Beat Degeneration
SSC1103 2002-10-01
Track List
Little Blue Man - 8:27
Trio Imitation - 13:20
Yump - 6:18
Guru - 10:56
Voncify The Emulyans - 5:59
Melodies Of 2002 - 9:28
Beat Degeneration - 4:56
Musicians
Kenny Werner - piano
Johannes Weidenmueller - bass
Ari Hoenig - drums
Recorded Live at the Sunside Club in Paris, November 23,24,25, 2000
I like to invite the audience into the space and then lock all the doors. It really turns me on to play for people, play with their heads, with their hearts, all to a good end result, I hope.
We recorded three nights, three sets a night. We had so many great moments. At the Sunset (now named The Sunside) in Paris, we feel at home, we feel loved, and we feel respected. And people come to hear us play! I am proud to have done our first trio recordings at this club. -Kenny Werner
Reviews
Werner has worked with musicians such as Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Mel Lewis, Rufus Reid, Ray Drummond, Jaki Byard, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, John Abercrombie, Tom Harrell and Chico Freeman and has recorded CDs as a leader for Concord, Sunnyside and other labels.Hoenig is a talented and energetic young drummer from Philadelphia, and Weidenmuller is an agile bassist.
As for the new CD, "Trio Imitation" is a beautiful, ballad-like piece that starts with solo piano and develops intertwining melodies and features a bass solo against tight playing from piano and drums, while "Yump" is a swinging tune that has a wild drum solo over the bassist's full toned playing.
By way of comparison, I wanted to note that the lyrical playing on "Voncity the Emulyans" is somewhat reminiscent of pianist John Taylor's playing on his moody ECM trio recordings with drummer Peter Erskine. Likewise, the hymn-like piece "Guru" has a baroque-sounding start on the piano, followed by quiet entrances from the bass and then the drums; after a while, Werner starts playing a drone that reminds me of some of Keith Jarrett's work.
Throughout the album, Werner has a very nice touch and good left hand dexterity. Werner composed all the tunes on the new CD, but all three musicians are fully part of the music. For Werner, a piano trio is not just a bassist and drummer accompanying a pianist, but "three musicians with their own creative urges"�and that's what we have here with this very together trio.
Alan Lankin
