November 30, 2018

  • Blends of Jazz and Classical Styles From Alabama Trio

     

    Many New Trails To Blaze
    The UAB Chamber Trio:
    Denise Gainey, clarinet. James Zingara, trumpet. Chris Steele, piano.
    Ravello Records 7999
    Total Time:  58:02
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    When one thinks of a trio, the normal expectation is either a work for strings, or some combination of woodwinds.  The UAB Chamber Trio seeks to expand both our expectations of this genre in works for clarinet, trumpet and piano.  To that end they have commissioned a number of new works which are included in this new release.  The trio is made up of faculty of the University of Alabama at Birmingham which was formed in 2012.  Across seven unique pieces, the program explores the classical and jazz realms of all three instruments often melding these influences.  All the pieces, save the brief work by Robert J. Bradshaw, were composed for the trio.

    Jeffrey Boehm’s Sonata for Three was composed for piano and two other instruments.  The opening movement has an almost Baroque-like quality at first but then moves into a delicate, lyrical section with subtle dissonances as the three instruments explore this material in dialogue with one another.  Harmony in fourths adds an additional openness to the clear textures of the movement.  This approach helps create a more jazz noir quality when the second movement opens.  This continues into the tranquil opening of the third movement.  A syncopated pattern then moves us into jaunty conclusion with interesting clashes of dissonance.

    The three-movement Flying Over Water (2014) by Virginia Samuel has a serial-like opening with its unusual long line that is then taken up by first piano, then clarinet, and then trumpet.  This creates an intriguing flowing forward motion.  The music continues this through a gradually more consonant progression until the final bars when clarinet and trumpet reach the end of the journey in unison.

    Angular lines and a quirky back-and-forth greet the listener in William Price’s I Don’t Want to Dance.  The different solo lines sort of work their way in and past each other while the piano creates a disjunct pattern around the two as they move around one another musically.

    Pianist Chris Steele wrote his Suite No. 1 for the ensemble.  It is an exploration of two brief motives in a style that has a blend of jazz harmony against this interesting development.  The music has a nice dance quality to it that adds to a sense of lightness and as the motives unfold across the movements they create some familiarity that aids in unifying the work.

    Crepuscular Rays is part of a larger work (Sounds of A Working Waterfront) by Robert J. Bradshaw.  The music has a decidedly darker, more melancholy quality with a sense of askance as the musical lines move upward in this rather moving piece.

    In Valentin Mihai Bogdan’s City Scenes, the Romanian composer pass homage to places that have shaped him and his music.  References to jazz and popular music are a nod to his time in Detroit which comes out in the jazz styles employed in the first movement, “Riffs”, with its somewhat angular urban motoric qualities. The central movement, “After Midnight”, melds elements of jazz with modal inflections from Balkan and Middle Eastern modes.  The final movement brings us back to tensions between consonance and dissonance with jazz influences returning to provide this sort of modernist depiction.  Overall, this is the strongest piece on the album with the final movement being quite fascinating with stunning colors.

    The finale work is by Argentinian composer Juan Maria Solare.  It references the rhythms of a milonga which is a distant relative of the tango.  Sale Con Fritas (“It’s a Breeze”) is a bit of musical humor that masks the difficulty of the work.  It makes a fitting conclusion to this program.

    For listeners interested in modern chamber music, Many New Trails to Blaze will provide an opportunity to see how composers are melding jazz and classical influences to accommodate this unique trio combination.  These are engaging works intelligently programmed to provide good musical variety.