Search - Ted Nash :: La Espada De La Noche

Around the world in 50 minutes

Troy Collins | Lancaster, PA United States | 04/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ted Nash's jazz ensemble Odeon specializes in a sort of "Old Europe" flavored ethnic music. While "La Espada de la Noche" (The Sword of the Night) leans heavily on Latin music traditions for inspiration, it is most certainly not limited to them. Shades of Klezmer, a healthy dose of Tango and Western European chamber music all contribute to the band's heady mix.



Focusing primarily on tenor sax, but doubling on a number of reeds, Nash is a svelte improviser and not an adherent to any one jazz saxophone school, unlike many of his contemporaries for whom Coltrane or Rollins are the pinnacle of saxophone technique. Having ubiquitous drummer Matt Wilson on board automatically elevates the session a notch and Nathalie Bonin's violin makes for a delectable front line partner to Nash's arsenal of horns. Clark Gayton's tuba and Bill Schimmel's accordion round out the rhythm section and provide sonic authenticity to the group's Tango and March rhythms.



Opening the record with a puckish Tango-ized rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's "Night In Tunisia" exemplifies Nash's respect for and willingness to subvert the very genre he is exploring. "Concierto de Aranjuez" is delivered with a much more serious tone. "Tico Tico" falls on the more playful side of the sonic fence and sounds like a jaunty hybrid of Klezmer and Mexican folk music with its bubbly clarinet and stuttering accordion lines. The tile track employs a suite like structure, beginning with a dramatic Piazolla-esque melody that leads from a free form accordion and drum duet into a full blown manic waltz rhythm featuring the leader's fervent soloing and psychedelic swirling accordion lines before closing magisterially like it began. Nash's own "Walk This Way" closes the album with a New Orleans Second-Line shuffle that features adroit call and response from the band.



A plight that befalls many jazz musicians dabbling in world music is inadvertently concocting radio friendly background music suitable only for the in-between spots on NPR without ever truly delving into the structural intricacies found in these variegated musical forms. "La Espada de la Noche" is not one of those anonymous albums. Although Nash's tone throughout the album is one of knowing cool, he never plays up the ethnic melodies and structures for mere ironic coloration. This is a truly heartfelt musical fusion, albeit with a playfulness that dares you not to take it too seriously.

"

Worldly fun

M. Murphy | birmingham, alabama United States | 09/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ted Nash continues his eclectic journey through style after style of jazz. As a member of Wynton's Lincoln Center Orchastra,and lead sax man for the amazing Jazz Composer's Collective[Ben Allison,Michael Blake,Frank Kimbrough,etc.] he continues to explore different and amazing "world jazz" on his own. From his wonderful cd Rhyme and Reason to the strange but effective tango/accordian combo on Sidewalk Meeting to the "new bop" of Still Evolved Ted has stretched himself and it works. La Espada de la Noche is a continuation of that personal exploration and it is chancey yet luckily the risk is worth the reward.It takes big ears and an open mind to listen to latin type music played with the strange instrumentation of sax,violin,accordian,tuba,and drums. What makes it work is the players abilitiy to modernize it or personalize it to the point where you are hooked.The tunes vary from the Dizzy standard,to a couple of Nash original compositions but the largest payoff is most definitely Concierto de Aranjuez Movement 1 & 2. Made famous on the Miles Davis classic Sketches of Spain Nash and team reference the original than decontruct the composition and make it their own. A special bravo to Nathalie Bonin, a profound contributor on violin and Matt Wilson, my favorite modern day drummer who seems to be everywhere these days.

An amazing and risky project that is always interesting. Reccommended."