John Abercrombie Quartet

Mark Soskin - One Hopeful Day (2007) {Kind Of Blue Records ‎KOB 10019}
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© 2007 Recording Arts SA / Kind Of Blue Records ‎| KOB 10019
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Mark Soskin has built an impressive discography as a sideman, though he hasn't been recorded nearly enough as a leader since his arrival on the jazz scene. Nearly 20 years after his first record date of his own, the veteran pianist assembled a top-shelf band with tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Bill Stewart for this studio date, which like most of his recordings is for a non-U.S. label.

The only real downside of this record is its length. But everyone is ON, right on, and the energy is remarkable. For Kaiser fans this will be a revelation. He's channeling Cosey, McLaughlin, and Sharrock (each of whom shaped Miles's sound from this period), but also doing his own Kaiser-effects. And they don't sound out of place! Smith sounds much closer to Miles than I would have expected. This isn't a bad thing of course. The other players here are fantastic, too, especially the bass clarinetist Oluyemi Thomas. John Medeski, the ROVA quartet, Greg Goodman, and Nels Cline are also here. It's a fine group of musicians lovingly indulging in the many sounds of Miles's 1970–1975 performances.

Drummer Jack DeJohnette's New Directions tended to promise much more than it delivered. The quartet (comprised of the leader on drums and piano, trumpeter Lester Bowie, guitarist John Abercrombie and bassist Eddie Gomez) was certainly full of talent, even if their performances often rambled before finding purpose. This live set has four lengthy pieces, three of which are DeJohnette originals (including "Where or Wayne") and a free improvisation by the band.

Alon Nechushtan was born in Rishon le Zion (near Tel Aviv) in 1974. He already learned to play the piano when he was six years old, and he began to compose for chamber music ensembles when he was 10. Private studies under Slava Ganelin as well as listening to the current music of his youth from Genesis to Pink Floyd stirred his awaking interest for jazz pianists – and of course composition studies from Debussy to Shostakovich. He also played in jazz combos during his classical composition studies in Jerusalem. After he received his Master's degree, he moved to the USA for good in 2003, first to Boston (on the advice of Between the Lines artist Yitzhak Yedid) where he continued his studies under Ran Blake, Paul Bley, Fred Hersch and others. Bob Brookmeyer was also one of his mentors, and he conducted numerous premiers of Nechushtan's compositions. He moved to New York in 2003, and his first recordings were soon released, among others on John Zorn's label Tzadik. Since then he has worked with many musicians such as Marty Ehrlich, Frank London, Ned Rothenberg, Eliott Sharp, Mark Dresser and many others.

There is a transcendental place that musicians can reach during performance. A space where they get lost in the music, letting the years honed skills and natural inclination take control. Many of the exhilarating moments in improvised music come from the sudden shift, the accentuation of razor sharp focus, to get back on course.

The magic that occurs when student meets teacher on equal footing years down the road is rare enough. With Jim Hall—one of the most influential guitarists of the past half century—his spare approach, a reference point for younger guitar icons including John Abercrombie, John Scofield and Pat Metheny, has resulted in more magic than most. Hall and Metheny met successfully on Jim Hall & Pat Metheny (Telarc, 1999) and, while the elder guitarist also met briefly with Bill Frisell on a handful of tracks on Dialogues (Telarc, 1995), it was clear that the simpatico between them was profound and warranted further investigation. 13 years later—Frisell's star rising considerably during that time—the two reconvene for Hemispheres, a double-disc set with one disc of duo material and the other in quartet with bassist Scott Colley and Joey Baron, where their empathic relationship is finally and fully realized…