Another ambitious step for the unpredictable, London-based, Pennsylvania-raised trumpeter Andre Canniere and a very classy sextet, including Phronesis and Marius Neset pianist Ivo Neame, excellent saxophonist Tori Freestone and resourceful singer Brigitte Beraha, wrapping contemporary jazz settings around the poems of Rainer Maria Rilke. Canniere’s range-spanning trumpet and bright runs, and Freestone’s sensitivity to spacing and dramatic narrative accompany Beraha’s impassive eloquence with the lyrics of Rilke’s Autumn Day and Going Blind. The singer’s delicacy in the quiet handling of Evening (Rilke’s line translated as: “The sky puts on the darkening blue coat” provided the album title) is hypnotic. Canniere’s instrumentals, like the melodically slippery Splash, the deep slow-burner Area of Pause, and the heavy-hitting, Bitches Brew-like Hug the Dark confirm his jazz-composing power and constructive writing for improvisers. The band is terrific – even if some of Rilke’s texts seem to fight back pretty hard against being turned into song.
