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In & Out Jazz Review «Sketches Overseas»

07

MARCH, 2019

IN & OUT JAZZ REVIEW: “SKETCHES OVERSEAS” (septiembre 2018) de LLUC CASARES / Outside In Music./ Lluc Casares (saxo tenor), Joel Ross (vibráfono), Philip Dizack (trompeta), Addison Frei (piano), Mark Lewandowski (contrabajo), Francesco Ciniglio (batería).

Lluc Casares (1990, Barcelona) moved to New York 2 years ago to become part of the Artist Diploma program at the Juilliard School. Before that Lluc studied his undergrad program at ESMUC (Superior School of Music of Catalonia) and got his master’s degree at CvA (Conservatorium Van Amsterdam) where he’s fortunate to be part of an exchange program that will bring him to Temple University (Philadelphia) to study 5 months with Dick Oatts.  

This is the academic context that introduces him to the NYC Jazz scene where he develops his recently released album “Sketches Overseas”. Just 28 years old, it’s his sophomore release as a leader.

With influences going from Nicholas Payton to Gerald Clayton or Ben Van Gelder among others, Lluc’s “Sketches Overseas” is an album of defined corners that showcases Casares as a composer overall with a contemporary approach within the Jazz language.

LLUC CASARES.  New Album «Sketches Overseas» (Teaser)

After recording more than 20 albums as a sideman and debut as a leader with “Red” (Temps Record 2015, recorded in Amsterdam), Outside In Music, a label based in NYC, releases Sketches Overseas.

Lluc and Nick Finzer, OiM owner, get together and accord an studio date. Lluc had 2 months to put the band together and write some of the music. The choice though was very clear, Lluc admires Joel Ross and Philip Dizack and wanted them on the session. They happily agreed.

The rest of the band is Addison Frei playing piano, Mark Lewandowski at the bass and Francesco Ciniglio on the drums – the rhythm section at the Artist Diploma ensemble. With walking bass lines, percussive syncopated chords in the rhythm section and very melodic phrasing, the album compositions can be defined as close to Straight Ahead Jazz but also a little bit more adventurous and modern.

“I got serious feedback by some or the musicians in the American scene that I respect the most”. Lluc Casares.

The album includes 8 originals in a Suite format, with an Introduction to start, and an arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s classic, “Brake’s Sake”. “Maferefun” (a hint to Lluc’s Cuban roots) it’s the longest cut with a long presentation of the melody that includes its good dose of Blues. The melody is played by the saxophone and broken by the percussive sound of the Vibraphone.

The well thought balance between arrangements and improvisation is very apparent at the small group numbers like “The Gentrifier”, a vanguardist Sketch with electrifying solos and a fast conversation between the vibes and the saxophone.

With a reminiscence to Lalo Schifrin soundtracks, “Ugh? Nuek?” becomes an intimate dialogue betweet Joel Ross, Addison Frei, Lluc and Philip Dizack. “Outlining” is a little interlude dedicated to Bruno Calvo’s Outlines album (Fresh Sound 2017).

“Nobody’s Song” is a contrafact based on Jerome Kern’s classic The Song is You. Lluc’s music invites the listener to be part of “Sketches Overseas”. Aesthetic representations of short lines defined by concepts and emotional experiences that the composer has shaped in his music.

Escrito por Begoña Villalobos
6 de Marzo de 2019

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