Sana Naganao

Amalia Umeda Quartet
Nowoświt
No label No #

Now that the violin has finally been accepted as a contributing solo instrument in Jazz and FreeImprov, diverse four-string realizations have displaced any novelty factor. Pole Amalia Umeda and American Sana Naganao for instance bring contrasting approaches to these sessions with the only congruence that they’re both playing creative music

Nowoświt is directed towards a traditional Jazz session. Umeda, who has won several prizes for her skills and has played with the likes of Maciej Obara, composed all the music on the disc. Her playing is integrated alongside contributions from a regular rhythm section, pianist Franciszek Raczkowski, bassist Michał Aftyka and drummer Michał Szeligowski, who are younger professionals as well. Naganao on the other hand, whose experience encompasses the VEER Quartet and the Go: Organic Orchestra, plays seven group improvisations. Unlike the younger Polish players her New York associates are veterans, pianist/vibraphonist Karl Berger and drummer/percussionist Billy Martin.

Umeda’s individual contribution is that frequently she’s hum-scats wordlessly in tandem with her violin strokes. Besides providing a distinct identity, this adds another texture to the band’s expositions. This is particularly notable on a track like “Węże” where her voice and fiddle harmonize at a slower pace while the others skip forward  at an allegro tempo. Otherwise most of the tracks unroll as relaxed swing, usually straightforward and in a straight line. Bass string buzzes and drum tattoos add needed heft to the narratives. Raczkowski also gets space to asset himself, especially on “Echoism” and “Młynarsis”. On the first his tinkling keyboard stretches complement Umeda’s stately string slides. On the latter singular key refractions turn to chiming piano patterns, so that as he digs deeper into the text, vocal-string harmony stretches string lines out further, with the piece climaxing with sweetened group textures. Although Aftyka usually plays pizzicato, sometimes he’ll unsheathe his bow long enough to meet Umeda’s arco work with similar strokes from the highest pitches of his string set. With the performances sometimes listing awfully close to over sweetening, they invariably avoid that because of the pulse provided by the bassist and drummer. Climax of the radio broadcast where this music first aired, the final “Modlitwa includes a sul ponticello exchange between Umeda and Aftyka, which evolves into brief stops from the violinist matched with adagio plinks from the pianist. Combing soundboard echoes and thick double bass thumps for a darkened crescendo, the narrative rasps to an elevated conclusion with high-pitched fiddle notes.

Umeda’s harmonized scatting was added to her improvisations and Nagano performs a similar action with her four strings by sometimes augmenting its output with FX. That gives her more textures to brush up against those from the two instruments of the other players. Not that the improvisations are set up as challenges. The three are in sync from “Timeless Eyes”, the first track, where the violinist’s double and triple stopping fits appropriately between chiming piano chording and drum clunks. This concern for linear movement as well as free expression permeates the rest of the disc. That means if say, Nagano screeches out whiny tones from the top of her instrument’s range or bears down on the lowest near-viola-pitched strings, Berger and Martin create the proper response. And the same pattern exist if one of the others begins the cumulative interface. A notable instance is “Zoomies”, which swiftly advances from an introduction of relaxed, intermittent piano chording and drum pitter-patting to a dramatic fiddle display. Combining voltage processed squeaks and torque with the acoustic violin’s output, Nagano constructs a jagged cascade of breaks, jerks and slides. Moving from accompaniment to partnership, the pianist and drummer soon join the strings to create a harmonized but contrapuntal swing sequence. Eventually piano pauses and drum bangs pull back to reveal a stripped-down line as sharp and focused as it was at the top. Berger’s piano work which varies from chord pounding to isolated plinks depending on whether the situation calls for prodding or comping, displays another identity on vibes. “Tears” includes harder reverberations from the metal bars coupled with claps and ruffs from Martin and viola-pitched riffs from Nagano, culminating with vibe variations that push the fiddler’s strokes down from squealing territory. While FX  allows the violinist to add heft to those interludes when she pulses tones in the fiddle’s highest registers or sweeps into its woody basement tones, her skillful acoustic improvising can stand on its own. Facing cowbell echoes, bass drum pressure and elevated keyboard clips on “Planet Kintsugi” for example, her straight-ahead string stropping adds swing and shape to the interaction.

Overall Naganao, Berger and Martin establish how quickly committed improvisers can fuse into a responsive unit for notable sounds. The Polish quartet demonstrates the same qualities in a more formal manner.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Nowoświt: 1.Po drugiej stronie snu 2. Mikstura 3. Atonal 4. Lament 5. Węże 6. Trzy rozdziały o pewnym słomianym uczuciu 7. Podans 8. Echoism 9. Młynarsis 10. Modlitwa

Personnel: Nowoświt: Amalia Umeda (violin); Franciszek Raczkowski (piano); Michał Aftyka (bass) and Michał Szeligowski (drums)

Track Listing: Anime: 1. Timeless Eyes 2. Apocalypso 3. Planet Kintsugi 4. Tears 5. Siamese World 6. Zoomies 7. The Empty Ocean

Personnel: Anime: Sana Nagano (violin and FX); Karl Berger (piano and vibraphone) and Billy Martin (drums and percussion)