Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Chase Kuesel: Space Between

Chase Kuesel: Space Between

By Bruce Lindsay
June 3, 2020
View read count

Drummer and composer Chase Kuesel is based in Brooklyn, but his debut release as leader, Space Between, arose from a year spent studying in Basel as part of a select group of young musicians funded through the Focusyear Artist Grant. It's an album that's notable for Kuesel's ambitious compositions—drawing on influences including Olivier Messiaen,

Norma Winstone

vocals
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Norma Winstone and Guillermo Klein, to whom Kuesel dedicates "Axis (For GK)"—and for the stylish interpretations crafted by the drummer and his bandmates.

Four of the musicians come from the 2018/19 Focusyear ensemble—Kuesel, vocalist

Song Yi Jeon

vocals
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Song Yi Jeon, tenor player Santi De La Rubia and guitarist Vinicius Gomes. As a whole, the ensemble is truly international, featuring performers from Europe, South America, the USA and South Korea. Kuesel chose the album's title in the winter of 2019, before the idea of space between became such a central feature in people's lives and made multi-national ensembles like this virtually impossible to get together in a single physical space.

Percussion dominates much of the sound, whether it's Kuesel's drums or glockenspiel, or Matt DiBiase's vibraphone or MalletKAT—or even Iannis Obiols's Fender Rhodes, whose bright and sparkling sound opens proceedings on the brief but lovely "Floating." However, the wide tonal variety brought by these instruments and the way in which Kuesel draws them together in his compositions ensure a constantly varying sound across the ten tracks.

"Circles"—a song in two parts—is an album highlight. Part one is an ethereal, spacious number, played and sung (by Song Yi) with great sensitivity. Part two shifts mood after a short wordless vocal, building around a sinuous bass/guitar/drum rhythm as De La Rubia's tenor gradually takes center-stage. Both of the vocalists share a similar impressive range and command of phrasing, but while Song Yi's voice has the greater clarity

Francesca Gaza

composer / conductor
b.1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Francesca Gaza's voice is somewhat softer, with a greater degree of tenderness. She's ideally suited to interpreting the lyrics to the reflective and gentle "Senescence," a song whose lyrics explore the changing relationship between a parent and their soon-to-leave-home child. Song Yi is better suited to the wordless, more urgent, vocal of the title track which ends in friendly, fast-paced competition between voice, tenor, vibes and guitar. "Saint B" follows, a unique example here of a composition that focuses on guitar and alto sax (played by Sam Barnett) as the lead instruments.

Space Between closes with "Passing Lights." It's a calm and relaxing duet between Gaza's wordless vocals and Obiols's restrained Rhodes, and the end of this enjoyable debut release, but hopefully just the beginning of things for Kuesel and his musical compatriots.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Floating; Falling; In Step; Circles (part 1); Circles (part 2); Axis (for GK); Senescence; Space Between; Saint B; Passing Lights.

Personnel

Chase Kuesel

drums

Eli MI Heath

bass

Francesca Gaza

composer / conductor

Song Yi Jeon

vocals

Iannis Obiols

piano

Matt Dibiase

vibraphone

Sam Barnett

saxophone, alto

Santi De La Ruba

saxophone, tenor

Vinicius Gomes

guitar

Album information

Title: Space Between | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Ears And Eyes Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

The Discovery Project: Live In Japan
< Previous

James Brandon Lewis & Chad Taylor, ...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.