Search - Alan Broadbent :: Every Time I Think of You

Get it for autumn variations

Rob Hoff | Erie, PA USA | 09/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Broadbent has worked with strings before, but this is his highest achievement in that genre. More Tristano than Evans. More textured, complex, and surprising, especially upon repeated listenings. Autumn Variations alone is well worth the price of admission."

Starts in autumn and gets darker

rash67 | USA | 03/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I like Alan Broadbent's music a lot.



He is, more than anyone else, today's leading Bill Evan's type pianist/composer, with an often lyrical style. I also think he shows a lot of the lesser known, underrated, Al Haig, with his occational lightning-fast arpeggios that never break tempo. As is said elsewhere, Broadbent does a lot or arranging on other albums. He worked with Charlie Haden and the Quartet West doing a number of what I would call "filmscores without movies". see my list: "Jazz soundtracks for movies in your mind".



On this album is a Jazz trio with Brian Bromberg and Kendall Kay and the Tokyo Strings. So Broadbent and trio improvize the lead and the complex string parts are scored and arranged by him. The Jazz/Third Force classic "Focus", by another fav, Stan Getz, is discussed elsewhere and that is a good description of the type of arrangement that Broadbent has done herein. Most Jazz is easy to record, guys improvize while someone records. This, improvised and scored music together, is incredibly difficult to do.



There are, hmm, five Broadbent originals with the other standards, tho "Autumn Variation" is variations on standard "Autumn Leaves".



Brian Bromberg plays an acrobatic (wood) string bass, a lot of three note chords, without ever marring the performance by playing too loud, as he did on Broadbent's "Round Midnight". He's just great here, letting Broadbents music and arrangement stay in the spotlight. (see also "Wood") Kendall Kay's brushes do a very subtle job of empasis.



So, how does it sound? It didn't jump out at me at first hearing, as is said elsewhere. It, at first seemed a bit flatened, as compared with earlier efforts, but the more I listened, the more I liked it. Emotionally, the album starts wistful and gets sad and even tragic, in places. Lover Man, his paean to Billie Holliday gets very very dark and tragic. Very heartfelt stuff, esp the strings. The strings can build up some dark chords impossible to play just on the piano. On repeated listenings dark complex string chords are used throughout, getting darker and darker, but never dissonnant or "avant-garde". Very late night listening. Autumn Variations is maybe the most nearly upbeat song on the album! "Blue in Green", Bill Evans classic from "Kind of Blue" (no, not written by Miles Davis), is a lot more complex, sad and dark than Evans original.



As is said elsewhere, the more you listen the more you will find, esp in the strings, but be forwarned this is not like the more upbeat trios on Broadbents "Round Midnight" or "You and the Night and the Music". Serious stuff, emotional, bridging the lines between Jazz, Classical and filmscore. The best Jazz expresses true emotions. The album could use some variety in mood."