Review of Ana Nelson’s “Bridges”
Do we really need another self-produced, straight-ahead jazz CD from a young saxophonist fresh out of a university jazz education program?
What a silly question. Of course we do! The future of this music looks better all the time.
Ana Nelson is an alto sax and clarinet player out of the University of Indiana, where she graduated with a master’s from I.U.’s excellent jazz program where she currently teaches and is studying for a doctorate in clarinet performance. She’s active on the local scene, often with pianist Jamaal Baptiste. For her self-produced debut album, Bridges, she performs her original compositions designed to bridge jazz, classical, and Latin music to represent, as she writes in the notes, “my personal journey and influences that helped shape who I am as an artist and person.”
The compositions hold true to this promise. “LCB” begins with a bright classical motif that opens up into a complex swing with drummer Carter Pearson keeping on top of the shifting time signatures. Nelson plays in close dialog with Baptiste, recalling Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck at times (only with more drive and heat). It’s about 20% classical and 80% jazz.
“Let the Light In,” on the other hand, is about 80% classical and 20% jazz. This feature for clarinet and string quartet demonstrates Nelson’s fine clarinet intonation and expressive classical phrasing. I assume her solo is improvised, but it’s so carefully structured that it’s hard to say for sure.
Even on “NelBap Choro,” a bouncy Brazilian duet of clarinet and piano, some classical influence comes through in Baptiste’s arpeggiated patterns. Nelson never completely cuts loose — that’s not her modus operandi on this record — but she comes close on her solo here.
“Fruit of the Groove” is an up-tempo bop number, providing some variety to the grooves, featuring Nelson’s father, Bill Nelson, on tenor. “Wanderlust” has a knotty melody, 6/8 with lots of triplets, expertly driven by Pearson and bassist Brendan Keller-Tuberg. Nelson’s solos are sometimes tightly focused explorations of her melodies, and at other times she moves into Wayne Shorter-like fragmented abstractions.
Nelson has an appealing tone. She’s from the cool school, more Lee Konitz than Phil Woods, but she has her own mature voice and style. She’s got a good mouthpiece for that alto sax — it gives her a very rich, mellow, and centered sound that complements her clarinet tone (I’d like to hear her overdubbed on both.) Her excellent intonation means she isn’t afraid of long tones in her compositions, such as “Waltz” and “Blue Flower,” the latter a floating waltz ballad with the string quartet effectively supporting Baptiste’s Hancock-like solo.
It’s admittedly a subjective call, but I think the mix could use some improvements. The bass is too boomy (at least on my system and headphones), and Nelson’s reeds sometimes sound a bit distant. The string quartet is beautifully recorded, however.
I’ll be listening to see where those bridges take Nelson next.
