By Michael Roberts
Time Zones, the title of the Esthesis Quartet’s sophomore outing, acknowledges the widely varied locations the group members call home. But musically, drummer Tina Raymond, who resides in Los Angeles; pianist/vocalist Dawn Clement, Denver; bassist Emma Dayhuff, Chicago; and flutist Elsa Nilsson, Brooklyn, come together in a place where technical ability meets creative inspiration. Think of it as a jazz multiverse that allows them to do everything everywhere all at once.
Opener “Blue Light” is introduced by a subtly plucked Dayhuff bass line, Raymond’s percussive shuffle and chording from Clement, the tune’s composer. This lays the foundation for a Nilsson-delivered melody that suggests the transition from dusk to darkness. These elements engage in a sprightly dance whose ecstatic peak makes the subsequent denouement all the more satisfying.
The Raymond-penned “Brush Fire” mirrors the progress of a blaze that starts small before flaring into a tremendous conflagration — Nilsson’s solos throw the most sparks. “The New Yorker,” sung by Clement with crystalline clarity, explicitly evokes the album’s theme by way of lyrics such as “While day breaks for you/Night will hold me to the big, wild moon.”
Next stop is “Hollywood,” a Clement number that’s all strut and sass, with each player given several showcase moments. Raymond’s “Serial” amps up the melodrama by way of film noir-ish rhythms, drum fills that seem to leap from blind alleys, and a Nilsson performance that’s gleefully menacing. In contrast, “First Light,” which Nilsson wrote, shoots for sheer beauty and hits the mark prior to the concluding “Getting Through.” This dead sprint of a track, also from Nilsson, will leave listeners feeling happily exhausted by the final cymbal crash, when the Esthesis Quartet arrives at a zone all its own.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0Myy1H4WI7k0rSXulXoLNO?si=eACycTBSSfKueuzNQL7BCw
