Kirk Knuffke, Jay Anderson, Adam Nussbaum: Cherryco [Pure Vinyl 1LP 180g]

Free Jazz / Indie Jazz / Contemporary
premiera polska: 2023-07-14
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: Singlefoldowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com * * * * 1/2:
Wirtuoz kornetu, gwiazda kreatywnego jazzu, jeden z muzyków, który z największą gracją penetruje granice między tradycją a awangardą. Jest artystą bardzo otwartym, eksplorującym wiele obszarów współczesnej twórczości improwizowanej.
On sam o sobie: "Pochodzę z prowincji. Kiedy byłem dzieciakiem, największym sukcesem, jaki mogłem sobie wyobrazić, było granie na lokalnej scenie w Denver. To był mój szczyt marzeń!".
Nagrywa dla Clean Feed, Stunt Records, SteepleChase, NoBusiness Records, Relative Pitch. Jego nauczyciel i mentor - Ornette Coleman zaszczepił w nim gen artystycznej samobieżności, wielokrotnie udowodnił, że posługuje się własnym głosem.
"Cherryco" wydana na audiofilskim winylu to płyta szczególna w jego dyskografii. Po pierwsze została poświęcona fenomenalnemu trębaczowi, którym bez wątpienia był Don Cherry, po drugie nagrana została w niespotykanej obsadzie - cornet, kontrabas i perkusja. Po trzecie w końcu muzycy podeszli do spuścizny Cherrego od rzadko spotykanej strony, nagranie ma bowiem formę jazzowego "listu miłosnego", w którym znalazło się miejsce zarówno na melancholię, jak i na rozdzierające emocje.
Don Cherry, apostoł transkulturowości i ponadnarodowości, do końca swojego bogatego życia przepracowywał i odczytywał wciąż w nowym kontekście muzyczne wątki z Afryki, Karaibów, ze Stanów Zjednoczonych oraz z Europy, w której mieszkał ponad 30 lat.
Knuffke do Cherrego dotarł przez swojego nauczyciela i mentora - Ornette'a Colemana, dlatego na płycie obok kompozycji Cherrego spotykamy dwie kompozycje Ornette'a: "Lonely Woman" i 'Angel Voice".
Knuffke nie próbuje plagiatować styl Cherry'ego, postawił na zwinność fraz i szeroko strumieniowe brzmienie instrumentu. W "Art Deco" idzie dalej niż Cherry, który często stawiał na ascetyczne brzmienie kornetu. Mamy tutaj masywny, free jazzowy ekspres porywający słuchacza niemal tanecznym rytmem.
Trzech mistrzów w studio i dwóch w odwodach (Don Cherry i Ornette Coleman) z wielką hojnością częstuje słuchacza wzorcowym free jazzem w równie wzorcowym trio!
autor: Mateusz Krępski
Copyright © 1996-2023 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

DownBeat * * * *
... Knuffke might be more of a technician than Cherry, but here he puts the emphasis on ensemble interplay, forming an airy, malleable bond with his deft rhythm team while still uncorking one convincing and lyric solo after another...

JazzTrail * * * * *
...Cherryco, a collection of classic jazz tunes given a passionate and tasteful contemporary treatment, is a treat for the ears

Editor's Info:
The winner of Downbeat Magazine's "Rising Star" critic's poll 2015, cornetist and composer Kirk Knuffke presents here his interpretation of compositions by two iconic practitioners of the '60s free jazz movement - Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman.
The creative calculus involved in constructing a musical tribute to an influential icon can be complex. Such projects run the risk of becoming exercises in weighing one’s own impulses against those conjectured of the honoree to diminishing returns. Fortunately, when it comes to Kirk Knuffke the question isn’t whether he’s worthy of putting his stamp on the songbook featured on Cherryco, but rather why such a project took so long in gestation and offing. His track record with tributes, most often in the company of pianist Jesse Stacken, is extensive with the repertoires of Ellington, Mingus and others well-served. Don Cherry’s entry into that elevated cadre makes perfect sense.

DownBeat * * * *
Given cornetist Kirk Knuffke’s nonchalant versatility and ebullient melodic gifts, it should come as no surprise that he’s an admirer of the great Don Cherry. Naturally, he came to Cherry through the music of Ornette Coleman, but Cherry’s inherent curiosity is more than worthy of its own focus, and even though Knuffke’s repertoire on this terriffic outing includes five indelible Coleman themes from 1958–’59, such as “Lonely Woman” and “The Sphinx,” the trio setting leaves no doubt who the cornetist is thinking about. He gets spry, limber support from the excellent rhythm section of bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Adam Nussbaum.

Occupying the front line with only a cornet is no easy task—especially on music that was so famously shaped by a duo—but Knuffke nails it, conveying the melodic content of these super catchy themes without a hiccup, wielding his plush, tensile tone like it was molding clay. It helps that Anderson and Nussbaum expertly fill out the sound held for him.

Knuffke doesn’t imitate Cherry in the slightest; his agile smears and muscular sallies on “The Sphinx,” for example, sound bigger, while his navigation of “Art. Deco” conveys more swagger and sass than its composer’s own tart, modest performances. What comes through in the end is a shared spirit of generosity and the durability of Cherry’s writing. Knuffke might be more of a technician than Cherry, but here he puts the emphasis on ensemble interplay, forming an airy, malleable bond with his deft rhythm team while still uncorking one convincing and lyric solo after another. Cherryco feels like a love letter and it’s hard not to share in the ardor.
By Peter Margasak

JazzTrail * * * * *
"Cherry-co" was the title of a tune by Don Cherry, which first appeared on the 1966 album The Avant Garde, a revolutionary piece of work jointly authored by Cherry and John Coltrane. The title, was in part a punning reference to the jazz standard "Cherokee", in part a conflation of Cherry and Co(ltrane).

Kirk Knuffke, the virtuosic NYC-based cornetist, has a new album CherryCo consisting of tunes by Cherry and Ornette Coleman - seven by Cherry and five by Coleman, and is in the company of two experienced master craftsmen of rhythm, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Adam Nussbaum, working with both of them for the first time.

With a strong musical sensibility, both melodic and rhythmic, the trio plunges deep into the progressive universe of these composers, taking the opportunity to innovate as well while re-shaping the tunes with a tweak of their own. With a full-bodied acoustic sound and an infallible understanding of one another’s movements, the band begins this journey to the past with the reggae-ish "Roland Alphonso" by Cherry, who composed it for the Jamaican tenorist referred to in the title. After blowing the theme’s deep-seated melody with crisp delicacy, Knuffke embarks on a trippy improvisation that will keep you engaged and enthralled, at the same time that stimulates his peers to push forward. After Anderson’s loping bass solo and the reinstatement of the theme, the final vamp briefly allows Nussbaum to intensify his unostentatious brushed attacks.

Coleman’s shape-shifting "The Sphinx" is obstinate and animated in equal measure. The drummer's percussive intro has the feel of a march throughout, preparing the ground for the brisk melody that erupts from Knuffke’s cornet. Well accompanied by Anderson’s playful game, he engages in a funk rock backbeat when the time to improvise arrives, but just until they decide to make another adjustment toward a hasty swinging flow. When Knuffke regains the spotlight again, Nussbaum throws in lots of cymbal and snare drum whisks.

In the same vivid spirit, Cherry’s "Paris Ambulance Song" stands out through gracious coordination. By the end, we have Knuffke and Anderson trading fours with the drummer - which they also do on Coleman’s "Jayne", but this time expanding it into eight bars. This last tune, delivered with strong Latin accents, swings aplomb, propelled by a rhythm section that moves constantly in the pocket.

Mood variations are constant throughout the recording. If "Art. Deco" feels like a gentle jazz standard and grooves along with sweet-sounding solos, "Remembrance", a blues-based piece packed with Latin touches, funk, and swing, gains a stimulating African pulse whenever Nussbaum operates with mallets. In contrast, "Golden Heart" displays bouncing unisons uttered by cornet and bass on top of a fluid rhythm, carrying an inherent Arabic feel attached.

The session ends with the title track, which is made of three different layers juxtaposed with as much elegance as freedom. The cornetist pours out multiple creative ideas taken from the freebop compendium and beyond, and the tune gradually decelerates toward the finale.

Cherryco, a collection of classic jazz tunes given a passionate and tasteful contemporary treatment, is a treat for the ears.
by Filipe Freitas

muzycy:
Kirk Knuffke - (cornet)
Jay Anderson - (bass)
Adam Nussbaum - (drums)

utwory:
A1. Roland Alphonso (Don Cherry) 5:58
A2. Art Deco (Don Cherry) 7:21
A3. Remembrance (Don Cherry) 4:58
A3. Golden Heart (Don Cherry) 4:12
B1. Lonely Woman (Ornette Coleman) 2:55
B2. Song In D (Don Cherry) 7:44
B3. Paris Ambulance Song (Don Cherry) 4:28
B4. Angel Voice (Ornette Coleman) 5:15
B5. Cherryco (Don Cherry) 4:00

wydano: April 15, 2023 (2016)
nagrano: Recorded February 2016, at New York

more info2: www.kirkknuffke.com