It's Always Now

Ralph Alessi

Released on 17-03-2023 by ECM Records
Main artists: Ralph Alessi
Genre: Jazz

Digital booklet

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

Trumpeter Ralph Alessi's masterful technique and artfully burnished tone are on full display on It's Always Now, where he is joined by pianist Florian Weber, bassist Bänz Oester, and drummer Gerry Hemingway. The players consistently impress with their moment-to-moment invention and nuanced interpretations. Alessi's writing incorporates both free jazz and modern composition, and his playing taps into extended technique as well as the traditional resources of his instrument.

"Hypnagogic" is the first of five duo improvisations by Alessi and Weber, who are frequent collaborators. Early in the track, trumpet tones ping and echo like sonar pulses as rippling piano ascends. Throughout, Alessi works wonders with a constrained approach, varying his attack to create a variety of subtle effects. The piece makes for a mysterious, open-ended introduction to an excellent album.

"Diagonal Lady," a ballad suffused with noir romanticism, starts off with a moody bass introduction by Oester that evokes the late Charlie Haden. Alessi's solo might be his most straight-ahead statement on It's Always Now; it's also gorgeous. After providing exquisitely spare piano accompaniment, Weber steps forward to roll out a beguiling set of supple lines. Hemingway's brushwork keeps the music moving, even as he adds nice colors.

At the beginning of "His Hopes, His Fears, His Tears," Alessi breathily sketches out a melody before being joined by Hemingway's artfully stray hits and Weber's agitated fingerings. Soon the instrumental threads all start to coalesce. Then the music moves into free jazz territory where the band creates some of the album's fiercest sounds.

The last track, another trumpet and piano duet, is the aptly titled "Tumbleweed." Horn and keyboard lines deftly unfold, and as the mood darkens, there is a sense of moving through a transfixing landscape, one that lingers after the final notes have fallen away. © Fred Cisterna/Qobuz

More info

It's Always Now

Ralph Alessi

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From 13,50€/month

Hypnagogic