Artist.......: Nehring Koller and Braid
Album........: Set In Stone Vol.1
Label........: Effendi Records
Genre........: Jazz
Catnr........: FND058
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Jul-09-2006
str.date.....: Nov-01-2005
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: www.davidbraid.com/
track title time
01. D minor waltz 05:27
02. For Igor 04:18
03. Demetri's theme 04:21
04. Title 01:45
05. Set in stone 09:47
06. Untitled-titled 05:13
07. Maiera 04:25
08. Ee-Gypt-Me (part 2) 04:20
09. Zeynebim 05:42
10. On, to Babylo 03:42
11. Titled-Untitled 07:13
Runtime 56:13 min
Size 79,4 MB
Release Notes:
Apres un premier album, What's Held in Common, bien
recu par la critique, le trio torontois forme de
Lorne Nehring, batterie, George Koller,
contrebasse, et David Braid, piano, rend hommage au
trompettiste canadien Fred Stone. Bref compagnon de
route de Mingus et Ellington, Stone, surtout
reconnu comme compositeur et enseignant, est
disparu trop tot, en 1986, a l'age de 51 ans. Set
in Stone permet de nous familiariser avec sa
musique. Nehring / Koller and Braid explorent
toutes les possibilites de ces 11 themes pour la
plupart demeures inedits (a l'exception notable de
Maiera, enregistre par Ellington). Il ne s'agit pas
ici de reproduction, mais bien de relecture. Du
jazz d'avant-garde, actuel et d'une etonnante
accessibilite.
The Canadian music scene continues to bubble. One
of Canada's almost mythical jazz musicians is
trumpeter and flugelhornist Fred Stone (1935-86).
Stone was the first Canadian to join Duke
Ellington's band, and the experience changed him,
leading him to become an increasingly unique
composer and arranger.
This homage to Stone treats his music with a kind
of reverence. Stone wrote all the compositions
except Shostakovich's Demetri's Theme, which he
arranged; Zeynebim, a traditional tune; and the
title track, which is made up of his themes. All of
the other tracks were arranged by this trio.
Since he plays the lead instrument, David Braid
naturally gets the most attention, and he deserves
it. The pianist has recorded recently with Phil
Nimmons (see Beginnings), who actually played with
Stone, and hence is much older. Drummer Loren
Nehring and bassist George Koller are also both
older than Braid, but only by one generation,
instead of two. Braid is an extremely mature player
with wide-ranging tastes who balances the rhythm
section. While Koller or Nehring come to the front
at times, most of the time they create a very tight
unit that allows Braid freedom to fly. All three
members of the trio also listen closely to each
other, which helps immeasurably in bringing this
music to life.
The high-quality compositions offer many surprises
and don't linger in any one style. One might say
that Fred Stone's style is really no style; its
main characteristic is the seamless mixing of
classical, jazz and folk music. D Minor Waltz is
a very lovely tune with interesting chord changes.
Braid takes his time and breathes life into each
phrase of the opening before the band takes off for
its exploration. An entirely different feel takes
over with the oddly melody-shaped and harmonically
elliptical For Igor, allowing Demetri's Theme
to be accepted as jazz, rather than a Shostakovich
composition.
Title, Untitled-Titled and Titled-Untitled
feel related by more than their odd names. The
first is a short, free-form non-melodic track with
lots of pedal, and while the second seems to pick
up on intervals that made up the phrases from the
first, it sounds entirely different, actually
developing a swinging drive. The last piece of this
triptych again brings up the shape of the opening
phrase, but quite differently once again, sounding
at first quite experimental until the bass sets up
a pulse, which ultimately devolves back to free
playing, only to end with a grand Romantic gesture.
There are Eastern-sounding pieces also, and the
almost ten-minute Set In Stone could very well be a
tone poem creating images of water and grandeur,
but with a middle bluesy section thrown in. It is
obvious from the very first to the very last notes
that the members of this trio feel deeply about
this music. Stone was an amazing composer, a real
Third Streamer in many ways, and his music is
given a wonderful treatment here.