Fans of the fabulous pianist Lucian Ban and
baritone saxman Alex Harding will rejoice that this dynamic
duo is back, leading a quintet on Premonition. Joining them on this date are Erik
Torrente on alto sax, bassist Chris Dahlgren and
drummer Damion Reid. Ban did yeoman work on this
disc, writing or co-writing all of the songs, doing the
arrangements, and playing some damned fine piano
along the way.
The disc opens with "Harmology," an up-tempo
tune with a Monk-like structure. Harding's solo turn is
typically passionate and inventive, punctuated by his
trademark wails on the baritone sax, which
vacillate between elephantine and equine shouts.
Torrente, playing on his first recording date, weaves a
fluent solo seamlessly in Harding's wake, stating his
ideas carefully, tentatively at first, letting the rhythm
section get out in front of him while he works things
out, then catching up to them in an harmonic flurry.
Ban plays a brief solo, then Reid and Dahlgren strut
their stuff before everyone comes together to restate
the theme and take the tune out.
"Serenade for Andrew" finds Torrente leading off
with an intricate, more confident solo. Ban follows
with an ardent solo, his ideas building in intensity as
the bass and drums spur and drive him. Amidst this
contemplative setting, Harding comes along and
proceeds to politely blow the whole thing away.
Dahlgren contributes a nice plucked solo before the
tune is taken out. "At Last" is a tender, melancholy
ballad on which Harding manages to mute himself -
somewhat. Even here, his power will not be denied.
Dahlgren plucks another good solo and Torrente plays
the blues. The band swings for the fences on the title
cut. The tune begins with an eloquent intro, with Ban
dancing on the piano, after which the rest of the band
falls in for the theme. Harding and Torrente have a
brief, potent horn dialogue and once it ends, there's a
moment of calm before the rhythm section states its
case.
The epic "Mutiny" begins with several seconds of
silence, then the sound of Harding breathing into his
sax as Ban percolates beneath him, along with
Dahlgren’s ominous bowed line. The effect is one of
disagreement, discord, trouble brewing. The tension
builds with Harding becoming more and more
strident, growling audibly between notes; Dahlgren
protesting on his bass, and Ban's ruminating on the
keys signifies that the natives are getting restless. The
tension subsides, and Ban plays the chords of the
theme, everyone joins in, and the mutiny begins in
earnest.
Harding is a robust and eloquent spokesman,
but Torrente makes some excellent points as well in
his solo, his best on the disc, outlining his ideas with
precision and clarity, and just as much passion.
Dahlgren brings a sense of calm to the proceedings
with a wonderful and dramatic bowed solo, not unlike
a voice of reason commenting from a distance. But his
voice soon echoes the chaos of the others; the mutiny
continues, and the high-pitched, squeaky, edgy notes
that follow indicate that the bass has been drawn in.
At the end, the mutiny is squelched. The tune that
follows, the ballad "Chakra," provides perfect
counterpoint to the "Mutiny." It's a haunting ballad
that features nice solos by everyone, perfectly
measured phrases and harmonies played at just the
right pitch.
The disc ends with the frenetic Ornette Coleman-tinged
"Collision Theory." The band swings hard,
racing to the finish line. Torrente leads off with a deft,
rich solo replete with ideas, then runs side by side
with Harding for a few measures, with Ban
frenetically racing along too. Reid takes his only solo
of the session, and he wails away as though he was
waiting in the high grass for just this opportunity.
Outside of the excellent performances, what
really puts Premonition over the top are the bare bones,
the "live" feel of the recording procedures at CIMP.
Although this CD was recorded in a studio, it has the
sound, feel and energy of a live performance. It's
almost like the engineer, Marc Rusch, is a sixth
member of the quintet.
Ban and Harding recently played an excellent duo
set at Barbés in Brooklyn and a full quintet set at the
Cornelia Street Café. If they continue to transfer the
energy they found in the studio to a live setting – and
there's no reason to think they wouldn't be – audiences
are in for true magic.
This review originally appeared in
All About Jazz-New York.
~ Terrell Holmes
