egroj world: Jack Dejohnette • Sound Travels

Friday, June 16, 2023

Jack Dejohnette • Sound Travels

Review
by Thom Jurek
In his sixth decade as a professional musician, Jack DeJohnette has established himself as a musical chameleon. He's led bands and recorded and performed with an array of jazz legends as well as funk and pop artists. DeJohnette has even made new age music listenable with Peace Time and Music in the Key of Om (the former won him a Grammy). And he has always cultivated and acted on his deep, abiding interest in indigenous musics from Latin America and Africa. Sound Travels is his first recording of new material since 2009's Music We Are. True to form, DeJohnette, who plays drums and piano here, ranges widely. The disc begins with the brief "Enter Here," a grounded yet ambitious offering with the sound of a resonating bell that gives way to DeJohnette's lilting solo piano. "Salsa for Luisto" features the percussionist Luisto Quintero playing grooved-out, modern Afro-Cuban son. Esperanza Spalding is the upright bassist in the band, and on this track, she sings alongside Ambrose Akinmusire's trumpet and Lionel Loueke's guitar. DeJohnette plays piano and drums. This salsa is of the earthier yet breezier Caribbean variety. It's lovely. Just as quickly, things shift into down-home New Orleans-style funky blues with Tim Ries on soprano and tenor saxophones. Bruce Hornsby appears on vocals singing about not surrendering in the face of disaster more soulfully than on any of his own records. Loueke's unique guitar style makes this track sound more like the Band than Allen Toussaint, though Wardell Quezergue's ghost inhabits the horn chart. "New Music" is modern, modal post-bop with Middle Eastern overtones. It features fine traded solos by Ries on soprano and Akinmusire. Township jazz crossed with Latin groove is the bedrock for "Sonny Light," with Loueke's lyric solo being the tune's centerpiece as DeJohnette finds a perfect space to comp behind him and enhance the guitar's presence. The two horns and Quintero's hand drums weave a wonderful, rhythmic lyricism around the pair. The title track is an exercise in rhythm from DeJohnette, Loueke, Quintero, and Spalding (who really drives this track and shines brightly on the album as a whole). "Oneness" is a sparse and moving ballad played by DeJohnette and Quintero, backing vocalist Bobby McFerrin. The song feels deeply indebted to Milton Nascimento's excellent mid-'70s work. The set's longest cut is "Indigo Dreamscapes," a breezy, midtempo, fingerpopping Latin number. DeJohnette's piano work alongside Ries' tenor create an irresistible harmonic progression even when they move the tune toward straight-ahead jazz, then walk it back. The closer, "Home," is another languid, crystalline solo piano piece that is the bookend to "Enter Here." It's quiet, reverent, warm, and inviting, and it pays an indirect homage to Abdullah Ibrahim's South African style. Sound Travels is a current, understated, well-disciplined glimpse into DeJohnette's current musical world view, which is worth celebrating for its own sake.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/sound-travels-mw0002281927

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Reseña
por Thom Jurek
En su sexta década como músico profesional, Jack DeJohnette se ha establecido como un camaleón musical. Ha liderado bandas y ha grabado y actuado con toda una serie de leyendas del jazz, así como con artistas del funk y el pop. DeJohnette incluso ha hecho escuchable la música new age con Peace Time y Music in the Key of Om (el primero le valió un Grammy). Y siempre ha cultivado y puesto en práctica su profundo y permanente interés por las músicas indígenas de América Latina y África. Sound Travels es su primera grabación de material nuevo desde Music We Are, de 2009. Fiel a su estilo, DeJohnette, que aquí toca la batería y el piano, se explaya ampliamente. El disco comienza con la breve "Enter Here", una propuesta sencilla pero ambiciosa con el sonido de una campana resonante que da paso al cadencioso piano solista de DeJohnette. "Salsa for Luisto" presenta al percusionista Luisto Quintero tocando un moderno son afrocubano. Esperanza Spalding es la bajista de la banda, y en este tema canta junto a la trompeta de Ambrose Akinmusire y la guitarra de Lionel Loueke. DeJohnette toca el piano y la batería. Esta salsa es de la variedad caribeña, más terrenal pero más desenfadada. Es encantadora. Igual de rápido, las cosas cambian a un funky blues al estilo de Nueva Orleans con Tim Ries en los saxos soprano y tenor. Bruce Hornsby aparece en la voz cantando sobre no rendirse ante el desastre con más alma que en ninguno de sus discos. El estilo único de la guitarra de Loueke hace que este tema suene más a The Band que a Allen Toussaint, aunque el fantasma de Wardell Quezergue habita en la tabla de vientos. "New Music" es post-bop moderno y modal con matices de Oriente Medio. Cuenta con finos solos intercambiados por Ries en la soprano y Akinmusire. Township jazz cruzado con groove latino es la base de "Sonny Light", con el solo lírico de Loueke como pieza central de la melodía mientras DeJohnette encuentra un espacio perfecto para componer detrás de él y realzar la presencia de la guitarra. Las dos trompas y la batería de Quintero tejen un maravilloso lirismo rítmico alrededor de la pareja. El tema que da título al disco es un ejercicio de ritmo a cargo de DeJohnette, Loueke, Quintero y Spalding (que es el verdadero motor de este tema y brilla con luz propia en el conjunto del álbum). "Oneness" es una balada escasa y conmovedora interpretada por DeJohnette y Quintero, con el apoyo vocal de Bobby McFerrin. La canción se siente profundamente deudora del excelente trabajo de Milton Nascimento de mediados de los 70. El corte más largo del disco es "Indigo Dreamscapes", una canción latina, a medio tiempo y muy ligera. El trabajo al piano de DeJohnette junto al tenor de Ries crean una progresión armónica irresistible incluso cuando mueven la melodía hacia el jazz directo, para luego retroceder. El final, "Home", es otra lánguida y cristalina pieza de piano solista que sirve de colofón a "Enter Here". Es tranquila, reverente, cálida y acogedora, y rinde un homenaje indirecto al estilo sudafricano de Abdullah Ibrahim. Sound Travels es un vistazo actual, discreto y bien disciplinado a la visión actual del mundo musical de DeJohnette, que merece la pena celebrar por sí mismo.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/sound-travels-mw0002281927

www.jackdejohnette.com ...

Tracks:
1 - Enter Here - 2:14
2 - Salsa For Luisoto - 6:56
3 - Dirty Ground - 4:49
4 - New Muse - 6:02
5 - Sonny Light - 5:41
6 - Sound Travels - 1:42
7 - Oneness - 5:57
8 - Indigo Dreamscapes - 8:02
9 - Home - 4:34

Credits:
    Bells [Resonating Bells] – Jack DeJohnette (tracks: 1)
    Composed By – Jack DeJohnette
    Composed By, Vocals – Bruce Hornsby (tracks: 2)
    Double Bass [Acoustic Bass] – Esperanza Spalding (tracks: 2 to 4, 8)
    Drums – Jack DeJohnette (tracks: 2 to 6, 8)
    Electric Bass – Esperanza Spalding (tracks: 5, 6)
    Electric Guitar – Lionel Loueke (tracks: 2, 3, 6)
    Percussion – Luisito Quintero (tracks: 2, 3, 5 to 8)
    Piano – Jack DeJohnette (tracks: 1 to 7, 9), Jason Moran (tracks: 8)
    Soprano Saxophone – Tim Ries (tracks: 3, 4)
    Tenor Saxophone – Tim Ries (tracks: 3, 5, 8)
    Trumpet – Ambrose Akinmusire (tracks: 2,4, 5)
    Vocals – Esperanza Spalding (tracks: 2), Luisito Quintero (tracks: 2)
    Vocals, Percussion – Bobby McFerrin (tracks: 7)

Recorded at Avatar Studios NYC; The Clubhouse, Rheinbeck NY; Bass Hit Studios NYC; Hornsby Studio

Label:    eOne – EOM-CD-2403, Golden Beams Productions – EOM-CD-2403
Country:    US
Released:    Feb 12, 2012
Genre:    Jazz
Style:    Contemporary Jazz
https://www.discogs.com/release/3485252-Jack-DeJohnette-Sound-Travels