Trumpeter and composer Paul Dietrich juxtaposes his post bop team of Dustin Laurenzi/ts-cl, Jason Kutz/p, Brian Courage/b and Jon Deitemyer/dr with a string quartet of Paran Amirinazari/vi, Wes Luke/vi, Kayla Patrick/va and Lindsey Crabb/cel in a most creative and unforced fashion.
I say “unforced” because this is not your typical “jazz and strings” thing; Dietrich makes the strings do a wide variety of roles throughout the album. They don’t even enter the opening “Springs” until Dietrich and company have developed a rich and sleek cadence. Meanwhile, the strings bring a pizzicato’d lilt to support Dietrich’s clean horn and on “Suspend” and pick out a jogger’s trot for Laurenzi’s fluffy horn on “A Separation”. There’s an elegiac chamber feel with the strings and Kutz’s rich piano musings on “Out Hear” and a graceful “Some Things Last”. The horns are rich in harmony when framed by the lush bowings on “Some Things Last” with Laurenzi’s bass clarinet in yearning fashion for the panoramic “Folk Song”. Effortless ease.