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| Odense Jazz Orchestra Meets Loren Stillman- AAM Records |
The London born, American raised alto and soprano saxophonist, Loren Stillman, has released two albums this year and they are both well worth your attention. The musician has always been an artist of interest that could play with his own distinctive sound and wrote much of his own material. His latest releases show just how far this man's playing and composing has progressed.
For those who are unaware of this fine saxophonist, a little background may be of interest. Stillman has been playing saxophone since the age of seven. His path included studying saxophone with classical player/educator Dan Goble, who has played with the New York Philharmonic for nineteen years. He also studied with saxophonist/educator Harvey Pittel in 1995 at the Tanglewood Institute. Pittel has taught saxophone at both the University of Southern California and University of Texas in Austin and his students in the jazz world have included notables like Branford Marsalis and Kenny Garrett.
Stillman received full scholarships to the Manhattan School of Music, 1998-2000, attended The New School of Music from 2002-2023 on another full scholarship and received a BA of Music from SUNY 2004-2005 before receiving a Master of Music from The University of Montana 2017-2019. He continued private lessons over the years with notable saxophone masters Ted Nash, Dick Oatts, Dave Liebman and Lee Konitz.
During his career, Stillman has lent his personal sound as a
sideman to notable groups including drummer Paul Motian’s trio in 2000-2002, guitarist John
Abercrombie’s Jackalope Trio in 2021, Tyshawn Sorey’s Oblique in 2000-2014, and had collaborations with bassist Michael Formanek and has been a member of Charlie Haden/Carla
Bley’s Liberation Music Orchestra not to mention his own groups.
I have been aware of Stillman’s compelling alto sound since first hearing him on his Pirouet Records album Winter Fruits from 2009. His alto saxophone sound has impressed me as being influenced by Konitz's less is more approach and guided by his own sense of classical influences. His playing is melodic, and his improvising, while inventive, tends to avoid bringing attention to himself. Whether playing alto or soprano with facility, he is creative, spontaneous and unpredictable. His approach is thoughtful, reflective and unrushed and he judiciously uses space to great effect. Stillman has developed his own sound, and his compositional skills have increasingly revealed imagination and promise.
Stillman’s two recently released albums, Odense Jazz Orchestra Meets Loren Stillman on AMM Records released in January, and Seer, released in March on Newvelle Records 10 Collection, give the listener a rare chance to compare how two different musical approaches can be equally effective on three of Stillman’s compositions played and arranged for two different formats, the drum less trio and the seventeen-piece orchestra.
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| Loren Stillman- SEER- Newvelle Records |
Stillman released Odense Jazz Orchestra Meets Loren
Stillman in January. Odense is
the third largest city in Denmark, and with a population of almost two-hundred
thousand and is the largest city on the island of Funen. Odense also happens to
be the birthplace of the beloved fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen. With
imagination as a legacy, it is fitting that this large ensemble, with its
expanded instrumentation and Nordic influence, can create its own unique vividness to
Stillman’s music. The deft use of the colorful
palette of the orchestra opens the tonal possibilities. The expressive options can add another level of complexity and color to the music.
Odense Jazz Orchestra (Jazz Fuel -Photo credit unknown)
This seventeen-piece Danish big band, features creative,
modern arrangements of six Stillman compositions with the help of double
bassist Kasper Tagel and trumpet/conductor Torben Sminge. The music flows naturally,
sensitively and the group absorbs intuitively, Stillman’s reflective approach to his
compositions. The saxophonist is the lead here and his tone is beautiful,
his playing thoughtful and the band swells and swirls with precision and
sensitivity.
The opener “A Tree Falls” featured Stillman on his sinewy
soprano over the emerging sounds of the orchestra. A gorgeous flugelhorn solo by Rolf Thofte Sorensen adds another aural approach. The music is like a contemplation on nature, with
Stillman’s soprano rising to ever more adventurous lines and intensified playing
that seems to promise a new beginning. Guitarist Morten Nordel adds some texturally
interesting lines that intertwine with Stillman’s soprano as a lead to the
coda.
Seer, which is a trio-based
album includes Craig Taborn on piano and Thomas Morgan on bass. It opens with a
splendid piano and bass intro that gently yields to the floating soprano sound of Stillman, beautifully
spelling out the melody. The interaction is a most intimate exchange. The three
artists trace each other’s lines in parallel unison. These three breathe the
same air and speak with a common but distinct voice. This symbiotic connection between these three is hard to duplicate in larger groups, and Taborn’s delicate tickling
of the piano keys beautifully simulates gentle raindrops falling in the woods as Morgan’s
bass resonates. There are clearly many
ways to find expression on this moving ballad, but the trio's elastic adhesion is hard to match.
Thomas Morgan, Loren Stillman and Craig Taborn (photo credit unknown)
The composition “Waterworks,” is inspired by a hike
into the woods and found on both albums. On Seer, Stillman’s
fluid alto opens this composition with his cool, unfettered tone. The music
invokes the feeling of a meandering mountain stream; calm, kinetic and
restorative. The drum less trio creates the motion upon which Stillman’s bubbly
alto, and especially Taborn’s exploratory piano solo, offer some enjoyable
interpretations of being immersed in nature. The pianist uses an angular and at
times cadenced approach to his solo, as Morgan’s resonant bass keeps the pulse alive and
vibrant.
On Odense Jazz Orchestra Meets Loren Stillman “Waterworks”
is opened by an exploratory and sensitive piano intro by Pojhen Flensborg. Armed
with brass and winds skillfully arranged, this version creates a background of
instrumentation that enters with tonal variations that emerge slowly, creating
an expanding landscape. Nordel’s guitar, another tone not available to the trio,
introduces his own emotive yet edgy guitar solo. The rhythmic vibe of the horn section takes
on an almost Latin feel before-at about the seven-fifteen-minute mark- Stillman’s
thoughtful alto enters the picture. His saxophone is clear, liquid and floats
over the increasing intensity that the orchestra maintains to the coda. It’s a credit
to Stillman and his writing's universal appeal that it can be played in both the trio and orchestral setting and still communicate the intended immersion into nature theme so effectively despite two distinct approaches.
The third composition that is played on both albums is “Fowlkes,”
a dedication to the spirit of the now passed trombone ace Curtis Fowlkes. On Seer,
the trio opens with Taborn and Morgan setting the stage for this slow-paced
ballad. Stillman’s alto is warm and respectful. Morgan has an
impressively buoyant bass solo before Stillman’s alto spells out his melody in
conjunction with his bandmates. Stillman’s creates circuitous lines that
flow flexibly, as Taborn’s introspective pianistic solo adds another dimension. Just a beautiful composition
and performance by this intuitive trio.
On the album with the
Odense Jazz Orchestra meets Loren Stillman, the music opens with
a brilliant arrangement that utilizes all the seventeen colors available to bring
this music to life. The orchestra seems to revel in their ability to create
such a beautiful tapestry of sounds upon which Stillman’s majestic saxophone
can play his moving dedication. The trombone section includes soloist Anders
Ringgaard, section players Stefan Ringive, Mikkel Asgaard and John Kristensen and all add notably on this one. The altoist’s solo is particularly emotive, radiant and
heartfelt. The multi-section interplay is inventive and majestic. The orchestra
makes this one their own, a true delight and a testament to how successful this
record confirms how international collaboration can add another element to
making modern jazz more expansive.
The alum Seer has much more to offer including “Chez Hanny,” “First Paradise,” the title cut “Seer,” “Mayday,” “Folk Song” and” Victory Laps” all additional Stillman compositions. On Odense Jazz Orchestrameets Loren Stillman, the remaining songs are “Buffalo,” “Like A Magic Kiss,” and “Dervish,” again all Stillman compositions injected by this Danish juggernauts energetic arrangements.
All of this beautiful music from Loren Stillman is well worth multiple listens, There is no doubt
there is something on these two albums that should please even the most
discerning listener. These two great albums offer the best of two worlds. the splendid vibrancy of excellent orchestration and the intimate symbiosis of a fine tuned trio.