CD Reviews: LOTZ OF MUSIC ; Pum’kin Diaries (LopLop LLr 008)
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Posted by: Adminon Thursday, October 16, 2003 - 12:03 AM |
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By Paul Donnelly
The Lotz of the title is Dutch multi-flautist, Mark Alban Lotz, who in concert with piano, acoustic bass, drums & percussion takes us through some delicate and some more robust jazz. Together these guys build a range of moods, like that created by the fragile flute and piano of ‘Gabriel’, a brief vignette which manifests itself then vanishes in the air. ‘In The Air’ is also the title of another piece starting in a more abstract mood before heating up with Lotz and drummer, Michael Vatcher, chasing fleeting notes and rhythms with assistance from piano and bass.
‘Pygmy Lounge’ features pre-recorded ambient sounds from a pygmy village after rainfall. Not an everyday occurrence on a jazz album, perhaps, but one that allows further, equally ambient, improvisations that are impressionistic and suggestive. Mark van Roon traces filigree piano against plucked and arco bass supplied by Eric Surmenian. It is hauntingly melodic in snatches whilst retaining a sense of low-key abstraction.
Apart from some of their own compositions the quartet visit work by Ornette, Jobim, Rollins and Konitz. The Rollins tune, ‘Oleo’ is light and buoyant, incorporating bebop allusions, mercurial flute and edgy piano. Lotz even ‘sings’ in a Roland Kirk-like manner for a couple of bars. Brevity, once again, is the keyword but they pack enough zest into three and a half minutes to encourage more than just a passing interest. Likewise, their approach to Coleman’s ‘Blues Connotation’ fuses several exciting elements into a short outing. Funky, fluid piano and driven bass dance along with busy percussion and breathy flute. It’s a satisfying combination and is further applied to Lee Konitz’s ‘It’s You’, a spacious treatment which has some fine moments from piano and flute again.
So, this mix of originals and more familiar pieces engages the listener, certainly this one, through an appealing mixture of austerity, warmth and controlled energy. A refreshing cd that deserves some careful listening.
Paul Donnelly
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