Artist.......: Joel Harrison 7
Album........: Search
Label........: Sunnyside
Genre........: Jazz
Catnr........: SSC 1300
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Sep-30-2012
str.date.....: Mars-26-2012
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: joelharrison.com
track title time
01. grass valley and beyond 11:18
02. a magnificent death 15:01
03. all the previous pages are gone 08:24
04. the beauty of failure 06:24
05. whipping post 08:27
06. o sacrum convivium 06:19
07. search 02:19
Runtime 58:12 min
Size 101,3 MB
Release Notes:
There are few places you're likely to find
classically influenced jazz compositions, Olivier
Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivium," and the Allman
Brothers Band's "Whipping Post" side by side.
Guitarist Joel Harrison's Search, his second date
as a leader for Sunnyside, does exactly that.
Harrison is accompanied by a killer band:
saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Gary Versace,
violinist Christian Howes, cellist Dana Leong,
bassist Stephan Crump, and drummer Clarence Penn.
McCaslin and Penn truly stand out in this ensemble.
"Grass Valley and Beyond" is written in memory of a
friend. Harrison spent a great deal of time with
him as he was dying and trying to finish a book.
The elements of classical minimalism readily make
themselves heard throughout via the strings, though
the band moves through various lyric statements and
McCaslin's tenor solo pushes the frame and blurs
the lines between it and jazz. "A Magnificent
Death" is simultaneously more abstract and more
formal. Yet here, many of the phrases written for
strings actually swing. Guitar, piano, and
saxophone all play in unison on the knotty melodic
structure. "The Beauty of Failure" is a gorgeous
balladic piece with layers of warm, spacious
improvisation and a very fine solo by Crump.
Harrison's transcription and arrangement of
"Whipping Post" is just free enough to walk the
line between jam band dramatics and jazz
improvisation. It doesn't commence with the classic
riff, but instead with Harrison's slide guitar
freely soaring in from the edges. Versace's B-3
adds necessary color and dynamic tension, and the
strings punch the center. It's McCaslin who states
the theme about a minute in and plays the melody
faithfully with Harrison. His tone, however, is so
gorgeous and full, he makes it swing. Leong's
swirling cello break and Penn's drum solo are both
incendiary. McCaslin's forceful repetitive
assertion of another riff brings the band back to
begin the long, brawling climax with Harrison doing
his slide best -- a cappella -- just before they
nail it shut. Messiaen's "O Sacrum Convivium" is a
rubato tone poem with an excellent solo from
Harrison, despite the taut arrangement. Search is
yet another achievement in Joel Harrison's
deliberate, inventive, low-key evolution as a
soloist, composer, and arranger.