Joe Deninzon Trio – Exuberance
by Justin Donnelly (J.J.D.) on Myspace
Within the jazz/jazz-fusion realm, Joe Deninzon is a name that’s steadily been on the rise ever since he emerged with his debut effort ‘Electric/Blue’ in 1998 (Released through Wilberts Blues Records).
Since then, the Russian born/New York based singer/song writer/violinist has released a succession of albums (Both under his own name and under the banner of Stratospheerius), all of fuse together traditional jazz, funk, jazz-fusion and straight out rock into a sound that Deninzon himself calls ‘psychojazz trip funk’. Outside of recording, Deninzon also teaches, does session work and tours on a consistent basis, making him without a doubt one of the hardest working violinists within the jazz scene today.
Two years on from his recorded effort with Metro Swings (2008’s ‘Hide The Evidence’ E.P.), Deninzon is back with something new – this time under the name of the Joe Deninzon Trio, and their debut album ‘Exuberance’.
Unlike some of Deninzon’s past projects, ‘Exuberance’ sees Deninzon, guitarist Steve Benson and bassist Robert ‘Bob’ Bowen, take on a more traditional jazz direction, with the bulk of the thirteen tracks on the album virtually laid down live in the studio in order to catch the authentic live vibe of a jazz trio.
The trio open up the album with a cover of Steely Dan’s classic ‘Bodhisattva’, which is something that’s a little unexpected and anything but a disappointment. The song is still largely recognisable (And if it wasn’t, then there would be something seriously wrong, right?), but given a complete makeover within this reworking. Deninzon’s solos are as exceptional as ever, while the backing from Benson and Bowen is executed to perfection without losing sight of the song’s original form.
The follow-up track, a cover of Alice In Chains’ ‘Heaven Beside You’, is another unlikely track tackled, and perhaps a little more traditional sounding in the jazz sense. Again, the band does a killer job in transforming the song.
Django Reinhardt’s ‘Nuages’ again shows another facet of the band’s diverse sound, with the song steering their sound more toward the classical side of things, while Bowen’s own ‘Exuberance, In The Face Of Utter Anguish And Despair’ is an exercise in timing and shifts in tempo, all the while maintaining a distinctly rocking jazz feel throughout.
From here, Deninzon leads the band through some originals, including the Latin tinged ‘Ellipsis’, the subdued jazz smoulder of ‘Night Coast’ and the classically influenced ‘The Last Days Of Scorpio’, before Bowen takes charge with his self-penned ‘Surreptitious Soliloquy’.
Guest vocalist Luba puts in a beautiful performance on the traditional sounding ‘Sun Goes Down’ (Which originally appeared within the 2005 film ‘What’s Up, Scarlet?’), before the band run through a laid back (And I mean quite laid back) rendition of Glen Campbell’s ‘Wichita Lineman’ and a rather unconventional (It’s classical, but not as you might know it!) take on Choplin’s ‘Chopin Nocturne In Eb Op. 9 No. 2’.
Finishing up the album is Deninzon’s own traditional jazz piece ‘The Last Days Of Scorpio’, a faithful rendition of Fats Waller’s ‘Jitterbug (Used To Be A) Waltz’ and a stunning cover of Radiohead’s ‘The Tourist’ (Which is without a doubt my favourite track on the album).
Sometimes Deninzon’s releases can be a little over the place in terms of direction, and I guess in some ways ‘Exuberance’ really isn’t all that different. But where this album succeeds more than others is that the shifts in direction have more to do with sounds and feels, rather than overall direction. There’s a focus here, and that’s something that hasn’t always been the case with Deninzon’s former projects.
Deninzon may well be billed as the star here, but on the evidence of ‘Exuberance’, I would say that all three shine here. It’s a strange album, but nothing short of a triumph for all three within the Joe Deninzon Trio.
