2017 jazz

ur a faggot

wat

got this album last week. pretty nice.

Considering his prolific work as a sideman, pianist Craig Taborn has put out relatively little material under his own name. "Daylight Ghosts" is his third release as a leader for the German ECM label after his 2011 solo album "Avenging Angel" and 2013's trio outing "Chants." This time around Taborn convenes a quartet with tenor saxophonist Chris Speed (also doubling on clarinet), bassist Chris Lightcap, and drummer Dave King for a program of original music.

As fans of Taborn's previous albums might expect, a central facet of this music is a blending of free improvisation with carefully composed structure. Most of the pieces have progressive forms, which move through several moods and sections that are sometimes clearly defined and marked, and other times blurred and gradual. Most of the tracks have an underlying sense of groove, at times even overt, and dance-like, and even occasionally even builds around repeated ostinato and vamp figures. The title track is a good example of these characteristics. The piece begins as a delicate duet between Speed and Taborn before the rest of the quartet layers in to reveal a written tone-poem played in unison by Taborn and Speed. An interactive and improvisation by the band around the melodic theme leads gradually back into the statement of the theme which in turn leads into a bright and surprisingly simple ostinato pattern from Taborn that serves as the anchor for the second half of the piece.

This idea of repetition also shows up on the final track, "Phantom Ratio," this time with Taborn and Lightcap playing a darkly funky pattern underneath most of the song. It feels slightly out of place with the rest of the album and makes for a somewhat odd ending to the album, but luckily the rest of the album is consistently strong. One especially strong point comes during the extended and highly interactive improvisation by the entire quartet on "Abandoned Reminder," where each member of seems to be contributing in equal measure. Another standout is "Ancient," in which the band begins with an improvisation and builds slowly into the written section. As the piece continues to grow, the band layers knotty melodic lines together with impressive dramatic effect.

It's another very strong release from Taborn, showing a slightly different side of his musical concept; one that is very subtly influenced by modern electronic and dance music. At the heart of the music though are Taborn's distinctive harmonic colors and strong compositions that incorporate interactive improvisation.