Russ Lossing Archive

Lena BLOCH & Feathery: Heart Knows – Fresh Sounds New Talent 

Lena BLOCH & Feathery: Heart Knows – Fresh Sounds New Talent 

Lena BLOCH & Feathery: Heart Knows – Fresh Sounds New Talent 531, 70:31 (9/25/17) ****½ : (Lena Bloch – tenor sax/ Cameron Brown – bass/ Russ Lossing – piano/ Billy Mintz – drums) Collective improvisations in a low-key Lee Konitz inspired linear concept approach quartet. I was listening to a recent release  from Denmark the other day in my accustomed attitude of skeptical but alert scrutiny. I was not feeling especially susceptible to emotional revelations, especially given the mood of placid contemplation evoked by the redundant cerebral noodling of two guitars (Jakob Bro and Bill Frisell) and the curious offbeat messing around on the kit (Paul Motian). All the more surprising, that I nearly burst into tears at the entry of an alto sax that played no more than half a dozen notes, each one delivered with a hesitation, an exploratory uncertainty, a tender-but-wobbly intonation. However, there was so much feeling in these notes that it amounted to a small revelation. It raised the old question of whether musical tone is a representation of human feeling, but of a kind so precise as to slip through the wide net of language.  Five more notes, at least one badly muffed, and […]