Swedish-Italian bassist
Massimo Biolcati has been working in support of guitarist
Lionel Loueke for a decade, but asserts his role as a leader in name on this debut release.
Loueke is here, with the always dynamic drummer
Jeff Ballard and the surprisingly adept pianist Peter Rende. The CD is split into equal parts of five selections -- "Motion" and "Stillness" -- the former energetic and forward-thinking, the latter pensive and somewhat introspective, with cameo spots for vocalists
Lizz Wright and
Gretchen Parlato. The first five pieces feature
Loueke in a way that his recordings as a leader also showcase his utterly brilliant, witty, quirky, unique sound. Using a hollowed, blanked-out amplified guitar with effect pedals,
Loueke is able to straddle the electro-acoustic line without overemphasizing either. He is the new contemporary Lion King of freshness on the contemporary jazz guitar, and a parallel to the virtuoso accomplishments of
Wes Montgomery, using those pretexts but sounding far removed. Check out the choppy kinetic style on "The Beginning," the late-night stealth approach on "Deconstruction," and the quick 5/4 rhythms in the more acoustic/less-processed road song "Transference" for reference points. Rende is a find, as his happy two-note phrases juxtaposed against
Loueke contrast on the swinging shuffle "Wise Way." Their diffuse guitar/piano musings go very loose, free, and yet contemporary with
Loueke's cheek-popping vocals during "TT." The second half of the program showcases the understated, delicate, and pretty side of Rende on "Under July," where
Biolcati takes a central role on an ostinato line, with
Loueke leading, but taken over by the beauty of the piano. Rende plays accordion on the 6/8 ethnic beat of "Scandinavia," evoking early-morning frosty mountainscapes in the Alps. The vocal cuts are nice enough, with
Wright expressing a sheer lonely mood for "Winterhouse" and the emerging star
Parlato dreamy and cerebral during "Clouds."
Biolcati, clearly the director but not a dictator in these proceedings, knows how to take a back seat, but also understands the value in letting his brilliant session mates cut loose. This is an excellent debut release, and has to rank as one of the more intriguing and diverse modern jazz issues of 2008. ~ Michael G. Nastos