Imbued
with guitarist Freddie Bryant's inimitable touch, inherent soulfulness and the
element of surprise, Dreamscape: Solo-Duo-Trio (available April 1 on GJKSounds)
is also marked by the guitarist's ability to seamlessly traverse the
classical-jazz divide on this collection of jazz standards and compelling
originals. As a follow-up to his dynamic recording with his band Kaleidoscope
(2012's Live Grooves...Epic Tales), Bryant gets intimate on his latest release,
Dreamscape: Solo-Duo-Trio.
Alternating
between nylon string classic guitar, archtop jazz guitar, 12-string acoustic
and electric guitar, Bryant does some skillful genre hopping on this
emotionally charged outing. "This album is a highly personal portrait of
my influences from straight-ahead to Brazilian and classical guitar but also
the key factor of my parents who were consummate concert artists," notes
Bryant.
Joining
Bryant for duo and trio numbers on Dreamscape are two acclaimed musicians and
bandleaders in their own right -- multi-reedist Chris Potter (performing on
tenor and soprano saxophones as well as bass clarinet) and bassist Scott
Colley. "I played with them back in the late '80s-early '90s," Bryant
recalls, "and their playing was always exceptional. They can play
anything, and they play it beautifully and interactively too."
Easily
Bryant's most personal and revealing project to date, he performs several solo
guitar pieces on Dreamscape, ranging from Thelonious Monk's lyrical "Ask
Me Now" to a rich chord melody treatment of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Porkpie
Hat." Bryant also includes a beautiful interpretation of Bruno Martino's
melancholy ballad "Estate" along with a buoyant, bossa nova/samba
take on "Secret Love." "I wanted to do a project that didn't
have drums in it, principally because there's something that happens to the
clarity of sound of the guitar when you have cymbals ringing and drums
beating," says the guitarist. "Of course, I love drums, but there's
an intimacy that you get when you have a microphone right in front of a guitar
and nothing else. When I was a kid I used to sit under the piano and just
listen to my father play. That's the setting I wanted to convey."
Bryant
grew up in a musical household with his parents, who were both renowned
performers on New York's classical and opera scene. In fact, he began turning
pages for his concert pianist father at the age of six. Bryant has already
dedicated an album to his father, who passed away when he was in college, but
now decided it was time to honor his mother for such an important role in his
musical development.
To that
end, Bryant composed the piece "Songs," which is based on tunes he
remembers hearing his mother sing. He closes out Dreamscape with a snippet of a
1974 recording from New York's Alice Tully Hall that has his mother, Beatrice
Rippy, singing the uplifting spiritual, "I'm Going to Tell God All of My
Troubles," accompanied by her husband, Carroll Hollister, on piano. Bryant
also performs a new arrangement of that same powerful tune on classical guitar
as a duo with Potter on bass clarinet. On the three other trio tracks on
Dreamscape, Potter plays soprano sax on the bristling title track, switching to
bass clarinet on the suite-like "Songs," which travels from work song
form to hymn to gospel vibe, and rounding off on tenor saxophone for the aptly
titled "Everyday is the End and the Beginning of Life Beautiful"
which Bryant wrote on December 12, 2012, the date which marks the supposed end
of the world from interpretations of the Mayan calendar.
Bassist
Colley, a longtime duo partner with the late, great jazz guitar legend Jim
Hall, makes an indelible connection with Bryant on two companion duo pieces --
the gentle, chamber-like "Vignette #1," which has Bryant on nylon
string classical guitar, and the lively and contrapuntal "Vignette #2,"
which features Bryant on electric guitar. "Scott has a beautiful tone and
great ears," says Bryant of the in-demand bassist. "I always thought
of him as such a fluid player, and he's a very melodic improviser too. It was a
joy to play with him."
In a bit
of coming-full-circle synchronicity, the liner notes to Dreamscape were written
by guitar great Gene Bertoncini, who along with Charlie Byrd, pioneered the
merging of finger-style nylon string guitar and jazz repertoire. "Gene was
one of my first jazz teachers," says Bryant. "He was creating these
beautiful arrangements that were masterpieces of classical guitar but were
still jazz. And I met him at a time when I kept my jazz playing completely
separate from my classical playing. And that summer Gene taught me so much
about jazz and musicality that I had enough to study for the next 10 years.'
Dreamscape:
Solo-Duo-Trio will confound those looking to put guitarist Bryant in a
stylistic box as it reaches out to those who simply enjoy good music. "I
grew up with straight ahead jazz and I love swinging with great jazz musicians
like Ben Riley and Tom Harrell," he says. "I love that and it's
totally me. I still play straight ahead but I also play Brazilian music and
classical music. And now this recording makes it a little bit harder to
categorize me. For me, that's a positive thing. And that's why I'm rejoicing in
being able to play all these different styles of music on these different
instruments and have them recorded in such a beautiful way in this intimate
setting."
Freddie
Bryant Album Release Performance: March 31
/ Smalls Jazz Club / New York, NY
Freddie
Bryant · Dreamscape: Solo-Duo-Trio / GJKSounds
· Release Date: April 1, 2014
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