Phrases

opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Miłośnicy męskiego wokalnego kunsztu z obszaru muzyki jazzowej nie mają wielu powodów do zadowolenia. Zniżkująca forma Gregory'ego Portera, milczenie Kurta Ellinga są tylko w części temu winne... na szczęście po siedmiu latach przebudził się Jeff Baker. Ten amerykański śpiewak wszedł do studia, w którym spotkał wiele jazzowych znakomitości, by wymienić tylko drummera Briana Blade'a, saksofonistę Geofa Bradfielda, pianistę Darrella Granta czy laureata Thelonius Monk Competition 2015 - trębacza Marquisa Hilla.

Baker na swoją nowa płytę przygotował siedem własnych kompozycji, przy okazji wokalista przypomniał kilka znakomitych kompozycji. Zarówno z repertuaru Billie Holiday "Don't Worry 'bout Me", Jose Gonzaleza "Stay Alive" (autorstwa Ryana Adamsa), Billy'ego Joela "And So It Goes" czy Bonnie Raitt "Not Cause I Wanted To".

Możliwości wokalne Jeffa Bakera są onieśmielające, nie bez przyczyny bywa porównywany do Marka Murphy'ego i Johnny'ego Hartmana. Jeff Baker nie wykorzystuje ich dla taniego efekciarstwa. Raczej stawia na ekspresję, budowanie napięcia i tego, co w piosence jest najważniejsze – zamkniętą formę.
Doskonale wypada przemyślana, dopracowana w najmniejszym szczególe „Ballad of the Sad Young Men” z udziałem kwartetu smyczkowego. Któż nie śpiewał tego szlagieru, od Roberty Flack, Shirley Bassey, Anita O'Day, ale także Marka Murphy'ego, Johnny'ego Hartmana, Kurta Hellinga. Warto porównać te wykonania.

"Phrases" to rasowy, jazzowy album, każda z kompozycji ma w sobie coś, co sprawia, że długo po wysłuchaniu wybrzmiewa w naszej głowie. To zdecydowanie więcej niż tylko kolejna jazzowa propozycja.
autor: Mateusz Krępski
Copyright © 1996-2018 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

JazzTrenzz:
Critically acclaimed vocalist JEFF BAKER returns with his 5th OA2 Records release, an alive and bristling set of originals and thoughtfully conceived pop and jazz standards. Collaborating with some of the most influential and compelling jazz musicians in the world today - Brian Blade, Steve Wilson, Marquis Hill, Clark Sommers, Geof Bradfield, and Gregory Uhlmann - Baker and his co-producer/musical director, pianist Darrell Grant, present a provocative collection of original songs and arrangements based on text by writers such as Pablo Neruda, J.D. Salinger, A.A. Milne and Salvador Plascencia. Certainly, his most ambitious and personal recording yet. "From all accounts, this charismatic crooner needs to be tracked closely. Mr. Baker has the potential to skyrocket to many accolade-coated triumphs."

About the artist
Called "...one of the best male vocalists in the jazz world today," by WCLK in Atlanta, Jeff Baker has quickly become one of the most significant talents in the next generation of jazz vocalists. His diverse musical recordings, exciting live performances, and infectious energy and personality have gained him accolades from critics and listeners alike. Baker has headlined numerous festivals and clubs, and has shared the billing and played with some of jazz music's top artists including: the Yellow Jackets, Mose Allison, Kenny Werner, Joey DeFrancesco, Joe LaBarbera, Bruce Barth, Darrell Grant, Karrin Allyson, Nancy King, Henry Butler, Dave Frishberg, Gene Harris, Orrin Evans, Clark Sommers, George Colligan, Randy Porter and many more!

Jeff has performed throughout the U.S., and has enjoyed performance engagements in central Europe and South Africa. His four critically acclaimed CD releases on the Origin/OA2 Records imprint have charted on the 'Jazzweek' International Radio Top 50, have been played on over 200 stations internationally, were Top 5 on NPR's nationally syndicated "Jazz Works" radio program, and were #1 on stations in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Portland, Buffalo, St. Louis, Cape Town, SA and New Zealand.

A graduate of Willamette University, Baker has also been sought after as a jazz educator, adjudicating numerous festivals, and working in clinics with some of the nations very best high school and college jazz programs. As one of the 'founding fathers' of the ArtsWest School for Performing and Visual Arts, Baker helped create one of the top High-School Jazz programs in the country. His students have won over 100 Top Awards at festivals and competitions throughout the U.S., including being named finalists to the Monterey Jazz Festival 'Next Generation Competition' in 2010, 11', and 12' and winning 10 Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards, including the 2010, 2012 and 2013 High School Vocal Solo Winners, and the 2012 Winner for Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Additionally, Baker's groups have been invited to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Portland Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, and the National Cathedral.

Jeff is an ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) Certified Clinician/Adjudicator, a past member of the International Association of Jazz Education (IAJE), and a current member of the Jazz Education Network (JEN), the National Association for Music Education (NAFME), and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS or the GRAMMY Foundation). Jeff Baker resides in Portland, OR is currently on the jazz faculty at Portland State University, and is the co-founder and director of the Jazz Forward Competition.

All About Jazz - ocena * * * *:
After a seven-year absence, vocalist/composer/arranger/educator and foremost fan of the Boise State Broncos, Jeff Baker has returned to the studio to add to his already impressive discography, which includes: Baker Sings Chet (OA2, 2004), Monologue (OA2, 2005), Shopping for Your Heart (OA2, 2007), Of Things Not Seen (OA2, 2009).

The distance between the earthy, basic Of Things Not Seen and the present airy and ethereal Phrases is a vast one. Baker increases his instrumentation dramatically, from a quintet on the former to a septet, adding an additional four as a string quartet for several selections. He also pulls all the stops on his composing, having written the majority of the 11 selections included. Foremost of the original compositions are those based on the writings of Pablo Neruda ("Neruda"), JD Salinger ("Salinger"), and Salvador Plascencia ("People of Paper"). Baker's melodies are lofty and light and his voice, solid with a rich hint of androgyny, meld well with the lyrics garnered.

"Ballad of the Sad Young Men" is nearly perfect in its adaptation to the surrounding material. Pianist Darrell Grant does an admirable job keeping this recording's light-as-air approach aloft and moving forward. It is a recognition of Baker's talent that he attracts bassist Clark Sommers and alto saxophonist Steve Wilson into his creative fray. Baker arrived years ago. It is now time for us to pay attention.
By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

Downbeat:
Baker Features Original Compositions on ‘Phrases’

Jazz vocalist Jeff Baker recruited some of the most respected musicians in jazz for his fifth album, Phrases (OA2 Records), which will be released Jan. 19. Participating in the recording sessions were drummer Brian Blade, trumpeter Marquis Hill, saxophonist Steve Wilson and pianist Darrell Grant, who served as musical director and co-producer.

The album will mark Baker’s debut as a composer, with seven of the album’s songs featuring his music and lyrics.

Phrases takes its title from Baker’s use of what he calls “prompts” that inspire him to compose. These prompts could be from his favorite works of fiction, poetry, and song, among them texts by Pablo Neruda, J.D. Salinger and Salvador Plascencia. Those cues could be no more than a line of poetry or a snatch of dialogue, or a real-life verbal exchange that caught his ear.

“The musical side of composing—creating melodies, reharmonizing music—has always come pretty easy to me,” Baker said. “But in attempting lyrics, I always felt burdened by not being Joni Mitchell. How could I express myself without sounding trite or silly? I found that if I gave myself prompts, I could create stories around them and find my voice as a lyricist. My aim was to tell stories in which people could hear their own experiences.”

Phrases was recorded in Chicago in May 2017 at Vijay Tellis-Nayak’s Transient Sound studio.

Also contributing to the recording sessions were Baker’s longtime friends Clark Sommers (bass) and Geof Bradfield (tenor saxophone), as well as young guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, a former student of Jeff Parker.

Baker was thrilled to be surrounded by such stellar company: “Jazz musicians talk all the time about their ‘dream bands,’ and here I am, getting to record with my actual dream band! I wrote this music with these musicians in mind, and I am beyond humbled that they’ve agreed to be part of this project.”

Born in 1979 in Boise, Idaho, Baker was 13 when the grunge-rock movement became a cultural phenomenon. While his friends were listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Baker was focused on Dizzy Gillespie’s 1967 album Live At The Village Vanguard. “It was the best thing ever,” Baker recalled. “I learned every song and taught myself to sing with them. Singing jazz, the idea that a vocalist could be an instrumentalist and take the music to different places on a lark, was a real revelation to me. My goal became to be equal and in line with instrumental players.”

As a young artist, Baker was enthralled with the work of Mark Murphy, Johnny Hartman and Chet Baker (no relation). The music of Sting and Peter Gabriel resonated deeply with him, as did that of Bonnie Raitt. (Phrases includes an interpretation of “Not Cause I Wanted To,” a tune Raitt recorded on her 2012 album, Slipstream.)

Baker attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, on a singing scholarship, sang in the jazz and classical choirs, and studied opera and musical theater. With plentiful opportunities to perform, he continued educating himself as a jazz vocalist. Backed by Idaho musicians, he recorded his 2003 debut, Baker Sings Chet.

This Chet Baker project, released on Origin Records’ OA2 imprint, did well enough to enable him to make another record, Monologue, for which Origin head John Bishop hooked him up with versatile Seattle pianist Bill Anschell. It proved to be a fruitful collaboration. Baker and Anschell teamed up on two more acclaimed albums, Shopping For Your Heart (2007) and the gospel-infused Of Things Not Seen (The latter was recorded at the same time as Shopping, it was released with re-recorded vocals in 2009.)

In 2012, Grant, a distinguished member of the music faculty at Portland State University, helped Baker land a position at PSU, where the singer was integral in building what has become a renowned jazz vocal program. Baker also co-founded and is director of the PDX Jazz Forward Competition.

“We live in an incredible time for creative, genre-defying music,” Baker said. “Artists like Laura Mvula, Becca Stevens, Jacob Collier, The Fellowship Band and so many others are changing the way we think about jazz and contemporary songwriting. It’s a privilege to write and make music at this time. Phrases is my humble contribution to this ever-evolving conversation.”