In 2007 and 2008, ESP-Disk provided quite a few jazz reissues (many, though not all, of them avant-grade). But the label also put out new recordings and didn’t rely on its back catalog exclusively. One of those new recordings was Jugendstil, which was recorded in 2006 and released in 2008. ESP has long been known for its enthusiastic support of avant-garde jazz, and Jugendstil is definitely avant-garde. However, it isn’t avant-garde in an abrasive or confrontational way. Instead, this acoustic trio date (which unites clarinetist Chris Speed with tenor/soprano saxophonist Chris Cheek and bassist Stephane Furic Leibovici) favors a much more calm and reserved approach to avant-garde jazz. Although recorded in New York City, Jugendstil is avant-garde jazz that, stylistically, has a lot in common with the recordings that Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians have been offering since the ’60s. The AACM gave the world a kinder, gentler style of avant-garde jazz — and while Jugendstil is hardly designed for bop snobs, it is a long way from the scorching, claustrophobic density of Charles Gayle, Ivo Perelman, or late-period John Coltrane. Jugendstil isn’t dense or claustrophobic at all; following the AACM’s lead, this 46-minute CD makes extensive use of space. The material (all of it written by Leibovici) is decidedly abstract and cerebral; this is avant-garde jazz, after all — not a Guy Lombardo tribute band — but it is avant-garde jazz that would rather reflect and contemplate than confront the listener or get in the listener’s face. Jugendstil falls short of excellent, but it’s definitely respectable and exemplifies ESP’s ability to provide worthwhile new avant-garde jazz recordings in the 2000s. – Alex Henderson
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