Modern musings mixing classical, jazz and exotica…
William Carn plays trombone and bass trombone with a team of Tara Davidson/wwinds, Kelly Jefferson/reeds, Shirantha Beddage/reeds, Jason Logue/tp-fh, Kevin Turcotte/tp-fh, Christian Overton/btb, Andrew Downing/b and Ernesto Cervini/dr-perc. The albums is divided intwo two three part suites and a single tune, all a mix of Gil Evans pastoral richness with a dash of Mozartian lyricism. The horns are subdued for Davidson’s flute on “Goodbye Old Friend” with Cervini creating a soulful pulse for “Home” and the gentle “A New Life” with solos by Beddage and Turcotte respectfully veering around the drapery. Cervini rumbles under the blues bop of Davidson’s trombone on the bluesy “Wisely if Sincerely” and Downing’s bass throbs on the flowing “The Epitaph-For Mom” and darkly bounces on the agitated “Swept out to Sea-For Dad”. Impressions of sound.
Amir Elsaffar plays trumpet, santur and brings vocals to an 11 member ensemble that includes oud, the Indian mridangam, various strings from home and abroad, horns, saxes and various flavors. There’s also the team of Jason Adasiewicz/vib, Tareq Abbourshi/buzuq, Naseem Alatrash/cel, Fabrizio Cassol/as and Carlo De Rosa/b joining in the recording. The result is a collection of galloping horns on “Lighntning Flash”, melancholic strings and guitar soloing on “Dhuha” with rich vocal accents here and on the warm “Transformations”. A Latin feel pulsates on “March” and the team gets meditative for “Medmi”. Various parts of Asia meld as one.