Chris Potter

“The Sirens”

(ECM Records, ECM 2258, Bar Code 279 4579)

Saxophonist and composer Chris Potter (born 1970) can be considered one of the world’s leading contemporary jazz saxophonists. Potter made his début as a leader back in 1992 and has since recorded prolifically, both as a sideman and as a leader of his own groups. He has had a particularly fruitful musical relationship with Dave Holland and has appeared on several of the bassist/composer’s ECM albums. Other collaborators have included guitarists Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Jim Hall, bassists Ray Brown and Steve Swallow, trumpeter Dave Douglas, pianists Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner and drummer Paul Motian.

Although he has appeared on several albums for the label, many of these with Holland, “The Sirens” represents Potter’s first ECM release as a leader. The album is a suite or song cycle inspired by Homer’s “The Odyssey” which Potter had just re-read immediately prior to composing the music to be heard here. In his writing Potter, like Homer, was attempting to explore epic but very human themes -love, loss, travel, identity, temptation,death etc. The result is an album that packs a considerable emotional punch with Potter’s tenor and soprano saxophones and occasional bass clarinet the principal voices almost throughout. There’s an epic sweep about the music and a very human element about Potter’s playing that makes an immediate impact. The saxophonist is joined in his quest by an all star band, many of whom have strong ECM connections. Bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Eric Harland form a stellar rhythm team but the ensemble is unusual in having two keyboard players, the acclaimed Craig Taborn, a band leader in his own right, on acoustic piano alongside rising star David Virelles who provides extra colour and texture via his imaginative use of prepared piano, celeste and harmonium. 

Potter has acquired a reputation as a fluent, hard blowing player in the lineage of Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson and Michael Brecker and he’s often done his best work in other people’s groups. “The Sirens” represents an attempt to move away from that approach, Potter was very much looking towards playing the role of a storyteller, “I wanted to set a mood, tell a tale” he explains “rather than blowing through some really difficult changes”. With this in mind ECM was the perfect home for this project with legendary producer Manfred Eicher sprinkling some of his unique aural fairy dust over the proceedings. As Potter revealed to Jazzwise magazine “I don’t even know what the hell he was doing, but at the end of the day it sounds like an ECM record”.

“The Odyssey” may seem a heavy subject to hang an album on but there’s nothing stuffy about Potter’s music. Perhaps it’s no co-incidence that he’s toured with Steely Dan who used the same source as the broad inspiration for the song “Home At Last” from the classic “Aja” album. Potter’s titles come from descriptions or characters from Homer’s work, the trigger points sparking a period of intense creativity, most of “The Sirens” was written in a little over two weeks. However nothing sounds rushed, indeed everything feels natural and organic with Potter and his colleagues totally attuned to the music. 

The album opens with “Wine Dark Sea”, a piece that initially sounds as atmospheric as its title courtesy of Potter’s brooding tenor. However things swiftly kick on as Grenadier, Harland and Taborn establish a subtle funk groove that acts as the spur for a typically fluent Potter solo that draws on the legacy of both Michael Brecker and Joe Henderson. Pianist Taborn is a long term Potter collaborator and also plays in the saxophonist’s electric group Underground. A remarkably versatile and inventive pianist Taborn is also in inspired form here.

An air of mystery pervades “Wayfinder” with the ethereal sounds of Virelles’ various keyboards augmenting Harland’s colourful polyrhythmic drum patterns and grooves. Potter’s sax states the theme and he later solos in typically imperious fashion but the most absorbing aspect of the track is the engrossing three way conversation between Harland and the two keyboard players.

“Dawn (With Her Rosy Fingers)” is an achingly beautiful ballad with Potter at his most tender on tenor but still tempered by something of his trademark edge. There are also gorgeously spacious solos from Taborn on acoustic piano and Grenadier on double bass.

Although not specifically a “ballads” record the album leans more closely towards the reflective than many of Potter’s other recordings. Thus the title track is a simmering, shimmering bass clarinet/tenor saxophone meditation with the leader delicately shadowed by Taborn. Grenadier’s arco bass, sometimes dark and grainy, sometimes ethereally beautiful, is also highly effective. Despite the nationality of the players the spirit of the music sounds thoroughly European.

The mood is sustained on “Penelope"which sees Potter’s airy soprano sax floating and dancing above the undulating, loosely structured rhythmic patterns of his colleagues. Taborn’s solo reveals him at his most lyrical and Harland’s highly responsive drumming adds a sense of drama to the piece. 

The jerky energy of “Kalypso” represents a return to more typical Potter fare with its big boned but fluent tenor plus the title being suggestive of a homage to Sonny Rollins. There’s more terrific work from Taborn plus something of a feature for Harland in the tune’s closing stages.

The impressionistic ballad “Nausikaa” features the twinkle of Virelles on celeste. The Cuban born pianist made a big impression on UK audiences as part of Ravi Coltrane’s band at the 2012 London Jazz Festival and is something of a rising star in the jazz firmament. Although he’s asked to fulfil a more specialised role here he nevertheless acquits himself well in further thoughtful dialogues with both Taborn and Potter.

“Stranger At The Gate” grows out of Grenadier’s bass pulse to embrace an epic grandeur as Potter’s tenor soars above the jagged rhythms surging beneath. Taborn again impresses, masterfully building and releasing tension throughout a typically well constructed solo. Both main soloists are well supported by the excellent Harland, a highly skilled drummer who always knows when to, and when not to, push.

Closer “The Shades” is a tantalising miniature, the piece credited to Taborn and Virelles and seemingly an improvised piece for the two keyboards with the gentle tinkle of Virelles’ celeste matched by Taborn’s minimalist touch at the piano. It’s the sound of fireflies gently twinkling in the stillness of a Mediterranean night - Potter doesn’t even play on it.

As an album “The Sirens” is a highly impressive piece of work with Potter’s highly melodic, vividly descriptive themes superbly played by a brilliant all star band. As a “storyteller” he fulfils his role admirably and the rest of the group share his vision faithfully. Producer Eicher also plays a vital role in the success of the music and the album overall is a superb blend of American and European sensibilities. Potter is already acknowledged as a master instrumentalist and his playing here is as impressive as ever. However it’s his reputation as a composer that promises to be most enhanced by the excellent “The Sirens”.   

 

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