Sunday, May 18, 2014

Lena Bloch, "Feathery"

The so-called Tristano School has been getting some press in the last few years, and the influence of a few of its members can even be heard from time to time.

The musical aesthetic of Tristano, Marsh, Konitz, et al. is multifarious. It is characterized in part by an introspection and a commitment to maximum spontaneity and ego-less improvisation that---despite the hype---remains quite uncommon in jazz. 

In her own fearless dedication to these ideals saxophonist Lena Bloch is therefore a rare player. The music on her new album, Feathery, bears a strong affinity to the most ineffable and unpredictable qualities in the music of Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca, Ted Brown, and her friend and mentor, Lee Konitz. But Feathery sounds like none of them, quite appropriately: it sounds unmistakably like Bloch, Cameron Brown, Dave Miller, and Billy Mintz. It's original and beautiful. Buy it.


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