Danny Green knows that music should tell a story. A rising
creative force on the Southern California jazz scene, the San Diego
pianist/composer has distinguished himself with his beautifully articulated
touch and deep affinity for Brazilian music. On his fourth album Altered
Narratives, which is slated for a March 18, 2016 release on OA2 Records,
Green's stellar trio explores a panoply of moods and grooves, sublimating
Brazilian influences in favor of blues, swing and European classical
influences. It's the work of a manifestly gifted composer who has honed a
bespoke group sound ideally suited for his melodically charged sensibility.
Featuring bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Julien
Cantelm, Green's ensemble is one of the most lyrical trios working on the West
Coast, and the pianist's program of original tunes provides an ideal forum for
their exquisite interplay. The album opens with the bouncy blues "Chatter
From All Sides," a piece composed amidst the tumult of Green's kids
playing around him. It's an affectionately buoyant 16-bar theme that never wears
out its welcome. "The Merge" is an episodic broken-field sprint that
flowed out of a bit of spontaneous interplay on a gig with Cantelm. Listen to
the way Cantelm's finely textured cymbal work shapes the piece. The brooding
"October Ballad" embodies Green's gift for crafting emotionally
evocative motifs, while "6 A.M." dawns with a dreamy passage before
accelerating into a joyful baião feel, one of Northeastern Brazil's most
infectious grooves.
Inspiration can come from just about any direction, and it's
not surprising that Green has found fertile creative ground amidst the brothers
Sprague, guitarist Peter and saxophonist Tripp, essential members of the
Southern California jazz scene for some four decades. Several Altered Narrative
pieces, including "6 A.M.", came from a concert with the Spragues
where everyone agreed to bring in tunes pertaining to the theme "Things I
Love That I Used to Hate." Not surprisingly, the late-night gin joint
reverie "I Used to Hate the Blues" also came out of that concert.
Clearly, the blues and Green now keep close company.
While not composed as a suite, the three tunes at the center
of the album feature the trio with a string quartet led by violinist Antoine
Silverman, a widely admired New York jazz and studio player. Green wrote
"Second Chance" as part of the concert with the Spragues, and its
gracefully flowing lines evidence his deep love of 19th century European
classical music. The album's most intricate and beautifully unsettling tune,
"Katabasis," takes its name from a Greek literary term that can refer
to visiting the underworld. Keying on sumptuous cello work by Anja Wood, it's a
sojourn deep into murky realms that moves from a plaintive minor blues to
translucent chords offering a glimpse of light.
"I've loved classical music since college, and I listen
to it as much as jazz and Brazilian music," Green says. "Some of my
favorite classical composers who have had a profound influence on me are
Wagner, Mahler, and Ravel. Writing for string quartet was a new undertaking for
me, and one that I was extremely excited about. The string parts were going
through my head for weeks before the session, and it was quite an emotional
experience hearing it performed for the first time in the studio."
The album closes with "Serious Fun," a rambunctious
blues that embodies everything that's appealing about Green's trio. Working
with a familiar form, they make it their own without affectation or pretension.
More than the sum of its considerable players, the band has honed a book of
tunes unlike any other trio on the scene.
Justin Grinnell is one of the most sought after bassists in
San Diego. In addition to anchoring Green's trio he leads his own quartet
featuring the brilliant LA pianist Josh Nelson (the band released a widely
hailed 2013 debut album Without You). Julien Cantelm is a highly versatile
accompanist who's performed extensively with San Diego heavyweights such as
pianist Geoffrey Keezer, guitarist Peter Sprague, vocalist Allison Adams
Tucker, and pianist Joshua White. He and nylon-string guitarist Dusty Brough also
perform in the duo Vimana. Green introduced his trio with Grinnell on 2009's
With You In Mind, which won the San Diego Music Award for Best Jazz Album.
Cantelm joined the fold on Green's second release, 2012's A Thousand Ways Home,
a quartet session with Tripp Sprague featuring Brazilian stars Claudia Villela
(vocals) and Chico Pinheiro (guitar) as special guests. His third release,
2014's After The Calm earned him another San Diego Music Award for Best Jazz
Album.
Born in San Diego in 1981, Green grew up in an academic
family. Now retired, his mother was a longtime ESL teacher and his father was a
professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego. He started
piano lessons as a child and kept at it until 12, when he came under the sway
of grunge rock. After two years teaching himself Nirvana tunes, he got
interested in ska and joined a band with some fellow students. "Ska was
the first style of music that I got into that featured improvisation, and I
remember being so excited listening to the solos," Green recalls. "My
first experience improvising was in my ska band. I had no clue what I was
doing, but I just followed my intuitions and went for it."
Green experienced something of an epiphany around the turn
of the century when he caught The Buena Vista Social Club documentary, which
sparked a passion for Cuban son. He delved into Latin music working in local
salsa bands, while writing in the Latin jazz idiom. Green earned a B.A. in
Piano Performance from UCSD, where he studied jazz piano with Grammy-winning
producer Kamau Kenyatta. A class on Brazilian music at UCSD turned his passion
southwards. Looking for direct experience with Brazilian masters, he started
attending California Brazil Camp in the redwoods of Cazadero in western Sonoma
County. He credits legendary guitarist/composer Guinga, pianist Marcos Silva,
guitarist/composer Chico Pinheiro, and drummers Edu Ribeiro and Marcio Bahia as
particularly important influences. Green later went on to earn a Master's
Degree in Jazz Studies at San Diego State University, where he studied under
Rick Helzer. He was awarded "Outstanding Graduate," and several years
later, "Alumni to Watch."
"I have always been the type to immerse myself in one
genre of music, artist, or composer or months to years at a time. From Nirvana,
ska, and Latin jazz, to Brazilian music, straight ahead jazz and Wagner operas,
all these different musical phases that I went through helped shape who I am as
a pianist and composer."
Green's singular journey has led to a strikingly beautiful
body of music. Altered Narratives is the latest dispatch from a trio that still
delights in the process of discovery.
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