Benjamin Lackner

Benjamin Lackner: Spindrift (ECM 2832)

| Tyran Grillo

Benjamin Lackner
Spindrift

Benjamin Lackner piano
Mathias Eick trumpet
Mark Turner tenor saxophone
Linda May Han Oh double bass
Matthieu Chazarenc drums
Recorded March 2024 at Studios La Buissonne
Engineer: Gérard de Haro
Mastering: Nicolas Baillard
Cover: Fidel Sclavo
Produced by Manfred Eicher
Release date: January 17, 2025

After leaving a sizable footprint in ECM soil with Last Decade, pianist Benjamin Lackner takes us one step further with a fresh quintet, bringing us closer to a vision of identity. Although the music is more through-composed in the present context, it lends itself to the spontaneous inventions of trumpeter Mathias Eick, saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and drummer Matthieu Chazarenc (a member of Lackner’s trio prior to ECM). From all of this emerges a moving picture that is equal parts brooding and hope.

The title track bids welcome with a reed-forward introduction, as the piano sweeps up and down its registers in the twinkling of cymbals before a flowing denouement ensues. Lackner’s pianism is revelatory yet humble, never appropriating center stage. Rather, he lets his allies speak—and speak they do. Whether it’s Turner’s forthright turns of phrase or Oh’s chameleonic acuity, this brew remains communal to the last drop.

The breezy beginning of “Mosquito Flats” shifts into an even breezier theme, where the wishes of an entire generation fade in favor of a timeless desire for harmony amid a slow-motion urban swing. The two horns forge tempered fire in exchange for the final recapitulation. Their duetting continues in “More Mesa,” another unassuming tune that is nevertheless robust in its way.

Chazarenc contributes “Chambary,” a track smothered in upbeat textures and wild (yet subtle) leaps, without a shred of pretension. It’s a highlight for being as deep as it is concise. It finds a genuine companion in “See You Again My Friend,” an especially tender vehicle for Eick, who later converses with Oh in safe seclusion from the dissonant strains of “Murnau.” By contrast, the feeling of anticipation in “Fair Warning” is almost unsettling, as if the fabric of reality could tear at any moment, revealing a nightmare.

I so appreciate Lackner’s willingness to blow-dry notes before they become too wet. This holds the listener’s attention and enlivens mid-tempo pieces like “Anacapa,” which also elicits my favorite solo on the album from the bandleader (neither can one forget Oh on “Ahwahnee,” where her touch sings of the very earth). And yet, no matter how much shadow clouds our vision, “Out Of The Fog” leaves behind an intimation of light. As it resolves into a collective hymnody, we see that the characters in this story have been seeking healing individually, only to find it in one another.

Spindrift is a screen lit by a single projector in an otherwise dark room. By focusing on the narratives before our eyes, it gives us the luxury of ignoring what lies behind them. Many of the films that repeatedly run through our minds are traumatic reflections of the media we consume daily. Here, we have an opportunity to engage with stories of wholesome reflection in which the soul needs no likes counter to validate itself.

Benjamin Lackner: Last Decade (ECM 2736)

| Tyran Grillo

Benjamin Lackner
Last Decade

Benjamin Lackner piano
Mathias Eick trumpet
Jérôme Regard double bass
Manu Katché drums
Recorded September 2021 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines
Engineer: Gérard de Haro
Mastering: Nicolas Baillard
Cover photo: Woong Chul An
Produced by Manfred Eicher
Release date: October 14, 2022

Benjamin Lackner makes a soft yet profound splash on Last Decade, his ECM debut. With Mathias Eick on trumpet, Jérôme Regard on bass, and Manu Katché on drums, the German-American pianist lays the groundwork for a quartet of wide imagination, forging a new relationship that is sure to grow over the next decade.

Lackner’s compositions are fertile ground for his bandmates. “Where Do We Go From Here” plants rows of seeds from the start, watering them in the same breath. Eick’s lyricism is given plenty of breathing room while the rhythm section snakes its way along like a shadow over rock and river. This mood (and mode) will be familiar to many ECM listeners, taking two steps inward for each outward.

But then, something happens as Katché’s groove in “Circular Confidence” opens up a much wider vista. Trading introspection for charity, it imbues Regard’s bassing with a lithe spirit as Lackner flips the landscape like the page of a book to reveal side quests galore. Foremost among them in Eick’s sojourn into distant cities and towns. Rather than bring us souvenirs, he returns with a travelogue. More tractions await in the enigmatically titled “Hung Up On That Ghost,” wherein Katché and Regard tessellate with unforced enchantment. Lackner and Eick give faith to form, the latter’s wordless vocals emblematic of a larger unity at play.

Although Lackner is more accustomed to solo and trio settings, Eick keeps in step as a natural ally. Lifting and lowering throughout “Camino Cielo,” he paints their relationship in streaks of gold and silver, his light as much a partner in the music as what is obscured by proxy. The title track is another collective journey marked by subtly daring harmonies and family memories. So, too, is the closing “My People.” Its staggered 11/4 time signature gives the listener plenty to meditate on.

Between them are three briefer excursions. Whereas “Remember This” is for the trio alone and finds Katché exchanging delicacies, “Open Minds Lost” offers the band’s fullest statement. All that remains is “Émile,” a freely improvised solo from Regard named after his son. Like the album as a whole, it pulls at the threads of life and weaves from them a tapestry of stories to be preserved for those who will outlive us.