Album Reviews

Elegy for an Undiscovered Species

2021, Shifting Paradigm 163

• “Best of 2021” album, Downbeat Magazine

• “Best of Jazz on Bandcamp, June 2021”

• “Top 10 Album of 2021” by Culture Currents

• “Top 30 Jazz Albums for 2021” by Strictly Jazz Sounds WORT host Steve Braunginn

  “Top 20 Madison Records of 2021” by Tone Madison

Pianist Johannes Wallmann’s new Elegy for an Undiscovered Species – streaming at Bandcamp – is an unusual and strikingly tuneful big band jazz album. For one, the lineup – jazz quintet plus a fourteen-piece string orchestra – is unorthodox, harking back to the days of Charlie Parker With Strings. Yet it also engages the orchestra as much as the rest of the group. It’s also remarkably groove-oriented. Conventional wisdom is unless you’re Ron Carter or Buddy Rich, bass and drums in a big band are a thankless task. Not so here.

Don’t let the album title fool you: it’s about contrasts and shades far more than the darkness it implies. The group open with the epically swaying, eleven-minute title track, the strings rustling, tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen working the bittersweet hook over the clustering groove of bassist Nick Moran and drummer Allison Miller. Stephens takes a pensive solo as the orchestra darken the atmosphere, Jensen pushing outward with her microtones and volleys. Wallmann’s solo delivers spirals and erudite blues phrasing as the orchestra rise behind him, with bracing exchanges amid the strings.

The second number, Two Ears Old is a fond ballad, wafting horns contrasting with uneasily circling piano underneath, Wallmann and then Stephens pushing the clouds away and choosing their spots as they climb. Miller’s whispery thicket of sound and nimbly altered shuffle in tandem with Moran’s tersely dancing lines beneath Jensen’s lyrical ambered solo are masterful. They reprise the theme at the end of the album as a bit of a High Romantic feature for cello and piano.

In Threes has rhythms and unsettled harmonies shifting around a piano pedal note as the band gathers momentum. Wallmann eventually abandons a twinkling righthand solo for warpy, spacy synth: the bizareness of the individual strings answering has to be heard to be believed. Whatever you think of this, you can’t say it’s not original.

A looping, syncopated bass riff anchors Expeditor, bright horns versus hushed, expectant strings, Jensen’s calm, floating solo contrasting with the bandleader’s loose-limbed attack and devious exuberance from Miller afterward. The ending is unexpected and amusing.

Longing, a jazz waltz, is the album’s most lyrical and strongest track, Wallmann in lounge lizard mode as the strings waft and then recede. The strings carry the melody. revealing the moody bolero underneath, Stephens ranging from blippy to balmy.

The strings develop a windswept, cinematic tableau to open The Greater Fool, then the rhythm section bring in a clave for Jensen’s low-key, amiable solo, Wallmann delivering some coy ragtime allusions. Miller’s shamanic solo as the modalities darken could be the high point of the record.

– delarue, New York Music Daily

Here’s a winner of an album by pianist and composer Johannes Wallman, who cuts and pastes with a core rhythm team of Allison Miller/dr and Nick Moran/b while also adding and subtracting trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and tenor saxist/EWI player Dayna Stephens along with a fragrant string orchestra conducted by Michael Dolan. The larger ensembles are exciting affairs, with dramatic and bold harmonies counterbalanced by the strings and driven by Miller on the title tune, which has Wallman delivering Hancockian fingerings and harmonies along with Jensen’s pungent solo, while the strings and Moran lead the way on the post bopping “Expeditor”. Stephens’ EWI waltzes whimsically on the Neal Hefti-ish space travel of “In Three” while he delves into thick reeds on the tenor for the elegant work with the leader on “Two Ears Old”. The blues float softly on “Longing”, with the entire album feeling like an extension of Herbie Hancock’s Speak Like a Child, with clever harmonies and sophisticated charts. This one is worth looking for, and if this band comes to town, bring some friends along.

– George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

Wallmann blends the instrumental forces on the recording so deftly, it's easy to underappreciate what an accomplishment that is. In another's hands, the combining of strings and jazz quintet could have proved unwieldy or clumsy; in Wallmann's, all such elements operate in tandem to achieve a remarkable degree of cohesiveness. That he makes it seem so easy only further testifies to the impressiveness of that achievement.

– Textura

An album developed over the course of two years, ‘Elegy for an Undiscovered Species’ is a wonderful piece of music from start to finish. A real celebration of styles and genres and for any artist fortunate enough to deliver their ninth album, to still do so with such a thoughtful and innovative approach to their music is really an inspiring thing so this is a project that will rank forever highly amongst Johannes Wallmann’s – and Shifting Paradigm’s – catalogue.

– Imran Mirza, UK Vibe

Love Wins

2018, Fresh Sound New Talent, FSNT-538

Wallmann, 43, in March released one of the most interesting and accomplished jazz albums to come out in recent years. Credit the disc’s “nouveau-electronic big band” sound or its political messaging around same-sex marriage, but either way Love Wins has taken the uniquely American art form to the next step of its creative journey.
- Wisconsin Gazette, "‘Love Wins’ for jazz artist Johannes Wallmann" Michal Muckian (link)

Our first Best Albums of 2018 (So Far) recipient was a labor of love that combined sharp arrangements, stellar piano playing by Johannes Wallmann and compositions that feature both contemporary jazz and elements of hip-hop written with Bob Dz. Together, they tell the story of the march towards justice regarding marriage equality. Wallmann pulls no punches, yet the album is always engagingly moving.
- Something Else! "Preston Frazier’s Best Albums of 2018 (So Far)" (link)

"I can think of few recordings in recent memory where the music and lyrics prove as passionate, engaging and thoughtful as Love Wins."
- Kevin Lynch, No Depression (link)

Wallmann, teaming up with spoken word artist Rob Dz, traces and celebrates [...] struggle and triumph. Adopting a broader stance not limited to marriage equality, he addresses history, civil liberties on the whole, and societal issues stretching across a large canvas. In the strutting, NOLA-inflected "Equality!" opener, for example, Dz cites or references both the Stonewall Inn and Rosa Parks' seated stand before launching into an exploration of equality's meaning. Then, after instrumental rubato ruminations on "Preamble," Dz homes in on the topic at hand during the oft-vamping, comfortably-paced title track. The voices of various soloists—Wallmann, trumpeter Russ Johnson, guitarist Kenny Reichert, and tenor saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree, to mention a few—are artfully worked into the numbers on this album, serving the story itself and the art in the storytelling. Nobody grandstands; everybody understands the purpose of this music. As the album moves forward, so too does love itself. "We (Reach For) Love" carries a sense of determination within its resolute feel; "The Seventh Circuit," lacing a foreboding rock atmosphere with audio clips from Wisconsin's failed last-ditch appeal to the titular court, paints part of the struggle in its journey; "Can I Know (More Love)" is a calm call and plea, gently expressing a strong desire to see things righted; and "We (Will) Love" carries hope in its heart. Love's quest and Wallman's win are inextricably linked in this music, but there's a universality to be found in this most personal of projects. The battle for truth, justice, and fairness, touching nearly everybody in some way, is never over, and Wallmann reminds us that we shall overcome.
- Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz (link)

Wallmann makes a septet sound like something much larger, as big as his subject, maybe. Love Wins is as musically challenging as it is socially, and deserves to be heard on both counts.
- Brian Morton, Jazz Journal (UK), February 2018

“Wallmann sounds like he was inspired by Gil Scott Heron but this reality based recording was inspired by his move to Wisconsin to head the UW jazz program but being denied the right to have his same sex marriage recognized by the state which led him to the ACLU's door who took this to the Supreme Court. Whew. All that and there's a bunch of good blowing in the bytes. Topsy turvy music for times that seem to be offering nothing but strong headwinds, this is clearly jazz you can make a statement with.”
- Midwest Record (link)

“Un hymne à l’égalité et à l’amour pour la dignité et l’espoir qui brasse différents genres musicaux (rap, influences afro-cubaines, indie-pop, R’n’B et jazz). Un disque riche, consistant et positif, très réussi.”
- Culture Jazz (France) (link)

The Town Musicians

2015, Fresh Sound New Talent, FSNT-469

"The Town Musicians affirms Johannes Wallmanns reputation as a remarkable pianist and composer. Here, he leads a sterling ensemble that optimizes poised improvisation, while also placing high premiums on cohesive empathy over flashy exhibitionism. His evocative compositions are brimming with melodic cogency and rhythmic pull.
Such is the case with whimsical Wookies Groove, a jaunty melody with hints of Monks Mood. Drummer Jeff Hirshfield and bassist Sean Conly push the song forward with a loping, second-line shuffle that provides a springboard for Gilad Hekselmans gnarly guitar asides, Russ Johnsons cackling trumpet solo and Wallmanns economical comping and bluesy filigrees.
The exuberant Paper Balls bounces to a sleek, post-bop swing, over which Hekselman and Johnson unravel knotting modern bop improvisations. The stately Lakeshore attests to the pianists gift for penning ballads. Wallmann and company unfold a rapturous melody, accentuated by Johnsons clarion trumpet and a haunting piano accompaniment.
The ballads are the main sweet spots on this disc. In addition to Lakeshore, the other standouts are the suspenseful waltz November Song, which features tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens sharing the frontline with Johnson, and the dusky Concurrencies, which hints at soul-jazz thanks to Hirshfields gentle backbeat and the songs succinct melodicism.
In turn, the discs most riveting moment occurs on its sole non-original, Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerners I Could Have Danced All Night. The musicians recast the once-giddy melody with a shapely, almost harmolodic treatment, marked by intertwining improvisations from Wallmann, Johnson and Hekselman that waft about without ever losing focus."
- John Murph, DownBeat Magazine (October, 2015)

"If I were responsible for an album as good as this, Id be shouting about it but the package lacks information apart from recording and personnel details plus track listings. There does however seem to be a hidden structure and possibly a narrative to the 12 tracks. The music isn’t lapel-grabbing but it does speak persuasively and in a variety of mood, with a spirit of basic consensus that allows the tunes to develop with everyone making significant statements.
And what super tunes they are, especially Paper Balls, a quiet sizzler that has guitarist Hekselman setting off with bassist Conly in a line, to be caught by Wallmann with trumpeter Johnson in support as the guitar drops back, but not to any routine background function. Part of the delight of this album is derived from the way musicians momentarily out of contention regularly communicate their presence. Then theres the lengthy November Song, featuring tenorist Stephenss second of only two appearances. His solo emanates from a sax-guitar-trumpet chorus before Wallmanns solo and then Hekselman works his wonders behind Conlys. Id almost be persuaded that Stephenss early exit was part of the unwritten scenario. Thats further hinted at by three short interludes based on a piano-bass ostinato, the last featuring Hekselman in distant, excruciating turmoil. The tracks are Wallmanns bar I Could Have Danced All Night, around which rings are run before the theme becomes Lerner/Loewe as we know them. Fascinating."
-Nigel Jarrett (Jazz Journal, UK, July 2015)

"Johannes Wallmann could write a great travel guide about the North American jazz landscape. German-born but raised in Vancouver, the Ph.D.-holding pianist has performed across the entire continent and lived on both of its coasts. In Oakland, California, he directed the jazz studies program at California State University. In New York City, he taught jazz improvisation and music theory at New York University and The New School. In Madison, Wisconsin, where he currently lives, he serves as the director of jazz studies for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 
His latest disc, The Town Musicians, is shaped by the sounds of the places hes called home. Hes accompanied by longtime New York trio partners Sean Conly (bass) and Jeff Hirshfield (drums), as well as the acclaimed Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman and fellow Midwestern transplant Russ Johnson on trumpet. Bay Area tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens joins the team for two tracks. The program is a stunning collage of jazz styles and genres, switching idioms from track to track. The New Orleans funk of Wookies Groove sets a charge early on, with Johnsons growling trumpet and Hekselmans twangy riffs adding some grit. Paper Balls is an incendiary East Coast bop tune, with a fierce, locomotive bass line by Conly that pushes the band to the brink, and Interlude #3, which features fleet fretboard work from Hekselman, melds crunchy fusion sounds with the unpredictability of the avant-garde. 
The albums title comes from a Brothers Grimm folktale about four animalsa donkey, a dog, a cat and a roosterwho grow tired of rural life and decide to become musicians, leaving the cozy confines of their farm in search of excitement. Though at first they cant coordinate their whinnies, barks, purrs and cock-a-doodle-doos, they soon learn to join their distinct voices in harmony. Wallmann, a similarly well-traveled troubadour, has accomplished a comparable goal. Hes created a harmonious album from a lifetime of diverse sounds and experiences."
- Brian Zimmerman, DownBeat Magazine Editors Pick (online) (August 2015)
 

Profiles

"Making A Scene: Johannes Wallmann spreads the gospel of jazz" (link)
Cover article by Jane Burns for December 8, 2016 issue of Isthmus Magazine