música en espiral

A wonderfully sparse and subtle offering from guitarist Philip Catherine, featuring Tom Harrellon flügelhorn and Hein Van de Geynon bass. This drumless trio pays memorial tribute to Chet Baker with a tranquil, melancholy set of standards and originals, beginning with Miles Davis’"Nardis" and continuing with an extended Catherine original titled "Twice a Week." The set also includes a swinging "I Remember You," a mid-tempo "My Funny Valentine," and a nod to hard bop with HankMobley’s "Funk in Deepfreeze."Harrellcontributes two originals, "From This Time, From That Time" and "Songflower," while Van de Geyn weighs in with a dark waltz, "Soul Role." Catherine closes the album with his own angular, altered "Blues for G.T."Catherine’s bright, twangy sound and tasteful use of vibrato, harmonics, octave leaps, and volume and chorus effects distinguish him from many other straight-ahead jazz guitarists. Van de Geyn proves himself to be not only an excellent timekeeper, but also a conversational ensemble player. And this stripped-down setting especially flatters the velvety, lyrical brilliance of Tom Harrell. - David R. Adler

Tracks

1. Nardis (Miles Davis)

2. Twice A Week (Philip Catherine)

3. I Remember You (Johnny Mercer/Victor Schertzinger)

4. Soul Role (Hein Ven de Geyn)

5. From This Time, From That Time (Tom Harrell)

6. Songflower (Tom Harrell)

7. Funk In Deep Freeze (Hanl Mobley)

8. My Funny Valentine (Lorenz Hart/Richard Rodgers)

9. Blues For G.T. (Philip Catherine)

TOM HARRELL flugelhorn

PHILIP CATHERINE guitar

HEIN VEN DE GEYN bass

Recorded October 19, 1990 at Studio 44, Monster

Criss Cross Jazz – Criss 1048 CD

This disc documents improvised segments of shows from one of Wayne's long stands at the 55 Bar in Greenwich Village (with Keith Carlock and Tim Lefebvre or Will Lee). Essentially many highlights are sequenced into a near medley over an hour long. Some are fairly short (hence the 21+ tracks), a few are full length.

The leadoff track: "Infinity Split" is the bomb and in itself makes this disk essential.

As Wayne says in the notes:

It was the beginning years of the 2nd WK trio, w/ Tim Lefebvre and Keith Carlock.

Back then, every weekly gig at the 55 Bar was recorded by Dr. Marc Bobrowsky,

who sat motionless in the front row for the hour-long sets

with stereo mics attached to his glasses.

Occasionally, Will Lee would sub when Lefebvre couldn't make it.

GM is our best playing of that era, taken from 100 hours of live tapes.

It took a year to edit. Almost all of it was improvised.

When something resembling composition was needed for balance,

it was created, sliver by 16th-note sliver, from the live 2-track.

Once the record was finished,

the band learned the newly constructed songs for the first time

and worked them into the show.

There was some sacrifice, sonically.

It's not multi-track and it's not quite a studio quality recording.

But there's no other way this record could have been made

and we felt it deserved to exist as it was.

We liked the way it sounded.

Tracks

01. Infinity Split

02. Anemone

03. Harum-Scarum

04. Ultramarine

05. There’s Looting in Bombay

06. We Heat Sweat

07. Greenwich Mean

08. Cinecitta

09. Blue Period

10. The End of Wednesday

11. Casanova Club

12. Spektor

13. Deep Sleep Joke

14. Honey Loves Sugar

15. Black Ocean Endlessness

16. Clamor

17. Soul System

18. Elephant

19. Marble Maker

20. Escape from Oblivion

21. Outpost+

WAYNE KRANTZ guitar, music, design

KEITH CARLOCK drums

TIM LEFEBVRE bass

WILL LEE bass

This is a Wayne Krantz Self-released album

http://www.livekrantz.com

This 1995 date shows guitarist and composer Ralph Towner in estimable form. For a guy who's released literally dozens of records under his own name and with his band Oregon and played on dozens more, he still seems to have plenty to say with only two guitars in his arsenal (well, there was the period where he used a Prophet Five synthesizer with Oregon, but we won't go into that here). Using familiar (Marc Johnson and Jon Christensen) and new (Denney Goodhew) faces, Towner goes searching for that elusive muse he has been pursuing for over 30 years: the root of what makes complex harmonic and melodic improvisation possible. His relentlessness is in fine shape here. Using the horns and Johnson’s large dynamic range for texture and shading, he, with Christensen in tow, can go ferreting through intervallic forests of prismatic chromaticism and changeling modal systems to place notions of "song" firmly within the context of spontaneous composition. Nowhere is this more evident than on the striking "Élan Vital."Towner opens the track and Goodhew follows him playing soprano. There are three melodic exchanges, each more far-reaching than the last, before Towner goes off with Christensen trading fours and slipping through chorded wreaths and trills of augmented sevenths and ninths. There is a space at midpoint where Johnson, for the sake of adding color to the melodic abstraction, begins by playing chords and then others based on those, singly, then doubly, until the bass sings! There are 15 tunes on Lost and Found, most of them Towner’s compositions, but two by Johnson -- "Col Legno" and "Sco Cone" -- deserve special note. On the first, his bowing of this wrinkled, out of time immemorial melody, and his restraint to keep the timbres in the piece from mixing too much, are stunning. On the second, a solo work, his subtle lyricism is in dramatic contrast to his funkiness and staccato playing. It was gracious of Townerto include them. This is a guitar player's recording, but it is obvious that Towner writes for ensembles equally well, and he has clearly written the vast majority of this recording for this particular ensemble. It's seamless from start to finish; it moves and is far less ponderous than some of his earlier outings; it's a winner for sure. - Thom Jurek

Tracks

01. Harbinger (Ralph Towner)

02. Trill Ride (Marc Johnson/Ralph Towner)

03. Élan Vital (Ralph Towner)

04. Summer’s End (Ralph Towner)

05. Col Legno (Marc Johnson)

06. Soft Landing (Denney Goodhew/Marc Johnson/Ralph Towner)

07. Flying Cows (Denney Goodhew)

08. Mont Enfant (Anonymous Composer)

09. A Breath Away (Ralph Towner)

10. Scrimshaw (Ralph Towner)

11. Midnight Blue…Red Shift (Denney Goodhew)

12. Moonless (Marc Johnson/Ralph Towner)

13. Sco Cone (Marc Johnson)

14. Tattler (Ralph Towner)

15. Taxi’s Waiting (Ralph Towner)

RALPH TOWNER classical and 12-string guitars

MARC JOHNSON double-bass

JON CHRISTENSEN drums

DENNEY GOODHEW sopranino, soprano and baritone saxophones, bassclarinet

Recorded May 1995 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo

ECM 1563 529 347-2

Even after numerous recordings as a leader over his long career, pianist Richie Beirachremains deserving of wider recognition. These 2000 studio sessions with bassist George Mraz and Jack DeJohnette, recorded for the Japanese Venus label, represent some of his best work, in which both his classical training and the influence of Bill Evans are readily apparent, particularly in his dreamy interpretation of "Blue in Green."Beirach finds fresh approaches to several standards, adding a gorgeous, pastoral introduction to an extended workout of "Old Folks," and bringing out the lyricism of the forgotten chestnut "Young and Foolish." The pianist's improvisation upon Chopin’s "Prelude No. 20 in C Minor" springs forth with a wealth of ideas. Beirach’s two originals are also stunning, including the dramatic, unpredictable "Hudba" and "The Last Rhapsody." - Ken Dryden

Tracks

1. Flamenco Sketches (M.Davis/B. Evans)

2. Spring Is Here (R. Rodgers)

3. Blue In Green (M. Davis/B. Evans)

4. Old Folks (W. Robinson)

5. Young And Foolish (H. Hagua)

6. Prelude No 20 in C Minor (F. Chopin)

7. Hudba (R. Beirach)

8. I Wish I Knew (H. Warren)

9. The Last Rhapsody (R. Beirach)

RICHIE BEIRACH piano

GEORGE MRAZ bass

BILLY HART drums

Recorded at “The Studio” in New York on November 18 and 19, 2000

Venus records TKCV - 35091

This album from ECM's early days finds Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson leading bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen in a program of uncompromising, collectively improvised post-bop. Andersen is prominent in the mix and plays just tons, all of it totally relevant to the music. Christensen provides structure, drawing on his breathtaking talent to contribute a dazzling range of color, a deft, flawless pulse, and fresh rhythmic ideas for the pianist and bassist. Stenson stakes out a middle ground, communicating closely with his partners and underpinning the group with subtle cues and harmonic shifts. Stenson’s title track, a great post-bop, piano-bass-drum performance, goes for broke, but with discipline and a shared sense of purpose. From delicate beginnings, the pianist's two ballads, "Luberon" and "Tant W.," build steadily in power and intensity. Ornette Coleman’s "Untitled" gets a short, manic workout, reminiscent of pianist Keith Jarrett’s involvement with Coleman’s music. "Test" is a mesmerizing piano vamp, over which Andersen adds arco effects, as Stenson strums and plucks from inside the piano, and Christensen busies himself with miscellaneous percussion toys. The concluding track, "Rudolf," is an Andersen reworking of Miles Davis’ "Mademoiselle Mabry." Although structured as a piano trio, this set's main attraction is the opportunity to hear, up close, the enormous talents of Christensen and Andersen. That, in turn, though, says something about the egalitarian spirit of Stenson. - Jim Todd

Tracks
01. Underwear (Bobo Stenson)
02. Luberon (Bobo Stenson)
03. Test (Bobo Stenson)
04. Tant W. (Bobo Stenson)
05. Untitled (Ornette Coleman)
06. Rudolf (Arild Andersen)

BOBO STENSON piano
ARILD ANDERSEN bass
JON CHRISTENSEN percussion

Recorded on May 1971 at the Bendiksen Studio, Oslo
ECM UCCE - 3006

When one looks at and then hears the growing discography of pianist Edward Simon, you have to marvel at his consistently high level of brilliant musicianship. He's one of the better melodic inventors in modern jazz, whose ideas flow like a river, onward and upward. Simon's recordings in the piano-bass-drums format have been as good as any in recent years, and on Poesia he takes into account the beauty of things either unseen or rarely noticed. As art and poetry are major direct or implied components in jazz, Simon has chosen to take a larger notice of them in this beautifully rendered original music, telepathically assisted by the peerless team of electric and acoustic bassist John Patitucci with drummer Brian Blade, a pair he has played with prior. The music clearly has a rhapsodic quality, a broad usage of color profiles, and a direct lineage to predecessors like Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, and his peer David Kikoski. There’s but one cover, "Giant Steps," that does not sound at all like the John Coltrane classic, but instead is completely deconstructed, reassembled, torn down, and again built from the ground up in a thought-provoking, command performance by this trio. Into the modal end of things, Simon starts "Triumph" as a dancing, exotic motif that is constantly shifting and musically evolving, while a 6/8 time signature underscores its heavy frame. "Intention" has the same type of foundation in 7/8, but is churning and much darker, unlike most of the pianists other work. Tumbling phrases seemingly from all 88 keys identify the streaming, rushing format of the title track, "One for J.P." is sheer delight in its funk and quirk with Patitucci’s electric bass guitar as a chatty sidebar, while the more evocative pieces are the gentle, snowfall inferences and ballet figurines of "Winter," or Simon’s two-part, solemn, humble, intimate, solo piano musings on "My Love for You" which bookend the CD. It would be easy to say that Edward Simon is mellowing with age, but perhaps it is that looking inward is more appealing than outwardly trying to please the masses. That's a good thing, especially considering he can do just about anything he chooses with his awe-inspiring talent to make an acoustic piano sing. - Michael G. Nastos

Tracks
01. My Love for You (Edward Simon)
02. Winter (John Patitucci)
03. Giant Steps (John Coltrane)
04. One for J.P. (Edward Simon)
05. Roby (John Patitucci)
06. Poesía (Edward Simon)
07. Intention (Edward Simon)
08. Triumph (Edward Simon)
09. My Love for You (Edward Simon)

EDWARD SIMON piano
JOHN PATITUCCI bass, electric bass
BRIAN BLADE drums

Recorded in New York February 2008 at Avatar
CAM - CAM 5032
www.CamJazz.com

The recording session evidently began on a rough note, as alluded to several times in the liner notes. You could not guess it, though, from the music, which is a fascinating collection of tunes. Featuring El'Zabar on percussion and thumb piano, along with Hamiet Bluiett on flute, bass sax, and contra bass sax and Billy Bang on violin, the trio offers diversity galore considering the seemingly limited instrumentation. The last track features vocal doodling (scatting? jazz yodeling?) like you've never heard, and the others highlight each of the three as improvisers and composers. The very different styles of the three musicians are reflected in their compositions, none of which can be easily categorized. While there are numbers where melody predominates, there are others where Bluiett, in particular, takes it way outside. El'Zabar is a powerful one-man rhythm section, although the band's sound somehow wears thin with a front line of only violin and sax. Still, you cannot help but marvel over the variety of the soloing, the catchy tunes, and the opportunity to hear each of these virtuosi in a unique context.

Tracks
01. Space of No Palm (Kahil El’Zabar)
02. Katon (Kahil El’Zabar)
03. Silent Observations (Billy Bang)
04. At Play in the Fields of the Lord (Billy Bang)
05. Contrary Motion (Kahil El’Zabar)
06. The Power (Hamiet Bluiett)
07. Moment’s Resolution (Kahil El’Zabar)
08. A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ (Hamiet Bluiett)
09. Alternate Tuning (Hamiet Bluiett)
10.Space of No Palm (kahil El’Zabar)
11. Vocal Improv (Kahil El’Zabar)

HAMIET BLUIETT flute, bass saxophone, contrabass saxophone
KAHIL EL’ZABAR percussion, kalimba
BILLY BANG violin

Recorded 26, 27 July 1999 at The Spirit Room, Rossie, NY
CIMP - CIMP 205

When Posi-Tone Records founder Marc Free was growing up, he looked forward to each new record purchase, cherishing the cover artwork, devouring the liner notes and most of all, feasting on the music. He came to love the music and albums issued by iconic labels such as Blue Note and Impulse!, knowing that even if he hadn't heard of the artist, it was likely to be a quality recording by a great musician.
And when Free launched Posi-Tone in 1994, he made those remembrances his business plan.
"I hadn't intended it; it wasn't my dream," says Free of the company's founding. "It was kind of an outgrowth of other things."
Technically, he started his record-producing career when he built a studio in his mother's house, ala Rudy Van Gelder, the Blue Note engineering master whose work set the standard for sound and quality in the 1950s. Free had even hoped to make a documentary on Van Gelder at one point, conducting interviews and gathering research, but the project ultimately fell apart.
"He didn't think a documentary was the right way to tell the story and he never gave me the permission to do it," says Free.
A jazz guitarist, Free used his studio space to record friends and other musicians whose music he enjoyed. A chance to record multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers performing at Los Angeles' Jazz Bakery in 2002 led to a decision to turn the underground label into a "real business."
"We try to make records we want to listen to," he says.
At a time many labels struggle to find a niche, Posi-Tone has emerged with a solid lineup of well-crafted recordings, packaged in distinctive cardboard sleeves. Rather than focus on a particular genre of music, Posi-Tone's stable of artists are picked by Free and partner/engineer Nick O'Toole.
"What we decided to do was go out to New York three or four times per year to scout for talent," Free says. "That's where the musicians who are more serious about making a career in jazz are."
When a potential Posi-Tone artist is found, Free says the label will record them in a New York studio, such as Acoustic Recording Brooklyn or System 2 studios, also in Brooklyn. The masters are then taken to Los Angeles for post-production work.
This method has connected the label to a diverse collection of musicians, including saxophonist Sarah Manning, trombonist Alan Ferber and trumpeter Jim Rotondi. Free notes he doesn't sign artists to long-term deals, and allows them to retain all of the publishing rights to their music.
"I can't tell you how many people in the recording business told me I was crazy," he says. "[One record company executive] said, 'your roster of artists and publishing rights is what you build your business on.' And I said, 'No, my label's reputation is what I'm building my business on.'"
Which, Free says, strikes at the biggest hurdle facing new artists and new labels in today's marketplace: reissues. A quick look at the upcoming releases page on AAJ shows a deluge of reissued jazz recordings every month, with new CDs which repackage and reissue works by everyone from bandleader Artie Shaw to saxophonist Zoot Sims. This means a young artist doesn't only have to compete with other musicians of today, but those from the last 80 years as well.
"I have a hard time competing with John Coltrane when he's got 60 years of marketing behind him," Free says.
The problem, as Free sees it, is the copyright act of 1978, which extended the time before the rights to musical compositions pass into public domain from 28 to 75 years. This meant the recording companies who owned the rights to music and recordings made in the 1950s and 1960s can continue to produce and sell the music for years. Hence the belief that building the back catalogue is the key to a label's survival. - John Kelman

Tracks
01. Growin’ Up (Binney)
02. In The Paint (Ferber)
03. Everybody’s Wonderland (Binney)
04. Interlude (Ferber/Binney)
05. Paris (Ferber)
06. Edinburgh (Binney)
07. Icecave (Ferber)
08. Interlude II (Ferber/Binney)
09. La Taqueria (Binney)
10. Magnolia (Ferber)
11. Lautir (MacIntyre)
12. Interlude III (Farber/ BinneY)
13. Our Invertions (Binney)

DAVID BINNEY alto saxophone
THOMAS MORGAN bass (4)
GERALD CLEAVER drums
JOHN ESCREET piano
ALAN FERBER trombone
PETER SCHLAMB vibraphone

Recorded February 2008 at Systems Two NY
Posi-Tone Records - PR8047
http://www.posi-tone.com/

In recent years Marc Copland has been honing an introspective approach to the piano that's as heavy on substance as it is on style. But with the exception of his ongoing trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Ruchert, he's concentrated on solo works, duets and an unconventional trio with trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and guitarist John Abercrombie. As a result, this recording, where he shares top billing with veteran trumpeter Randy Brecker, comes as something of a surprise. Copland's approach to harmony is as distinctive and abstract as ever, but in the company of Brecker, bassist Ed Howard and drummer Victor Lewis—two frequent collaborators with great chemistry—he delivers his most swinging set in years.
Randy Brecker remains one of the busiest and most versatile horn players in and out of jazz. Trumpeters like Dave Douglas receive so much press these days, well-deserved though it may be, that it's easy to forget the breadth of Brecker's reach. Equally comfortable with funk, fusion and mainstream jazz, Brecker has not allowed his ability to navigate any context to dilute his singular voice, which can exploit the entire range of his instrument, but avoids the brashness of players who always go for the high notes. His own discography as a leader may be inconsistent, but Both/And is his best record in years.
There's an odd tension about Both/And, largely due to Copland's unorthodox way of reharmonizing even the most conventional material. Lee Morgan's classic "The Sidewinder" is as soulful, funky and swinging as ever, thanks to Howard and Lewis' simpatico support. But the familiar theme is broken up, and Copland's accompaniment helps take the song places Morgan could not have imagined. And while he alludes to a more orthodox approach on the disc's only standard—an elegant take on Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy"—Copland straddles the fine line between playing it straight and turning it on its side. Brecker's tone is so warm throughout that one might be misled into thinking he's playing a flugelhorn.
The rest of Both/And consists of originals—five Copland tunes and a mid-tempo modal workout by Brecker, "Over the Hills," where he proves that he's still one of the best post-bop trumpeters of any generation. Copland's closer, the gently swinging "Bookends," first recorded on his 2003 duet album of the same name with saxophonist Dave Liebman, proves that sometimes context is everything. And while the theme of "Through the Window" may speak the language of bop, Copland's distinctive lyricism keeps it the slightest bit off-kilter.
One sign of masterful artistry is the ability to take a conventional context and skew it, remaining accessible while challenging the listener to travel to unexpected places. That very characteristic is what elevates Both/And beyond the contemporary mainstream. - John Kelman

This album verifies that Randy Brecker’s straightahead improvisational chops are intact, unbesmirched and uncompromised by his various business pursuits in more commercially viable jazz formats. His trumpet tone is distinctively burnished and attractively astringent. His ideas always push against and alter expectation. He sounds unhurried, even at fast tempos.
The other members of this unpretentious yet sophisticated quartet are pianist Marc Copland, bassist Ed Howard and drummer Victor Lewis. Each is capable of commanding attention on his own. On Copland’s teetering, enigmatic title track, the piano solo holds the song’s tension and then releases and spills it. When the arrangement focuses on Howard, his shifting, elusive ostinato becomes a cryptic bass solo. But the strength of this rhythm section lies in creating inspirational contexts for Brecker.
The best piece is “I Loves You Porgy,” because the feeling is retained in Brecker’s luxuriant, luminous trumpet sound even as he smears and fragments one of Gershwin’s most-played songs. Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” is uncharacteristically asymmetrical and oblique, and provokes the freest, most expansive statements on the album by Brecker and Copland.
The only reservation about this strong session is that the six originals (five by Copland, one by Brecker) only become fully interesting when the soloists take their liberties with them. - Thomas Conrad

Tracks
01. Through the Window (Marc Copland)
02. I Love Porgy (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin)
03. Over the Hills (Randy Brecker)
04. The Sidewinder (Lee Morgan)
05. Both/And (Marcx Copland)
06. Round the Horn (Marc Copland)
07. When the Wind Stops (Marc Copland)
08. Bookends (Marc Copland)

ED HOWARD bass
VICTOR LEWIS drums
MARC COPLAND piano
RANDY BRECKER trumpet

Recorded on November 20, 2004 at The Studio, New York.
Nagel-Heyer 2000 - 2067 Germany

A hard-to-find, alternately chaotic and tightly organized mid-'70s session that was issued on the Cobra, and then Inner City labels. Sun Ra provided some stunning moments on the Rocksichord, while leading The Arkestra through stomping full-band cuts of atmospheric or alternately hard bop compositions, peeling off various saxophonists for skittering, screaming, at times spacey dialogues.  

Tracks
01. The Mystery of Two
02. Interstellar Low Ways
03. Neo Project, No 2
04. Cosmos 
05. Moonship Journey 
06. Journey Among the Stars 
07. Jazz from an Unknown Planet 

DANNY DAVIS alto saxophone, flute 
MARSHALL ALLEN alto saxophone, flute 
ELOE OMOE bass clarinet, flute 
JAC JACKSON basson, flute 
LARRY BRIGHT drums 
R. ANTHONY BUNN electric bass 
VINCENT CHANCEY french horn 
SUN RA rocksichord 
JOHN GILMORE tenor saxophone 
CRAIG HARRIS trombone 
AHMED ABDULLAH trumpet

Recorded August, 1976 at Studio Hautefeuille, Paris, France
Cobra COB 37001/ Inner City Records IC 1020 

Aki Takase is making a real burden for herself with this the latest in her hopefully ongoing series of Intakt releases. With every successive one it's not just a simple matter of the quality going up but rather a matter of different facets of her ability being revealed. As these releases have all been documents of duos, the effect is almost rhetorical, as if she's intent on making a case for that sparse setting and what can be achieved in it.

There's diversity within that body of work too, just as there is within this program. Louis Sclavis' modest raft of reeds is as fulfilling a foil for Takase as any of her previous partners, and the duo covers a broad musical range with aplomb. "Yokohama" is both lyrical and unworldly, the latter quality exemplified by Takase's work under the piano lid. On bass clarinet, Sclavis exhibits a purity of tone which sets him at odds with the obvious precedent of Eric Dolphy.

On soprano sax, as he is on the brief "Shower," Sclavis is also something else. This straight horn is so rife with precedents in the realms of the free and the near free that Sclavis' ability to avoid them all is a feat in itself. There's a truth about the dialog here that belies the perhaps casual nature of improvised music and, in just over two minutes, the duo makes as potent a case for it as anyone could hope for.

The impressionism of "Raw Silk" conjures up an odd parallel with the chamber works of Claude Debussy through the way in which the duo seems to flirt with a melodic line even while it subjects it to all sorts of subversion from beneath in a manner that the French composer would never have entertained.

In a way Sclavis proves why he's so amenable to the ECM label's production methodology on "Le Temps D'Apres," but as it turns out there's whole lot more than surface sheen to this music, even while the duo gets as close as they ever do here to the conventional roles of soloist and accompanist.

On "Ligne De Fuite," they work a seam that's equal parts serial music and the work of the Jimmy Giuffre trio with Paul Bley and Gary Peacock. The end result is happily dissimilar, however, with both players asserting their individuality in a fashion only music as rarefied as this perhaps permits. As elsewhere, the ear is rewarded and the intellect stimulated in a fashion that's far from common. - Nic Jones

Tracks
01. Preface (Takase/Sclavis)
02. Shower (Takase/Sclavis)
03. Kawaraban (Aki Takase)
04. Bella Lux (Takase/Sclavis)
05. Vol (Louis Sclavis)
06. Ligne De Fuite (Louis Sclavis)
07. Contre Contre (Louis Sclavis)
08. Yokohama (Aki Takase)
09. Le Temps D’Après (Louis Sclavis)
10. Kurofune (Aki Takes)
11. Raw Silk (Aki Takase)
12. Windhoek Suite (Louis Sclavis)
13. Buen Apetito (Aki Takase)

AKI TAKASE piano
LOUIS SCLAVIS clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone

Recorded February 19, 20, 2009 at SWR-Studio Baden-Baden
INTAKT CD 165 Intakt Records, Switzerland

The second of two duet albums by drummer Max Roach and multi-reedist Anthony Braxton was recorded live and released on this two-LP set; this is the more interesting of the two projects since it is a nearly 78-minute continual improvisation. Braxton gets to stretch out on alto, soprano, sopranino, contra bass clarinet (which really gets a monstrous sound), clarinet, and flute. With Roach pushing Braxton, the results are quite adventurous, yet full of joy. Followers of avant-garde jazz can consider this set to be essential. - Scott Yanow

Tracks
01. One In Two Two In One, Pt. 1
02. One In Two Two In One, Pt. 2

MAX ROACH percussion, gong, cymbals
ANTHONY BRAXTON alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, contrabass clarinet, flute

Music composed by Max Roach and Anthony Braxton
Recorded in concert at Jazz Festival Willis on August 31, 1979
hatOLOGY 601 (Switzerland)

While altoist David Binney has demonstrated growth with each album he's released since emerging in the late 1980s, Out of Airplanes makes the biggest leaps yet, combining detailed composition with a looser improvisational approach that has evolved over the past couple of years. Electronics also make this the most texturally rich record of Binney's career.

Binney's distinctive compositional style is intact, but he makes numerous departures on Out of Airplanes. Traditionally drawing on a New York-based cadre of players, including bassist Scott Colley, guitarist Adam Rogers, drummer Brian Blade and pianist Edward Simon, this recording capitalizes on relatively new relationships with guitarist Bill Frisell, keyboardist Craig Taborn, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Kenny Wollesen. And for a change of scenery, Binney ventured out of Brooklyn's Systems Two Recording Studios for the first time to record in Seattle. Sometimes you need to shake everything up to effect greater change.

Other than one track on South (ACT, 2001), this is the first album to feature free improvisation as part of the picture. "Brainstorms Pt 1" and "Pt 2" revolve around repetitive patterns from Wollesen and Opsvik that might be hypnotic if Binney, Frisell and Taborn's abstract contributions weren't so jagged. In contrast, "Bring Your Dream" is a moodier ambient piece. Frisell's sparse guitar lines spread across the entire aural landscape, while Taborn's insectile textures and Binney's long-toned multiphonics expand the sonics and provide a sense of shape.

Binney's "Instant Distance" is a curious tone poem that builds from near-nothingness to dramatic power, with Binney and Taborn doubling ever-shifting four-note phrases over Wollesen's maelstrom-like kit work. Frisell ultimately takes over Binney's spot, leaving Binney free to layer his own long tones that effectively complement Opsvik's spare bottom end.

Outside his collaborative records with Edward Simon, this is also Binney's first album in years to share writing duties. Opsvik's "Jan Mayen" is based on a simple concept, but it builds relentlessly from delicate spaciousness to denser drama, featuring Binney's most evocative and delineated solo of the set.

"Contributors" is classic Binney—an odd-metered left-hand piano line and drum pattern providing the basis for mathematically precise layering of guitar, saxophone, bass and keyboards. No part stands alone, and together they build a compelling house of cards. The title track also begins with repeated arpeggios, creating a hypnotic foundation for Binney's elliptical theme. But the tune's attractive melodism soon breaks down into a textural free middle section, its strong anthemic finale gradually emerging out of the chaos.

Utilizing the studio as a compositional tool, Out of Airplanes incorporates considerable post-production editing, making it reproducible live, but given the improvisational aspect, considerably different in complexion and form. Bearing the strongest narrative arc of any Binney record to date, this disc may bring in a wealth of new concepts, but with his unmistakable signature, it remains completely in context with his growing body of work.

Tracks
01. Brainstorms Pt1 (Binney/Frisell/Taborn/Opsvik/Wollesen)
02. Contributors (Binney)
03. Jan Mayen (Opsvik)
04. Out Of Airplanes (Binney)
05. The Forgotten Gems (Binney/Opsvik)
06. Wild Child (Binney)
07. Home (Binney)
08. Brainstorms Pt2 (Binney/Frisell/Taborn/Opsvik/Wollesen)
09. Bring Your Dream (Binney/Frisell/Taborn/Opsvik/Wollesen)
10. Instant Distance

DAVID BINNEY alto saxophone
BILL FRISELL guitar
CRAIG TABORN piano, organ, synthesizer
EIVIND OPSVIK acoustic and electric basses, glockenspiel
KENNY WOLLESEN drums, percussion
ADAM ROGERS guitar on tracks 4 & 6

Recorded March 20 & 21, 2005 Seattle, WA
Mythology Records - MR0005

It’s no secret that drummer-composer-bandleader Paul Motian adores “Monk”. Throughout his recording career, Motian generally manages to squeeze in a Monk number or two. Here, on the latest installment of Motian’s “Electric BeBop Band”, the band perform Monk and Bud Powell compositions as the CD is aptly titled, ..... Play Monk and Powell. Following up his previous release for Winter & Winter, Flight Of The BlueJay, Motian along with the potent frontline of saxophonists Chris Potter and Chris Cheeks and the dual guitar attack of Kurt Rosenwinkel and Steve Cardenas render familiar Monk and Powell compositions as longtime associate, bassist Steve Swallow provides the sturdy bottom.

Swallow’s commanding electric bass pumps up Monk’s “We See” as the ever elusive Motian dances through the rhythms enabling a sense of space and depth. Here and throughout, Cardenas and Rosenwinkel emphasize and accentuate the themes and when called upon, churn in some tasteful solos and textured rhythmic support. Cheeks and Potter man the tenor Saxophones as the four soloists generally alternate or work in tandem. The band perform a soft yet airy version of Bud Powell’s “Keep Loving You” while they swing hard on Monk’s “Brilliant Corners” as the horns and guitars elicit a rather “large sound”, which projects nicely, especially when they work the melodies and themes in unison. The “Electric BeBop Band” are direct and highly charged on Monk’s “Rootie Tootie” while Powell’s “Black Pearl” features the clear toned and dexterous guitar work of Cardenas and Rosenwinkel, effectively recorded and separated via the left and right channels. Again, Motian and Swallow, have some fun with the pulse – as if they were trekking in wide-open terrain, yet the key resides within the often-implied rhythmic structure while maintaining the swinging pulse. The mark of two master rhythmic aces for sure! The men spurt emphatic choruses on Monk’s “San Francisco Holiday” while blasting out an energetic and slightly left-of-center version of Powell’s “Parisian Thoroughfare”.

At 46 ½ minutes in length it may seem like things are just getting started by the time the recording is over; however, many of us are accustomed to the 74-minute capacity of the compact disc. On the other hand the buyer is not always the recipient of 74 “quality” minutes of music, as some artists seem obligated to fill the space in lieu of good material. Not the case here as Motian and co. keep the menu brief and to the point as quality overrides quantity. Short, sweet and to the point! Recommended. - Glenn Astarita

Tracks
01. We See (Thelonious Monk)
02. I’ll Keep Loving You (Bud Powell)
03. Brillant Corners (Thelonious Monk)
04. Rootie Tootie (Thelonious Monk)
05. Blue Pearl (Bud Powell)
06. Boo Boo’s Birthday (Thelonious Monk)
07. Wall (Bud Powell)
08. San Francisco Holiday (Thelonious Monk)
09. Parisian Thoroughfare (Bud Powell)

PAUL MOTIAN drums
STEVE SWALLOW electric bass
CHRIS CHEEK tenor saxophone
CHRIS POTTER tenor saxophone
KURT ROSENWINKEL electric guitar
STEVE CARDENAS electric guitar

Recorded November 11, 1998 at Avatar Studios, New York, NY
WINTER & WINTER 910045-2

Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon delivers his most thought provoking recording to date with Awake , showing his growth as a performer and conceptualist. Whether performing with Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, The SFJazz Collective, or leading his own groups, Zenon's piercing tonality and fierce playing is always identifiable. Not a trivial task, when considering a wealth of strong young altoists that includes Rudresh Mahanthappa, Loren Stillman and Steve Lehman.

Zenon brought fresh interpretations of native Puerto Rican rural music to Jibaro (Marsalis Music, 2005); on Awake the altoist now adds composition and instrument changes that include Fender Rhodes, a string quartet on two tracks and three additional horn players on one track. Continuing with his exhilarating and introspective musical ideas, the saxophonist comes out of the same mold of artists such as pianist Danilo Perez, drummer Dafnis Prieto and saxophonist Yosvany Terry Cabrera, who sing new songs in contemporary Latin jazz.

These ideas are the first things noticed on "Awakening - Prelude," where alto sax joins verdant strings, creating a cinematically rich classical music/jazz theme. It segues into "Camaron" with Zenon's exceptional quartet featuring longtime members bassist Hans Glawischnig, pianist Luis Perdomo (on Rhodes) and an exciting new drummer, Henry Cole. The quartet's modus operandi is heard on "Ulysses in Motion," where the interaction is perfect, and also on "Penta," which contains the same tricky rhythmic movements that marked Zenon's intuitiveness on Jibaro.

"Awakening - Interlude" is another highlight and, unfortunately, the only tune that features extended horns. What first appear as cacophonous voices are, in fact, a harmonious swirl of solos that climaxes into the recording's twelve-minute centerpiece, "Santo," a brilliant composition that includes breathtaking solos, grueling changes, and even chanting voices, reminiscent of "Morning Chant" from his 2004 Marsalis Music release, Ceremonial.

The remaining tracks are equally satisfying, and if there's one criticism it would be to experience the guest strings and horns on more tracks. But Awakening is outstanding, warranting repeated listens and represents a new chapter in the evolution of Miguel Zenon. - Mark F. Turner

Tracks
01. Awakening - Prelude
02. Camaron
03. Penta
04. The Missing Piece
05. Ulyssess In Slow Motion
06. Awakening - Interlude
07. Santo
08. Lamamilla
09. Third Dimension
10. Awakening - Postlude

MIGUEL ZENON alto saxophone
HANS GLAWISCHNIG bass
HENRY COLE drums, percussion
LUIS PERDOMO piano, electric piano
TONY MALABY tenor saxophone (6)
NIOKA WORKMAN cello (1) (8)
BEN GERSTEIN trombone (6)
MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ trumpet (6)
JUDITH INSELL viola (1) (8)
MARLENE RICE violin (1) (8)
ORLANDO WELLS violin (1) (8)

Music arranged and composed by Miguel Zenon
Recorded April 2007 at Legacy Recordings Studios, New York, NY
Marsalis Music - 74946-0009-2

Sometimes in a dream you come across a familiar street
or a good friend, and they look somehow different. Yet
you recognize them, you feel almost that you have had
a glimpse of their essence. A minute shift or a slight turn
of phrase add life, wit and sensuality to the familiar picture.
Those famous old melodies that suddenly surface through
Aki Takase's music only to drift away again remind me
of the wonderful images we see in a dream.

Yoko Tawada, translated by Ilse Zambonini

W. C. Handy (1873-1958), the „Father of the Blues,“ wrote more than 70 compositions many of which became evergreens. Never making a secret of his inspirational sources, Handy would frankly explain that he got his compositional ideas from listening to the people in the streets. His most popular tune, „St. Louis Blues,“ was written in 1913 and started Handy’s own publishing house. For this composition Handy got inspiration from several sources, among them a woman in St. Louis who sang the blues while frying fish, a piano player in Memphis and the tango and habanera tunes that were quite fashionable at that time. Like in ragtime, the „St. Louis Blues“ is composed of several parts. There is a 12-bar blues verse („I hate to see the evening sun go down“), a 16-bar section with a Spanish tinge („St. Louis Woman with her diamond rings“), and a 12-bar blues chorus („Got the St. Louis blues, I’m blue as I can be“). Normally this composition is played in the form of AABC. While the three sections can also be combined in other ways, the habanera part (section B), probably a heritance of the Spanish-Creole tradition, is mostly used as a formal hinge within the overall form.

Hans-Jürgen Schaal

Tracks
01. St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy)
02. Way Down South Where the Blues Began (W.C. Handy)
03. Mobilat (Rudi Mahall)
04. Morning Star (W.C. Handy)
05. Eine Drehorgel aus dem 21. Jahrhundert (Aki Takase)
06. Lulu (Harry Warren)
07. Wer kommt mehr vom Blues (Rudi Mahll)
08. St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy)
09. Nur da wo du bist da ist nichts (Aki Takase)
10. Memphis Blues (W.C. Handy)
11. Jazz Ain’t What It Used To Be (Nils Wogram)
12. Yellow Dog Blues (W.C. Handy)

AKI TAKASE piano
RUDI MAHALL bass clarinet
FRED FRITH guitar
NILS WOGRAM trombone
PAUL LOVERS drums

Recorded July 29-31, 2001 at Studio Vagnsson, Germany
Enja Records - enja CD 9130-2

Originally released on ECM in 1971, and here reissued on CD in Japan, this historic date features the two British bassists engaged while at the top of their powers, exploring not only tonality and the dynamic and harmonic possibilities that exist between two double basses, but also the expanded notions of how the different players' styles and musical intuitions dovetail, rather than work in opposition. Holland’s pizzicato attack is far more languid and lush than Phillips,’ whose style is over the top; they approach each encounter as one in which sheer propulsiveness becomes an aesthetic. This does not mean it all feels like extreme free blowing, but more, because of Phillips’ edge and his solidly jazz arco approach -- Holland’s sound has more of the classical in it -- the proceedings dance on the knife-edge of communication and noise. They slip around one another in a very aggressive dance, where implements of melody becomes a schema from which to jump into a deliriously moving expanse dynamically. There is simply no bass recording like this one, and over 30 years after its release, it is still a classic, an astonishing look at how intimate and instinctive musical communication can really be. - Them Jurek

Tracks
01. Improvised Piece I (Dave Holland/Barre Phillips)
02. Improvised Piece II (Dave Holland/Barre Phillips)
03. Beans (Barre Phillips)
04. Raindrops (Dave Holland)
05. May Be I Can Sing It For You (Barre Phillips)
06. Just a Whisper (Dave Holland)
07. Song For Clare (dave Holland)

BARRE PHILLIPS bass
DAVE HOLLAND bass, cello

Recorded on February 15th, 1971 at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, Germany
ECM 1011 987 1766

Tracks
(a) Who's there to know that you passed 'em around.
(b) You'll find my theory is logically sound.
(c) Don't Save.
(d) 100 years from today

DEREK BAILEY guitar
BARRE PHILLIPS bass

(a) & (b) recorded at the Arts Theatre, London on Tuesday May 12th 1987
(c) & (d) recorded at Hawth Centre, Crawley, England on Sunday 4th September 1988
INCUS CD05

My level of expectation for a new release by the trio of Evan Parker, Barry Guy and Paul Lytton is always high. These British gentlemen are masters of free improvisation and have collaborated together for almost forty years in many groups, like Barry Guy's London Jazz Composers' Orchestra and the more recent New Orchestra and Evan Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. They have criss-crossed over the years in duos, trios and trios augmented by like-minded improvisers such as pianists Marylin Crispell and Alexander von Schlippenbach. But, still, Zafiro shines relative to their extensive discographies.

Zafiro documents a concert by the trio at l'Auditori in Barcelona, Spain on March 2006 before an attentive audience, this after months where the three had not played together. From the first second of the concert, Parker, Guy and Lytton burst with fresh, energetic intensity, but at the same time they sound relaxed and unrestrained, as if they are letting the rare musical process to carry them organically, and not the other way around. The trio—often fractured into duo and solo constellations—is still determined to face and explore the stimulating course of free improvisation, but in a manner that establishes itself as a unified musical identity.

And indeed the high level of communication and emphatic interplay among all three—plus their inexhaustible will to delve into the moment and their experience, wisdom and virtuosic playing—sparks the music from beginning to end. Their instrumental expression is quite recognizable by now, but the boundaries between their voices sometimes gets blurred as Guy slaps the strings and hits the double bass, Lytton bows the cymbals, and Parker slaps percussive sound from his saxophones.

The dense texture of the opening flows easily into a more abstract and inventive duo between Guy and Lytton, both rumbling on the strings and skins; than Parker's tenor sax joins in and the flow of music becomes at the first melodic, almost song-like, and then more dramatic and explosive interplay, eventually dissolving into a spare percussion solo that toys with metallic sounds. Guy takes the lead with unorthodox arco techniques on the bass, soon joined by Parker, who demonstrates his circular breathing on an impressive almost soprano sax solo. Guy and Lytton join again and counterpart Parker's angular lines.

A tense and short duo between Guy and Lytton follows, focusing on lingering percussive tones, and than Parker joins the two with his soprano sax and the trio sails naturally into its most forceful interplay, sounding like a striking dispute among all three until the standing ovation. The encore is much more relaxed and emphatic; all three ascend quickly into inevitable, energetic and tight playing that demonstrates, again and again, the sophistication and creativity of the musical language of this trio. - Eyal Hareuveni

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/

Tracks
01. Access Point: Id 1 (start)
02. Id 2 (bass, perc)
03. Id 3 (enter tenor sax)
04. Id 4 (perc, solo)
05. Id 5 (enter bass)
06. Id 6 (enter soprano sax)
07. Id 7 (soprano sax solo)
08. Id 8 (bass, perc)
09. Id 9 (enter soprano sax)
10. Id 10 Zafiro Encore

EVAN PARKER soprano and tenor saxophones
BARRY GUY double-bass
PAUL LYTTON drums, percussion

All music composed by Evan Parker, Barry Guy and Paul Lytton
Recording in concert at L’Auditori, Barcelona, Spain on March 25th 2006
Maya Recordings MCD0602
www.maya-recordings.com

This is a reunion of sorts, considering Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey teamed for a series of duets in London during the '70s. Putting these two giants of improvised music together then and now seems a natural, but as is the case with their earlier efforts, this 1986 recording is a bit disappointing. Taken from a concert at Quebec's avant-garde Festival Musique Actuelle, Moment Precieux finds the two irascible soloists alternating between near silence and furious outbursts on the extended exploration "The Victoria and Albertville, Parts 1 & 2." Braxton is his usual serpentine and grating self on alto and soprano, while Bailey takes a minimalist and spiky approach on guitar, full of thrashing chords and chilling harmonics. Save for a few enlightened moments during the calmer passages, though, the two soloists hardly connect, opting instead to pursue singular roads of expression; unfortunately, when the two do come together, it sounds more obligatory than sympathetic. Maybe this is a result of a divide between the American jazz side of free improvisation (Braxton) and Europe's more wide-ranging take on the form (Bailey). Who knows. Intriguing solo moments aside, this is not a record to get if you are expecting an exciting collaboration between these two. For better duet records, check out Braxton and pianist Marilyn Cryspell’s Vancouver Duets (1989) or Bailey and saxophonist Evan Parker’s Compatibles. - Stephen Cook

Tracks
1. The Victoria and Albertville Suite, Pt.1 (Bailey/Braxton)
2. The Victoria and Albertville Suite, Pt.2 (bailey/Braxton)

ANTHONY BRAXTON alto saxophone, sopranino saxophone
DEREK BAILEY electric guitar

Recorded live on the 4th Victoriaville Contemporary Music Festival, 4th October 1986
Les Disques Victo - VICTOcd02 Canada

PHILIP CATHERINE - I Remember You (1990)

WAYNE KRANTZ - Greenwich Mean (1999)

RALPH TOWNER - Lost And Found (1995)

RICHIE BEIRACH - Romantic Rhapsody (2000)

BOBO STENSON - Underwear (1971)

EDWARD SIMON - Poesía (2009)

KAHIL EL’ZABAR’S TRI-FACTOR with BILLY BANG & HAMIETT BLUIETT - The Power (1999)

DAVID BINNEY, ALAN FERBER - In the Paint (2008)

MARC COPLAND, RTANDY BRECKER - Both/And (2006)

SUN RA - Cosmos (1976)

AKI TAKASE, LOUIS SCLAVIS - Yokohama (2009)

MAX ROACH, ANTHONY BRAXTON - One In Two, Two In One (1979)

DAVID BINNEY - Out Of Airplanes (2006)

PAUL MOTIAN And The Electric Bebop Band - Play Monk And Powell (1999)

MIGUEL ZENON - Awake (2008)

AKI TAKASE - St. Louis Blues (2004)

DAVID HOLLAND & BARRE PHILLIPS - Music From Two Basses (1971)

DEREK BAILEY, BARRE PHILLIPS - Figuring (1990)

EVAN PARKER, BARRY GUY, PAUL LYTTON - Zafiro (2006)

ANTHONY BRAXTON, DEREK BAILEY - Moment Precieux (1993)