Chord Four – California Avant Garde – [TrackList follows] – Self-released, 54:15 [5/3/19] ****:
(Andrew Conrad – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Brandon Sherman – trumpet; Emilio Terranova – acoustic bass; Colin Woodford – drums, melodica, mixer, co-engineer)
There is deep communication and simpatico which comes into fruition on Chord Four’s self-issued sophomore release, the 54-minute California Avant Garde. That’s to be expected. Tenor saxophonist Andrew Conrad (who also uses bass clarinet), trumpeter Brandon Sherman, bassist Emilio Terranova and drummer Colin Woodford (also melodica, mixing and co-engineer) have been performing for a decade. The four met as students at Santa Clarita’s California Institute of the Arts (or CalArts), where they found they had a common assortment of contrasting influences and a mutual musical resolve. Conrad recalls, “The first time we played together, we realized how connected we all were musically and improvisationally. It was apparent that this was a fun combination and a really freeing group. We all feel like we can do whatever we want to do and act on what we each hear.” The 13-track California Avant Garde comes more than eight years after the quartet’s self-titled debut. In the interim, the foursome released digital EPs, videos, and played many live gigs. All that work has paid off with the challenging and modern original compositions which fill California Avant Garde: four by Woodford, three from Sherman, four by Conrad, one by Terranova and one piece has a group credit.
Chord Four members have studied music from Asia, Africa and Europe as well as American jazz. It’s all etched into the non-traditional material which permeates California Avant Garde, which includes brief solo pieces for each player, group tunes, and some which combine different instrumental configurations. Under-a-minute solo extrapolations act as guideposts, introductions or segues into the longer cuts, such as Woodford’s one-minute drums/percussion CD opener, Conrad’s dissonant, 52-second sax improvisation, Terranova’s 50-second free-jazz exploration and Sherman’s 55-second trumpet solo.
But it is the collective interplay which showcases the band’s prowess in contemporary creative music. Woodford’s six-minute “chairs and fangs” (Woodford’s titles do not use capitalization) has a swinging intonation brightened by Conrad’s warm tenor sax and the rhythm section’s brisk pacing. Woodford’s seven-minute “that vague lonesome” emphasizes a moodier, contemplative coordination between the two horns and the rhythm instruments. There are twists and turns during “that vague lonesome” but the group never lingers long in avant-garde territory, instead focusing on intricate but reliable melodic qualities. On the other hand, Woodford’s “brave potatoes” is energetic and expansive, where the arrangement stops dead in its tracks when Woodford shares melodica bursts. In fact, “brave potatoes” feels like a few tunes were melded together to form a larger musical tapestry, affording a diverse topology which includes bop influences alongside modernistic mannerisms.
Sherman is no slouch as a composer. His nearly five-minute “Sunny Warrior” contains a noticeable pulsing flow which pushes the group to supply rhythmic elements even via the horns. The album’s lengthiest tune is Sherman’s horror meets the high seas composition, “Vampirates,” which applies a slower, discretionary arrangement which neatly summarizes the quartet’s ability to turn on a dime or sustain a cadenced construction. “Vampirates” may never become the soundtrack for an indie supernatural oceanic film but it has a strong storytelling flair. Conrad’s six-minute “Heart to Port” also has an oceanic inspiration (maybe it’s the foursome’s closeness to the Pacific Ocean) but has a different demeanor highlighted by Conrad’s dimly-lit bass clarinet, which provides a noir-ish characteristic. “Heart to Port” is also notable for an ear-catching trumpet/sax dialogue. Conrad’s six-minute “Rememberer” is akin to a late-night reverie, an atmospheric and ambient musical landscape where memories, sepia-saturated nostalgia and a sensation of commemoration or recollection is replete. The album concludes on another gradually evolving Conrad track, the five-minute “Elevenses,” where the musical perspective is active but not overtly vigorous. The percussive undercurrent manages to slide away from expectations, but the trumpet and sax incline to maintain a straightforward melodic core, so that “Elevenses” is slightly askew but never over the edge. Chicago, New York City and other US locations tend to be considered hotspots for modern creative jazz, so it’s always great when an ensemble such as Chord Four reminds listeners the Southern California area also has imaginative players—from Vinny Golia to Alex Cline and many more—ready and able to stretch the boundaries.
TrackList:
Drums
Sunny Warrior
chairs and fangs
Saxophone
Heart to Port
that vague lonesome
Bass
Rememberer
brave potatoes
Trumpet
Vampirates
Trumpet, Saxophone, Bass, Drums
Elevenses
—Doug Simpson
