Hakan Basar: Maiden Voyage (Red 180527)
A swimmer that protects a piece of brittle porcelain from the waves. This is the way former prodigy Hakan Basar, now 21, tackles Maiden Voyage, skirting the coast of Herbie Hancock’s modal masterpiece with elegant movements through the surf. Why the porcelain is at sea in the first place only adds to the mystique of Basar’s effort.
It’s a rare display of restraint from the Turkish pianist on his sophomore effort, which features bassist Michelangelo Scandroglio and drummer Bernardo Guerra and focuses mostly on uptempo excitement – generous when the trio locks together in a turbulent groove. Basar’s dynamic touch leaves nothing to be desired. Besides, you can’t but root for youngsters that highlight post-bop classics such as McCoy Tyner’s Inception and Cedar Walton’s Bolivia.
Notwithstanding, Basar’s virtuosity becomes rather exhausting. A rainstorm of notes clouds the view of Michel Petrucianni’s Chloé Meets Gershwin. I’m loving Basar’s handling of the melody of Wes Montgomery’s Full House but I’m not liking it that I’m liking it more that his actual solo. It should be noted that Basar’s melodic embellishments are a joy to the ear.
My above-mentioned piece of criticism might infuriate Eric Alexander. In defence of the note-spewing Phineas Newborn Jr., the acclaimed tenor saxophonist once called upon censorious jazz players in a conversation with yours truly “You try to play like that!” Fair enough. It was Memphis, Tennessee roots that kept Newborn Jr.’s staggering virtuosity in check. Time will tell what exactly it is that will leaven the remarkable runs on the keys of Hakan Basar.
Jordan VanHemert: Survival Of The Fittest (Origin 82921)
Jordan VanHemert makes no qualms about his roots, nor the notion that they may give you perplexing complexity as a bonus. The adopted American-Korean tenor saxophonist has added a Korean song on each of his five albums to date. His latest includes the murder ballad Milyang Arirang. VanHemert’s scale-infused solo is construed with structural authority.
VanHemert’s meaty but silky sound is allied to a style that doesn’t waste notes, a balanced way of tale-telling without losing bite, which succinctly underlines a programme that, in his own words, deals with “the human experience of going through difficult times”. He seamlessly blends in with his high-profile band that consists of bassist Rodney Whitaker, drummer Lewis Nash and pianist Helen Sung, alternately extended with trombonist Michael Dease and trumpeter Terell Stafford; a group that’s very adept at evoking a multitude of moods.
At times playful – witness the perky Tread Lightly, which develops from stop-time to straight swing and is notable for Nash’s suave brush work and Sung’s exciting solo, which touches upon the playfulness of the legendary Jimmy Rowles – there is room also for melancholy, courtesy of the elegiac Mourning Comes Again. Survival Of The Fittest is exuberant modal bop and marked by kinetic solos from VanHemert and Stafford. To complete the album’s diversity, VanHemert duels on three tracks with Sung, Whitaker and Nash – more instances of emphatic interaction.
Ari Joshua: Blurry Face/Reversible Submersible (Music Factory Records)
Guitarist Ari Joshua’s collaboration with organist John Medeski and drummer Billy Martin – two thirds of the longstanding avant-groove outfit Medeski, Martin & Wood – and bassist Jason Fraticelli goes back to the release of the short, experimental jam LP Meeting Of The Minds in 2023. Two years later, Jazz Journal has two separate singles under scrutiny – possibly a novelty in the history of the magazine, for what it’s worth – with a full-length album slated for release in the future.
Blurry Face refreshes classic funk jazz, has got its smell of greasy ribs and taste of hot sauce down pat, awash as it is with Joshua’s blues ’n’ bop lines and his butter-for-ya-popcorn-tone. It’s the straightforward opposite of side B, Reversible Submersible, a jaunty linking of alt-pop (early Beck, Cake) with jazz, with the razzle-dazzle of a Caribbean party thrown in. Detailed, varying sounds emphasise its upbeat message, Medeski on Hammond and clavinet, Joshua on progressively reverberating guitar. His playing is a personalised take on Ry Cooder, which serves as high praise and is one of several highlights of a part-time partnership with room for manoevre.
