Rachel Caswell We're All In The Dance

Rachel Caswell
We're All In The Dance
Turtle Ridge Records
 
With so many recordings issued, it is easy to miss one. As an example, there is this two-year-old album from Rachel Caswell. It is a marvelous recording with a delectable choice of songs as well as top-flight playing behind her. Guitarist Dave Stryker also produced this and wrote the arrangements (although Caswell collaborated on the arrangements for two tunes). Others in the studio band are Fabian Almazan on piano and fender Rhodes, Linda May Han Oh on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Her Grammy® nominated sister, Sarah Caswell, adds violin to three of the ten songs.

From her first entrance on Sting's "Fragile," she impresses with the exquisite qualities of her silky-voiced singing, intonation, phrasing, vocal dynamics, and articulation of the lyrics. Stryker's guitar, Sarah Caswell's violin, and Caswell's fluid horn-like scatting add to her performance's weight. The songs here celebrate love and love's heartbreaks from the easy swing of "A Lovely Way To Spend the Evening" to the blues of "Drown in My Own Tears." Stryker and Almazan are superb soloists, although Blake and Oh both take crisp, short breaks on "A Lovely Way."

Caswell's gorgeous voice shines on the title song, a light waltz. This vocal is another song that her sister's violin adds to the color. Caswell dazzles on Bob Dorough's "Devil May Care," while there is an easy Latin tinge to "Two For The Road." Her nuanced phrasing on this latter number contributes to another engaging performance. Another notable performance is her scatting tour de force on Charlie Parker's "Dexterity."

 
Also heard is an outstanding rendition of Jon Hendricks' lyrics to Thelonious Monk's "Reflections (Looking Back)," with restrained, supple backing and Almazan's understated piano solo. It closes this superb vocal jazz recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a promo video for this recording.

Matt Haviland Something To Say

Matt Haviland
Something To Say
Connotation Records

Trombonist Matt Haviland has been performing and been a featured soloist with some of the top names in been jazz since the early 1980s. Past credits include work with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Maria Schneider, Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra, and the Mingus Big Band. Currently, he is a regular member of several ensembles in the New York area, notably the Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra, Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra, Peter Leitch's New Life Orchestra, and Diane Moser's Composer's Big Band.

For this recording, he put together a stellar ensemble with Vincent Herring on alto sax, David Kikoski on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Mark Gross on tenor sax and Bill Mobley on trumpet are each present on three selections. Four of the performances are by a quintet, one by a quartet, two by a sextet, and two by a septet. Whatever the format, this is a terrific contemporary jazz recording in the mode of classic sixties Blue Note recordings.

The bright sextet interpretation of Freddie Hubbard's "Arietis" gets the music off in a heated manner. Haviland exhibits a rowdy, gravelly tone while his solo develops fluidly. Gross's tenor contrasts with a somewhat dry tone followed by Herring's fiery trills kicking off an inspired solo that is energized by Blake's drums before Kikoski's follows with more spirited playing.

The leader's "Fillet of Soul" is built on a bass line with shifting minor harmonies that evokes "Body and Soul." This septet performance opens with Okegwo's statement of the bass figure over which the four horns all solo. In addition to the marvelous harmonies from Haviland's arrangement of the four horns, Gross and Mobley are exceptional here." The other septet performance is the energetic "The Way It Is," with the energy building with each of the horn solos.

Kikoski provided the arrangement for a lively rendition of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge." Haviland and Herring are inspired before Blake provides some percussive fireworks. Kikoski provides a lovely setting for Haviland's wooly, lyrical solo on the quartet performance of Cole Porter's "Get Out Of Town." Blake adds to this splendid performance with his agile use of brushes. Haviland's imaginative arrangement of Charlie Parker's "Visa," transforms the tune into a slower tango number, with Blake's off-kilter rhythms adding to the appealing, if quirky, flavor here.

The rest of this recording is of similar quality. "Something To Say" is an outstanding recording with first-rate material and excellent, imaginative, and inspired playing that showcases Matt Haviland's talents as a composer, player, and leader.

I received a download to review from a publicist. Here is Matt Haviland leading a group at Small's in NYC in 2018.

Hans Glawischnig's Panoramic Jazz

New York based bassist Hans Glawischnig has certainly come along way from his Graz, Austria beginnings. He has attended Berklee, the Manhattan School of Music and in 1995 took the bass seat in Bobby Watson’s Urban Renewal followed by a stint with Maynard Ferguson, before he was invited to join Ray Barretto’s New World Spirit Ensemble Jazz followed by engagements with Pacquito D’Riviera, David Samuels and Bobby Sanabria along with performances with Billy Harper, Richie Beirach, Billy Hart, Joe Locke, Steffon Harris, Claudio Roditi, Brian Lynch, Phil Woods and Claudia Acuna to name a few. and his first album as a leader was Common Ground for Fresh Sounds/New Talent in 2003.

Now Sunnyside has just issued his latest release as a leader, Panorama. On his nine compositions he is joined by such well known artists as pianists Chick Corea, and Luis Perdomo; drummers Johnathan Blake, Antonio Sanchez, and Marcus Gilmore; saxophonists David Binney, Miguel Zenon and Rich Perry; and guitarist Ben Monder. Zenon (in whose band Glawischnig) is present on four of the performances which have a pretty wide cast. Zenon’s sax dominates the opening Line Drive, with his clean tone and marvelous invention followed by the impressive Perdomo’s piano while the leader’s bass anchors the proceedings and drummer Blake imaginatively keeps pushing the tune along while adding his own accents.

The title track features Corea in a very thoughtful, lyrical vein, while Glawischnig also gets to solo, while Zenon returns on The Orchids, a performance that evokes some of the flavor of Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet recordings. Gypsy Tales, is a quintet track with guitarist Monder, saxophonist Binney and drummer Antonio Sanchez with a spacey feel, with Binney taking a probing tenor solo while Monder’s guitar is in the post McLaughlin and Abercombie approach. Set to Sea is a lovely ballad featuring the tenor of Rich Perry, while Corea returns for Oceanography, derived From How Deep Is The Ocean. Barretto’s Way, opens with nice bowed bass playing before a bit of flamenco is evoked by his bass (suggestive of David Holland here).

The rest of the album features fresh material, thoughtful and inventive playing and marvelous group interplay making Panorama a superior jazz release. Here is a youtube of Hans playing with Miguel Zenon's group with Luis Perdomo on piano.

This review originally appeared in the October 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 309). I believe I received my review copy from the publication.