What the amazing Paul Hanson does on bassoon — an exceedingly difficult instrument to play and one almost exclusively associated with classical music — is akin to what other innovators like guitarists Charlie Hunter and Stanley Jordan, banjoist Bela Fleck and bassist Jaco Pastorius have done with their respective instruments. Like those musical revolutionaries, Hanson has created a vibrant new, expansive vocabulary through a combination of virtuosity, vision and soul, as he demonstrates so profoundly on “Frolic in the Land of Plenty”.
By electrifying his double reed instrument and incorporating elements of bebop, fusion, Indian, ambient and rock-fueled grunge, the Bay Area bassoonist pushes the envelope on what his notoriously unwieldy instrument can do. Violinist Darol Anger of the Turtle Island String Quartet once likened what Hanson does to winning the Kentucky Derby on a camel. That perfectly describes his ability to blow with uncommon fluidity and expressiveness on jazzy fare like “Parallax” and the gently swinging 3/4 number “Sacred Love,” or with such remarkable over-the-barline abandon as he demonstrates on the exotic and slamming “Dark Soul.”
Drummer Dennis Chambers whips up a whirlwind of intensity on “Subtle Demons,” an Indian flavored fusion romp which sounds like a page out of the Shakti book and highlights Hanson emulating an Indian vina with his non-tempered bassoon work. On the blazing fusion vehicle “Emerald Mile,” his electric bassoon flurries on a labyrinth of intricate unisons with violinist Tracy Silverman sound like a wailing electric guitar (Hanson’s scorching solo at the tag sounds more like Steve Vai than any bassoon player you’ve ever heard). And on the fuzz-laden grunge anthem “Scrool,” Hanson and crew summon up the heavy metal assault of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.”
Format: CD
Cat No.: ABLX-009
Barcode: 0827912073850
Line up
Paul Hanson (Baassoon), Dennis Chambers (Drums), Vistor Little (Bass), Paul van Wageningen (Drums), Armen Chakmakian (Fender Rhodes, Piano, Soloist), Jeff Cressman (Engineer, Mixing), Joel Hamilton (Mixing), Leigh Jackson (Composer), Eric Levy (Fender Rhodes, Organ), Victor “Too Bad” Little (Bass, Soloist), Caito Marcondes (Pandeiro), Bill Milkowski (Liner Notes), Mike Olmos (Flugelhorn, Trumpet), Haroun Serang (Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Mixing, Producer), Tracy Silverman (Soloist, Violin) and Don Turney (Assistant Engineer)..
Track list
01. Flight of the Fly
02. Parallax
03. Emerald Mile
04. Dark Soul
05. Frolic in the Land of Plenty
06. Goof Troup
07. Subtle Demons
08. Scrool
09. Sacred Love
Recording information
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Paul Hanson
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 18, 2008
All About JazzReview by Ian Patterson Read More
“…Paul Hanson, whose playing on the bassoon, surely the blackest sheep of jazz instruments, is exuberant, playful, energetic and joyous, and it has to be said quite breathtaking throughout…”
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From the artist
“The bassoon is a beautiful phrasing instrument, actually. It’s not a noodling, shredding instrument. I do some of that kind of stuff, but it’s really about making a phrase and singing.”
Paul Hanson