Flutist Dave Valentin's 16th album for GRP is one of his best. His regular group (a quartet with pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Lincoln Goines, and drummer Robbie Ameen) is augmented by two percussionists and an excellent seven-member horn section that consists of the reeds of Dick Oatts, Mario Rivera, and David Sanchez; trombonist Angel "Papo" Vasquez; and three trumpeters, including Charlie Sepulveda. All of the horns get their opportunities to solo and the result is a particularly strong Latin jazz session. Valentin continues to grow as a player and he cuts loose on several of these tracks.
Flutist Dave Valentin's 16th album for GRP is one of his best. His regular group (a quartet with pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Lincoln Goines, and drummer Robbie Ameen) is augmented by two percussionists and an excellent seven-member horn section that consists of the reeds of Dick Oatts, Mario Rivera, and David Sanchez; trombonist Angel "Papo" Vasquez; and three trumpeters, including Charlie Sepulveda. All of the horns get their opportunities to solo and the result is a particularly strong Latin jazz session. Valentin continues to grow as a player and he cuts loose on several of these tracks.
Dave Valentin at the perfect point in his career – coming off some great initial work on the New York Latin scene, and some key time in the studios – really finding his voice as a leader, with all the best elements of his previous work firmly intact! Dave mixes Latin elements with the soulful fusion sound of the GRP label right in their great early, pre-commercial years – and he gets help here form labelmates Dave Grusin and Bobby Broom, plus Marcus Miller – who all join Dave's combo with a sound that's way hipper than the GRP groove of the smooth fusion years. There's some female chorus vocals at a few points, but also loads of great solo work on flute from Dave – and arrangements are by Valentin, Dave Grusin, and Oscar Hernandez. Titles include "Pied Piper", "Los Altos", "Shamballa", "Dragon Fly", "This Time", and "Seven Stars". CD features bonus 7" mixes of "Pied Piper" and "Shamballa".
Valentin's Concord debut, Sunshower , is the first recording under the flautist's name since 1996's Primitive Passions. Like many of the 18 albums he recorded for GRP between 1979 and 1996, Valentin here weds jazz, pop and r & b with his own particular blend of smooth Latin sounds. In essence, the man knows how to craft a purely pleasurable listening experience.
Valentin Silvestrov is hardly a household name in the United States; however, in the Ukraine, he enjoys a similar standing to that of his Estonian counterpart Arvo Pärt. But that is where the resemblance ends. Whereas Pärt in his holy minimalism reinvents techniques that derive from Renaissance practice, Silvestrov's roots are planted in late Romanticism. His music is steeped in all of the emotion and drama that such a stylistic association would imply. Leggiero, pesante is a collection of Silvestrov's chamber music, and as an introduction to the musical world of Silvestrov, this ECM New Series release admirably fits the bill. Most impressive are the performances of the Sonata for violoncello and piano (1983) and the third Postludium by cellist Anja Lechner and pianist Silke Avenhaus. In these works, Silvestrov strives toward a synthetic union between the two instruments. Lechner and Avenhaus achieve this end spectacularly well and manage to blanket the performances in an emotional sensitivity that gives voice to Silvestrov's intentions, yet retains the personality of the performers.
Alfred Schnittke and Arvo Pärt have both called the Ukrainian Valentin Silvestrov "one of the greatest composers of our time”. He is also one of its true originals; though a leading figure in the former Soviet Union’s avant-garde in the 1960s, he subsequently came to realise that "the most important lesson of the avant-garde was to be free of all preconceived ideas – particularly those of the avant-garde." Silvestrov was born in Kiev in 1937 and studied the piano at Kiev Evening Music School, then composition, harmony and counterpoint at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. His early experimental orientation meant that his work received official criticism in the Soviet Union and, despite prizes and some prominent champions, recognition in his homeland and beyond was hard won. Over time, Silvestrov’s compositional practice evolved into what he would come to call his “metaphorical style” or “meta-music.” The composer wishes his works to be seen as “codas” to musical history because “fewer and fewer texts are possible which… begin at the beginning”. He has declared that “I do not write new music. My music is a response to and an echo of what already exists.”
Joined by his usual sidemen of the period (a rhythm section led by pianist Bill O'Connell), flutist Dave Valentin is the main soloist on an appealing if not particularly unique program of Latin-tinged and generally funky jazz. When he stretches out, as on "Firecracker," Valentin shows that he could become one of the best jazz flutists, but thus far he has not quite lived up to his potential. Still, this is, overall, a pleasing effort.