USA; Bob Gluck and Tani Tabbal- At This Time (2017)

“At This Time” is a dynamic collaboration between pianist Bob Gluck and drummer Tani Tabbal. In a series of acoustic and electronic duets, Gluck and Tabbal explore music ranging from Wayne Shorter’s ‘Sanctuary’ to the Chilean activist anthem ‘The People United Will Never Be Defeated.’

Electronic music pioneer Patrick Gleeson observes that Gluck and Tabbal are “especially suited to play together. Bob’s approach to jazz improvisation is in the grand tradition of Art Tatum – floridly melodic, emotional and accomplished. Tani’s approach has been to amplify this ongoing stream of musical ideas in a way that’s both spare and grand.” Gleeson favorably compares the two interwoven sets, acoustic and electronic, that alternate on the recording: “the electro-acoustic pieces exhibit the same high level of accomplishment” as the acoustic.

In many ways, the recording is an artistic reflection on the political struggles of our time. At the center of “At This Time” is an anthem of the Chilean revolution, ‘The People United Will Never Be Defeated’ (Sergio Ortega’s ‘El pueblo unido jamás será vencido’), its title imbued with hope during a challenging time. Gluck and Tabbal offer two varied readings. The first (track 5), ushered in by Tabbal’s cymbals, presents the melody as plaintive and pleading. The second (track 9) begins ominously and spare, the melody emerging in bel canto-voice. The mood dips, anxiously questioning, then rising with cautious hope, gradually unfolding with confidence.

Three tracks interpret repertoire from Miles Davis’ “Lost” Quintet of 1968-1970, the focus of Gluck’s book The Miles Davis ‘Lost’ Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles (University of Chicago, 2016). You’ll find here two versions of the Styne/Cahn classic ‘I Fall in Love Too Easily,’ a favorite of Davis. Track 1 is for solo piano; Track 7, a duet, moves in and out of a rhythmic groove. Listen for Tabbal’s ingenious use of the bass drum and lower tom toms, alternately suggesting a bass line or extending the rhythmic pulse of a piano line. Tabbal accentuates the intense emotional tone with sensitive cymbal play.

Particularly intriguing is Wayne Shorter’s ‘Sanctuary,’ a composition that Pat Gleeson describes as “a mysterious and eccentric piece that can be the graveyard of soloists who try to play it as a melody over a series of chords.” Gleeson affirms Gluck and Tabbal’s strategy: “I’m especially taken with their rendering… Bob’s deconstructive approach relies less on chord symbols and more on exploring Shorter’s elusive melody with shape-shifting scales and responsive musical ideas.”

Themes of hope and despair are explored further during the electronic segments of “At This Time,” Again Gleeson: “The acoustic set would be a hard act to follow and figuring out ways of incorporating electronics in jazz isn’t easy. ‘Resolve,’ for instance (track 2), has the same fluidity and grand scope of the acoustic pieces.” In ‘Resolve,’ spare, ringing phrases lead to sweeps of cymbals and electronic sound clouds. Gleeson offers a narrative for “Bob and Tani’s witty ‘Premonition’” (track 4) in which “a hapless synth ostinato is driven more or less mad by an explosion of rhythmic percussion ideas before giving up and muttering into silence.”

The quiet, reflective ‘Lest it Fade Away’ (track 6) follows the first rendition of ‘The People United’ and features a new kind of multi-touch keyboard, the Roli Seaboard Grand. Here, a musical dialog ensues between Gluck’s pitch-bending harp sounds and wood-block phrases, and Tabbal’s carefully controlled tom-tom patterns and cymbal swells. In ‘Persistence’ (track 8), cymbal rolls are joined by mysterious sustained textures. Gluck’s repeated melodic phrases overlap and unfold, spiraling into a sonic display that evokes the track’s beginning.

The sonic tapestry of ‘Persistence’ leads organically to the second version of ‘The People United’. This is an apt conclusion for a recording that reflects the depth and complexity of a deeply challenging and troubling historical moment.
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releases November 15, 2017