Erik Friedlander – Artemisia (Skipstone, 2018)
The cello is still kind of a maverick instrument in jazz and when it is used it is often by adventurous ensembles looking for new sounds.
As a cellist himself Erik Friedlander seems to be striving for a more conventional group sound with a quartet with pianist Uri Caine, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Ches Smith, where he uses his cello as a solo voice much like a saxophonist or a guitarist would.
Still it is impossible for a cellist to escape the connotations to western classical music. Johannes Sebastian Bach wrote solo suites for the instrument and it has been continuously featured to this day by lots of composers.
Bach and blue notes
The link to western music is most obvious on the melancholic title track where Friedlander bows his cello with a wonderful vibrato. On the bitter sweet blues ”Seven Heartbreaks” where Friedlander both bows and plucks his instrument it is less obvious.
Most songs fall somewhere in between these two which say something about Friedlander’s diverse musical interests. He has worked with modern composer John Zorn but also recorded a tribute to Oscar Pettiford who was the first jazz musician who seriously gave the cello a role in the music.
The band is first rate. Uri Caine has recorded jazz versions of pieces by Bach and Gustav Mahler, but he also masters the vocabulary of the blue notes. As a soloist he is equal to Friedlander. Mark Helias is a good bassist who knows both how to support the pianist and drummer and to interplay with Friedlander. The combination of the cello and the bass is a beautiful sound.
A good live band
Drummer Ches Smith is the kind of flexible drummer that this music demands. Sometimes he finds a steady rhythm to play. At other times he simply colors the music or do not play at all.
The songs and arrangements by Friedlander are beautiful and match their titles like ”The Devil Made Liquid” or ”Tulips Brush Against My Legs”.
Recently Friedlander toured with this quartet in Europe. They are a great live band as well. I hope they continue to work together, and I am looking forward to a follow up to this album.
Jazz Desk 