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Reviews

Koppel Blade Koppel — Time Again
(Bandcamp Cowbell , 2024, CD / DL)

Benjamin Koppel — White Buses - Passage to Freedom
(Bandcamp Cowbell, 2023, 2CD / DL)

Benjamin Koppel — Story of Mankind - A Requiem
(Bandcamp Cowbell, 2024, CD / DL)

Koppel Colley Blade — Perspective
(Bandcamp Cowbell, 2023, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-07-01

Time Again Cover artWhite Buses - Passage to Freedom Cover artStory of Mankind - A Requiem Cover artPerspective Cover art

Saxophonist Benjamin Koppel has been very busy lately. Since Anna’s Dollhouse (2022), he’s released these four albums along with at least four more with various combinations of collaborators. Both of the albums listed under Koppel’s name alone are concept albums. White Buses - Passage to Freedom is focused on the story of the rescue of Danish Jews in 1943. Denmark managed to navigate World War II relatively free of Nazi extremes. Despite being invaded and occupied in 1940, the Danish government managed to remain functional, and while they acquiesced to some German demands, they used various tactics to stall others while also secretly leaking information to Britain. In particular, Denmark refused to restrict the rights of its Jewish citizens, and with everything else going on, the Nazis didn’t expend any resources to counteract the Danish reticence for a few years. In the elections of 1943, Nazi candidates only secured 2% of the vote; by the fall of that year, German patience was at an end and martial law was declared. Nazi plans to round up and deport all the Jews were leaked, and Danes sprang into action, carrying people to safety in Sweden using fishing boats and motorboats. Furthermore, Danish officials managed to arrange that 464 Jews who had already been taken to Germany would be allowed to evacuate in white buses — 425 of them made the trip successfully. White Buses interposes spoken narration from those involved in the evacuation with brief musical segments. As such, it’s more of a history lesson than a jazz album, though the tunes are well-written and performed. 

Story of Mankind - A Requiem presents another large conceptual project. It is backed with the rather solemn observation that the history of the human race consists largely of our inability to solve conflicts in any way except violence, in conjunction with other self-destructive tendencies. Once again, spoken tracks (labeled “Afterthoughts”) alternate with musical tracks, though in this case they’re more substantial. The narration is not in English (White Buses used both Danish and English), and the musical tracks are not exclusively instrumental, featuring vocals in various languages by Frederikke Vedel, whose singing is quite lovely, sometimes featuring jazzy inflections, but also with phrasing more typical of pop singing. Her high notes are especially impressive. Another factor in the mix is Randy Brecker’s trumpet, providing a foil for Koppel’s sax. The serious nature of the lyrics tends to make me think they wouldn’t work very well as stand-alone pieces, but are best experienced as part of this thematic package.

Next up, we have two collaborative trios. The first features Koppel with drummer Brian Blade and bassist Scott Colley for nine tunes of slightly varying moods. As with any chordless trio, the sound is somewhat sparse, but the players are up to the task, with Colley taking an elevated role in defining the tone structures. Perspective is pleasant enough, though it leans towards slower tempos and subdued moods, and I find myself forgetting what I’ve heard as soon as it’s passed by. Ironically, my favorite track is “After Time,” a jaunty bop less than three minutes long that finishes the set.

The second trio outing puts Benjamin Koppel with his father Anders Koppel (organ) and Blade again on drums. They start out with “Puerto Rican Rumble,” and you know you’re in for a fun ride. They take an energetic latin theme and interpret it very freely, and Blade’s stellar drumming is a big part of the success. The title track features the rapper Al Agami. The elder Koppel favors organ tones that are not exactly the standard bluesy Hammond sound, going for what I might call a more “churchy” sound. While I find the upbeat tunes more successful than the ballads, it’s an enjoyable set. As for the other Benjamin Koppel releases of 2023 and 2024, I can’t say — they’re on Bandcamp, but I’m a bit overdosed and will move along to something else.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Randy Brecker, Benjamin Koppel, Anders Koppel

More info
http://benjaminkoppel1.bandcamp.com/music

 

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