Nicole Johänntgen: Solo III
German-born alto saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen has collected over 200,000 followers on social media. That popularity is largely earned by snippet videos that demonstrate slap tongue, beatboxing, overtone, circular breathing and other extended techniques. Her prodigious gift for supplementing her instrument’s range and surprising her listeners makes her a strong candidate for a solo album.
Solo III showcases many of Johänntgen’s tricks, flicks and ingenuities – but not as much as her legion of online disciplines might expect. Instead, most of the 12 original pieces feature luxurious low notes that linger beneath dancing, arpeggio-adjacent high-range phrases. There’s a lot of one-person call and response via multi-track recording.
That top-to-tail setup characterises Bird Call, among several other compositions. A broad, deep tone drones like a ship calling through dense fog. Then comes a cuckoo call of chirpier, squeakier notes. The two halves of the track’s personality engage in a curious conversation.
The heaviest dose of slapping and squealing appears on Eagle Eye. Low notes buzz and flutter. Percussive effects thunk through the mouthpiece and down the saxophone’s body. The sounds and textures are magnified by the same heavy echo that gives depth to the entire record.
Johänntgen adds vocals to two songs: Secret Of A Tree and In Love. The chanted vocalisations slide neatly into the spaces between her lush low register and crisp high range. These two tunes convey more openness and emotion than the more technique-driven material elsewhere on the album.
With such an expansive palette of voicings and sonic inventions, it’s hard to imagine a musician better equipped for the microscope-lens of a solo album than Nicole Johänntgen. This alluring record’s best moments arrive, however, when expression takes precedence over exhibition.
Discography
Warm Breeze; Murmur Of water; Pointillistic Sax Blues; Seaview; Bird Call; Like Chirping Birds; The Secret Of A Tree; The Path Of Life; The Lady In The Mirror; A Call For Peace; Eagle Eye; A Call Of Trust; In Love; Mountain Hike (43.39)
Johänntgen (as). Glarus, Switzerland, 2024.
Imusician Digital SN III 01
Carole Nelson: Through The Storm
This trio’s fourth release is an album of two halves. It kicks off with six compositions testifying to the majesty and rhythms of nature. The second section brings a shift of mood, with four tunes exploring the ecosystem’s fragility. That conceptual framework may capture the attention of some would-be listeners. The music itself is likely to enjoy wider appeal. It’s an exquisitely engaging record.
Much of that charm derives from the judicious and organic interplay between musicians. The group has played together for over a decade. Carole Nelson is a pianist by trade but adds Fender Rhodes and alto saxophone during the album’s second segment. Cormac O’Brien plays bass and Dominic Mullan works the drumkit. The trio’s calmness and comfort radiate from every carefully chosen note.
Lift Off is a vivid example of this property. It’s a stop-start tune where the players are content to leave big spaces between the central melodic shape. They crowd around and cajole Nelson’s piano solo, then step back and admire O’Brien’s turn in the spotlight. Mullan’s winsome drumming stands out from start to finish.
Nelson carries most of the melodies, but each of her bandmates gets to shine brightest on one composition. Arrival showcases Mullan’s fidgety percussion and out-of-whack thwacking. O’Brien plays the lead on Refuge and delivers it with his pleasing range of slides, bends and bumpy bits.
Eden is the first song to feature Nelson’s saxophone. It’s a disjointed, out-of-balance number that announces the start of album’s downhearted second section. It’s followed, however, by a groovy and upbeat track called Encroachment where the Rhodes’ bubbling voice sparkles throughout.
Carole Nelson and her trio have a longstanding and close-knit relationship that resonates in every note, beat and bar of this superb release. Sure, it’s a record of two halves. But the players never let their performance drop until the final whistle blows. A rematch would be very welcome.
Discography
We Begin Here; Lift Off; Through The Storm; Sky; Arrival; Refuge; Kaua’i ’ó’ó; Eden; Encroachment; The Last Song; Return; Epilogue (44.42)
Nelson (p, Fender Rhodes, as); Cormac O’Brien (b); Dominic Mullan (d). Dublin, November 2024.
Livia Records LRCD2504
Aretha Tillotson: Kinda Out West
The prairies, grasslands and mountains of Western Canada inspired bassist Aretha Tillotson’s second release. It features of quartet with ties to the region, who play nine original compositions without any chord-playing instruments. It’s a straight-ahead and swinging album that deftly combines affection for bygone days with excitement about contemporary possibilities.
Tillotson’s busy basslines helix around Dave Laing’s hard-driving drumwork. The much-esteemed Jensen sisters, Ingrid and Christine, add trumpet and alto saxophone respectively. There’s pleasing variation from each song to the next, with masterful playing on every piece.
The title track turns up twice. In addition to a five-minute version, there’s a longer take tacked onto the end of the record that incorporates an extra passage of traded solos. It’s a typically happy-go-lucky and bop-infused tune with clicky cymbals announcing a swing-time beat.
Cricklewood Lane was inspired by a visit to London, where football hooligans lobbed fireworks around the streets beneath Tillotson’s window. The melody has a sombre spirit and the solos seem more agitated here.
The most abrupt shift in mood arrives via Lullaby To Those Before. Christine Jensen’s saxophone voice softens around the ballad’s reverie. Tillotson’s patient solo unfurls in waves like the laser-hued aurora lights in the sky above her native landscape.
Kinda Out West presents modern compositions that bear the mark of deep admiration for old-fashioned ideas. Aretha Tillotson takes on the tricky task of fusing those two ends of the jazz spectrum with freshness and fire. She succeeds with a little help from three capable Canucks.
Discography
Jill Of All; Kinda Out West; Cricklewood Lane; Lullaby To Those Before; Sphere Of Influence; 35; Gauche Caviar; Sad Junie (To Highway Jake); Kinda Out West (alt) (50.08)
Ingrid Jensen (t); Christine Jensen (as); Tillotson (b); Dave Laing (d). Unknown location and date.
Bent River Records BRR202508CD
