The Vinny Golia Quintet 2024: Almasty (Nine Winds, 2024) *****

By Paul Acquaro 

 

Yes, it is a 2024 release, and had I given it proper spins at the proper time, it would have likely ended up on a best-of list of mine. That's my trope though, isn't it ... where was I when this was happening? Luckily, in this case, it still is happening and it happens to be great. LA based Vinny Golia, master of all things woodwind and renowned music educator, has created a top-notch album rife with  compositional elements and scintillating improvisation. 

 

The group is a choice selection of musicians - many of them also educators - from the West Coast. Along with Golia is trumpeter Kris Tiner, pianist Cathlene Pineda, bassist Miller Wrenn, and drummer Clint Dodson. A quick look through their bios reveals some common constellations and connections, but it seems like Almasty is a first for the group - which is certainly not ascertainable from the music - and which was followed up by a second recording, Can You Outrun Them?, released at the very end of last year.

 

Almasty begins with 'A Little Game', kicking off with a knotty harmonic clash between Tiner and Golia, their interaction exuding a hint of Coleman and Cherry, which then quickly unfolds revealing a  cornucopia of textures, tones and melodies. The song is a game of chase with ideas darting about, drums and bass providing a strong foundation, and piano smartly filling the space with supportive rhythmic comping and vibrant chords. The next track 'Requiem; a visit to the fairy room, for WS' demonstrates the diversity of the music. The ballad-like tune begins with a slightly wavering doubling of sax and trumpet, under which Pineda sly interjects chords, along with the rustle of percussion. The tune then opens up with the bass adding additional motion, and Golia begins playing a yearning melody.

 

Pineda is in the fore on 'Crocodylomphs & Theropods', at first. Her syncopated comping and melodic snippets make for an accessibly abstract approach that seems at once classically jazzy and sneakily subversive. Tiner follows up with a solo of similar appeal. The last track that I'll mention is 'That Was For Albert! #43 (it's not who you think...)' Assuming that everyone thinks just like me, the Albert would be Ayler, but who really knows. What can be definitively stated is that it is one of the more exuberantly free flowing tracks of the recording. Wrenn's bowed bass adds tense reverberations and Dodson's drumming provides a turbulent underlayer for the musical effervescence on top.

 

What an album! Rich and colorful, gorgeously played inside and outside. We haven't touched on the term 'Almasty' yet. Apparently it is a cryptid, a creature that may or may not exist like a Bigfoot - this one being a wild man in the mountains of central Asia. I cannot say that it actually means anything in relation to the music, but it could be a good piece of trivia for you to use the next time you're searching for small talk before a show.