Nick Adema

Urban Chaos

ZenneZ

Trombonist and composer Nick Adema’s Urban Chaos is an album that may have slipped under the radar but is not to be overlooked. Poignantly emotional, the music documents the Canadian-born Adema’s struggle to overcome the loss of his mother’s passing in 2022 and his relocation to Amsterdam from Ottawa, Canada, around that same period. Adema comments, “I almost quit music when my mom passed away. This album is about the process of moving on realizing that what’s done is done, while acknowledging all that she’s done to help me continue my music.”  The title, of course, relates to the difficulties of acclimating to the new environment in Amsterdam but the music embraces both processes.

Much like the brilliant contemporary work of artists like Ambrose Akinmusire, Terence Blanchard, and Immanuel Wilkins to cite some examples, Adema supplements his core quartet with a string quartet, special guests, a vocalist, and an underpinning of electronics. The core quartet is Edema, pianist Joy Shechter, bassist Azubike Onwuka, and drummer Chen Har-Even.  Special guests include tenorist Noah Preminger (twice named DownBeat Magazine’s top Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist), the string quartet on select tracks, vocalist Liva Dumpe, guitarist Ante Medic, and altoist Michael Murray with Adema using electronic processing on his trombone.

The pairing of Adema and Preminger is a key highlight of the album, evident almost immediately. Opener “Beginnings” is a brief track with a blaring fanfare before the string quartet issues a series of broken lines, and the bass-drum tandem establishes a thick groove for “The Fool” which finds Adema and Preminger trading feisty lines. Shechter weighs in with a rambling solo morphing to more sparring between the tenor and trombone before settling in tranquil tones. The pair set an entirely different mood in their back and forth in “111” and “222,” pieces where Adema’s use of his pedal board camouflages the sound of his trombone.  “Y-Axis” features staggered, angular rhythms over which both Adema and Preminger saunter playfully.

“The Friendly Ghost” is aptly named for the Danish guitarist Casper Hejiesen, rather obviously a feature for guitarist Medic here where pianist Shechter shines as well in her glistening solo. Onwuka takes the lead on “Doglio” with his riveting electric bass intro. The song evolves into a Eastern European brass band feel, and again as we hear also on subsequent tracks, Adema reveals his penchant for jagged, start-stop rhythms over which the leader, and Murray blow ever so freely. “Fracture” is the epitome of this favored rhythmic feel, with a heavy dose of funk, courtesy of bassist Onwuka while pianist Shecter is positively effervescent in the first half. The tune then dissolves into a blur of sustained tones and electronics, perhaps emblematic of Adema’s own physical and emotional journeys.

With Shechter moving to Rhodes, and a much lighter feel, we hear Adema’s debut as a lyricist with Dumpe delivering a lilting vocal. The pianist shifts back to the acoustic as Adema authors a strong melody with support from Preminger in the mid-tempo ballad “The End of a Love Affair,” where each also find plenty of improvisational space in the last section.  The initial section of “Still Moving” is tender and dreamy with Adema using echoing effects craftily on his trombone before evolving into a second section of unpredictable free improvisation featuring the pianist and the leader. The closing “Demetra” is a heartfelt farewell as Adema duets with guitarist Medic, conjuring deeply emotive tones from his trombone along the way to deliver a sublimely gorgeous finale to a highly creative album.

Adema proves to be both a skillful composer and one of the most creative trombonists heard recently. Preminger highlights a most supportive cast for an album that practically mandates multiple listens to fully digest the harmonic ingenuity that Urban Chaos offers.

– Jim Hynes