Having greatly enjoyed the music on bassist Michael Janisch’s recent solo release “Purpose Built” plus a superb live performance in Fishguard by his quintet I was particularly keen to see this performance in Cardiff with a different line up.

The Transatlantic Collective is an aggregation of ocean hopping European and American musicians. Janisch himself has a foot in both camps, hailing from Wisconsin but now living in London. Alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius is from San Antonio, Texas but is now based in new York City and the European contingent consists of pianist Kristjan Randalu from Estonia and drummer Paul Wiltgen from Luxembourg, both of whom have worked in the US, plus the UK’s own Quentin Collins on trumpet and flugelhorn.

The Transatlantic Collective is a more democratic outfit than the “Purpose Built” band with each member bringing something to the compositional table. More obviously rooted in bebop and hard bop initial impressions are that the Collective is also more of a “blowing” band but a listen to the band’s 2008 album “Traveling Song” released on Alan Barnes’ Woodville record label reveals some sophisticated writing from all members of the group.

The band’s Cardiff performance was their first gig as a unit for some six months but any collective rustiness was soon brushed aside in two sets that gained in authority as the evening progressed. The group opened up with Cornelius’ “Turns Out”, also the opening tune of the “Traveling Song” album.
With a hard bop “Blue Note” feel the piece was opened by Randalu on solo piano before the rest of the group came in to play the head. The pianist also took the first solo followed by Collins on trumpet, Cornelius on alto and finally Janisch on bass. Randalu was the only player totally new to me- I’d either seen the others before or heard them on record- but his playing was a revelation. Dazzling and exuberant and possessed of enormous technical ability he made a memorable contribution to the evening with some bravura solos.

Next came a version of Cole Porter’s “It’s Alright With Me” imaginatively arranged by drummer Wiltgen and also featuring on the album. Re-harmonised and given a vaguely bluesy feeling the piece featured solos from Randalu and Cornelius with the saxophonist now really getting into it after a tedious flight from New York which involved a change in Boston- plus the journey from Heathrow to Cardiff tacked on at the end. Ah, the joys of a musician’s life. The tune also featured a drum feature for Wiltgen, soloing over the repeated horn phrases of Cornelius and Collins.

Next came “Traveling Song” itself, a beautifully lyrical tune from the pen of the multi talented Wiltgen. A bass and piano intro led into a statement of the theme from the horns followed by solos from Randalu and Cornelius with the saxophonist also engaging in some wonderful dialogue with Collins. Wiltgen’s tune has a particularly memorable melody and a genuine cinematic quality as befits it’s title. I think it’s fair to say that this piece was one of the highlights of the evening.

The first set closed with “Maybe Steps” a new composition from Cornelius and a tune that seems to follow on from his piece “Minor Steps” on the “Traveling Song” album. Solos from Collins and Cornelius were followed by an amazingly dexterous solo from Janisch above the groove created by Wiltgen’s drums and Randalu’s dampened piano strings. A further alto solo plus a statement from Randalu were followed by a reprise from Janisch even more astonishing than the first. The bassist has an enormous tone that gives any band tremendous propulsion but he is also an inventive and highly accomplished soloist. Finally the band played the head taking everyone, band and audience alike, breathless and exhilarated into the break.

The second half began more quietly with Cornelius’ lovely ballad “Brother Gabriel” with Collins showing the lyrical side of his playing with a velvety solo on flugel. Randalu also revealed the gentler side of his musical personality and Cornelius’ keening alto was also in keeping with the overall mood of the piece. Cornelius plays with some of New York’s finest musicians and this site will be taking a look at his solo album “Lucid Dream” at some point in the near future.

Collins is best known as a fiery, hard hitting trumpet player in the hard bop mode, qualities he brought to bear on his own “Tu Mas” an enjoyable blowing piece that featured effervescent solos from himself on trumpet, Cornelius on alto and Randalu on piano.

Another beautiful Wiltgen tune opened with a delicate duet for alto and piano before the band came in to state the theme. Randalu also featured further with an appropriately delicate piano solo.

Finally came another Cornelius tune, as yet unrecorded. “Shiver Song” in fact raised the temperature with every member of the band featuring as a soloist on another tasty hard bop inspired confection. Cornelius went first, followed by Collins on trumpet, Randalu on piano, Janisch on bass and finally Wiltgen at the drums.

This band of band leaders is an exciting prospect live and the album “Traveling Song” stands up well to repeated listening and contains some memorable compositions. Most of the nine tracks were included in tonight’s performance but the album also includes the first recorded version of Janisch’s “Precisely Now”, another incarnation of which opens “Purpose Built”. The Transatlantic Collective’s version features the mercurial horns of Collins and Cornelius both solo and in tandem with Randalu’s piano replacing the vibes of Jim Hart on the later version. Inspired by the writing methods of Dave Holland this is obviously a piece Janisch is particularly fond of and rightly so.

The other piece not played or alluded to tonight is the closing “New Blues”, the spirited Cornelius tune that closes the album. A classic blues inspired by the hard bop era it acts as the framework for powerful solos from Cornelius, Randalu and Janisch.

Both the album and the group’s live performances are to be recommended and the Jazzmann will be looking at the solo projects of Collins, Cornelius and Randalu in due course. Anything else involving Janisch is almost certain to be interesting too. Go to http://www.thetransatlanticcollective.com for more information.

Tonights performance was well attended and warmly received. Janisch’s previous Dempseys appearance a couple of months ago with the “Purpose Built” band had encouraged audiences to return for the new line up. The presence of a number of students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama helped to swell the numbers and it was good to see jazz reaching out to this younger constituency. Dempsey’s continue to do a fine job of promoting jazz in the city in these difficult economic times and the programme is always adventurous with a good mix of local and national bands. Janisch’s sometime colleague Jim hart was due in the next night leading his band Gemini. Go to http://www.jazzatdempseys.org.uk or www.myspace.com/dempseysjazz for more information on forthcoming performances.   

     

       

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