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Opus 5: Introducing Opus 5
The Evident Charms and Secret Powers of Five
For all the myriad varieties and contextual possibilities under the rubric of what makes for a valid jazz group, there is something distinctively powerful and tradition-enriched about the number five. Smaller groups tighten up the focus on individual voices involved, and often frame a specified protagonist leader, while larger groupings accentuate the greater good of the team. By contrast, the quintet format, especially in the conventional format of trumpet and tenor sax up front, with a piano-bass-drums rhythm section beneath and around the front line, can seem the ideal middle zone, with enough textural and diversity and enough close-knit intimacy to keep things lively and interesting, for musicians and listeners alike.No doubt, the power of five has become a standard bearer of jazz ensemble instrumentation, and for good reason and with solid historical roots. In effect, of course, the quintet was solidified roughly fifty years ago through the inspired auspices of
Art Blakey
drums1919 - 1990
Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991
While individual highs are part of the equation on this recording, the stronger collective intent is to find points of artistic collusion, to fully celebrate the "fiveness" of the situation. There may intentionally be no specified leader in the group with formidable horn players, tenor saxophonist
Seamus Blake
saxophoneb.1970
Alex Sipiagin
trumpetb.1967
Boris Kozlov
bass, acousticb.1967
Donald Edwards
drums
David Kikoski
pianob.1961
New York is bustling with a wealth of robust jazz players worth hearing, who have wended their way from various global corners—this group is a kind of American-Russian-British summit meeting, a few times removed. Gatherings of players can have varying degrees of fateful collective rapport, and Opus Five is a fine example of a blessed grouping of individuals, emboldened by their connective and democratic chemistry.
One common denominator with this empathetic handful of jazz musicians is the extended legacy of
Charles Mingus
bass, acoustic1922 - 1979
At times, the band's presumed conventionality disguises its sidelong maneuvers into areas of musical sophistication, not always immediately apparent in the fluid flow of the music. What sounds like an easy-does-it medium grooving introductory tunes, pianist
George Cables
pianob.1944
Kikoski's original "Baker's Dozen" is a doubly-playful title in that its meter lays into an 11/8 grid, versus the 13 equation of the typical "baker's dozen." Tension and release do an intriguing dance in Kikoski's tune, as the tumbling unison bass-piano line beneath the languid, long-toned melody of the A section opens out into a more ornate, major-toned B section. The pianist himself supplies a solo interlude and a solo on the out section of the tune.
Bassist Kozlov, an inspired songsmith apart from his solidity on his instrument, supplies two strong originals to the set. "Tallysman" is a propulsive, fast neo-hard bop vehicle, whose links to the Blakey m.o. can be detected in the composition and groupthink of the track, as well as the subtle interweaving of the two horn players' parts. Easier-going, at least on the surface and basic feel, Kozlov's wittily-named "Nostalgia in Time" (a meaningful parsing of Mingus' "Nostalgia in Times Square") looks back to earlier jazz models, in hard bop and a semblance of soul-jazz resonance, with a trumpet solo of subdued, focused fire, and one of Blake's several hot, well-crafted turns of soloistic phrase heard on the date.
Throughout, Blake acquits himself beautifully, bringing his versatile strengths to bear in his engaging solo on the gentle waltz "Asami's Playland," with a sensitivity reminiscent of the saxophonist's work on
John Scofield
guitarb.1951
Stan Getz
saxophone, tenor1927 - 1991
Just when we thought we understood the artistic parameters set forth by the group, the finale of the album sequence pulls us in seemingly opposing but ultimately symbiotic directions. The Russian folk song "Sokol," a nod in the direction of the heritage of the band's two Russian émigrés, presents the album's simplest melody, a chant-like plaint, but is set into the track which is also the longest on the record, and the one which finds the band venturing furthest into an abstract, "outside" zone.
What begins in a rhythmically open interplay of bass and drum gestures, settles into a looping melodic statement elasticized between the two horn players and set into different modes of harmonic relief by the rhythm section. A free improvisation passage, with the horn players engaging in a collective improv dialogue on a theme of controlled abandon, eases into a roiling 6/8 groove and then fast swing under Kikoski's piano solo. Edwards' impressive, motivically integrated drum solo leads back to the circular, folkloric head, finally paraphrased by Kikoski on the warm, ringing tones of his Rhodes electric piano to close.
Small surprises, generous affirmations of tradition, formidable playing and new ideas abound on this Opus Five outing. The musical evidence here syncs up with a historicist continuum, in terms of a deeply understood language and a contextual basis rearing back to early jazz quintet models of half a century hence. But, most importantly, the all-important Heat of the Moment is never forsaken: a sense of spontaneous excitement and lived-in musicality is in the offing, and in the expressive ensemble math. Five voices speak as one, and as five singular parts, in the time-honored jazz manner.
Liner Notes copyright ? 2025 Josef Woodard.
Introducing Opus 5 can be purchased here.
Contact Josef Woodard at All About Jazz.
Josef Woodard is a freelance critic / journalist on the arts, with a focus on jazz. He is also a musician.
Track Listing
Think Of Me; Talltsman; Baker's Dozen; Ton To Tom; Nostalgia In Time; Asami's Playland; Sokol.
Personnel
Seamus Blake
saxophone
Alex Sipiagin
trumpet
David Kikoski
piano
Boris Kozlov
bass, acoustic
Donald Edwards
drumsAlbum information
Title: Introducing Opus 5 | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Criss Cross
Tags
Liner Notes
Josef Woodard
Introducing Opus 5
Criss Cross
Seamus Blake
Art Blakey
Miles Davis
Alex Sipiagin
Boris Kozlov
Donald Edward
David Kikoski
Charles Mingus
George Cables
John Scofield
Stan Getz
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