Search - Julian Priester :: In Deep End Dance

One for the ages

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I stumbled onto this disc in the Bloomington, IN, Borders store. It was, as my brilliant and sardonic daughter of 19 observed as I emerged from said emporium with this and another disc (Kieran Overs's gem, For the Record, also recently reviewed) firmly clutched in my hot little hand, "A little Christmas present from me to me." I rationalized these purchases because I figured I'd never be able to find them again in any of the record stores to which I have ready access, and I didn't know if such obscure recordings would even be available on Amazon.Thankfully, I hit a home run. I purchase a good amount of jazz "hearing unheard," that is, without knowing what it sounds like. I do this because there's an awful lot of jazz that you just can't sample aforehand. I suspect my average is well above 50 percent winners, and I do exercise a good deal of care in my purchases, accessing countless years of stored memory relating to various and sundry obscure jazz artists, who they've played with, etc.OK, enough of that. This is a truly marvelous disc. Featuring five Priester compositions and one each by his three bandmates, it presents a varied and entirely enjoyable modern jazz soundscape of the highest order. What I especially like about it is its deep dancing sensibility. In Deep End Dance, indeed!! Also its playfulness. Although music of extreme complexity, it is never less than completely accessible. Priester has cracked one of the most difficult of musical codes--he's figured out how to be beautiful and obscure and intricate and rhythmic and listenable all at once.A good deal of this has to do with his playing partners, all of whom are new to me, and all of whom are startlingly imaginative players. Let's start with Dawn Clement in the piano chair. This young woman is, simply, a monster player. Possessed of an uncanny lilting rhythmic sense, she comps with authority and provides the heart of the rhythmic pulse. I detect something of the great Kirk Lightsey in her playing, but she has already achieved a remarkably mature voice. Listen to her astounding solo in the middle of "End Dance." I unashamedly bow to such ravishing pianism. Deft, lyrical, percussive, lilting, mesmerizing. Plus she plays a mean blues. And swings to die for. Also check out her intro to her own composition, "A Delicate Balance." I'm ordering her new disc, Hush, also on Conduit Records, as soon as I finish this review. "End Dance," by the way, represents a high point for me in the history of recorded jazz; the closing band interaction boggles the mind.Her bandmates match her brilliance. Byron Vannoy has a unique concept on drums. Check out how he closes out "Mejatoto" with a two-fisted bashing that strikes fear into the hearts of the timid but absolutely fits the mood of the piece. The other players just drop out, slackjawed, one imagines, at the singularilty of sounds coming from the drums chair. Geoff Harper, a giant of a man, has a bass sound to match. There's a fundament, a grounding, a solidity every bit as deep as Charlie Haden or Dave Holland (although he sounds nothing like either) that gives this band a monster gravitas. And he's that rare player who can make a bass solo really, really interesting. His solo at the end of "A Delicate Balance" is one of the finest I've ever heard, and he proves that wasn't a fluke by raising earlobes with a similar stunner two-thirds of the way thrugh "End Dance."Julian Priester is certainly no slouch either on trombone. Occupying territory somewhere between the all-out free approach of George Lewis and the lyricism of Steve Turre, he has a very burnished yet quite declamatory tone. Sound a little oxymoronic? Maybe, but it works spectacularly. Anyway, this entire project's from out of who knows where. It represents the most appealing, most accomplished, and most satisfying jazz I've heard in years."

Best of 2002 you probably won't hear

deez4545 | Iowa City, IA United States | 01/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Julian Priester has consistently recorded music of high quality over the span of his career. This is a wonderful yet subtle new release, the first on yet another in the growing list of independent labels serving (and serving well!) the community of jazz musicians and their audiences. There's plenty of trombone here; yet Priester allows the quartet a lot of space. As Priester writes in the liner notes, "As jazz performers, we depend on each other for inspiration." Like his recordings with Reggie Workman and Sam Rivers, there's a strong sense of collaboration among musicians here. I find this one especially close to the out-of-print Polarization by Priester's Marine Intrusion ensemble, yet as satisfying as that date. Hopefully, this will be only the first of a succession of jazz out of Seattle. Strongly recommended, especially for listeners who enjoy the quiet spaces that musicians love to explore."