51年目を迎えたECMから今年一押しの超カッコいい作品が登場!

イスラエル出身のカリスマ・トランぺッター、アヴィシャイ・コーエンの6年前から始めたイスラエルで育った仲間のバンド、Big ViciousがECMデビュー。

昔からの仲間が集まり、新しいマテリアルを新しいスタイルで演奏した、最も今の時代を反映した音楽。

「みんなジャズ出身だが、もう卒業した人も中にはいる」とアヴィシャイ。「みんなが自分のバックグラウンドを持ち合い、それらのパートがそろってバンドのサウンドとなる。」とも話す。エレクトロニカ、アンビエント・ミュージック、サイケデリアも要素となっているパート、そしてロックやポップス、トリップ・ホップのグルーヴ、ビートも重なる。

コーエンのオリジナル、バンドの共作曲、MASSIVE ATTACKの伊大ヒット"TEARDROP"、さらにベートーヴェンまで取り組んでいるその選曲もセンスを極めたジャズ・ファンのみならず全音楽ファンの心に刺さる強力作品! 南フランスのLa Buissonneスタジオで2019年8月に録音。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2020/02/10）

On his fourth date for ECM, trumpeter Avishai Cohen leads a band he formed with friends after returning to Israel in 2013. The electro-acoustic ensemble includes guitarists Uzi Ramirez and Yonatan Albalak (also on electric bass) and drummers Aviv Cohen and Ziv Ravitz (who also did the live studio sampling); they deliver a program of nine originals and two covers. It is easily the most accessible album of Cohens career thus far, in that it will likely appeal to listeners not normally drawn to jazz. There are several reasons for this. First is that Cohens writing is songlike. The melodies are often hummable and there are many different stylistic forays into psychedelic rock, R&B and funk, Hebrew folk, and sound system electronica. It was cut over three days at Studios La Buissonne in France and produced by Manfred Eicher. Opener Honey Fountain commences with a sonar ping followed by a bassline and a skeletal double-time shuffle as Cohen enters with a lithe, flowing midtempo ballad and the electric guitars commingle behind him with atmospheric slide and airy fingerpicking. Though Hidden Chamber reveals some trumpet abstraction, it quickly evolves into a somber processional with staggered, shimmering guitars, a wave of ambient electronica, and whispering cymbals framing a mournful melody. The lyric line is carried even as the tunes intensity ramps up with rumbling basslines and sine-wave synths, all without losing the somber martial flavor. King Kutner is a rock tune with bluesy lead guitar and a popping bassline framed by snare breaks and a punchy kick drum. Its chorus nods directly at Hearts Crazy on You before Cohen enters to take it afield before falling in line. Beethovens Moonlight Sonata is a complete reinvention, although it remains recognizable. The guitars are used impressionistically: one plays flamenco lines around Cohens horn on the melody, and the other creates an open harmonic system as the snare holds down a basic beat with few embellishments. The other cover is Massive Attacks Teardrop. Its reverbed drums and treated guitars flit across the foreground weightlessly as the bassline, synths, and samples find room to hover in the margin. Cohens harmonic articulation of Liz Frasers lyric line is a revelation: At its root, its eerily similar to Traffics Dear Mr. Fantasy. The kick drums and tom-toms assume a dubwise flavor, adding heft to the sparse six-string embellishments before the tune travels off into trip-hop land and then returns with more complex textural dimensions. The Things You Tell Me is a hooky, Bill Frisell-esque Americana tune that slips in a quote from the intro to Blue Oyster Cults Dont Fear the Reaper. This Time Is Different is bumping, swinging, jazz-funk with great soloing from Cohen. Teno Neno emerges from mid-70s soul with whammy-bar guitars, space, and a melody that resonates like a seductive love song. This band is one to keep an eye on if you have catholic tastes. Big Vicious wanders freely between its many influences to emerge with a compelling identity of its own. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi