Dick de Graaf - Festive

As a jazz musician, Dick de Graaf is a man for whom the moment counts … Also, for this record, the pursuit of perfection has been confirmed by reality.

(Jazznu)

Like the great baroque composers, De Graaf masters counterpoint down to the finest details. The result is impressive.

(Jazzenzo)

Always looking for a balance between the mainstream and the avant-garde.

(Jazzism)

After listening to this album, the question becomes more and more pressing, when will Dick de Graaf finally receive the Boy Edgar prize?

(Rootstime)

Please enjoy these seven original compositions and my arrangement of a famous Paul McCartney. I have written this music during the recent covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government on public life in the Netherlands. As a matter of fact, they turned out to be a fertile source for boundless creativity and musical deepening of my work.

In “Luca” (dedicated to my grandson), and in “The Night before the Morning After”, there is link with classical music. I loosely apply Olivier Messiaen’s fourth ‘mode of limited transposition’, both in the compositions and in my improvisations. “Festive” stands for the celebration of the moment, the magic of the moment that brings a composition to life, every time in a different way. In “Wetland”, the varying tempos reflect the capricious cultural policy in the Netherlands.

As a youngster, “Eleanor Rigby” rose my interest in polyphonic music. In my actual arrangement, I took McCartney’s piece apart and reassembled it with new chords. “Alla Prima” is a term from painting: wet-on-wet. This tune is distantly based on Thelonious Monk's composition "Bemsha Swing”. The melody of “Passeggiata anno Corona” came to mind spontaneously during one of my frequent lockdown walks. “Fly on the Wall” evocates a rhythmic groove that I used to hear and play a lot during my frequent journeys to West African countries Burkina Faso and Mali.

1. Luca 06:02

2. Festive 07:15

3. The Night Before the Morning After 06:31

4. Wetland 05:57

5. Eleanor Rigby 06:40

6. Alla Prima 03:57

7. Passeggiata anno Corona 05:35

8. Fly on the Wall 06:53

Dick de Graaf – tenor saxophone

Barry Green – piano

Jos Machtel – bass

Pascal Vermeer – drums

Recorded by Micha de Kanter at Wedgeview Studios, NL. September 11 and 12, 2020

Mixed by Micha de Kanter and Dick de Graaf

Mastered at Q Point digital Audio by Peter Brussee

Photography by Ruud van der Graaf

Cover design by Geert Hermkens, Löss Ontwerp

PRE-ORDER

Barry Green Trio - Almost There (MOLETONE RECORDS 2017)

Barry Green, the below-the-radar but formidably skilled London pianist, takes off on cutting-edge New York collaborations. His 2016 trio  with American drummer Gerald Cleaver and saxophonist Chris Cheek proved that, and this New York-recorded set with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey is just as surefootedly inventive.

Half of the dozen tracks are Green’s (who’s an adroit composer of postbop cliffhangers as well as thoughtful song themes); the others are famous Broadway, pop and jazz tunes. Green’s jagged, stop-start title track is a typical contemporary-jazz mix of avant-swing and a flinty Latin feel. Bud Powell’s standard Bouncing With Bud is a wonderful interpretation, with its famous tune long postponed, Gress delivering an awesome bass solo of sly flicks and graceful melodic curves, and Green’s improvisation a balance of foxy restraint and impulsiveness.

You’ll Never Walk Alone is fragmented and reharmonised without sabotage, Lulu’s Back in Town and Thelonious Monk’s Work are vivacious rhythm-teasers of quite different kinds. This fine trio start a week’s UK tour from 31 January.

01. Almost There 4:26

02. Bouncing with Bud 6:10

03. Never Walk Alone 5:53

04. Lulu's Back in Town 5:02

05. Like the First Time (Take 1) 2:25

06. My Spy 2:31

07. Train in the Distance 3:50

08. Like the First Time (Take 2) 2:32

09. Signals 6:43

10. Her Majesty 1:15

11. I Could See the Smallest Things 2:36

12. Work 11:18

Barry Green (piano)

Drew Gress (bass)

Tom Rainey (drums)