Andrew Boudreau: Neon

  After many decades of writing about music, snap judgements come easily to me. So it’s always a welcome surprise when I press “play,” the music starts, and I’m immediately intrigued by what I’m hearing but not at all sure what to think about it. That was the case with Neon, the superb debut release of music by pianist Andrew Boudreau. Boudreau met bassist Simón Willson when they both studied at the New England Conservatory. Tenor saxophonist Neta Raanan and drummer Eviatar Slivnik were students at the nearby Berklee College of Music when the four became acquainted. As a unit animating Boudreau’s tricky but appealing compositions, the quartet achieves a distinct sense of unity and cohesiveness. The keys, I think, are thoughtful understatement coupled with a self-assured attitude that lets the music breathe without ever sounding forced. Raanan’s snaky tenor solo on the opening track, Mile Ex, reveals a vivid musical imagination and the taut energy of spirited give and take with the rest of the band. She’s even better on the next piece, the snappy Ribbons, highlighted by a playful passage with Boudreau’s energetic piano. Boudreau’s crisp touch at the keyboard, thoughtful accompaniments, and melodically rich solos are a big part of the music’s success. In bassist Willson and drummer Slivnik, Boudreau has found a team that works beautifully together, keeping the music flowing with infectious energy. Boudreau’s inspirations are as varied as Canadian artist Maud Lewis, childhood summers (the expansively grooving Ghost Stories), his suddenly trendy Montréal neighborhood (Mile Ex), and the fiction of Julio Cortázar (the forceful and intricate Hopscotch). The Water's Cold, with its intricately intertwined introduction of arco bass, lush piano chords, brushes on drums and cymbals, and a slightly muted saxophone line, is a particular favorite. That’s just one of the disc’s many highlights. While it’s still early in the year, I’ll be surprised to hear a better rookie effort in 2022. Definitely recommended. 

Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 631; Neta Raanan (ts; out on *) Andrew Boudreau (p) Simón Willson (b) Eviatar Slivnik (d); Astoria, NY, August 13, 2021; Mile Ex/ Ribbons/ Maud Lewis/ Neon*/ Ghost Stories/ One Day/ The Water’s Cold/ Hopscotch/ Welcome Oak*; 46:40. freshsoundrecords.com

Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March

  Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double is the ingenious name of Fujiwara’s double trio, with the unusual line up of two drummers (Fujiwara, doubling vibraphone, and Gerald Cleaver), a pair of electric guitarists (Brandon Seabrook and frequent Fujiwara collaborator Mary Halvorson), and two brass players (Ralph Alessi on trumpet and Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, another of Fujiwara’s regular bandmates). The group’s second release is March, recorded in December 2019. Fujiwara’s pungent compositions engender passages of wild discord and chaotic beauty arising from the boundless improvisations of his co-conspirators. Without much of a template for this particular instrumentation, Fujiwara was liberated to create his own strategies. He notes that he “really wanted to hone in on the subtle shifts that can happen with the addition and subtraction of different musicians in the ensemble.” The song title Docile Fury Ballad hints at the contradictory feelings that Fujiwara consistently invokes. Largely eschewing long solos in favor of brief outbursts of sound, the emphasis throughout most of the program is on spirited collective improvisations. Pack Up, Coming For You starts the fun with a piece that starts out simply enough but grows in complexity and allure as it develops. Life Only Gets More skitters along at first with a friendly groove before breaking down into a quiet space, like coming across an unexpected clearing during a walk in the forest. The powerful Wave Shake and Angle Bounce is one of the disc’s real highlights, displaying an amazing sense of urgent propulsion and detailed interaction. A robust and cheerfully deranged guitar solo (by Seabrook, I think) takes over in the middle for a spell. There’s so much going on that it’s hard to know what to pay attention to at any given moment. And like many of Fujiwara’s pieces, it ends when you least expect it. I’m also enchanted by The March of the Storm Before the Quiet of the Dance, which evolves from a vaguely melancholy opening section into a complicated groove with squealing guitars fueled by the twin drumming of Fujiwara and Cleaver. Everything but the kitchen sink gets thrown into Docile Fury Ballad, which fuses trumpet pyrotechnics, casual guitar chords, an ever-quickening pace and a lot more into a potent example of the group’s many possible angles of attack. The atmospheric Silhouettes in Smoke follows, opening with a thumping beat and prominent guitars before falling back into another of Fujiwara’s quiet open zones where anything can happen as the music moves forward. Here it’s a trumpet/cornet duet against Fujiwara’s delicate vibes and low-ley drumming by Cleaver, leading to the closing section with the guitars. Closing the program is For Alan, Part II, a hypnotic and improvised drum duet, an extended tribute to the great Boston-area drummer Alan Dawson, who Fujiwara studied with as a child. March is highly recommended. 

Firehouse 12 FH12-04-01-035; Ralph Alessi (tpt) Taylor Ho Bynum (cnt) Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook (g) Tomas Fujiwara (d, vib) Gerald Cleaver (d); New Haven, CT, December 10-11, 2019; Pack Up, Coming For You/ Life Only Gets More/ Wave Shake and Angle Bounce/ The March of the Storm Before the Quiet of the Dance/ Docile Fury Ballad/ Silhouettes in Smoke/ For Alan, Part II; 53:21. firehouse12records.com