Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Lena Bloch & Feathery: Heart Knows

7

Lena Bloch & Feathery: Heart Knows

By

Sign in to view read count
Lena Bloch & Feathery: Heart Knows
Lena Bloch mocks the "sophomore jinx" myth with her second CD release, Heart Knows. The tenor saxophonist's debut, Feathery, drew a good deal of well-deserved praise. With her saxophone intertwined with a responsive guitar/bass/drums rhythm section, Bloch paid tribute—in part—to pianist Lennie Tristano, via her relationship with alto saxophonist Lee Lee Konitz. On Heart Knows, Bloch moves along in the same loose groove, adding at times some flexible Middle-Eastern motifs, and stretching her own compositional skills to the highest limits, having penned four of the eight tunes on the disc.

The set kicks off with the twelve minute "Lateef Suite," drawing inspiration from another of Bloch's mentors, Yusef Lateef. Like almost all of Bloch's music, there is a sense of mystery, of slinking through the dark streets on this extended novella, and it introduces the guitar's replacement in her quartet, the piano of Russ Lossing. On Feathery, Dave Millar's guitar gave the sound a crisp, metallic tang, lending a sense of modernity to the music. Lossing's piano injects a warmth, a heightened improvisational melodicism, and a quirky individualism that makes the experience sound timeless. The story of the"Lateef Suite" is one of two narrators—Bloch and Lossing—taking turns laying down what sound like elusive but profound truths inside the understated hosannas of drummer Billy Mintz and bassist Cameron Brown.

Heart Knows is an unwaveringly cohesive set. Pianist Lossing wrote half the eight tunes here. He and Bloch seem be of like musical minds. Lossing's "French Twist," clocks in at near thirteen minutes. Like all the music here, it seems like a story, labyrinthine and elastic. It also sounds as sad as can be, not unlike—in mood—the heartbreaking Gordon Jenkins' standard, "Goodbye." Indeed, it feels like someone saying goodbye, for good, through a gauze of lingering love.

The odd, flexible, bone-deep gorgeousness of the two extended pieces—"Lateef Suite" and "French Twist"—is stunning. Twenty-five minutes of beauty that's easy to get stuck on. There's a sense that these were conceived as more compact experiences that grew in length out of the sympatico and improvisational acumen of the quartet. Apart from these two near masterpieces, there's another forty-five minutes of first rate music on Heart Knows, all of it complex, compelling and beautiful, sounds of the highest quality and inspiration laid down by a premier jazz quartet.

Track Listing

Lateef Suite; Heart Knows; Three Treasures; French Twist; Esmeh; Counter Clockwise; Munir; Newfoundsong.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Heart Knows | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Fresh Sound New Talent

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.