Live at LunÀtico

5/5 - "UNMISTAKABLY GREAT" The bassist Arthur Kell is one of the excellent bassists, composers and bandleaders of the New York jazz scene, who has played with almost everyone of rank and name over the last 20 years, including such prominent musicians as Thomas Chapin, Bobby Previte, Marc Ribot, Billy Bang, Bruce Barth and Matt Wilson. His debut album Victoria / Live in Germany, recorded for the Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records label, received high critical acclaim. With his new album Live at LunÀtico, recorded in February 2022 in the bar of the same name in Brooklyn, Arthur Kell once again demonstrates his innovative skills as a bandleader, using a very unusual line-up with two guitarists (Nate Radley and Brad Shepik) and one of the up-and-coming drum virtuosos (Allan Mednard). Musically, the quartet has a very broad range and Arthur Kell's ten compositions oscillate back and forth between them Brazil and Arabia and particularly impress with their musical unity. In particular, the warm sound of the acoustic double bass contrasts with the two electric guitars, which burn off a truly musical firework display over around 70 minutes, without losing themselves in mere virtuosity. Particularly successful are the Arthur Kell compositions "Haflat Zifaf," in which the two guitarists are in top form, "The Djado," which gives a lot of space to the guitars in a very variable rhythm over a fixed bass figure, as well as the drums rolls out a very dense and virtuoso carpet, "Piscotta Blue," an uptempo number with intense musical dialogues that rushes from climax to climax with the dense rhythmic network of the drums, as well as "Regatta" and "Polyamorphous," both of which emphatically underlining the intensive and musically absolutely cohesive interaction of the quartet. A varied, colorful, dynamic and all-round inspiring album! (Translated from German)