Review

The following is an excerpt from Something in the Air (June 2016) which can be read in its entirety here.

Musically, Luminosity (Origin Records 82706 originarts.com) may be the most straight ahead of the sessions here, but it’s also the one with the most varied cast. The program is eight compositions by German-born-and-raised pianist Florian Hoefner, who after a long period in New York, now teaches at Memorial University in St. John’s. The quartet is completed by American bassist Sam Anning, Austrian drummer Peter Kronreif and Vancouver-raised, Manhattan-based tenor and soprano saxophonist Seamus Blake. Obviously attracted to his new surroundings, Hoefner penned two fluid ballads The Narrows and North Country, which flow like the clear water in a Newfoundland harbour, and more obviously Newfound Jig. A frolicking piece that manages to bring in the tenth province’s old country musical history, Newfound Jig swings and swirls as Blake outputs John Coltrane-like slurs and slides and the pianist builds up intense modal chording. Ebullient, Blake adds the necessary crunch to the bossa-nova-like In Circles, working up a piston-driven head of steam without ever lapsing into screech mode. Dipping into the tenor’s lowest registers on Elements, Blake doubles the jazz-rock feel engendered by Kronreif’s scrambling thrusts. Overall though, Hoefner’s linear comping keeps the piece moving like a veteran sailor righting a scow in an ocean storm. Perhaps the key to the session is appropriately expressed on The Bottom Line. Pushed by tremolo piano chords and rattling drums, the melody expresses toughness without discontent. Those sentiments would seem to be the perfect way to adapt to the sometimes rugged life in Newfoundland – as well as describing the skills needed to be both a patient teacher and an innovating musician.