One of the finest gigs I’ve seen all year was given by bassist Michael Janisch leading his all star Anglo American group through the music featured on this, his début solo recording. The show (from the Aber Jazz & Blues Festival in Fishguard) is reviewed at http://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/michael-janisch-live-theatr-gwaun-fishguard-31-08-2009/ and was the first date of a lengthy and highly successful UK tour. 

Janisch is an expatriate American now domiciled in London but he has quickly established himself as a hugely important figure on the UK jazz scene with dozens of sideman credits. “Purpose Built” also reveals Janisch to be a forceful group leader and a talented composer. The personnel is a mix of UK and US musicians with the Brits including Jim Hart (vibes), Paul Booth (tenor sax) and Phil Robson (guitar). The American contingent comprises of Jason Palmer (trumpet), Walter Smith III (tenor sax), Patrick Cornelius (alto sax), Mike Moreno (guitar) Aaron Goldberg (piano) and Jonathan Blake (drums). Hart, Booth and Palmer all featured on the recent tour alongside Janisch and star guest drummer Clarence Penn.

“Purpose Built” the album doesn’t disappoint. The material comprises of eight Janisch originals alongside four distinctive re-workings of celebrated jazz compositions and standards. The style is rooted in bebop with Janisch’s muscular bass at the heart of the arrangements and pushing his talented team to impressive heights.

Recorded in New York the album commences with “Precisely Now” a Janisch original inspired by the writing methods of Dave Holland. Appropriately Janisch’s bass is the first voice we hear underpinning the twin tenors of Booth and Smith and the vibes of Hart. Janisch’s huge tone is a constant throughout the album whether interacting with the other musicians or simply driving them forward. On this knotty, twisting opener the two horns go head to head and there’s some characteristically dazzling playing from the impressive Hart. 

Janisch deploys a different line up on virtually every track but this doesn’t detract from the coherence of the record. “Purpose Built” is a major artistic statement and clearly a labour of love for Janisch. The charming “Adelante” is based around a nagging horn phrase played by Palmer and Booth. Mike Moreno’s guitar solo is cool and elegant and rides the subtly funky undertow of Janisch’s electric bass and Blake’s subtly inventive drumming. This proved a highly popular item at Fishguard with Hart taking on the role of principal soloist.

The first outside item the standard “Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing” finds Janisch back on acoustic bass and working in a piano trio format. Janisch’s imaginative arrangement brings the best out of pianist Aaron Goldberg. The tune may seem an unlikely choice but Janisch’s arrangement is inventive and wholly convincing.

“Shumshi” brings Hart back into the picture teaming the vibraphonist with powerful tenorist Smith. In a piece inspired by the writing of another of Janisch’s bass heroes the late, great Charles Mingus both feature strongly with Smith’s powerful ,blues tinged tenor particularly impressive. Janisch and Blake provide a formidable rhythmic impetus on this high energy workout. The title comes from Janisch’s favourite Korean food.

Janisch and alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius re-imagine Miles Davis’ “Milestones” in the company of Hart and guitarist Phil Robson. Most of the old bop virtues are kept in place and there’s a stunning acoustic bass solo from Janisch who demonstrates an astonishing dexterity on the instrument to go with his enormous power. Cornelius is no less impressive on lithe, slippery alto and Robson gives a reminder of his impeccable bebop credentials.
“Serenade of the Seas” is more impressionistic with Booth’s haunting tenor and Hart’s shimmering vibes. Janisch’s deep, rich bass growl and Blake’s subtle but restlessly inventive drumming add greatly to the atmosphere which retains a strong cinematic quality throughout.

The jaunty and quirky “Pukl-n-Pappo”  is a dedication to two eccentric musicians Janisch used to work with. Palmer’s mercurial trumpeting takes the honours here dancing above a dense rhythmic undertow created by Janisch, Blake and Moreno. The latter gets to solo too, contributing some quicksilver, bop inspired guitar and there’s a typically forceful bass passage from Janisch himself. Great fun.

“Sofa Stomp” adds Smith to the line up and the two horns combine well on another tricky but accessible Janisch chart. Moreno’s relaxed solo is also highly impressive.
The title of “Lost Creek”  harks back to Janisch’s Wisconsin childhood. The bassist looked set for a career in American Football but his sports scholarship was cut short by injury and he turned to music instead studying at the famous Berklee College in Boston. The NFL’s loss and jazz’s gain I think. “Lost Creek” has something of the “open country” feel of a Pat Metheny tune but with more of a boppish flavour. Robson’s fluid guitar combines well with Goldberg’s delicately swinging piano over a loping beat supplied by Janisch and Blake, the album’s only constants.

A trio arrangement of Billy Strayhorn’s classic “Blood Count” reveals Janisch’s more serious side. The slow brooding arrangement features the impressive Goldberg on piano with wonderfully sympathetic support from Janisch and Blake. In it’s own quiet way this is one of the album’s stand out tracks and certainly the one that displays the greatest emotional depth.
“Beep”, a dedication to Janisch’s father David, is the kind of frenetic bop inspired workout it’s title might suggest. Three horns are featured here (Smith, Cornelius, Palmer) and all deliver pithy, fiery solos with Palmer particularly dazzling. The brilliant young vibes man Hart is also featured delivering an effervescent solo on an instrument borrowed from the great Joe Locke. 
The closing “Moment’s Notice”,originally written by John Coltrane and arranged here by Janisch, might be considered a bit of an indulgence since it gives Janisch the opportunity to play out his Jaco Pastorius fantasies on the electric bass with only Blake for company. However the sheer musicality of the piece soon renders any such criticisms superfluous. Janisch is just full of ideas and the piece is fascinating rather than boring. Blake is a superb foil, as he is throughout the album, and the truth is that Janisch doesn’t actually sound very much like Pastorius at all. “Purpose Built” is the sound of a musician finding his own voice and finding it brilliantly.
With it’s absorbing compositions, intriguing arrangements and brilliant playing this is one of the most enjoyable albums of 2009. Both the British and American musicians come out of this recording with great credit- and from the feedback I’ve received the accompanying tour was also a triumph. With Anglo American collaborations becoming increasingly common this is an exciting time for jazz despite the indifference of the mainstream media. Janisch is an important catalyst in building these bridges and it is to be hoped that his star continues to rise. With “Purpose Built” he has made a hugely impressive beginning.

blog comments powered by Disqus