Tima Volozh - Jubilee (2023)

“Jubilee” is Brooklyn-based, Russian-born drummer Tima Volozh’s debut album featuring Jerome Harris (bass), Brad Shepik (guitar), Timo Vollbrecht (saxophone) and Noah Franche-Nolan (piano). The group came together in March 2022 as a response to the invasion of Ukraine, with Volozh assembling musicians who shared his concern for the situation, leading to a benefit concert at Scholes Street Studio and the birth of the band.

Drummer-led bands are often intriguing and innovative affairs. One only has to think of some of the greats – Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Paul Motian and Brian Blade, to name just a few, with a tendency to showcase some exemplary songwriting alongside a collaborative attitude where all the band members contribute freely. “Jubilee” fits nicely into this category, perhaps not surprisingly as it features two veterans of Paul Motian’s groups in Shepik and Harris.

There’s a maturity to this album that speaks volumes. Volozh’s quintet have a sound and feel that suggests they’ve been performing together for years. Consummate playing is often highlighted with sublime soloing and some wonderfully intuitive group interaction. The band leader himself has a style perhaps not dissimilar to Paul Motian, in that his percussive talents are always intelligently used within the context of a group recording, coming to the fore when needed, but never trying to chase the limelight.

“Jubilee” borrows its opening statement from one of the greatest musical works of the 20th century. However, instead of a lone bassoon, it’s Vorozh’s driving drum groove that sets up the iconic theme from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring – “Adoration of the Earth”. The original composition “Vortex” sparkles with a cool intensity, with some marvellous soloing from Shepik’s guitar in particular. “Lá Lauê,” which the drummer says, “is an arrangement of a traditional Brazilian song that I learned from my study of the once clandestine martial art”, has such a lovely vibe to it, warm and welcoming. The bebop staple “Star Eyes” is reimagined here in a modern style that stretches out the simple melody allowing for some glorious soloing from Franche-Nolan and Vollbrecht on piano and sax respectively. McCoy Tyner’s ballad “Aisha” is performed with an elegance and sophistication that is fitting for this wonderful piece of music, with Vorozh’s sublime brushwork and the rhythm section’s ability to create momentum and intrigue adding to the beauty of this tune. “Mumbo Jumbo”, my favourite track on the album, captures the spirit of Paul Motian’s trios and quartets perfectly. There’s a looser, harder edge to this piece that brings out the best in the entire band. And although this tune is in fact a Motian original, I love the way this quintet effortlessly make it their own. The album concludes with a Thelonious Monk tune, “Evidence,” which here is completely reimagined as almost a new composition. It’s an enjoyable adventure, with the whole band playing around each other, capturing a unified spirit that sums up this album well.