Lawn Chair Society
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Music CD Cover
Performer: Kenny WernerPerformer: Brian Blade
Performer: Dave Douglas
Performer: Chris Potter
Performer: Scott Colley
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-03-06
Music Label: Blue Note Records
Soundtracks:
- New Amsterdam
- The 13th Day
- burble_burble_splerk
- Uncovered Heart
- Inaugural Balls
- west_coast_variant
- Lo's Garden Suite
- Loss
- Kothbiro
Free Music Notes for Lawn Chair Society
Free Music Review: Merits the buzz
Hit: 5 Stars
There was a buzz about this CD online, in jazz magazines and here on Amazon, long before I finally decided to give it a try. I'd never heard of Kenny Werner before but I took additional heart from the fact that some of my favourite people are on this album - Dave Douglas on trumpet and cornet, Chris Potter on tenor sax and bass clarinet, Scott Colley on bass and most of all, my man Brian Blade on the drums.
I felt like a lot of previous reviewers did when I played it for the first time (I was like, what the..?) and by the time I'd listened to the first two tracks, I actually began to think that I'd made a huge mistake. They just sounded like computer-programmed gobbledegook. But then, "The 13th Day" started and I began to relax. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I thought to myself.
After the tune finished, I actually went back and listened to "Lo's Garden" and "New Amsterdam" again and it might sound strange but I suddenly heard them in a new light. I found myself playing those two songs again and again and the more I played them, the more they made sense. By the time I finally got to "burble_burble_splerk", another computer-based intriguing number (that at 2mins 29 secs, was over before I could really get my head round it until I'd listened to it at least three or four times), it was as if a light had come on in my head and I finally got where Werner was coming from. This keyboardist (and computer programmer) has a very unique and totally unconventional approach to composition and improvisation but he's incredibly exciting once you get used to him. He seems to use the computer mostly to create sound effects, including voices. Give this a couple of listens and the magic in it becomes crystal clear. Now I know why he's held in such high regard in jazz circles.
It's not all experimental or avant-garde stuff though. There are a couple "traditional" jazz tunes - "The 13th Day" (12mins 25secs of pure rhythmic fun and a real head-nodding, toe-tapper); "Uncovered Heart", a beautiful ballad penned by album producer Lenny Picket; "Inaugural Balls", another joyful kicker of a tune (and the "voices", when they come in, are a really interesting idea); "Lawn Chairs (and Other Foreign Policy)", another beautiful ballad in two movements; "Loss" is as it suggests and "Kothbiro" is also slow and mournful, and like a jam session where all the musicians involved get to say something on the one song. A brilliant album closer.
I'm glad I picked this one up. It totally merits the buzz.
Lawn Chair Society Poster
Jazz is characterized by democratic group improvisation, so it's natural that artists like the Brooklyn-born pianist//keyboardist/composer Kenny Werner offer insightful and inventive critiques on American democratic society. On his Blue Note debut, Werner's impressive "cabinet" includes trumpeter/cornetist Dave Douglas, drummer Brian Blade, bassist Scott Colley, and saxophonist/clarinetist Chris Potter. With Tower of Power's Lenny Picket in the production chair, Werner's take on the unreality of American life is manifested in techno-savvy computer grooves, acoustic swing, strong contrapuntal exchanges, and genre-bending idioms. "Lo's Garden," "Inaugural Balls," "New Amsterdam," and "Lawn Chairs (and Other Foreign Policy)" are syncopated soapboxes ringing with Kraftwerk/James Brown/Herbie Hancock Headhunter-type rhythms and angular melodies, contrasted by the mournful aura of "The 13th Day," written for his late daughter, and "Kothbiro," from the film The Constant Gardener. Werner's bop, beats, and bytes will live on long after the polls close. --Eugene Holley, Jr.Active for nearly three decades, Kenny Werner has earned a reputation as one of the most inventive pianists and composers in jazz. With Lawn Chair Society, he joins the illustrious roster of Blue Note Records and unveils the most thrilling and unorthodox statement of his career thus far. He is joined by some of the best players in the world- Dave Douglas, in a rare sideman appearance, on trumpet and cornet; Chris Potter on tenor sax and bass clarinet; Scott Colley on bass; and Brian Blade on drums. With the aide of producer Lenny Pickett, Werner and the band conjure a subtle blend of acoustic and electronic elements. The results are melodically rich, sonically futuristic, offhandedly virtuosic, and politically resonant.
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