Intricately
weaving together voices, melodies, ideas and genres, Lattice is the alluring
and inventive sophomore release from trombonist/composer James Hall. Due out
February 9, 2018 from Outside In Music, the album is built around the
harmonious combination of Hall's dexterous trombone and the virtuosic flute
playing of Jamie Baum, a study in contrasts that proves remarkably pliable and
expressive through Hall's inspired vision.
Lattice
follows Hall's acclaimed debut, Soon We Will Not Be Here, in which he and his
Thousand Rooms Quartet set the work of contemporary New York City-based poets
to Third Stream-inspired music that struck a delicate balance between modern
jazz and contemporary classical music. Lattice eschews the vocals of its
predecessor and veers in a more recognizably jazz direction, though Hall's
richly detailed writing maintains the sophisticated architecture of chamber
music without forsaking the passion and propulsion of the best modern jazz.
To achieve
those ends, Hall enlisted a skilled band with an elusive chemistry to breathe
life into his compositions. In addition to Baum, he's joined by keyboardist
Deanna Witkowski (Donny McCaslin), bassist Tom DiCarlo (Claudio Roditi, Sean
Jones), and drummer Allan Mednard (Kurt Rosenwinkel, Aaron Parks). On two
tracks the band is supplemented by in-demand saxophonist Sharel Cassity (Herbie
Hancock, Wynton Marsalis), whose fiery alto adds a new flavor to the often more
contemplative styles of Hall and Baum.
A lattice
necessarily begins with two pieces crossing, and for Hall that second piece was
his now-wife, Kristen, to whom Lattice is dedicated. Their romance, engagement
and marriage provided the spark that inspired him to begin writing this music.
"I wanted to compose a project for two voices," Hall explains.
"The idea of two voices in close counterpoint seemed like a nice parallel
to the love story that was happening in my life at the time. It all came
together with the interweaving of melody lines reflecting the interweaving of
two lives."
More direct
musical inspiration came from a few sources that Hall had long admired. One was
legendary trombonist/composer/arranger Bob Brookmeyer's writing for two voices,
exemplified by his work with Stan Getz and Jim Hall. Another was the interplay
of bass trombone and flute on Herbie Hancock's classic album Speak Like a
Child. Baum shared Hall's love for that album, and their bonding over it was
key to her signing on for the project.
Two strands
are not enough to make a latticework, however, and as a number of pieces
intersect to form a pattern, so Hall's project expanded to encompass other
voices and inspirations. He crossed paths with Mednard while both were touring
with the retro-pop ensemble Postmodern Jukebox, while DiCarlo was suggested by
Baum. Witkowski was introduced to Hall at the release concert for Soon We Will
Not Be Here, and her interest in his music was matched by her gifts for
interpreting it on both piano and Rhodes.
The scale of
Hall's concerns expanded and intersected as well. While a new love - not to
mention wedding planning - can be all consuming, eventually the outside world
intrudes. Never has that been more true than in recent years, as a project
conceived on an intimate personal scale inevitably took on a broader scope as
harsh realities came to light. The injustices brought to light by the Black
Lives Matter movement and the divisive aftermath of the 2016 presidential
election forced Hall to widen his perspective. Again, Herbie Hancock proved
inspirational; Speak Like a Child was released in the politically tumultuous
year of 1968, its hopeful call for a more childlike and loving perspective a
conscious refutation of the day's clashing ideologies.
"It's a
pretty album produced at an ugly time," Hall says. "So as the world
was sliding into an abyss and I was working on what for me was 'pretty' music,
I was thinking of Herbie as a precedent."
The lilting
melody of "Shoy" opens the album, tipping its hat to another form of
interweaving - the hybridization of grapes to create new wine varietals. While
living in Germany more than a decade ago, Hall worked on a vineyard that
specialized in the Sheurebe grape - the title is a transliterated shortening of
the name - which is a cross between Riesling and Silvaner. Cassity's supple
alto kicks off Joe Henderson's familiar "Black Narcissus," which
floats on Witkowski's airy Rhodes while being driven by Mednard's subtly
roiling rhythm.
The title
track is patient about bringing its divergent voices together, finally melding
into a hopefully melodious theme at the song's halfway point. The simmering
swing of "Brittle Stitch" muses on the fragility of any relationship
and the care and attention they require, while "Gaillardia" does some
of that work by hinting at Hall's wife's maiden name in the form of a flower.
The elegiac "Traveler" is dedicated to the composer's great-uncle,
whose passion for roaming the world and unconventional pairing with Hall's
great-aunt both offered models to emulate. "Kind Folk" is one of a
few gorgeous Kenny Wheeler tunes that entered Hall's songbook after the late
trumpet great served as artist-in-residence during Hall's time at Lawrence
University, while the bluesy "Terrace," featuring the full-throated
moan of Hall's muted trombone, closes the album with a portrait of his adopted
neighborhood in Brooklyn.
"A
lattice is made up of many intersecting parts," Hall concludes. "As
this project matured, even if I composed a piece thinking about myself and my
wife, the lattice grew to incorporate everyone I met, everyone I engaged with.
It touches on the question of where I sit in the lattice that is New York City,
or on a larger scale, that is America in the 21st century. I take heart in the
fact that there can be as many strands and intersections in a lattice as there
are people or relationships in my life. Maybe it starts with me and my life or
my family, but it doesn't have to end there."
A trombonist
and composer from Nebraska based in New York City, James Hall is a versatile
musician and composer whose projects have spanned jazz, classical, Latin, and
popular music. As a composer and bandleader, James was named a finalist in the
ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition, won three ASCAPlus Awards for
composition, and was a featured performer/composer at the 2012 Chelsea Music
Festival. He has appeared on several recordings with Postmodern Jukebox, with
whom he has toured Europe and the United States. His first CD as a
composer/bandleader, Soon We Will Not Be Here, was released in October 2013 and
featured his Thousand Rooms Quartet. James holds degrees from the Lawrence
Conservatory of Music in Wisconsin and Aaron Copland School of Music in New
York. His teachers have included Luis Bonilla, Hal Crook, Michael Dease, Nick
Keelan, Ed Neumeister, and Fred Sturm.
