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AYNA VEER |
PRIVATE [40:11]
Vernau Mier (saxophone): Aydin Esen (piano, synthesiser): Nadav Erlich (bass) Eric Valle (drums) with Alberto Garcia (percussion on track 1)
1. Improvisation #1
2. Secret Wildflower
3. Improvisation #2
4. Trip to H 09:43
5. Improvisation #3
6. Improvisation #4
7. Improvisation #5
8. The Last Fifteen Days
Ayna Veer is the name of an international quartet whose members hail from Turkey, Spain and Israel. Its most well-known player is Aydin Esen; well-known possibly because of Chick Corea’s reply in Jazztimes Magazine to the question: “Who do you think is the best pianist in the world?” His answer was: “Maybe most of you don’t know him, but he is a Turkish guy: Aydin Esen”. And here is Essen leading the inaugural disc by this new ensemble.
There are three composed pieces, two by saxophonist Vernau Mier and one by the drummer Eric Valle. The other five pieces are improvisations. It’s no coincidence that two of the composed pieces last over 22 minutes in an eight-track disc lasting 40 minutes. The improvisations don’t sprawl, and are compact examples of the genre.
Secret Wildflower was released as a single some while back and is the longest track at 12 minutes. Mier, the composer, plays an elegant solo over deft Essen piano, with bass and drums kicking the motoric rhythm onward, all four players enjoying the attractive thematic nature of the piece. The Last Fifteen Days is Mier’s other composition and offers further evidence of his high competence; he has the instrumental chops to back up his writing as well. Trip to H is the work of Valle and its rather hard-won lyricism, in which the sax is taken high and intense in its emotions, generates a kind of ‘all passion spent’ feel leading to a more reflective chiming commentary. This is another well-judged and astutely played performance.
The improvisations are, as noted, much more compact than their composed confreres. Alberto Garcia adds his percussion to the first Improvisation but ending in a fade-out weakens the structural integrity of the piece; a real shame. Elsewhere in these improvisations one can enjoy the play of bass and drums, the overdubbed synthesiser of Essen, the brief cell-like episodes and the sense of colour generated. Essen takes an especially romantic-classical solo on the fifth Improvisation.
At one point we can hear spoken instruction to ‘roll the tape’, kept in to preserve a sense of immediacy I would guess. It’s a product of a questing, interesting album that channels its energy productively. There’s no self-indulgence or virtuosity-for-virtuosity’s sake, though all four players are expert practitioners, without doubt. Instead there’s a compatibility and an energy that are alike rewarding.
Jonathan Woolf