(Post-Bop, Contemporary Jazz) [CD] George Colligan - More Powerful (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover) - 2017, FLAC (tracks), lossless

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Path: ...\George Colligan - 2017 - More Powerful {Whirlwind - WR4708} [WEB FLAC]
1 -=- 01 - Whiffle Ball (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (99%)
2 -=- 02 - Waterfall Dreams (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (100%)
3 -=- 03 - Effortless (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (100%)
4 -=- 04 - Today, Again (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (99%)
5 -=- 05 - More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (99%)
6 -=- 06 - Retrograde Pluto (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (100%)
7 -=- 07 - Southwestern Silence (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (100%)
8 -=- 08 - Empty (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (99%)
9 -=- 09 - The Nash (feat. Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston & Nicole Glover).flac -=- CDDA (100%)
Summary 99,56% CDDA
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https://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-colligan-mn0000642244
Artist Biography by David R. Adler
George Colligan is an advanced jazz pianist and composer who has done high-ranking work as a sideman and a leader. His most high-profile association, with vocalist Cassandra Wilson, began in 2000 and continues at the time of this writing. He has also played with Ravi Coltrane, Robin Eubanks, David Gilmore, Myron Walden, Steve Wilson, and many other stellar musicians, young and old. His own bands have boasted talents as formidable as Mark Turner and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Born in New Jersey and raised mostly in Maryland, Colligan began his musical life on the trumpet, an instrument on which he still occasionally performs and records. (Colligan is also a viable jazz drummer.) He attended the Peabody Conservatory as a classical trumpet major but became increasingly drawn to jazz piano. In 1990 he attended the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop in Canada. After several years as a freelancer in the Maryland area, Colligan relocated to New York, where his success has continued to mount. Colligan released his first two albums, 1996's Activism and 1997's Newcomer, on the Steeplechase label. Switching to the Fresh Sound New Talent label, he followed up in 1999 with Unresolved and in 2000 with Desire. Agent 99 appeared in summer 2001.

https://music.whirlwindrecordings.com/album/more-powerful
Pianist and composer George Colligan has cemented his reputation through innumerable bandstand appearances as soloist and sideman, including collaborations with artists such as Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, Don Byron and Cassandra Wilson – and his prolific studio output has been documented on over a hundred albums. For this first release on Whirlwind, More Powerful, he leads a vibrant trio and quartet session of original music with artists with whom he has enjoyed a long association – double bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Rudy Royston – plus rising saxophonist Nicole Glover.
In this nine-track recording, the pianist’s music is influenced by life experiences and fleeting soundbites, as well as the players he is privileged to work with – and it’s very much his forward-looking integrity which fires these accessible compositions: “My artistic goals are based on musical development. I respect the foundations of the tradition, but also feel the music has to progress, employing the elements of creativity and surprise”. Colligan explains that his compositions (a number of which, here, have been awaiting their first recorded documentation) are just the beginning, preferring not to spend too long on their genesis: “It’s great to present my music to a band I trust, and if they interpret it another way… well, I’m open to that. Not only is it exciting, I also respect what they contribute. It’s actually easier and more fun to embrace that – and I find myself being inspired back”.
The playful qualities of ‘Whiffle Ball’ recall, for the leader, fond memories of playing the backyard baseball game with his father, its piano improvisations and expansive chordal riffs inviting equally breathless soprano across its fast swing. Amongst Colligan’s older piano trio tunes, ‘Waterfall Dreams’ contrasts quiet, reflective pools with percussively-laced bass extemporizations; and the complexity of ‘Effortless’ (a nod to Kenny Werner’s book ‘Effortless Mastery’) is based on the notion of something on paper seeming difficult, yet is more about the actual perception of whether or not it’s challenging (“If you think it’s hard, then it will be hard; but if you decide it’s easy…”).
‘Today, Again’ represents the repetitive busyness of ‘a day in the life’ through rhythmically purposeful, melodic tenor and piano lines and the resultant, boisterous improv – this quartet with Glover is the polar opposite of prosaic. Obi-Wan Kenobi fans will recognize the reference in raucous title track ‘More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine’ (from the very first Star Wars movie) whose McCoy Tyner-like, heavy-rooted drive heads into unbridled saxophonic chaos (Colligan enjoys the powerful way the melody fits with the pounding figure, describing it as a piece which could go in so many different directions); and conversational ‘Empty’ is a fluid tenor showcase.
The first of three compositions written at the piano in the quietness of Carefree, Arizona, mysterious ‘Retrograde Pluto’ originates from an astrological reference overheard in an unresolved conversation Colligan recalls: “’Well, it’s Retrograde Pluto – you know what that means?’ and I thought, ‘What does it mean; is the world going to end?’!” The dry, night-time humidity of ‘Southwestern Silence’ suggests the wide-open desert spaces of Arizona (“It’s very, very quiet – if you have any paranoid thoughts, they’re only going to get louder!”); and high-spirited ‘The Nash’ (after the Phoenix jazz club that the pianist has played) is unashamedly jaunty, even anarchic.
“For me”, says Colligan, “it’s more about letting things happen, rather than controlling. I already know what’s going to happen in many situations, in a world that can have so many restrictions. But with music, I’d rather not know. It’s a chance to be surprised – as improvisers, we’re legally allowed to do that – otherwise it’s like having a time machine (“there’s a time machine right over there”) but never using it! Charlie Parker is now thought of as ‘traditional’; but at the time, he was breaking new ground, a revelation. So, with ‘modern mainstream’, I love to challenge the notion of what’s contemporary and what’s old-fashioned. Working with Linda, Rudy and Nicole, their ability to react and respond is amazing”.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/more-powerful-george-colligan-whirlwind-recordings-l...roger-farbey.php
Pianist George Colligan's twenty eighth album as leader sees him joined by long-time colleague Rudy Royston on drums, bassist Linda May Han Oh and newcomer Nicole Glover, Colligan's former student at Portland, on reeds. Colligan has a long career in jazz and, in addition to teaching at Portland State University where he's the Jazz Area Coordinator, he has collaborated with the likes of Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, Don Byron and Cassandra Wilson.
This set of sprightly numbers all penned by Colligan, don't hold back at any time. The opener "Whiffle Ball," for example, is a hard bop tune which fairly explodes with energy. By contrast, "Waterfall Dreams" is a reflective modal piece dominated by Colligan's fluid piano work. If that were not enough, check out his lithe playing on the modestly titled "Effortless." Both these pieces are played in a trio context and offer a redolence of the spirit of Bill Evans.
The quartet is resumed on "Today, Again," Nicole Glover's tenor evincing a notably pure tone. Linda May Han Oh opens "More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine" with low percussive pizzicato bass notes before the tune bursts into life. The ensuing maelstrom is powered by the dynamic drumming of Rudy Royston who has over the past twenty five years recorded with Bill Frisell and Dave Douglas and Ron Miles amongst many others.
Two more trio-only numbers ensure "Retrograde Pluto" and "Southwestern Silence" before the quartet plays the sultry and at times strident "Empty," the piano and tenor tracing an angular initial statement in unison. The finale number "The Nash" (named after the Phoenix jazz club) has Glover exuberantly soloing on soprano. Whilst many folks may not have heard of Colligan, who by the way also plays organ, drums and trumpet, they should take a listen to him, since the sheer vitality of his playing is truly remarkable, his tunes uniformly memorable and vibrant.

George Colligan: piano;
Linda May Han Oh: double bass;
Rudy Royston: drums;
Nicole Glover: tenor and soprano saxophone