Laura Schuler Quartet – Sueños Paralelos

Jazzfuel

The latest release from shape shifting violinist Laura Schuler finds her assembling a deft quartet to provide a suitably hazy and diffuse set of soundscapes for the parallel dreams of the title.

Her voice is a dreamy thing which, when set with Tony Malaby‘s drifting tenor sax and the gentle rolling drums of opener ”When Everything Falls Into Place”, really does echo the sentiments of the title. It is a welcoming introduction that suddenly shifts into a staccato attack of harsh keys and a rolling groove.

Hanspeter Pfammatter‘s synth is quite jarring, and that gives the violin ideas and suddenly we find ourselves in a whole other place. There might only be six tracks on the album but the journey feels far greater.

The romantic, Getzy warmth of the sax in “Prospect Park” is quite the change and the electric piano accompaniment is soothing, with the notes flowing, tripping lightly around the lullaby like violin and Lionel Friedli‘s rain patter percussion. There is something mysterious about the tone of the sax in some places, an enveloping forest; while the minor key flecks of the violin give a sinister edge.

The rhythm has swagger, is hypnotic but somehow out of place and this is one thing that you can really detect about the players; you feel them testing one another, laying something down and daring the others to merge with it or step out and throw an odd note. The sporadic flights of fancy feel fresh and off the cuff, but also really personal; you can hear the personalities sparking and the sense of adventure sets them far outside expectations. You may be struck by a long drawn-out note on sax, a plunging axe attack on synths or a wild flurry of drums, but two things are for sure: everybody has a chance and you have no idea what to expect.

There is a touch of the film score to “Feed Your Power”; it is the slow build and then release of tension, with everybody seemingly playing around the beat. It is an odd dynamic that sets you on edge a little; you want to move, but you don’t quite know how as a queasy churn subtly insinuates. The shapeshifting percussion and lack of obvious leader makes things eminently satisfying if ever-unsettled with even the synthy bass-lines given an opportunity to step out here and there.

Abrupt endings, voltes face, stratospheric cries from various instruments, hypno loops from a disguised organ, the odd timing of gently propulsive drums; the album just keeps giving and giving and somehow merging these disparate elements into a wholesome stew. The awkwardness is intriguing but is in no way alienating, you just need to listen again to fully understand how it pieces together and the stripped down post-jazz stylings of the album closer are just the icing on the cake, all judicious placing, a distant wail and momentum you can sink into.

Sueños Paralelos is a real success for the quartet and an album that never tires of serving you something unexpected each time around.

-Mr Olivetti-