This review appears in the March 2011 issue of The New York City Jazz Record:
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Jane Ira Bloom
Wingwalker (Outline)
By David R. Adler
The breadth and allure of Jane Ira Bloom’s music seems to grow with every release. Wingwalker, her latest, is a fine showcase of her soprano saxophone mastery but also her compositional and bandleading wiles. Part of the secret is her pianist, Dawn Clement, who makes her second recorded appearance with Bloom since 2008’s Mental Weather.
One recalls Bloom’s deep and longstanding bond with Fred Hersch, forged over many years, and Clement stands up well in light of that history. A Seattle native, she brings a tight but flexible swing to the date and functions like a small orchestra, reacting with highly attuned ears to the music of bassist Mark Helias and drummer Bobby Previte (both longtime Bloom allies).
And yet Bloom is front and center, with a warm and balanced tone and her usual electronic enhancements —harmonizers, echoes and so forth — lending yet more individuality to her sound. Her writing is fresh and involved: Even on pieces lasting just six minutes or less, such as “Life on Cloud 8” and “Freud’s Convertible,” she creates multipart structures involving stark rhythmic shifts, pushing her quartet to the fullest.
“Airspace” and “Frontiers in Science” feature beautifully executed unison playing, wide-open harmony and driving, deeply felt rhythm (swing and straight-eighth, respectively). “Ending Red Songs” and “Adjusting to Midnight,” both trio sketches without drums, share a dark and plaintive, Shorter-esque quality, while the title track, a rubato piece for quartet, brings to mind the ethereal yet unsettled world of Paul Motian.
As much as Bloom thrives in mellower, pastoral settings, Wingwalker has its gritty blues and even rock-like elements. The magnificent “Rooftops Speak Dreams” finds Previte digging into a simple beat as Clement splashes dense chords at endless contrasting angles. “Live Sports” is funky and hi-hat-driven, with a looped bass line and hiccupping figures built into the form. Previte’s cymbal work on the album is uncannily clear and pointed, and his layered percussion colors leave one wondering whether he multi-tracked some of his parts. His swing is unassailable on the medium-bright “Rookie,” which reminds us that for all the countless hues in Bloom’s tonal palette, we’re listening to a jazz artist, pure and simple.
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