Bruno Råberg Tentet: Evolver
Orbis Music Records

Having a jazz orchestra of twenty pieces at one's disposal offers the arranger a large palette with which to work, but an ensemble half the size might in the long run be better. There's less temptation to overload an arrangement when a more modest number of musicians is engaged, and the clarity of the performances are enhanced when each instrument can be distinguished from the next. Illustrating the upsides of the smaller group format is the tenet assembled by acoustic bassist Bruno Råberg for his latest offering Evolver. Even when pianist Kris Davis and tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III guest on selected tracks, Råberg ensures no imbalance is created by making compensatory adjustments to the arrangements.

A group numbering ten players offers the arranger the expansive potential of a large group but also the intimacy of a smaller outfit. While the tenet's capable of generating immense power when needed, during “Elegy,” to cite one example, much of the interactions occur between four instruments—tenor sax, piano, bass, and drums—with horns and woodwinds judiciously applied for texture and harmonic colour. Here and elsewhere, Råberg's approach to arrangement is painterly, and it's easy to picture him methodically working through a score and allocating parts to specific instruments in order to achieve a desire orchestral effect.

Evolver is, in fact, the first large ensemble recording by Råberg in over two decades, with his 2002 nonet album Chrysalis its precursor. They're hardly the only ones he's created, however: since emigrating to the US from his native Sweden in 1981, he's produced fourteen recordings as a leader and been involved in more than fifty as a sideman. Recorded in January 2023 and issued on his own Orbis Music Records imprint, Evolver features musicians drawn from the Boston area and Berklee College of Music, where Råberg has taught in the Berklee Global Jazz Institute since 1986.

Accompanying him on acoustic bass are flutist Fernando Brandão, saxophonists Allan Chase (soprano, alto, baritone) and Stephen Byth (tenor plus clarinet), trumpeter and flugelhornist Peter Kenagy, trombonist Randy Pingrey, bass clarinetist Charlotte Lang, guitarist Nate Radley, keyboardist Anastassiya Petrova, and drummer Gen Yoshimura. The album comprises ten tracks, the concluding four composing the Greek mythology-inspired Echos Suite, whose title comes from the Greek word for sound. The opening “Peripeteia” also derives from Greek mythology and means “to go on an adventure.” It's a most fitting title for a piece purposefully tailored for exploration and which blossoms from a ponderous intro into a luscious ensemble portrait. Without losing its intimate, small-group feel, the music develops into a harmonious tapestry richly interwoven with the tenet's timbres and highlighted by solo turns from the leader, Radley, and, on soprano, Chase. A tad funkier and grounded in the Carnatic Melakarta system, "Mode Natakapriya" sees a mute-wielding Kenagy enhancing the tune's brooding, Indian-tinged allure.

“Stiltje”—stillness in Swedish—immediately appeals for its opening B3 organ chords and entrances even more as the tenet establishes a gentle, contemplative space for alto flute, clarinet, and piano statements from Brandão, Byth, and Petrova. The Kazakhstan pianist introduces the lightly swinging “Sunday” eloquently, the performance a superb example of the tenet in big band-styled mode. The standalones set the stage for the adventurous Echos Suite, whose four parts are based on tetra chords that collectively constitute a twelve-tone row (though not in the Schoenberg-ian sense). Freer in character than the material preceding it, the trippy “Echos I” is highlighted by the arresting clink of Davis's prepared piano, Yoshimura's shadings, and a hypnotic bass vamp. “Echos II” intensifies the ponderous tone of the first part, with this time the music curdling mysteriously and its harmonic centre ever-shifting. Davis, Råberg, and Yoshimura initiate the third part with loose-limbed improv before the entrance of the other musicians imposes organization and structure. Elevated by a radiant solo from Davis, the ebullient fourth finds the music aligning to the more composed character of the earlier tracks.

While the suite casts a large shadow over the recording, the six pieces preceding it are arguably more satisfying for their tighter structures, focus, and directness of expression. Those who prefer freer exploration over scripted ensemble playing, however, might deem the suite the album's major attraction. Travel to the Boston area and one might find Råberg giving a solo bass concert or delivering a trio gig with pianist Bruce Barth and drummer Matt Wilson. But ideally, one's visit would coincide with the chance to see this tenet in action and witness Evolver coming to life anew before one's ears.

June 2024