The latest CD releases reviewed
PAOLO FRESU/RICHARD GALLIANO/JAN LUNDGREN Mare Nostrum ACT ****
With three players as lyrical as Fresu, Galliano and Lundgren, Mare Nostrum's appeal is underpinned by something more substantial than simply charm; for a kind of chamber music in which the dialogue is so intimately conceived that it sometimes blurs the line between the written and the improvised, there is an appreciation of what's required - and the ego-free ability to deliver it.
In what is, for Fresu and Lundgren especially, an unusual setting, the options for balance and contrast offered by trumpet/ flugelhorn, accordion/bandoneon and piano are brilliantly juggled.
Nothing's overdone. And, despite the improvisational talent available, solos are short and focused, integral to the whole.
The equally delightful repertoire ranges from Brazilian composers, Swedish folksong and French chanson to impressive originals by Lundgren, in particular, and his colleagues. http://uk.hmboutique.com - RAY COMISKEY
ENRICO RAVA AND STEFANO BOLLANI The Third Man ECM ****
There's a predominantly reflective cast to this duo encounter between Rava's trumpet and Bollani's piano, but what's perhaps most striking about it is its combination of cerebral verve and heart-on-sleeve passion, of a constant, audacious, probing sense of otherness and discovery and lyric fecundity.
The dialogue is always on the edge yet sure-footed, whether peering into the harmonic and melodic shadows of the completely free title track, exploring the impressionistic Sun Bay, the angular astringencies of Cumpari or the delicate Birth of a Butterfly (all by Rava).
And, in a multifaceted recital, part classical in tone, they weave fresh tapestries out of singer Bruno Martino's Estate and Jobim's Retrato Em Branco y Preto, and produce performances that amount to songlike reflections on Bollani's raptly beautiful Santa Teresa and Brazilian composer Moacir Santos's Felipe. www.musicconnection.org.uk - RAY COMISKEY
TOMMY SMITH YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA Exploration Spartacus ***
Tommy Smith, the great Scottish tenor saxophonist, has nurtured this big band since 2003; if this recording debut is a marker, then the group, whose ages range from 15 to 23, is something to be proud of.
The ensemble has developed the capacity to handle a wide- ranging repertoire - Hoe Down, A Night in Tunisia, Cottontailand three later works, including Kenny Wheeler's Gentle Piece- with confidence.
And, significantly, although vibist Kenny Locke is the main guest, the unit has some promising soloists of its own in teenaged trumpeter Liam Heath, Adam Jackson and Rachael Cohen (alto), Joe Wright (tenor), Bill Fleming (baritone) and pianists Alan Benzie and Euan Fulton.
Above all, Smith deserves credit for finding the time, the players and the sponsorship to make it happen. www.tsyjo.com - RAY COMISKEY
