Jacob Fischer Trio - Two CDs Recorded In Two Days!

Jacob Fischer (photo: Ina Løndal)

The Danish jazz guitarist Jacob Fischer (b 1967) made his debut at the Copenhagen jazz festival at 17 and has since then been one of the hardest working musicians in Scandinavia. Jacob Fischer has worked with the best Scandinavian musicians as well as with visiting jazz greats. His versatile virtuosity can be heard on about 200 CDs. Since 1992 he has been a member of violin legend Svend Asmussens quartet and in 2008 he finally decided to release his first album in his own name, Jacob Fischer Trio featuring Svend Asmussen. This was followed by two more CDs by a Jacob Fischer Trio recorded in Copenhagen, in 2010 was released a CD titled Blues featuring Jacob Fischer's Organ Trio and in 2011 the CD titled Django - a tribute to the Gypsy legend featuring accordionist Francesco Cali. During a guest performance at The Fourth Annual Arbors Records Invitational Jazz Party (Fl., USA) in January 2012 Jacob Fischer recorded a CD titled Guitarist under his own name featuring fellow guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli in a quartet setting. More about the mentioned CDs at the official website, here.

Jacob Fischer (photo: Morten Langkilde)

Jacob Fischer has toured Scandinavia, Great Britain, Japan, Brazil and several European countries and he has recorded with internationally acclaimed musicians both in Denmark and abroad. In June 2013, he was in New York to record material for the Japanese Venus Records to be released in Japan, the recordings were done in two days, June 20 and 21, and the recorded material was released on two CDs in Japan later that year. Now the music of both CDs finally is available outside Japan and accessible for purchase at Amazon, Itunes a.o.

CD-front: My Romance (Venus Records, VHCD-1132)

As mentioned, the two days recording session in New York was released on two CDs, in all 25 tracks of which 13 are accessible on the shown My Romance, a tribute album to the inventive jazz piano player, Bill Evans. Jacob Fischer is accompanied by double bass player Martin Wind  and drummer Tim Horner, both acclaimed and New York based musicians.

Martin Wind - photo: All About Jazz web

The repertoire of the disc is concentrated on ballads and lyrical standards like the title tune by Richard Rodgers and there are four compositions in this genre by Bill Evans, "Time Remembered" and "Waltz For Debby", further "Show Type Tune" and "Interplay". Bill Evans and Miles Davis' collaboration is remembered in a reading of Davis' "Nardis" and modern jazz ballads like "I Fall In Love Too Easily" (Styne/Kahn), "My Foolish Heart" (V. Young), "Come Rain Or Come Shine" (H. Arlen) and "Polka Dots And Moonbeams" (J. Van Heusen) are also presented, the last mentioned as a solo guitar piece. A complete tracklist is available here.

Tim Horner - photo: Tim Horner website

The complex yet lyrical interpretation of the music reflects Bill Evans' ideas of using standard jazz tunes as a stepstone for reharmonisation and modulations of themes thus creating a tonal improvisation and motivic development of the music. This consept of jazz improvisation resembles the ideas applied by other modern jazz piano players like Thelonius Monk and Bud Powell, however, each of them are distinct and different in their own specific way, of course. Here on the CD by Jacob Fischer Trio no piano is playing, nevertheless Fischer's guitar playing reflects Evans' ideas convinsingly with great support by his two sidemen. Fischer's approach reminds me of fellow guitarist Lenny Breau, who also excelled in the exploration of jazz and standard tunes with ideas 

from the field developed by modern piano players like Bill Evans a.o..

CD-front: Black Orpheus (Venus Records, VHCD-1138)

The second CD from Jacob Fischer Trio recorded in the June 20 and 21 New York session is titled Black Orpheus  containing 12 tracks of Brazilian or Brazilian inspired tunes and may be considered a tribute to bossa nova and the roots of this style of music. Jacob Fischer, guitar, is again accompanied by Martin Wind on double bass, however, Brazilian drummer Duduka Da Fonseca has replaced Tim Horner.

Duduka Da Fonseca - photo: All About Jazz web

The title track of the CD refers to the famous 1959 film Orfeu Negro made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval. The film is particularly noted for its soundtrack by two Brazilian composers, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá, who - together with vocalist João Gilberto -  introduced the bossa nova internationally with this film. The music from the film has since been absorbed in the standard jazz repertoire and recorded numerous times by various artists. 

Original film poster (source: Wikipedia)

The tune "Black Orpheus" is also known as "Manhã de Carnaval", composed by Luiz Bonfá, and there is one more composition by Bonfá included, "Gentle Rain", which introduces the CD. A.C. Jobim is represented through five compositions - "Triste" (from the Black Orpheus film), "How Insensitive", "Once I Loved", "Desafinado" and "This Happy Madness" - the last mentioned here performed as a solo guitar piece. The remaining repertoire is represented by three compositions by choro mandolinist Jacob Bittencourt (aka Jacob do Bandolim) - "Assanhado", "Bole-Bole" and "Doce de Coco" - and two compositions by Jacob Fischer, "Little Teardrop" and "Sonho Carioca", both also recorded at the Django tribute CD from 2011 and reflecting Fischer's adoption of Brazilian choro. The trio again delivers a great musical output, the support of the rhythm section is excellent and Fischer's guitarplaying marvels throughout, his approach to this repertoire pays its due to other guitarists like Charlie Byrd and Gene Bertoncini a.o. as well as modern jazz influence, however, arrangements and interpretation are his own.

The music on the two mentioned CDs is a splendid example of the span of Jacob Fischer's musical universe and his capacity as a musician and guitarist, here exposed in a trio setting that shows off the best both in solo playing and support. Highly recommended!

---

Jo

keepitswinging.domain@gmail.com  

Retrospect Keep Swinging (old) Oscar Aleman Choro Music Flexible Records Hit of the Week-Durium Friends of the Keep Swinging blog Keep Swinging Contributions