Jazz

The latest CD releases reviewed.

ANDY MARTIN/JAN LUNDGREN How About You Fresh Sound *****
Martin, whose trombone recalls the virtuosity and exuberant imagination of Frank Rosolino, and Lundgren, possibly the finest bop pianist now playing, spark each other on this splendid exploration

of The Great American Song Book; even the familiar emerges refreshed by their combustible combination. With Chuck Berghofer (bass) and Joe La Barbera (drums) locking a near-perfect rhythm section for this kind of music, Martin and Lundgren keep their statements pithy and to the point, leaving you wanting more. Producer Dick Bank, who, with writer Alun Morgan, lavished extraordinary care on the superb booklet, includes some almost forgotten jewels in Carnival, Moon Ray, Why Shouldn't I?, Tabú and A New Town Is a Blue Town. Is mainstream passé? Not when it's done this brilliantly. www.freshsoundrecords.com Ray Comiskey

Download tracks: Carnival, Moon Ray

This reissue of a 1999 quintet session finds Pieranunzi leading a quintet of mostly Dutch jazzmen; Bert Joris (trumpet/flugelhorn), Stefano d'Anna (soprano/tenor), Hein Van de Geyn (bass) and Hans van Oosterhout (drums). As composer and arranger, the pianist is in firm control. The compositions, so redolent of Italianate grace and charm, are his. Each performance amounts

to a carefully judged assembly of voices, both in the writing and in the brevity and variety of the solo spots, themselves allocated with a keen sense of contrast, colour and drama. Pieranunzi is the strongest soloist, but Joris and d'Anna are lyrical players well suited to operating spontaneously within the confines laid down by him. Ray Comiskey

Download tracks: With My Heart in a Song, Hindsight

PAT METHENY/BRAD MEHLDAU Metheny Mehldau Quartet Nonesuch*****

This second meeting between Metheny and Mehldau is striking for the seamless way Metheny's guitar fits into the intimacy of the Mehldau-Grenadier- Ballard trio. As with their first collaboration, no impediments are admitted to the marriage of these particular true minds. It's not just a matter of respectfully staying out of each other's way harmonically, or avoiding duplications of register;

it's more how they can inhabit and elaborate on each other's thoughts. In a programme of arresting originals by the leaders, their solos often seem like chapters in the same unfolding story, especially in the finest performances here; the haunting Towards The Light and Secret Beach, the nostalgic Long Before and the lyrical unity of a gorgeous Silent Movie. Sheer beauty. Ray Comiskey

Download tracks: Secret Beach, Silent Movie