Suspone
Chemistry


Dutchmen Rob van Bavel and Joris Teepe have been frequent collaborators since the late 1980’s and are as prolific as ever. To-go-to pianist Van Bavel was a member of the sterling Jarmo Hoogendijk/Ben van den Dungen Quintet and played with Woody Shaw and Randy Brecker. He divides time between solo projects, hard bop group Eric Ineke Xpress and duets with his piano-playing son Sebastiaan. Without a doubt, Teepe is the most successful musician from The Netherlands in New York City and has been bassist-of-choice for Benny Golson, Billy Hart, Dave Liebman, Bill Evans and Rashied Ali. A strong presence in the New York scene since the early 1990’s, Teepe regularly brings American players to Groningen in his role as head of jazz studies at the conservatory.

A logical extension of their live stream performances during the lockdown in 2020, Dutch Connection is part of a great tradition of piano and bass records. Duke/Ray Brown, Kenny Drew/NHOP and Rein de Graaff/Koos Serierse come to mind. Van Bavel and Teepe convincingly hold their own and engage in sympathetic interaction. They remind of dolphins that jump from the water in unison – when one has drifted away from the other they have perfect knowledge of each other’s location and sublimely sense how to reach it.

Their set of original compositions from the Teepe and Van Bavel book and standards as Star Eyes, I’m Old Fashioned and Take The A-Train (more like a Carribean local train) is thoroughly enjoyable. You’ll savor the strong and warm bass sound of Teepe, who during his smooth accompaniment permits himself myriad harmonic twists and turns, the kind of freedom in confinement that comes with age and experience. There’s plenty to dig solo-wise, not least Teepe’s moody storytelling of his ballad The Left Side. It also is rather striking how he eagerly shifts from subtle underscores to the leading role of Van Bavel’s Angel Eyes-ish In April.

Teepe’s Joriscope offers Van Bavel the opportunity to kick into fourth gear. His firm and richly layered chords are like green mountain hills, his bundles of single notes are like gulf streams and waterfalls and geysers. Like pioneering giant McCoy Tyner, he maintains his equilibrium throughout, speaking of which, let’s not hesitate to conclude that in McCoy’s tradition in Europe, Van Bavel is without peer. On the other end of the spectrum, Malcolm’s Minuet is a lovely reflection of Van Bavel’s baroque-infused style.

In short, flawless and highly recommended.

Rob van Bavel & Joris Teepe

Find Dutch Connection here.

Check out Rob & Joris at the following venues:

Feb 18: Theater Mascini, Amsterdam
Feb 19: Porgy & Bess, Terneuzen
Feb 20: Jazz In De Kamer, Leiden
May 18: Jazzy Huiskamers, Den Bosch
May 27: KCA, Aalsmeer
Nov 26: Plofhuis 7, Weesp

Dado Moroni There Is No Greater Love (Storyville 2022)

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NEW RELEASE – DADO MORONI

Moroni is swinging till the girls come home.

Dado Moroni - There Is No Greater Love

Personnel

Dado Moroni (piano), Jesper Lundgaard (bass), Lee Pearson (drums)

Recorded

on May 20 & 21, 2016 at Club Montmartre, Copenhagen

Released

as Storyville 1018493 in 2022

Track listing

There Is No Greater Love
Just One Of Those Things
First Smile
Django
My Foolish Heart
C Jam Blues


Sixty-year-old Dado Moroni entered the jazz realm as a striking young lion in 1980, made a big impression in New York the following decade and prowled the globe as accompanist of giants as Clark Terry and Ray Brown. He has been a notable recording artist with George Robert, Tom Harrell, Enrico Rava and Peter Washington/Lewis Nash and performed with a who’s who of jazz including Dizzy Gillespie, Ron Carter, Joe LaBarbera, Nicholas Payton and many others. Carrying a long list of albums in his hip pocket, the current professor of jazz piano in Turin, Italy has nothing to prove. Yet, Storyville saw fit to release a live performance from 2016 at the famed Club Montmartre in Copenhagen when the Danish bassist Jesper Lundgaard heard the tapes and concluded that the trio was on top of its form.

Absolutely right, sir. If anything has become clear, it’s that swinging jazz is here to stay, even when the set list consists of old warhorses. Moroni has no qualms about swinging standards to the ground. Just One Of Those Things is particularly furious, not least because of the precise and energetic accompaniment of Lundgaard and American drummer Lee Pearson. Perhaps, There Is No Greater Love reveals the ultimate synergy of the trio, moving from breeze to sweet thunder, the underpinnings of Pearson’s brushes smooth as velvet, his sticks stoking up the fire, Lundgaard steering the locomotive through the fog, Moroni showcasing his special talent of playing simultaneously subtly and fiery. Somewhere between the buoyancy of Oscar Peterson and the long-lined beauty of Cedar Walton, Moroni has found his spot from where he elaborates on the tradition with consistent excellence.

The challenge of Django, the beatific melody of John Lewis which characteristic movements potentially paralyze urges of original improvisation, is met succinctly by Moroni, who by the way got his nickname “Dado” because he continually tripped over his real name Edgardo as a child. Moroni packages the homage to Django Reinhardt in Latin rhythm and is involved in tidal waves of notes that threaten to ruin the coast but barely skirt by the tropical islands of its changes. Close call but mission accomplished.

My Foolish Heart is marked by a strong bass solo. C-jam Blues is a hard-driving tour de force by Moroni. The sole original composition First Smile reveals shades of As Time Goes By. As time went by, the infectious virtuosity of Moroni has been documented by various labels since 2016, solidifying his reputation as the to-go-to Italian piano stallion of his generation.

Here are some Moroni highlights.

Dado Moroni - What's New
Dado Moroni - The Way I Am
Dado Moroni - With Duke In Mind
Check out a gorgeous trio version of What’s New from What’s New (1992); Reportedly, Moroni is proud of his solo albums The Way I Am (1994) and With Duke In Mind (1994). Rightly so. Listen to I Can’t Get Started and Ellington’s There Was Nobody Looking.

George Robert & Dado Moroni - Youngbloods
Ray Brown Pierre Boussaguet & Dado Moroni - Two Bass Hits
Ray Brown - Some Of My Best Friends Are The Piano Players
George Robert and Moroni take on Stablemates on Youngbloods (1995); Young Moroni is the tie that binds Swinging Till The Girls Come Home on Ray Brown/Pierre Boussaguet’s Two Bass Hits (1988); Last but not least, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps from Ray Brown’s Some Of My Best Friends Are The Piano Players (1994), plainly brilliant, find it on the full album at 29:10.

Tom Harrell & Dado Moroni - Humanity
Dado Moroni - Live At Beverly Hills
Alex Riel - Full House
Here’s The Nearness Of You with Tom Harrell (2007); Moroni’s exciting composition Ghanian Village Live At Beverly Hills with Marco Panascia and Peter Erskine (2010); Plus a feature on drummer Alex Riel’s Full House from 2012, collaborating strongly on Just Friends.

Check out a compilation of Dado Moroni solos with Clark Terry live in 1994 on YouTube, featuring Pierre Boussaguet on bass and Alvin Queen on drums, one of the hardest-swinging trios of the era here!

Dado Moroni

This is an elaboration on my review of There Is No Greater Love for Jazz Journal UK. Thanks for the musical references, Jean-Michel Reisser-Beethoven.

Final note: Sadly, Lundgaard suffered a stroke which has stopped him from playing bass. Veteran of performances with Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker and many others, he has put an exclamation point on his recording career with typically strong and responsive playing.

Find There Is No Greater Love here.

Govreen/Sever Quartet Maya (JMI 2022)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – GOVREEN/SEVER QUARTET

Israelian/Slovenian/Dutch progressive jazz collective congregates in Amsterdam. Their promising debut album Maya oozes the proverbial metropolitan swagger.

Govreen:Sever Quartet - Maya

Personnel

Aleksander Sever (vibraphone), Floris Kappeyne (piano), Omer Govreen (bass), Wouter Kühne (drums)

Recorded

on June 4 & 5, 2021 at Lullabye Factory, Amsterdam

Released

as JMI 008 in 2022

Track listing

Heal
Inwoods
Fragility
Maya
G.P.
Tired
God’s World
Trust


Some musicians eschew composing and are satisfied with playing standards at the risk of sounding old-fashioned, some colleagues arguably try too hard at writing originals because it appears to be a prerequisite for the modern jazz artist. This is only a matter of outside pressure. Of course, it’s only the inherent drive that counts. Amsterdam-based bassist Omer Govreen and vibraphonist Aleksander Sever convincingly go their own way. They have written a fresh and suspenseful progressive jazz set channeling a spirit, as they state, ‘of supernatural powers and magic’.

Govreen/Sever Quartet also features pianist Floris Kappeyne and drummer Wouter Kühne. Their seldom-heard vibes and piano combination is most welcome, neatly linking classical undercurrents to a spontaneous flood of moods. Maya positively leans towards the melancholic pieces of unsung hero Walt Dickerson. Bits of the daring interaction of Bobby Hutcherson and Andrew Hill shine through, if you will. Like the music of those adventurers of lore, Maya’s dynamic sound is the consequence of an analogue recording process. Analogue, y’all. Amen.

So much for comparisons. The band’s got a rugged, serene and mysterious beauty all her own. Heal is a beautiful melody with the tenderness of a lullaby. It reminds me of sweet and sour songs like Gene Lees’s Grandfather’s Waltz, which is high recommendation. Whoever assumes that he will fall asleep is mistaken. Slowly but surely, the tension is heightened near the end.

As far as energy and tension is concerned, Inwoods is nonpareil. Kappeyne paints with his piano notes, mixing moody pastels with Marslit reds and pineapple yellows and coming up with a sparkling canvas. Sever’s spirited vibraphone playing brings the song to boiling point, underlined by recalcitrant drums rolls. Comforting in the solid beat of Govreen, Kühne goes way out, freely counterattacking Inwood’s gritty rhythmic flow. I’m really impressed by Kühne’s current playing style (and sound!) and read somewhere that he has spend time in NYC. Did he perhaps enjoy an afternoon or two with Ari Hoenig?

The lovely slow piece Tired, surprisingly underscored by drum march figures, is another highlight of a record that features approximately 30 seconds of straight swing, just so you know what Maya, a mature album full of intriguing songs from a bunch of high-level cats, is about.

Find Maya here.