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Tierney
Sutton Band
American Road
BFM JAZZ 302062408
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This signals a new maturity
for Tierney Sutton, a
gifted singer. She achieves
a new level of interpretation
and conceptualization
that, up to now, she has
only visited. A range of
musical Americana—from 19th Century folk
songs to George Gershwin to Harold Arlen &
Yip Harburg to Leonard Bernstein & Stephen
Sondheim to Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller—is
well chosen. Singer and band work hand-inglove:
the rhythm section gives her room but
also support, an arrangement that works both
ways.
Sutton’s luminous alto has seldom sounded
so pure. The wordless introduction to “The
Water Is Wide” has a little surface sheen, via
engineer Andy Waterman’s discreet echo.
Her held notes, with an equally subtle vibrato,
hang in the air like suspended globes. The
final note of the lyric (“…like morning deeewwww…”)
stretches beyond what sounds possible.
It’s a technical feat, overshadowed by the
heartfelt reading. Throughout, Sutton lets the
songs shine.
Voice and instruments redesign the tunes.
“On Broadway” uses a spare, rhythmic vamp,
with Christian Jacob’s piano gently playing
against her or fleshing out
her reharmonizations. The
group changes the rhythm
under the steadfast voice
on “My Man’s Gone.” An
ominous vamp on “Ain’t
Necessarily So” offsets
Sutton at her worldly best,
channeling the song’s originator—John
Bubbles—in
a clever way. She unleashes
a scat section, mercifully
short, and therefore effective.
The breathtaking note manipulation at the
close of “Summertime” is a brief surprise that,
in lesser hands, could have been a gimmick.
Like the Judy Collins’ late-’60s recordings
for Elektra, Sutton makes folk songs into art
songs. “Amazing Grace” is a masterpiece,
sidestepping predictable crescendos for lowkey
sincerity. Jacob’s tangy piano solo over her
wordless melody is a gem.
All band members share arranging credit,
speaking of a unity of purpose. The meditative
“America The Beautiful” brings a lump to the
throat, with Sutton and Jacob melding to the
greater vision of the song. It’s a quiet but powerful
way to end a very special collection.
—Kirk Silsbee
American Road: Wayfaring Stranger; Oh Shenandoah/The Water
is Wide; On Broadway; Amazing Grace; It Ain’t Necessarily So;
Summertime; My Man’s Gone Now; Tenderly; The Eagle and Me;
Somewhere; Something’s Coming/Cool; America the Beautiful.
(54:01)
Personnel: Tierney Sutton, vcl; Christian Jacob, piano; Kevin Axt,
contrabass, electric bass; Trey Henry, contrabass, electric bass;
Ray Brinker, drums, percussion.
Ordering info: bfmjazz.com
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Wolfert
Brederode Quartet
Post Scriptum
ECM 2184
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There’s an attractive rain-onwindowpane
quality to Dutch
pianist Wolfert Brederode’s
international band, a sense of
grey chill gazed upon from a
warmer vantage. The quartet’s
second release, following 2006’s Currents,
builds on their debut’s fragile elegance but with
a more fluid grace.
Brederode enters “Meander,” the opening
track, cautiously, as if stepping out onto a frozen
river before gaining the confidence to glide
across it. It’s clarinetist Claudio Puntin who
provides the figure eights, however, spiraling
his way through the leader’s rich harmonies.
“Angelico” follows with bassist Mats Eilertsen
bowing delicate channels through the pianist’s
tidally pulsing eighth-notes.
The two versions of Brederode’s title track,
originally penned for a theatrical production,
demonstrate the quartet’s sonic breadth. The
first seems to insinuate itself into the ear with
a held-breath stealth, constantly threatening
to dissipate before gathering
into shape once again.
“Post Scriptum, var.”
draws its nervous energy
from Eilertsen’s ominous
opening bass line, maintaining
an unnerving suspense
throughout with
Samuel Rohrer’s skittering
percussion.
Despite the gauzy
beauty of the album, the
quartet maintains a steely backbone that keeps
the music’s edges from fading out of focus.
That tension comes from a pervasive feeling
of ascetic restraint, as if each gesture and
impulse is held back until absolutely necessary.
Rohrer’s “Hybrids” abstracts that notion
into isolated shards, making Puntin’s delayed
entrance a welcome relief in the contrast of his
clarinet’s smooth contours. Throughout the
band demonstrates that deep interaction and
bold austerity are not mutually exclusive.
—Shaun Brady
Post Scriptum: Meander; Angelico; November; Post Scriptum;
Hybrids; Inner Dance; Aceh; Post Scriptum, var.; Brun; Sofja; Augenblick
in der Garderobe des Sommers; Silver Cloud; Wall View;
Silver Cloud, var. (66:28)
Personnel: Wolfert Brederode, piano; Claudio Puntin, clarinets;
Mats Eilertsen, bass; Samuel Rohrer, drums.
Ordering info: ecmrecords.com
86 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011