When Roberto Bonati is at his best -- as he is here on at least several tracks -- he is one of the most impressive composers and arrangers around. Ambitious, and even Ellingtonian in scope, this live recording features an outstanding collection of Italian musicians, including such stalwarts as trombonist Beppe Caruso, pianist Stefano Battaglia, and trumpeter Michael Gassmann, most of whom contribute substantial solos. Bonati thinks in broad conceptual terms. This album features nine poems by poet Attilio Bertolucci, each poem sung simply and elegantly by Lucia Minetti. Unfortunately, the words of the poems are printed only in their original Italian, even though the fine commentary by Bonati in the photo-filled 16-page CD leaflet is translated into English. The sophisticated orchestrations combine with a jazz structure with rich harmonies indigenous to classical music, while the improvisations add a modern jazz element. The somewhat unusual instrumentation takes three reeds (mostly oboe, flute, and clarinet) and juxtaposes them with a brass section of trombone, trumpet, and French horn, with a string duo of viola and cello and a rhythm section of bass, piano, drums, and guitar. As with all of Bonati's work, the key to understanding the individual pieces is in the writing, which is full of delightful nuance and attention to detail. This recording is further evidence of the flowering of still another major Italian artist capable of spanning genres and creating works of magnificence and grandeur that contribute to an oeuvre of considerable substance. © Steven Loewy /TiVo

While making intriguing recordings with his eBraam/Wurli Trio and Hybrid 10tet, pianist/composer/arranger Michiel Braam continued to lead his longstanding Bik Bent Braam until drawing the curtain on the acclaimed big band in early 2012. The spirit of Bik Bent Braam can still be heard, however, in Lucebert, an ambitious 2013 release by Flex Bent Braam, a septet featuring Bik Bent Braam members as well as newcomers. True to form, Braam and company explore freely and swing madly through a set of meta-jazz with more conceptual angles than an Escher staircase. The album is inspired by Dutch painter, poet, and jazz lover Lucebert, who, as the liner notes relate, once provided literary commentary via a telegram comprising only a list of jazz standards. Braam penned new arrangements for those standards, which alternate with eight of his original compositions across the album's 16-track, nearly 80-minute sprawl. Flex Bent Braam take Mingus' "Better Git It in Your Soul" in five, with drummer Joost Lijbaart emphasizing the odd meter; the throwback mix places him realistically in the sound field vis-à-vis the other bandmembers, providing a classic '50s/'60s balance. And Wolter Wierbos' growling, testifying, plunger-muted trombone more than matches the original's raucous gospel spirit. Elsewhere, Braam approaches the standards with everything from a fairly straight read to an inspired mash-up to a radical revision. In Monk's "Straight, No Chaser," baritone saxophonist Bart van der Putten is seemingly the only musician maintaining a tenuous relationship with the melody as Lijbaart clanks and the other bandmembers attack their instruments in a pounding, irregular unison pulse. The ensemble theme to Miles' modal landmark "So What" serves as a structurally skewed introduction to the reharmonized Henry Sullivan chestnut "I May Be Wrong" -- with van der Putten venturing far afield from where the comparably restrained Gerry Mulligan took the tune. A fragmented melody line in Tadd Dameron's "Hot House" creates a sort of layered staccato call and response for horns and reeds wholly unlike the famous Dizzy and Bird version, while pumped-up intensity is the most significant change brought to George Russell's "The Stratus Seekers." The standards contextualize Braam's originals (inspired by Lucebert Japanese epigrams), which seemingly marry Russell's "tonal organization" to Mingus' earthy modernity and the anything-goes spirit of Dutch jazz. "Spijt -- Rue" features Tony Overwater's rich arco bass in a classicist brass and winds arrangement; "Drift -- Urge" finds Braam's fingers racing across the keys in post-Cecil Taylor abandon against the bandmembers' backdrop of bursts, smears, and cacophony; the pianist comps magnificently beneath killer solo features for trumpeter Angelo Verploegen and alto saxophonist Bart van der Putten on the grooving highlight "Zorg -- Care." The comparatively spare textures and walking tempo of closer "Herfst -- Fall" provide a perfect atmospherically cool finale. There's no better place than Lucebert to hear Michiel Braam building on tradition and breaking new ground in the vanguard of 21st century jazz. © Dave Lynch /TiVo

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Call it truth in advertising: in this recording of Borodin's two string quartets played by the Shostakovich Quartet, Borodin's quartets sound oddly like they are being played by a group named the Borodin Quartet. That's odd because, Borodin being Borodin, his quartets were sweet-tempered, muscular, and nostalgic -- and when they're played by the Borodin Quartet, they do in fact sound that way. But not here: while the Shostakovich Quartet is a superb group with a focused ensemble and a strong sense of rhythm, the tone is tight but not warm, the intonation acerbic not lush, and the interpretations hard and driven rather than playful and sensual. For listeners who find Borodin too sentimental, this sterner approach may work. For those who find Borodin's blend of the epic, the heroic and the lyrical to be irresistibly attractive, however, it might be better to stick with the Borodin Quartet's account. Recorded in stereo and not noticeably remastered, the sound of this Regis issue is deep and honest, but rough around the edges. © TiVo