STEFANO LEONARDI QUARTET - Conversations About Thomas Chapin
Leo Records CD LR 702
Stefano Leonardi, flutes; Stefano Pastor, violin; Fridolin Blumer, bass; Heinz Geisser, percussion
Recorded in Milan, March 2013
Stefano Leonardi and co. clearly set out in this album to pay tribute to saxophonist Thomas Chapin and to the heady, loaded, musical legacy he left behind. His music relentlessly pushes at the barriers that strive to contain the avant-garde and confirms his position as a leader in that field, yet it persistently emphasizes his bonds with established musical convention. The rationale of the musicians performing herein is to attempt to convey Chapin's intentions and to do so from within the full spectrum of their combined, technical meticulousness.
Their approach suggests also that it is not only Chapin and his music that are acknowledged here, but also those musicians at the root of his art and skill; his history is recognized. Free Jazz grew out of be-bop; it was music which set out to extend its creative potential by leaning towards its expressive side, thus becoming an experimental form; to this end post-bop moved forwards from the novelties of Lennie Tristano and Charlie Parker, leading eventually to Ornette Coleman's Something Else! (1958 – I remember it well; 2nd year Upper 6th form. We were over the moon with it!) This really was the inauguration of the Free Jazz movement. Coleman moved away from prearranged structures to spur-of-the-moment exchanges of ideas between the musicians. An entire army was to follow, including such as Coltrane, Ayler, Braxton, Threadgill, Cecil Taylor, David Murray, Rashied Ali, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzman, Charles Gayle, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri et al. The roll-call seems endless, yet still it grows, just as Free Jazz grows apace.
We will be lauding Thomas Chapin and his forebears for a long time to come and here we have an album entirely appropriate to that purpose. This is a quartet of exceedingly gifted and perceptive players and an album of wholly invigorating, outstanding music.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Leo Records CD LR 702
Stefano Leonardi, flutes; Stefano Pastor, violin; Fridolin Blumer, bass; Heinz Geisser, percussion
Recorded in Milan, March 2013
Stefano Leonardi and co. clearly set out in this album to pay tribute to saxophonist Thomas Chapin and to the heady, loaded, musical legacy he left behind. His music relentlessly pushes at the barriers that strive to contain the avant-garde and confirms his position as a leader in that field, yet it persistently emphasizes his bonds with established musical convention. The rationale of the musicians performing herein is to attempt to convey Chapin's intentions and to do so from within the full spectrum of their combined, technical meticulousness.
Their approach suggests also that it is not only Chapin and his music that are acknowledged here, but also those musicians at the root of his art and skill; his history is recognized. Free Jazz grew out of be-bop; it was music which set out to extend its creative potential by leaning towards its expressive side, thus becoming an experimental form; to this end post-bop moved forwards from the novelties of Lennie Tristano and Charlie Parker, leading eventually to Ornette Coleman's Something Else! (1958 – I remember it well; 2nd year Upper 6th form. We were over the moon with it!) This really was the inauguration of the Free Jazz movement. Coleman moved away from prearranged structures to spur-of-the-moment exchanges of ideas between the musicians. An entire army was to follow, including such as Coltrane, Ayler, Braxton, Threadgill, Cecil Taylor, David Murray, Rashied Ali, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzman, Charles Gayle, David S. Ware, Joe Maneri et al. The roll-call seems endless, yet still it grows, just as Free Jazz grows apace.
We will be lauding Thomas Chapin and his forebears for a long time to come and here we have an album entirely appropriate to that purpose. This is a quartet of exceedingly gifted and perceptive players and an album of wholly invigorating, outstanding music.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham