Victor Gould - Clockwork (2016)

Pianist Victor Gould's debut utilizes a variety of large gears, pinions, and regulators to help fashion his own ideas. You just never know who'll be standing in for which of those parts. The high-octane combination of Gould, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer E.J. Strickland is at the center of each scene, but they're joined, at different times, by a variety of other musicians and instruments - saxophones, trumpet, flute, strings, and percussion - which help to create an intricate sonic mesh and add a variety of tonal colors to the mix. It's heady modernistic jazz language and high art rolled into one. The album opens on the title track, a bubbly Latin cauldron fired and forwarded by the aforementioned trio in cahoots with percussionist Pedrito Martinez. The pieces that follow - "Room," a sunny yet contemplative work in three, and "Chaancé," a mellow, strings-enhanced feature that puts the spotlight on Jeremy Pelt's flugelhorn and the composer's piano - stand apart in mood and musical complexion, marking Gould as a composer of great ambition and skill. While shifting focal points, different emotional tides, and the track-to-track addition and subtraction of musicians all allow the listener to indulge in a variety of musical worlds and fantasies, Gould's voice rings true in each and every one. He excels at every turn, regardless of where those turns may lead. He brilliantly works the beautiful-to-brooding range on the prelude to "Apostle John"; he shows patience and restraint over a throbbing base/bass on that tune proper, standing in stark contrast to the raw intensity that comes from his colleagues; and he delivers a scene-stealer statement full of daring and darting maneuvers on "Blue Dales." It's easy to see what his A-list employers - trumpeter Wallace Roney, drummer Ralph Peterson, and saxophonist Donald Harrison, among others - see in Gould. He's got the musical world on a string, in his mind, and at his fingertips. ~ by Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz. 

Fresh Sound New Talent Records, FSNT 502, 2016
Recorded 14th Dec., 2015 & 19th Jan., 2016 At Systems Two Studios, Brooklyn, New York

Musicians:
Victor Gould - Piano, Composer
Jeremy Pelt - Trumpet (#1-3,6-8,11)
Godwin Louis - Alto Saxophone (#1-3,5-8,11)
Myron Walden - Tenor Saxophone (#1-3,6-8,11)
Anne Drummond - Flute (#3,7)
Ben Williams - Bass (#1-5,7,9-11)
E.J. Strickland - Drums (#1-5,7-11)
Pedrito Martinez - Percussion (#1,4,7)
Yoojin Park - Violin (#3,6,7)
Heejin Chang - Viola (#3,6,7)
Veronica Parrales - Cello (#3,6,7) 

Tracks:
01. Clockwork (7:39)
02. Room (7:09)
03. Chaancé (5:22)
04. Blue Dales (5:21)
05. The Return (7:55)
06. Apostle John [Prelude] (3:09)
07. Apostle John (9:00)
08. Sir Carter [Intro] (0:45)
09. Sir Carter (4:52)
10. Nefertiti (5:37)
11. Three Souls (8:06) 

All songs composed & arranged by Victor Gould, except #5 by Wayne Shorter 

Credits:
Co-Producers - Victor Gould, Myron Walden
Executive Producer - Jordi Pujol
Recording Engineer - Max Ross
Mixing & Mastering Engineer - Dave Darlington
Painting - Martel Chapman
Photos - Anne Yatskevich
Liner Notes - David R. Adler

LINK

Myron Walden - Like A Flower Seeking The Sun (1999)

A Charming Shadowy Gem
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I’m a big fan of Brian Blade’s Fellowship Band and found this Myron Walden album because of that. But apart from Walden’s own penetrating sound on the alto the music has little to do with that of the Fellowship band. Here the mood is darker and more questioning, a feel that flows through the entire record and makes it a great, in my opinion anyway. The jazz idiom produces a lot of record, way too much as a matter of fact. The playing is often great, but albums just seem pointless and flavorless. On this collection of tunes however there is unity, and nothing seems out of place. The main theme is repeated three times on the album: at the beginning, in the middle and of course at the end. The other tunes seem to come from the same place, time and frame of mind. The pairing of Walden’s horn and Rosenwinkel’s guitar just works so well and again helps build that subdued tension that ties everything together. Once in a while every music lover come across a hidden record that just fits exactly his taste, this is one of those for me. ~ Timy Keller, AMG. 

NYC Records, NYC 6032-2, 1999
Recorded 16th February, 1998 at Avatar Studios Room A, New York 

Musicians:
Myron Walden - Alto Saxophone
Dwayne Burno - Bass
Eric McPherson - Drums
Guest:
Kurt Rosenwinkle - Guitar 

Tracks:
01. Like A Flower Seeking The Sun {Myron Walden} (5:52)
02. As Night Falls {Myron Walden} (7:28)
03. From This Moment On {Cole Porter, Arr. Myron Walden} (5:17)
04. Tears Of The Fallen One {Myron Walden} (3:49)
05. E Minor Untitled {Myron Walden} (7:10)
06. Like A Flower Seeking The Sun {Myron Walden} (4:37)
07. Momentum {Myron Walden} (7:01)
08. A Long Road Ahead {Myron Walden} (4:12)
09. Path Of The Sun {Myron Walden} (7:05)
10. Pulse {Myron Walden} (8:12)
11. Like A Flower Seeking The Sun {Myron Walden} (3:49) 

Total Time: 64:32 

Credits:
Producer - Myron Walden, Preston Powell
Engineer - James Farber 

Like A Flower Seeking The Sun