Paul Bedal: Cerulean Stars
BACE

Prominent among the distinguishing aspects of Cerulean Stars are the rapport between the four participants and the genuine impression of fellowship that emerges. It's pianist Paul Bedal's date, of course, yet the recording owes a great deal of its character to the interactions between the leader and his Chicago cohorts, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, double bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Charles Rumback. Adding to that sense of connectedness is the fact that the same lineup appeared on Bedal's previous set, In Reverse.

Each musician adds a significant dimension to the recording's identity, even if the seven compositions are singly credited to Bedal. A veteran of some thirty-five albums to date, Mazzarella's well-known in the city's avant-garde scene, but he opts for structured melodicism on the pianist's album. The saxophonist's playing is adventurous and inspired on Bedal's date, and the album offers a superb outlet for Mazzarella's sleek attack. As an admired Chicago fixture in his own right and overseer of Woolgathering Records, the ever-versatile Ulery needs no introduction, and Rumback? His relationship with the pianist extends back almost a decade, a shared history that does much to bolster their connection on Cerulean Stars. Neither too tight nor loose, the drummer's execution infuses the music with spontaneity.

Recorded on January 20th, 2020, Cerulean Stars sees the four refracting Bedal's compositional structures into expansive, free-flowing form. Each piece possesses a clear identity yet also benefits from the personal stamp each musician imposes on it. Though an off-kilter melody and unusual harmonic framework provides the foundation in “Iris,” for instance, the music nevertheless swings, in large part due to Rumback's cymbal textures and Mazzarella's light-speed runs. The feel is certainly not Latin, but there is a hint of its infectious character in play. In an early example of how effectively the players complement one another, Ulery and Bedal stabilize the others' flow with unerring bass lines and elegant piano phrasings.

As melodically unusual is the title track, which sets the mood with a serpentine theme that, rather than inhibiting the performances, draws from the quartet some of the album's most liberated playing. Similar to the opening track, it's the drummer and saxophonist who're largely responsible for creating that free-wheeling impression. Rumback's ever-evolving attack provides a wonderful support to Bedal during his solo, with the pianist seeming to feed off the drummer's playing at every moment. Slightly more direct is “Citrine,” which achieves clarity through the opening statement of its melodic framework before moving onto solos. Mazzarella's a particularly deft fit for “Compass,” considering how seamlessly his sinuous lines align to the composition's own.

May 2021