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CD Review: Jayna Nelson

 

by Cheryl K. Symister-Masterson, May 26, 2010

 

He didn’t know it at the time, but pianist and label owner John Esposito was giving something precious to Woodstock resident and flutist/piccolo player Jayna Nelson: “He was giving me a gift.” What was to become Bloom of Creation was a live performance recorded in 1999 on a DAT tape. After being missing for a decade, Esposito found it and decided to release it on his Sunjump Records. The creative fire of Bloom of Creation came from the embers of Esposito’s A Book of Five Rings. Half of the players of that album—Nelson, Esposito, trumpeter Matt Schulman, and drummer Peter O’Brien—gigged together for a spell and then, with the addition of bassist Francois Moutin, bore Bloom of Creation at the now defunct Alterknit venue of New York’s Knitting Factory.

 

“Fact: Re-Blues” is a free-kinda-blue tour de force exemplifying the band’s ensemble-ness with the members stretching into each other’s musical space without creating a crowded sound. The coffee-table piece is “Tim’s Brain,” which assigns players to either half of the human brain to musically interpret its emotional and thinking processing. This is Nelson’s bailiwick: She’s an Interactive Metronome provider who assists in training the brain to “process information more effectively.” Her other focus is her playing that possesses a balanced logic and earthiness (“Indah Dreams,” “Star Seed,” “Junk DNA Dance”) and intricately weaves her sound into the fabric of a composition (“Agar”). With the Bloom of Creation, Nelson has landscaped an organic milieu that is openly defined.

 

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By Jakob Baekgaard - 2/3/10

 

While it is often recognized that music is a matter of both the head and the heart, few artists have taken the statement as literally as the flutist Jayna Nelson. Before the recording of a concert at the legendary Knitting Factory, she instructed her fellow players by handing out copies of a diagram showing the brain's division into two different parts; left and right, the idea being that the musicians would play different parts of the brain, thus achieving a balance of the emotive and cognitive aspects of the thought process.

 

As speculative as this may sound, it actually works, and the result can be heard on "Tim's Brain," which is part of the concert recorded back in 1999, and now released as Bloom of Creation on John Esposito's Sunjump label.

 

A rolling thunder of drums introduces the piece before Matt Schulman's trumpet enters, blowing a storm of fiery notes. Adding contrast, Nelson's flute whispers and sighs while Esposito's piano rolls restlessly, creating a music in constant motion.

 

The concert conveys a feeling of close interaction and an unhindered transition from lyrical moments like the gentle "Star Seed" to the more brusque "Return of Buffalo Calf Woman," which incidentally sounds like a flock of buffalos walking through a field.

 

While Nelson plays a crucial role on the record with her characteristic, dancing sound, more than anything, the record is a product of collective improvisation. As Nelson writes in the liner notes: "The creative process is never a solo journey. Bloom of Creation is the collaboration of rare souls conversing in the universal language of music."

 

It is hard to disagree that Nelson and her group achieved something special on that night in February at The Knitting Factory. Now, thanks to the tireless effort of Esposito, the product of these great minds is no longer lost, but a document preserved for the ages.

 

 

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JAYNA NELSON With JOHN ESPOSITO/MATT SHULMAN/FRANCOIS MOUTIN/PETER O'BRIEN - Bloom Of Creation (Sunjump CD 09; USA) Jayna Nelson on flute & piccolo, Matt Schulman on trumpet, John Esposito on piano, Francois Moutin on bass and Peter O'Brien on drums.

 

This disc was recorded live the AlterKnit in the Knitting Factory in February of 1999, almost ten years ago and thought to have been lost. I hadn't heard of the Ms. Jayna Nelson before hearing her on a John Esposito disc called 'A Book of Five Rings' which I reviewed earlier this year. Like every other disc that I've heard on Esposito's Sunjump label, this one is another unrecognized gem.

 

The first song, "Indah Dreams" features some amazing flute and piano interplay with equally strong rhythm section work. Trumpeter Matt Schulman sounds especially strong on "Tim's Brain", the flute, trumpet and piano weaving around one another tightly and intensely.

 

Throughout this disc the all five members of this solid quintet engage each other and play slow-burning restraint, solos unfolding carefully and consistently intense interaction. Hopefully we will get a chance to hear flutist Jayna Nelson playing around the town in the not-too-distant future. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

 

 

 

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