And I Love Her (Illusions Mirage)
Marc Copland
Released October 18, 2019
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPyfPnocsBmRRNwbXRX430npDM4zZ8w4q
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5Ug4R1QkqfUDsufwLymttu?si=nSVtoAPqSdiAYWbesWK5dQ
About:
An all-star trio, these musicians’ “sensitive, conversational approach pushes the envelope” (Down Beat magazine); their new CD has landed on several “best of the year” lists. All three are bandleaders, whose credits would read like a “who’s who” of jazz. Pianist Copland, dubbed “the piano whisperer” because of his sense of touch, has a “harmonic concept unlike anyone else,” (Irish Times); not one to call attention to himself, he’s “a quiet giant….the stuff of legend” (allaboutjazz.com) Bassist Drew Gress, one of the busiest bassists on the scene, never lets his complete technical mastery get in the way of a visceral jazz feel. Drummer Joey Baron is a perfect fit for this freewheeling, deeply communicative unit; Randy Brecker says of Baron, “He can play anything.”
Track Listing:
1. Afro Blue (M. Santamaria) 6:22
2. Cantaloupe Island (Herbie Hancock) 8:20
3. Figment (Drew Gress) 7:21
4. Might have been (Marc Copland) 5:46
5. Love Letter (John Abercrombie) 8:11
6. Day an Night (Marc Copland) 10.41)
7. And I lover her (Lennon-McCartney) 6:44
8. Mitzy & Jonny (Marc Copland / Gress / Baron) 4:29
9. You do something to me (Cole Porter) 9:16
Personnel:
Marc Copland: piano
Drew Gress: bass
Joey Baron: drums
Recorded August, 2017, at The Samurai Hotel, NYC, by David Stoller
Mixed and Mastered by David Darlington
Producer and ears: Robin Verheyen
Advice: Bettina Rossi
Studio Photographs: John Rogers
Cover Photo: Ian Plant
Poem: Bill Zavatsky
Graphics: Elmar Zillgen
Review:
Pianist Marc Copland has an uncanny way of inhabiting a tune, working his way through it from the inside out while exploring new harmonic possibilities along the way. And in bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron, he’s got two kindred spirits to join him on his quest. Their uncommonly sensitive, conversational approach is steeped in the tradition of Bill Evans’ classic trio, though Copland’s collective (which previously served as the rhythm section for John Abercrombie’s last two albums) pushes the envelope even further here. Their ethereal take on “Afro Blue” might be the most strikingly impressionistic of the set. Opening with a free-flowing dialogue between Baron and Gress, it only begins to allude to the familiar melody at the two-minute mark, shortly after Copland enters the picture. Baron’s simmering 6/8 feel sets an understated, swinging tone as Copland’s penchant for reharmonization kicks in. This organic, in-the-moment approach also informs versions of “Cantaloupe Island,” as well as “And I Love Her,” both imbued with mysterioso reharmonization. Baron throws down a chugging groove on the free-form “Mitzi & Jonny,” then showcases his brushwork on a harmonically tweaked rendition of Cole Porter’s “You Do Something To Me” to close out the album in classy, slightly subversive fashion.
Bill Milkowski (DownBeat)
