Pavle Miljenović Quartet - Upper structures (2019)

The second album of the young jazz guitarist and composer Pavlo Miljenović is named after the jazz term for complex and unconventional harmonies in the upper parts of the register.
Despite the perhaps unnecessary marking with such an extremely technical term, which the author himself somewhat expectedly says in the promotional material has spiritual and philosophical connotations, "Upper Structures" (Croatia Records, 2019) is pleasant, but not banal listening. Comprised of seven of his own compositions, the album presents Miljenović as a sovereign, but also very restrained band leader. Driven by a subtle, flowing guitar style in the vein of John Abercrombie or that of Eivid Aarset in moments freed from electronic textures, Miljenović often lets the rest of the quartet lead the story, while he himself remains in the background.
The rhythm section - Adriano Bernobić on drums and Zvonimir Šestak on double bass - keeps a constant pulse without showing off too much, but the main role is played by trumpeter Tomaž Gajšt. His sections function like a storyteller, guiding the listener through the author's intention of each composition. Miljenović stylistically builds his compositions on a relaxed version of the post bop tradition, but also on the inevitable influence of the institution of modernist European jazz - the publishing house ECM - whose influence is most evident through the distinct filmic nature of most of these compositions.
The smoky noir atmosphere is somewhat "disrupted" by the last two tracks, the relatively standard reading of the blues "Playful Blues" and the fusion and funk colored finale "A Big Job". But, regardless of that slight stylistic departure in the finale itself, "Upper Structures" represents a uniform, well-thought-out achievement. He gathers with bands and individuals such as Chui, Vedran Ružić or Marija Rašić and his Balkan Zoo Ensemble (and in the latter two projects Miljenović was also involved as a sideman ) and this achievement shows that there is indeed a future for Croatian original jazz, despite this or maybe because of it which swims away from the main current.