Michael Thomas Event Horizon
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| Posted on May 31, 2020 at 07:09:19 | ||
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Posts: 5563
Location: SE Michigan Joined: May 30, 2001 |
This 2-CD set arrived on my doorstep a couple days ago. At first I was disappointed when I realized this was not the septet shown in the video linked by GEO several days ago. I really liked the septet partly because it has the same instrumentation as my old group (plus a guitar player). I'm over that now.... Event Horizon features a pianoless quartet of Thomas on alto, Jason Palmer on trumpet, Hans Glawischnig on bass, and Jonathan Blake on drums. The band is tighter than the septet, and if the alto intro on Chant is any indication, Thomas's facility on the horn has grown considerably since 2017. He is a truly formidable player, as is the whole group. With no piano, the music is less immediately accessible than the Melissa Aldana disc I reviewed here a few days ago even though the compositional styles on display by both bands are really quite similar. Both bands have plenty of depth to plumb, but it will take a little more effort to get into Thomas' band, especially for listeners not already attuned to the pianoless bands that have become more common in recent years. I saw Blake live with Kenny Barron not too far back and he didn't knock me out right away, but I'm warming up to his playing with repeated listening of this disc. Glawischnig provides the temporal glue holding all of this together, providing a solid base upon which the others liberally explore counter-rhythms and melodic ideas. Thomas' improvisations (especially the solo intro the Chant) can get to sounding a bit etude-like at times but this initial impression fades with repeated listening. All in all, here is (yet another) outstanding release featuring a group of superb young musicians. It's amazing that so much great jazz has been produced over the last couple decades against such tall commercial odds. One hopes the modern golden age of jazz can continue in the face of the new public health reality. The music needs your support now more than ever. dh
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