tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-275292332024-03-18T10:27:08.900-04:00shanleyonmusicI'm what you'd call a music enthusiast. Not one of those obsessive people, but definitely fanatical about it. This blog began as a forum for whatever I am listening to throughout the day but I'm also trying to include full-blown CD reviews too.shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.comBlogger1060125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-72699506232611606062024-03-18T10:26:00.002-04:002024-03-18T10:26:21.974-04:00Box Set Review: Charles Mingus - Mingus Takes Manhattan- The Complete Birdland Dates 1961-1962<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJC26D77C0VAA7jHT3Mba0k49LtMqk7JKmb7sc4yph9dp_RPbO1RX4O45McmnX9e4F5z20JT4dEc348CVaFtjdb27_Rnve1jJtK8HNY-S_x3hdQsYFJXwXdQS5Z2h8KhAXwaCMmQKKMkluvgVt9b5JD7vtIxpRCp1RnKJHQIRax3OMxBvvWIv5g/s2804/IMG_2852.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2804" data-original-width="2804" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBJC26D77C0VAA7jHT3Mba0k49LtMqk7JKmb7sc4yph9dp_RPbO1RX4O45McmnX9e4F5z20JT4dEc348CVaFtjdb27_Rnve1jJtK8HNY-S_x3hdQsYFJXwXdQS5Z2h8KhAXwaCMmQKKMkluvgVt9b5JD7vtIxpRCp1RnKJHQIRax3OMxBvvWIv5g/s320/IMG_2852.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Charles Mingus</div><div style="text-align: left;">Mingus Takes Manhattan- The Complete Birdland Dates 1961-1962</div><div style="text-align: left;">(New Land) <a href="https://newland.ochre.store/release/402505-charles-mingus-mingus-takes-manhattan-the-complete-birdland-dates-1961-1962?lang=en_US" target="_blank">Click here for ordering details</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Stories have been told over the years, many probably growing in mythology over time, of the way Charles Mingus treated people in his band. His Jazz Workshop gigs would function more like a rehearsal than a live performance, with songs being stopped suddenly if the sound didn't meet Mingus' exacting standards. He would chew out musicians on stage. Eric Dolphy and Ted Curson, according to one story, left the legendary 1960 Mingus quartet because they couldn't take the verbal abuse - and lack of pay - anymore. A Pittsburgh musician once told me that during a residency at the Crawford Grill, Mingus fired his band on the first night, smashed his bass and played piano the rest of the week.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nothing resembling that kind of volatility comes across on <i>Mingus Takes Manhattan: The Complete Birdland Dates 1961-1962</i>, a four-record limited edition (1,000) box set. Perhaps knowing that the performances were being broadcast on the radio live from Birdland, Mingus kept his cool. Or maybe he was afraid of drawing the wrath of club management or MC Symphony Sid's radio bosses. Or maybe Mingus and his crew, which changes a bit during each broadcast, felt really inspired each night. That's how they come across - capturing the fire that Mingus craved in his music.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Several legitimate live Mingus sets have surfaced in recent years, with many focusing on 1964-65, which encompassed Dolphy's final months with the band and later, when the bassist began working with larger ensembles. The 1964 European tour has been documented extensively, which makes sense as it was Dolphy's last and included a stellar band. If they have any setbacks (which might be a sacrilege to say), it relates to the limited repertoire of those albums.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These performances zero in on a period that might be considered a transitional for the bass-cum-pianist. He had just recorded <i>Oh Yeah</i>, a gutbucket bluesy album where he sat at the piano bench for the whole session. Tunes from that album, rarely heard in other Mingus live recordings, factor heavily into the programs. "Eat That Chicken," a rollicking number inspired by Fats Waller, serves as the band's sign-off at the end of the set and appears a total of seven times throughout the box. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The October 21, 1961 set opens the box audaciously. A month prior to the <i>Oh Yeah</i> sessions, the group includes Roland Kirk (tenor sax, manzello, stritch), Yusef Lateef (credited with flute, though he seems to play tenor some, if not all, of the time) and devotee Jimmy Knepper (trombone). Mingus plays piano the whole time so Doug Watkins handles bass, as he would in the studio. Drum duties, like all but one set here, come from long-time partner Dannie Richmond. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first October track is titled "Nouroog," though it's not the older song with that title (which later became the final movement of "Open Letter to Duke") and though Mingus announces it as "Blue Cee," it's also not the composition of that title he recorded. Instead it's a complex new piece with some interesting tempo shifts. "Ecclusiastics" follows, sounding a little more pronounced than the studio version. Unfortunately a rollicking version of the vampy "Hog Callin' Blues" fades out just as things were starting to get wild. (Apparently the source tape ran out during this song.) At least we get to hear Lateef paraphrase "Wade in the Water." </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By March 1962, the lineup had changed. Mingus was back on bass, with Toshiko Akiyoshi at the keys, where she would stay until the fall. Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone), Charles McPherson (alto saxophone) and Richard Williams (trumpet) filled the horn duties. Like most sides of the set, it features two lengthy pieces plus a short "Eat That Chicken." With that, it delivers quite a contrast in moods: a driving "Take the A Train" (which includes a bowed bass solo) and "Fables of Faubus." None of these sets give Mingus a vocal mike so the biting lyrics of the latter song aren't clear. What becomes clear is Richmond bellowing his responses to the boss's questions in the lyrics. It's a clear case of feeling the words while not hearing them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The other broadcasts have some song overlaps (aside from "Eat That Chicken," which gets stretched out into a fuller song at least once). "Monk, Funk Or Vice Versa," which never made it into the studio, appears four times. While the March 31 reading goes on a bit too far with the trades between trumpeter Williams and Ervin, the October versions streamline that trick and benefit from pianist Jaki Byard adding some rather Monk-like accents to his solos.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Speaking of the October broadcasts, Brian Priestly points out in his notes that one of the shows comes a week after Mingus' infamous Town Hall concert. That event is widely considered a low point in Mingus' career, as he attempted to lead a 30-piece ensemble through an extended piece (later known as "Epitaph") that was barely even transcribed, under-rehearsed and abruptly shut down by the stage crew before things were completed. If that disaster did indeed devastate Mingus, it didn't come across when he returned to Birdland seven days later. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">More intrigue comes when bassist Henry Grimes sits in with the band, allowing Mingus to jump over to the piano or create a bigger sound with two low-end instruments. Though it's not always easy to detect when both men are on bass, their dual sound is audible on "Tijuana Table Dance," which later became "Ysabel's Table Dance" when it was released around the time of these performances on <i>Tijuana Moods</i>. Considering that studio version was created through several splices, hearing the multi-part piece executed live adds some gravity to the set. "O.P.," an homage to bassist Oscar Pettiford which was also never recorded in the studio, sounds pretty fast for the ears, but not for the band, who seems comfortable at a bebop tempo.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The live tapes come from the estate of Boris Rose, who fanatically recorded many such live broadcasts over the years. (The Mingus estate gave its blessing to this set too.) A few dates did not come from the original reels and their sound quality is a bit muddy. (Edward Armour's trumpet distorts a little) But even the slightly lo-fi sounds are overridden by the power of the band. Richmond deserves a lot of credit for kicking things along, though even the session where he is absent (and no one sits in) still ranks high, bringing out the sonorities of Mingus' scope. MCs Symphony Sid and, on the first side, Pee Wee Marquette pop up regularly but thankfully their chatter is kept to a minimum. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Like any good box set, <i>Mingus Takes Manhattan</i> comes with a deluxe booklet (40 pages) that includes performance details, an interview with McPherson and intro by Christian McBride. The short bios on all the players might not have been necessary but the background on Rose and the Birdland broadcasts is illuminating. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While this set is a pricey undertaking, even by normal jazz box set standards these days, the music provides a valuable snapshot of one of jazz's most original voices. Most significantly it moves away from the legend and mythology to show what listeners might have heard on a "regular" night from him during an overlooked period of a prolific life. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-23935487262450103552024-03-16T00:22:00.003-04:002024-03-16T00:23:55.672-04:00Mary Timony and youbet Rock the Andy Warhol Museum<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just kind of a quick post about a show, but with more thoughts that your typical social media post:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHamwleShXEhS5Fw7HzlP-Ov7jr0N9nT5z2zaRMwC_AsoV8WLvX4wKDhqqq6J-cXZBfX1MF8k-dMCld9jFu3AnDvsZ-u7p8Rlv4GFY2cSh-9jJ_VrsSaykdk9KlQicxI-SKFKuMafSgAs4iTZfHl4xVQsLdlF4QlTfnGL_hG7yechBVgDO0g_vQ/s4032/IMG_2892.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHamwleShXEhS5Fw7HzlP-Ov7jr0N9nT5z2zaRMwC_AsoV8WLvX4wKDhqqq6J-cXZBfX1MF8k-dMCld9jFu3AnDvsZ-u7p8Rlv4GFY2cSh-9jJ_VrsSaykdk9KlQicxI-SKFKuMafSgAs4iTZfHl4xVQsLdlF4QlTfnGL_hG7yechBVgDO0g_vQ/s320/IMG_2892.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Everything that's been written about Mary Timony's skills as a guitarist are true. Sure <i>Rolling Stone</i> ranked her as 95 out of the 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. It's cool that somebody in their hallowed halls is paying attention, but those lists don't really say anything. They only really exist to sell special edition magazines and piss off fans of Page, Zappa and Hendrix, who haven't heard a new guitarist in decades. More appropriate, perhaps, was the quote from Carrie Brownstein, the Sleater-Kinney guitarist who played in Wild Flag with Timony, who referred to her as "Mary Shelley with a guitar." She's a groundbreaker. <div><br /></div><div>Proof of all this came this past Wednesday night at the Andy Warhol Museum when Timony played a set that drew heavily from her brand new album <i>Untame the Tiger</i> (Merge). Her guitar playing isn't brash, noisy or flashy, but it exudes a dynamic style that really lifts her songwriting. Starting with the not-always-chordal strumming that sort of defines the best indie rock, Timony added stinging leads, and long drones (courtesy of her e-bow) that indicated an understated mastery of her instrument. </div><div><br /></div><div>Her voice has a startling quality, like she's confiding secrets while singing, and she has always weaved some great stories with her words. Having seen her in the early '00s, primarily playing keyboards if ther memory serves (a friend once saw her another time playing viola while singing), the Warhol show was very much a rock show, in the best sense - full of grooves, harmonies and hooks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Betsy Wright (who, in researching this post, I realized was the same singer who came to town last year in Bat Fangs, opening for Quasi) added the perfect foil as second guitarist and vocal harmonizer. Chad Molter (bass) and Job Cain (drums) completed the lineup. (One-time Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks plays on the album but he didn't tour with the band.)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwKcVMzWPnTC-3HACcojpLaHc3Zim7EAyr0abIi5qsegSRVkpepqbpaQZ2mz99RnmvNBtJdBoQ91OpnFundbmupbFMMkeqwrQgRXj1kKZpHDQ1OKBJ-8P0B6lRBvnTX7juCCaxYh-DYNwvBwBWLec89XfGu7EovfJ-oN46SUVMEglPdGQFZmvrQ/s2850/IMG_2893.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2850" data-original-width="2447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwKcVMzWPnTC-3HACcojpLaHc3Zim7EAyr0abIi5qsegSRVkpepqbpaQZ2mz99RnmvNBtJdBoQ91OpnFundbmupbFMMkeqwrQgRXj1kKZpHDQ1OKBJ-8P0B6lRBvnTX7juCCaxYh-DYNwvBwBWLec89XfGu7EovfJ-oN46SUVMEglPdGQFZmvrQ/s320/IMG_2893.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Opening acts can often get shortchanged if the audience decides to arrive just before the headliner, or if they stand around and talk, ignoring the band's set. On Wednesday, the crowd in the Warhol's entrance way, where the stage was set up, seemed so intrigued by openers youbet that the band assured everyone between songs that it was okay to talk to one another.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganGhggZzUMe4EDTkhMoZm1Qn-Db3p1mrxlkUOnKW-QAUjWc8HLBFm38eYPd1h00Sp-EDoTxWQYQOEGxFXGJsM1m8xBlqJIjvQSY6R1uSutXoLBf8knC24SF_gRVdkQ64y4-DWfqfIKgy9r1wXnvwVMgqjZYk0JxZpVywLmphE6BYvZ7SVedTFGg/s4032/IMG_2890.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganGhggZzUMe4EDTkhMoZm1Qn-Db3p1mrxlkUOnKW-QAUjWc8HLBFm38eYPd1h00Sp-EDoTxWQYQOEGxFXGJsM1m8xBlqJIjvQSY6R1uSutXoLBf8knC24SF_gRVdkQ64y4-DWfqfIKgy9r1wXnvwVMgqjZYk0JxZpVywLmphE6BYvZ7SVedTFGg/s320/IMG_2890.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Brooklyn trio also played a sharp brand of indie pop that had its share of rhythm nuances, bolstered a bit by guitarist/vocalist Nick Llobet's [sic] occasional retunings, that seemed to take things in expanded melodic directions. The band's newest album won't be released until May (on the Hardly Art label) but I couldn't resist the temptation of getting one of their shirts at the merch table, along with a copy of <i>Untame the Tiger</i>, which I hadn't heard in its entirety prior to the show. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkrUiKUPBOEkmam4IsFNiNeM0L8S9XgHLnOLrPKpOq0mZWxtToJc5MozZfP12WxYdC3cvskEjkOg4vfZOKIYuQ4YnnDvd2kPCZQnDVFMf0S95oIcK4ZZbGwmcS7TBW4P13GcDuFIEQMgz3_dQtdZuYShHGHLpGq3T8x-O8iYH9NJtvhV8TbYY4g/s4032/IMG_2889.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNkrUiKUPBOEkmam4IsFNiNeM0L8S9XgHLnOLrPKpOq0mZWxtToJc5MozZfP12WxYdC3cvskEjkOg4vfZOKIYuQ4YnnDvd2kPCZQnDVFMf0S95oIcK4ZZbGwmcS7TBW4P13GcDuFIEQMgz3_dQtdZuYShHGHLpGq3T8x-O8iYH9NJtvhV8TbYY4g/s320/IMG_2889.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> Keep an eye out for youbet's next album, <i>Way to Be. </i><p></p></div>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-39161113603256485852024-02-28T10:22:00.000-05:002024-02-28T10:22:03.177-05:00CD Review: Angelica Sanchez Nonet - Nighttime Creatures<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n9_nrVVlaecQ-_fXgNEQIHj3MorUaiw1fjN0m25pRErpl45jWspp-Imc_c2HdrQMPTClJpK_BFwBa5bRU4SjrNR16avm3aTAzKs4Z2lbKTs_RUvWjvOhF0FUT8QbpZZHvKyw5NYveYAQNv-lh0n696WK82hoxASIeCX8tVVeR7dmY1w__1otnw/s1200/Angelica%20S%209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1091" data-original-width="1200" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3n9_nrVVlaecQ-_fXgNEQIHj3MorUaiw1fjN0m25pRErpl45jWspp-Imc_c2HdrQMPTClJpK_BFwBa5bRU4SjrNR16avm3aTAzKs4Z2lbKTs_RUvWjvOhF0FUT8QbpZZHvKyw5NYveYAQNv-lh0n696WK82hoxASIeCX8tVVeR7dmY1w__1otnw/s320/Angelica%20S%209.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Angelica Sanchez Nonet<br />Nighttime Creatures</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Pyroclastic) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Angelica Sanchez says she composed the music on <i>Nighttime Creatures</i> for the eight musicians that join her on the album and it definitely sounds that way. There are many tracks where the musicians seem to play their personalities. In the multi-part "Astral Lights of Alarid," everyone is used for distinct voicings in the theme, after they create a series of diminished chords with Sanchez's piano. The title track begins with a series of crescendos where half the horns answer the other half as the melody connects. Michaël Attias (alto saxophone), Ben Goldberg (contra alto clarinet) and Chris Speed (tenor saxophone, clarinet) stand out distinctly in one channel while Thomas Heberer (quarter-tone trumpet) and Kenny Warren (cornet) respond in the other channel. If anything is hard to discern, it might be the difference between the two brass instruments.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Even if Sanchez issn't exactly pulling a Duke Ellington, building her parts around specific musicians, the scope of her writing still has unique ebbs and flows to it. "Wrong Door For Rocket Fuel" begins with a three-way melody from Attias, Goldberg and either Heberer or Warren. The way they layer on each other still provides plenty of space to keep their parts distinct. "Land Here" starts free, with everyone waking up to the sound of Sanchez's jaunty playing. This continues for over three and a half minutes until a tight theme takes shape. Once again, they trade off, half of them playing sustained notes to shorter ones from the other half. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Throughout the album Goldberg and Attias get a big cut of the solo space. Highlights include the former weaving around Sanchez's chords in the title track, and the latter engaging drummer Sam Ospovat in a duet during "Ringleader." Guitarist Oscar Tamez straddles incisive comp parts and quick solo space. Bassist John Hébert gets some room for double stops during a reworked version of "Tristeza," a piece by Chilean composer Armando Carvajal.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With Sanchez's skill at writing for specific players, it comes as a surprise that her interpretation of Duke Ellington's "Lady of the Lavendar Mist" comes up a bit short. While nothing feels wrong about it, and she again scores it well, the tune, which dates back to Duke's late '40s era, feels a little tranquil compared to the rest of the album. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nevertheless, <i>Nighttime Creatures</i> presents a strong evidence of how Sanchez's writing skills are creating a unique body of work.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img src=" http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" height="69"></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-28170317945556709182024-02-19T21:58:00.000-05:002024-02-19T21:58:47.721-05:00CD Review: Jeremy Udden - Wishing Flower<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZgVFaG3onT9072LLJij9wwQ-iASOdvZQNY4oy1CzeO_YLhbg-Vt180SYwDoAnVwfuha6Pv12tjlIrRC1wvwPIS2TJ51kbcaxC-_pIbOpgTDvgoPtJB2VA4-xF5yT3wBAFGx3vIb7MxyA6IOTu6K1yOYSC8RUZeM1-sT0xvA6Qt84IJ-PqunfAw/s1200/udden%20album.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqZgVFaG3onT9072LLJij9wwQ-iASOdvZQNY4oy1CzeO_YLhbg-Vt180SYwDoAnVwfuha6Pv12tjlIrRC1wvwPIS2TJ51kbcaxC-_pIbOpgTDvgoPtJB2VA4-xF5yT3wBAFGx3vIb7MxyA6IOTu6K1yOYSC8RUZeM1-sT0xvA6Qt84IJ-PqunfAw/s320/udden%20album.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Jeremy Udden</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wishing Flower</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Sunnyside) <a href="http://jeremyudden.bandcamp.com/album/wishing-flower" target="_blank">jeremyudden.bandcamp.com/album/wishing-flower</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Saxophonist Jeremy Udden's<a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2009/12/cd-review-seabrook-power-plant-jeremy.html" target="_blank"> albums, with groups like Plainville</a>, seem to might have taken inspiration from both jazz and post-rock. The alto saxophonist clearly brings the melodic and improvisational perspective to his work from the former category. From there, he has often rendered his ideas in spare, very deliberate songs, which recall the slow-core bands of the past two decades. Space is often left wide-open in the rhythm section and even in Udden's own alto work; sometimes his minimal choice of notes and use of middle and lower range of his horn might make it hard to tell if he plays alto or tenor. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The simplicity of the arrangements have frequently created some enchanting music. Much of the Plainville catalog could double as soundtracks for films of travels down long Americana highways. Udden skillfully imples that the destination plays second fiddle to the actual journey. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Wishing Flower</i> continues in that vein, although the inspiration to this album is decidedly urban. The music was inspired by walks with his daughters through their neighborhood of Brooklyn, taking in site of dandelions growing through sidewalk cracks, earning them the designation of "wishing flowers." While Plainville included guitarist/banjoist Brandon Seabrook and keyboardist Pete Rende, this album features a different quartet of longtime friends: Ben Monder (guitar), Ziv Ravitz (drums) and Jorge Roeder (bass). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The production of Wishing Flower is very dry, with no echo or sustain. This benefits the band in most cases. Ben Monder never needs excessive volume to state his case. In "Pendulum," he sets fire from his corner of the room, as the rest of the band interacts in a vamp that might have gotten lost in a heavier production. The gentle "Lullaby" feels like a Paul Motian piece, moving gently in a free time. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In addition to his alto, Udden switches to Lyricon for a few tracks. This 1970s electronic wind instrument is associated with recordings by Steely Dan, Michael Jackson and Weather Report, which should give an idea of how it sounds: sometimes intriguing (it frequently takes a moment to realize it's not an effects-heavy guitar), a little dated and something of a novelty. It fits in the funky lilt of "1971" in which Udden pulls a weird solo out of it. In "Car Radio" the instrument plays into the song's laidback feel perhaps a bit too much. Here, the production hampers the delivery a little; Ravitz seems to be laying down a groove by bashing away but the overall hit doesn't quite come across.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To close the album, Udden picks a tune far removed from his genre, though not from his mood: "Fade Into You," the 1993 dreamy, psych-folk hit by Mazzy Star. Already a slow song, Roeder plays the four-chord vamp at tempo that's barely awake. His bandmates take liberties around him, so Mazzy Star fans might only recognize the tune through close scrutiny. Udden plays the melody on Lyricon. Monder starts out sounding like cars hissing past on a highway and ends up stealing the show by the second verse. Eventually, the Lyricon transforms into something like an ornery clavinet, rising up without exactly disturbing the languid core of the tune. It's a successful and rather bold interpretation, though it can leave you wondering what might have happened had Udden switched over to alto at some point. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Although some tracks on <i>Wishing Flower </i>could have benefited from a little more spring in the step, Jeremy Udden continues to create sonic landscapes that can motivate listeners to stop and appreciate things in the cracks like the dandelions. Why he hasn't been pulled into the world of film soundtracks is anyone's guess.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-18524120524735620182024-01-29T09:28:00.003-05:002024-01-29T09:32:23.132-05:00LP Review: Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann - LP2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzNmqOFkIUWQIhp0fNY73GGpinlBfcqFXQZUkc3JG7NJejh4SBt0RaWOBzuXUkSEExpRdXOb62rv0rsn8RyB3nhsnjH5rR6AASEZQcJ4I9yZPChDjWsUTtS6e4aZZ4xhc3uCHCZRL8g05jcGAy1hR2S-5PaVuQJEouJgTIaAgi3xm9ppApnDQ0A/s1200/joe%20and%20bleck.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzNmqOFkIUWQIhp0fNY73GGpinlBfcqFXQZUkc3JG7NJejh4SBt0RaWOBzuXUkSEExpRdXOb62rv0rsn8RyB3nhsnjH5rR6AASEZQcJ4I9yZPChDjWsUTtS6e4aZZ4xhc3uCHCZRL8g05jcGAy1hR2S-5PaVuQJEouJgTIaAgi3xm9ppApnDQ0A/s320/joe%20and%20bleck.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann<div>LP 2</div><div>(Greyfade) <a href="http://www.greyfade.com" target="_blank">www.greyfade.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The cover of <i>LP2</i> recalls the stark artwork on records from Factory, the UK label whose heyday occurred around the late '70s/early '80s with bands like Joy Division or A Certain Ratio. A band of one-inch lines in various colors runs the length of the cover, towards the left; the catalog number and release date appear on the front in the lower right corner, next to what looks like a UPC code but is actually a set of bars with Greyfade website beneath it. The album title appears sideways, opposite the bands of color.</div><div><br /></div><div>The label might share a sense of independence with Factory, but Greyfade is no post-punk imprint. It specializes in "processed-based music, electronic & acoustic minimalism, alternate tuning systems and algorithmic composition." Vocalist Theo Bleckmann has become known in jazz circles with performances that can be either soothing or unsettling as a leader and collaborator (with groups like the brass quartet Westerlies, drummer John Hollenbeck and composer Meredith Monk among others). Joseph Branciforte has worked as an engineer and producer for numerous musicians (Tim Berne, Ben Monder, Steve Lehman) in addition to recording his own music. <i>LP2</i> is the second effort by this duo, following <i>LP1 </i>(2019). </div><div><br /></div><div>While their previous collaboration was purely spontaneous, the duo took liberties in the studio this time, utilizing "prompts" to guide the music, and overdubbing more instruments. The preparation serves to blur lines between improvisation and composition, which gets further extended by the works themselves when heard in analogue form. The record is pressed on clear vinyl, making it hard to discern the breaks between tracks. All eight have numerical titles ("1.13," "10.11.5") with no time durations listed for any of them. The point, seemingly: forget typical conventions and just listen.</div><div><br /></div><div>Branciforte and Bleckmann immediately create a rich sound on "1.13" with vocals that feel awash in subterranean reverberations, like an angel singing at the far end of a subway platform. While this happens, the sounds of the city (actually Branciforte) provide a soothing backdrop to the voice. At other times, Branciforte's modular keyboards fold in so well with Bleckmann's voice that distinguishing one from the other can be a challenge. The ten-minute "11.15" unfolds like a dream soundtrack with several voices, high and low, adding to the non-verbal conversation while the toll of an electronic bell sets a gentle tempo.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second side of the album brings to mind some David Bowie-Brian Eno collaborations, specifically the second half of the <i>"Heroes" </i>album, in which the music unfolds slowly, setting a scene. Different textures pop up, with voices coming and going. It can also feel like Bleckmann's different parts have all been part of the soundscape the entire time, and just coming into clarity at various moments. Therein lies the depth of this music. </div><div><br /></div><div>Along with the longer tracks, the album includes a few pieces that last just over a minute, offering quick bites of static, choirs of voices or percussive clatter. A few even add what amounts to surface noise, in case the pristine vinyl might need it. The brevity of these pieces doesn't give the music time to get too abrasive; it acts more like an interlude between the bigger works. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-82974602373957070652024-01-25T17:31:00.002-05:002024-01-25T17:31:44.533-05:00LP Review: The Human Hearts - Viable<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another album I've been meaning to write about for a few months.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ARvP-IUgYSFC3EEBWwJMyS-LeyK0bK8q48QUf8bmp_RmsChAB88VsIZ4CATdy0UJBjIG6PpTRaHU6cDMXNwn24mF6iJ4VxhPnPawa8cA_xXqg3-lTrYYTk50F5ptwtrVBClAn7BEIvwpmkteW-atpmvbhbGt_lFZOPMLOGl9Xl5ne_hYZ50E4Q/s1200/Human%20Hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ARvP-IUgYSFC3EEBWwJMyS-LeyK0bK8q48QUf8bmp_RmsChAB88VsIZ4CATdy0UJBjIG6PpTRaHU6cDMXNwn24mF6iJ4VxhPnPawa8cA_xXqg3-lTrYYTk50F5ptwtrVBClAn7BEIvwpmkteW-atpmvbhbGt_lFZOPMLOGl9Xl5ne_hYZ50E4Q/s320/Human%20Hearts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The Human Hearts</div><div style="text-align: left;">Viable</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Open Boat) <a href="http://thehumanhearts.bandcamp.com/album/viable" target="_blank">thehumanhearts.bandcamp.com/album/viable</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nothing Painted Blue's <i>Emotional Discipline </i>(Scat, 1997) could be considered as the indie rock equivalent of Buzzcocks' <i>Singles Going Steady</i>. Like the British band's collection of eight 7" releases, the Upland, CA group compiled singles that appeared on a variety of different labels, profiling a group that could deliver graduate school-level post-punk lyrics while rocking out at the same time. With more music on it than the Buzzcocks' release, the tidal wave of hits keep coming for about an hour. Why that album isn't recognized in tandem with all the other oft-lauded albums from that period is beyond me. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now Franklin Bruno, the voice and wit from ∅PB, has undertaken a similar effort with his current band, the Human Hearts. <i>Viable</i> commits previously released material to vinyl, some for the first time, with a handful of singles, a digital EP and a few solo songs that were available through a Kickstarter campaign; all 14 tracks came out between 2011 and 2015. In addition to proving that Bruno is still a songwriter with a skill at great couplets, the seemingly random assortment of tracks reveal the wide range of his writing skills.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Songs like the darkly humorous "Flag Pin" and driving "Art Books" play to his skillful rock tendencies. At the same time, "Last Words of Her Lover," with lyrics taken from a poem by Helen Adam and sung by Bruno's wife Bree Benton, wouldn't sound out of place in a current musical or pithy supper club setting. Accompanied by some lonely piano chords and melancholy violas, Bruno himself sings "Nick Cave" with a certain in-the-spotlight pathos usually reserved for the theater (which, naturally, he counters with the song's wry tale of fan worship aimed at the subject). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Among the rotating group of bandmates, Bruno's longtime friend Jenny Toomey (Tsunami, Simple Machines Records) handles the vocals on a couple songs. The tradition continues in covering a song by a peer, in this case the band Wckr Spgt's odd and somewhat unsettling "Terrible Criminal" gets the Bruno treatment. "June Is As Cold As December" originally done by the Everly Brothers, also gets a faithful rendition, complete with some harmonies from longtime Human Hearts drummer Matt Houser.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Last summer, Bruno suffered a heart attack while vacationing in France. Thanks largely to the health care system in that country, the singer/guitarist was able to receive immediate treatment and was performing again before the year was out. As a fan and something of an acquaintance of Mr. B, it was scary to imagine someone so gifted being taken from us like that. I'm glad that he's better and hope that the new Human Hearts album will be in our hands before too long. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, the cover of <i>Viable</i> presents another homage - a hat tip to the new wave-era colors and cover art that were prevalent around 1980, specifically Epic Records' Nu-Disk series. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-23094992728988453642024-01-19T23:36:00.000-05:002024-01-19T23:36:01.019-05:00You Won't Enjoy Fugazi On As Many Levels As I Do<p>Back during my college days, when the WPTS-FM office was my second home, I went to a party at an apartment where I used to live with a few guys from the station. At one point, a bunch of dudes standing around the keg starting hollering along with the song that was blasting from the stereo: "It's the End of the World As We Know It." These guys weren't <i>bros</i> in the way we think of "bros" in 2024. They were just some guys who had had a few beers and were trying to keep up with the rapid-fire lyrics of the song. (And I believe they did pretty well.)</p><p>I had already jumped off the REM bandwagon a few years earlier, in part because their more recent stuff had bored and in part because their audience soured me on them after the crowd booed Camper Van Beethoven when they opened for the Athens guys. I was at that age where things like that meant too much to me. </p><p>Deep down, I knew "It's the End of the World" was a good song. (These days hits me heart in a special place, in fact.) But back then it was NOT THE KIND OF THING YOU SING DRUNKENLY WHILE YOU'RE STANDING AROUND A BEER KEG. That's not how you appreciate a song like this. You just.... you just... stop. Just stop, dammit. Do you even really appreciate the song, dudes?! I said that in my head, not out loud. I just rolled my eyes.</p><p>I thought of this scene recently and laughed at myself for being such a tight ass, recalling Professor Frink in that episode of <i>The Simpsons </i>when he scientifically explains the way a kindergarten toy works. One of the tykes asks if she can play with it. "No, you can't play with it," he snaps. "You won't enjoy it on as many levels as I do." </p><p>There was no reason to get so bugged. After all, they were just having a good time. No, they weren't listening to Big Dipper but they weren't treating "We Didn't Start the Fire" or "I'll Be Lovin' You (Forever)" with the same enthusiasm either. Let the dudes have their fun, my current self thinks.</p><p>The reason I was taken back to this time (aside from a memory for things like this) has to do with a video I saw on Instagram earlier this week. It was a 45-second clip of kids from the Cleveland School of Rock performing live. Specifically, it was a group of teenagers, mostly young women, singing the Fugazi song "Waiting Room." These weren't serious looking straight edge kids either. These were all American looking girls in sundresses with spaghetti straps jumping all over the stage. In other words, not the types of kids you'd expect to be singing Fugazi. </p><p>But they sounded really good. The music was tight, with the right amount of staccato buzz in the guitars. (Not sure if the kid on the cowbell was really necessary but why leave anyone out?) The singers were barking out the words with the same kind of urgency that you'd expect from Ian MacKaye. They did their homework.</p><p>But go the comments, and people were NOT happy. "Punk is dead." Random comments about suburban kids having the gall to sing Fugazi songs. There were probably more about the group of predominantly young ladies performing the song and how wrong that is. (Even though the bassist was playing a Rickenbacker! Salute!) </p><p>I realize people love going on social media and pissing on the parade. When 20 people have talked about how much they like an album, there's got to be one schlub who say it sucks. Even though EVERYBODY ALREADY KNOW IT, it's important to remind readers how awful Morrissey's politics are. Or how John Lydon supports Donald Trmpf (which I still have trouble believing, seriously.) </p><p>Social media allows us to legitimize these ornery positions too. Which classic songs do you hate? What music do you intentionally ignore? The latter category - which, granted is rare - is one that gets under my skin and gets to the heart of this situation. "I've heard it done before - and much better." Why are these things always a competition? Why does one song/band/version have to be evaluated next to another one? I used to hear this from musicians. "We can play it better than the original." In a lot of situations, that wasn't the case, having been the person doing the singing (and hearing live recordings on which me and the correct pitch were across the room from each other.) Just because a group of musicians has more chops than, say, the Adverts, does that mean their version of "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" will sound better? If Toto played "God Save the Queen" how would it sound? It's not a competition.</p><p>A lot of times a band that is accused of trying to "rip off" some predecessor isn't doing that either. Maybe I'm naive, but it seems like homage or inspiration is at work more than "oh, they're just trying to sound like [pick a band]." There are only 12 notes in the Western scale. If a band is banging an E chord than a G chord, maybe there's a good chance their trying to rewrite the Stooges' "1970" but maybe they just stumbled upon an easy, raunchy sounding progression on their own. Listen to how they play, and how they might look as they're playing it. Does they seemed charged up? That's what matters. Those Cleveland kids were ripping <i>into</i> "Waiting Room" like they had just seen Fugazi. They weren't ripping them off. Maybe they weren't as dead serious as Ian and Guy and the band was, but let them have their fun. Maybe they will change the world for the better, if not with music with their actions.</p><p>In doing further investigation, I found out that clip is several years old and has passed around IG a few times. (Chances are, someone has already written this exact post about it.) The posted version that caught my eye earlier this week, with all the grouchy comments, can't be found. If the one I just found is the same post, all but a few comments have been taken down, including one I made. I paraphrased a song by MacKaye's previous band, Minor Threat. "At least they're trying... what the f*** have you done?!"</p><p>Years after rolling my eyes at my college brethen for singing REM, I had two chances to play that song live. One came at a Halloween-time show where I played in a pick-up group doing REM tunes. The other one I ended up missing because I was sidelined with COVID: the band at the Unitarian-Universalist Church that I attend played it as part of a sermon. (They found a fill-in.)</p><p>Yeah, the 22-year old me would have said the latter one was cheesy, but he needs to shut up. </p><p><br /></p>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-34117953451389742662024-01-17T22:53:00.003-05:002024-01-17T22:53:34.638-05:00Playing Catch Up: Jason Adasiewicz Returned in 2023 With Two Unique Albums<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first blog post of the year finally comes down the pike, more than halfway into the month. In the past, this month has been a time of renewed excitement, with the look back at the previous year all being done in the first couple days of the new year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are a wealth of new releases coming out too but there are also too many things that I didn't get to expound upon before 2023 wrapped up. I couldn't get it together then, but I can now. So I'll try to be quick and concise and tell you what I liked that you might have missed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jason Adasiewicz </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roy's World</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(Corbett vs. Dempsey) <a href="http://corbettvsdempsey.bandcamp.com/album/roys-world" target="_blank">corbettvsdempsey.bandcamp.com/album/roys-world</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jason Adasiewicz</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roscoe Village - The Music of Roscoe Mitchell</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(Corbett vs. Dempsey) <a href="http://corbettvsdempsey.bandcamp.com/album/roscoe-village-the-music-of-roscoe-mitchell" target="_blank">corbettvsdempsey.bandcamp.com/album/roscoe-village-the-music-of-roscoe-mitchell</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jason Adasiewicz's approach to the vibraphone has always possessed a magical quality, taking an instrument with a very distinct personality and using it in ways that blow any pre-determined ideas about it out of the window. There are precedents for what he does, like Bobby Hutcherson's performance on Eric Dolphy's <i>Out to Lunch</i>. But it's hard to imagine Hutcherson blending with the late Peter Brötzmann, <i>and </i>nurturing a more delicate performance with the burly saxophonist. Adasiewicz did that one year at Winter Jazz Fest. On top of that, and a role as one-third or Rob Mazurek's Starlicker trio, there were three albums by Adasiewicz's Sun Rooms trio, where his sustain pedal stayed in constant use, and he created flowing lines, accompanied by bass and drums.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then he disappeared. Or at least, he fell off my radar. No new sessions, no side gigs, nothing. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right places but I worried a little. Maybe he dropped out of music, frustrated that only bloggers were talking about him all the time. Maybe family stuff took precedence. Or maybe COVID knocked him down. (Hence the worry.) I tried asking around to people who seemed like they would know but the only responses were the equivalent of shoulder shrugs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then last fall, somehow I stumbled across an Instagram post by the Corbett Vs. Dempsey label, talking about the second (!) Adasiewicz album they released in 2023. Suddenly my prayers have been answered. Or I was finally looking in the right place. (Those few months with no real writing gig took its toll.) The Bandcamp listing for <i>Roscoe Village </i>even explains his absence. He took a five-year sabbatical, became a carpenter and built himself a recording studio/practice space. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which brings us to my favorite album of 2023....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OdBWJILw_vNt8wwKRqv8pI0fQ49PX6bvYFOkJ6chhrpiu22WpfYm4N4A25eBLMdiy_hzXGZPkelRxpXUDm4YdsTQkhQnIqoTjuXKLZ92flz96_LDojs81BKItwfnUF-qNytbByNRPwzSlGrnZbWJm9le1YMDL6Vo6udjIz-B_D2l0cRHOihhRg/s1200/better%20roys%20world.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OdBWJILw_vNt8wwKRqv8pI0fQ49PX6bvYFOkJ6chhrpiu22WpfYm4N4A25eBLMdiy_hzXGZPkelRxpXUDm4YdsTQkhQnIqoTjuXKLZ92flz96_LDojs81BKItwfnUF-qNytbByNRPwzSlGrnZbWJm9le1YMDL6Vo6udjIz-B_D2l0cRHOihhRg/s320/better%20roys%20world.jpg" width="320" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The tracks on <i>Roy's World</i> were composed as a soundtrack for the film <i>Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago</i>, based on a Gifford's collection of short stories. However, the music was made before there was film on which to set it. With Josh Berman (cornet), Jonathan Doyle (saxophones), Joshua Abrams (bass) and Hamid Drake (drums), Adasiewicz composed eight pieces that all evoke some cinematic moods, working strongly as a soundtrack but ultimately stand solidly on their own as an album of concise music. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The instrumentation recalls the late '60s Blue Note era when players like Andrew Hill or Grachan Moncur III were pushing against staid musical structures without completely sacrificing them. "River Blindness (Full)" opens the album with a slinky blues structure, with cornet and tenor playing in unison with the vibes. It has edge and it has a solid bottom. Like in many tracks, solos are limited to just a few choruses. Sometimes one of the horns only plays on the theme. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On "Do More," things flow freely with cymbals crashes and rolls, while Doyle, this time on alto, plays pointed spare notes that would leave room for narration in the final cut. By contrast he switches to baritone in "Sand" and doubles Abrams part, while Adasiewicz gets a chance to play some lines, utilizing the sustain pedal. Berman lights up the scene anytime he blows and his bent, conversational work in "Walking to Clinton" presents some of the highlights. The leader switches to balafon on "Blue People" adding to the already rhythmical groove of the song, with horns lines that evoke an African melody. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With an A-list group like this and a sound that brings together the ideal blend of adventure and structure, it's puzzling why this album didn't get more love upon its release last summer. Now's the time to catch up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OdBWJILw_vNt8wwKRqv8pI0fQ49PX6bvYFOkJ6chhrpiu22WpfYm4N4A25eBLMdiy_hzXGZPkelRxpXUDm4YdsTQkhQnIqoTjuXKLZ92flz96_LDojs81BKItwfnUF-qNytbByNRPwzSlGrnZbWJm9le1YMDL6Vo6udjIz-B_D2l0cRHOihhRg/s1200/better%20roys%20world.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgO3caEIoomthQ8ZZt_PzAx1gYMQ72fFJl2fOQ4fYG27sgTAzaX2oR5Sz7Ab4clqQloAwdXRyXVG-1d0Z1AwuVvSRBy0wOPEkCJUVIFCLHZQspkX-PrpzguPMjV7zxclQvtCiJ29C4nUKiE4IbkizAC6MaVrs5McBamUcGTTG_Yw6HtF-oMxfEw/s1200/better%20roscoe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgO3caEIoomthQ8ZZt_PzAx1gYMQ72fFJl2fOQ4fYG27sgTAzaX2oR5Sz7Ab4clqQloAwdXRyXVG-1d0Z1AwuVvSRBy0wOPEkCJUVIFCLHZQspkX-PrpzguPMjV7zxclQvtCiJ29C4nUKiE4IbkizAC6MaVrs5McBamUcGTTG_Yw6HtF-oMxfEw/s320/better%20roscoe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A solo vibraphone album can be a bit of a challenge, regardless of who's holding the mallets. Combine that setting with the compositions of Roscoe Mitchell, where space, atmosphere and extended technique can all factor into a piece, and the level of intrigue increases tenfold.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Adasiewicz transcribed eight Mitchell pieces for the album, along with a one written by Roscoe Mitchell, Sr. and one by R&B singer Otis Blackwell. While his approach to his instrument has been a bit aggressive at times (on some of his other records, it sounds like he's hitting so hard that the vibes bleed through one of the other studio microphones), he plays with a delicate attack on many of these tracks, slowly teasing melodies up through the vibrato of the instrument. It might be the first time a set of Mitchell's work could be considered lyrical, and that doesn't mean the music has been simplified by any means. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Album opener "The Waltz" (an early Art Ensemble of Chicago piece) creates an aural version of entering a dimly light room: the setting might be hard to make out initially but as time passes, it starts to make sense. From there, it's easy to get caught up in the sound of instrument. "Toro," another AEC piece from the Paris days, maintains the groove of the original, even with just one instrument playing it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Throughout <i>Roscoe Village</i>, the selection of music and the pacing assures that the tracks never start to sound the same or run together. The elder Mitchell's "Walking In the Moonlight" is built on a bluesy foundation, which Adasiewicz toys with as he goes. At the same time, the groove of Blackwell's "Daddy Rollin' Stone" (one of Mitchell's favorite songs) can be felt throughout his playing. Both those tracks present some contrast, as does "The Cartoon March," which has never been recorded before. True to its name (and perhaps, some thoughts of Carl Stalling) the mood changes shape frequently, with stops, starts and dynamic drops, but it never meanders. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Like any good Roscoe Mitchell album, repeated listens will yield more understanding of what's happening in the music. A whole recital on vibes feel like the gateway to deeper exploration anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jason, if you're reading this - glad to hear you playing again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><p></p></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-49731986811632648572023-12-26T10:18:00.001-05:002023-12-26T10:18:18.450-05:00Me<p>After I write a post, I often check the tally to see how many posts I've written in total for the year, and compare it to where I was 12 months ago. Most of the time, those numbers are relatively close. Sometimes, I catch up or figure I will within a months time, or before the year is out. </p><p>But I <i>really</i> fell hard off the wagon in November, writing one piece and then disappearing from this spot. This month, as you can see below, I finally posted my lost article on Steve Tintweiss. Beyond that, nothing. </p><p>Part of the reason for no blog content is related to some good news. I started freelancing for <i>New York City Jazz Record</i>. My debut had me hit the ground running: I was assigned to write three reviews for the December issue, each one on two albums, with a pretty quick turnaround. (I don't know how other scribes do it, but I'm used to giving an album several listens, and scribbling some notes before I start on a review. Call me crazy.) There was a bit of scrambling going on in preparation (mostly internally) but I got it done. And I even went back and wrote a few things for the January issue of <i>NYCJR </i>too.</p><p>November was also a big music month for me. On Friday the 10th, I made it to Brillobox in time to catch Creedmoors, who released one side of a split single on Igor Records (my label) earlier this year. This was the band's third show since their debut at the release party earlier this year and on this night, they really sounded like A BAND. What I mean by that was that they were all working in unison, playing songs in which they had worked on parts that took the song's concept and elevated it, as opposed to being four people on stage playing the singer's songs, adding their thing to it and <i>just</i> having a good time. Not that I have anything against the latter approach, which can be a blast as well. But virtually every song in Creedmoors' set felt like it could be on album - a good album. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip73qByEW673H-oI4hVy1FW_OgWjPv5vriw0BCQEQmv-Zia1VDNVbnPwGios8yrJzS5aMRyYHbrFoq2VWXfLtQDbAnqFFIidbyrYXy_vbMyO-1tpGyoMHA3k1pLXGk9ghXKmYlYok5HTPotLTtGsVRfBMLLJLV7m9CS9eHD4z0xXOuesZWf9m97Q/s4032/IMG_2633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip73qByEW673H-oI4hVy1FW_OgWjPv5vriw0BCQEQmv-Zia1VDNVbnPwGios8yrJzS5aMRyYHbrFoq2VWXfLtQDbAnqFFIidbyrYXy_vbMyO-1tpGyoMHA3k1pLXGk9ghXKmYlYok5HTPotLTtGsVRfBMLLJLV7m9CS9eHD4z0xXOuesZWf9m97Q/s320/IMG_2633.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Unfortunately, the timer was set on my phone camera and in the pic above, bassist Mike Athey and guitarist Tammy Wallace both look like they were under a sun lamp too long. But this was a good group action shot. Gato Gateau and the Hi-Frequencies both played that night also, but since I was coming from my work, I missed all but the last minute of the Hi-Freq's set. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQgQ7BRAGX8tMI1-7Z5K2qttzraqxyGRjIji-P4WKza5e3bY5zWqiIOQ449DTLLyApoAxxBK_lzaivG0EuHC8yoP5C2Sh-gzXUJiF-YkeBV-xgujfIwjFbblGeoNriniLEMBQr2_xR7LrllAQwcNeNsvxUCW5WrqY9UpLoARDKDcZYGt67Gk2sg/s4032/IMG_2636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQgQ7BRAGX8tMI1-7Z5K2qttzraqxyGRjIji-P4WKza5e3bY5zWqiIOQ449DTLLyApoAxxBK_lzaivG0EuHC8yoP5C2Sh-gzXUJiF-YkeBV-xgujfIwjFbblGeoNriniLEMBQr2_xR7LrllAQwcNeNsvxUCW5WrqY9UpLoARDKDcZYGt67Gk2sg/s320/IMG_2636.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The next day I drove to Philadelphia (stopping in King of Prussia before and after, hanging with my brother) for only the second time in my life. The first trip occurred back in 2004 when I went to see Mission of Burma. This time, the reason was once again musical - to see my dear friend Barbara Manning open for Codeine. </div><div><br /></div><div>The last time I saw Barbara perform was in the last century, at a show where my band at the time got to open for her. She was great then but the turnout was embarrassingly low, for which I felt really bad. Especially since I knew deep down that my band was on its last legs, though I tried to put on a good face. </div><div><br /></div><div>Barbara took several years off from recording and performing, going back to school and becoming a teacher, and getting married along the way. It almost seemed like she was retired from music, which is understandable, considering how she released several albums for a high profile independent label and didn't seem to get beyond categories like "critic's darling" or "cult figure" or things like that. But now she's playing a few shows here and there, and dadgum, she sounds great. Her voice is still really powerful, her onstage patter is great and engaging. And... I'm planning to release a single on Igor Records by her in the coming year. This will follow the recently released CD <i>Charm of Yesterday...Convenience of Tomorrow. </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Below is a picture of me and Barbara, at the end of the night at Underground Arts, where she and Codeine played last month.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqlCKE9xOG_ge9iJEBeUbzGetGGd1sVHkY2Wq8rB1xFENQ40Y-cgegxuQaerXYGjp_hLM2uJXtvLmsPfdpBOwPqhhiS665KNB8tGRdXWNH0cGNMKt1SyjgDwFxaPyROeYDwkkpwnaD-Pd_u_XYM8C95szf_dFSg8CB2lG_VCIvvS5R_fE2M_ktyQ/s4032/IMG_2640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqlCKE9xOG_ge9iJEBeUbzGetGGd1sVHkY2Wq8rB1xFENQ40Y-cgegxuQaerXYGjp_hLM2uJXtvLmsPfdpBOwPqhhiS665KNB8tGRdXWNH0cGNMKt1SyjgDwFxaPyROeYDwkkpwnaD-Pd_u_XYM8C95szf_dFSg8CB2lG_VCIvvS5R_fE2M_ktyQ/s320/IMG_2640.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>A week later, the Harry Von Zells, my current band, finally played another show since the record release, which we did with Creedmoors. We have a firm new lineup, with my former workmate Erik Worth joining us on Moog. He really adds some extra energy, not to mention sonic wildness, to what we do and it was really great to actually have people cheering and whooping for us. </p><p>I don't have any pictures of the HVZs but here are shots of the other bands on the bill, Frazé-Frazénko & the Happy Lovers, who combined stark, brittle post-punk with an adventurous jazz rhythm section.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7o-ybfIrL8g-tsfdDxd1kA0j3HKlvY58Bjz_lJoPQaWwFwGRhkEPRdatasjfmGb3ZPFG_fzE-9FXKSF3Rzq953ovn6eG8ilHW4SH7Xnd7X0aKV2_s1Nh_xFwb8qKDSrIFYZTy_PLoQdwaDQ1Shu_pX0EJ-LJ7r-bHTWeO1qcBzdzg_H1dKwdyBw/s3183/IMG_2656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3183" data-original-width="3001" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7o-ybfIrL8g-tsfdDxd1kA0j3HKlvY58Bjz_lJoPQaWwFwGRhkEPRdatasjfmGb3ZPFG_fzE-9FXKSF3Rzq953ovn6eG8ilHW4SH7Xnd7X0aKV2_s1Nh_xFwb8qKDSrIFYZTy_PLoQdwaDQ1Shu_pX0EJ-LJ7r-bHTWeO1qcBzdzg_H1dKwdyBw/s320/IMG_2656.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Following them, Bat Radar delivered a solid set that reminded me a bit of the Feelies, with an extra dash of raw power, and - dare I say it - Television, due to the way guitarists Will Simmons and Paul Labrise delivered some dual leads. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRSdhsl_sO5DgyX_BBrmm2WV40QNaFStPsQVYhAcsN2GVUr9FX3PKSyIDWGxXWShDdb3T_mRu0DhLM3OP-pOkJVGQKGCydwo0RX11r31rYUUYyUkAZnAPx_r_Fz_CJF11lsDlMOKLSOWxjBYrN-6SEJTzskXxPkabnyF8I5n2FptcEhjZb1FDZw/s2776/IMG_2658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2365" data-original-width="2776" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRSdhsl_sO5DgyX_BBrmm2WV40QNaFStPsQVYhAcsN2GVUr9FX3PKSyIDWGxXWShDdb3T_mRu0DhLM3OP-pOkJVGQKGCydwo0RX11r31rYUUYyUkAZnAPx_r_Fz_CJF11lsDlMOKLSOWxjBYrN-6SEJTzskXxPkabnyF8I5n2FptcEhjZb1FDZw/s320/IMG_2658.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>I took out an ad in the long-standing magazine <i>The Big Takeover </i>and they also found someone to review the Harry Von Zells album in the same issue. That arrived in the mail at the beginning of December. The review really blew me away because it's not often that someone seems to have really listened to my songs, or at least given them a cursory listen while checking out the lyric sheet to see what I'm talking about, and critiquing what they hear. The writer compared my voice to Stan Ridgeway (Wall of Vooddoo) and Keith Morris (Circle Jerks) - which I think is pretty on the money. I'll take it!</p><p>After all that, one might think I'd be inspired to do more blogging, digging into this pile of music that surrounds me and - while not thinking that I can get ahead of it - just simply getting thoughts out about a few things. But it's been hard. Not simply to find the time but to find the focus to do it. Especially after the demise of that other jazz magazine where I freelanced for over two decades, my confidence is a little shaky. As I came up with the reviews for NYCJR, I was worried that my style or thoughts might not fit in with their other writers. (My reviews all ended up running with little or no changes to them, so perhaps I was overthinking it.) </p><p>Blogging always feels like something I should be doing only after all the real important things are out of the way, like laundry and the dishes and vacuuming. Sometimes I feel like I have ADD while writing because I get lured away from the keyboard by the least little things, and it can often take a whole afternoon to get a post together.</p><p>But, looking back at a post from almost this exact week last year, I was lamenting in almost the same way about all this stuff, and that time, the feeling wasn't part of a longer post that started with a tale of musical journeys like this one did. So perhaps I need to just remind myself that I got through this slow period once before, so just do it again. And I should quit writing about not being able to write. There are better subject to cover. </p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img src=" http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" height="69"></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-65524885430741754562023-12-16T22:40:00.002-05:002023-12-17T08:35:01.478-05:00My Lost Article on Steve Tintweiss<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First an introduction: Back at the start of the year, <i>JazzTimes </i>finally took me up on my pitch to do a story on bassist Steve Tintweiss. An interview was conducted, the story was written but then the magazine was sold. The story was left in limbo. When I wasn't feeling shy about approaching a few other magazines, I sent them the story and patiently waited to see if they were interested. After a while it became clear that, despite the story being a bit of an evergreen, it wasn't going to run anytime soon. So if I'm not going to get paid for my work, I might as well put it up here on the blog. Hopefully anyone reading it will realize why I was interested in talking to Steve in the first place. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrh-DtLe0cXhpiwvqgiA8EfX1N0ujRjndmCSeUsLO7CtQO1IJTRmoTGJAhoa3gmjUaRyKBvLkk9mtRYHWzutGCUhweEmOHt4tz_gTHc50kttqcO-K6j9V4qKKlgvDHhMGpqt9pDZIYYSsTwTg4QhK9ZnaZUkzy5G-MAxOv72FIEr5ln4ob1-MuA/s960/IMG_2236.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrh-DtLe0cXhpiwvqgiA8EfX1N0ujRjndmCSeUsLO7CtQO1IJTRmoTGJAhoa3gmjUaRyKBvLkk9mtRYHWzutGCUhweEmOHt4tz_gTHc50kttqcO-K6j9V4qKKlgvDHhMGpqt9pDZIYYSsTwTg4QhK9ZnaZUkzy5G-MAxOv72FIEr5ln4ob1-MuA/s320/IMG_2236.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An hour into a conversation, Steve Tintweiss makes an astute observation. “I’ve been producing
almost as long as I’ve been playing,” the 77-year old bassist says, on the
phone from his home in Queens, New York. Production
in this case comes in several different forms. He staged concerts at the Forest
Park Bandshell and Music Grove in Queens from 1969 to 2003¸ which included both
free jazz and rock acts. He also played and helped produce albums by
experimental vocalists Amy Sheffer and the late Judy Stuart.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yet Tintweiss might be better known for appearances on several albums in the free jazz canon of the ’60s. As a member of pianist Burton Greene’s trio, he played on Patty Waters’ 1966 debut album on ESP-Disk’, <i>Patty Waters Sings</i>, in a cathartic version of “Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair.” The singer’s <i>College Tour</i> album featured a track with the Greene trio, who also recorded and released an album made during that same New York City State College tour. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of Tintweiss’ favorite of his recordings also appeared on ESP a year later — saxophonist Frank Wright’s <i>Your Prayer</i>. At a time when a lot of free recordings lose the low end amidst wailing horns and percussion, that 1967 session has a good recording of his bass. He also admits another secret about the session. “We were all on LSD except for Jacques [Coursil, trumpet]. In those days, we were kind of experimenting with LSD. It was a challenge to discipline yourself when you’re that high to channel it musically,” he says.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Through Wright, the bassist met Albert Ayler, who later enlisted Tintweiss to perform with him at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence, France. Those concerts there were released in their entirety last year as <i>Revelations – The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings</i>, a five-record/four-CD package by INA/Elemental Music. Remastered for the release, the music also features greater clarity to his bass work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But only recently has Tintweiss’ name appeared on any albums as a leader. In 2018, he launched Inky DoT Media, an imprint that draws from his personal collection of live performances, practices and radio broadcasts. With the entire archive now digitized, he’s finally put his name up front, offering snapshots of a nearly 60-year career and overlooked chapters from the heyday of what was then called “the new thing.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">By the time he was a teenager, the Queens native was hanging out in Greenwich Village. “There were a bunch of these coffeehouses that had all night jam sessions,” Tintweiss recalls. “There was no alcohol there so even as a 16-year old, I was able to hang out and catch a lot of music. I got to see Roswell Rudd and that whole school, Milford Graves and, before he even changed his name, <i>Farrell</i> Sanders.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tintweiss attended Queens College off and on, where he started a weekly improvisation session with saxophonist Dave Liebman and keyboardist Martin Reverby, who would become known as Martin Rev a few years later in the pre-punk duo Suicide. But eventually work with players like Greene put school on hold. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiG-HhlAKQ74K9JSpD98Bhrd64iuPQaJ25OnZQBYUYxupc-WcI3nWPsyZI57cFE1JNpB3-6UiaTm8zXZd4mxNCjvt2E6UxlDPCJSuq5xIAT3F3oqaI4vz6kXYQTB7dOFLz0VjVg0ytDw3oZW-i4MGceTlA6pFpHV9qkP6Y5j0pGmUTg-5oyxuoPg/s3088/IMG_3307.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiG-HhlAKQ74K9JSpD98Bhrd64iuPQaJ25OnZQBYUYxupc-WcI3nWPsyZI57cFE1JNpB3-6UiaTm8zXZd4mxNCjvt2E6UxlDPCJSuq5xIAT3F3oqaI4vz6kXYQTB7dOFLz0VjVg0ytDw3oZW-i4MGceTlA6pFpHV9qkP6Y5j0pGmUTg-5oyxuoPg/s320/IMG_3307.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">During a Burton Greene set at Slug’s Saloon in 1966, Albert Ayler sat in with the band. (An excerpt of the performance appears on the 2004 Ayler box set <i>Holy Ghost</i>.) Tintweiss, who broke a string in the heat of the moment, must have made an impression on the tenor saxophonist because he received a call in 1970 asking the bassist to travel with him to Europe – in a matter of days. “I had to get an emergency passport,” Tintweiss says. “I had never even been on a plane before!”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The group arrived in France just hours before their first performance, leaving no time for rehearsal. Without any sheet music, Ayler gave Tintweiss one direction. “We’re playing in this geodesic dome, maybe 10 miles outside of Nice. It was in the woods, on top of a mountain,” the bassist recalls. “Before we played, we went behind the dome, into the woods. Albert said to me, ‘You start out with the bow and we’ll take it from there.’ That was it!” Both evenings went so well that the group wound up playing a free show at the resort where they were staying nearby.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As he remembers Ayler, Tintweiss says recordings never fully captured the saxophonist’s sound. “You could feel the room vibrate, the sound was so huge,” he says. “His sound was bigger than anyone I’ve ever heard. Not just in jazz. I’d have to compare it to the power of large symphony orchestras.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the years since Ayler’s death, which occurred just months after the Fondation Maeght trip, Tintweiss became a regular guest during Albert Ayler Day on Columbia University’s radio station WKCR-FM. There, the bassist met Ben Young, at the time the station’s Director of Broadcasting and Operations. Along with Joe Lizzi, Young took on the three-year task of digitizing nearly 400 of Tintweiss’ reels, cassettes and DATs. With the results recorded on a spreadsheet, the bassist launched Inky DoT Media to release the music. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Among the first releases was a 10” single by vocalist Judy Stuart accompanied by a group that included Burton Greene and cellist Calo Scott. (Tintweiss acted as music director, adding some vocals and tambourine.) The 1969 session seemed to bridge the gap between adventurous jazz and wild folk. <i>MarksTown</i> (2021) captures two 1968 performances by Tintweiss’ band Purple Why, one coming from a benefit for Operation Airlift Biafra, a concert that included folk singers Joan Baez and Phil Ochs. With vocalists Stuart and Amy Sheffer sounding a bit like a Greek chorus behind three horns, the ensemble moves from loose song structures to wild improvisations. A similar aesthetic comes across in last year’s <i>Live at NYU 1980</i> by the Spacelight Band, which includes the late saxophonists Charles Brackeen and Byard Lancaster, drummer Lou Grassi and vocalist Genie Sherman.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">By contrast, <i>Ave B Free Jam</i> takes the listener to a 1967 practice when Tintweiss, drummer Lawrence Cook, trumpeters Jacques Coursil and Warren Gale and clarinetist Perry Robinson (in a rare moment on bass clarinet) blow freely for 80 minutes. The music is definitely loose but never too manic. Two vastly different Inky DoT albums are due in the near future: <i>Electronic Music of Steve Tintweiss</i> consists of solo music realized at Queens College’s Electronic Music Studio in the mid-1970s; and another Purple Why performance from August 1967 “really captures the time and the flavor of the Lower East Side’s psychedelic era."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coming from an era when fire music could have scorching results, Tintweiss’ archive reveals that nuances existed in free music as well. He placed equal emphasis on his composed work. “What I was interested in was a lot more personal to me, which involved a lot more structuring the framework for free form improvisation around my pieces,” Tintweiss says. “I always valued the power of a melody, [the way] you can impress somebody so that they remember the tune.” As Inky DoT increases its catalog, so too will it shine a light on these more unique moments of that period.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More info on Inky DoT Media releases can be found <a href="https://www.originalvinylrecords.com/inkydot" target="_blank">here</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6UXaSPN7YE_q7yfF7liq6VhSDkN-coXpG1B4EMmUIXi1JJr4I6cTxDxZoa2eish1i9xeN09baXC3cSAQuLfrTjBhgL6awWAsc75FNSTPsX8PlY5POTLiUF22GP79wIiudLOkoh5VuqNwV48zoP4UzaxqGz2TzihuuP0jGdb1qt6pHFq6PBcGPw/s960/IMG_2236.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-8392726703936704222023-11-03T11:27:00.003-04:002023-11-03T11:31:35.679-04:00The Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert - Still Kicking in Year 53<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The last time the University of Pittsburgh's Music Department presented the Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert in the tradition established by the late Dr. Nathan Davis, the world was pre-pandemic and people flocked to the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland without fear of becoming ill. That was November 2, 2019. Nicole Mitchell was spending her first school year as the new head of Jazz Studies at the university. The one-time president of Chicago's heralded Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Mitchell had told this writer a few months earlier during an interview that the concert would "shake things up" this year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That description turned out to be a bit of an understatement, <a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2019/11/looking-back-at-49th-pitt-jazz-seminar.html" target="_blank">as my post from a few days later</a> would indicate. The avant-garde had finally found an academic home in Oakland, and the locals were <i>not </i>happy. Suffice to say, jazz can be like that. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The pandemic threw a monkey wrench into the annual event after that, though last year featured a series of talks and a concert honoring pianist Dave Burrell, which simultaneously served as a farewell to Nicole Mitchell, who had left the city for the University of Virginia. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But after a few years of suspense - and rumbles that we might not ever see a big concert event like it again - the Pitt Jazz Concert is back for its 53rd year, with an all star lineup of veteran players and newer, equally cutting edge players sharing the stage. The show takes place Saturday, November 4. <b>The venue has changed this time, apparently due to construction happening at the Carnegie Music Hall. The music is moving Downtown to the Point Park University's Pittsburgh Playhouse, 350 Forbes Avenue. Things kick off at 8 p.m. </b>Like years past, there are also free seminars on the afternoon of the show, which I'll get to in a minute.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First the lineup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dr. A. J. Johnson (trombone) has been the interim head of Jazz Studies at Pitt since Mitchell left and in addition to his work at the school, he has also been active on the local jazz scene, crossing a line that previous leaders didn't do as often as they could have. Among other things, Johnson staged four separate recitals of Charles Mingus compositions at Alphabet City. The lineup he has assembled for the Pitt Jazz Concert includes some exciting players, some of whom might be widely known, others who might be under the radar, waiting to bring listeners to their feet. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3H6PZnUUiWgC0HvF1HUlVOBe_paDlXDNdvAZioV9IfI4FYWs24W4Kzy8fR8oJoaJsfKMvcq4AyHeNDZkhP211TtByY20fjCSV1hRPpD3EDfdrGzetJX-xtdUsqd58BYVHS1Rif50JWEwZjfifN7_uJSyiGOUEkUodD9cXqKloZPUucE2T4axdg/s4003/lenny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2664" data-original-width="4003" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3H6PZnUUiWgC0HvF1HUlVOBe_paDlXDNdvAZioV9IfI4FYWs24W4Kzy8fR8oJoaJsfKMvcq4AyHeNDZkhP211TtByY20fjCSV1hRPpD3EDfdrGzetJX-xtdUsqd58BYVHS1Rif50JWEwZjfifN7_uJSyiGOUEkUodD9cXqKloZPUucE2T4axdg/s320/lenny.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Drummer Lenny White might be one of the most visible members of this year's lineup. At the young age of 20, he made an auspicious debut as one of the drummers of Miles Davis' <i>Bitches Brew</i>, playing on the title track. That album ushered in the blend of jazz and rock that became known as fusion, and White became one of the foremost drummers in that style. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most significantly, he held the drum seat in Return To Forever, one of the most successful groups in that style, if not overall during the '70s. White has since gone on to have a successful solo career, in addition to sideman work with artists ranging from Geri Allen to Ron Carter and Andrew Hill. The drummer has also worked with bassist Buster Williams - a prolific artist and sideman in his own right, who also appears in the Pitt Jazz concert this weekend.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdOPPO1jWIkjCmuNOI5gPmHBqHL8_fdz8VVOXeE0tuGnLZSaq1PIEJFUfSYy5G3-0ZDBdNj_07tmmt2LqD6vpjl-Pm6VIVEX56WD15uUYyz5YfoLEqUT-Kl82rFvmHQGjdMXFMxNNbUDWKNbny1hk2H5WD7cDLiLO53_E6k_rPdnufunc6ESCsQ/s395/TOLLIVERct11_800.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="395" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdOPPO1jWIkjCmuNOI5gPmHBqHL8_fdz8VVOXeE0tuGnLZSaq1PIEJFUfSYy5G3-0ZDBdNj_07tmmt2LqD6vpjl-Pm6VIVEX56WD15uUYyz5YfoLEqUT-Kl82rFvmHQGjdMXFMxNNbUDWKNbny1hk2H5WD7cDLiLO53_E6k_rPdnufunc6ESCsQ/s320/TOLLIVERct11_800.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There always seems to be one guest at the Pitt Jazz concert who can make an attendee stop in their tracks, put aside any second thoughts about going and proclaim, "I'm there." My selection this year is trumpeter Charles Tolliver. He might not be well-known to the casual jazz listener but over the last half-century, he has made great strides for the both the music and the artists playing it. As a performer, he first showed up on albums like <i>It's Time</i> and <i>Action </i>by saxophonist Jackie McLean. The fire power in his playing paired perfectly with the leader's tart alto tone. Tolliver contributed some strong composition on those albums too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The trumpet player started a group in the early '70s with pianist Stanley Cowell, but the duo also launched the independent label Strata-East together. It might not have been the first label launched by jazz musicians, but it quickly garnered a reputation that continues to this day with listeners and collectors. Among the releases, the label had a hit with Gil Scott-Heron's "The Bottle."<p></p><div>Tolliver continues to play and record. In the '00s, Blue Note released <i>With Love</i>, a live big band album which revealed that time had not mellowed his musical outlook. When Gary Bartz performed his entire <i>Another Earth </i>album at the 2019 Winter Jazz Fest, Tolliver joined him onstage, blowing in a manner that rivaled the late Pharoah Sanders, who was onstage that night as well. <i>Connect</i>, Tolliver's most recent album (2020) was a small group setting that also featured strong writing and playing. </div><div><br /></div><div>The concert's lineup also includes Keyon Harrold (trumpet), who came to town in 2019 during the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, playing an emotionally-charged set Downtown on Liberty Avenue. In addition to his own work, Harrold played the trumpet parts in the Miles Davis film <i>Miles Ahead</i> and has worked with a number of pop and hip-hop artists ranging from Beyoncé to Mac Miller. Once called a "mugician" by filmmaker Don Cheadle, ("musician" + "magician") during the filming of <i>Miles Ahead</i>, Harrold considers Tolliver a mentor, so the combination of the two should set off some sparks.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pianist Victor Gould, saxophonist/vocalist Camille Thurman as well as host Dr. Johnson complete the lineup.</div><div><br /></div><div>As part of the weekend's events, three free seminars will take place on Saturday at the Frick Fine Arts building in Oakland. Nicole Mitchell will return to speak at 1 pm, followed by Gould at 2 p.m., and Harrold at 3 p.m. Thurman will host a seminar at the Afro American Music Institute (7131 Hamilton Avenue) at 2 p.m. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>For those who read this article in a timely manner, pianist Benito Gonzalez will perform a solo concert at Bellefield Auditorium in Oakland (315 S. Bellefield Avenue). </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Information and tickets to Saturday night's concert can be found at https://<a href="http://www.jazz.pitt.edu/jazzseminar" target="_blank">www.jazz.pitt.edu/jazzseminar</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-2172364256151327772023-10-24T10:09:00.000-04:002023-10-24T10:09:02.255-04:00Catching Up With ESP-Disk' - Albums by Painted Faces and Allen Lowe<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A few new releases from ESP-Disk' arrived in the mail recently. Before I get to them, I want to do some quick takes on a few things that the long-standing label released a little while ago. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XfijUx64l1L11uSxwLBUkP1tf6AbWf6vOb5RhY5u3dDQmERQL46lev1sttkBpzGwG2DNM-Ng5l9ruvGSEpDzAdFkoImYWQMc-4Nuj4v8Rp0mLTjBSTsuQVygOu8Jo4Qxv_11G1sOiCVBp3RJNm71jDoLIwNIysWP-zUsKCMMQt1DpUZlU6Pd-g/s750/normal%20street%20-v2%20700-750x750.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XfijUx64l1L11uSxwLBUkP1tf6AbWf6vOb5RhY5u3dDQmERQL46lev1sttkBpzGwG2DNM-Ng5l9ruvGSEpDzAdFkoImYWQMc-4Nuj4v8Rp0mLTjBSTsuQVygOu8Jo4Qxv_11G1sOiCVBp3RJNm71jDoLIwNIysWP-zUsKCMMQt1DpUZlU6Pd-g/s320/normal%20street%20-v2%20700-750x750.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Painted Faces</div><div>Normal Street</div><div><a href="http://www.espdisk.com/5058" target="_blank">www.espdisk.com/5058</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Painted Faces is the performing and recording moniker used by David Drucker. Though he hails from Florida, he has no connection to THE Painted Faces, a short-lived '60s garage band who coincidentally hailed from the same state. Drucker has been a resident of New York for over a decade now as well.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Normal Street</i> not only continues ESP's crusade to keep rock weird, it continues in the spirit of everyone from the label's early sound pioneers like Cromagnon to artists like Jandek, who turn on the tape and let things flow naturally. Whatever happens becomes the end piece, with extra trimmings added on top as they go. If the players are still warming up (the guitar and guest harmonica in "Paranoid Dollhouse") so be it. "An American Werewolf in Ridgewood" begins with a wall of guitars that recall Eno's "Here Come the Warm Jets." The vocals sound like J. Mascis wandered in, though it also feels like we might be listening on a radio that will collapse into static if the antenna is moved just a few inches. (Anyone who grew up listening to low-watt radio knows what I mean.)</div><div> </div><div>No two tracks are alike. In fact, the first half of one track might be completely different from what happens at the end. "Xea" almost feels like an epic, starting with distorted piano and vocals with delay effects before other voices (protesters?) overpower the song, eventually ending up with droning bass. The electronics that hum in many tracks also recall early Throbbing Gristle.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's unclear whether underground or college radio still functions with the same purpose of previous decades, which motivates DJs to play the strange and unusual releases, hoping to both unnerve and blow minds of listeners. <i>Normal Street</i> (named for an actual street near a DIY space in Worcester, Mass.) belongs in that category of albums. Maybe this isn't casual listening but the sounds on this record can reel you in, wondering who the hell this is, leading you to keep listening to answer that question and to find out what will happen next. Take this record and play it. For everyone</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqhK0IBIxc8vwa1-ri1or6UyuvCCnkJ94wOl-Orh2WnJjkCxSFJvymF-SODJF72yN1D_6ZYHa4rFvmIyC5_08NgdqjcduKYGaJ7jYwKFbgyEF8NB43oUGNyGrMfAEJmJsjxQF-cXaCy2cHaInnXX8SwPhCvivxfu7m0yGS3GJ2OOjEe0nJ76G_g/s744/America%20rough%20cut.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="744" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqhK0IBIxc8vwa1-ri1or6UyuvCCnkJ94wOl-Orh2WnJjkCxSFJvymF-SODJF72yN1D_6ZYHa4rFvmIyC5_08NgdqjcduKYGaJ7jYwKFbgyEF8NB43oUGNyGrMfAEJmJsjxQF-cXaCy2cHaInnXX8SwPhCvivxfu7m0yGS3GJ2OOjEe0nJ76G_g/s320/America%20rough%20cut.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidC-StQeUYmUbyhClG1Mdii5HnmlNP0zwKnUja2Njt9w2WD4IoKL80ZzUTD48yjKw1ZtLU86ncu0vQwEM9m1QYzs0NYjItmhsXUoAlbL88P3TebuIeX5UekBNKrHU6MAlE4wMoXnrm0DVqNS_7lIs3GGFb40B0fLH39yx-A_YrOkM9J2n92MQRw/s750/Allen%20in%20the%20dark.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="750" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidC-StQeUYmUbyhClG1Mdii5HnmlNP0zwKnUja2Njt9w2WD4IoKL80ZzUTD48yjKw1ZtLU86ncu0vQwEM9m1QYzs0NYjItmhsXUoAlbL88P3TebuIeX5UekBNKrHU6MAlE4wMoXnrm0DVqNS_7lIs3GGFb40B0fLH39yx-A_YrOkM9J2n92MQRw/s320/Allen%20in%20the%20dark.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Allen Lowe</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">America: The Rough Cut</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.espdisk.com/5082" target="_blank">www.espdisk.com/5082</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In The Dark</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.espdisk.com/5080" target="_blank">www.espdisk.com/5080</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A composer, author, guitarist and saxophonist, Allen Lowe know a lot about a lot. He's not afraid to let you know either. And if your perspective doesn't jibe with his, watch out. A quick look at his Facebook feed indicates that "cantankerous" might be an understatement when it comes to his opinions on certain topics. I once felt compelled to reach through the screen and backhand him after he went after some friends of mine - who he hadn't met - when they opined on the subject of Art Pepper's salacious memoir. (To his credit, Allen later apologized.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is not to say that Lowe thinks everyone is wrong and that his is the final word. He's just very passionate about what he does and thinks. Even if you get rankled by his rants ("No mention of Jo Jones in the recent Max Roach documentary?! What's wrong with people!"), anyone with a lick of sense can walk away saying, "Well, the man has a point."</div><div><br /></div>Lowe is also the type of composer who doesn't let things like major surgery or insomnia get in the way of his muse. In fact, it virtually opened the door to a wealth of productivity in the past couple years. Along with throat cancer surgery, he had a cancerous tumor removed from his sinus, which left it hard for him to sleep. (In another example of not holding anything back, a thumbnail picture of his post-surgery face appears on <i>America: The Rough Cut</i> and it ain't pretty, bless his heart.) But in the move that should motivate all of us to pursue our visions, he penned four discs worth of music that ESP released this year.<div><br /></div><div><i>America: The Rough Cut,</i> Lowe explains in the liner notes "is my statement not only on American music and American song, but also my commentary on the way American musicians of all styles handle that old time music and those old song forms." Most of it features the leader on tenor or alto saxophone, along with guitarist Ray Suhy (who also plays banjo), bassist Alex Tremblay and drummer Kresten Osgood. </div><div><br /></div><div>Although he doesn't attempt to chart the entire history of American music, Lowe cooks up 13 tracks that follow a trail blazed by all manner of blues, country and jazz forefathers, blowing with a gritty, vast line of tenor ideas, bolstered by Suhy's often vicious, fiery fretwork ("Blues In Shreds," Metallic Taste"), making the latter a player who should be heard more often. In "Cold Was the Night, Dark Was the Ground," Lowe picks up the axe himself but although he references Blind Willie Johnson in the liners, his vocalizing sounds more a bad Tom-Waits-on-a-bender voice. (That's probably going to draw some Lowe wrath.) The album closes with "At A Baptist Meeting," a 2014 live recording of a band with a five-piece horn section including alto saxophonist Darius Jones and the late trombonist Roswell Rudd, who leaves us some beautiful growls. The sound (band and recording) makes a dramatic shift with this finale but the piece is worth it.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>In The Dark</i> is textbook Lowe: three discs of music with his sprawling tenor lines in company with some strong fellow horn players: Aaron Johnson (alto, clarinet), Ken Peplowski (clarinet), Lisa Parrott (baritone), Brian Simontacchi (trombone), Kellin Hannas (trumpet). Lest anyone forget, Lowe was voted 2021 Artist of the Year in <i>JazzTimes </i>(the same month in which the magazine ran my feature on him) and this album offers plenty of evidence why he deserved such that recognition. His writing is heavy on detail with unexpected turns in melody, and he knows how to score his works for a larger group. (Not all of the horns play one each of the 30 tracks; each disc sort of divides different sections up, with at least a few of them joining the leader each time.) </div><div><br /></div><div>At times, I can't help thinking of <i>Mingus Ah Um </i>or <i>Blues and Roots </i>while spinning <i>In the Dark</i>. Not that Lowe is trying to be Mingus, but like the bassist, he's drawing on familiar forms and using them as a springboard for new ideas. Playing in a more straightahead style is not a crime, unless a player thinks that by playing in that way, it alone will carry them. Lowe understands that it's crucial to make it count - in other words, to bring something new to the table besides reverences. Of course, if a wild label like ESP is the label releasing the music, one can't expect a staid set of swing either.</div><div><br /></div><div>Part of his approach involves <i>irr</i>everence, with titles like "Out To Brunch," "Innuendo In Blue" and "Do You Know What It Means To Leave New Orleans," but that's only the start. For every clever title, he also has ones like "Goodbye Barry Harris" and "Memories of Jaki," which get reflective in the best way. He and Johnson work so well together that it's sometimes easy to miss one passing the solo baton to the other. At other times, it's quite obvious, like when Johnson incorporates some Dolphy-esque bite into his playing, which includes at least one moment when he throws in the Classic Dolphy Alto Line (anyone who's listened to even a small portion of the late multi-instrumentalist's work should know the mangled melody). </div><div><br /></div><div>As good as both of these Lowe albums are, listeners would be well-advised to snatch up his forthcoming epic, called <i>A Love Supine</i>. I discussed the album at length in my <i>JT </i>piece, as it features an especially strong set of original material played by a powerful band (many of whom show up here). But its release was back-burnered in favor of these two. Supposedly, it's still in the ESP hopper, with a album number and all, so hopefully it will appear sometime soon. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, there is plenty to explore here, with all three of these albums presenting both ends of the ESP-Disk' musical spectrum</div><div><p></p></div><a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-84653992062121618832023-10-18T14:25:00.002-04:002023-10-18T14:29:45.673-04:00CD/LP Review: James Brandon Lewis/Red Lily Quintet - For Mahalia, With Love<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijU2C6uh0h7s4BOTwBgatzmmeFX_gOMt4TKQ1Trm020z1RZtkFp4aiJNCkp3tFdZGxrQh7PZlsz5oeLDAh8AMO7f9iQhkJB_xhFaAc68XpDTpJaAkbiTpXKF9hwFyR0rCfkjcdbtzsGHCk7TAkxGPlZMdMcUY_nKWKoFoHyXB87SV-6gd7ePUiQ/s1642/JBL%20Mahalia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1463" data-original-width="1642" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijU2C6uh0h7s4BOTwBgatzmmeFX_gOMt4TKQ1Trm020z1RZtkFp4aiJNCkp3tFdZGxrQh7PZlsz5oeLDAh8AMO7f9iQhkJB_xhFaAc68XpDTpJaAkbiTpXKF9hwFyR0rCfkjcdbtzsGHCk7TAkxGPlZMdMcUY_nKWKoFoHyXB87SV-6gd7ePUiQ/s320/JBL%20Mahalia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />James Brandon Lewis/ Red Lily Quintet<br />For Mahalia, With Love</div><div style="text-align: left;">(TAO Forms) <a href="http://jamesbrandonlewis.bandcamp.com/album/for-mahalia-with-love" target="_blank">jamesbrandonlewis.bandcamp.com/album/for-mahalia-with-love</a> or</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://aumfidelity.com/collections/tao-forms/products/james-brandon-lewis-red-lily-quintet-for-mahalia-with-love" target="_blank">TAO Forms</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />It's the time of year when the in-box is flooded with email requests to keep albums "for your consideration" when nominating albums for Grammys. I'm not, nor have I ever been, on any committee that had the (dis)pleasure of picking nominees for such things, but those folks hoping for a nomination don't want to leave any stone unturned, so the missives keep coming.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Among the pleasant surprises in the emails were requests to remember James Brandon Lewis' <i>Eye of I</i>, which came out earlier this year on the not-exactly-jazz imprint Anti-. That album, with its groove-based tunes from the tenor saxophonist and a guest appearance by ex-Fugazi members now in the Messthetics, is truly a worthy contender. But as good as that album is, Lewis has returned to the New Release bins with his Red Lily Quintet for an even deeper release, paying homage to the First Woman of Gospel, Mahalia Jackson.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Most of the album consists of traditional gospel songs connected to Jackson. But "Sparrow" opens the album boldly with a Lewis original ("Even the Sparrow") combined with the traditional "His Eye Is On the Sparrow." The rubato opening sets the bar high for the rest of the set, introducing the way Lewis' tenor combines with Kirk Knuffke's cornet, with a solid foundation from William Parker (bass), Chad Taylor (drums) and Chris Hoffman (cello). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The group stretches out on most of the tracks, taking classics "Swing Low," "Go Down Moses" and "Wade In the Water" for journeys that last close to nine or ten minutes each. Although they have the prowess to turn this material into fire music, this is not merely a set of gospel themes that cue free blowing once the head has been played. "Calvary" with a steady drone from the strings, seems to fuse the gospel with Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman." The interaction among the quintet during this track in particular fully establishes their reputation as one of the strongest groups around.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lewis' utilizes his throaty tone, with occasional wails, but he also digs into the music for rich melodies. In the opening to "Swing Low," he virtually offers his own accompaniment, adding quick low register notes to the theme, almost like a congregant expressing approval during a sermon. In "Go Down Moses," Parker takes a solo that begins with the melody out of tempo while Taylor plays a bit of boogaloo. Before thing are done, Parker has hit a vamp that drives things home. Throughout the session, he and Hoffman work skillfully with each other, never muddling the sound; Hoffman splits his time acting as a third horn too.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first pressing of <i>For Mahalia, With Love</i>, both on CD and LP, also includes "These Are Soulful Days," a six-part piece that features Lewis together with the Lutosławski Quartet. The group hails from Poland, where the commissioned piece was recorded in 2021, at the Jazztopad Festival. The majesty of the writing comes across immediately during "Prologue - Humility" when the saxophonist's warm tone blends with the lush sound of the strings, who use a simple melody to rise up around him. At least one of Mahalia Jackson's pieces from the previous album reappears here as well.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While jazz composers sometimes use strings for harsh, visceral clashes of tone, Lewis finds a good balance between ostinatos (creating interesting stereo effects with pizzicato during one movement), rich jazz voicings and the sonic power of a chamber quartet. Of course they aren't above some wild tangents either, as the nearly 12-minute second movement indicates. Just when things seem to be laid back, Lewis really jolts the ears with the brusk "Epilogue - Resilience" which features rapid bowing over his tense blowing. It's presents a strong compliment to the previous disc.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Whether or not there is a Grammy in his future, the performances on this album, like <i>Eye of I</i>, proves that it should be a part of everyone's 2023 purchases.</div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-17418177963502074442023-10-08T10:06:00.000-04:002023-10-08T10:06:05.164-04:00CD Review: Steve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz - Ex Machina<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PSc5kNkxvv1hNx-cy9qI5oxGWLbyLlsPIuKf5fR3cnfDsFkFLIiFDOF1D0z7AloOWZM7JePQg7kjLNZko0xWAMJaYPjGSQI5DsVIgxHEQMEkrzOqj30t6VIHdjp0B4DDo2FjUBpTnOq8RsS7I7c6lchE0bmLy20u6aC_XVJ-WxffnLvrZkPe3w/s768/Cover_Album_Lehman-ONJ_Ex-Machina-copy-768x768.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PSc5kNkxvv1hNx-cy9qI5oxGWLbyLlsPIuKf5fR3cnfDsFkFLIiFDOF1D0z7AloOWZM7JePQg7kjLNZko0xWAMJaYPjGSQI5DsVIgxHEQMEkrzOqj30t6VIHdjp0B4DDo2FjUBpTnOq8RsS7I7c6lchE0bmLy20u6aC_XVJ-WxffnLvrZkPe3w/s320/Cover_Album_Lehman-ONJ_Ex-Machina-copy-768x768.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Steve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ex Machina</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(Pi) www.pirecordings.com</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Any Steve Lehman recording always make some sort of sonic advances in the world of alto saxophone. His astounding technique (where speed and clarity are represented equally) and original approach toward composition yield fascinating results, whether he's sitting in a car blowing solo (the COVID-era EP <i>Xenakis & the Valedictorian</i>) or working with a trio, octet or the international rap/improv group Sélébéyone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But in all of his releases, bigger seems to work better with Lehman. As strong as his trio work is, for instance, the work that's grabbed me the most has been on albums like <i>Travail, Transformation, and Flow </i>and <i><a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2014/08/cd-review-steve-lehman-octet-mise-en.html" target="_blank">Mise en Abime</a></i>. With these larger groups, he expands on his ideas of tonalities and soundscapes a little more, creating a wild backdrop for the solos by him and bandmates like trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson. This pattern continues with <i>Ex Machina</i>, a collaboration with France's Orchestre National de Jazz and its artistic director Frédéric Maurin. The 14-piece ensemble joins Lehman, Finlayson and Chris Dingman for three pieces by Maurin and six by the saxophonist.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ONJ incorporates interactive software in the music along with live instruments, so that the soloists draw reactions from the electronic sounds, ultimately adding to the performance and blurring the sonic lines between the players and software. For every moment where a tuba cuts through the fray or the reeds create a bizarre upper register harmony that sounds like a real-time version of what Frank Zappa once did with speed manipulation ("Jeux d'Anches"), there is a passage that could either be Lehman revisiting some of the sounds he conjured on the <i>Xenakis</i> disc, or a computer-manipulated version of him (the intro to "Ode to AkLaff," which goes on to salute drummer Pheeroan akLaff).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Los Angeles Imaginary" sets up the relationship between players and electronics early on. Pianist Bruno Ruder plays an ostinato that changes shape slightly every fourth time, while drummer Rafaël Koerner maintains a metronomic beat that meets Ruder every few passages. After this gets established, an otherworldly chord drops into the fray, sounding exotic and eerie, and hard to trace in origin. Finlayson, Lehman and tenor saxophonist Julien Soro get involved in some rapid fire exchanges, not only working together with the multiple layers behind them but virtually playing double-time on top. Everything fits together, like clockwork <i>and </i>sounds very lifelike.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After Lehman's multi-hued tracks, the two pieces penned by Maurin which appear at the end of the album lack some of the drive of the previous pieces. Maurin's "39" opens the album with some exciting dark textures that Lehman and bassist Sarah Murcia dig into. Later the two-part "Speed-Freeze" begins strong with some gruff clarinet from Catherine Delaunay but slips into an atmospheric mood where it stays for nearly nine minutes, punctuated by little more than a recurring line. The second half, which comes in a separate, eight-minute band, kicks in a little more, but it feels like there could have been more orchestral low end to anchor Fabien Debellefontaine's baritone saxophone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Le Seull" which also comes in two parts, features a lot of crescendos mixed with sustained notes, low in volume and pitch. Things coalesce a little more in the second part, Maurin using the entire ensemble to create a rich layer of sound. Even if it doesn't have the impact of the previous tracks, it still feels like Lehman and Maurin have made some serious leaps in the world of orchestral jazz improvisation.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-5008536151647018542023-10-06T14:31:00.000-04:002023-10-06T14:31:45.456-04:00CD Review: SLUGish Ensemble - In Solitude<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TnhsfkUz_UP0p5bGmapb0_LHXk9WEmzqXzRGJF4nyG61LlutTxAxGecF7XO7l4dWUUHNS7tfMdRgSwbgMDg5siuZ_heq7KmwmJwSHpE9Df0iR8tQsgekNW_adsQtpcoX3DaKtE_K3W7508286-q6tpzPRbbP0YaqIPV9tVdqoJhSIorSLfpc5w/s1626/SLUGish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1486" data-original-width="1626" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TnhsfkUz_UP0p5bGmapb0_LHXk9WEmzqXzRGJF4nyG61LlutTxAxGecF7XO7l4dWUUHNS7tfMdRgSwbgMDg5siuZ_heq7KmwmJwSHpE9Df0iR8tQsgekNW_adsQtpcoX3DaKtE_K3W7508286-q6tpzPRbbP0YaqIPV9tVdqoJhSIorSLfpc5w/s320/SLUGish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">SLUGish Ensemble</div><div style="text-align: left;">In Solitude</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Slow & Steady) <a href="http://www.slowandsteadyrecords.com/albums/insolitude">www.slowandsteadyrecords.com/albums/insolitude</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The term "sluggish" should not be confused with "plodding." The latter term can refer to music that moves at a slow pace with no sense of direction or deliberation along the way. The former term, which in this case drops a letter from the spelling as it defines this group, indicates an approach that slows things down to a point where minor details suddenly become major. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Steven Lugerner (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, alto flute) leads the SLUGish Ensemble, who have released two other albums prior to <i>In Solitude</i>. The six piece band includes two keyboardists (Javier Santiago on piano and Steve Blum on synthesizer), guitar (Justin Rock), bass (Giulio Xavier Cetto) and drums (Michael Mitchell). Lugerner, 35, serves as Faculty Director of the Stanford Jazz Workshop and has performed with a long list of jazz heavyweights, from Albert "Tootie" Heath to Myra Melford. His other ensemble, Jacknife, plays the music of Jackie McLean.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With a list of jazz bonafides like that, Lugerner heads down a completely different avenue with SLUGish Ensemble, creating music built on a sparse sound more closer to indie rock than jazz. The approach recalls some work by J<a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2009/12/cd-review-seabrook-power-plant-jeremy.html" target="_blank">eremy Udden's Plainville group</a>, who also got a lot out of simple settings. But while Udden's work often felt like a soundtrack to scenes of Middle American landscapes, Lugerner's approach is more urban. The seven tracks, in fact, were inspired by walks through his San Francisco neighborhood during the pandemic. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Cetto and Mitchell set up a groove in "Del Sur" and they barely deviate from it. In fact, five minutes go by before the bass lines gets some variation. Everyone gets some solo space, always returning to the bass clarinet melody. "Portola" is also built on riffs, with everyone layering on top of it for variety. Lugerner swtiches to baritone here, sounding more like a tenor initially because of the range and economical batch of notes he chooses. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By "Moraga" the repetitive quality seems like it might be wearing thin, until guitarist Rock steps in. His clean sound is the foundation for some sharp rhythmic lines and movement across the range of the fretboard. It keeps things lively while also making the band sound like a strange collision of the CTI and Matador labels - creating ambience and basic grooves. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"No Justice No Peace," which is dedicated to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbury, creates tension first with Lugerner's aggressive bass clarinet and then Santiago's feverish piano. What's interesting is the way both soloists pull this off without disrupting the flow of the rhythm section. Similarly, towards the end of "La Bica" the baritone sax and some background noise seem to conjure a busy street scene. When the music ends and the sound of sirens are all that remains, it's clear that sound collage wasn't imagined.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>In Solitude</i> is yet another album brought to us by the lockdown of the pandemic. But the loneliness many felt during that time is something Lugerner reshapes into a feeling of solitude, "the acceptance of being on your own and being at peace with it." In that peace he has found a way to appreciate his surroundings and use them as inspiration.</div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img src=" http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" height="69"></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-17878135967430703342023-10-02T23:32:00.002-04:002023-10-02T23:32:30.914-04:00Sam Rivers Centennial Concert in Pittsburgh<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Monday, September 25 marked the 100th birthday of the late great saxophonist/ flutist/ pianist/ composer/ loft activist Sam Rivers. Many articles appeared about his legacy in the days leading up to it, from the <i>New York Times</i> on down, and a few concerts and events happened in different cities over the weekend prior to the big day. But Pittsburgh appears to have been the only place to stage a centennial salute and performance to Rivers on the actual day of his birth. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With the Sam Rivers Archive now being processed at the University of Pittsburgh, bassist Dylan Zeh and saxophonist Derek Bendel (full disclosure - a good friend of mine) have started putting together a set of Rivers music, with a recording project coming soon. The two of them have a regular trio with drummer Ross Antonich; last Monday they were joined by flutist Trē Abalos, because you should have a flute when playing Sam Rivers music, since he often switched to that instrument, mid-performance, from tenor saxophone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHAwMtQStOJ84NvskydT79QfMgPvM3kB1AYdkqIyj6H6KST4bJvthCfAmDpfyA0r91Hnjgzm8-wB0De6xrSJvJo-QaVPneE3Sm_AGA_yqXTIUPDRkYWAK8izp2AydZoldXmCaMUE5mhu_FVPnGbRNVR_X9LJ3IoEbS8VikZW2YCHTja-VYDfmDQ/s2589/IMG_2492.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2589" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilHAwMtQStOJ84NvskydT79QfMgPvM3kB1AYdkqIyj6H6KST4bJvthCfAmDpfyA0r91Hnjgzm8-wB0De6xrSJvJo-QaVPneE3Sm_AGA_yqXTIUPDRkYWAK8izp2AydZoldXmCaMUE5mhu_FVPnGbRNVR_X9LJ3IoEbS8VikZW2YCHTja-VYDfmDQ/s320/IMG_2492.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><p>Before the Rivers set started, Matt Aelmore and Vicky Davide opened the evening with a set of free improvisations. Aelmore started out on trumpet while Davide played flute. The combination of the two started off sounding spare and gentle and built up. At first it was purely acoustic, but after awhile Davide looped a few flute lines which gave the music a little texture and shape. She also used some extended technique like just blowing air through the instrument without hitting pitches. It added an earthy almost sensual feeling to the sound, and avoided turning it into an avant hat trick. <br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iTH_DavBLLu0C54bivCpOi7QJB_u0lzxu-sdCGNBy2kZCKQHYY4vzS0aSMZEZU2S26l8ig8pbMElqC24WFoqkEw1p0N8L2xTnYkmvPE0KQVMQ-ppUEYgMNlA8be4jtDDpzVsOYRkSECls9PIUY_IxFBQw_btt_jZ2rGOzAiTX2ci6C2LMrAk-Q/s4032/IMG_2493.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iTH_DavBLLu0C54bivCpOi7QJB_u0lzxu-sdCGNBy2kZCKQHYY4vzS0aSMZEZU2S26l8ig8pbMElqC24WFoqkEw1p0N8L2xTnYkmvPE0KQVMQ-ppUEYgMNlA8be4jtDDpzVsOYRkSECls9PIUY_IxFBQw_btt_jZ2rGOzAiTX2ci6C2LMrAk-Q/s320/IMG_2493.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p>The duo switched it up a bit too, when Aelmore picked up his bass guitar (which he plays with Emily Rodgers Band, among others) and Davide switched to what looked like a penny whistle or a wooden flute. When they were done playing, it felt like they had just warmed up and could've gone on another 15 minutes or so. Maybe next time.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4x2ms5a672C8mgy72GbCVwY6IidIk96y4JFZb1_awLk56LujLb0FSs8iPgBJBSVwrz3r0udsiK2JAAYiCpu1seXqFXQ5c9y7hxAl_HrsCm-qLS0W_89vD_KIYK6ZFx4-Z4HbH19lePS0bdlYBT9P56jWzFb6OCDJOpwLzsq2pAT1XZ93BcUG5g/s3552/IMG_2495.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3552" data-original-width="2510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ4x2ms5a672C8mgy72GbCVwY6IidIk96y4JFZb1_awLk56LujLb0FSs8iPgBJBSVwrz3r0udsiK2JAAYiCpu1seXqFXQ5c9y7hxAl_HrsCm-qLS0W_89vD_KIYK6ZFx4-Z4HbH19lePS0bdlYBT9P56jWzFb6OCDJOpwLzsq2pAT1XZ93BcUG5g/s320/IMG_2495.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><p>A big question looms at a performance like this - What Sam Rivers tunes will the group play? Will there be discernable compositions or quick ideas, following by unique free blowing? Dare the group try to pull off one continuous piece for a set, like Sam did on album like <i>Streams </i>in the '70s? Well, I was pondering these questions.</p><p>Zeh explained during the set that he grew up in Orlando, Florida, where Rivers lived out the last fruitful years of his life, leading bands of various sizes and writing prolifically. This, after many years of living in New York where his RivBea loft was a flagship locale during the loft jazz scene of the '70s and music happened almost non-stop. </p><p><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Three of the group's pieces came from Rivers' debut, </span></span><i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Fuchsia Swing Song</span></span></i><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">. They launched into the set with "Cyclic Episode" which has a strong, forward-pulling melody line. Without a piano to guide with chords (Rivers had Jaki Byard on his recording) the Zeh group was liberated a bit but still kept to the changes. Throughout the set, the blend of Bendel's tenor and Abalos' flute created an otherworldly sound, nearly making the latter instrument sound more like a set of vibes. </span></span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MuBxhXlurLwFwMw_5GWwF8ovtvWo8301YekG4_ioxiisR5vsIAsmusbeRNrk9V_qrQmBTc_YDsDTu1S_tIPxHEb0sgXlnyb2KYmgmuT_beMwBpRoJwiv1Ilg92bUHr7XddzpOmtL3xLxit_EYudDkKAWxIAopJlufWXoyALJxjSWDKV27iatLA/s3487/IMG_2497.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3487" data-original-width="2634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MuBxhXlurLwFwMw_5GWwF8ovtvWo8301YekG4_ioxiisR5vsIAsmusbeRNrk9V_qrQmBTc_YDsDTu1S_tIPxHEb0sgXlnyb2KYmgmuT_beMwBpRoJwiv1Ilg92bUHr7XddzpOmtL3xLxit_EYudDkKAWxIAopJlufWXoyALJxjSWDKV27iatLA/s320/IMG_2497.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Although most of the set featured compositions, Zeh and Bendel played a tenor/bass duet that was built on/inspired by "Cascades" from a 1976 album by Rivers and Dave Holland on IAI Records. (They did at least two for that label, and both had tracks with water-based titles.) Like the rest of the set, the duet proved that these guys have been working on this material in earnest. It didn't go off into rabid free territory, instead carving their own ideas from what Sam and Dave once did. Nor did it drag on. Everything had a sense of economy to it. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQVgwcY5PRNh-A3X_iD0Lz-R0VbKIS0KEHYQkc23G18JZKUGEuTHZoeIwsoA2a8Mzi4hePcBY6MdAGLHiNrEQb4qDLZo3P_wKDSPZb5tyWopagYcbgIO3-C2zAvbPSIGCk6Ez5xL14dWx0WAhAdugQEiTpbkNZ9iF2-mr_SGbLbimA0Po_lkn4g/s2240/IMG_2502.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2240" data-original-width="2179" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQVgwcY5PRNh-A3X_iD0Lz-R0VbKIS0KEHYQkc23G18JZKUGEuTHZoeIwsoA2a8Mzi4hePcBY6MdAGLHiNrEQb4qDLZo3P_wKDSPZb5tyWopagYcbgIO3-C2zAvbPSIGCk6Ez5xL14dWx0WAhAdugQEiTpbkNZ9iF2-mr_SGbLbimA0Po_lkn4g/s320/IMG_2502.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">But everyone still had plenty of room to stretch out. Abalos, who Zeh told me later does not usually play jazz or improvised music, seemed a natural at it. Antonich played with a laid back swing that still has plenty of drive; I'm pretty sure it was "Sprung," one of Rivers' later compositions recorded with his Orlando trio, in which he really kicked it hard. Zeh also got plenty of solo space, balancing sharp thoughts and groove. Bendel was in the hot seat, since he was playing the role of Rivers, in a way. But his performance delivered a good balance of brawn and twisted melodies. </span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>I could've gone for a second set. In fact I was hoping they might play a little more. Aside from that, the only distraction came from a photographer who took pictures throught <i>the whole set</i>. <i>With a flash</i>. I don't expect a photographer to be like Teenie Harris, taking one shot and being done. But jeez, oh pete, that flash was a bit much during the 60-minute (at least) set.</div><div><br /></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-23732457700446157342023-09-28T16:49:00.003-04:002023-09-28T16:58:05.234-04:00Thinking About the Birthday Party and the "Mutiny In Heaven" Documentary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawNLrSLApGXD7rSK9ncb9j-FYJRGXrIN__hOr67hWLoCcniWTyIwrD_Q_K8w25ovW8qObIVHMBc90Johq6S_eTWeAlv35TGn7XC2K4Tz-XiTBPOHQVywtTDW-837vM-KSX0LQIW1M3XVnuqSKe6hulzvoREV_yrcTUa4Id5SVW28SdocPvQdqeQ/s707/bday%20party.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="468" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawNLrSLApGXD7rSK9ncb9j-FYJRGXrIN__hOr67hWLoCcniWTyIwrD_Q_K8w25ovW8qObIVHMBc90Johq6S_eTWeAlv35TGn7XC2K4Tz-XiTBPOHQVywtTDW-837vM-KSX0LQIW1M3XVnuqSKe6hulzvoREV_yrcTUa4Id5SVW28SdocPvQdqeQ/w265-h400/bday%20party.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><p>It occurred to me, in the days leading up to seeing <i>Mutiny In Heaven</i>, that the Birthday Party broke up 40 years ago. I'm not sure which came first, hearing that the band had broken up or the release of the <i>Mutiny </i>EP. But I associate both of them with the fall of 1993, when I was in 11th grade, which is easy for me to track because my son, who is basically 40 years younger than me, is now a junior in high school. </p><p>Since it's been so long, and having heard so many wide-ranging Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album since then, and <i>finally</i> seeing the man himself live a few years ago, I had forgotten how much the Birthday Party's visceral sound was such a big part of my life during those high school years. I tend to look back and think about how the Minutemen and Hüsker Dü were the bands that inspired the music I played because they were active at that time. But those bands were around when I finally started making music seriously. The Birthday Party were gone by then and besides, there was no way I could come close to approximating that sound and feeling, especially when playing with high school kids who routinely thought I was nuts when I went off a little in the music. But few bands rivaled them in my book at that time.</p><p><i>Mutiny In Heaven</i> starts off with a warning about flashing lights appearing in the film. They should have included a warning about thick Australian accents being part of it too. Of course I might be too used to running the subtitles on the screen when I'm watching movies at home, to ensure I don't miss anything. The sound on our home tv really varies with sudden drops and increases at times. </p><p>The film screened at the Harris Theater downtown, so there was no chance of getting subtitles, but after awhile, I got used to the accents and leaned in harder to hear the parts that were playing overtime of performances. The only problem was the voiceovers weren't introduced at the start and Mick Harvey, Phill Calvert (the band's original drummer) and Nick Cave and, to some degree Rowland S. Howard were hard to distinguish in the early sequences. As the movie proceeded, Howard was often onscreen in interviews when speaking, so that made it a little easier. </p><p>Director Ian White did an impressive job of digging up ancient footage of the band from their late teenage years when the group was known as the Boys Next Door. It's kind of charming to see a very young Nick Cave looking closer to a fresh-faced new wave kid than to the demonic performer that he would become. (For a good example of the former, and one that doesn't appear in the film, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYPsGB-rIhk" target="_blank">click here</a>.) </p><p>When making a documentary like this, the director runs the risk of relying on a bunch of talking heads to tell the story, with breaks for live footage, hopefully. Several documentaries (<i>Beware Mr. Baker</i>, <i>Chasing Trane</i>) use animated sequences to break things up. In the case of <i>Mutiny In Heaven, </i>several pen and ink animations creep up throughout the film, depicting Cave's introduction to Howard (I think it was Rowland), heroin use, and bassist Tracy Pew's car theft that landed him in jail briefly while the band was still together. These segments don't exactly camp it up but it came a little close.</p><p>The real payoff comes with all the live footage, even if it was often synced up with the studio recordings. (I've heard them enough to know the subtle mixes of a lot of them.) The use of the two didn't detract from the intended effect, however. It kind of plays up how manic - and dangerous - the group could be live. Granted, every band likes to describe themselves as dangerous when they get onstage, but watching the footage of the band - Howard stalking the stage as he made his guitar scream, Cave bopping up and down while singing frantically, Pew grinding his body, eventually laying down in one scene, still gyrating - goes a long way towards proving that a Birthday Party gig could actually be dangerous, for the band and audience.</p><p>Despite all of that, the band never comes off as assholes. I'm sure there were people around that time who can probably say otherwise, but unlike the Butthole Surfers, for instance, a band that definitely put their audience at risk and were rather abusive in general, the Birthday Party still seems rather charming. Maybe it's because they seemed a little smarter than most punks. Several times people remember Pew as the kind of guy who could be seen reading both porn magazines and Plato. After the band broke up, he eventually went to college to study literature and philosophy. He died in 1986 of a brain hemorrhage. </p><p>It's not a spoiler to mention that the film doesn't attempt to wrap everything up nice and neat in the end, after the band breaks up. In fact, I felt like it left a few details out, such as the name of the drummer who replaced Mick Harvey on the final tour (Des Hefner) and whether or not Blixa Bargeld's appearance on the <i>Mutiny </i>EP served to fill in for a departed Rowland Howard (still not sure). Regardless, it ends without anyone feeling the need to give an overview of the mess the band left behind. Or how crushed we young yanks were when it was over. </p><p><i>Mutiny </i>always felt like an anti-climatic ending to me. Of course nothing could top the insanity of <i>The Bad Seed</i>, the EP that came out earlier that year. Right as that record came out, my 10th grade English teacher Mrs. Kogut had explained what catharsis was. I knew <i>exactly</i> what she was talking about because that's what I felt every time I cued up that record and "Sonny's Burning" came on. </p><p>The band had been upping the ante with each release prior to that. When Cave screamed for 14 seconds straight in "Blast Off" (the B-side to "Release the Bats"), he knocked me against the wall. The live version of "King Ink" on <i>Drunk On the Pope's Blood</i> takes it further; he sounds like he's being crucified. (I loved it then but these days I might have preferred he calmed down a little.) After that lung-shredding scream in "Big Jesus Trash Can" where could he go? Everything about "Sonny's Burning" put me on edge, the relentless snare beats, the guitar (even if it sounded a tad like metal), and the way it nearly fell apart after each verse. I wanted to break shit each time it came on. That summer I worked in a record store and when I copy of <i>The Bad Seed</i> came in, you can bet I played it, in hopes of scaring the hell out of the squares who were in the shop at that time. </p><p>That being said, <i>Mutiny </i>felt like a retread. "Jennifer's Veil" felt like a simpler "Wild World" with more primitive drumming. Swampland" felt half-baked and even though Howard's "Say A Spell" was a cool, slinky thing, it seemed to leave listeners hanging. Is that it? "Mutiny In Heaven" was great but it closed off the first side.</p><p>Turns out, running order can change everything. When both EPs were released together, the <i>Mutiny </i>sessions added two more tunes, the murky "Pleasure Avalanche" and the dirty "Six Strings that Drew Blood" (the latter I knew from a few live tapes), adding a little more bite to that was absent on the four-song record. The disc also flips the original sequence on its head, putting "Say A Spell" after "Jennifer's Veil." "Mutiny In Heaven" comes last, which makes a lot more sense. Instead of the casual swagger exit to stage left, Nick and the boys set the building on fire and walk out through the one open doorway, leaving it to collapse in their wake. </p><p>When that song plays during the closing credits (don't call it a spoiler because you saw it coming) I almost got choked up. Not for sentimental reasons but for cathartic reasons.</p><p>Incidentally, I listened to "Sonny's Burning" on the way to the theater and it STILL makes me want to break shit.</p><p>This entry is dedicated to the memory of Lee Connelly, who was the biggest Birthday Party fanatic in Pittsburgh back in the day. </p>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-50426745360103809282023-09-24T22:47:00.005-04:002023-09-24T23:13:55.805-04:00Thumbscrew Comes Back to Pittsburgh For Round 5<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thumbscrew came back to Alphabet City (the physical space connected to City of Asylum; I think I've been lax here and make them sound like one and the same, which isn't exactly accurate) on Monday, September 18. It marked the trio's fifth performance at the space and, like several others, it culminated a long visit that also included recording a new album at Small's, the recording studio down the road from Alphabet City.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMISU8-Jo1r_1ypmMgvPHaOcxMfcaVGW654dZ7wLN9YZ2WMgU0xwAlWRKWjdVdY7dp2PHm1fUDSQCwU5ZVHGJXsMTHtSJ6bJZYBtp4l_PNFYGg3zl-8EmV5P7k1bfwIsgFviOF8FEiY-Vz8IjUBn-QK9j-3EeZLXLqzu4IrspoxfFariUW4FW3VA/s3352/IMG_2469.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3352" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMISU8-Jo1r_1ypmMgvPHaOcxMfcaVGW654dZ7wLN9YZ2WMgU0xwAlWRKWjdVdY7dp2PHm1fUDSQCwU5ZVHGJXsMTHtSJ6bJZYBtp4l_PNFYGg3zl-8EmV5P7k1bfwIsgFviOF8FEiY-Vz8IjUBn-QK9j-3EeZLXLqzu4IrspoxfFariUW4FW3VA/s320/IMG_2469.jpg" width="289" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The trio hit the stage and spoke not a word but went right into the set. I kept waiting for one of them to pick up the microphone and back announce a couple song titles so we'd know these new pieces. But no go. They were too far in the zone, I suppose. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVK9CuRM_z8UTTp7hYhTuTd6Nyfgn7rkMeLAEQ4gTQDfkW-pGhLdpgBeDdGG6vBpUqAIAaTmOmhIkVW_g-vqNKnCZZ6tTb3_RnCk5_Ea38FMm6TTxDxdS32Pgk35-UfmGhPdCDV5-Z8XKp0q-QLL_f5mYFfDNSUzziMZkLEvb5PqlWIJ1Ip81QQ/s4032/IMG_2472.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVK9CuRM_z8UTTp7hYhTuTd6Nyfgn7rkMeLAEQ4gTQDfkW-pGhLdpgBeDdGG6vBpUqAIAaTmOmhIkVW_g-vqNKnCZZ6tTb3_RnCk5_Ea38FMm6TTxDxdS32Pgk35-UfmGhPdCDV5-Z8XKp0q-QLL_f5mYFfDNSUzziMZkLEvb5PqlWIJ1Ip81QQ/s320/IMG_2472.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>On their last visit or two, the group played a few things that I recall getting pretty free and unhinged. Michael Formanek even switched from upright bass to bass guitar. Not so tonight. There was plenty of energy on display but, perhaps due to the material being a bit new, they never got too wild.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first couple pieces were interesting because Mary Halvorson's guitar and Formanek's bass both took turns being the focal point of the melodies. In the first piece, Formanek was in the lead, playing loudly, as the group went into a relaxed 6/8 meter. The bassist really tore into the second track. Just when it felt like the form of the piece was hard to see, drummer Tomas Fujiwara got it all in line. One of these days, I'll get to see Halvorson's left hand while she's playing, but tonight it was hidden behind the music stand, only seen occasionally. Her signature sound of warped/bent notes continues to expand with different nuances rather than becoming predictable. As focused as she looks during the set, she still delivers in a way that seems effortless (even if the opposite is true). </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUppKER6wmhn4YnHfX0_eyJIkiMVegr3vqLqku2MInn0mGTVNcdOMjyCb9Zo4FJKP9vxGP-OWWFBJV364bC_jgEisoSRkFl0KA2roLeK3rIkBB-fIdFvIUT7DYPIeOKZ5y5UBiE82pS3iyUZ2_zSeE2RbGIsEqNZwVPuzusLCgGxOnFO3WffXBMg/s3187/IMG_2470.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3187" data-original-width="2937" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUppKER6wmhn4YnHfX0_eyJIkiMVegr3vqLqku2MInn0mGTVNcdOMjyCb9Zo4FJKP9vxGP-OWWFBJV364bC_jgEisoSRkFl0KA2roLeK3rIkBB-fIdFvIUT7DYPIeOKZ5y5UBiE82pS3iyUZ2_zSeE2RbGIsEqNZwVPuzusLCgGxOnFO3WffXBMg/s320/IMG_2470.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fujiwara switched from his drum kit to vibes for a couple pieces, walking across the stage to the spot where the instrument was set up. One of them felt like a Thumbscrew take on the blues, leaning on what sounded like minor thirds in the melody. (I could be wrong, as I'm going from notes that I took during the show.) Another vibes-based piece had a lot of drive to it, with some propulsive guitar lines. Another, later in the set, had a dreamy feeling and moved in a manner that could have been completely composed or just offered a moment to show exactly how mentally in tune the players are with one another.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Zdx9jEp1lYjS0JRS7W46pu2-PR-HFXcvo7J0TB_-wwdqS2F5bzua9OoqzhTpdaExTVJJf9-myJLJGPvwDerZ-aqhvmY-DT8Cg_VhErg58W1J5KstXyueb_u2woH18z4r98YUwkdnYkqHGYXu4aWYXbjgmxKJg1Smg1rFq-pUP3QEbLPTS7FiKQ/s2827/IMG_2473.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2730" data-original-width="2827" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Zdx9jEp1lYjS0JRS7W46pu2-PR-HFXcvo7J0TB_-wwdqS2F5bzua9OoqzhTpdaExTVJJf9-myJLJGPvwDerZ-aqhvmY-DT8Cg_VhErg58W1J5KstXyueb_u2woH18z4r98YUwkdnYkqHGYXu4aWYXbjgmxKJg1Smg1rFq-pUP3QEbLPTS7FiKQ/s320/IMG_2473.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The one time during the set that Formanek took the mike and talked to us, he introduced a version of Charles Mingus' "Orange Was the Color Of Her Dress, Then Silk Blues." When the Baron did it originally, he relied on two and often three horns to voice the melody. Thumbscrew did an impressive job of delivering the kick of the song (with its multiple shifts to double-time and back) and the melody with just these three. It really put the trio into high gear for the last two tunes of the set, which climaxed with some furious power from Fujiwara. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Whenever that new album comes out, maybe we can say we heard it first in Pittsburgh.</div><p></p><a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-44062771685266229912023-09-18T22:17:00.001-04:002023-09-18T22:17:10.427-04:00CD Review: Greenlief/Raskin 2 + 2 With Jen Baker & Liz Allbee<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNyB8ME1TG_jY3N5EfEe_H7A_lia1f1nZO76OKiaK8RL4lMUxoi046YMg5a-qlrIaonYXFLZ1NlCPv2J40T67YhVEC3vPihvMlbWprWmr622bboL7bHQI2_qvXt4i6sL2mmLPgwLnKl2c3hThPCVfIfyEosYc10zGAa3MJqNQdNfcfDs7Ogs5PQ/s1517/Scan_20230823.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1471" data-original-width="1517" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNyB8ME1TG_jY3N5EfEe_H7A_lia1f1nZO76OKiaK8RL4lMUxoi046YMg5a-qlrIaonYXFLZ1NlCPv2J40T67YhVEC3vPihvMlbWprWmr622bboL7bHQI2_qvXt4i6sL2mmLPgwLnKl2c3hThPCVfIfyEosYc10zGAa3MJqNQdNfcfDs7Ogs5PQ/s320/Scan_20230823.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div style="text-align: left;">2 + 2</div><div style="text-align: left;">2 + 2 With Jen Baker & Liz Allbee</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Self-released) <a href="http://greenliefraskin22.bandcamp.com/album/2-2-with-jen-baker-liz-allbee" target="_blank">greenliefraskin22.bandcamp.com/album/2-2-with-jen-baker-liz-allbee</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Rova Saxophone Quartet member Jon Raskin (alto, baritone saxophones) and Phillip Greenlief (soprano, alto and tenor saxophones) created 2 + 2 with the idea of combining their reeds with two other "like" instruments. In this recently released 2006 session, they enlisted Liz Allbee (trumpet) and Jen Baker (trombone) for a set of group improvisations mixed with some composed graphic scores. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Without a rhythm section to keep the ground in sight, this quartet is free to take to the skies, paying heed only to the sounds emanating around them. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">An album like this can make the listener wonder what is greater, the whole or the sum of the parts. The question comes to mind because there are many moments through the 38-minute session where Allbee's trumpet doesn't sound prominent. It could be that she's waiting for the right moment to come in. Conversely, it could mean that she's blending really well with her bandmates, blurring the reed/brass line. In "Tableaux," the opening group improvisation, her muted playing is noticeable after a few minutes, in subtle contrast to the Baker's brawny exhortations and the contrasting saxophones (soprano and baritone). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However, "Night Town," the nearly 20-minute centerpiece of the album (a score by Greenlief), is where Allbee makes her presence known. She begins unaccompanied and continues for nearly five minutes, with a tone and ideas that feel like a trumpet oratorio cut up into smaller pieces and delivered that way, with some notes bent or rumpled for dynamics. As she fades naturally, her companions enter with a blend of blown air, pad flutters and percussive sounds that evoke brushes on a snare drum. As things build, the overtones ring out almost like gamelans.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So maybe the whole <i>is</i> greater in this case. Perhaps it's better not to pick things apart, trying to figure out which saxophonist is on alto or what horns about being used, for instance. Better to notice the way the quartet interacts. In "2 + 2" (the other scored piece, by Raskin) everyone moves their own way, but the sound is never cluttered. Also, at that moment when Allbee is noticeable in "Tableaux" everyone has landed together on a chord, or an approximation of one. That kind of confluence contributes to the excitement in improvisation, just as much as Greenlief's call to arms at the start of "Light Bending" elicits a variety of wails and moans from everyone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sound of <i>2 + 2 </i>adds to the vitality of the performance. Recorded at the 21 Grand DIY space, the acoustics put the listener there, noticing the way the natural reverb affects the horns, doing things like adding more bite to the staccato notes from the saxophones.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-75327307309473242062023-09-04T22:48:00.000-04:002023-09-04T22:48:04.605-04:00Julian Lage Comes to Pittsburgh, Sept. 6<p>Labor Day Weekend has always been a time when I think back to where I was on that same day in years gone by. Sitting around the house all day as a kid, watching the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon (no idea why, except that maybe I bought into the hype); times when I felt a sense of renewal with a new school year and, later, usually a new apartment; a sense of regret in high school that, once again, summer came and went and I didn't have a band together yet, or one that could make it all the way through a song that had a change in it.</p><p>Among the good memories, there's the Detroit Jazz Festival, which takes place every Labor Day weekend. <i>JazzTimes </i>sent me there to cover it a few times. The most exciting trip was the first time I was flown to the Motor City, in 2009, right when the magazine had come back to life after a few dark months where it looked like the lights weren't going to come on again. I had only traveled for an article once before, and never to an event like this, where strangers seemed excited to meet me - and all this freaking music was mine for the taking. I was leaving my wife and two-year old son for several days, and they were okay with it!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg634j2WVLbQfjs-dS-TeMwzDRUKqrqpNi67VVwzfqiPccUplG6tUvBdkMBCD6M58DanOqeZpbnAN30MA1W_gBeCSkmeczs6mVlY4l3mmCDTZSYazWzwD6FTlFybw59D_FuV-waDbK8bkSi2IcM2fB3Md1A7OEpLcDTUxgzvMROlpuiBk0gFysrTw/s800/1-Julian-Lage-by-Shervin-Lainez-800x780%20(1).webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="800" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg634j2WVLbQfjs-dS-TeMwzDRUKqrqpNi67VVwzfqiPccUplG6tUvBdkMBCD6M58DanOqeZpbnAN30MA1W_gBeCSkmeczs6mVlY4l3mmCDTZSYazWzwD6FTlFybw59D_FuV-waDbK8bkSi2IcM2fB3Md1A7OEpLcDTUxgzvMROlpuiBk0gFysrTw/s320/1-Julian-Lage-by-Shervin-Lainez-800x780%20(1).webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>I believe it was the last day of the 2009 festival (which would have been Labor Day) that Gary Burton was playing at one of the bigger stages. (My original article was written on two or three computers back and is long gone, as is my article for the website, so I have no notes from which to refer.) The vibraphonist had Julian Lage playing guitar with him. Lage was clearly much younger than the rest of the band, only 21 at the time. But he was playing with technique and imagination well beyond his years. His ideas seemed really advanced. (Only later did I find out that he was a child prodigy who was the subject of a documentary [<i>Jules at Eight]</i> and played at the Grammys when he was 12.) Despite all that, he lacked any sense of a cocksure young jazz guy who might be stone-faced serious about what he did. To the contrary, when introduced to him, Lage had more of a "gosh, thanks" attitude that made him even more likeable. </p><p>A lot of time has passed since that day, with a lot of music flowing out from Mr. Lage. Through legendary jazz guitarist Jim Hall, Lage met Nels Cline, the iconoclastic guitarist who has been a longstanding member of Wilco in addition to releasing numerous albums that draw on uninhibited improvisation, compositions that draw on jazz and rock and a strong sense of tradition. The combination of these two players might seem odd on paper, but on disc (<i>Room</i>), they brought out the best in each other. </p><p>When Lage came here to Pittsburgh in 2016, we spoke in advance of the show about musicians have a strong, identifiable voice. "It reminds me of Nels, and also of someone like Roy Haynes who plays with everybody. People who tend to play
well with a lot of people, they kind of always do the same thing, in a certain way," he said. "And
that’s what’s reliable. If you play with five different bands and play five different ways, you
really diffuse your sound. But if you more or less have a similar take on
proportions – tension/release, ballads, drama, humor – if you stay true to
those principles but adjust the touch of your instrument and also the decision of the people you're playing with. I think you can
have your cake and eat it too. </p><p>"When the context changes, it’ll shine a different light
on you. But if you also change, then the spotlight doesn’t really know where to look." </p><p>Following 2022's <i>View With A Room </i>(his second album as a leader on Blue Note Records), Lage released the EP <i>The Layers </i>earlier this year. In addition to his regular rhythm section of Jorge Roeder (bass) and Dave "Bad Plus" King (drums) (<a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2020/01/tales-from-new-york-stone-and-village.html" target="_blank">who I caught at the Village Vanguard with Lage in 2020</a>), the six tracks include veteran guitarist Bill Frisell as a frontline partner. The tracks are by turns tranquil ("This World"), dreamy and ambient with these two very distinct guitars echoing off one another ("Missing Voices") and sweet with unexpected chromatic changes adding an edge to the theme (the title track).</p><p>This week's show in town will be a solo performance but rest assured that Lage excels just as well by himself as he does in the company of his peers.</p><p><i>Julian Lage comes to Carnegie Lecture Hall in Oakland as part of the Andy Warhol Museum's Sound Series. Songwriter Elijah Wolf opens the show. Wednesday, September 6. 8 pm. <a href="https://www.warhol.org/events/sound-series-an-evening-with-julian-lage/" target="_blank">Click here for more details. </a></i></p>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-20482947923650436272023-09-04T09:15:00.001-04:002023-09-04T09:15:13.460-04:00Final Four For Mingus - A Live Report<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlSFKH-ujlrRzpAJp3px8a2cXlrIsnOvaVOQQIThYrUHIGLO9fhlSr0BcLu-ff6Ut3VS4sYcka79kmRWtbgo2-HUcTpOkzhVq-pnCCfJrcMgtwqaEgW0vKxGwJX06JqlfsnWv-0N0J98T10DatlqfKY5HjZK8mJ-4PyVoRubNXCevwDaXCD64gQ/s4032/IMG_2408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlSFKH-ujlrRzpAJp3px8a2cXlrIsnOvaVOQQIThYrUHIGLO9fhlSr0BcLu-ff6Ut3VS4sYcka79kmRWtbgo2-HUcTpOkzhVq-pnCCfJrcMgtwqaEgW0vKxGwJX06JqlfsnWv-0N0J98T10DatlqfKY5HjZK8mJ-4PyVoRubNXCevwDaXCD64gQ/s320/IMG_2408.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2023/03/pitt-jazz-composers-concert-recap.html" target="_blank">Dr. AJ Johnso</a>n has hosted four programs at City of Asylum in recent months, all devoted to the music of Charles Mingus. I missed the first three so I made sure not to the miss the final one. <br />"The Final Four For Mingus" took place on Thursday, August 31. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikCAlBO49MZUoAUy_BQRIUlqX2gShSPmj0yfGInnpJDqCuJTpQwMJsLx9FKcZ2A1xgcN0SYp9vD1BAEfn112PnjgtzYrsgy4J1l4HVopSEdERzu6umyB-OJ_M0sJmCDD3LqbuoOS8BsAGY4RSWpuGdKe5lLwPPMoc6YtUPebOLgJfaoPET4LF7Q/s2905/IMG_2410.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2833" data-original-width="2905" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikCAlBO49MZUoAUy_BQRIUlqX2gShSPmj0yfGInnpJDqCuJTpQwMJsLx9FKcZ2A1xgcN0SYp9vD1BAEfn112PnjgtzYrsgy4J1l4HVopSEdERzu6umyB-OJ_M0sJmCDD3LqbuoOS8BsAGY4RSWpuGdKe5lLwPPMoc6YtUPebOLgJfaoPET4LF7Q/s320/IMG_2410.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The instrumentation was put together to ensure that the group would be able to create the feel for a Mingus score, with a cast of familiar faces and a few surprises. Dr. Johnson lead the group and played trombone and tuba. The saxophone section featured Opek/Thoth Trio leader Ben Opie (on tenor exclusively tonight) and Rick Matt (baritone sax, flute) along with relative newcomer Ini Oguntola, who almost stood out with his alto solos that both acknowledged the Mingus work and blew with passion. Tommy Lehman, who came on a recommendation from Sean Jones, held the trumpet seat, getting a good jagged tone that Mingus liked, especially when his mute was in use. The rhythm section consisted of Mark Michelli (piano), Jeff Grubbs (bass) and James Johnson III (drums). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IFdeTPgB3CyauELZDvENG584g8wBOzc1noG4vxwoiwya1sKiPg7aSJPPxlh76gjqSU12MVlHPSWA-1GS3pm5i3pO30N1Y2MHBS2qgvbmuXBE1NhOg4RxaxzGFdMr7LJ4DeTvmMPsNgh1PLMa-2csmyg3oQjRBxTYQ0BR9JTMOt4UCCFLdPRexQ/s4032/IMG_2411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IFdeTPgB3CyauELZDvENG584g8wBOzc1noG4vxwoiwya1sKiPg7aSJPPxlh76gjqSU12MVlHPSWA-1GS3pm5i3pO30N1Y2MHBS2qgvbmuXBE1NhOg4RxaxzGFdMr7LJ4DeTvmMPsNgh1PLMa-2csmyg3oQjRBxTYQ0BR9JTMOt4UCCFLdPRexQ/s320/IMG_2411.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Material for the evening emphasized Mingus' love for Duke Ellington, directly or indirectly. The group opened with "Love Chant," a relatively deep cut from <i>Pithecanthroput Erectus, </i>which gave everyone a chance to stretch out. Johnson is a good host who offered some good information about the pieces, which also included "Fleurette Africaine (African Flower)," a rhythm section showcase that originated on <i>Money Jungle</i>, the legendary meeting of Ellington, Mingus and Max Roach. <p></p><div>The evening also included a few video excerpts with words from Mingus about Duke and from Ellington members talking about how a scuffle with trombonist Juan Tizol ended Mingus' brief tenure in Duke's band. I think both clips came from the film <i>Triumph of the Underdog</i>, though there were also clips from the black and white 1968 film <i>Mingus</i> about his eviction from his New York loft. The context for including the latter scene was that low point in high life was followed by a high point of the bassist getting asked to play in a jazz festival to honor his hero. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Us It Two" was another surprise in the set, as it was not a standard part of the Mingus canon. In fact it's relatively hard to find, appearing only on <i>Charles Mingus and Friends In Concert</i>. This one featured Johnson on tuba, proving, in the tradition of players like Howard Johnson and Bob Stewart, that that big old instrument can swing with the best. </div><div><br /></div><div>It seemed like only a matter of time before the group would play "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love," which Mingus recorded for both of his '70s albums <i>Changes</i>, one with vocals and one without. And it was great to hear it again. The lush ballad is a testament to the power of the bassist's later albums, which shouldn't be overlooked. Matt also got a chance to stretch out on the <i>Changes</i> track "For Harry Carney," the homage to Ellington's career-long baritone player.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Open Letter to Duke" seemed like an obvious choice too, especially with Ben Opie involved, since it comes from the classic album <i>Mingus Ah Um</i>, one of his favorites. What is not obvious is how much the soloists on that album (tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin, alto saxophonist John Handy in the unedited version) are so crucial to that tune. In other words, it can be a challenge to pull it off. But Opie and Oguntola sounded amazing in the solo sections and the lush, slower sections. Johnson also captured the spirit of Dannie Richmond's idiosyncratic drum style, which can be hard to get right. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then there was "Tonight At Noon." This rapid fire melody had everyone sweating bullets and seemed like it was close to pulling the rhythm section apart from the horns. But it didn't. It was on fire the whole time. While everyone in the rhythm section stayed tough, mention should be made of Michelli's visceral approach to the piano. I've seen him do free improvisation, hulking over his instrument. He brought the same intensity to the 88s that night. The standing ovation the group received at the end of the set was well deserved, for song choice and execution.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the set, when Opie rattled off the names of some tunes that were played in the previous shows ("Hora Decubitus," "Boogie Stop Shuffle" and a few that he said he had never played before), it filled me with a twinge of regret for missing those nights. Mark your calendars and make plans with you hear about shows! Don't miss them!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-42300094680772402832023-08-31T23:31:00.001-04:002023-08-31T23:31:57.857-04:00LP Reissue Review: Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCKbF1zX-ERQW7oLcSZjl_o08QdJeXLFmhNvDX5c9H6a8_s9JttUYwxZtcCMkdQw8xCAWOWN0Ikg7IMhCsyoR85zX5NBiScjktxx3Jmfgmo6iJrDdIIcLS9yCpAQhz0TB9ioYcJiyDxuVL1B-rrECLOjwJYlbtw8eb4M3-9HNNseMzw3C1KOFiQ/s2218/IMG_2375.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="2218" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCKbF1zX-ERQW7oLcSZjl_o08QdJeXLFmhNvDX5c9H6a8_s9JttUYwxZtcCMkdQw8xCAWOWN0Ikg7IMhCsyoR85zX5NBiScjktxx3Jmfgmo6iJrDdIIcLS9yCpAQhz0TB9ioYcJiyDxuVL1B-rrECLOjwJYlbtw8eb4M3-9HNNseMzw3C1KOFiQ/s320/IMG_2375.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Where are you Bud? ...Lightning...now a lone rain falling thru doors empty of room - Jazz Naked Fire Gesture. Dancing protoplasm. Absorbs.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Cecil Taylor</div><div>Unit Structures</div><div>(Blue Note) <a href="http://store.bluenote.com/collections/classic-vinyl-series" target="_blank">store.bluenote.com/collections/classic-vinyl-series</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It can take several deep listens to really grasp a Cecil Taylor album. Gary Giddins once said something to the effect that if you listen to a Cecil performance with half an ear, you'll be lost. You need the whole ear, and the other one as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>One year during college, my birthday present from a close friend included a cassette dub with Cecil's other Blue Note album <i>Conquistador</i> on one side and <i>Live at the Cafe Montmartre </i>(half of what would be released as <i>Nefertiti The Beautiful One Has Come</i>) on the other. I immersed myself in the tape, listening repeatedly as I walked to and from campus. Eventually things started to make sense, like the recurring themes in <i>Conquistador</i>'s title track, or noticeable the section during the second (!) piano solo in "D Trad That's What" from the other side, when Cecil and drummer Sunny Murray seem to land in 4/4 briefly, and Cecil channels Mal Waldron, if not a bit of Monk. I became a Cecil Taylor convert, not always grasping what he intended, but always eager to dive in and get closer to understanding. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj80mFH7IJUyxXbXMlhJ3jRINZ2cUmm-xt7G5r9LGh0MlsKGqqBceJoeYLZu_hpZW32apIU6m_2dBFm3JH4eJJ14MYSCO-LUKwrVx4JLyPXBCNIzMpO_h24qe8qUMSPkA2kPqJJqAeSqiYHj-RqMSBqnfxiKg_MTsQh0CjXA_jN1pEaVmxOXUqQ/s2911/IMG_2376.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2852" data-original-width="2911" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdj80mFH7IJUyxXbXMlhJ3jRINZ2cUmm-xt7G5r9LGh0MlsKGqqBceJoeYLZu_hpZW32apIU6m_2dBFm3JH4eJJ14MYSCO-LUKwrVx4JLyPXBCNIzMpO_h24qe8qUMSPkA2kPqJJqAeSqiYHj-RqMSBqnfxiKg_MTsQh0CjXA_jN1pEaVmxOXUqQ/s320/IMG_2376.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That homemade tape landed in my hands right as the CD reissue boom was taking off, and a few years later, I finally picked up <i>Unit Structures</i>, the other Cecil album on Blue Note. It actually preceded <i>Conquistador</i>'s release by two years, though they were recorded within five months of each other in 1966. Unlike the later album's two sidelong tracks, <i>Unit Structures</i> features four dense tracks. Many Blue Note albums had liner notes by jazz luminaries ranging from Nat Hentoff to A. B. Spellman but Cecil penned "Sound Structure of Subculture Becoming Major Breath/ Naked Fire Gesture," an epic with the density of James Joyce on the back cover. (The italicized lines here are excerpted from that tome, lack of punctuation observed.) As a result, <i>Unit Structures</i> proves to be an even more challenging excursion with little in the way of a roadmap.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Rhythm-sound energy found in the amplitude of each time unit.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The 1987 CD's addition of an alternate take of "Enter Evening" right after the master (the standard spot for alternates on jazz reissues at the time) convoluted the flow of the original album. Even though it came at the end of side one, it was still a bit of a distraction, trying to both figure out the structure <i>and</i> compare the performance to the one that preceded it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Blue Note's Classic Vinyl Series has just reissued <i>Unit Structures</i> in its original vinyl form, utilizing the original analog tapes. (The mastering was done by Kevin Gray.) This isn't a Tone Poet Series reissue, so there's no gatefold cover with newly discovered candid shots of Cecil Taylor playing while Rudy Van Gelder and Alfred Lion look puzzled, or shots of Jimmy Lyons and Ken McIntyre studying lead sheets. Things are much as they were in 1966. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When music people write about Cecil Taylor, they can almost be divided into two categories: the ones who write in very general terms or ones who go for a more metaphorical, abstract direction, talking about the music in non-musical terms, borrowing more from science than theory books. The exception might have come in a pull-out from a 1990 <i>Village Voice </i>piece that I held onto for years, in which several writers (beginning with Giddins) tried to explore the Taylor approach from different angles. I would re-read the thing every year, occasionally understanding more but usually wishing that I could get my hands on the albums to which they all referred. (Upon writing this thing, I need to see if I still have that crop of articles.) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons has become a devoted bandmate of Taylor by the time of <i>Unit Structures</i>, having played with him since 1961. Andrew Cyrille (drums) was also on his way to becoming one of the longstanding members of the Unit, playing with him from 1964 through 1975. Eddie Gale Stevens, Jr. plays trumpet on a few songs and Ken McIntyre completes the front line playing alto saxophone, oboe and bass clarinet. Holding up the rear are two bassists, Henry Grimes and Alan Silva. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Time seen not as beats to be measured after academy's podium angle. The classic order, stone churches with pillars poised, dagger ripping skies, castratti robed in fever pitch, stuff the stale sacrament, bloodless meat, for the fastidious eye...</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When playing this current reissue the first time, I tried reading the liner notes in hopes that it might reveal some insight into the music between its almost beat-like execution. Alas, it did not. Cecil seemed to really love the word "anacrusis," referring to it several times in the text. (When he recorded an album of spoken word pieces in the 1987 [<i>Chinampas</i>], the word that Webster defines as "a note or sequence of notes which precedes the first downbeat in a bar, " or a pick-up, factors into the first track on the album.) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Unlike <i>Conquistador</i>, which seemed to have some more clearly define compositional lines, or at least passages where everyone lines up together, <i>Unit Structures</i> flows more freely. Everyone leaps into "Steps" at their own pace, Cyrille offering a rather thunderous bang (which seems to get some more weight, thanks to the new mastering) while everyone does calisthenics around the maestro's piano. Gale doesn't appear on this track and McIntyre plays alto, delivering a more frantic solo than the more measured though equally detailed Lyons, who takes the second solo. The piece might feel loose, but when Taylor joins Cyrille at the end of a press roll in the middle of the piece, coming down right on the pulse with him, it's obvious that the group is following a structure.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Enter Evening (Soft Line Structures)" brings Gale into the picture, with a mute, that blends with McIntyre's oboe for a thin, reedy but intriguing sound. The two basses contribute have more presence, Silva manically bowing while Grimes plucks away. The entire performance feels unprecedented and new - more new classical than jazz of any sort - but if you zero in on Cecil's playing, his execution has moments that resemble lines of Art Tatum with random accelerations adding a twist to them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The nearly 18-minute side two opener "Unit Structure/As Of A Now/Section" is where energy and forward motion really coalesce. Ironically, the horns (McIntyre now on bass clarinet) and drums begin the piece in a sinister mood, dark chords and rolls, only to have the mood broken by a flighty arpeggio from the piano. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The horns sit out on "Tales (8 Wisps)." Most of the time, the basses seem to step back as well, though Silva's bow appears early in the relatively short piece. It's largely a conversation between Cecil and Cyrille. Some of the pianist's lines sound familiar; stuttered ideas that would also feed into solo performances on albums like <i>Silent Tongues</i>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In more recent interviews with Cyrille, he has shed some light on what he was playing with the Unit, incorporating more straightforward drumming techniques into the music. Without digging up the exact quote, suffice to say it shed light on the idea that Taylor's work didn't simply come out of nowhere. There were elements that preceded it. Lyons did play with a tone that was a direct lineage from Charlie Parker. If Bird had lived another 15 years, who knows - he might have sounded like Lyons.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Years after hearing this and <i>Conquistador</i>, I wrote a review of <i>Intents and Purposes</i>, a reissue of Bill Dixon's 1967 album on RCA. Dixon had played on <i>Conquistador</i> and hearing his album suddenly made me realize that Cecil's work at the time might not have existed in a vacuum. There were other "free jazz" players besides him who were pushing towards something that could not be summed up easily with words like that. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nearly 60 years later, it still sounds fresh and open to deep, repeated listens. And it's <i>still </i>hard to describe this music. This new remastered edition is the perfect opportunity to either reexamine this monolithic session or investigate it for the first time. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>As gesture Jazz became: Billie's right art bent at breast moving as light touch. Last moments, late father no use to sit and sigh the pastors have left us gone home to die.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-76061170188831524202023-08-22T22:18:00.000-04:002023-08-22T22:18:42.739-04:00CD/LP Review: Tyshawn Sorey Trio - Continuing<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EFfyudISz9pQTQ18LoOpfuM5fWvxlmeS7vAmrTRkqIYq_KWVoLj0NRNDZJ2a0aEnMqjUdODIKPCs_TCaBt8xUswBxzp9JXMobnpYeWd5Z9TfmF98-_92bJA-z_fd1KbGQPfse4vLrHCEkuGuGteopgrtL1LcTVjoMCUubtBe25FJcQc6AtHFfg/s768/tyshawn%20continuing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EFfyudISz9pQTQ18LoOpfuM5fWvxlmeS7vAmrTRkqIYq_KWVoLj0NRNDZJ2a0aEnMqjUdODIKPCs_TCaBt8xUswBxzp9JXMobnpYeWd5Z9TfmF98-_92bJA-z_fd1KbGQPfse4vLrHCEkuGuGteopgrtL1LcTVjoMCUubtBe25FJcQc6AtHFfg/s320/tyshawn%20continuing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Tyshawn Sorey Trio</div><div style="text-align: left;">Continuing</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Pi) <a href="http://www.pirecordings.com" target="_blank">www.pirecordings.com</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Tyshawn Sorey makes listeners appreciate space - the wide open areas that can occur in music. He assures you that quick movement is not always necessary and sometimes having a lot of room in which to operate can be beneficial. By taking advantage of that type of thinking, the mind can appreciate subtle additions to the music. A slow, walking bass line feels like the basis for a strong narrative; a one-note bass line transforms into an infectious vamp, especially with a ride cymbal going behind it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All of these elements happen throughout the four-track album by Sorey (drums) with Aaron Diehl (piano) and Matt Brewer (bass). Like last year's <i>Mesmerism </i>and <i>The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism</i>, <i>Continuing </i>features the trio playing compositions aligned with classic jazz, a departure for</div><div style="text-align: left;">the drummer/composer who has carved out a reputation as a distinctly modern player who veers towards free music. But Sorey's mind is vast and when he swings, he won't take his subject matter lightly, as this new release proves.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The deft use of space and simplicity is nothing new in jazz. One musician that used it was the late pianist Ahmad Jamal, who Sorey first heard on the advice of pianist Harold Mabern, with whom the young drummer studied at William Patterson University. Works by both pianists appear on <i>Continuing</i> indicating the weight of their impact on Sorey's thinking. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jamal's "Seleritus" lasts 15 minutes, moving casually along over a simple vamp but the results are hypnotic Brewer takes an extended bass solo that almost feels free as it soars over the solid groove beneath it, rich in details. The song reaches a crescendo that never gets heavy and when the song finally fades, the trio sounds like they could continue on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Mabern's "In What Direction Are You Headed?" originally recorded with Lee Morgan on his final studio album, gets a little funkier and perhaps a bit repetitive. But Sorey's fills add extra color to the landscape along with Diehl's high register flourishes, with both making sure the groove doesn't run out of steam.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Angel Eyes" is a cry-in-your-hooch tune that I always thought Nick Cave could cover. It appeared on Frank Sinatra's <i>Only The Lonely </i>album but my personal favorite version was done by the Four Freshman on their first <i>...Five Trombones</i> concept record. The Freshman harmonies never sounded as dark blue as they did on that one, aided by the horns. The Matt Dennis tune should always be sung slowly but the Sorey Trio takes it down even further, to a snail's pace. Diehl leaves wide chasms between the phrases, connected by Brewer's stark upper register quarter notes. It adds to the heartbreak of the song. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The group also pays tribute Wayne Shorter by opening the album with his "Reincarnation Blues," which the saxophonist first played with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.Brewer's walking bass and Diehl's subtle chords, and notes that get staggered across the beat, sets a strong scene for what will come. A mid-chorus stop-time and Sorey's press rolls feel even more dynamic as a result.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We all need to slow down once in a while. Tyshawn Sorey presents plenty of reasons why.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-36140944941799372512023-08-12T23:39:00.001-04:002023-08-12T23:39:32.100-04:00Projects In the Works, A Different Blog Post, A Couple Shows This Week<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Check the blog every day and nothing changes. Walk away from it for a couple weeks and someone posts a comment on a piece from a few years ago, thanking you for your work. Never fails. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have been away from here for a while. I'm disappointed that I only came up with two damn posts in the month of July. Now it's almost mid-August. Then again, I <i>have </i>kept myself busy. I don't want to spill the beans yet but I'm working on a fairly lengthy piece for a local publication. It should be good. And it's something that has been in the works (i.e. in my head, germinating) for several months now. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the meantime, I wrote another piece for the <i>Gullible Ear</i> blog a few weeks ago. The entries on that site usually pick a quality song, which a lot of people don't know, and sing its praises. I decided to take the opposing track and grouse about the West Coast Pop Art Experimental band's cover of Frank Zappa's "Help, I'm a Rock." Yeah, it sounds convoluted trying to summarize it too. <a href="https://gullibleear.wordpress.com/2023/07/28/help-im-a-bad-cover/" target="_blank">Regardless, check it out here. </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have been checking out shows too. Last night, I got a little stoked as I was leaving work because I realized, <i>I'm going to a rock show. And it won't be 90% over when I get there</i>. The show took place at the Brillobox and featured Brooklyn's heavy Oneida, who were close friends and regular visitors to Pittsburgh about 20 years ago during the days of Rickety Thursdays at the 31st Street Pub. The show was long and loud, but I held out for the duration, even after three drinks. (They pour them tall there.) I paced myself with the hooch though, lest you wonder if I was irresponsible that way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Early this week, I barreled out of work over to Alphabet City to see the Devin Drobka Trio. I don't think I've been to that space at all this year, so I felt that, even though I know I'd be a little late in arriving, I'd still get there for most of the show. A lot of great events have happened there over the last few months which I've missed mostly due to my work schedule or because of family things coming up. I was really itching to get back there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6BrzcksKP09OMUA6MF4xacem8Jejy8l207vZ-5cgUrerlYkEykNIrM9EH98Pp1XkjYv4c7D6KhQNDONSD1sD5h7VuVw-SjYOe7OkKKvJ1GLW8oTwRNfiRbz0XINS1dpi27GfPgCAnGt3aAcdvXoYE2SxwkK7mzW_Xn6kstEUrGHgEiz9YIuv1w/s3271/IMG_2334.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3271" data-original-width="2516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6BrzcksKP09OMUA6MF4xacem8Jejy8l207vZ-5cgUrerlYkEykNIrM9EH98Pp1XkjYv4c7D6KhQNDONSD1sD5h7VuVw-SjYOe7OkKKvJ1GLW8oTwRNfiRbz0XINS1dpi27GfPgCAnGt3aAcdvXoYE2SxwkK7mzW_Xn6kstEUrGHgEiz9YIuv1w/s320/IMG_2334.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Devin Drobka (above) has a few albums out on the label Shifting Paradigm. The first one I heard, <i>Amaranth</i>, came out in 2018 and included now-Pittsburgh resident Patrick Breiner blowing some wild tenor. I wanted to write about that, and a few other SP releases, here but never got around to it. <div><br /></div><div>In 2021, the label released <i>Resorts</i>, a piano trio album that is quite a change from what preceded it. The music from that album was what the trio played this past Wednesday in town. Matt Blair, who played piano on the album, appeared with Drobka. Jakob Heinemann (below) played bass, taking on the role that Aaron Darrell had on the album.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyL26LRd798VNsxTMD1s_LnRkEOzXv3zJxf95hWF8R6lUWupMAt4d128tJXvJfb3ZfEqLroyyehLePJF7Z1zLHeFOyW61GGu5Jq99lccGRmAw0u6IEykXfxfABZYMQjVtwoxWAbxVpwiRg0wdRKnqXcK9EwhpVhHKPGqxWjUBCA3_xa1JOj-3gcQ/s3090/IMG_2330.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3090" data-original-width="1702" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyL26LRd798VNsxTMD1s_LnRkEOzXv3zJxf95hWF8R6lUWupMAt4d128tJXvJfb3ZfEqLroyyehLePJF7Z1zLHeFOyW61GGu5Jq99lccGRmAw0u6IEykXfxfABZYMQjVtwoxWAbxVpwiRg0wdRKnqXcK9EwhpVhHKPGqxWjUBCA3_xa1JOj-3gcQ/s320/IMG_2330.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Listening to the album afterwards, I feel like I have a greater understanding of what the trio is trying to do. Three pieces on the album are called "Box Inventions," Numbers 1-3. All are inspired Johann Sebastian Bach (get it?) and all are pretty minimal and repetitive. In person, the group took one of these motifs and stretched it a little. Blair might play the same thing but Heinemann took liberties on top of it. And then Drobka himself, occasionally playing with one bare hand on the kit while the other tapped a cymbal with a sticks, or he alternated sticks with brushes. On record, it almost seems like the action and improvisation is happening with Drobka, while the others create the setting for him. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9ptujYbtF0hyvtNV8btwXi4FlUEIwEGtR0HeOsMcWZ8DqmwULPlr2_ZJSvt9YIpucBHyKDAxWIFP0x4qkzv9XR4pmELyVieSP20CEG_dHPVtVVLUrnEihQAt1QZBYId6RbQ6pIJUr8WHJm9-RWd0831aug0JLq0fL_NyKSZ8dvP68RRNg8a4dw/s4032/IMG_2333.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9ptujYbtF0hyvtNV8btwXi4FlUEIwEGtR0HeOsMcWZ8DqmwULPlr2_ZJSvt9YIpucBHyKDAxWIFP0x4qkzv9XR4pmELyVieSP20CEG_dHPVtVVLUrnEihQAt1QZBYId6RbQ6pIJUr8WHJm9-RWd0831aug0JLq0fL_NyKSZ8dvP68RRNg8a4dw/s320/IMG_2333.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />That being said, I've only had one chance to check out the album, but I plan on digging into it further. Along with some other new stuff that I've been randomly pulling on the pile and exploring. <p></p></div><div>In closing, the other things that's been keeping me busy is plotting and planning for my band, the Harry Von Zells. I was actually interviewed for a publication today (!), <i>The Second Scene</i>, a locally published but nationally recognized magazine of some repute. The band is also breaking in a new keyboard player. Now if only we can find some gigs. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27529233.post-33564319658076078672023-07-23T23:36:00.000-04:002023-07-23T23:36:54.922-04:00LP/CD Review: John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy - Evenings at the Village Gate<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmmKVVksfQttoaprve2oF4z95kofcyBTI5lYIIYJt8Lt3fDNbwKPi6UnxZa8z0MeAgVYy1_6DVgG-euWszQeitlh4v850vyOo2V0G0hs-jibo4NuB5EwAIGEPMovfwywUH-if2mZrRyXG4TIcZgUxdsL8PA7E-USZQd86VKcxzkyb7hY5sRO8tQ/s1500/trane%20game.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrmmKVVksfQttoaprve2oF4z95kofcyBTI5lYIIYJt8Lt3fDNbwKPi6UnxZa8z0MeAgVYy1_6DVgG-euWszQeitlh4v850vyOo2V0G0hs-jibo4NuB5EwAIGEPMovfwywUH-if2mZrRyXG4TIcZgUxdsL8PA7E-USZQd86VKcxzkyb7hY5sRO8tQ/s320/trane%20game.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">John Coltrane With Eric Dolphy</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Evenings At the Village Gate</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(Impulse!) <a href="http://impulserecords.com" target="_blank">impulserecords.com</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As these words are being typed, this album has been out for a little more than a week. I picked mine up on the day of its release and of course I had to get it on vinyl because it's good to get up every 15 minutes or so to turn over the record. If I didn't, I'd nod off during "My Favorite Things" and potentially wake up during "Greensleeves" and not know what was happening. (That's not a value judgement of the music; it's an assessment of what happens when I slouch down in a chair and relax while listening to music.) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All joking aside, one of the many thrills of checking out <i>Evenings At the Village Gate </i>on vinyl is seeing how well the folks at Impulse! stay loyal to the original design of the label. Vinyl reissues in the '90s acknowledged it a bit, but outer circle was too narrow, the text was laid out differently and I believe the whole thing had a shiny gloss to it, unlike the early labels that really looked like thin paper. As you can see below, the label of Side One would make Bob Thiele proud. Those little "Impulse!s" look like they're dancing as they spin around your turntable. It gives me the same feeling of excitement that came when I found a used original copy of <i>Live at Birdland</i> and saw that layout for the first time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7mEu5oWjBqDvBaHtL5ib1qUVab7i9B8XKnryOvRW3h5VPLPwyPgWKSvJAM_ytZmToQWyb4cF-vHL96xF1oDpFMusBjHzFr3PRZZskcOTgCKHMPUExbMqJ9IKHWp8FbOR352VxZ1TxkQGhbUC3tUsxwTxTm7radDE3u4XN1UBLNkkhd-LsdT3ulw/s2118/IMG_2275%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1968" data-original-width="2118" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7mEu5oWjBqDvBaHtL5ib1qUVab7i9B8XKnryOvRW3h5VPLPwyPgWKSvJAM_ytZmToQWyb4cF-vHL96xF1oDpFMusBjHzFr3PRZZskcOTgCKHMPUExbMqJ9IKHWp8FbOR352VxZ1TxkQGhbUC3tUsxwTxTm7radDE3u4XN1UBLNkkhd-LsdT3ulw/s320/IMG_2275%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Of course, no one is buying a brand new, recently unearthed John Coltrane album for the look of the label. Or for the cover, which sports a grainy (or is it smoky) shot of Trane and Dolphy in action. (The picture in the gatefold is beautiful too; Dolphy is glaring at Trane with a look of awe on his face, as if he's saying either "Damn!" or "Woah!") The album's merit lies in the grooves. What's also important is when this particular bit of music was recorded too. <p></p><p>No specific date is attributed to the five tracks, but "August 1961" is offered as a definitive time. The group had a residency at the Village Gate from August 8 through September 3, sharing a bill with Horace Silver and Art Blakey, a trifecta which in retrospect must have been like a bit of heaven, even if it was a bit of a standard at that time. (A month earlier, Coltrane had split the bill with 19-year old Aretha Franklin.) </p><p>Elvin Jones (drums) and McCoy Tyner (piano) had secured their roles with Coltrane by this time, and Reggie Workman filled the bass chair. (Jimmy Garrison would take his spot by year end.) Eric Dolphy was a semi-regular member of the band, playing alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. Art Davis occasionally dropped in and played second bass with the group, helping Workman create a sound that built on the use of drones that interested their leader at that time.</p><p>Rich Alderson, the Village Gate's soundman, admits in the liner notes that he hadn't intended to record the Coltrane Quintet for posterity. He was merely trying to test out an RCA 77-A ribbon microphone, which he suspended from the ceiling, pointing it down at the band. Since the group didn't know the recording was happening - or if they did, they didn't let it affect their playing since it wasn't a professionally-recorded document - we get a sense of what the band was like on any given night when their only concern was getting the chance to do their thing. As with the recordings that everyone has digested over the years, the group is playing at a high caliber level.</p><p>One of the big surprises about the set doesn't become clear until Side Four. "Africa," which takes up that whole side, is the only track where Coltrane plays tenor saxophone. He plays soprano saxophone on the other tracks. It might be nit-picking, but hearing so little tenor comes as a slight disappointment. At the same time, hearing the group play "Africa" in a club setting helps to make up for it. <br /></p><p>With Davis along to anchor the groove, everyone in the now septet gets to solo during the 22-minute track. Coltrane goes first, saying his piece is a rather concise manner before letting Dolphy jump in on alto. And jump he does, with his usual spikey enthusiasm. The biggest solo space comes after Tyner finishes and Davis and Workman take over. The duo moves fluidly around each other and the low volume at this point of the performance makes something very clear: There is no noise from the audience. No casual conversation in the back, not even the clink of glasses. Perhaps, as the accompanying booklet infers, this was one of the nights that the Village Gate was half empty, but nevertheless, it sounds like everyone in the room was lost in the music.</p><p>The album opens with "My Favorite Things" already in progress, with Dolphy in the midst of a flute solo. (I was hoping Tyner's dramatic intro would usher in the album.) When Coltrane comes in for a final soprano solo, he seems to be exploring the limits of what could work in this vamp, and gets a bit spiky himself in the process. Without giving too much credence to John Tynan, who would call Coltrane's music "anti-jazz" just a few months later, one can imagine a casual jazz fan getting baffled a bit by Coltrane's ideas that night. But the contrast between the tranquil groove of the song and Trane's forward vision is exciting to hear.</p><p>"Greensleeves" gets much more room (16 minutes) than the quartet's made-to-be-a-single studio recording offered. After a brief but soaring soprano lead, Tyner plays tension and release, toying with listeners as to when he'll go into the chord changes of the chorus. All the while, Jones drives the music along, never excessively but always with choice combination of fills, cymbal crashes and press rolls. The blend of Coltrane and Dolphy (here on bass clarinet) feels like two strands of the same vine working together. Dolphy can even be confused for Coltrane when he begins his solo. </p><p>Even though his name was on the marquee, Coltrane still gave plenty of room to his bandmates. In addition of solo space, he let Dolphy have a showcase in "When Lights Are Low," a song the multi-reedist would be playing regularly in Europe in less than a month, as documented on the third volume of the <i>In Europe</i> series on Prestige. This inclusion might be one of the most intriguing parts of the set, as it presents the most straight ahead composition of the album, which the group respects even as they adapt it to their futuristic vision. It makes the drive in the version of "Impressions" that follows it all the more contagious.</p><p>For a recording made with a single microphone, <i>Evenings At the Village Gate</i> has some pretty solid fidelity. Like <i><a href="https://shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com/2021/10/cdlp-review-john-coltrane-love-supreme.html" target="_blank">A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle</a></i>, it's a great Elvin Jones showcase since his performance stands out most prominently. But considering how often Jimmy Garrison gets covered up on numerous Coltrane albums, both studio and live, Alderson's RCA 77-A did a good job of capturing Workman and Davis. Perhaps the real hat tip should go to Kevin Reeves, who mastered the album.</p><p>By November of 1961, with Dolphy back from Europe, Coltrane and his associates would land an extended gig at the Village Vanguard. Workman stepped down to take care of his family and Garrison would take the bass chair, thus solidifying the group that is known as the Classic Quartet. At the Vanguard, Bob Thiele would have professional machines set up to record everything and release it on Impulse! (It would all eventually come out on a box set in the '90s.) Now we have a chance to hear what happened in the preceding months that came into full bloom during to that residency. In a way, this document is just as vital as what would follow. </p> <a href="http://news.jazzjournalists.org"><img height="69" src="http://jazzjournalists.org//badges/Member-button.jpg" width="230" /></a>shanleymusichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09648245457919063666noreply@blogger.com0