Daniel Levin Quartet - Friction (2015) Lossless

It’s nothing less than curious that the most “jazzy” of all Daniel Levin’s projects, his Quartet, has also the most obvious of the classical chamber music connotations. Often labled as an avant-garde cellist, Levin uses this band with trumpeter Nate Wooley, vibraphonist Matt Moran and double bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg to put into sound his most melodic scores, translating vocal qualities to the lead voices of cello and trumpet. While some experimental singers use the voice as an instrument, going beyond the song specifications, this New York musician explores the opposite direction. This “vocal music” is simultaneously intriguing and seductive, even for more conventional listeners. You wouldn’t expect a former collaborator of mind-blowing expressionists like William Parker, Joe McPhee, and Ivo Perelman to play such beautiful, detailed and exquisite chamber jazz, but here it is. And if you never imagined that Wooley and Zetterberg could be in the same band, well, they are. There are no “don’ts” in music, only in some people’s heads.