(Modern Creative) Michael Bates (with Chris Speed, Russ Johnson, Russ Lossing, Tom Rainey) - Acrobat: Music For, And By, Dmitri Shostakovich - 2011, WEB, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Avant-garde bassist Michael Bates identifies the connection between the Stravinsky-influenced modern classical music of Shostakovich and his own free jazz tendencies on Acrobat: Music for, and by, Dmitri Shostakovich. Actually, only one track, the leadoff one, "Dance of Death," is a Shostakovich composition, and that piece, as played by a group in which Bates is joined by Russ Johnson (trumpet), Chris Speed (clarinet, saxophone), Russ Lossing (acoustic and Fender Rhodes electric pianos), and Tom Rainey (drums), comes off in the style of Kurt Weill's German period, as if it were a bit of incidental music from the score of The Threepenny Opera. On Bates' compositions written for Shostakovich, the group can be playful, as is Speed's clarinet on "Talking Bird," and it can turn in a straight bebop performance, as it does on "Strong Arm," which pairs Johnson's trumpet with Bates' bass in ascending and descending patterns, then follows with Lossing's electric piano against Rainey's busy drumming. "Some Wounds" is a slow blues with a mournful saxophone solo, while the equally melancholy "Fugitive Pieces" is more melodic and, as its title implies, more of a suite with sections strung together, including an unaccompanied clarinet solo. Later tracks, starting with "Silent Witness," are more typical free works, with every man for himself, the only apparent agreement about how to play concerning tempo. Yet these are experienced musicians capable of giving such music the risky, exciting feeling of free jazz, in which things always seem about to fall apart entirely, but never do. What it all has to do with Shostakovich may be more inspirational than literal, but the composer's reputation is only enhanced by an association with such inspired playing. ~ William Ruhlmann

Michael Bates, a Canadian bassist living in New York, demonstrates his affinity for the music of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich on his album Acrobat: Music For and By Dmitri Shostakovich. The record features mostly Bates’ original compositions, but also an arrangement of Shostakovich’s “Dance of Death,” the fourth movement of his Piano Trio no. 2 in E-Minor, recast with improvisational fire and spontaneity by a colorful and versatile band. Bates plays bass, Russ Johnson the trumpet, Chris Speed the clarinet and tenor saxophone, Russ Lossing the piano and keyboards, and Tom Rainey the drums.
“Dance of Death,” the first track on the album, acts as a thesis statement for the ensuing pieces. Shostakovich wrote his Piano Trio in E-Minor in 1944, and the fourth movement’s strong rhythms and melancholic Jewish melodies are what earned it its macabre sobriquet. In Bates’ arrangement, the band improvises based on bits of the original themes, and builds up to a brooding, intense chaos that finally finds release in the transition to a quiet, five-beat melody. This melody then forms the backdrop for clarinet and trumpet solos, and eventually blends into free improvisation, and therefore no longer tethered to the original material. The placid five-beat melody is the last bit of material quoted directly from Shostakovich, and from there on, the album is Bates and company’s invention.
The record is a nuanced exploration of Shostakovich’s influence, one in which Bates draws a connection more through affect than through any specific musical technique. In an interview about this album, Bates says “I’ve spent a lot of time transcribing (Shostakovich’s) scores, going to the library and getting the symphonies and string quartets and looking at the Preludes and Fugues for piano, then studying and writing melodies in his style. So, it’s debatable how much is his and how much is mine.” This description of Bates’ relationship with Shostakovich’s music puts the album’s goals in focus, and frames it not as a tribute album, but as a realization of Shostakovich’s influence on Bates’ own process.
The connection shows most clearly in the strongly articulated ensemble melodies that serve as centerpieces to most of the songs. “Arcangela” begins with three-part counterpoint in a minor key played on arco bass, clarinet, and trumpet whose orchestration makes it sound as though it were lifted straight from a Shostakovich symphony. When Rainey joins the others, using the whole drum set but giving special emphasis to the snare drum, the piece retains some of the martial character of Bates’ theme, but cues the band to take a more improvisatory approach. Lossing’s piano solo is freely improvised, while Bates and Rainey play what sounds like a Paul Motian-inspired march.
Although the compositions on Acrobat: Music For and By Dmitri Shostakovich were most heavily inspired by Shostakovich, they demonstrate nearly equal elements of music by Dave Douglas, Miles Davis, and Charles Mingus, whose music, like that of Shostakovich, is often turbid and gestural. Fortunately, Bates allows his own voice to resonate even as he honors such imposing predecessors. Acrobat is an intricate and earnest work that will bear repeated listening very well, and it is highly recommended. ~ Douglas Detrick

To set the record straight: America has not taken a step closer to being more tolerant of any kind of musical rebel. It does not tolerate the one that conforms (for he or she too is a rebel), nor does it tolerate the one who is the objector. Like in every other aspect of life—other than art—America finds the staid and middle of the road and one most likely to sell the most records most acceptable. Dimitri Shostakovich was anything but that kind of artist. His was an art where emotional extremes collided, successfully juxtaposing tragic intensity with surreal wit. In his compositions, the sublime converged with the banal and folksy jauntiness came together with elemental darkness in the grand manner of Gustav Mahler, whose music Shostakovich greatly admired. It is exactly this aspect of his music that confounded the musical establishment of Soviet Russia; and because he survived there by toeing the party line, he was also unwelcome in the US. However that seems to have changed since the composer's death in 1975.
It seems, though, that the character of one of the 20th Century's greatest composers was made for a new life in jazz; at least this is what is posited by the extraordinary bassist Michael Bates on Acrobat: Music For, And By, Dimitri Shostakovich. Actually, the composer was celebrated by Keith Jarrett with a legendary recording Dimitri Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues Op.87. (ECM New Series, 1992). In that recording Jarrett took what is probably the second most famous section in Shostakovich's oeuvre and interpreted them in his stately manner. Bates, however takes inspiration from the entire Shostakovich book and re-imagines it. So there are hints from Shostakovich's music for small ensembles as well as his sweeping symphonic work. And everywhere there is evidence that the bassist understands the essence of the Russian's style, one that combines the three strands of "high-spirited humor, introspective meditation and declamatory grandeur," as espoused by the ethnomusicologist, Boris Schwarz.
The spectacular manner in which Bates captures this is particularly noteworthy in his classic re-imagination of "Dance of Death," where both the beauty and grotesqueness of life becomes a spectacular musical reality. The music composer Shostakovich will always be open to greater scrutiny as interpretations may go one way or the other. However, Bates has pierced the skin of the great composer with such precision and extracted his essence with what can only be described as musical forensics. Then, with ingenious use of instrumentation he has recreated the proverbial sonic assault of Shostakovich in a truly inspired manner. Inspiration comes in the form of instrumentation, and chief among these is clarinetist Chris Speed, who animates characters and situations with a majesty all his own. There is also keyboardist Russ Lossing's Fender Rhodes, which has not been played with so much creativity and ingenuity since Chick Corea employed it in his seminal electric ensembles decades ago. And finally there is Bates, who masterminds everything with sheer genius. ~ Raul d'Gama Rose

On Michael Bates's new recording Acrobat (Sunnyside, 2011) , his inspiration comes from the superlative Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 -1975). The subtitle of the album is Music for and by, Dmitri Shostakovich and it offers up a challenge to any listener, whether you are a classical or jazz fan.
Acrobat: Music for, and by, Dmitri Shostakovich, which features Bates on double bass, Chris Speed, tenor sax and clarinet, Russ Johnson, trumpet, Russ Lossing, piano and Fender Rhodes and Tom Rainey, drums, is a stunning work fueled by a Russian composer whose life as an artist was paradoxical mix of mystery and sarcasm under the oppressive regime of Josef Stalin. Shostakovich, in spite of his difficult times under Stalin, remains for Bates a seminal figure because the composer was able to say things in his music that he could not say in words. For Bates, Shostakovich’s ability to overcome political oppression using the power of music to transcend it took him into deeper, more meaningful statements about humanity. Shostakovich's notion of artistic purpose, a purpose that defied order, gives Acrobat is an unpredictable sound. It's a free, improvised spirit in an attempt to capture the essence of Shostakovich, a mysterious man whose music offers a great deal of insight, albeit cryptic at times, into his life. I'm not sure if Acrobat offers insight into its leader, Michael Bates, but having known him all those years ago while working at that record store in Toronto, I was not surprised by his approach on this album.
The album opens with an arrangement of the fourth movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Trio N2 in E minor, also known as “Dance of Death.” It sets the tone of the music as a lyrical, circus-like tent where anything can happen. The band plays the arrangement beautifully in spite of its rhythmic difficulty, although I can’t discern the bass in the mix. It’s also the only piece composed by Shostakovich. The record then unfolds as a variation on the main theme stated in track one. "Talking Bird" extends the circus ideas even further heard in a rapid fire spree. It’s a rewarding piece especially on repeated listening. “Some Wounds” is a much more contemplative work featuring Chris Speed on clarinet. His solo is eclectic without being ostentatious. In fact, the whole band expresses great freedom with musical ideas, especially on “Silent Witness,” where the use of the Fender Rhodes electric piano is particularly effective.
“The Given Day” offers a slightly more accessible rhythm and the band’s call and response opening line gives a showcase to the agreeable tones of Chris Speed on tenor sax and Russ Johnson on trumpet. The song “Yorodivy” heralds the influence of Shostakovich in a less impressionistic way. It’s a moody, ethereal work reflecting more the paradoxical nature of the Russian composer. My favourite is the closer, “Arcangela,” because of its warmer colours and depth of feeling. It’s also a stronger melody than the free-form works that preceded it. The band sounds best on this track, complementing the texture and dynamic range of each instrument.
Acrobat was recorded in one day and that aesthetic decision has its pros and cons. On the one hand, we get as immediate a musical statement as possible where the band is exemplary. On the other hand, there isn’t enough playful humour and compassion in the music as I would have liked. Shostakovich was certainly a dead serious composer, but he also had a sense of humour. If you listen to his Symphony N8, for instance, this musical snub at Stalin is filled with tweaking phrases and sarcastic notes. But I’m confident in time that the band will grow even more comfortable with the music and take the chances necessary to display the lighter, more humorous ideas always present in Shostakovich’s music. In the meantime, Acrobat: Music for, and by, Dmitri Shostakovich is a good record for anyone who wants a new musical challenge. ~ John Corcelli