The New York pianist KENNY WERNER, born in 1951, is one of the greats in jazz, one of the most innovative and creative musicians and composers that jazz has to offer at the moment. It is astonishing that he is only now making his debut on Blue Note, even though he has been active for over thirty years. However, with "Lawn Chair Society" he makes a splendid debut on the traditional label.
Trumpeter Dave Douglas can be heard here on one of his rare excursions as a sideman, alongside Chris Potter on saxophone, Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums. With the help of producer Lenny Pickett, Werner conjures up a subtle sound mix of acoustic and electronic elements.
All the band members, themselves all seasoned bandleaders and composers, bring all their experience together on "Lawn Chair Society" to form a great whole in a way that not even they could have managed on their own. Ever since he once saw chairs blown against the wall by the wind in a New York backyard, WERNER has used "Lawn Chair Society" as a metaphor for a decadent America that seems to have lost its way. On "Inaugural Balls" he composed with the ulterior motive of what it might look like if Vice President Dick Cheney were to dance to it - probably quite ridiculous. On "Burble_burble_splerk", Douglas shows off his phenomenal improvisational skills. The groovy "New Amsterdam" is strongly influenced by the sound of James Brown, while "The 13th Day" recounts a traumatic experience for WERNER - the accidental death of his 16-year-old daughter in October 2006. "Undiscovered Heart", which he composed when his daughter was born, is linked to this. The album closes with "Kothbiro", a composition by the Kenyan Ayub Ogada, which he first heard in the closing credits of the soundtrack to "The Eternal Gardener". A jewel of African music, wonderfully reinterpreted. The album combines compositional density with relaxed playfulness and abrupt turning points with casual improvisations. Kenny Werner has also mastered the art of telling a lot with sparingly used means. It will not remain the case that he is only an insider tip for connoisseurs until now.