Lingua Franca (Songlines)
Peter Epstein
Released August 9, 2005
All About Jazz The Most Exciting Jazz Albums Since 1969
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About:
Peter Epstein and Brad Shepik have been friends and musical collaborators for at least a decade. Both became well established on the NY scene — Brad as one of the most intense and committed guitarists, at home playing in, out and onthe edge, a lynchpin in several world music influenced jazz ensembles (Dave Douglas’s Tiny Bell Trio, Matt Darriau’s Paradox Trio, Pachora); Peter as an equally versatile saxman, a superb composer-performer with interests ranging from improv to Bach to Balkan, Indian and west African music. Peter was an essential part of Brad’s middle-eastern inspired quintet that recorded The Loan (1997) and The Well (2000) for Songlines. Then he moved away from NY, did his Masters of Music at the University of Nevada, Reno (where he is now Director of Jazz Studies), and the two had few opportunities to perform together. So Peter proposed a new, duo collaboration, with both of them contributing pieces. Brad suggested bringing in Matt Kilmer, a young NY-based percussionist he’d performed with in Paradox Trio and Simon Shaheen’s group. Songlines arranged to record the trio in great-sounding analog.
The result is even more diverse than their previous work together, as it alternates between different grooves and a more meditative, timeless, often folky feel. The individual elements that make up the music are sometimes clear (e.g. the reggae tune “Sunrise,” the bluesy Miro,” the Celtic Emerald”), but more often effortlessly and elegantly combined (e.g. Monsaraz’s eastern modality plus its 12-bar blues-influenced form and chord progression) to the extent that it becomes hard to say exactly what’s what. Brad comments: “In terms of musical style I’m not able to dissect the influences in a definitive way, but I was looking for material that we could have some fun with as a group. We also wanted to do some free improvisations.” Peter adds: “Playing with Brad has always felt extremely easy and natural…I wanted to do a project where we could also include sounds more associated with America: jazz, blues…So there’s a bit of leaping around from reference to reference, but that’s almost on purpose; what’s of real interest here for me is the way in which we can play these very disparate sounds in the creation of an album where the commitment and communication within the group tempers those differences, by establishing a group sound / concept that remains consistent and personal throughout.”
The title was Peter’s idea: “For me Lingua Franca refers less to a concept involving the overlapping of various musical cultures and has more to do with overlapping musicians and personal musical concepts, with each musician representing a distinct musical culture unto themselves. Another level of meaning: this project involves multiple musical languages in the sense that it is neither a world music album nor a jazz album exclusively. It’s one thing to make a hybrid of different styles or genres, it’s yet another to create a whole album where even different forms of hybrids can coexist.” So what makes it a jazz record? Brad: “For me the jazz element is in the improvising and in the way the trio shapes the music collectively from moment to moment.” Peter: “For me, more and more, it’s all becoming the same thing. That’s a very personal statement, however. I wouldn’t be so quick to claim that it is so for the whole jazz world though there does seem to be continued momentum in that direction. In a way, I suppose I am my own melting pot. All of these different sounds and concepts have gone in but what comes out is something unlike any of the original sounds. That’s not to say that I have ended up with one way of playing. Perhaps one way of saying it is that being a ’jazz musician’ now means that we can (without significantly raising eyebrows) call a Balkan tune, free improvisation or an original the way we used to call a waltz, ballad, or bebop tune (even alongside the waltz, ballad, or bebop tune).”
Track Listing:
1. Two Door (Brad Shepik) 07:16
2. Miro (Peter Epstein) 04:55
3. Emerald (Brad Shepik) 03:47
4. Témoin (Brad Shepik) 04:24
5. Here & There (Peter Epstein) 06:35
6. Monsaraz (Peter Epstein) 09:36
7. Kumanovo (Brad Shepik) 05:17
8. Sunrise (Brad Shepik) 05:10
9. Meditation (Peter Epstein) 09:34
10. Improvisation 1 07:34
Personnel:
Peter Epstein: alto and soprano sax
Brad Shepik: guitars
Matt Kilmer: percussion
Recorded August 24, 2003 – January 20, 2004, at Brooklyn Recording Company, Brooklyn, NY, by Aya Takemura
Edited and Mastered by Graeme Brown
Photography by Caroline Mardok, Tony Reif
Design: Eli Bornowsky
Producer: Brad Shepik, Peter Epstein
Executive-Producer: Tony Reif
Review:
Like what’s being done by many creative musicians today, including Kenny Wheeler, Bill Frisell, and Brian Blade’s Fellowship, the music and approach on Lingua Franca are better described as searching than the more common burning. Peter Epstein, Brad Shepik, and Matt Kilmer trade more in water than fire. This is not a value judgement, just a shift of intent and perspective. Though rooted in the jazz aesthetics of improvisation and group interaction, Lingua Franca is not jazz with a capital “J.” Imagine the Lovano/Frisell/Motian trio playing a mix of jazz/world/folk tunes instead of standards and avant-garde music.
The first track is the ringer. “Two Door” is the kind of tune that stays with you for weeks after your first spin, and you want to hear it again and again. It contains much of what makes the entire CD so enjoyable and interesting: Eastern-influenced melodies and harmony, shades of the blues, splitting the difference between simple and complex, and often between light and dark. The piece occasionally recalls (somewhat obliquely) parts of the Doors’ epic song “The End” (with much of the darkness removed), which scores the opening bombing sequence of Apocalypse Now. Imagine the Republican Party’s spin machine (instead of Coppola) re-cutting and scoring Apocalypse Now Redux to give the war a slightly “lighter” feeling, and this tune would be a good choice to replace “The End.”
Drones, vamps, odd time signatures, and open sections are used throughout the record to create spaces that encourage interaction. While the music mainly follows a head-solo-head form, the players’ engagement with one another makes the improvisations feel less like traditional “solos.”
Shepik plays mostly electric guitar and his tone reflects his style: crisp and warm, relatively straight and simple. Never overbearing in his use of effects (unobtrusive octaver, reverb, occasional overdub), Shepik often plays simply but never simplistically. He’s particularly sensitive and succinct on his own compositions, “Two Door” and the beautiful, folksy ballad “Emerald.”
Matt Kilmer is a mindful, melodic, and creative percussionist. In this bass-less trio, he’s able to take on the added responsibilty of being the main timekeeper without giving up his role as colorist and shaper of space. His developement of assured pulses and deep grooves that are both comfortable and challenging provide perfect canvases for Epstein and Shepik to explore.
Epstein’s tone on alto is warm and singing. While it’s nearly devoid of Western jazz cliches, it’s apparent that he’s gone through all that stuff. He’s just digested it and put it back out through a personal musical prism. While Epstein could be considered the leader (it’s debatable and not altogether relevant), this is a truly democratic trio. Shepik’s writing is the strongest, and while different instruments could be substituted for guitar or saxophone, without Kilmer’s varied skills/vibes/sound sources, this recording could not work. Like many excellent recordings, the first time you hear Lingua Franca you’re impressed. Every time after that just gets better.
John Dworkin (All About Jazz)
