Tomas Janzon: Nomadic – Jazz Guitar Life Review

…………

As a one-man operation, if you would like to support all the work I do on Jazz Guitar Life, please consider buying me a coffee or two. Your support helps me to focus on Jazz Guitar Life so that I can continue to bring you great interviews, reviews, podcasts and other related Jazz Guitar content. Thank you and your patronage is greatly appreciated regardless if you buy me a coffee or not 🙂 – Lyle Robinson

…………

Since 2010, Tomas Janzon has found his home in one of the greatest music capitals of the world, New York City. Getting there however has resulted in a circuitous route from his birth place of Stockholm, Sweden, to LA, Canada and other areas of the globe both far and near. This nomadic quest has – at times – found Janzon straddling the fences of both scholarly Classical pursuits and bop-infused smoky after-hours Jazz. In this new album titled Nomadic – his fifth official release – Janzon brings all these elements into play in an eleven track session that takes me back to the early days of Gary Burton’s Duster and Lofty Fake Anagram period, thanks to Janzon’s adroit post-bop writing and Vibraphonist Steve Nelson’s warm, expressive playing on six of the eleven tunes.

Tunes like “Out Door Valley”, “Night Watch” – a Jazz Waltz in 9/4 -, “Uncovering” and the sonically splendid counter-point between Acoustic steel string guitar/vibraphone duet “Letter From JSB” all favor a chamber-quartet quality that not only showcases each players unique improvisational skills but also their sensitivity and understated ensemble playing as a cohesive unit, hence the Gary Burton comparison. Mind you, this comparison is in spirit only as neither Janzon nor Nelson come off as Burton or Coryell/Hahn clones. They are, in fact, players free to explore both sides of the coin as it were, where the “boundaries” that separate both Classical and Jazz seem to blur in the oh-so-competent hands of all concerned.

Such blurring of the boundaries though are employed only when essential and not necessarily because they can. Case in point is the sultry and “Fever” like “Rob’s Piano” where swing and a large dose of blues infused motifs are conjured up in a righteous fashion. It’s the kind of tune that would fit nicely in any popular Film Noir style movie from the 50’s. Very cool!

The straight-ahead continues on Janzon’s “Ascending”, “Blue Frog Return” and “Pressing Forward” where he, along with Bass and Drums, work the tunes in a trio setting that features Jeff Littleton and Tony Austin respectively. Each player has a communicative simpatico with the other allowing the music to breathe and develop without restraint giving Janzon plenty of space to create lines that cater to a more thoughtful approach ala Jim Hall or Mick Goodrick. It is this attentive approach that provides the listener with a continuity of melodic interpretation and clarity throughout the form. Almost as if the music was through-composed but not.

This understanding and continuity can also be found throughout the three tunes on the album not written by Janzon: McCoy Tyner’s “Search For Peace”, Sonny Rollins’ “Valse Hot” and the fun “mash-up” of Lee Konitz’ “Subconscious Lee” and Tadd Dameron’s “Hot House”. These tunes receive the same handling by all concerned as the above mentioned tunes. If anything, Janzon seems to blaze through the changes a tad more showcasing his proficiency as an improviser and melodic interpreter when it comes to a well-crafted tune such as the standards listed above. Suffice it to say there’s some great playing by all throughout the entire album, which is what I have come to expect from Tomas Janzon. As both a composer and player, he is a devoted and steadfast artist through and through!

As I conclude this review, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the additional rhythm section of Drummer Chuck McPherson and Bassist Hilliard Greene. Appearing on five tracks, McPherson and Greene blend in seamlessly with no interruption to the overall sound and vibe of the album. Well done all!

If you’re looking for some new music to get into, or you’re a fan/student of great Jazz Guitar and composition, then look no further than Tomas Janzon. His artistry will certainly be appreciated for many years to come.

…

Please consider spreading the word about Tomas and Jazz Guitar Life by sharing this review amongst your social media pals and please feel free to leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you 🙂

If you would like to support all the work I do on Jazz Guitar Life, please consider buying me a coffee or visiting the Jazz Guitar Life sponsors. Thank you and your patronage is greatly appreciated regardless if you buy me a coffee or not 🙂