Somewhat curiously, this mostly lyrical session, simultaneously spiritually oriented, earthy and abstracted, opens with Epilogue, around 40 seconds of solo saxophone meditation featuring the eerie, breathing bansurai flute-like sound which characterised much of Tzur’s previous ECM release Isabela. In my June 2022 review of that release I remarked Tzur’s enticing, subtly graduated and patiently projected tenor sound and how he could sustain a yearning, slightly hollow quality, redolent of wood rather than metal.
Enjoy, here, the delicately poised yet soon dancing measures of the initial tenor figures of the nine-minutes or so of Through A Land Unsown, where Klampanis’s pizzicato figures and Hershkovits’s flowing and rippling pianism also shine, as do the thematically sensitive figures of drummer Cyrano Almeida (a new name to me and a new member of Tzur’s quartet). In the latter stages of the piece a more assertive and throaty accent inflects Tzur’s sound, continuing in the extensive thematic reprise.
A more broadly cast lyricism distinguishes Renata, which finds Tzur building up a welcome head of expressive steam before Hershkovits calms things down in his own elegant way. My Prophet begins deep in reflective pianissimo ad libitum mode, leading to some wondrous, simple drawn out high register phrases from Tzur, the meditative mood returning later after some unforced trio interaction led by Hershkovits.
At just short of 11 minutes one might argue that the title track outstays its welcome a touch but certainly, it serves as the perfect prelude to the concluding Last Bike Ride In Paris. This a fabulous, ostinato-pumped full-on quartet piece which concludes with some of Tzur’s most forceful playing of the date. In my review of Isabela I wrote that “the passion in Tzur is made all the more evident by the dynamic finesse with which he builds his laid-back yet potent, measured yet liquid and lyrical lines.” That remains the case throughout this intriguing and very tasty album.
Discography
Epilogue; Child You; Through A Land Unsown; Renata; My Prophet; Last Bike Ride In Paris (45.47)
Tzur (ts); Nitai Hershkovits (p); Pedros Klampanis (b); Cyrano Almeida (d). Pernes-les-Fontaines, November 2023.
ECM 651 4241
