Ryan Blotnick: Music Needs You

Modern Jazz / Indie Jazz
premiera polska: 2017-02-24
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: plastikowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * *:
Chciałby się powiedzieć że amerykański gitarzysta Ryan Blotnick tworzy muzykę romantyczną, tęskną i delikatną. Jednak to tylko część prawdy. Potencjał tego utalentowanego kompozytora i instrumentalisty nie pozwala zamknąć muzyka w getcie jazzowej ballady. Bo Blotnicka-kompozytora zajmuje poszukiwanie formuły, która byłaby prosta i wyrafinowana zarazem. Doskonale nadają się do tego delikatne nawiązania do gitarowego bluegrassu. Nie ma ich wiele, jednak tam gdzie się pojawiają, znaczą muzykę jakimś nieuchwytnym, osobistym tonem. Tu właśnie objawiają się niebywałe kompetencje Amerykanina.

Blotnick jest zapraszany przez znakomitości amerykańskiego jazzu jak Michael Blake, Tyshawn Sorey, Dan Weiss, Mike Pride, Steven Bernstein, Ben Street, Kenny Wollesen, Marcus Rojas, Michael Attias, Gerald Cleaver, Avishai Cohen, Jeff Williams, i Lee Konitz. Komponuje muzykę do filmów, przekładał na język jazzu dorobek szalonego Włocha, Carlo Gesualdo. Wszystko to miało wpływ na ukształtowanie oryginalnego języka współczesnego jazzu, który przyciąga uwagę słuchacza.

Płyta "Music Needs You", wydana przez amerykańską Songlines Records wypełnia świat dźwiękami soczystymi i ascetycznymi zarazem. Lider, który decyduje o napięciu, barwie i temperaturze całości pozostawia muzycznym partnerom sporo przestrzeni, a oni korzystają z tego z wielką atencją i wyobraźnią. Każdy z nich jest klasą dla siebie, Pete Robbins na saksofonie altowym, Albert Sanz na fortepianie, Perry Wortman na kontrabasie, i Joe Smith za perkusją. Kunsztowne kompozycje autorstwa lidera, które wypełniaja płytę, dają rzadką mozliwość niejako uczestniczenia w procesie twórczym ich powstawania. Gdy już coś wydaje się nam oczywiste i rzeczywistość wydaje się rozpoznana, nagle okazuje się, że klucz dzięki któremu rozpoczęliśmy poszukiwania – nie pasuje. Inspirujące i ożywcze w kontekście powstającej dzisiaj jazzowej konfekcji.

"Music Needs You" to płyta o dużej sile oddziaływania, nie dziwi więc fakt, że rekomendują ją zacni recenzenci.
autor: Krzysztof Szamot
Copyright © 1996-2017 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

Bill Milkowski z Jazz Times napisał (...) It is widely praised as "graceful, evocative (...)
Nate Chinen z New York Times (...) engagingly pensive (...)
Hank Shteamer z Time Out New York napisał (...) a record full of memorable melodies; gentle, reflective tunes [that] might actually have a shot at becoming 21st-century standards (...)
Jason Bivins z Cadence (...) Ryan Blotnick it is an authentic, compelling player (...)

"Ryan is a musician with great ideas, a full, rich sound, and a level of skill and maturity beyond his years." - Ben Monder

"This new CD from Ryan Blotnick contains not only beautiful compositions, but really some deep, and honest improvising. I enjoyed it very much, and recommend it highly." - John Abercrombie

Editor's info:
Ryan Blotnick is a 24-year old NY-based guitarist and composer and this is his first CD. It deserves to put him on the map with jazz fans.

A little background: originally from Maine, Ryan, who cites Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, and Joe Pass as early guitar influences, studied with Gene Bertoncini at William Paterson University and then spent four years at the Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium (Rhythmic Music Conservatory) in Copenhagen, earning a BA and MA in Music Performance. Since returning to the US he has been performing with Pete Robbins and Centric, Michael Blake, Tyshawn Sorey, and Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble, as well as leading his own groups and touring back to Denmark. The present quintet was put together for a Spanish tour last spring - Albert Sanz and American drummer Joe Smith live in Barcelona - and was recorded there. Though it's not an audiophile recording, Songlines was eager to work with Ryan based on having seen him perform in New York and on the quality and distinctiveness of the music.

The compositions are all originals by Ryan plus a touching ballad by Pete Robbins. The group's aesthetic encompasses all the classic jazz virtues while sounding fresh and contemporary. In much of the music there seems to be a lyrical, almost nostalgic tone reminiscent perhaps of the west coast sound, and a bittersweet emotional resonance one might associate with jazz standards of the Ellington/Cole Porter era. Ryan comments:

"Listeners often complain that new jazz lacks melodies, or doesn't have a steady beat, or is self-indulgent. I think it is the musicians' responsibility to prove them wrong. When I sit down to write, I feel like I should try to stick to standard forms, time signatures, etc., unless I have a justification for straying from that. The language of those standards is the common language that all jazz musicians share - and without that, improvisation can become very arbitrary or detached….I think people remember melodies almost the way we remember smells - one whiff of wood smoke or perfume and it stimulates all kinds of memories and emotions within us. Everyone has a huge number of melodies and musical structures stored in their minds, and I think tapping into them is the key to creating music that people really respond to. Instrumental music has the advantage of being able to weave these melodic responses into a web of synesthesia, without getting the linguistic half of the brain too involved."

"I'm also just naturally drawn to some of the rich harmonies that only really come about when they are planned ahead of time. In this music I'm combining jazz harmony (chords with lots of extensions), rock harmony (simple chords), and classical counterpoint-based harmony where harmonies are created by superimposed melodic lines. I've been studying Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony, and have been reshaping the way I hear chord progressions. I'm trying to go for that sound that you hear a lot in classical music from the turn of the last century where the chords are moving fast and in such a smooth way that you get kind of lost in them. I try to write sing-able parts for everyone and have interesting bass lines that obscure the harmony a little bit. The great thing about this band is that you can bring in a chart with those Wayne Shorter-type harmonies and everyone's approach works over that - then you play something free or groove-based and the same qualities are still there. I think if you can get a group sound playing over forms and changes, it really opens up possibilities for other kinds of improv."

"I don't usually play in groups with acoustic piano, but Albert's style is so spacious - a few of the songs here were written specifically with him in mind doubling bass lines, and playing chords to free me up a little. I've played a lot with Pete and we always work well together. He has that percussive approach that kind of balances out the group. Joe Smith and Perry Wortman are very soulful musicians that really lock up well, and they go for a real group sound instead of the showy modern jazz thing. It is hard to get this group together but I feel like it's worth it." A CD release tour of New England is in the works.

All About Jazz * * * *:
Guitarist Ryan Blotnick is on a journey of exploration on this, his first CD. All of the compositions are his originals with one exception—a ballad by alto saxophonist Pete Robbins. Blotnick is accompanied on this journey by Robbins as well as Albert Sanz (piano), Perry Wortman (bass) and Joe Smith (drums), a quintet that was assembled for a tour last year and is well-attuned to each other.

There is a chamber feel to this CD because of the tightly-knit ensemble playing and the nature of the music. Blotnick's compositions are short musical statements—simple lines using different time signatures—that allow for each track to be mostly improvisation. Robbins' ballad "Barceloneta has more of a melody than the rest, but is also loosely structured so as to blend nicely with the rest of the material.

Each player has their very good moments. There is some well-done contrapuntal work between Blotnick and Wortman; Smith provides some tasty brushwork and Robbins' saxophone shines on several tracks. Blotnick is always present and evinces a smooth style of playing.

This CD is almost a "concept" piece in the sense that the tracks are very much alike in feeling and ensemble approach. It is almost an act of bravery for an artist to record all originals for a first CD. However, there is curiosity as to how Blotnick would have interpreted one or two standards as a contrast to his personal statements. But since he is only 24 years old, he has much more exploring to do.
By MARCIA HILLMAN

muzycy:
Ryan Blotnick, guitar
Pete Robbins, alto saxophone
Albert Sanz, piano
Perry Wortman, bass
Joe Smith, drums

utwory:
1. Winter Melt 06:40
2. Thinning Air 04:54
3. Music Needs You 07:51
4. The Quiet Space Left Behind 04:49
5. Barceloneta 04:20
6. Liberty 09:48
7. You Can Talk During This 05:51
8. Wrong Turns 03:13
9. Tired House 06:57

total time - 54:23
wydano: 01-2011
nagrano: Recorded by Jordi Vidal at Laietana Studios, Barcelona

more info: www.songlines.com