The Many Facets of Bassist Martin Wind on his latest: " Light Blue"

Martin Wind Light Blue  Laika Records

Martin Wind is a classically trained bassist with impeccable tone and a polished arco technique. Consequently he has become an  in-demand sideman and sought after musical collaborator. His credits include his duo work with  guitar great Philip Catherine and current collaborations with fellow German and long time friend, guitarist Ulf Meyer. He is a member of the trios of vocalists Dena DeRosa and Anne Hampton Callaway; a member of the trios of pianists Bill Cunliffe, Ted Rosenthal, and Bill Mays  and a member of drummer Matt Wilson’s Arts and  Crafts Group. Wind has been a first-call session musician whose work can be heard on several films and if that wasn't enough he is educator on the faculty of both NYU and Hofstra Universities.

With all that work as a sideman, educator and collaborator, its hard to imagine him finding the time to both compose and lead his own group, but that’s exactly what this industrious bassist has done. His last album was an ambitious undertaking that re-imagined the work of Bill Evans. Titled Bring Out the Stars, the album featured Wind’s own quartet in concert with the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana and was a joyous feast of sound.

On Wind’s latest release LightBlue, the bassist is joined by a stellar cast musicians including the clarinetist Anat Cohen, the multi-reed artist Scott Robinson, the trumpeter Ingrid Jensen,  the pianists Bill Cunliffe and Gary Versace, the vocalist Maucha Adnet and the drummers Matt Wilson and Duduka Fonseca. 

LightBlue is a revealing look into the versatility of this accomplished bassist and in the compositional inventiveness department it is anything but light. We are treated to ten original Wind compositions that show just how far he has come since his days of  studying composition and performance with such luminaries as Mike Richmond, Jim McNeely, Kenny Werner and Mike Holober.

The record is divided into two groups, the first half of the album, the more adventurous and daring of the two, utilizes keyboard artist Gary Versace, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, Scott Robinson on tenor, alto, taragota (A Hungarian instrument similar to a soprano saxophone but made of wood)  and bass saxophones, and drummer Matt Wilson, with clarinetist Cohen playing on just one cut. The second half of the album features Wind's more  Brazilian influenced, lyrical side. This lineup included clarinetist Cohen, Robinson on tenor, alto, bass saxophone and clarinet, pianist Bill Cunliffe, drummer Duduka Fonseca and the vocalist Maucha Adnet. Each side has its own distinct merits. 

The range of diversity in these compositions is quite impressive. Whether it be the opening bars of “While I’m Still Here,” with Versace’s wonderful cinematic sounding organ, or the raucous but jubilant “Power Chords,” with Wind’s rumbling bowing and Robinson’s bellowing bass saxophone solo creating a driving, almost metal-inspired sound, there is something here for almost anyone.

On his composition  “Rose,” the delightfully evocative taragota work of Scott Robinson is otherworldly and when played together with Jensen’s clarion trumpet, the group attains an admirable symbiosis.  Wind’s booming bass keeps the metronomic time whilevVersace dances intuitively between piano and organ. The music just cries out to be listened to, absorbed and enjoyed.

“Ten Minute Song” is a jaunty swinger that features the versatile Robinson’s wonderful bass saxophone work over Wilson’s shuffling brush strokes and Wind’s walking bass lines. A jabbing piano solo by Versace leads to a wispy Jensen trumpet solo and a reply by Cohen’s buoyant clarinet. Wilson offers his own playful solo before the group returns to a unified conclusion.

The often cold and dreary month “February” is represented here by a brooding ballad. Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen makes the most of the mood with a moving solo. Wind’s pizzicato intonation is remarkably precise and projects beautifully on his emotional solo. Versace’s tinkling piano musings  at the coda adds to the perfect ending.

Side two transitions into a more lyrical theme with the folk-inspired, “Genius and A Saint." Here the music features some of the best woodwind interplay I’ve heard in ages. The ubiquitous Cohen is a marvel on her instrument, but Robinson is an underappreciated master of the clarinet and he finds his harmonic groove in a graceful exchange with Cohen that can only be described as pure magic.

Brazilian vocalist Maucha Adnet lends her bossa authenticity to sing Wind’s breezy “Seven Steps to Rio.” Robinson creates a marvelous Getz-ian tenor sound clearly in the spirit of the master’s work with Jobim before putting his own spin on his solo. Cohen’s clarinet rises to new heights as Fonseca’s animated drums add some percussive accents to this catchy tune.

“A Sad Story” finds Wind’s emotive arco-playing merging with Cohens’s soulful clarinet opening this aching lament. Adnet’s voice is charged with the sorrow and regret that the lyrics portray.

“De Norte A Sul” (From North to South) finds Wind and Fonseca laying down a samba inspired beat and features darting solos by Cohen, a soulful vocal by Adnet and an inspired solo by pianist Bill Cunliffe.

Wind rediscovered this closing melody, “Longing,” while researching material for this album. Cohen’s signature woody sound floats over the changes in graceful communion with the backing rhythm. Wind’s bass is again featured on a pizzicato solo that is accompanied by Fonseca’s ever so light touch on his cymbal and by Cunliffe’s thoughtful chording. Adnet’s vocal stylings are splendid.

"Anat Cohen & Fred Hersch Live In Healdsburg": Simply Sublime

Anat Cohen & Fred Hersch Live in  Healdsburg  Anzic Records ANZ 0061

The clarinet is an instrument that harkens back to the early days of Dixieland, later becoming a prominent vehicle of expression in the swing era. Names like Barney Bigard, Sidney Bechet, Artie Shaw, Buddy DeFranco, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Bob Wilber and the king of swing Benny Goodman all brought the clarinet to the forefront of jazz in their respective eras. The instrument saw a resurgence in the hands of innovators like Jimmy Giuffre, Eric Dolphy, Ken Peplowski and Eddie Daniels in later years. These artists all have one thing in common, they are all men.

Today the preeminent practitioner of this wooden instrument is a petite Israeli woman named Anat Cohen. Not only has Cohen almost single-handedly resurrected an interest in this marvelously expressive instrument, she has shown that in the right hands the clarinet can be both modern and versatile. With Cohen the clarinet can more than hold its own as a dominant voice on the present-day jazz bandstand.  Her remarkable virtuosity and creativity have been duly recognized with her two recent Grammy nominations.

The pianist Fred Hersch has been long considered one of the most sensitive of players in jazz. He is said to play with a great romanticism, employing a superb touch. His deep immersion into what he is playing is often manifested by his expressive physical movements while playing, showing the depth of his  emotional connection to the music. The now sixty-two-year-old Hersch has a storied history, having shared the stage with icons like Art Farmer, Charlie Haden, Joe Henderson and Toots Thielemans to name just a few. He has had working trios under his own name since 1985 and has been nominated twelve times for a  Grammy award for his work.

Fred Hersch and Anat Cohen (photo credit unknown)

It is a rare treat when you get a chance to hear two such accomplished and nuanced musicians work together in a live setting. Hersch is no stranger to the duet format. In 1997 he recorded The Duo Album which featured a series of duets with Jim Hall, Kenny Barron, Lee Konitz, Tom Harrell, Gary Burton, Tommy Flanagan, Joe Lovano, Dianna Krall and Janis Siegel. But it is one thing to perform a single song as a duet and a whole different endeavor to record an entire album with another artist and no supporting rhythm section. The communication has got to be flawless and the intuition nearly telepathic. With Anat Cohen and Fred Hersch live in Healdsburg, which was released March 9, 2018 on Anzic Records, the two seemed to have accomplished this feat in spades.

The album was superbly recorded by Steve Moon at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg, CA on June 11, 2016. The music is simply sublime. The compositions covered included Hersch’s “A Lark,” “ Child’s Song,” and “Lee’s Dream,” Cohen’s “The Purple Piece,” and four classics,  Strayhorn’s “Isfahan,” Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” Waller’s “ “Jitterbug Waltz,” and Jimmy Rowles “The Peacocks.” The chemistry these two have is just combustible in a very positive way. Hersch is generally the lead off batter in this ball game with Cohen adding her considerable technique and aplomb in exquisite counterpoint.

On the opener “A Lark,” Hersch creates a, crystalline intro before Cohen sails onto the scene like the songbird in flight floating on thermals. The two have more than a conversation, their instruments embrace like two dancers in perfect unison; two bodies merging into one, no longer separated by space or time. The effect is quite moving, never a note out of place, never a swerve or misstep.

The two repeat this empathetic embrace throughout the program, dancing, swirling, playfully challenging each other, interchanging ideas in the moment, using the melodies of the songs as mere armatures upon which to spin magical interludes, to create unexpected conversations. Hersch’s piano is delicate, melodic and gorgeous.  Cohen’s clarinet is mellow, fluttering and warm-toned with moments of burnished luster. The audience is quietly enraptured, reverential to the art, it’s presence only made aware by a spontaneous eruption of applause at the end of each selection.

My favorite selections include the aforementioned “A Lark,” Cohen’s movingly played “The Purple Piece,” a jaunty rendition of Strayhorn’s “Isfahan” which Cohen plays with marvelous tonal purity and a lingering vibrato.

I’m particularly fond of Jimmy Rowles” The Peacocks” which maybe the tour de force of expression on this album. The two find the haunting song a wellspring of inspiration. Hersch with his delicately dancing notes and magically light touch and Cohen with her resonantly long lingering lines.  She shows her prodigious technique slurring with exquisite precision, hanging notes in the dense air like  deliciously ripened grapes off a vine. She exploits the hollow wooden timbre of her instrument to great effect.  The mood these two set is like walking you through an enchanted forest.

Fats Waller “Jitterbug Waltz” is delightfully playful. Hersch and Cohen obviously enjoy themselves reveling in the endless possibilities this spirited song can elicit. The two tease you with a little minuet of notes finding inventive ways to reimagine the Waller melody.

The program ends with a slow moody rendering of Ellington’s “Mood Indigo” with Cohen showing her most sensitive side, taking on the role that Barney Bigard invented with Ellington.

With a musical repertoire that should please anyone, Anat Cohen and Fred Hersch Live in Healdsburg is a musical masterpiece that will be enjoyed for the ages.