Vince Mendoza – Blauklang – ACT Music & Vision

by | Sep 3, 2008 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Vince Mendoza – Blauklang – ACT Music & Vision ACT 9465-2, 63:36 ***:

(Vince Mendoza: conductor; Nguyén Lè: Guitar; Markus Stockhausen: Trumpet; Lars Danielsson: Bass; Peter Erskine: Drums; WDR Big Band — Claudio Puntin, Steffen Schorn: Clarinet, Saxophone; Frank Sackenheim: Saxophone; Arkady Shilkloper: French Horn; Jon Sass: Tuba; Ulla Van Daelen: Harp; Christopher Dell: Vibraphone; String Quartet RED URG 4)

Composer/arranger Vince Mendoza performs a homage to the many facets of blue on his latest release. Blauklang means “blue sound”, and in this instance the wording refers to the aggregated and aesthetic relationship between Mendoza’s music and German artist Ernst Wilhelm Nay, specifically a Nay painting which inspired Mendoza’s mood music which permeates Blauklang’s 11 tracks.

Blauklang starts with a somber, discrete interpretation of Miles Davis’ famous “All Blues,” appropriately taken from his best-selling record, Kind of Blue. Mendoza treats the oft-covered tune as a tone poem, and as part of the overarching thesis that shapes the whole project. French guitarist Nguyén Lè leads the large ensemble, laying in filigreed soloing that echoes Pat Metheny’s lyricism. Drummer Peter Erskine (Weather Report) also adds some understated rhythmic flourishes.

Another fitting rendering is a quietly shifting take of Gil Evans’ “Blues for Pablo,” Evans’ tribute to Pablo Picasso. Mendoza seems to have been influenced by Evans’ imaginative frameworks that provided space for individual voices within intricate arrangements. Here, saxophone and guitar take the most engaging solo territory, although here as elsewhere, the improvisational elements remain strictly parallel to the scope of the arranger’s palette, staying firmly in place.

Less successful are a Mendoza original, “Habanera,” and a Catalonian folk song, “Lo Rossinyol.” While the orchestrations are evocative and suit the album’s blue-oriented theme, the textures are not as compelling or intriguing. Here Mendoza steps too closely to light pop music, an area Mendoza knows very well due to his work with Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell, and others. Unfortunately, the first four pieces are subdued, the acoustic instruments often given a soft edge, resulting in some subtleties being diminished in the mix.

The showpieces are “Ollie Mention” and the six-part “Bluesounds” suite, which was recorded live. “Ollie Mention,” another Mendoza composition, acts as a kind of prelude, its tonal quality setting the scene for the larger, cinematically tinged “Bluesounds.” While some of the writing in the 33-minute long “Bluesounds” is melancholy, there is also humor, verve, passion, and even a touch of light absurdity. The only problem here is a sometimes strident electric guitar and an occasional lack of variation in the early movements.

TrackList:
1 All Blues
2 Lo Rossinyol
3 Habanera
4 Blues For Pablo
5 Ollie Mention
6 Bluesounds Movement I
7 Bluesounds Movement II
8 Bluesounds Movement III
9 Bluesounds Movement IV
10 Bluesounds Movement V
11 Bluesounds Movement VI

— Doug Simpson
 

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