Hailed as “a composer of great ambition and skill” from All
About Jazz, pianist Victor Gould returns in brilliant form on Thoughts Become
Things, his third album as a leader. In the spirit of his 2016 debut Clockwork,
Gould constructs a rich and involved ensemble sound with multiple horns, string
quartet and percussion along with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Rodney
Green in the rhythm section.
But taking a page from his 2018 sophomore release
Earthlings, a more stripped down and piano-centric effort appears, Gould
features his piano virtuosity to a greater degree on Thoughts Become Things,
highlighting one horn soloist per song and foregrounding his consummate skill
as a player — a quality that has earned this young pianist major engagements
with Wallace Roney, Ralph Peterson, Terri Lyne Carrington, Donald Harrison,
Louis Hayes, Vincent Herring, Eric Alexander and more.
Gould’s steadiest gig of late has been with trumpet
sensation Jeremy Pelt, as documented on Make Noise!, Noir en Rouge: Live in
Paris and Jeremy Pelt The Artist. Archer plays bass in Pelt’s band as well,
along with percussionist Ismel Wignall; Gould recruited the lot of them for
Thoughts Become Things. There’s been percussion, in fact, on every Gould album
to date, as he explains in the liner notes: “I really love to accentuate the
connection between the swing feel and African drums. The percussionists I’ve
worked with so far have really accentuated African rhythm, and that’s an
important connection to me.”
Flutist/alto flutist Anne Drummond, alto/soprano saxophonist
Godwin Louis and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens join Pelt, functioning as a
vibrant horn section (and each as a brilliant soloist). We also hear from a
full string quartet with Yoojin Park and Jim Tsao on violins, Jocelin Pan on
viola and Susan Mandel on cello. Lucas Pino’s bass clarinet and Aaron Johnson’s
bass trombone bring additional color and weight to the arrangements on several
tracks.
Gould in the liner notes muses on the title Thoughts Become
Things: “I’ve been thinking recently about how we manifest our own future, and
how our thoughts mold our reality, both negative and positive.” The title track
and other songs, including “Karma,” “Let Go” and “What Do We Need,” touch on
this quasi-spiritual theme, elevating the perspective beyond the personal and
individual to encompass the broader society. “The simplest rule,” Gould
concludes, is “just to be kind to everyone and think positively.”
Anne Drummond’s role as a central melodic voice is clear
throughout. Gould readily cites the importance of flute in his composing, not
least because his father is a flutist; he grew up hearing the instrument live
and on records. Drummond plays both flute and alto flute, the latter notably in
a rousing solo on “October.” Godwin Louis, one of Gould’s dearest friends,
stretches out on “Karma”; Dayna Stephens soars on tenor on “Let Go”; Jeremy
Pelt shines not only on “Inheritance” but also with Gould on a luminous duo
rendition of the standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” Through it all, the
lushly voiced horn harmonies and string counterpoint, buoyant percussion and
tight, sophisticated rhythmic concept come together in what is for Gould a
personal ideal: an instrumentation that can express the fullness of what he
hears, yet light enough to allow the piano to speak, in some of the most fluid
and mature improvising you will hear on the scene today. And in the sublime
solo piano meditation “Brand New,” we hear from him even more directly, freely
improvising out of tempo on a theme, opening the album in poetic style.
Thoughts Become Things, one could say, began as a thought;
it is now a thing, a document charting Gould’s course, an experience to savor,
from one of jazz’s very best.
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