New York Post December 15, 2020

One of Chick Corea's most ambitious projects was the recording of almost 60 hours of music with nine different groups over a three-week run at the Blue Note in December 2001; it must have been a challenge to choose the dozen performances for this two-CD set. The first disc begins with scat singer par excellence Bobby McFerrin joining the pianist to scat his way through three selections, including a stunning medley of an excerpt from Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" and Corea's "Spain." Bassist Miroslav Vitous and ageless drummer Roy Haynes provide the pulse to his extended work "Matrix." Corea's well-crafted tribute to Bud Powell, with Terence Blanchard and Joshua Redman in the front line, combines two of Powell's greatest works, "Glass Enclosure" and "Tempus Fugit." But Corea is at his most lyrical when old friend Gary Burton joins him to revisit the pianist's masterpiece, the shimmering "Crystal Silence."

LEYA is the Brooklyn based duo of harpist Marilu Donovan (Eartheater, Aerial East, Julie Byrne) and violinist / vocalist Adam Markiewicz (PC Worship, The Dreebs). With Flood Dream, LEYA subvert the academic and classical connotations of their instruments, instead reframing them in a DIY punk ethos and favoring intuition over pedagogy to inform their creative process. Their arrangements bridge instances of baroque ornamentation and blocks of harmonic density with stretches of fugue state-inducing confusion built over dreary standing tones and repeated dissonant intervals. Flood Dream includes a few tracks from their feature-length score of Brooke Candy’s queer pornagraphic film “I Love You” (made for PornHub’s Visionaries Director’s Club) and follows their debut album, The Fool. The lead single and album opener, which features experimental pop vocalist/composer GABI, hints at the expanded sound of Flood Dream which was written during an extensive touring over four months in the US, Canada & Europe.

The two tenors Chico Freeman and father Von Freeman had an opportunity to team up on this CD. Recorded live in concert, the Freemans are assisted by pianist Kenny Barron (Muhal Richard Abrams takes his place on "Paying New York Dues"), bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Von actually sounds the more modern of the two (due to his unusual tone) on a set mostly comprised of standards, plus McBee's "Undercurrents" and the lengthy jamming blues "Jug Ain't Gone," a tribute to Gene Ammons. The straight-ahead but sometimes eccentric music has its surprising moments, and the Freemans mostly battle to a tie.