Igor Osypov Quintet – I (2015)

Igor Osypov Quintet

Igor Osypov - guitar
Logan Richardson - alto saxophone
Elias Stemeseder - piano
Martin Buhl - double bass
Jesus Vega - drums
Kuba Gudz - drums

I


UNIT 4582

By Adam Baruch

This is the debut album by Ukrainian (resident in Berlin) guitarist/composer Igor Osypov, recorded in a quintet setting with American saxophonist Logan Richardson, Austrian pianist Elias Stemeseder, Danish bassist Martin Buhl and alternating drummers: American Jesus Vega and Polish Jakub Gudz. All these musicians, except for Richardson, are students at the Jazz Institute Berlin. The album presents nine original compositions, all by Osypov.

The music is typical modern Jazz, basically pretty mainstream, with some unusual rhythmic patterns, but other than that quite straightforward. The melodies are a bit thin and forgettable, but the idea here is to play as many notes as possible by everybody on board, so the improvisation and soloing are at the centre.

These are very talented, but also very young players, which becomes immediately apparent. The quintet has some sync/timing problems and everything starts to sound a bit alike after the third tune or so. The guitar sound is a bit to sharp and Pat Metheny like, the pianist seems to live in a separate universe and the only thing that sounds truly coherent is the bass. In short parts of this album are really difficult to listen to.

Overall this album was perhaps recorded a bit too early, before the music and the quintet matured enough, to be able to achieve the effect they deserve. Better luck next time!