Search - Lauren Sevian :: Blueprint

No mere pretty face

Rick Erben | Omaha, NE | 08/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The pantheon of woman jazz instrumentalists, while relatively small compared to their male counterparts, is nevertheless significant. From Marjorie Hyams, Vi Red, Vera Auer, Melba Liston, Marian McPartland, Ingrid Jensen, Trudy Pitts, Emily Remler, Shirley Scott and Jessica Williams to the brilliant composer and conductor Maria Schneider, there have been, and are, numerous women who have added to the attraction of this music. Add the name Lauren Sevian to the list.



This listener is apprehensive about albums that bear a picture of a good looking woman on the cover and often seem to substitute photographs for musical content. I entertained this notion while slipping the disc in my CD player and found any reservations about marketing superficiality rapidly dispelled by the music on this first class effort. While Vi Red, Melba Liston and Ingrid Jensen play(ed) horns (alto sax, trombone and trumpet, respectively), how many women can you remember who have played baritone saxophone? Here is one and, man, does she have chops!



Sevian, 29, won the Count Basie Invitational soloing competition at the age of 16 and came to New York City about a decade ago to pursue her career - attending the Manhattan School of Music and studying with such artists as Mark Turner and Steve Slagle. She has also been a member of such organizations as the Mingus Big Band and the Artie Shaw Orchestra.



"Blueprint" is a powerful debut as leader for this artist. She's accompanied by George Colligan playing piano, Boris Kozlov, bass, and Jonathan Blake, drums. Mike DiRubbo plays alto saxophone on one track, as well. This is a straight ahead, no nonsense recording session, with all but one track written by Sevian.



The title track opens the album and from the git-go one realizes Sevian can get around on the large horn with style. Her sound is full and rich, evoking memories of Nick Brignola. The baritone is a gas in capable hands and that ability to 'get around' on the horn and explore its registers is an element of the instrument's appeal. Sevian displays a convincing and exhilarating capacity to both tell a lively story through her solos and explore the range of her instrument without hesitation. She's on it, and backed by a superb rhythm section that is a kick of itself. Colligan's thoroughly inspired playing (perhaps the best recorded example that I've heard) is a major attraction. Sevian and Colligan rock, with Kozlov's bass sound and beat a pure joy and Blake's work at the drum set a rhythmic panoply of taste and drive.



Compositionally, "Blueprint" scores further. Sevian seems to have a well-honed instinct for writing. Tracks such as "Blueprint" and "Not So Softly" head off to the races as vehicles for fast-paced improvisation and some thrilling trades between the artists. "Elusive Illusion" has a pensive feel and Mike DiRubbo's "One For C. Payne" is a breezy melody recalling one of the great baritone saxists. Speaking of DiRubbo, his sailing alto work is heard on "Gesture Of No Fear", contrasting nicely with Sevian's baritone sound.



This is no da-da-da session whereupon a top-class rhythm section has to avoid overpowering the leader. All of the music has an edge of discovery and pursuit that informs the listener with a sense of vibrancy that showers from the disc like bursts of fireworks. The program is well-balanced, with up-tempo numbers dispersed among tracks such as the swinging, Brazilian inflected waltz "True" or the subdued "For Mr. Stubb" and "Intrepid Traveler". The album closes with "The Free Effect", wherein the quartet probes the outer limits. Sevian is beautiful in the way she slurs and bends her notes here. Blake's snare drum and cymbals propel Colligan's piano runs and erupt in a symphony of their own momentarily before Sevian's baritone returns to close the track and the album in a telling example of jazz in our times, and of a rising attraction in this music whom we welcome with open ears upon this exquisite and compelling new album."