\nThe Fuse Is Lit<\/i>, the third endeavor of Russian jazz pianist
\nEugene Maslov on Mack Avenue Records, has all the hallmarks of
\ntraditional jazz, but with a very different flavor. There are
\nwonderful improvised sections; the tempo and swing are all there.
\nBut Maslov also includes elaborate melodies such as one might
\nexpect in classical music, and a feeling of a story in each song.
\n“Baba Yaga” is exceptionally fanciful, and the lack of vocals in no
\nway impairs the musician’s ability to tell a story.<\/p>\n
Maslov is an excellent composer.
\nThe Fuse Is Lit<\/i> contains a good selection of thoughtful
\nmusic, such as “Dream of Dreams” and “Django.” Other songs on the
\nalbum, such as “Entente” and “To My Teacher \/ To My Friend,” are
\nvery upbeat. Maslov’s compositions play to the strengths of the
\ninstruments that are featured in the solos. In “Dream of Dreams,”
\ntransitions between the piano solos and the flute solos are
\nimmediate, seamless, and feature a complete change in style which
\nhighlights the sound of the instrument. This leads to a very real
\nsound of voices, with each instrument being a participant in a
\nplay. Each participant has a role that they are well accommodated
\nto play.<\/p>\n
Some of the finest flute playing that I’ve heard is performed by
\nHubert Laws on three of the nine tracks. Boris Kozlov performs on
\nbass, Pete Christlieb on tenor sax, while drum duty is shared by
\nJoe LaBarbera and Vinnie Colaiuta. These players are each allowed a
\nchance in the spotlight, playing solos while all other instruments
\nmaintain a faint rhythm section behind them. Perhaps too faint; I
\nfind that when a solo is taking place, it becomes difficult to hear
\nany other instrument. This minor flaw in engineering is my one big
\ngripe. After all, much of jazz improvisation is about the soloist’s
\nskill in weaving with the existing melody and rhythm behind
\nthem.<\/p>\n
I’m not sure that I would recommend Maslov to someone that was a
\nfan of big band jazz or early foot-tapping small-band jazz.
\nThe Fuse Is Lit<\/i> still makes your foot tap, but more
\nimportantly it engages your mind and emotions, distracting you from
\nanything else in hand to become completely absorbed by the story of
\nthe song. No track on the album contains just one mood or one
\nsimple melody. Every song evolves from beginning to end, creating a
\nrich, organic, and truly mesmerizing album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":26635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6988],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37882","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-eugene-maslov","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37882"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}