QUINSIN NACHOFF “Patterns from Nature”

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ARTIST

Quinsin Nachoff

ALBUM TITLE

“Patterns from Nature”

LABEL

Whirlwind

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Canadian, 52 years old and active for more than three decades – his first album under his own name dates back to 2000 – Quinsin Nachoff remains a relatively little-known figure on the contemporary jazz scene. This splendid, and entirely justifiably ambitious, chamber-symphonic album should help to remedy that lack of attention.

A large ensemble is at work here, with the compositional element – naturally the work of Nachoff himself – taking centre stage through an expansive suite bearing the same title as the album, together with a shorter Saxophone Concerto (Winding Tessellations): four and three movements respectively, for a total duration of just over an hour. The composer’s vision is thoroughly compelling and convincing, displaying a remarkable ability to bring together written composition and improvisation with extraordinary – and, one is tempted to say, entirely natural – ease, particularly in terms of dynamics and timbral range.

In the past, this would quite rightly have been called Third Stream, a term that for some may still carry more or less openly negative connotations – or at least inspire a certain scepticism. Yet, from Stan Kenton and Gunther Schuller to Braxton and Henry Threadgill – or indeed whomever else one might care to name – this approach has given jazz works of undeniable substance, achieving a kind of squaring of the circle that this remarkable album only serves to reaffirm.

Yes, from now on, Quinsin Nachoff deserves a good deal more attention.

Alberto Bazzurro

DISTRIBUTED BY

whirlwindrecordings.com

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