Beyond “Nuance”: Lynne Arriale’s New Quartet Release
Nuance: The Bennett Studio Sessions (2009, Motema Records)
© 2009, Andrea Canter
“I don't think I can compare her to anyone...her music transcends jazz. It's just pure music."
-- Randy Brecker
Once in a while we find ourselves delightfully reacquainted with an old friend, someone we thought we already knew so well, only to suddenly discover a new talent, a new philosophy, a new look, a small alteration in style or a more significant transformation. We’re awed by the change yet also relieved that the original basis of our attraction remains. Such is my encounter with Lynne Arriale’s new (and gorgeous) CD/DVD, Nuance: The Bennett Studio Sessions, released May 12th on Motema.
I first heard Lynne Arriale at the old Dakota Bar and Grill about 7 years ago. Shortly thereafter I found her 1997 release, The Long Road Home, in a used CD bin and soon “caught up” with the rest of her discography. A few more live gigs and several CD reviews enhanced my admiration for an artist who, despite critical acclaim, is far better known to European audiences than to those in the U.S., whose talent deserves comparison to the best of her generation’s post bop masters—Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Geri Allen, Frank Kimbrough. What has always drawn me to Arriale’s music is her articulate lyricism and passion for melody as composer and improviser—an ability to give complex layers of rhythm and harmony an elegant simplicity, and to give the simplest lines multiple layers of feeling.
A Milwaukee native, Lynne Arriale studied classical piano, only discovering her affinity for jazz well into her 20s. She won the Great American Piano Competition in 1993 and initiated a decade-plus of impeccable trio recordings the following year. Her career almost exclusively focused on the piano trio through the release of Live in late 2005. For most of this period, she toured and recorded with bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Steve Davis. But, as Arriale says, “It seemed like time for a change. Music is music, whatever the configuration is. I treasure all of the years I spent with Steve and Jay. There’s something special about being able to concentrate on one thing, such as trio playing and work with that format, year after year.” Initially she tried out different combinations of bassists and drummers, still working in a trio format. Yet, “I wanted to work with a quartet, to add a horn...”
And not just any horn, Arriale wanted to work with trumpet master Randy Brecker, one of the most eclectic performers in jazz. “I wanted to work with a quartet, and I had always wanted to record with Randy, so he came to mind immediately. Playing with him is so exciting, he’s so versatile, so able to go in any direction. So he was an obvious choice for me... I was specifically thinking of Randy when I was writing, listening to his recordings while I was writing to get the feel of his spirit...” What she didn’t know was that Brecker had been a fan for years, since hearing Lynne play at Sweet Basil during her early years in New York.
Randy Brecker
Internationally acclaimed bassist George Mraz was another new partner, a first choice for producer Suzy Reynolds. In addition to his long-standing collaborations with Brecker, he shares Lynne’s “strong sense of melody.” Mraz quickly agreed to the project—he also was a long-time fan of Lynne’s music. “George is incredible,” notes Lynne. “He brings a balance between support and interaction, and his lyricism is remarkable.” Adding drummer Anthony Pinciotti, whose diverse resume includes Dr. Lonnie Smith, Pat Metheny and musicians of the AACM, Arriale had her new ensemble. “I had played with Anthony before, and I feel that we have a wonderfully deep musical connection... The musical conversation is stimulating, it takes us in different directions because there is a fourth voice...”
Writing for this quartet set her music on a new path. “I think, in general, that the music has opened up,” she said in a recent interview. “I think it has become more free. I feel very much at home, that I can just allow the musical palette to expand. I’ve experienced some changes in my life in the past few years, and it seems that new energies are coming forth, and playing with a new group definitely stimulates different parts of my mind. It’s very much like meeting someone new and you find yourself saying things that don’t normally come up in conversation, probably because the energy from that person stimulates new areas of your consciousness and touches on areas that are not normally present. In the same way, with music, we can find new parts of ourselves that haven’t been accessed before.”
George Mraz (photo courtesy of Voice of America)
And hearing Nuance for the first time, I found myself listening differently, hearing that new palette of sound and color while simultaneously recognizing Lynne’s continuing devotion to melody and emotional expression; the collaborative ownership of musical interaction is not confined by configuration. Eleven compositions, original works and new arrangements, are covered on both the Bennett Studio CD recording and the DVD session, again at Bennett with a live audience. Although documenting the first time all four musicians had played together, the synergy suggests otherwise, a testament to Arriale’s ability to harness creative disparities with a transcendent sense of purpose. “The musicians were so open to my expressing my concept for each tune and the specific things I was going for,” says Lynne. “Within each tune there was an inherent character that needed some explanation sometimes; I described what it was and the particular feel I was looking for. There was plenty of room for magic to occur….the unexpected, but everyone really embraced the music with open hearts.”
Six tracks are Arriale’s compositions, written for this band; the remainder includes diverse arrangements of Sting, Monk and Gillespie, a topsy-turvy dismantling of “I Hear a Rhapsody,” and a heart-piercing setting of Tommy Wolf’s “Ballad of the Sad Young Men.” Although the concept of “nuance” – defined by my Webster’s as subtle or delicate shadings or variations—has always defined Arriale’s work, it might actually be a misleading title here, as some of these arrangements are far more assertive, the shadings bolder, the improvisations crossing into more distant territories than the more “nuanced” explorations of the trio. Yet one must also recognize those nuances—the selection of each note and voicing, the slight shifts in rhythm, the subtle movement from one idea to the next.
The covers display the technical and emotional range of the quartet. Sting’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger” opens both the CD and DVD, setting the stage for this quartet’s orchestral interaction. Notes Lynne, “I wanted many things happening at once to add to the density, like a flurry of activity and the tension building from that point to a higher intensity.” And so it goes: The piano begins, Brecker coming in on flugelhorn while Arriale is still building the emotional structure. Lynne solos with bass and drum support, using some interesting, very lyrical and mildly dissonant voicings, giving an edge of mystery to the harmonies. As her intensity builds, Brecker returns to add his own layer, resulting in multiple plotlines; Pinciotti’s drums are ferocious. A conversation between piano and horn evolves over a pulsating bassline, and Lynne takes it out with the steady ostinato that informed the beginning.
“I Mean You” is as quirky as one expects of Monk but Lynne’s arrangement creates more playful cacophony than what is normally heard with four instruments. Although she regards him as a source of inspiration, Lynne views Monk as more of a point of departure than direct influence. “I think that the message from Monk is ‘be yourself!’ His tunes are great vehicles for exploration, but the way I play them has no relationship to the way he plays them. His tunes provide such great material for improvisation and having fun.” Fun is definitely on the menu here. The trumpet comes in a bit behind the piano as if mocking, the two voices coming together in a unison line before Randy’s solo. Yet it is more like a dual solo as Arriale’s “support” is more counter play than comping. Brecker’s lines are deliciously twisted and Arriale ventures far from home, her improvisation more assertive than one might expect. There’s a passing remnant of “Bemsha Swing,” and solos by Mraz and popping accents from Pinciotti give the interplay more immediacy.
The finality of “Ballad of the Sad Young Men” is the result of Lynne’s focused preparation for the recording (including experimenting with various keys). “I went back and forth between having it played in D or E-flat. D had more of the pathos than E flat, so I left it in D,” she explains. “I wanted the song to have a very lonely feel. First we tried it on flugel, but then I decided that the Harmon mute would impart a more stark sound. I always want to treat each tune with the attention and respect that it deserves. ‘Ballad of the Sad Young Men’ was originally an AIDS anthem, and now that young people are going off to war, not knowing what their future will be, the tune has wider implication...When I hear the trumpet with the Harmon mute, it reminds me of taps.” Indeed, Brecker’s muted trumpet sounds sad and bleak, not dark and funereal as much as tragic and wistful. Lynne, as always, has the most elegant, delicate, articulate—and patient―touch on the keys, conveying a melodic simplicity of pending doom, while bass and drum give her space and supporting voices. Mraz’s solo echoes the pathos with exquisite pain. It’s lovely and devastating.
“I Hear a Rhapsody” begins as a solo piano abstraction, minor voicings all but obscuring the original melody while leaving fragments intact, soon fed from the bottom by Mraz. As the intensity builds, Pinciotti adds rumbles and clangs, Brecker then joining with a more conservative melodic line over searing fireworks. Through these layers, Lynne pushes out the skeleton of melody, surely one of her most effective, if outward-bound, improvisations yet.
The Lynne Arriale Quartet (photo © R. Andrew Lepley)
“A Night in Tunisia” is the only tune of the set that Lynne has previously recorded. Brecker bends the final note of the first verse as if inviting a free exchange, then continues to make further modifications while his bandmates each contribute their own. Randy’s speed and dexterity, Lynne’s affirmative-action chord combinations, Anthony’s driving percussion and George’s running bass give this Tunisia a 21st century post bop tune-up. Lynne’s solo continues the frenzy with an increasingly free flowering of ideas, setting up an explosive break from Pinciotti. Brecker recapitulates Gillespie’s theme and the quartet spins a brief vamp into a quick-stop finale.
The six original compositions provide a crisp snapshot of Lynne Arriale’s wide-ranging musical imagination. “Longing” is eloquently expressed by Brecker’s flugelhorn in the opening passage over a sparse chord accompaniment, deep bass tones and subtle percussion. Like a solemn prayer, horn and piano move in unison, leading into Lynne’s solo passage, buoyed by Mraz’s prominent basslines and true to Arriale’s trademark reverence for melody. Brecker returns, weaving majestically with the piano, supported elegantly by Mraz and Pinciotti. “Crawfish and Gumbo” recalls a French Quarter jubilee, Brecker leading the way with Arriale’s jaunty theme. Lynne’s solo is filled with energetic bounce, playfully serious. Mraz’s solo similarly bounces like a yo yo; Pincotti stirs up plenty of percussive gumbo and his solo break bursts with sheer delight.
Randy gives “Carry On” a Miles Davis feel in its early phrases but with a much brighter tone. A drum roll from Pinciotti introduces Brecker’s first improvised verse and the drummer continues as a dominant presence. Lynne furthers the abstraction on her solo with tumbling right-hand figures and strong statements from the left hand. “La Noche” flows like a second movement following “Carry On” (on CD), Randy making his statement and taking the first turn, Lynne coming in with more twists, while the bass and drum support keeps it all well grounded. The pianist’s fading chords open the floodgates for Pinciotti’s billowing break, and the smoldering fire continues after Brecker returns to the forefront.
On “Yada Yada Yada,” Arriale provides a simple melody and quirky rhythm that sets up the improvisations that follow. “The melody of ‘Yada Yada Yada’ gives us the motive for the solos—the foundations of all of our improvisations,” says Lynne. “We take this simple idea and use that rhythm and interval throughout the solo, varying it in many different ways. I wanted that, it gives the tune continuity and distinguishes it from what we often hear—just playing the melody and improvising, without a real, deep connection to the original melody. I like hearing the connection to the melody, as it creates a more cohesive musical piece; i.e., everything is related.” The spirit of Monk pervades this track in particular, a spirit most often conveyed through Lynne’s arrangements of Monk tunes that appear often throughout her discography. The interplay among the musicians provides the connecting threads--Arriale splicing dissonant chord voicings into the spaces of Brecker’s serpentine lines (on flugelhorn); Mraz dancing throughout Lynne’s two-handed gymnastics; piano and drums winnowing around the basslines, all returning to that basic staccato motive, ending in mid phrase surprise.
The closing track on both discs, the brief and majestic “A Gentle Soul” (“dedicated to all of the gentle souls in each one of us!”) hints at “Danny Boy”, an elegant melody with which Lynne braids a sweet harmony with Brecker.
The DVD deserves it own review, a stunning and compelling document of the birth of an ensemble that seems to have instantly come into its own. Producer Suzy Reynolds (in the interview portion of the DVD) notes her commitment to the CD/DVD combination as a means of reaching the largest possible audience internationally. Further, Reynolds notes that the DVD allows an “up close and personal view of how bands communicate...[and] continue each other’s conversation.” All music from the CD is repeated in front of a live audience, with a somewhat different sequence and the band able to stretch out and explore each composition a bit more with the longer format.
We always learn something new about the music and/or musicians when we have visual as well as auditory input. We see that Lynne Arriale not only sings as she composes, but she sings as she performs—subvocally, almost imperceptibly, but the lips move, the heart and hand tied to the melody. We see Lynne periodically reaching inside the piano, or so it seems. And after a few tunes, she let’s the audience in on a secret “I have never shared with another audience.” Hiding just inside the piano is a lemon—Lynne’s antidote for dry fingers, one that does not leave a sticky residue.
Lynne Arriale (photo © R. Andrew Lepley)
The performance in the main hall of Bennett Studios suggests an old fashioned “house party” with better sound, both audience and musicians seeming as relaxed as in a circle of friends in a large living room. And these are all “first takes” that go wherever the artistic momentum dictates, generally longer solos than on the CD, the communication among musicians now presented with visible as well as audible clarity. There’s something about the additional sensation—seeing as well as hearing—that awakens the brain to the full scope of activity, and in fact it seems that one actually hears more with eyes as well as ears wide open. The intimacy of the video work as well as the warm sound brings the quartet close enough that one applauds with the audience as if literally present. The DVD format of course also allows additional material, in this case candid interviews with each of the musicians and producer.
As Suzy Reynolds notes in her DVD interview, “Lynne has received more stellar press, more remarkable, remarkable critique than any other artist I have known in the last 20 years. To best every effort is no small challenge.” Yet each time out, that has been Lynne’s accomplishment. That she again rises above the very best of her past efforts, and now with the very bold move to a new format and new collaborators, speaks volumes of Lynne Arriale’s versatility and virtuosity as composer, arranger, performer and bandleader. With Nuance, the full range of human emotion is communicated in one diverse but cohesive set, sparsely majestic, densely frenetic, peaceful, playful, tragic, triumphant. I’m aware of no jazz artist working today who brings a broader spectrum of musical ideas to the connection of mind and heart.
And what new journeys lie ahead? The “Nuance Quartet” has already enjoyed two tours of Europe since the recording sessions, and in coming months Lynne will perform in trio and quartet formats here and abroad, with varying combinations of musicians. But I have always wondered, what would happen if, instead of adding elements such as horn, Lynne stripped away all other voices except her own, fashioning melody and improvisation in a conversation solely with the audience? If the past predicts the future, her first solo recording, planned for September, will very elegantly and creatively answer that question.
The Lynne Arriale Quartet celebrates the release of Nuance at Jazz Standard in Manhattan on May 19th; www.jazzstandard.net. More about Lynne Arriale and her itinerary at www.lynnearriale.com. For a JazzINK interview with Lynne Arriale, click here!