The most popular toy of all time, Play-Doh, is the title of pianist and composer, the Colorado-based Carmen Sandim’s album, perhaps serving as a metaphor for her facility with piano, and encouragement for her bandmates to improvise or shape the tunes in numerous ways. Sandim is originally from Sao Paulo. She graduated from Berklee in 2000 and moved to Colorado, where she formed a close relationship with her mentor, New York pianist Art Lande. Through Lande and her own initiatives, she has built a network of associations in the area around Boulder. She is an educator at Naropa University, the Metropolitan State University of Denver and the University of Colorado at Denver.
Sandim merges modern jazz and traditional Brazilian theme in the company of Shane Endsley on trumpet, Bruce Williamson on reeds, Alex Heitlinger on trombone, Khabu Doug on guitar, Bill McCrossen on bass and Dru Heller on drums. Bill Kopper joins with acoustic guitar on “Hear the Trees,” and percussionist Raoul Rossiter joins Kopper to “Free Wilbie.” More often than not the configuration is a septet. The nine compositions run a total of 65 minutes.
The album opens with the playful “Aruru Juju,” beginning with a series of short ascensions that gradually dissolve into an elegant piano passage followed by a flute response. McCrossen and Heller keep the piece flowing across several changes and accents. Shane Endsley’s trumpet then leads the group back to the original motifs, which are picked up by Sandim’s piano and developed further and expanded later by trumpet and trombone solos. “Aura-Celia” melds jazz and classical. McCrossen’s bass solo restates the theme before the piano starts comping and then assumes the lead. There’s a guitar break and an ending dialogue between Sandim and drummer Heller.
The bright mood of the previous two pieces shift dramatically for the dark-toned, quarter rendered “Undergrowth.” The piano bangs out dissonant low register chords while the guitar is at the forefront with warping, torturous, stretching lines, backed by Heller’s drum flurries, all blending to create a jungle-like effect. Calmer tones emerge on “Isaura” with lovely undulating reeds floating over elegant piano and guitar accents. “Me Gusta La Angustia” is by far the longest piece at over 12 minutes. It’s mysterious in the piano opening before the horns join in the ensemble, playing at a medium tempo. After the piano solo, the tempo slows slightly and rebuilds with a trombone solo followed by sax and a fiery, soaring trumpet solo. As it unfolds short ensemble passages give way to soloists. The beauty lies in the unpredictability as the moods and rhythms keep shifting, even quoting some Brazilian elements with drums and percussion toward the end.
“Waiting For Art” is another composition with several variations. Sandim’s piano is prominent but the guitar has more focus, swinging very melodically (quite a contrast to “Undergrowth”) before the ending dialogue between piano and drums. “Hear the Trees” has an airy, spacious quality as acoustic and electric guitars blend with Sandim’s piano, with bassist McCrossen especially evocative in his support. The title track is introduced by a brassy six-quaver note repetition, with a rest between pairs and this repeats itself before the theme is developed first under the brass and driven by bright guitar lines before Sandim takes the reins and the brass improvises and ensembles freely over the top. Her piano style, elegant throughout most of the disc, here has some pounding percussive qualities, apropos given the title. “Free Wilbie” begins quietly, almost in classical piano style before morphing into different rhythms, tempo changes and arrangements. The full effect is joyous and uplifting, a fitting way to close.
Play Doh is chocked full of unpredictability, blending the traditional and modern, acoustic and electric, and infusing many of the compositions with classical and/or Brazilian elements. Arrangements are tight but loose enough to provide colorful statements and textures. Keep listening because there is so much to take in, you’ll likely find new discoveries in the first several times through.
