Here’s a winner of an album by pianist and composer Johannes Wallman, who cuts and pastes with a core rhythm team of Allison Miller/dr and Nick Moran/b while also adding and subtracting trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and tenor saxist/EWI player Dayna Stephens along with a fragrant string orchestra conducted by Michael Dolan.
The larger ensembles are exciting affairs, with dramatic and bold harmonies counterbalanced by the strings and driven by Miller on the title tune, which has Wallman delivering Hancockian fingerings and harmonies along with Jensen’s pungent solo, while the strings and Moran lead the way on the post bopping “Expeditor”. Stephens’ EWI waltzes whimsically on the Neal Hefti-ish space travel of “In Three” while he delves into thick reeds on the tenor for the elegant work with the leader on “Two Ears Old”. The blues float softly on “Longing”, with the entire album feeling like an extension of Herbie Hancock’s Speak Like a Child, with clever harmonies and sophisticated charts. This one is worth looking for, and if this band comes to town, bring some friends along.