'Azul' boasts the best of both worlds
Veronica Grandison
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Features
"Azul" is an appropriate name for an album that mixes mysteriously smooth melodies with rich, and colorful polyrhythmic textures. The Spanish and Portuguese word for blue, "Azul" is the title of guitarist and composer Mike Pardew's sophomore album. It comes out today, and is a combination of darkness and light, tranquility and dissonance, possessing elements of both the sophistication of jazz and the hardcore qualities of rock n roll.
As a member of the local jazz scene in Portland, Oregon, Pardew not only is a practitioner of jazz, but he also teaches music at Lewis and Clark College, the University of Portland, and Mt. Hood Community College. Although this is only Pardew's second LP, his impressive guitar skills have been heard on the albums of many jazz bands including Eleven Eyes, The Cubist Quartet and Montage.
However, on "Azul," Pardew takes center stage and is joined by the collective sounds of Damian Erskine on bass, and Micah Kassell on drums.
The first part of the album is compiled with easy listening tunes with a slow tempo, and minor key melodies, which reveal more characteristics of the smooth jazz genre.
The album opens with "Shades," which has a steady 2/4 rhythm and the instrumentation mediates between piano and forte dynamics. The title track "Azul" is a more Latin flavored tune.
Pardew displays Latin melodies on his guitar with a very complex solo while the drums play a more forceful role to keep up with his improvisational solo.
Towards the middle of the album, Pardew drastically transitions from steady tonality to elements of rock'n roll. Pardew switches from acoustic guitar to electric guitar to accompany the forceful percussion, which takes on a more dominate role. Tracks such as "Road Worn," and "Flathead Lake," have a more hardcore timbre.
Pardew and his accompanists also embody the nostalgic jazz fusion of the 1960s on certain tracks. "Road Worn" is a psychedelic tune with a 4/4 meter and darker, more aggressive melodies. In "Road Worn," the darker side of "Azul" is revealed.
As a member of the local jazz scene in Portland, Oregon, Pardew not only is a practitioner of jazz, but he also teaches music at Lewis and Clark College, the University of Portland, and Mt. Hood Community College. Although this is only Pardew's second LP, his impressive guitar skills have been heard on the albums of many jazz bands including Eleven Eyes, The Cubist Quartet and Montage.
However, on "Azul," Pardew takes center stage and is joined by the collective sounds of Damian Erskine on bass, and Micah Kassell on drums.
The first part of the album is compiled with easy listening tunes with a slow tempo, and minor key melodies, which reveal more characteristics of the smooth jazz genre.
The album opens with "Shades," which has a steady 2/4 rhythm and the instrumentation mediates between piano and forte dynamics. The title track "Azul" is a more Latin flavored tune.
Pardew displays Latin melodies on his guitar with a very complex solo while the drums play a more forceful role to keep up with his improvisational solo.
Towards the middle of the album, Pardew drastically transitions from steady tonality to elements of rock'n roll. Pardew switches from acoustic guitar to electric guitar to accompany the forceful percussion, which takes on a more dominate role. Tracks such as "Road Worn," and "Flathead Lake," have a more hardcore timbre.
Pardew and his accompanists also embody the nostalgic jazz fusion of the 1960s on certain tracks. "Road Worn" is a psychedelic tune with a 4/4 meter and darker, more aggressive melodies. In "Road Worn," the darker side of "Azul" is revealed.
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