MARKO CHURNCHETZ – Devotion
Whirlwind Recordings WR 4653
Marko Churnchetz (piano, Fender Rhodes & keyboards) Mark Shim (tenor sax, Yamaha electric midi controller) Christopher Tordini (acoustic & electric bass) Justin Brown (drums)
Recorded in Brooklyn NYC. 18th April 2012
Churnchetz is a young Slovenian pianist / composer of quite formidable talent who is making waves in New York City and indeed anywhere else he gets the opportunity to demonstrate his virtuosity. This recording represents his debut on Whirlwind Recordings, a move that will surely bring him to the attention of a wider audience than he has hitherto enjoyed.
The music is largely contemporary free-bop with asymmetric themes and highly chromatic harmonies with improvisational excursions that effectively merge various cultural aesthetics with core jazz values. The tenor playing of Mark Shim, an alumnus of the Mingus Big Band ,is largely responsible for the latter , his rich vibrato and satisfyingly burnished walnut tone being one of the recordings principal delights. An urban contemporary edge is provided by Tordini and Brown whose street wise pulses ground the music in the here and now of rock, hip –hop and soulful grooves. As Churnchetz explains in the accompanying press release, “I consider myself a composer who aspires to balance intellect with emotion while never forgetting that music can make people move, dance and smile.”
It is a challenging brief but Churnchetz and his companions carry it off with the conviction only available to virtuosi of world class calibre. Of the ten tracks at least two employ the electronic, synthesised sounds of the Fender Rhodes and the Yamaha electric midi controller, which I imagine is a sort of E.W.I ( electronic wind instrument) and whilst I have no objection to this type of sound in certain contexts, I find it considerably less satisfying than that of the acoustic instruments. In electronic mode Shim loses his personal tenor sound with its robust muscularity whilst Churnchetz’s stunningly cerebral pianism is rendered as vapid as the unctuous blandishments of a cocktail bar performer. Not everyone will share this view but his piano work is so strong one feels a sense of deprivation having to put up with the other.
Happily, there are only two of these tracks ( and perhaps I’m being harsh) but when you listen to the final track for solo piano with its powerfully dramatic chords, chromatic complexity, fugato exploration and Tristano –like concentration you realise that Churnchetz is a player whose voice is too powerful to be suborned by mere effects. All in all, the disc delivers everything we have come to expect of modern contemporary jazz: brilliant virtuosity; powerful and complex rhythmic drive, all informed by intelligent eclecticism. Enjoy!
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Whirlwind Recordings WR 4653
Marko Churnchetz (piano, Fender Rhodes & keyboards) Mark Shim (tenor sax, Yamaha electric midi controller) Christopher Tordini (acoustic & electric bass) Justin Brown (drums)
Recorded in Brooklyn NYC. 18th April 2012
Churnchetz is a young Slovenian pianist / composer of quite formidable talent who is making waves in New York City and indeed anywhere else he gets the opportunity to demonstrate his virtuosity. This recording represents his debut on Whirlwind Recordings, a move that will surely bring him to the attention of a wider audience than he has hitherto enjoyed.
The music is largely contemporary free-bop with asymmetric themes and highly chromatic harmonies with improvisational excursions that effectively merge various cultural aesthetics with core jazz values. The tenor playing of Mark Shim, an alumnus of the Mingus Big Band ,is largely responsible for the latter , his rich vibrato and satisfyingly burnished walnut tone being one of the recordings principal delights. An urban contemporary edge is provided by Tordini and Brown whose street wise pulses ground the music in the here and now of rock, hip –hop and soulful grooves. As Churnchetz explains in the accompanying press release, “I consider myself a composer who aspires to balance intellect with emotion while never forgetting that music can make people move, dance and smile.”
It is a challenging brief but Churnchetz and his companions carry it off with the conviction only available to virtuosi of world class calibre. Of the ten tracks at least two employ the electronic, synthesised sounds of the Fender Rhodes and the Yamaha electric midi controller, which I imagine is a sort of E.W.I ( electronic wind instrument) and whilst I have no objection to this type of sound in certain contexts, I find it considerably less satisfying than that of the acoustic instruments. In electronic mode Shim loses his personal tenor sound with its robust muscularity whilst Churnchetz’s stunningly cerebral pianism is rendered as vapid as the unctuous blandishments of a cocktail bar performer. Not everyone will share this view but his piano work is so strong one feels a sense of deprivation having to put up with the other.
Happily, there are only two of these tracks ( and perhaps I’m being harsh) but when you listen to the final track for solo piano with its powerfully dramatic chords, chromatic complexity, fugato exploration and Tristano –like concentration you realise that Churnchetz is a player whose voice is too powerful to be suborned by mere effects. All in all, the disc delivers everything we have come to expect of modern contemporary jazz: brilliant virtuosity; powerful and complex rhythmic drive, all informed by intelligent eclecticism. Enjoy!
Reviewed by Euan Dixon