Musicians are not always the most articulate persons when it comes to describing their own music. It looks to me like bassist Almog Sharvit is the exception. Because when he refers to the music on his debut leader date Get Up or Cry “… moving, complex, and crazy songs,” he is absolutely right. And he continues in the same vein: “They express how we all feel sometimes – overwhelmed with information, short on focus, caffeinated as hell, but at the same time having moments of joy, intimacy, sadness, and freedom.” He’s doing my work for me!
Get Up or Cry is a brief album of six tracks that play in less than a half hour. Those six tracks vary widely in style from electro dancehall to elegiac art song, with zigs and zags along the way.
After a brief fake intro that sounds like more or less straight ahead jazz, the first track “Dear Hunter” opens up into a Broadway revue of Americana jazz complete with banjo, that calls to mind a colorful parade in New Orleans. Sharvit impressively doubles the trumpet’s upbeat melody line for a while followed by a boogie-woogie lineup of solos on trumpet, electric guitar, bass, drums and more.
Also in the “jazz, more or less” category is “Mx. Bean,” which opens with a lengthy, elegiac classical-style introduction that eventually drops seamlessly into a bluesy piano trio – soon to be joined by soloists David Leon on flute and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet, both with stellar performances. You can feel the great esteem the composer has for the titular person throughout, especially when the solos resolve back to a classical outro that gives the impression of disorganization and floating away. Ambrose (Caroline) Getz a New York based singer, composer and teacher whose band is named Hexual Ceiling, turns in a powerful vocal performance on the title track, a majestic blend of art song and jazz ballad.
What’s left? The thumping dancehall of “Roller Disco,” dominated by electrobass and synth lines out of some jumpy animated short film soundtrack – I’m dating myself here, but this is Rhythm Heritage on Ecstasy; and “We’ll Get Back To You,” an anxiety-laden fusion piece featuring jazzy counterpoint between trumpet and synth keyboards of various stripes, and a complex rhythmic base laid down by bass and drums. The track opens with a sound collage of job application rejection voicemail messages, just to heighten the piece’s angst. Brandon Seabrook, who plays various guitars throughout the album (and that hoedown banjo on “Dear Hunter”) turns in a long, wild free-form guitar solo against a sketchy bass and drum backdrop.
If I had my druthers, an album like this would be a little more focused, perhaps on the electro-acoustic fusion of “Dear Hunter” and some more vocal ballads from the likes of Ms. Getz. But this is an auspicious debut of a leader date for this Israeli-born, New York based bassist and composer, Almog Sharvit.
(Unit Records, 2021)
