Matthias Bublath Band

[GA Russell]

Three years ago I reviewed for AAJ an album by Tim Collins, a vibist who was a recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music. The album was a tape of his senior recital. Great stuff! (Available at CDBaby.)

Last May Collins recorded an album with a 28 year old keyboard player named Matthias Bublath. Bublath received his Bachelor's from Berklee and his Master's from Manhattan. He has studied with Kenny Barron, Joanne Brackeen and Dave Liebman among others. In 1999 he gave a solo recital at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 2002 he received the Charles Mingus Award for composition.

Late last year I received an email from Bublath saying that Collins had recommended that he contact me to offer a copy of his new CD for review. I'm always happy to hear what the young cats based in New York City are doing, so I agreed.

The album is just called Matthias Bublath Band. There are ten tracks, totalling 56 minutes. Nine of the ten songs are originals. The tenth is The Girl From Ipanema. None of the songs sound like each other. Bublath shows imagination in his composing.

The first five are by what is called the "Piano Trio" (with bass and drums). One is with an electric piano, and has a good Les McCann circa 1970 feeling. Ipanema is played without bounce, and with different chords from what Jobim wrote (which makes it interesting), but the melody is played straight.

Bublath is not particularly light fingered, and reminds me a little of Taylor Eigsti. I find with the Piano Trio that his compositions are more appealling than his playing.

The second five are by the "Hammond B3 Band" (with trumpet, vibes and drums). These are a cut above the first five. Bublath is an excellent organist. None of the five cuts are greasy; this is mainstream 21st century jazz. Trumpeter Takuya Kuroda stands out here. I feel that vibist Tim Collins is underutilized on four of the tracks, but on the best track of the CD he is allowed to stretch out. The five organ tracks make the album worth hearing.

The CD is available from CDBaby and Bublath's website http://www.matthiasbublath.com The website also has clips to listen to.

If you are interested in young players who sell their ware at CDBaby (And if you're not, what are you doing at the Organissimo website?), I can recommend this!