Elan Mehler • Renee Said Newvelle Records NV038
Renee Said is part of the Newvelle Ten Collection, a five-album series celebrating Newvelle Record’s tenth anniversary. It represents Elan Mehler’s fifth appearance on piano for the label he co-founded with Jean-Christophe Morisseau in 2016. A year later, he made his first appearance on the label, in a quintet, on Piano Noir. From 2020, If There Are Mountains is his collaboration with trumpeter Dave Douglas. The next year saw the release of the digital-file-only Kimbrough, a compilation of various ensembles in celebration of the writing of Frank Kimbrough. A year after that came a trio album, There Is A Dance. And now, sitting proudly on my turntable, is Renee Said -- Mehler with sextet. This album collects seven Mehler originals, along with one composition each from Paul Motian and Frank Kimbrough. The title track and album opener is ruminative, introspective, dark, and complex. Mehler’s piano carries on a conversation with Ben Monder’s guitar. Then Loren Stillman’s alto sax enters the conversation, joined shortly thereafter by Scott Robinson’s barely there tenor sax. The complex interplay is mesmerizing, the ending coming too soon. Paul Motian’s “Byablue” gets a spontaneously improvised ensemble treatment without ever losing its blues roots. You won’t be sashaying across the ballroom floor to “Dani’s Fortress,” but your ears will be stroked with lovely sounds from each member of the group. The theme of “White Clouds Dark Sky” is held together by Monder’s liquid guitar tapestry upon which the saxes dance. “Wolf Orchard” is beautiful beyond description, Mehler’s piano joined by guitar and twin saxes to eventually explode in a cluster of melodious tones. On side two, “Yonder Waters” returns to a more traditional song-like structure with the alto sax stating a melody that is soon overtaken by the guitar, lifting it from the conventional and transporting it into an abstract realm where the two voices find common ground. The breathless opening of Frank Kimbrough’s “Quickening” mimics its name, as the players soon enter in a relaxed exposition of said theme, ultimately evolving into a burst of melodious sound that ends rather abruptly. “The Violence of Reason” features the tenor sax of Scott Robinson in a rowdy, shouting, blues-based stroll down ominous, sinewy paths. The album’s closer, “Tilt,” is Elan Mehler's most classically inspired piece in the set. The line drawn between jazz and contemporary classical music is stretched thin here, as free writing and unencumbered playing are given voice. Shortly after receiving this album for review, I got news that Elan Mehler and Chad Kassem, founder and CEO of retailer/distributor Acoustic Sounds, have entered into a partnership. This arrangement makes the Newvelle Records catalogue of dozens of audiophile-quality jazz titles available through the large, comprehensive reservoir of “all things audiophile” Acoustic Sounds. Information about future Newvelle Records releases and details about the recordings and artists will continue to be available through its website. With engineering and mixing by Marc Urselli and mastering by the seemingly ubiquitous Matthew Lutthans, excellent sound is assured. And, with the vinyl pressed at Quality Record Pressings, you are assured a flat LP with whisper-quiet surfaces. A sturdy tip-on gatefold jacket, courtesy of Stoughton Printing, and artwork by Ragnar Kjartansson complete the top-shelf presentation. “This is the record I am most proud of,” Mehler
says of Renee Said. “What a gift to be able to work with these musicians in
this setting. What life they bring to this music.” Indeed, and the listener is
musically and sonically rewarded. |
ver the years,
I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing several Newvelle Records releases, including 