Stefano Bollani is an artist of ebullient virtuosity, with uncommon sensitivity and range. The Italian pianist has proved to be at home on ECM improvising solo or leading a trio, as well as engaging in duos with Enrico Rava, Chick Corea and Brazilian bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda. With Joy in Spite of Everything – an album of new compositions by the pianist for a trans-Atlantic quintet – Bollani has made his most beautifully textured and infectiously lyrical statement yet. He recorded these nine pieces at New York City’s Avatar Studios with the Danish rhythm section from his Stone in the Water trio – bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund – plus two prominent American players and ECM intimates: guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Mark Turner. As its title reflects, Joy in Spite of Everything brims with an indefatigable lightness of spirit despite the inevitable shadows of life.
Joy In Spite Of Everything
Stefano Bollani, Jesper Bodilsen, Morten Lund, Mark Turner, Bill Frisell
Stefano Bollani ist ein Musiker von übersprudelnder Virtuosität mit einer ungewöhnlichen Sensibilität und stilistischen Reichweite. Der Pianist aus Italien hat längst gezeigt, wie sehr er sich bei ECM künstlerisch zuhause fühlt, sowohl als improvisierender Solist wie als Leader eines Trios oder in Duos mit Enrico Rava, Chick Corea und dem brasilianischen Bandolim-Spieler Hamilton de Holanda. Mit Joy in Spite of Everything – einem Album aus neuen Eigenkompositionen für ein transatlantisch besetztes Quintett – gibt Bollani sein bisher am schönsten strukturiertes und lyrisch verlockendstes Statement ab. Er hat diese neun Stücke mit der dänischen Rhythmusgruppe seines Stone-in-the-Water-Trios – Bassist Jesper Bodilsen und Schlagzeuger Morten Lund – sowie zwei prominenten amerikanischen Musikern und langjährigen ECM-Vertrauten in den New Yorker Avatar Studios aufgenommen: Gitarrist Bill Frisell und Saxophonist Mark Turner. Wie der Albumtitel widerspiegelt, strotzt Joy in Spite of Everything vor unwiderstehlicher Leichtigkeit des Geistes, ungeachtet aller unvermeidlichen Schattenseiten des Lebens.
- 1Easy Healing
09:25 - 2No Pope No Party
08:08 - 3Alobar e Kudra
06:01 - 4Las hortensias
08:30 - 5Vale
12:20 - 6Teddy
07:07 - 7Ismene
08:47 - 8Tales From The Time Loop
09:36 - 9Joy In Spite Of Everything
05:57
Beginning with a Caribbean lilt to ‘Easy Healing’, Bill Frisell’s guitar finding tentative space as Mark Turner’s tenor saxophone glints within the summery theme, Bollani pulsing exuberantly as his comping darts in and out. With Bollani’s long-time colleagues double bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund completing the band, it’s an album of new compositions from the brilliant Italian recorded in June last year at Avatar in New York […] there’s plenty of intricate chordal improvisational resourcefulness to be found throughout this album. […] Bollani had never met Bill Frisell before this recording session, so there’s a sense of freshness in the band’s interplay on the accessible material […] A fine album that wins you over right from the start.
Stephen Graham, Marlbank
Er lasse sich vor allem von der Art inspirieren, wie seine Mitmusiker Klangräume gestalten, sagt Stefano Bollani. So seien seine beiden dänischen Triopartner Jesper Bodilsen und Morten Lund, mit denen er schon seit längerem zusammen auftritt, im gleichen Alter wie er selbst, sie seien mit derselben Musik aufgewachsen, haben die gleichen Platten gehört und hegen daher auch ganz ähnliche Vorstellungen von Musik. Das Zusammenspiel mit ihnen, schwärmt Bollani, sei sehr spontan und einfühlsam, ja geradezu telepathisch. Und daher passen auch die beiden Amerikaner, mit denen der Pianist sein Trio zum Quintett erweitert, so gut in das Klangbild. Da ist zum einen der Tenorsaxophonist Mark Turner; er pflegt einen naturbelassenen, aber nie zu spröden Ton; seine Phrasierung ist konventionsfern, keiner Schule zuzuordnen und läßt deshalb auch buchstäblich aufhorchen. Ganz ähnlich Bill Frisell: Der Gitarrist ist keiner von denen, die mit Geschwindigkeit verblüffen wollen, das gibt er auch unumwunden zu, sondern er gestaltet seine Linien sehr bewußt, geht neue harmonische Wege – und ist außerdem wohl der wundervollste Klanggestalter unter all seinen Instrumentalkollegen. All das und noch viel mehr macht ‚Joy In Spite Of Everything‘ zu einem der bemerkenswertesten Jazzalben des Jahres – und dieses ‚Mehr‘ kommt auch durch die wechselnden Instrumentierungen vom Duo über Trio- und Quartetteinspielungen bis eben zum vollständigen Quintett zustande.
Harald Rehmann, Deutschlandfunk
‘Joy in Spite of Everything’ says a lot about the kind of composer Bollani is and his experimental nature in the presentation of ideas. This collection plays to the strengths of the quintet primarily by not always viewing them in the context of that configuration. Bollani implements the full variety of group formations throughout and takes advantage of the impact of introducing either Turner or Frisell unexpectedly to an otherwise smaller setting. It's a winning effect, adding layers of complexity to very lyrical foundations. ‘Joy in Spite of Everything’ is a more a joy because of everything Bollani and company bring to the table.
Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz
When the Italian virtuoso Stefano Bollani plays piano, the word play applies in its widest senses, and the title of this fine transatlantic session (Americans Bill Frisell and Mark Turner augment Bollani’s Danish rhythm section) could hardly be a better description of his methods. […] Bollani’s vivacious soloing provides many of the highlights, never more so than in the quicksilver title track.
John Fordham, The Guardian
This new quintet album, one of the year’s most seductive jazz records, seals the deal in regard to Bollani’s charm. The pianist pinballs off his rhythm section on the flurry of lines that comprise the title track. Genial agitation is something he’s expert at, but the fluid touch at his command often brings a Bud Powell elegance to the fore when he shifts into high gear. The quintet he assembled here is remarkably pliable. Guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Mark Turner share the front line and bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund charge everything they touch.
Jim MacNie, Tone Audio
Es ist ein ungewöhnliches Quintett, das Stefano Bollani für diese Schallplatte zusammenstellte: Neben den beiden Dänen […] ist nicht nur Mark Turner dabei, sondern auch der der Gitarrist Bill Frisell. Ist das nicht ein wenig viel Harmonie für einen Saxofonisten, der alles selber kann? Der Eindruck täuscht. Eher schon bilden die fünf Musiker ein Kammerorchester mit sehr hohen Ambitionen: Frisells glockenreiner Ton, die Flageoletts und lang schwebenden Akkorde bilden einen deutlichen klanglichen Kontrast zu Mark Turners Staubtönen, und Stefano Bollani kostet viel weniger seine großen Fähigkeiten als Solist aus, als dass er , immer wieder auch im selben Stück, für kompositorische Überraschungen sorgt, gleichsam die Ohrenfenster aufreißt und den akustischen Raum weit werden lässt […] ‚Joy In Spite Of Everything‘ ist eines der schönsten Jazzalben der vergangenen Jahre.
Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Angesichts der unverändert tristen Weltlage mag ja orthodoxen Anhängern einer Ästhetik des Widerstands programmierte Freude als Frivolität erscheinen. Andersrum gesehen ist allerdings die Rettung von Schönheit an sich ein Akt des Widerstands, und an Schönheit entsteht jede Menge, wenn Bollani und sein Trio (die beiden Skandinavier Jesper Bodilsen und Morten Lund) auf den Tenorsaxofonisten Mark Turner und den Gitarristen Bill Frisell treffen. Nicht spannungslose Harmonie ist da gemeint, ‚Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen‘; vielmehr eine ziemlich explosive Art von Lebensfreude und eine immer wieder gebrochene, immer neu gefundene Art von Poesie.
Peter Rüedi, Die Weltwoche
‚Joy In Spite of Everything‘ ist eine der erfreulichsten Jazzplatten des Jahres – nicht trotz, sondern wegen all der vielen verschiedenen Einflüsse, aus denen Bollani einen durch und durch zeitgemäßen Jazzsound entstehen lässt.
Bernhard Jugel, Bayerischer Rundfunk
Ja, diese Platte atmet – ganz dem Albumtitel verpflichtet – pure Lebensfreude. Zunächst vordergründig, denn der einleitende Calypso ‚Easy Healing‘ tänzelt einfach herrlich fröhlich vor sich hin. Ab dem zweiten Titel allerdings ist die beschwingte Atmosphäre von ‚Joy In Spite Of Everything‘ eher immanent zu spüren. Erst das finale Titelstück trägt die Heiterkeit wieder offen vor sich her. Hier rasen die Finger des Pianisten Stefano Bollani virtuos und nahezu pausenlos über die Tasten, während er in den übrigen Titeln Lücken lässt, damit auch die Zwischenräume klingen können. Weich und romantisch ist sein Spiel, melodienreich und auch in scheinbar opulenten Passagen auf das Wesentliche konzentriert.
Werner Stiefele, Audio
Auf „Joy in Spite of Everything“, seiner ersten transatlantischen Session, bei der unter anderen Gitarrist Bill Frisell und Saxofonist Mark Turner dabei waren, tendiert der vielseitige Bollani erstaunlich stark zum Straight-ahead-Jazz. Das freudvolle Unisonospiel zwischen Piano und Gitarre fasziniert hier genauso wie jene Momente, in denen sich Bollani auf das impressionistische Terrain eines Bill Evans wagt.
Samir H. Köck, Die Presse
With its overarching lyricism and complimentary wittiness, expressed so personally by Bollani, Frisell, and Turner,’ Joy In Spite Of Everything’ is an inspired meeting that lives up to expectations, and a true, engrossing joy indeed.
Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen
Only the stoniest of hearts could resist the charm of ‘Easy Healing’, the opening track of this album from a dream transatlantic quintet, formed for the occasion from Stefano Bollani’s regular trio combined with two of the most individual voices from the other side of the pond: Mark Turner and Bill Frisell. The atmosphere is somewhere between the Caribbean and central Africa with Frisell sounding like he might be channelling the legendary Franco, dropping pretty phrases over Bollani’s muted, rock steady left hand stroking out a calypso. […] There are some extended pieces, ‘Vale’ and ‘Tales from the Time loop’ which give the full quintet opportunity to stretch out. Lund and Bodilsen get relatively few features, but they are breathing as one with Bollani and bring life and colour to the music throughout. The closing trio number, the title track ‘Joy In Spite Of Everything’, is a trademark Bollani tour de force, taken at break-neck tempo threatening to become blistering bop, now a samba, now hinting at a Kurt Weill like galloping cabaret. This album is a real treat.
Mike Collins, London Jazz News
It could be argued that Bollani is almost playing a game of contradictions, firstly in retaining the use of a trio that has played together as a unit, and then throwing into the mixture saxophonist Turner with whom he worked with before with drummer Paul Motian and Enrico Rava, and Bill Frisell who he had never even met prior to the recording session. Familiarity with the work of all concerned however has ensured that the original compositions that the pianist brought to the session were all conceived with the sound of each musician specifically in mind, both individually and collectively. This combined with the joy of playing, and in forging new musical relationships has resulted in an album of real quality. […] This wholly satisfying set concludes with just the trio with the dancing and unpredictable melody line of the title track, propelled most convincingly by Bodilsen and Lund accompanying the leader’s buoyant solo. All in all a diverse set of imaginative themes held cohesively together by Bollani in a manner that is full of surprises.
Nick Lea, Jazz Views
Stefano Bollani is an artist of ebullient virtuosity, with uncommon sensitivity and range. The Italian pianist has proved to be at home on ECM improvising solo or leading a trio, as well as engaging in duos with Enrico Rava, Chick Corea and Brazilian bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda. With Joy In Spite Of Everything – an album of new compositions by the pianist for a trans-Atlantic quintet – Bollani has made his most beautifully textured and infectiously lyrical statement yet. He recorded these nine pieces at New York City’s Avatar Studios with the Danish rhythm section heard on Stone In The Water – bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund – plus two prominent American players and ECM intimates: guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Mark Turner. As its title reflects, Joy In Spite Of Everything brims with an indefatigable lightness of spirit despite the inevitable shadows of life.
The New York Times reviewed a concert at Birdland by Bollani with Bodilsen and Lund just before they went into the studio with Frisell and Turner. Critic Ben Ratliff described Bollani’s quicksilver musical personality in a way that resonates with Joy In Spite Of Everything, calling his music-making “intensely alive” and adding: “You don’t have to watch him to know what kind of musician he is: puzzling, finessing, fast-thinking.” Previous reviews have noted the semblance of Bollani’s musical personality to the films of Fellini, with a mix of circus-like humor and bittersweet reflection. For his part, trumpeter Enrico Rava – father figure of Italian jazz and Bollani’s mentor and frequent colleague – has summed up the younger artist as “a real poet of the piano.”
The Guardian has noted that “Bollani loves tunes that sound sung,” and Joy In Spite Of Everything begins with a lilting, lyrical calypso for quintet, “Easy Healing,” that’s as contagious as anything he’s written. The album’s performance configurations range from quintet to quartet, trio and duo. Humor and melancholy are juxtaposed with two tracks for trio plus Turner: the faintly Monk-like “No Pope No Party” and the pensive ballad “Las Hortensias.” Occasional North African accents jostle with the overriding Latinate lyricism of the trio track “Alobar e Kudra,” while the album’s centerpiece is the 12-minute-plus quintet track “Vale,” which hovers like fog in the night.
Bollani insists that he wrote “Teddy” – a duo feature for the pianist and Frisell – with Teddy Wilson in mind, even if the style of the track didn’t end up sounding all that akin to the Swing-era keyboardist. “Ismene,” for trio plus guitar, has a lovely melody tailor-made for Frisell’s limpid way with a tune. “Tales From the Time Loop,” an expansive piece for quintet, brims with vamping rhythmic tension, though Bollani’s unspooling solos are a lyrical release. Yet Bollani’s imaginative attributes are often apparent on Joy In Spite Of Everything not just in his solos but in the way he adds subtle color and commentary to the solo passages of other players.
Bollani first got to know Bodilsen and Lund playing with Rava, going on to tour with them as a trio across Europe and in the U.S. He says about the rhythm section: “I like them both musically and personally. We are the same age. We listened to the same records; we grew up with the same kind of music, the same idea of music – very spontaneous, with a kind of empathetic, telepathic communication. Playing with them is special because we don’t need to talk so much about the music we are playing.”
As for Frisell, a veteran of myriad ECM albums in a career of ever-widening horizons, Bollani says: “Bill is not a ‘guitar player’ for me – he is a complete musician. I’m in love with the way he is playing and performing music without thinking about boundaries, about genres. He is not playing jazz music – he is playing the music. That’s what I like: this attempt to play different things each night, on each record. And, of course, I love his guitar sound.”
One of the most admired saxophonists of his generation, Mark Turner will soon debut as a leader on ECM with the quartet album Lathe Of Heaven, having recorded for the label in the trio Fly (with Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard) and on two albums led by Billy Hart. And Bollani previously played alongside Turner on Enrico Rava’s 2008 ECM album New York Days. “I love Mark’s sound because it’s very particular,” the pianist says. “A lot of saxophone players today, they are playing very well, but they sound like somebody else. Mark has a special voice, particular and unique.”
“I love to take my inspiration from musicians, thinking about their sounds,” Bollani says. “For example, there’s this way in Bill’s playing of using the empty holes, using the silence in the music, which inspired me. Jazz is full of people playing a lot of notes, cascades of notes, arpeggios and scales. Bill is special because he’s careful to use space. My first jazz teacher told me to be careful to hold back. Because many jazz pianists – including me, because I was a fan of Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum – have to take care to not fill in all the blanks. That’s why I’m in love with Ahmad Jamal, because he’s balances the music and the silence.”
No preconceptions was the rule for Joy In Spite Of Everything, as the album was made by a band brought together just for the session. “We went into the studio without all meeting each other,” Bollani explains. “I had never before met Bill, neither had Jesper and Morten. And Morten had never played with Mark. But that’s what I like about jazz music: You just go and you see what happens.”
The New York Times reviewed a concert at Birdland by Bollani with Bodilsen and Lund just before they went into the studio with Frisell and Turner. Critic Ben Ratliff described Bollani’s quicksilver musical personality in a way that resonates with Joy In Spite Of Everything, calling his music-making “intensely alive” and adding: “You don’t have to watch him to know what kind of musician he is: puzzling, finessing, fast-thinking.” Previous reviews have noted the semblance of Bollani’s musical personality to the films of Fellini, with a mix of circus-like humor and bittersweet reflection. For his part, trumpeter Enrico Rava – father figure of Italian jazz and Bollani’s mentor and frequent colleague – has summed up the younger artist as “a real poet of the piano.”
The Guardian has noted that “Bollani loves tunes that sound sung,” and Joy In Spite Of Everything begins with a lilting, lyrical calypso for quintet, “Easy Healing,” that’s as contagious as anything he’s written. The album’s performance configurations range from quintet to quartet, trio and duo. Humor and melancholy are juxtaposed with two tracks for trio plus Turner: the faintly Monk-like “No Pope No Party” and the pensive ballad “Las Hortensias.” Occasional North African accents jostle with the overriding Latinate lyricism of the trio track “Alobar e Kudra,” while the album’s centerpiece is the 12-minute-plus quintet track “Vale,” which hovers like fog in the night.
Bollani insists that he wrote “Teddy” – a duo feature for the pianist and Frisell – with Teddy Wilson in mind, even if the style of the track didn’t end up sounding all that akin to the Swing-era keyboardist. “Ismene,” for trio plus guitar, has a lovely melody tailor-made for Frisell’s limpid way with a tune. “Tales From the Time Loop,” an expansive piece for quintet, brims with vamping rhythmic tension, though Bollani’s unspooling solos are a lyrical release. Yet Bollani’s imaginative attributes are often apparent on Joy In Spite Of Everything not just in his solos but in the way he adds subtle color and commentary to the solo passages of other players.
Bollani first got to know Bodilsen and Lund playing with Rava, going on to tour with them as a trio across Europe and in the U.S. He says about the rhythm section: “I like them both musically and personally. We are the same age. We listened to the same records; we grew up with the same kind of music, the same idea of music – very spontaneous, with a kind of empathetic, telepathic communication. Playing with them is special because we don’t need to talk so much about the music we are playing.”
As for Frisell, a veteran of myriad ECM albums in a career of ever-widening horizons, Bollani says: “Bill is not a ‘guitar player’ for me – he is a complete musician. I’m in love with the way he is playing and performing music without thinking about boundaries, about genres. He is not playing jazz music – he is playing the music. That’s what I like: this attempt to play different things each night, on each record. And, of course, I love his guitar sound.”
One of the most admired saxophonists of his generation, Mark Turner will soon debut as a leader on ECM with the quartet album Lathe Of Heaven, having recorded for the label in the trio Fly (with Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard) and on two albums led by Billy Hart. And Bollani previously played alongside Turner on Enrico Rava’s 2008 ECM album New York Days. “I love Mark’s sound because it’s very particular,” the pianist says. “A lot of saxophone players today, they are playing very well, but they sound like somebody else. Mark has a special voice, particular and unique.”
“I love to take my inspiration from musicians, thinking about their sounds,” Bollani says. “For example, there’s this way in Bill’s playing of using the empty holes, using the silence in the music, which inspired me. Jazz is full of people playing a lot of notes, cascades of notes, arpeggios and scales. Bill is special because he’s careful to use space. My first jazz teacher told me to be careful to hold back. Because many jazz pianists – including me, because I was a fan of Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum – have to take care to not fill in all the blanks. That’s why I’m in love with Ahmad Jamal, because he’s balances the music and the silence.”
No preconceptions was the rule for Joy In Spite Of Everything, as the album was made by a band brought together just for the session. “We went into the studio without all meeting each other,” Bollani explains. “I had never before met Bill, neither had Jesper and Morten. And Morten had never played with Mark. But that’s what I like about jazz music: You just go and you see what happens.”
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