This Land Abounds With Life (Biophilia Records)
Fabian Almazan Trio
Released June 14, 2019
Los Angeles Times Best Jazz Albums of 2019
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lj0fipiVl4D66IjqjI4y_ajXwnwu546HQ
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/04ExUFQO7XqAG6P70G1Yjh?si=eyRopfYcQKCzv4qq7CSy0Q
About:
With his formidable trio colleagues Linda May Han Oh (acoustic/electric bass) and Henry Cole (drums), and string quartet on just one track, Fabian Almazan unveils music of both extraordinary complexity and transparent beauty. He employs electronics, his own field recordings from Cuba, and other devices to create an epic portrait of nature and folkloric expression, wrought by one of the most advanced jazz sensibilities in the world today.
Almazan, Oh and Cole debuted as a trio in 2011 on Personalities, celebrating with a breakthrough week at the Village Vanguard that was webcast by NPR. That core trio remained integral to the lineup of Almazan’s next project, the hybrid ensemble Rhizome, adding string quartet and Camila Meza on vocals (documented on the albums Rhizome and Alcanza), reflecting the leader’s extensive training in classical composition. With This Land Abounds With Life, Almazan returns his focus to the Personalities trio, a smaller unit that nonetheless also conveys the full scope of his emotional and far-reaching vision.
Track Listing:
1. Benjamin (Fabian Almazan) 05:01
2. The Everglades (Fabian Almazan) 12:54
3 The Poets (Fabian Almazan) 05:50
4. Ella (Fabian Almazan) 04:14
5. Songs of the Forgotten (Fabian Almazan) 06:19
6. The Nomads (Fabian Almazan) 07:26
7. Jaula (Fabian Almazan) 07:06
8. Bola de Nieve (Carlos Varela) 09:18
9. Folklorism (Fabian Almazan) 07:42
10. Uncle Tío (Fabian Almazan) 08:28
11. Pet Steps Sitters Theme Song (Fabian Almazan) 08:33
12. Music on My Mind (Willie “The Lion” Smith) 02:52
Personnel:
Fabian Almazan: piano, percussion, electronics
Linda May Han Oh: acoustic and electric bass
Henry Cole: drums
Megan Gould: violin (8) Monica Davis: violin (8)
Karen Waltuch: viola (8)
Eleanor Norton: cello (8)
Trio recorded December 21 – 22, 2018, at Esplanade Studios (New Orleans, LA), by Misha Kachkachishvili
String quartet recorded at The Bunker (Brooklyn, NY) January 7, 2019, by Nolan Thies
Mixed and Mastered by David Darlington
Review:
Fabian Almazan’s remarkable piano virtuosity began to draw attention when he joined trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s band in 2007, but surfaced with a striking suddenness around 2011 with his first trio album. It’s a virtuosity that belongs more to a classical temperament then to jazz: Rather than swing spontaneously, Almazan expresses a romantic impressionism that is negotiable on both sides of the divide, wherever that might be.
The 12 selections here were inspired, more or less, by a recent return to his native Cuba, from which he escaped as a child. They are a needlepoint of personal memories, cultural homages and even political allusions—“Benjamin” refers to a character in George Orwell’s Animal Farm—all explained in notes for those who wish to decode the programmatics. But a piece of music is not a narrative. It relies on the abstractions of mood, melody and movement, leaving the listener to infer meaning.
Almazan toys with dynamics much of the time, occasionally in slow, layered climbs; other times, in steep downturns of sweep and tension. The effect is a roller coaster of contrasts in tempo and intensity, played with the fullness of an orchestra. Bassist Linda May Han Oh weaves comfortably into the piano lines, often achieving a careful contrapuntal balance, more than just a solo spot. Their dialogs on “Ella,” “Uncle Tío” and “Folklorism” have a thoughtful equilibrium to them.
But Almazan begins with an uncharacteristic bang. “Benjamin” is a fast, finger-buster of a ride up and down the keyboard. Played in a rolling surge of precise eighth notes, broken every few bars by dissonant speed bumps, it swings with the bracing formality of a fugue.
“The Everglades” is a lagoon of soft, lyric chords, swept by winds and waves in the middle, and ends as a still life. “The Poets” is quietly ruminative with no strong theme, then gathers a percussive weight and force before evaporating.
Where there is a theme, it tends toward simplicity. “Forklorism” seesaws modestly back and forth between two notes, but finds swirling fortissimo power before resolving back into its minimal motif.
The trio is augmented by a string quartet for “Bola De Nieve,” a pre-Castro piece by Carlos Varela. Its chamber intimacy moves from sonata-like grace to broad, arching columns of authority and back again. “Jaula,” an homage to Nelson Mandela, has the lush textures of a piano concerto that conceal its essential simplicity. Finally, after a whopping 85 minutes, Almazan closes with a lovely surprise. “Music On My Mind” by the great Harlem strider Willie “The Lion” Smith conveys an old-fashioned elegance of pure melody that seems at first out of place. But it’s just Almazan’s way of saying he’s a proud Harlem resident.
John McDonough (DownBeat)
