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Victor Gould: Clockwork
ByPianist Victor Gould's debut utilizes a variety of large gears, pinions, and regulators to help fashion his own ideas. You just never know who'll be standing in for which of those parts. The high-octane combination of Gould, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer E.J. Strickland is at the center of each scene, but they're joined, at different times, by a variety of other musicians and instrumentssaxophones, trumpet, flute, strings, and percussionwhich help to create an intricate sonic mesh and add a variety of tonal colors to the mix. It's heady modernistic jazz language and high art rolled into one.
The album opens on the title track, a bubbly Latin cauldron fired and forwarded by the aforementioned trio in cahoots with percussionist Pedrito Martinez. The pieces that follow"Room," a sunny yet contemplative work in three, and "Chaance," a mellow, strings-enhanced feature that puts the spotlight on Jeremy Pelt's flugelhorn and the composer's pianostand apart in mood and musical complexion, marking Gould as a composer of great ambition and skill.
While shifting focal points, different emotional tides, and the track-to-track addition and subtraction of musicians all allow the listener to indulge in a variety of musical worlds and fantasies, Gould's voice rings true in each and every one . He excels at every turn, regardless of where those turns may lead. He brilliantly works the beautiful-to-brooding range on the prelude to "Apostle John"; he shows patience and restraint over a throbbing base/bass on that tune proper, standing in stark contrast to the raw intensity that comes from his colleagues; and he delivers a scene-stealer statement full of daring and darting maneuvers on "Blue Dales." It's easy to see what his A-list employerstrumpeter Wallace Roney, drummer Ralph Peterson, and saxophonist Donald Harrison, among otherssee in Gould. He's got the musical world on a string, in his mind, and at his fingertips.
Track Listing
Clockwork; Room; Chaance; Clue Dales; The Return; Apostle John (Prelude); Apostle John; Sir Carter (Intro); Sir Carter; Nefertiti; Three Souls.
Personnel
Victor Gould
pianoVictor Gould: piano; Jeremy Pelt: trumpet (1-3, 6-8, 11); Godwin Louis: alto saxophone (1-3, 5-8, 11); Myron Walden: tenor saxophone (1-3, 6-8, 11); Anne Drummond: flute (3, 7); Ben Williams: bass (1-5, 7, 9-11); E.J. Strickland: drums (1-5, 7-11); Pedrito Martinez: percussion (1, 4, 7); Yoojin Park: violin (3, 6, 7); Heejin Chang: viola (3, 6, 7); Veronica Parrales: cello (3, 6, 7).
Album information
Title: Clockwork | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Fresh Sound New Talent