Ran
Blake (piano); Sara Serpa (voice)
(Review by Ann Alex)
This CD is a very unusual take on some
lesser-played jazz standards, with some original material. It was described to me as a CD of ‘Jazz
Lieder’, which is quite a good explanation of what to expect. It reminded me of Stephen Sondheim, free
jazz, Portuguese fado, cabaret, all rolled into a package with some humour
added.
Sara Serpa has a pleasing sweet and soulful
voice and Ran Blake is highly skilled and experienced. His career spans six decades and he is
involved in improvised music and education.
Serpa is a relative newcomer and this is their second album
together. I liked some of the tracks, found
some a bit far out for my taste, but it seemed that these two are genuinely
trying something new. I’d recommend this
to lovers of free jazz.
The most entertaining track is Moonride, an amusing narrative about a
meeting with a moonman and the most obscure number is probably Mahler Noir, written by Blake himself, a
melancholy semi-classical instrumental with references to American show
tunes. In fact the album has a
melancholy feel which is intriguing, with tracks following each other without
much of a break between. Saturday is bleak and meaningful; Dr Mabuse is sung with vocalise
alternating with piano; Strange Fruit
is sung unaccompanied with sensitivity, but becomes a little too operatic
towards the end.
The
Band Played On is done lightly with humour; Fine And Dandy is dissonant, and the
pace varies.
This CD probably deserves to be played more
than once if the listener isn’t sure about it the first time.
Issued on Clean Feed CF 264
Ann Alex
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