KIRK KNUFFKE — Garden of Gifts (review)

KIRK KNUFFKE — Garden of Gifts album cover Album · 2009 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
snobb
Originally from Colorado, but Brooklyn-based for last decade,cornetist Kirk Knuffke is a musician who belongs to leading representatives of younger New York jazz scene of today."Garden Of Gifts" is his second album, released six years ago - being still relatively unknown newcomer.

Recorded in another trio's member,Italian improvisational drummer Federico Ughi Brooklyn house (and with Federico's made photo used as cover art), this album is already very much Knuffke work. Judging by the cover this album can contain whatever you want - from esoteric electronics noodling to free-form lo-fi nature-friendly sound salad to soundtrack to National Geographic themes. Fortunately, it doesn't.

It's a Knuffke lively colorful trumpet what brings sense and beauty in the trio's music. Still very slow, atmospheric, even sad in moments,this music surprisingly avoids being bulky,repetitive or monotonous. There are no regular structure, rhythm frame or obvious direction here, but all compositions are no way static, there is permanent flow and ever-changing actions. Knuffke's trumpet sounds in best Bill Dixon tradition filling quite liquid space with bits and snippets of tunes.

Third trio member Chris Welcome's guitar produces some abstract sounds here and there,adding more surrealistic colors to drummer's build dense basis. In all this album is surprisingly accessible for free-form musical recording and avoids loud and dissonant sounds,making it attractive for wider circle of listeners. Not properly noticed and evaluated at the time of release, "Garden Of Gifts" requires a second chance and I expect it can be really positively accepted by many fans of more current and much better known Kirk Knuffke music.
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