Yes, you read the headline correctly. Between these two sessions, there are four CDs, two each. Danish alto saxophonist Benjamin Koppel shows the full breadth of his talents across composed jazz, improvised jazz, as well as classic soul and R&B, while attracting superb players to spur him on. The unit for The Art of the Quartet is – Kenny Werner (piano), Scott Colley (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums). For the Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue it is equally esteemed group featuring Randy Brecker (trumpet), Jacob Christoffersen (Fender Rhodes, wurlitzer and synth), Scott Colley (bass), and Bernard Purdie (drums).
The Art of the Quartet finds the alto sax star engaging in freewheeling musical dialogues as well as thoroughly composed pieces. The extraordinary lineup featured came about through some longstanding musical hookups that Koppel had fostered through his celebrated career. Koppel has played with Werner and Colley but not with DeJohnette who was recruited by Werner. As Koppel recalled, “After hearing some of the music, Jack wanted to join as an equal partner in the project. He even recommended the studio, Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, which is very close to where he lives near Woodstock. We all had a very good feeling about recording at the Clubhouse. Everybody brought music and we had a ball working together over three or four days.”
CD 1 is bookended by the daring collective improvisations, “Free I” and “Free II,” each of which travels from searching, rubato introspection to turbulent freebop paced by DeJohnette’s whirlwind drumming and Colley’s insistent pulse. Koppel’s exchanges with Werner here are both provocative and highly conversational. “Since we had all worked together before in different configurations, we felt that we really knew each other well, so it felt really natural for us to go into the studio without any directives at all and just invent together, create from a mutual understanding. And since we are all composers, everybody was simply composing right there on the spot. We didn’t have to talk about anything up front.” Koppel’s sparse and gently introspective “Bells of Beliefs” was inspired by an orchestral piece by György Ligeti.“At the session, Jack heard my demo of this tune and he was super excited and wanted to postpone the recording of this particular song in order to drive back to his house and pick up a very special set of bells that he had just been given prior to our session. And his playing on those bells is amazing!” With DeJohnette’s bells, Colley’s bowed bass and Werner’s sparse tinkling setting a peaceful tone, Koppel summons up a spiritual Trane-like vibe (on the alto no less) on this pensive piece. Koppel addresses his own near-sightedness on the gently droning “Night Seeing,” which unfolds gracefully and gradually before segueing to an exploratory drums-alto breakdown at the 6-minute mark.
They revive a buoyant DeJohnette Special Edition piece from the ‘80s, “Ahmad the Terrible” (from 1984’s Album Album) and deliver Werner’s delicate through-composed piece “Follow” with conviction. Werner’s “Iago,” a moving number in honor of Brazilian composer Weber Iago, is a brilliant showcase for Koppel’s spirited virtuosity while the pianist’s “Ballad for Trane” carries a loping swing feel and has Benjamin blowing over the top in ecstatic fashion. They deliver a faithful reading of the standard “If I Should Lose You,” which has Colley and DeJohnette each stepping out for riveting solos. Colley’s striking rubato number “Americana,” precedes DeJohnette’s hard driving, energetic “One on One” before closing with the peaceful hymn-like, “Sada,” with uncommon restraint. Across these two discs, the listener experiences such a dizzying array of tempos, the fury and the delicate, pure tones and shifting moods that suffice for a weekend of music. Yet, there’s another completely different side to Koppel’s playing.
On the Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue, Koppel returns to his roots, having listened mostly to soul and gospel music as a teenager. Recorded live at Betty Nansen Theatre in Copenhagen during the 2019 edition of Koppel’s Summer Jazz Festival, the set features in addition to those mentioned in the opening, Danish musicians along with Christofferson – Hammond organist Dan Hemmer, percussionist Jacob Andersen and guitarist Søren Heller, an impressive newcomer on the Scandinavian music scene. They burst out on a ferocious version of the familiar Buddy Miles’ 1970 tune “Them Changes” down more in the vein of King Curtis than Hendrix., which must have made Purdie comfortable, having played on the historic King Curtis Live at Fillmore West sessions from 1971. Then they expertly blend jazz and funk on a Fender Rhodes-fueled rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s Afro-Cuban classic “Manteca,” naturally a highflyer for Brecker. (There are moments when you think you’re hearing a Brecker Brothers album or a Brecker album as he is so prominent.)
The slyly funky “Hammond Street,” is one of three Koppel originals of the set. Brecker and Koppel play tight unisons on the head here before Benjamin breaks loose for some virtuosic double timing over Purdie’s chugging groove. By the way this is not unlike the recent pairing of Eric Marienthal’s and Brecker’s (Double Dealin’) that we reviewed on these pages earlier this month. No High note seems out of reach for Brecker, who always seems to reach even higher. He is clearly at home in these jazz-rock, jazz-soul settings and always has been. The band captures the perfect ‘70s vibe on a rendition of Curtis Mayfield’s anthemic 1970 hit song, “Move on Up,” then take on an appealing Crusaders-type crossover vibe on Koppel’s “Feel the Burn” (which he dedicates to Bernard Purdie). Benjamin’s sister, singer Marie Carmen Koppel, with deep gospel influences, next tackles Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” with all the gusto and earthy intent worthy of the iconic tune.
Koppel’s noirish “Con Alma and Sax” is a haunting ballad with some expressive playing by the leader while their instrumental rendition of King Floyd’s 1970 soul staple, “Groove Me,” is craftly anchored by Purdie’s signature backbeat and Colley’s deeply resonant, funky upright basslines. Note on the discs the contrast between DeJohnette’s s often cerebral drumming versus Purdie, the soul veteran who anchored so many great sessions for Atlantic’s great soul period. Koppel delivers some alto testifying on Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing,” which has Purdie unleashing on his kit near the end of that epic 10-minute rendition. Koppel also wails with impunity over a soul-jazz take on The Carpenter’s 1970 hit, “Close to You,” a curious selection for the set. Their Summer Jazz set closes on a funky note with an organ-fueled rendition of Sly & The Family Stone’s 1968 classic, “Sing a Simple Song,” that has Koppel channeling his inner David Sanborn, Hemmer offering a greasy B-3 solo and Randy reverting to his Brecker Brothers swagger on his trumpet solo.
Randy commented on his Soul & Jazz Revue gig as follows., “I had just come from a week of Billy Cobham gigs which were just great, but his music is very involved with odd tempos and a lot of metric modulation and many, many notes (!), so this gig with Benjamin and Purdie at the heart of it was a lot of fun. I hadn’t played with Bernard in years. He was on my first record, Score, back in 1969 and back in the day we did a million sessions together, where he would set up ‘Pretty Purdie’ signs around his drums with his phone number on it — the technology of the day. So, it was like a homecoming to play with him at this festival and he sounded great with Scott Colley on bass. They really locked it up. And Benjamin, who arranged all of the tunes and wrote some, was, as always, outstanding.”
Koppel has been the most productive, in-demand and far-reaching Scandinavian musician of his generation, appearing on more than 50 recordings with top echelon players of this same caliber. Visit http://benjaminkoppel.com for more information. There just are many players who would be equally comfortable and amazingly expressive in these two vastly different settings.
