What Is The Beautiful?

Jazz | Dec 2011

Reviews

Fo
Reviewed 2011-12-18
CLAUDIA QUINTET+1: What is the Beautiful?
Cuneiform, 2011

MODERN JAZZ / SPOKEN WORD – Drummer John Hollenbeck’s forward-thinking ensemble takes on the poetry of Kenneth Patchen, adding hip vocals from Kurt Elling and the ethereal voice of Theo Bleckmann to their unique chamber-jazz mix. This is art music that can be hot or frosty, jarring or funny, but always runs deep. FCC clean.

Fo’s Picks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8

1. 9:11 – cool spoken intro; rolling groove, meandering solos; 2nd poem at end
2. 8:06 – dreamy… floating vocal over soft spirals, gentle solos drift lazily
3. 8:02 – instrumental: speechlike lines weave through chilly abstract spaces
4. 5:13 – the bare outlines of a hip groove, surreal but humorous spoken word
5. 5:27 – music wraps very closely around gentle sing-song vocal, flies away
6. 3:55 – instrumental: jumbled, percolating improv, all on top of each other
7. 6:58 – an excellent poem: music shadows ardent recitation, then it darkens
8. 3:56 – whispered vocal, careful feel, hushed and delicate
9. 2:09 – instrumental: rolling drum rhythm gives it a traveling sound
10. 5:00 – about a lynching: dark, slow and deliberate over pulsing bass
11. 4:53 – stark solo piano, filtered vocal is barely audible under it
12. 5:20 – strange slurred vocal, slow and surreal: a hallucinatory dream

[ Fo ] - December 2011

Recent airplay

The Snow Is Deep On The Ground
No Cover, No MinimumFeb 24, 2012
Showtime / 23rd Street Runs Into Heaven
No Cover, No MinimumFeb 17, 2012
Do Me That Love
RebopFeb 14, 2012
Job
RebopFeb 07, 2012
Showtime / 23rd Street Runs Into Heaven
No Cover, No MinimumJan 20, 2012
The Snow Is Deep On The Ground
RebopJan 17, 2012

Charting

2011-12-18 — 2012-02-19 Jazz
Week EndingAirplays
Feb 19 2
Feb 12 1
Jan 22 2
Jan 15 2
Jan 8 3
Dec 25 1

Track listing

1. Showtime / 23rd Street Runs Into Heaven
2. The Snow Is Deep On The Ground
3. Mates For Life
4. Job
5. Do Me That Love
6. Flock
7. What Is The Beautiful?
8. Beautiful You Are
9. Peace Of Green
10. The Bloodhounds
11. Limpidity Of Silences
12. Opening The Window