ELAN MEHLER QUARTET - SCHEME FOR THOUGHT | FLY

And that’s not the only thing unusual with this release, a quartet with Elan on piano and David Moore on Fender Rhodes, acoustic bass (Tod Hedrick) as and Andrew Zimmerman’s tenor sax.

And while its in a ‘free’ kind of mode, it’s not ‘improvisational’ in the sense of some of the other albums that have come out recently like Don Cherry, ZAUM or Gratkowski / Robertson / Nabatov / Manderscheid. In fact, the title track, as previously released on a 12” mainly for the showcase of remix by Daisuke Tanabe (he of Burnt Progress 1.1), is even dinner jazz material (unobtrusive not insipid though).

No drums and no dance floor killers. What’s the point you might ask? Well ‘The Pale 45’s’ is off-kilter enough in a sort of Thirsty Ear/William Parker/Matthew Shipp type way and stands out for me.

The opening tracks, ‘Little Last’ and ‘Christmas Song’ have a touch of a cinematic theme to them. The warm tones of Zimmerman never gets too jolly and sometimes the group leave Elan to it on his own like ‘Ruby D’ which gets into that ‘classical’ area of solo piano a la parts of Chick Corea’s back catalogue.

It’s not all serious stuff, see ‘Auntie-Biotics’, but there aren’t any belly laughs either. I think that’s enough warnings but it’s a grower. Get a glass of wine ready and chill out. A few years ago this would have come out all nu-jazz so well done to Mr. Peterson for keeping it old-jazz.

Stop Press;
Listen to the Peterson podcast interview with tracks from the album (includes a John Peel moment and the original of ‘Elvis Presley Blues’ by Gillian Welch).

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘The Pale 45’s’, ‘Ruby D’, ‘Auntie-Biotics’, ‘Scheme For Thought’

Line Up:
Piano — Elan Mehler
Fender Rhodes — David Moore
Tenor Saxophone — Andrew Zimmerman
Bass — Tod Hedrick

Reviewed: Elan Mehler Quartet — Scheme For Thought (Brownswood Recordings) Cat. No. BWOOD021CD Release date: August 2007
Tracklisting:
1 Little Last (6:51)
2 Christmas Song (5:20)
3 Scheme For Thought (7:36)
4 The Pale 45’s (6:23)
5 Muse Suite (9:14)
6 Vals (5:08)
7 Auntie-Biotics (5:11)
8 Ruby D (4:31)
9 Head Trick (6:32)
10 Elvis Presley Blues (5:22)

Links:
www.myspace.com/elanmehlerquartet
7th Sept 5.30 — 9pm The Front Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer. FREE!
www.brownswoodrecordings.com
www.myspace.com/brownswoodrecordings
www.myspace.com/shakutorimusi
The Vortex Jazz Club www.vortexjazz.co.uk
II Gillett Street, Dalston, London N16 8JH, Bookings 020 7254 4097. Doors open 8.30pm
www.myspace.com/gillianwelch
Jazz Improv LIVE!, Murray Hill Station, P.O. Box 1813, New York, NY 10156. October 25 — 28, 2007 www.jazzimprov.com/live/

Something rather special from the Gilles Peterson stable. Released on his Brownswood Recordings label the Elan Mehler Quartet’s ‘Scheme For Thought’ is an effortless and striking mix of classical and jazz.

“Original, delicate and to the left” is how Gilles himself describes Elan Mehler Quartet’s debut. While it bares an experimental and improvisational quality, which thankfully places it outside the mainstream, the skill of the musicians ensures that control is maintained and the improvising doesn’t descend into self indulgence.

Ably supported by Paul Defaglia’s meandering bass, Andrew Zimmerman on tenor sax and Scott Spivak adding a welcome electronic flavour on the Rhodes, Mehler is not afraid to take a back seat and let the others take the music in new and unexpected directions.

On an album that carries you through it is hard to pick a standout track, though ‘The Pale 45s’ must be a contender. Having been resident at the legendary Birdland Club in New York, Mehler’s ‘The Pale 45s’ strangely echoes the great Charlie Parker’s ‘A Night in Tunisia’; the driving bass leading the piano, rhodes, and sax as it builds to a hypnotic finale. Recorded live, the quartet brings an intimacy and immediacy that is often lacking on contemporary overproduced records.

Laidback in mood throughout, the quartet’s lack of any drums and percussion, striking at first, seems to free the musicians in their natural inclination to experiment.

All original tracks, save for the expert re-working of Gillian Welch’s Elvis Presley Blues that concludes this fine album, the classical influences, most notably Debussy, add to the sophisticated and relaxed mood.

Mehler describes his approach to music as, ‘you don’t play for people you play for yourself. And besides, you never know who might be listening…’ On the strength of this recording that should be a lot of people indeed.