Artists
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Bill Frisell
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Rachelle Garniez
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Tim Luntzel
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Ron Miles
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Dan Rieser
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Jenny Scheinman
Violin
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Doug Wieselman
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CG 125
12 Songs
Jenny Scheinman
On her fourth CD as a leader violinist Jenny Scheinman fronts a septet including guitarist Bill Frisell and trumpeter Ron Miles. Timeless yet wholly contemporary, and with a sonic palette that's as fresh as it is familiar, Scheinman's personal take on Americana is as lyrical as it is idiosyncratic, as tender and moving as it is wry and powerfully evocative. Filled with selfless performances from a group of players with nothing to prove, 12 Songs represents a significant milestone in a career already filled with high points. Available now!
Reviews
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...It maintains an aura of wistful lyricism and dreamy self-reflection, not unlike the music of (Norah) Jones. But the songs are structurally diverse, ranging from the gently twangy "Song of the Open Road" to the circus march "Moe Hawk" to the sepia-tinged border postcard "Satellite." More crucially, the album's septet consists of musicians who, like Ms. Scheinman, playfully apply jazz techniques to many varieties of folk music.
Nate Chinen New York Times [September 9, 2005]
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Scheinman is the violinist who mesmerized a Portland Jazz Festival audience earlier this year as a member of guitarist Bill Frisell's Unspeakable Orchestra. Frisell is aboard here as a member of Scheinman's band, and much, but no means all, of the album's energy comes from the sparks flying between the two. The music by her seven-piece band ranges across a number of genres, including calypso, bluegrass-cum-Caribbean, what sounds like a schottische, and dirges. For all its eclecticism and free-ranging nature, the thread of Scheinman's personality runs through the twelve pieces. The album's charm, cohesiveness and sense of fun lie as much in her canny arranging as in the joyful performances. I cannot classify this music and won't try to, but I've found myself listening to it often.
Doug Ramsey Rifftides [07/04/06]
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The silver-lined clouds that blur the edges between musical genres keep rolling in. Long may the weather pattern hold.
This album from American violinist Jenny Scheinman, for instance, is a blend of jazz, folk and cafe music that may best be described as "naive jazz". Scheinman has previously worked with Norah Jones and Madeleine Peyroux, and more extensively with guitarist Bill Frisell, who joins here in a set radiating childlike innocence despite the extreme sophistication of the playing. Contributing to this is the soft charm of Scheinman's melodies (and titles such as The Frog Threw His Head Back and Laughed), but just as important is the cornet-clarinet-guitar-accordion-bass-drums combination joining her dreamy, folksy violin.
Frisell's gift for making watercolour swirls on electric guitar perfectly suits her vision, and his fans should chase this rather magical CD, released late last year in the US and now available here.
John Shand Sydney Morning Herald [06/20/06]
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Jenny Scheinman is a violinist whose folksy recording 12 Songs (CryptoGramophone 125) features the colorful guitarist Bill Frisell. She's a bit of a humorist. Her opening number, The Frog Threw His Head Back and Laughed, begins with a swagger. With an accordion providing organ-like tones in the background, with Frisell letting funky notes hang in the air, and Scheinmann playing a mockingly mournful melody that seems to come out of a spaghetti western, this disc sounds like no other I know. Check it out.
Michael Ullman Fanfare [September 2006]
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"While certainly not much of a surprise to folks that are familiar with her work as a sideperson or her Tzadik discs, Scheinman’s work continues to demand attention. As for 12 Songs, the impressionable melodies of its intriguing compositions matched with this terrific ensemble make this one of 2005’s great offerings."
Jay Collins One Final Note [January 2, 2006]
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Top 10 Jazz Albums 2005 - "This is a warm, quirky, disarmingly delightful album."
Fred Kaplan Slate.com [12/20/05]
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"There is a beautiful sympathetic spirit that runs through this entire disc, an earthy eloquence that connects the violin, guitar and cornet just right. What truly stands out is the distinctive sound and unique flavor of Jenny's acoustic violin at the center of these sweet songs...Warm and soothing, like taking a bath with someone you love."
Bruce L. Galanter Downtown Music Gallery [October, 2005]
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"Jenny Scheinman has a gift for writing evocative music. She explores different genres and comes up with an interesting take on each, drawing the listener into the core of its spirit. There is more to this music than just the compositions. The musicians forge their own atmosphere, each divining the play in extrapolating the base. And then there is the instrumentation; each piece fits in perfectly, a seamless fusion that gives the throb and the pump to the final picture."
Jerry D'Souza All About Jazz [October 11, 2005]
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"4 stars (out of 5). While there are no vocals on 12 Songs, that doesn't interfere with the tunes' natural ability to insinuate themselves into your subconscious. Ably abetted by a small group of her peers, Scheinman has written a subtle but compelling album...Frisell himself sounds better here than he does on his own recent records, freed of the pressure to make commercially appealing music, he lets himself go off on wilder tangents....This is one to spin over and over again."
Troy Collins JunkMedia.org [October 6, 2005]
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"Scheinman plays violin in a style that blends jazz, folk, bluegrass, and klezmer, but it runs too quirky to be deemed derivative. Her sextet includes Bill Frisell...whose twangy guitar riffs pump a Twin Peaks weirdness into the air. Ron Miles adds his plangent cornet, Doug Wieselman a bristling clarinet, and Rachel Garniez a festive accordion...Scheinman is a cockeyed gust of fresh air. This is creative, heady, witty, and strangely moving music."
Fred Kaplan The Absolute Sound [December, 2005]
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"12 Songs is an album of imagination above all else. Like her frequent employer Bill Frisell (whom she employs here), Jenny Scheinman composes vignettes that frame a world for listeners to find comfort, not just through its distant familiarity, but with enough imaginative angularity to convert the most common hue of blue into a feathering peacock’s rainbow of one simple color. And this world is truly more imaginative and vivacious than most jazz being produced today—whether it is concerned with memorable melodies or smoldering solos."
Michael McCaw All About Jazz [2005-11-20]
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No one can accuse violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman of promulgating any kind of jazz cliché, or even of fitting in especially well with the rest of the Cryptogramophone label's crew of off-kilter jazz experimentalists. Her obsession is with songs and with lyrics - neither of which appear on this paradoxically titled album. The 12 compositions here aren't actually songs, but are meant to feel like songs, by which Scheinman means that they're intended to be clear, straightforward, singable, and emotionally direct. This they generally do achieve, but even when things get a bit opaque (as on the saucy and slightly goofy "Moe Hawk" and the meandering "Antenna") they're still emotionally compelling. On the album's finest moments, which include a tenderly beautiful composition titled "Sleeping in the Aquifer," which subtly evokes the old hymn "Abide with Me, 'Tis Eventide," a gorgeous violin-and-clarinets trio titled "Little Calypso," and the sweet and gentle "Albert," it really does feel as if Scheinman is sitting down and talking to you, or singing quietly into your ear. On the
brilliant "Song of the Open Road," Scheinman and cornetist Ron Miles lock into a graceful waltz, while Bill Frisell's guitar churns away below with controlled ferocity and bassist Tim Luntzel thrums out an insistent pedal point. This kind of balance between directness, intensity, and complexity makes 12 Songs a more than usually impressive and compelling modern jazz album. Very highly recommended.
Rick Anderson All Music Guide [October, 2005]
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"...Scheinman’s use of stylistic interconnections and the way she blends instruments is completely modern. The folkloric changes of "June 21” may feel familiar, but her blend of violin, clarinet, and cornet to create long, slow phrases beneath Frisell’s slow-hand meanderings creates its own understated innovation. Scheinman’s effective arrangements make for an intriguing house of cards. In many cases individual instruments don’t appear to be essential, yet remove one and her carefully crafted sound would fall apart.
These appropriately titled 12 Songs may provide some solo space, but at the end of the day they're really compositional vignettes evocative of specific times, places, and emotions—another clear nexus point for Scheinman and Frisell. It would be easy to suggest she’s been influenced by Frisell, but the truth is much deeper. Scheinman’s voice was already well-formed before encountering Frisell, and 12 Songs is more a serendipitous case of two artists discovering they share a common space with common goals."
John Kelman All About Jazz [September 20, 2005]
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4 stars. Gentle yet provocative, the violinist's instrumental miniatures are insightful and inclusive: Cowpoke ballads, Sonny Rollins bop, Irish airs and gypsy laments all waft by. Scheinman's skill is the nuanced way in which they're dispensed. She's become a master of insinuation.
Jim Macnie Downbeat "Hot Box" [October, 2005]
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4 stars. Scheinman puts her own spin on the quirky sound guitarist Bill Frisell minted a decadre or so ago. Off-kilter soundtracks for unseen film shorts, these 12 wonderful wordless songs feature some Frisell regulars, and the guitarist himself is in magnificently droll form.
John Corbett Downbeat [October, 2005]
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Ms. Scheinman is a violinist who has been working out her own marvelous path through jazz from the 1920's and the 1960's and possibly the future - as well as calypso, French musette, Brazilian choro and about 10 other genres. In doing so, she has made remarkably cohesive albums; "12 Songs," with a septet including Bill Frisell on guitar, is her best so far.
Ben Ratliff New York Times [September 11, 2005]
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Violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman's latest CD is a trip down memory lane to the deep bayous of the South, emphasizing lazy '30s jazz. She has enlisted a small ensemble to forge her vision of a slow-moving landscape. Being a member of Bill Frisell's Unspeakable Orchestra has certainly helped the composer to get a return favor. The notable guitarist is quite prominent on the entire disc, giving harmonics and watery chords to the arrangements. Frisell and Scheinman are kindred spirits at arranging pieces such as "Song of the Open Road," a distinct American folk and jazz mix that is both classy and restrained. Both Ron Miles and Doug Wieselman give trumpet and clarinet readings on the crazy march "Moe Hawk" that implies and endearing touch of whimsy. "The Buoy Song" creates the best backwoods atmosphere, with clarinet questioning atop an insistent pulse that typifies the mood. "She Couldn't Believe It's True" is perhaps the best track, as it is a careful mingling of gypsy and cow jazz styles that works creating effective light drama. Frisell's most memorable and fitting solo graces the samba track, "Suza," which is accompanied by the rarely used claviola. Closing out the disc is the uplifting "June 21," where accordion serenades the guitarist's friendly melodies. In summary, Jenny Scheinman has co-created a work worthy of a Grammy nomination if all things were truly fair in this musical climate.
Jeff Melton Expose [May 2006]
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