TUNES: JEREMIAH SPEAKS/ A FIRST LAMENTATION/ A SECOND LAMENTATION/ JEREMIAH SPEAKS AGAIN/ ESTHER’S STORY/ A THIRD LAMENTATION/ JEREMIAH SPEAKS FURTHER/ JEREMIAH SPEAKS YET AGAIN/ A FOURTH LAMENTATION/ A FIFTH LAMENTATION/ JEREMIAH CONTINUES TO SPEAK/ ESTHER’S STORY CONTINUES; 52:08.

PERSONNEL: Andrew Sterman (ss), Bob Gluck (p, elec, sound collage), Elana Gordis, Hazzan Jack Kessler (voices); September 9, 2012, location not specified.

Composer/pianist Bob Gluck describes Tropelets as a “multi-layered, collaborative duet for piano, soprano saxophone and electronics.” Inspired by several sections of the Bible, and by Jewish cantorial singing, Gluck is interested in weaving together the worlds of modern jazz improvisation and what he describes as the “historical monophonic cantorial tradition.” Unfortunately, the largely graceless and inconclusive music that results commits the cardinal sin of being dull. Gluck and saxophonist Andrew Sterman mostly seem to be playing past one another, and not in a meaningful way, without really connecting. Sterman’s tone on soprano veers unpredictably from a nicely rounded sound to a more nasal and pinched approach that borders on the annoying. Gluck’s piano playing leans towards simple and mildly hypnotic riffs, often with plenty of space between them. Sometimes the style threatens to bring the music to a dead halt, as on the enervated “A second Lamentation.” The heavily processed and distorted voices of Elana Gordis and Hazzan Jack Kessler pop up now and again, but rather than illuminating the situation, the sheer mass of undifferentiated sound created by the massed vocal sounds almost erases everything else. There are brief flashes of what might have been, notably the rather muscular playing on“Jeremiah Continues to Speak.” For once, both players seem energized and they appear to be listening intently to one another to develop the performance with vitality and rigor. Too bad that it’s the one exception on this otherwise disappointing recording.

                                                                                                                                     Stuart Kremsky
www.electricsongs.com
CD review from Volume 41, No. 2, 2015 
www.cadencemagazine.com

CD REVIEW: NEW RELEASE

 

ARTIST: BOB GLUCK/ANDREW STERMAN
TITLE: TROPELETS
LABEL: ICTUS 173