Kirk Knuffke and Ernesto Cervini take acoustic and electric approaches, respectively, in their sophisticated and accessible new releases. Both deliver terrific new compositions (Cervini adds a jazz standard and a Vince Mendoza song), and the compelling performances give me hope for the future of jazz just when I was beginning to think that every solo I was hearing sounded just like the previous one and that complex vacancy was the order of the day.
Kirk Knuffke
Brightness: Live in Amsterdam (Royal Potato Family)
A review
I first encountered Kirk Knuffke at the Outpost quite a few years ago, when he arrived—if memory serves—as part of Matt Wilson’s group. He astonished, first of all, with the remarkable number of k’s in his name, but also with his command of the cornet and with the inventive, limber, and rhapsodic quality of his playing. Brightness: Live in Amsterdam, which features his trio with Mark Helias on bass and Bill Goodwin on drums, demonstrates that all of those qualities have continued to develop (though the number of k’s has remained unchanged), and with a full menu of seven Knuffke originals, the album showcases his compositional savvy, as well. Like Wilson, Knuffke stretches the boundaries of traditional forms. In his soloing, he starts from a familiar location, harmonically speaking, and ends up at a familiar place, but he takes wildly imaginative routes, taking advantage of the trio’s chordless composition. His solos have a pleasantly cerebral quality, in the service of deep feeling. Helias and Goodwin provide a solid launching pad for Knuffke’s excursions and offer surprises of their own. In particular, Helias offers lovely solos on “White Shoulders” and “The Mob, the Crown, the Mass” (apparently he’s inspired by Carl Sandburg, excerpts of whose poetry are vocalized by Knuffke on both tracks), and Goodwin takes a nice solo on “Odds.” The title track and opener, a waltz on only three notes, begins with a brief cornet intro that amply demonstrates Knuffke’s command and subtlety, and the track establishes the satisfying correspondence between Helias and Goodwin. The single chord, Db minor, of “Rise” in no way impedes Knuffke’s imaginative improvising. On “Odds,” he achieves weightlessness, and it’s not the only place that happens. He sails over the groove on “The Mob, the Crown, the Mass,” which features a nice three-way conversation, and on “That’s a Shame.” On the closer, “Spares and Falls,” the trio makes the abstract juicy. Thoroughly modern and eminently accessible, Brightness offers satisfying pleasures on every listening.
Ernesto Cervini
Tetrahedon (Anzic Records)
A review
Tetrahedon opens with a dark, burbling electric bass that, after a moment, imposes a steady, rising tattoo. The drums and guitar enter, and shortly after that, the sax, and the entire band comes fully awake, unspooling several minutes of ensemble improvisation—with a marvelous correspondence between guitar and sax—that comes to a destination in the harbor of a familiar melody: “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise.” It’s an exhilarating ride, and it sets the scene for what’s to come from this well-balanced quartet, with Luis Deniz (alto sax), Nir Felder (electric guitar), Rich Brown (electric bass), and Cervini (drums). The album cover includes “featuring Nir Felder,” who joins a well-established trio, but the quartet sounds as if it’s been playing together for years. The originals—five from Cervini and one from Brown—are real ear fresheners, and the players support the music, not their egos. Brown and Cervini keep the pot boiling, with Cervini offering a nice polyrhythmic solo on Brown’s “Forward Motion.” Mendoza’s “Angelicus” opens with a painterly guitar and offers a contemplative peace. Cervini’s “Boo Radley” is as creepy and kind as the To Kill a Mockingbird character for whom it is named, and “Stro,” dedicated to former Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman, delivers a composition as offbeat, intense, and entertaining as its subject, over a relentless bass line. There’s some satisfying grease to be had on Cervini’s “Summit Song,” with an especially well-built solo from Deniz, and Cervini’s “Wandering” does pleasantly meander as it arches toward a definitive conclusion. On “The Sneaky Two,” named for a famously slow and unpredictable subway train, the propulsive Brown is let out of his box and delivers a nimble solo, ignited by a burning turn from Deniz. Tetrahedon delivers stirring music with its fresh and engaging tunes and with electrifying performances that daringly and expertly skirt the edge of the precipice.
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© 2020 Mel Minter