Search - Pago Libre :: Stepping Out

Will this fabulous disc finally achieve for them the recogni

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 05/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Probably not.



But that shouldn't keep you from checking them out.



John Wolf Brennan, the Irish/Swiss piano genius and iconoclast, has always been someone to pay attention to. With twenty or thirty discs under his own name, he has certainly established an oeuvre of considerable weight, if not popular recognition.



It seems to me he's on the verge of a breakout. Maybe this latest incarnation of that great band, Pago Libre, will provide the vehicle for lasting, and long deserved, recognition.



Realistically, that's a long shot. But there's no reason why it couldn't happen. All the ingredients are here: Entirely accessible tunes; spectacular group interaction; casual mastery of instrumentation by all involved (Brennan, piano, arcopiano, pizzicatopiano, and melodica; Tscho Theissing, viola and voice; Arkady Shilkloper, horn, flugelhorn, alphorn; and George Breinschmid, bass and voice); and a kind of flowing, dancing vibe only encountered in the greatest recorded sessions.



I've always considered Brennan the leader of this group: He usually has the plurality of songs (four here, as well as being credited on two group improvisations); his playing often makes the strongest impression; and his broad musical sensibility anchors this group in its particular (and peculiar) folk-jazz-New Music vocabulary.



Nothing about this spectacular recording belies that assessment, save, perhaps, the huge impression newcomer Georg Breinschmid on bass (replacing the inimitable Daniele Patumi) makes. But if there were any questions about who's gig this really is, they're answered, most forcefully, on the third cut into this disc, Arkady Shilkloper's powerful "Intrada." Brennan's fabulous intro, combined with his mesmeric pianistic grounding of this very attractive tune, mark him as The Man. Which is not to say that the other members of this entirely interactive and democratic group don't stamp the proceedings with their own inimitable imprint: Tscho Theissing's viola solo astounds, and when Breinschmid unleashes his bass statements, big time magic ensues. I was skeptical about anyone replacing Patumi, but this guy has monster chops as well as an uncannily centered tone and improv abilities into the stratosphere. Shilkloper makes that most awkward instrument, the French horn, go places and produce musical statements never before heard, and his solo on the next tune (by Theissing) simply must be heard to be believed.



Listen. This is a band long overdue for recognition as one of the very top outfits on the jazz horizon. With this studio recording, they have more than proved their collective brilliance even as they spin out musical stories of great warmth and accessibility. Except for The Distance by Monder, Gestrin, and van der Schyff, and Bobby Previte's The Coalition of the Willing, this is my favorite jazz disc of the year, and it often lands on the number one spot, depending on what mood I'm in.



In any case, this is absolute must-hear music."