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Composer and sax player Tim Berne music was never an easy listening, "Shadow Man",his second album for ECM is even less so.
Known for decades as one of leaders of contemporary New York avant-garde jazz, Berne was known by his explosive and noisy recordings with electric band first of all. When in 2012 he released his first ever album for ECM, some his old fans decided that he's selling out (my old friend,originally physical engineer,but who lives organizing jazz concerts and running jazz label for years said that year he's not interested in Tim Berne's music anymore). Were they right? I don't think so.
Even on Berne's first ECM album,"Snakeoil",he demonstrated new concept,combining unusual for him fully acoustic quartet's music with crisp ECM sound. Second album,released an year after, "Shadow Man" is recorded by same acoustic quartet, this time in New York with assistance of Berne's one-time collaborator David Torn. Both albums are studio-recorded under well-known ECM attention to sound quality and details.And them both perfectly show the other side of Berne's music - great composer and almost pedantic studio musician. Comparing with ECM debut, "Shadow Man" is more matured,deeper - and being seriously pre-composed - freer. It's obvious that all quartet feel more comfortable in their new music, which is quirky,complex,multi-layered and beautiful at the same time.
More than 70 minutes long, this album doesn't sound like such. Even experienced listener will hardly separate where composed is changed with improvised and vise versa. Never Berne's music has been recorded with such attention to smaller details, and at the same time it didn't become too bloodless or mannerist,not at all. Even more - besides of five Berne's originals there is one Paul Motian song - "Psalm", full of sensitiveness and beauty,which was hardly imaginable on Berne's albums from previous decades.
Most probably the formula of success lays on original combination of Berne's NY avant-garde jazz tradition and ECM studio excellence,leaving European chamber jazz influence (which makes many ECM releases so face-off) aside.
This album with no doubt requires repeating listening and with every spin opens more and more new sides. One among few current time jazz albums,looking not in the past but towards advanced jazz future.