Hannes Riepler: The Brave – review
- (Jellymould)The Brave is young Austrian guitarist Hannes Riepler's recording debut, and he has hired a powerful team to interpret his smart and often surprising contemporary jazz pieces – the resourceful Tom Challenger is on tenor sax, the ever-intriguing Kit Downes on piano. The title track's stuttering initial melody and twisting counter-theme introduces Riepler's outwardly old-school jazz guitar sound – coming from a tradition that reaches back to Grant Green and the soft-toned 60s hard-boppers, and forward to the more eclectic work of fellow-countryman Wolfgang Muthspiel. There are sharply accented, Latin-driven sways for Challenger's patient solo-building and pliable sound, and dark, hovering low-end riffs that delay the arrival of Avishai Cohen-like folkmelodies. On the Coltraneish ballad Tyrol Tyrol, a reflective opening segues into swerving, repeated-hook sax figures. Downes's long solo, full of explosive short phrases, chordal shouts and long-limbed runs, is almost worth an album on its own. It's a promising debut, for Riepler's compositions as much as the accomplished playing.Rating: 3/5JazzJohn Fordhamguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ...
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