Om utgivelsen
What a perfectly apt album title. We have our ‘stars’; four of them. They’re aligned. All independent factors have come together – at the ideal moment.
Norwegian guitarist Frode Kjekstad has worked with luminaries including Joe Farnsworth, Frank Foster, Johnny Griffin and Lonnie Smith (2004 album New York Time also featuring Eric Alexander).
English organ and piano maestro Roy Powell’s collaborations have included performances with Arild Andersen, Eddie Daniels, Art Farmer and Dave Liebman.
German drummer Frederik Villmow owns an equally impressive credit list: Dave Kikoski, Benny Benack III, Chris Potter and Vince Mendoza.
American saxophonist Eric Alexander has performed and recorded with a celestial constellation including: Harold Mabern, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Cedar Walton and Pat Martino.
What elements combine to produce a perfect jazz album? Concise, motivative themes (‘head-solos-head’ arrangements), intricate phrasing, freedom for soloists to improvise over (complex) chord progressions, interdisciplinary elegance and symbiosis. Stars Aligned is truly an exemplary example.
The jazzily-titled opener, The Phineas Trane, explodes with all the above-mentioned ingredients with powerful and punchy solos from all.
Your perfect jazz album might well contain a joyous tune in 3/4 time, a jazz waltz – Open Ocean is exactly that.
If you like solid, walking-tempo Blues – check out Blues4u!
Let’s trade bars of Funk with bars of Swing and we have Bonebreaker.
We need a seductive, contemplative ballad. Moon Song more than fits the bill.
The eponymous Stars Aligned is a fast-paced bluesy outing in a minor key – with major delivery.
Latin overtones infuse Hammond Cheese with its groovy head and heady solos.
Back to a ballad, the exquisite Foggy Morning in the Woods feels – exactly like that.
Jingles, with it’s call-and-response head is a minor key (non-melancholic!) intense, blistering excursion (underlined by the spontaneous, triumphant ‘yeah’ at the end).
Connect virtuosity, immaculate timing, positivity with a soupçon of serendipity – and the stars align. A perfect jazz album.
David Fishel©2025
www.davidfishel.info
Musikere
Frode Kjekstad - Gitar
Eric Alexander - Tenorsaxofon
Roy Powell - Orgel
Frederik Villmow - Trommer
Markus Kristiansen - Trommer, perkusjon
