Search - Peter Erskine, Nguyen Le, Michel Benita :: Elb (Dig)

Simply a great band

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 01/31/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No one plays the guitar like Nguyen Le. What he sounds like to me is if one crossed the late, great Shawn Lane with Noel Akchote. I also hear a good bit of Nels Cline, something of Ben Monder, a bit of Amit Chatterjee, a soucon of Pat Metheny, and even the occasional Bill Frisell move. But in the last analysis, he's entirely his own man, and over the course of about 15 years of public performance he has developed a unique concept and voice. One thing that immediately sets him apart is a wonderful and mysterious oriental-sounding approach he often deploys, especially on his own tunes ("ZigZag," "Pong," "Sao Sen," and "Bee"), often combined with a prog-rock feel. Possessed of huge and uncanny technique (check out his tweaked harmonics on "Autumn Rose"), he has honed his chops to the point that there seems to be little he can't do.



I have four other discs by him as leader, but this one strikes me as by far his best, certainly a distinct move forward. Perhaps he's finally settled on his ultimate band; perhaps all those years performing and woodshedding have just enabled him to reach critical mass (similar to what has happened to Eric Alexander on Nightlife in Tokyo, the brilliant sax player's latest disc); I don't know.



But I do know something special is going down here. Actually, this isn't really Le's band; it's a guitar trio functioning as a complete democracy--which is entirely appropriate, given the three players' levels of accomplishment. Of the eleven tracks, Le wrote four, Peter Erskine (drums) wrote four, and Michel Benita (double-bass) wrote three. These are formidable musicians, each with vita that ranks them among the top echelon of players of their instrument. Each also displays a distinct and powerful musical personality, generally equal to Le's own amazingly strong and defined style. Still, it's hard for me to think of this as anything but Le's gig. I guess it's the uniqueness of his concept, the breadth of his tonal palette, and the intrigue and scope of his songs that make me think of it as his gig. His being the single lead instrument, at least in any traditional sense of the word, also tends to vault him onto center stage.



On the other hand, there's a real sense in which this trio is an entirely democratic endeavor. In a way not that dissimilar from the Bad Plus's approach, where a true democracy of intent and execution prevails, up to and including how the instruments are imagined and placed within the sound signature, this band goes for and achieves something comparable. Erskine, a drummer with a background that could hardly be more different than David King's (drummer for the Bad Plus), nevertheless manages to insert himself and his playing as aggressively into the sound mix as the latter. And Michel Benita has a huge bass sound, not unlike that of Reid Anderson (bassist for the Bad Plus), although, again, he sounds little like Anderson.



Recorded and engineered by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studios, Oslo, gives it the ECM-like clarity of presentation. And although Kongshaug's no Tchad Blake, he nevertheless achieves a sound signature that's every bit as distinctive and attractive as what Blake did for the Bad Plus, both in These Are the Vistas and Give.



In any case, this is a band to be reckoned with. And a recording of the highest distinction."

Advancing the guitar trio

THX1138b | NY USA | 04/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The previous review summed it up well. But I can't help chiming in. This is a democratic trio, but Le is certainly the attention getter. His style is so facile that I'm afraid he'll be seen as constantly in some one else's foot steps. To me he comes in some where between Frisell and Scofield (he can dial up that early Scofield tone with frightening ease). But that would be an unfair assessment. He has integrated much that has gone before him and made it his own. It's beautiful guitar work..



But this is not just the guitar and when you look past Le you realize why Erskine is the titular headliner. The drummer's vast experience and his restrained power give this music its depth and drive.



I wish I knew more about Benita. There is no room to hide in a trio. The bass has to stand up and be heard and Benita is doing some wonderful work here. Never overplaying, but bringing more force to the double bass than I've heard in quite a while without sacrificing that instrument's grace and nuance.



This will probably be filed in the jazz rack for lack of a better location. The roots are somewhere between fusion, prog rock and late 20th century jazz. Hendrix influence, yes. Le is a unique voice that brings Terje Rypdal to mind. Taken as a group there is a tap root back to power trios like John Abercrombie's Gateway (though Le and JA are miles apart)both in style, interplay and the level of musicianship. But these guys refine that tradition. Fair to say it represents a good step forward."

A total revelation

Olukayode Balogun | Leeds, England | 02/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd never heard of guitarist Nguyên Lê or bassist Michel Benita before but when I saw the (as always) excellently written review of this item by Jan P. "Longboard jazzer" Dennis (see below), my interest was sparked - primarily because I'm always on the lookout for stuff involving drummer Peter Erskine. One listen of the sound clips though and I just knew I had to have it.



Lê sounds like no one I've heard before yet he sounds like a number of people. It's a strange thing to behold but no matter whom you admire among the great contemporary jazz guitarists, be it Metheny, Scofield, Frisell, Abercrombie or Stern, I think you will like Lê. I certainly heard flashes of those folk here and there, but it was certainly no more than that; this dude certainly has his own sound. He plays more than one kind of guitar but apart from the electric and acoustic, my knowledge of guitars is not good enough to give any further details and there's nothing on the inner-sleeve notes.



One is very tempted to suggest that this album defies categorisation but it is jazz, I suppose. It's the best darn jazz I've heard in a while with some of the most intriguing guitar work I've EVER heard; it almost has a world music-like quality to it. Lê is Paris-born Vietnamese, Benita is Algerian and Erskine is American, which might go some way to explain that quality. The fact that the album was recorded in Oslo, Norway might also have something to do with it. Either way, the album (its title is derived from the three artiste's last names) is a total revelation.



I have no favourite song; each track is as enjoyably enigmatic as the next. Peter Erskine is his usual excellent "say more with less" self and while to my ears, most bass players tend to blend into the background in guitar trio formations, Michel Benita demands that he be paid attention to. His warm, strong and flexible tone, especially on the ballads, has a hypnotic quality to it that's delightful beyond words.



I'm very happy with this one. I listen to a lot of jazz radio and regularly buy jazz magazines but somehow I get the feeling that I would never have learned about this talent had it not been for Jan and his great review. I thank him.



Edit, dated 13th May 2008: I have to take back something I said at the top of the review. Of COURSE I'd heard of Lê before! He played on Vince Mendoza's epic 8-part 1994 album Sketches with Dave Liebman, Charlie Mariano, Peter Erskine, Dieter Ilg and the WDR Big Band - only one of my favourite albums ever! I'm such an idiot. My apologies. I'm still grateful to Jan though."