| I love writing for Cityzen. I say
that because, quite frankly, I love the perks. I have
had the pleasure of, among other things, contributing
several CD reviews of albums I had never heard of, I would
never have heard of, but absolutely blew me away. All
of them. So, when they asked me to do another review,
I was excited. I knew exactly what to expect – something
new and fantastic. Then they told me the album would be
Marlowe, by David Berger and the Sultans of Swing.
So I knew exactly what was coming – a terrific and
unique swing album. But then I sat down and listened. |
| This album is an amazing
mix of instantly enthralling jazz melodies interlaced
with moments of breathtaking ecstasy and dissonant agony.
It is part John Coltrane, part Benny Goodman, part Duke
Ellington, with a bit of demented carnival music thrown
in for good measure. It is a work of sheer genius, and
while the individual songs certainly stand up on their
own, this is truly a full album – and everything,
from the feeling, to the songs, to the overall experience,
is exponentially heightened by treating Marlowe
as just that, an album long work. So that’s how
I approached it. |
|
| The album has a couple of overarching
themes and is broken up into two parts. The first section
is built around the tragedy of 9/11, and is named after
the restaurant on top of the World Trade Center, “Windows
On The World.” This section is beautifully constructed
to tell the story of the tragedy, going from calmness,
to the search (“Wanted DOA: Osama, Yo Mama,”)
to the figurative and literal resolutions in its last
song, “Prayer for Peace.” |
 |
The second section
shares it’s title with the album, “Marlowe,”
which refers to Philip Marlowe, the detective in the
Raymond Chandler book series, a hard-nosed, hard-drinking,
cynical and dark, but, when all is said and done, sweet
and decent man. Berger remains true to that theme- the
enchanted harmonies and big-band themed jazz place us
back in that era, and tell his story, which though sometimes
dark and cynical, is, in the end, beautiful and sweet.
There are several distinguishing characteristics of
this album. First of all, the dissonance juxtaposed
with absolute beauty is a hallmark. Berger and his band
continually shift through a constantly and suddenly
changing stylistic stream that works uncannily well
in maintaining a well planned, although sometimes disorienting,
flow. The real magic here is that, even when you expect
the dissonance, the instrumentation is so brilliantly
written and performed that the discord hits you hard
every time, both jerking you backwards while simultaneously
drawing you further into the music. |
Second, and most impressively, Berger and the Sultans display
an uncanny ability throughout the album - once again through
brilliant writing and performing - to take the most pedestrian
and common time signatures and make them seem like something
you’ve never experienced before. It’s exceedingly
difficult to make something so universal seem unique, and
they have done an amazing job to make every song feel exciting
and new.
Additionally, this album’s continual flow is remarkable.
Every song is picked up seamlessly by the next track. In fact,
many songs end in mid-note, making the individual songs seem
to cut out unexpectedly. While confusing if listening to the
album on random, this ultimately helps in allowing us to fall
into the album for its entire hour without being roused out
of our excursion. This works especially well for those who
wouldn’t normally listen to big band jazz.
So, all in all, Cityzen has done me right again. They have
provided me with another unmitigated work of true brilliance,
this time by David Berger and the Sultans of Swing. While
their name is misleading and pays a puzzling homage to the
Dire Straits, they could easily get away with a change to
the “Barons of Big Band” or the “Jesters
of Jazz.” Regardless of what they’re called, a
rose by any other name would sound just as sweet, and David
Berger and the Sultans of Swing have provided all of us with
a jazz masterpiece that we will all enjoy for years to come. |
