PATRICK ZIMMERLI & OCTURN
The Book of Hours
Songlines
· Jazz composer and saxophonist Patrick Zimmerli and 10-piece Belgian band Octurn flounder in an hour-long jazz suite.
Referring to the medieval monastic tradition wherein a different prayer was recited at seven different times of day, Patrick Zimmerli’s Book of Hours attempts to incorporate big-band swing, bop, jazz-rock and contemporary classical music into one cohesive musical setting. The attempt fails, but not through any fault of the more-than-accomplished musicians of the Brussels-based collective Octurn.
From the dreary "Dawn" and the tediousness of "Afternoon" through to the laborious "Night," short chamber-jazz interludes break up the uninspired arrangements. The alternations of duet and sextet formats do nothing for the album’s consistency, and even the exciting sound of Octurn’s double rhythm section, led by Bo Van der Werf, can do nothing to alleviate the dullness that permeates this lukewarm album.
|
