mon 25/11/2024

CD: Owen Broder - Heritage | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Owen Broder - Heritage

CD: Owen Broder - Heritage

Americana meets modern jazz in collection of striking originals and inspired reworkings

Searching for roots: Owen Broder

An album that enchants and surprises in equal measure, Heritage sees US sax player and composer Owen Broder explore the full gamut of American roots music – from blues and Appalachian folk to bluegrass and spirituals – through the prism of modern jazz.

Subtitled ‘The American Roots Project’, Broder’s welcoming inclusiveness is evident from the outset, with his self-penned “Goin’ Up Home” transmogrifying from a simple folk chorale into driving swing and, neatly bookending the album, the collective improv of “A Wiser Man Than Me” which channels the singular sound-world of New Orleans.

A stellar group of composers and arrangers includes the Japanese bandleader and pianist Miho Hazama, whose “Wherever the Road Leads” interpolates a spirited reel within sumptuous jazz harmonies, NEA Jazz Master Bill Holman who adroitly transplants “Jambalaya” from the Crescent City to New York, with coruscating solos from violinist Sara Caswell and trumpeter Scott Wendholt, and Vanguard Jazz Orchestra pianist and composer Jim McNeely, whose take on “Cripple Creek” provides a riot of instrumental colour.

It’s impossible not to fall in love with Ryan Truesdell’s complete reimagining of the classic “Wayfaring Stranger”. Pianist Frank Kimbrough’s preludial opening leads you into a tenebrous, melancholic wonderland, punctuated by Caswell’s sorrowing fiddle lines and James Shipp’s icily chiming vibes. Beautifully sung as a duet by Kate McGarry and Wendy Gilles, Truesdell – an arranger of strange and rare device – saves the surprise until the final chorus when Vuyo Sotashe joins to form a beatific vocal trio. Sotashe also impresses on Alphonso Horne’s “The People Could Fly,” which draws on both African American and South African roots.

Recorded over two days at Bunker Studios in New York City, huge plaudits must go to Aaron Nevezie (studio engineer) and Brian Montgomery (digital editing and mixing) for the astonishing clarity they achieve, even when – as in Truesdell’s “Brodeo” – the music is at its most rapturously symphonic.

Pianist Frank Kimbrough’s preludial opening leads you into a tenebrous, melancholic wonderland

rating

Editor Rating: 
4
Average: 4 (1 vote)

Share this article

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters