One of the current events in the field of Latvian music recordings (as the deadline for submitting albums to “Golden Microphone” is approaching, there will be quite a lot of them…) – the jazz quintet album of saxophonist and composer Tomas Rudzinskis presented at the premiere in the cultural space “Tu jau zini Kur” on Thursday, November 23.
This concert took place as part of the Rudzinski Quintet’s Baltic concert tour, but the people of Riga were presented with a particularly solid offer of 12 people plus Toms himself, with the participation of the Danish electro-jazz rock trio “Kemaca Kinetic” (bassist Kenneth Dahl Knudsen, drummer Matias Fischer and Ukrainian guitarist Igor Osipov), home artists Rūdolfs Macatas (keyboards) and Kristīna Cīrulei (vocals), as well as the group of wind instrumentalists of the Latvian Academy of Music led by Professor Indrikais Veitner himself. In the first part of the concert, the music of “Kemaca Kinetic” was played, with the participation of Rudzinskis, Macat and Cīrulei, and in the second part – the new album with its 13 compositions “dedicated to the theme of mythology and the hero’s journey.”
“Abyss” was written at the end of 2019 and was produced until 2021, but its release was slowed down by covid and its reliable companion – the pandemic. Along with Tom, the album features musicians from the European jazz scene such as guitarist Igor Osipov (Ukraine), keyboardist Povel Wiedestrand (Sweden), bassist Tom Berkman (Germany), drummer Fabien Resch (Germany) and vocalist Mete Nadja Hansen (Denmark). “The record is recorded in the genre of “jazz fusion” and stands out with expressive melodies, strong rhythms and bright interplay of musicians,” it is announced. It should be noted that “Abyss” is also available in tangible, that is, in CD format with the design of the versatile Kate Elpo.
Jazz lovers will like the album, but – could it have been otherwise?! The sound is extremely elitist, perhaps difficult for the general public to understand, but that’s jazz. In the foreground, of course, is Rudzinski’s mastery of playing the saxophone, but the keyboardist is also allowed to prove himself at the highest level. The biggest surprise of the reviewer was Hansen, whose presence in this recording – it must be admitted with shame and dishonor – was noticed only by reading the annotation about this work: she plays with her voice so imperceptibly that in some individual compositions (with the exception of “Come With Me”, where she manifests more widely) with it fits into the overall flow of the game as with a musical instrument.
If someone is too lazy to listen to the whole album, then “Captured” is the best for viewing, almost nine minutes long, which has everything possible, including the elegant art of improvisation. On the other hand, the reviewer especially liked “The Chaos Of Being”, in which – well, yes, yes, you caught it! – there are more guitars. “Into The Abyss” sounded breathtaking at the concert, but everything sounded much more effective “live”. But in general – there are a number of beautiful songs, since there’s nothing to do, you’ll just have to listen to the whole album!
2023-11-24 20:01:47
#Review #Toms #Rudzinskis #Abyss
