Stein, Smith, Shead, Frisell, A Bangle and a Cowsill - What a Week That Was

Clearing the deck of a few shows from a few weeks past, because they are still worth hearing about.

On Sunday, May 31, Jason Stein, Damon Smith & Adam Shead rolled into Cleveland to play two sets at Waterloo Arts. The fine folks with New Ghosts, who have presented shows around town at places like the Bop Stop, organized the show. The space has a bit of a DIY feel, with couches interspersed with a bar (which was closed that night) and stools, which made it a comfortable spot for the trio.  

Stein (bass clarinet), Smith (bass) and Shead (drums and things) had been on my mind for a few weeks leading up to the show, since I reviewed their three-disc Five Nights In the Midwest set for JazzTimes. By listening to it, along with last fall's Live at the Hungry Brain (in which pianist Marilyn Crispell joins the band), I got pretty tuned in to the ways that the trio interacts during their improvisations. But I've seen the trio in person before and looked forward to seeing them in action anyway.

There were moments during both sets when Jason Stein took a breather, but he was blowing most of the time and never seemed at a loss for ideas. During the first set, he slide from soft lines to wild overtones in the same breath. When Shead went to town on his cowbells, Stein testified over the clatter. 

Damon Smith was the most visually arresting member of the trio, taking the idea of extended technique and stretching that to a point that it would break in lesser hands. It was hard to get a definitive picture of what he does because he often moved so quickly that he was on to something else by the time I decided to get the camera out. In addition to bowing in the traditional way, he also went below the bridge. There were moments when two bows were threading between the strings (a technique that I'm sure isn't easy) and detuning his low E string until it barely hung on the instrument - and he still produced some rich sounds. His work also yielded some complex plucking and slow movement up the neck,  

Adam Shead - who looked like Sebadoh/Dinosaur Jr. member Lou Barlow, when trying to get a good photo - had one of the most unique trap sets this side of Han Bennink. Along with "standard" snare drum and kick, he had trio of cowbells, a few mini-tymps (similar to roto-toms) and two sets of mini-cymbals, mounted three on a stand. While Shead can definitely play across his kit rapidly (which reminded my ears of Jim Black's work in Bloodcount), some of the more fascinating moments came when he focused on one element of his kit, developing a sound around it. That effort recalls the way free improvising horn players don't merely wail on altissimo notes for a whole set but take their time working towards a climax. 

It would have been amazing to hear the trio together with Crispell (who played select dates with them on this tour) but they presented plenty of mind-blowing moments on their own.

At the other end of the spectrum, at the end of the same week (Friday, June 5 to be exact), Bill Frisell opened his set at Pittsburgh's City Winery with a gentle reading of "Moon River." (One has to wonder if it was an acknowledgement of Henry Mancini, who grew up down the river in Aliquippa.) Hearing that sound - so languid and gentle yet rich at the same time -  and it was clear that it could be no one else but him on that Telecaster. No one else would wrap up that standard with a loop of noodly effects either.

Bass guitarist Luke Bergman and drummer Tim Angulo provided strong support, leaving wide open spaces where needed and getting more dramatic (Angulo switching to mallets) as the situation required. Frisell fine-tuned his strings a few times while playing and the vibrations could be felt between the notes, like slow-moving waves. 

He didn't talk too much throughout the night, so some of the selections were left to guesses. A Monk-like blues didn't sound exactly like any of Thelonious' works to my ears (it actually felt closer to "Evidence"). If he did follow "Moon River" with "I'm An Old Cowhand," the set included two songs from the Grant Green album Talkin' About!, since his encore featured a psychedelic take of "People," the Barbra Streisand tune from Funny Girl that closes Green's 1965 album. He wrapped up the proper set with an impassioned version of "We Shall Overcome," where every harmonic rang out, giving weight to the spiritual. 

I've always said Frisell's former bandmate, drummer Paul Motian, could speak volumes with just the tap of a ride cymbal. It appears that Frisell can do the same by plucking any harmonic on the fretboard. That sound fills the room.

Getting a parking spot in the Strip District before the Frisell show turned into a bit of a challenge. The same wasn't true earlier in the week on Tuesday, when Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill played the same venue. The couple was backed up by a group of Pittsburgh musicians. known as Jill's Jagoffs due to their connection with the late Jill Sobule (see my preview of the show for details). 

With only one practice together prior to the show, the whole group pulled off the set skillfully. And that intro to "Hair" isn't exactly simple. The evening really ran the gamut, with hits from both the Bangles (Peterson's band, if you haven't figured that out yet) and the Cowsills, interspersed with several songs from the couple's new album Long After the Fire. All the tracks for the new release were penned by John's late brothers Barry and Bill, which yielded plenty of introductory stories onstage. 

Stories in fact, were a huge part of the show, with the couple bantering back and forth in a manner that almost felt scripted but ultimately came across as natural in the way their thoughts tumbled over one another. The best story of the night came before "Indian Lake," a song which the Cowsills once dropped from their set. That happened at a time that the family group was hoping to break out of their squeaky clean image. A loud fan in the audience was upset and kept yelling for it, to no avail. Only later did they find out the voice requesting it was none other than Brian Wilson.

In putting together a preview article (without getting an interview), there were virtually no articles about Vicki Peterson that did not mention the Bangles huge hits, "Manic Monday" and "Walk Like an Egyption." Decent songs sure, but it overlooks the band's early, more garage-y style. (Besides, Peterson only sang lead on one verse of one of the songs). So it was a wild surprise that they saluted the late Prince by playing his composition (which was credited to a pseudonym), "Manic Monday." Even wilder was the encore, which explained why each table setting had a kazoo waiting for patrons. Yes, it was "Walk Like an Egyptian," with the audience filling in for the cheesy synth break. 

Hokey? Maybe, but it was fun. And I played in bands with at least three of the people onstage with them, so it was cool. If only I had brought my copy of the first Bangles EP with me. I would have had a reason to wait in the long merch table line.

Jazz From the Past Month. Were You There?

Our journey back to shows that occurred over the last few months takes us to early May and City of Asylum, or more specifically to Alphabet City, CoA's performance space/bookstore/restaurant. The organization has been presenting their Jazz Poetry events since 2005. Although they have not been booking national jazz acts as frequently as they were a few years ago, they still remain a vital part of the community, where people come to absorb the music and poetry of the night.

This year's Jazz Poetry series kicked off with a performance on May 7 by the Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis. Dr. Lewis (he is one now) is no stranger to CoA, having played their last year for the event, and the group also rocked Club Cafe a couple times. But this was the first time this particular unit collaborated with exiled poets sponsored by their hosts.

The blend of poets and free jazz musicians could be a recipe for disaster. But the writers who come to City of Asylum (from various countries around the world) have always been consistent in both their writing and their reading skills. No overly dramatic delivery or up-tics at the end of lines. 

Rania Mamoun, Volodymyr Rafeyenko and Mark Andryczyk (who acted as translator for Rafeyenko) all delivered strong performances, and the quartet came up with music that was loose and open but ultimately complemented the writers, definitely not overpowering them or underscoring the musical aspect.

Then it was time to rock out. I wondered how the literary and jazz crowd would take to a band that includes the one-time rhythm section of Fugazi, a guitarist who uses multiple effects pedals to shred and a tenor saxophonist who can stand toe-to-toe with these cats. Things were loud enough that Lewis had to gesture to the soundman several times to get his monitor level turned up, but it didn't detract from his playing. 

Anthony Pirog is sitting in the picture above, but that shot was taken when he was playing with the poets. For his set, he stood and the electric fans on stage got his hair blowing, which made him seem like the Rock God that he is. After kicking off the set with the title track of their latest album, Deface the Currency, they immediately dug into "That Thang" a track from their previous album with a dirty, funk vamp, which was deep in the pocket. I was satiated there but there was plenty more to come.

Bassist Joe Lally was a study in understatement. He didn't get flashy, but he built a solid foundation for his comrades, which is exactly what they needed. On drums, Brendan Canty set the grooves on fire, kicked up the energy for Pirog and Lewis, and ringing that bell of his.

No one ran away screaming that night because of the volume. Like their last visit to town, they brought love to the room with their aggressive music.

The following Thursday pianist Marta Sanchez played a Jazz Poetry night, but I missed it, due to work. But I was at Government Center on May 15, for an evening that celebrated the release of 2 of 3, an album by bassist Dylan Zeh, drummer Ross Antonich and saxophonists Erik Lawrence and Derek Bendel. (Each side features one of the saxophonists with Zeh and Antonich, hence the album title.)

The festivities, so to speak, began with Lawrence playing in a duet with vibraphonist Jeff Berman. The former played a couple different flutes (love the bass flute) and saxophones (including a curved soprano and baritone). These guys have a long-standing rapport and it was clear during their set, which was purely improvised but often had the feel of composed work. Or maybe they instinctively went into a tune together. 

It should be mentioned to 2 of 3 is actually the third album that Zeh has released on his Fleur imprint, all of which feature Bendel. Their first release was the bold Musically Yours - A Tribute to Sam Rivers, which was recorded just a few months after its honoree's 100th birthday. Zeh lived in Florida, where he was turned on to Sam Rivers' work, and it just so happens that the composer/saxophonist/flutist's archives are stored at the University of Pittsburgh, so he was able to look original scores when getting a set together. 

Lawrence doesn't appear on that album but he performed with the band live, which is completed by Antonich and flutist Trē Abalos. At the sessions for that album, Zeh and Bendel recorded a series of duets that were released in a self-titled disc with art tby Carol Goss that paid homage to a Sam Rivers/David Holland album that she also drew.

For the second set, the quartet from the album took the stage for a spontaneous conversation. Both saxophonists played together this time. Bendel doubled on bass clarinet, the sound of which carried a little better off the stage of Government Center. But as the video below shows, the baritone and tenor worked really well in tandem. (Maybe it was my ears that missed some of the sounds.) And Antonich  always conveys excitement by the way he looks while playing his kit. 

Towards the end, Berman came back onstage to get in on the action. 

I realize the audience for free music isn't huge but it would have been nice to see a few more faces from the Messthetics show in the crowd, checking this out. What would it take? More hustling? More info from people like, coming in a timely manner? 

I suppose this seems like a good time to plug Sonic Pit, the Substack page (or is it a blog?) that I'm doing with Scott Mervis and Manny Theiner. That site promises more previews of shows, something that Pittsburgh hasn't seen as much lately. It's free to subscribe, so check it out. And keep checking here too, of course.

Catching Up on the Other Stuff or I'm Not Just on Substack These Days

For those who didn't know, I am one of three Pittsburgh writers who launched a space on Substack last month. It all started when Scott Mervis, until recently the music critic at the Post-Gazette, was not hired on by the paper's new owners. He was talking to Manny Theiner, a Pittsburgh fixture who has been putting on shows for ages and also knows his way around a descriptive phrase. (He wrote for InPgh and Pittsburgh City Paper much like me.) The two of them started hatching ideas about starting a "super blog" and my name got pulled into the conversation. I wasn't going to say no to another chance for my writing to get out into the public. The power of three is always a good thing. Being a Libra, I'll keep things balanced too. 

On May 13, Sonic Pitt made its debut. If you want to check it out, here's a good place to start. Please like some of the articles and considering subscribing, There are both free and paid subscriptions. The more we have, the better chance we have of thriving. 

So that has taken up quite a bit of time lately, in the best possible way, of course. There's a show coming up? Hey, I can preview it, for the first time in a while! With Scott's pull, I might even get some new eyes looking at my articles too, hopefully checking out music. 

While all that has been happening, though, I have been thinking that I want to keep this blog alive as well. Granted the traffic isn't quite as heavy - though the number of readers for my last few posts is kind of high, so thank you all for that - but I still feel like this is a valuable outlet, writing about new albums that deserve recognition, reporting on live shows and the occasional post about some record I picked up recently and why you should care about it. 

That being said, it's time to do some catching up. For that, I'll begin several weeks back, before even Sonic Pit was a reality. 

On the last weekend in April, the NFL Draft took place in Pittsburgh. I'm not a fan of such hoopla so it was just another weekend for me, albeit one where the city was expecting huge throngs of people to descend on our city. Apparently they did, but local businesses didn't see the spike they were anticipating. 

I mention all this because, despite being right on the edge of the area where the draft was happening (on the North Side), Government Center still hosted a show, which featured the Ithaca, NY band Material Objects (pictured above). The 54D bus stops pretty much outside of my house and passes within a block of Government Center, so it was a good night to utilize public transit and check out the action. 

Locals Bat Radar and Ampersandband opened the show. I've seen and played shows with the former band many times but hadn't seen the latter before, and hope to again. Material Objects had kind of a thick, somewhat droning guitar sound (somewhere in the lineage of Mission of Burma songs like "Dead Pool," sans tape loops), accentuated by the use of cello.  Their CD In Revision sounded a little more to my ears like Chicago post-rock, with the cello underused or mixed low, but still cool.

A few days later, the New Pornographers came back to town, for the first time since 2017, I believe. They were back at Mr. Small's Theatre, having played Stage AE last time. As I was driving into Millvale to the show, I saw a guy standing on a corner who looked a bit like NPs bassist John Collins. Luckily I was able to find a parking spot right there and ran up to the fellow before he had a chance to walk away. Sure enough - it WAS John Collins. (Full disclosure - John mixed a few songs by my previous band, the Love Letters, and he's a really nice guy to boot.) Always good to catch up with musical acquaintances. 

The show opened with a solo set by Will Sheff, one-time (maybe in perpetuity) singer of Okkervil River. His band opened for the NPs in town many moons ago, and some friends of mine weren't taken with what they considered scenery-chewing, Nick Cave-inspired dramatics onstage back then. Me, I thought he was fine. Tonight there was none of that, just a man and his guitar, playing some songs that were dramatic but pretty arresting too. On top of that, Sheff's current look was reminiscent of Abbey Road-era John Lennon too.

A question loomed in my mind that night: what kind of set would the New Pornographers deliver? The new album, The Former Site Of, is pretty strong, but has a noticeable lack of guitars, except for maybe rhythm parts. (It also had a lyric sheet, which might be a first for them, and a very welcome addition.) Further, who would be in the band tonight?

The personnel onstage included longtime member Kathryn Calder (above) on keyboards and vocals. Neko Case was not there but the other vocal chores were handled skillfully by Jess Nolan, who was on the other side of the stage, flanking Carl Newman (below). 

The set was a great mix of tunes from the new album along with classics like "The Laws Have Changed" and "Testament to Youth In Verse," the latter written by off-and-on member Dan Bejar, and handled ably by everyone in his absence. Finally, the group totally slayed me by including "The Bleeding Heart Show," one of my favorite songs across the board. The climax of it got me hopping around like I was at a tent revival, which probably looked a little goofy but at that point, I didn't care. The music took over. 

CD/LP Review: Harriet Tubman & Georgia Anne Muldrow - Electrical Field of Love

Harriet Tubman & Georgia Anne Muldrow

Electrical Field of Love

(Pi Recordings) pirecordings.com/albums/electrical-field-of-love/

It's hard to feel the floor on Electrical Field of Love. Which is to say that beats, voices, bass lines and guitar leads float in and out of one another as the album moves forward. On first blush, it can be hard figure out how these sonic elements fit together, if at all. But much like a walk through a dark room, clarity offers shape as time passes, that mysterious floor gradually becomes more visible, with a welcoming path that has curiosities on the way.

Harriet Tubman in this case is the trio of Brandon Ross (guitar), Melvin Gibbs (bass) and JT Lewis (drums). Together for over a quarter century, these three lay claim to backgrounds that range from Henry Threadgill's Make a Move to the Rollins Band. Gibbs, who co-founded the Black Rock Coalition and just published a book titled How Black Music Took Over the World, is arguably one of the most visible bassists in forward-thinking music coming out of New York. (Several years ago, I saw him at Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum with Arto Lindsay, and more recently in solo set at Winter Jazz Fest.)

Georgia Anne Muldrow has released numerous albums under her own name and, for her more jazz-oriented work, under the name Jyoti. She has collaborated with artists that include J. Dilla and Robert Glasper and saxophonist Darius Jones interpreted Muldrow's "Figure No. 2" on Demoon Alchemy (a lone operation). On Electrical Field of Love, Muldrow occupies an interesting space, working like an additional instrument with the Tubman trio, without ever attempting to imitate what an instrumentalist might play in a free setting. Lyrics often appear, adding to the intrigue. 

Gibbs moreso than Lewis often acts as the connective tissue here. The drummer flexes a bit in "Don't Stand A Chance, After the Boom," trying out a thrash beat before returning to a slow dub groove. Muldrow's wailing adds to the intensity. "Assata" builds around Gibbs' double-stops, with Ross eventually adding expanded jazz harmonies. The guitarist cuts his own path throughout the album, and when he shreds during a track like "When You Rise," his overdriven sound still floats on an equal level with his bandmates, never attempting to overpower them or Muldrow.

"Hands" closes with Muldrow singing over Gibbs's smooth plucked chords. "Are your hands like potters/ is your heart throbbing for your life/ Do you get caught up just because you're in the next electrical field of love?" After posing the questions, her husky moan vanishes in a cloud of tremolo, with the inquiry lingering on until next time.

Many of the tracks cut off suddenly or feel like a fragment of a bigger passage. Producer Scotty Hard, apparently a protege of Teo Macero, utilized the lessons of his guru in constructing the album with the band. It gives each track room to come to life without giving it time to meander. If college radio DJs still creates sets with a sense of adventure, this album (12 tracks in 38 tight minutes) should satiate them. 

What Are You Doing for Record Store Day?

Tomorrow, April 18 is the 18th Annual Record Store Day, considering the spring events and not counting the events that come on Black Friday later in the year. In the past I've both groused and geeked out about this day. This time around, I'll leave it to readers to decide where the thing really lies. I mean, my son, who's a year older than RSD, finally got into buying music in all formats over the last year, after we bestowed my late mother's stereo on him. Suddenly he was interested in starting a pile of vinyl of his own, with a taste that spans styles and generations. So if there are old albums being reissued that are hard for him to find, my guess is that some of these new remastered versions could be a good thing for others of his generation. 

I checked out info on two John Coltrane releases that are going to be available tomorrow. The Tiberi Tapes offers a preview of a complete set of live recordings that will be released in the fall. Sounds cool but the record contains a mere two tracks, one 13 minutes long and the other 11 minutes. Somehow the idea of plunking down $30 (just a guess) for 24 minutes of music doesn't do it for me. Better to wait for the whole set.

France 1965 features all the music Trane's quartet played at Antibes and Salle Pleyel, spread over four platters. A rare performance of A Love Supreme takes up half of it, though it has already been released on the first deluxe CD reissue of the original album. The remainder of the album includes another rarely performed piece: what would become the seven-horn opus "Ascension," though here it's done with Trane as the lone horn and was known at the time as "Blue Valse."

All of this appeared on a two-disc set on Gambit Records, John Coltrane 4tet Live in France July 27/28 1965, though in looking at that disc, I have a feeling it might be a bootleg. Buying legit is better but I don't feel ready to chuck the disc for another box.

But on to the good stuff....

Cecil Taylor Unit

Fragments 

(Elemental)

One thing you can count on for RSD is that musical excavator Zev Feldman will have a handful of new releases by some legendary artists, replete with deluxe packaging that includes photos, liner notes and interviews with people close to the music. Fragments is a magnum opus here. It features pianist Cecil Taylor's Unit in 1969 that briefly featured Sam Rivers (tenor and soprano saxophones, flute) along with Unit regulars Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone) and Andrew Cyrille (drums). 

A few days later they would play Fondation Maegth, a lengthy performance which has been spread over three records (and three CDs, which again, aren't legit as I found out a few years after purchasing them). The two performances on this set come from the 8th Annual Paris Jazz Festival, which put the Unit on a George Wein-organized concert with Miles Davis and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

If the billing sounds like worlds colliding, it's nothing compared to the music. The band performed afternoon and evening sets. In the afternoon, they played for a mind-boggling 90 minutes. The evening set trimmed it down to 49 minutes. Lyons and Rivers (reportedly using sheet music) complement each other. While Lyons often avoid wailing in favor of complex, contoured lines that took Charlie Parker's ideas into a new world, Rivers seems to push him towards some wild shrieks throughout the performances. In fact, there are moments toward the end of the afternoon set (spread over two discs on CD edition) that recall some unhinged Frank Wright sessions.

But there are also moments of complexity and delicate work. Taylor takes numerous lengthy solos between the horn workouts, and his technique is staggering in both velocity and clarity. The way Cyrille finds ways to respond to the pianist (both of them play constantly) is beautiful as well. When Rivers grabs his flute, he alternates blowing and emitting loud groans and wails. With the composition titled "Fragments of a Dedication to Duke Ellington," one can only wonder what the honoree thought of it. 

Joe Henderson

Consonance

(Resonance)

Mr. Feldman has also gotten a direct line to recordings made at the landmark Jazz Showcase in Chicago, courtesy of the family of the club's late owner Joe Segal. Consonance features one set of them, with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson stretching out at length in a quartet with pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Danny Spencer. 

The sound quality is strong here, putting you in the front row to experience 23-minutes of "Mr. P.C." followed by no less than 26 minutes of the saxophonist's "Inner Urge." And that's just half of the first disc. It's hard not to think of the Coltrane quartet, especially with Brackeen's way of thundering behind Henderson, and her frequent habit of dropping out after a few choruses, which inspires the saxophonist to take harmonic liberties with the music. 

Resonance is also releasing another Jazz Showcase performance with Stardust and Starlight, a 1979 Mal Waldron set that features Sonny Stitt as a guest on two tracks. (There's a combination that should be heard.) Anyone who can't get enough of Bill Evans performances should be stoked to find At the BBC, which features the pianist in a trio with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker. The late pianist Michel Petrucciani is also the subject of an Elemental release with Kuumbwa, a two-disc set from the 1987 festival of that name, backed by Dave Holland (bass) and Eliot Zigmund (drums). 

Right before writing this post, I was digging into Ahmad Jamal's At the Jazz Showcase - Live in Chicago, from 1976. Opener "Ahmad's Thene" alone is spellbinding for the way the late pianist could maintain momentum with gentle grooves and then suddenly switch to a nearly orchestral flow. In "Wave" his hands do some gymnastics up the entire length of the keyboard too, as if to prove there was a wild side beneath the reserve for which he may be known. Throughout it all, bassist John Heard and drummer Frank Gant are there with him. 

(Personal aside that I can't resist mentioning: When my son did a show of Pittsburgh natives on his college radio station, Ahmad Jamal was the first person he played, in a set that jumped genres, going all the way to Mac Miller.)

Whether you decide to camp out in line at your favorite record shop or stay home, these new releases should be discovered, in all their glory. Not just online either. Feldman and his crew went to a lot of trouble compiling the engaging interviews that shed light on these performances. The least you could do it grab them. 

 

Rempis, Corsano & Adasiewicz Hit The Bop Stop

A road trip to Cleveland's Bop Stop was in order this past Wednesday, when (left to right above) vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Chris Corsano set up shop for two amazing sets of free improvisation. I had seen Rempis there a few years ago at the same venue with the group Ballister, and Corsano frequently comes to Pittsburgh with his various projects. Yet the only time I saw Adasiewicz in these parts was 2011, when Starlicker (with Rob Mazurek and John Herndon) played at the Andy Warhol Museum. He dropped out of music a few years later, working as a carpenter.  Luckily he resurfaced when Corbett V. Dempsey released two albums by him in 2023. As something of a fanboy for the vibes man, I was ecstatic, albeit eventually bummed that I missed seeing him at the Bop Stop last year. 

The evening was the group's seventh show during a nine-day tour and they immediately locked in with one another, knowing how to lift the bandstand. Rempis began the set on tenor, blowing with a fury and heavy vibrato that almost overpowered the vibes. But Adasiewicz is still a heavy hitter and he put his whole body into his playing throughout the night. "God help those mallets," was scrawled in my notes from the first part of the set. 

Corsano never let his momentum waver whether he was flying over his trap kit or incorporating accessories into his playing. When the dynamics dipped down during the first set, he dexterously placed some bowls on his drum heads to get some sustained sound. He also used a paper hand fan, in a effort to bend the sound of the heads a bit, as he later explained to me.

The first set lasted close to an hour, giving Rempis a chance to switch to soprano and later baritone saxes as things surged forward. On the big horn, he began producing a flury of brutal overtones that eventually began to lock into a wave of sound that felt more like a spiritual. When Adasiewicz joined him for pedal point wave over Corsano's rolling work, it felt to my ears akin to the spirit of the final moment of A Love Supreme without recurring line that offered thanks to any higher power. That was left to the audience, who whooped enthusiastically and waited patiently for the second half.

People who look down on free music but think it lacks nuances, but there was plenty of that in the second half of the night. 

Rempis had picked up his alto during the first set, but put it down in favor of the baritone. The second set began with him on alto, at one point blowing in little peeps and murmurs. Adasiewicz, who began by clanging his instrument with the opposite end of his mallets, showed some admirable restraint when his bandmates took off in a brief duet, looking at them thoughtfully but not playing. Corsano seemed to take inspiration from the vibraphonist's visceral performance because the whole drum kit was trembling at one point while his dug into it. Even when he used brushes later on, the sounds he made felt like thunderclaps.

Rempis switched back to tenor saxophone and his blowing evoked the throaty tone of pre-bop players, creating something rich and full-bodied. Things built to a climax when Adasiewicz placed a plastic stick across the sharps/flats on his instrument and repeatedly created a sustained cluster of notes with his left hang, while his right built some concluding statements. When that device fell between the metal bars of the vibes, he pounded them with his fists to keep the sound flowing. 

Musicians who are skilled at free, open playing always astounds me with the way they know when they've reached a conclusion and know that it's time to stop. Watching this can be compared to a rollercoaster ride coming to a stop, creating another rush. Rempis, Corsano and Adasiewicz did something like that last week. As much as I wasn't looking forward to the two-plus hour drive back home, I had the energy for it after their set. 

CD Reviews: Tomeka Reid Quartet - dance! skip! hop! / Adam O'Farrill - Elephant

Tomeka Reid Quartet

dance! skip! hop!

(Out of Your Head) outofyourheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dance-skip-hop

The title track to Tomeka Reid's dance! skip! hop! comes off as one of those "worth the price of admission" tracks. With Tomas Fujiwara laying down a steady 4/4 beat with brushes, cellist Reid (plucking not bowing here), guitarist Mary Halvorson and bassist Jason Roebke dig into the spritely melody, with all three occupying an full, intriguing frequency range not heard all that often in this music. In keeping with Reid's album title - affixed to it when she realized how all the music inspired her to dance - the bounce of it recalls early Chico Hamilton work with cellist Fred Katz. With Halvorson's solo beginning like an electric harpsichord and the track's ending which pulls apart, finally going into a 9/8 vamp, it ultimately feels very of-the-moment. (Hearing this live was a highlight of the 2026 Winter Jazz Fest.) 

Of course the rest of the album yields many exciting moments as well. "a(ways) for CC and CeCe" (the title an acknowledgement of both a Chicago music supporter and to Reid's great aunt) begins freely, with Fujiwara sounding like he's playing drum heads with his hands, before it goes into a swing tempo. Reid produces some heavy strums that seem to channel either flamenco or a lick from "Ahmad's Blues." Halvorson goes for the former idea, with string bends that give it a surreal quality. Later in "Oo Long!" the guitarist's fuzz offers quite a contrast with the bass and cello behind her which might not exactly be acoustic but are definitely cleaner than the gitbox.

For "Under the Aurora Sky" Reid's bow creates an arresting cello ballad, with guitar offering counterpoint in the second chorus. "Silver Spring Fig Tree" gets free in the middle, until Roebke and Reid lock into single note ostinato. As Halvorson adds dissonant harmony. the cello feels extremely soulful solo with loud, crisp plucks.

The opening track might be the gateway, but everything that follows is equally strong for diverse reasons. 

Adam O'Farrill

Elephant

(Our Of Your Head) adamofarrill.bandcamp.com/album/elephant

Once in a while a musician pops up on a stage and evokes a reaction that places them several spaces ahead of their equally talented peers. They elicit a reaction similar to "Woah - this cat's going places." (At least that's what I often think.)

I felt that way back in 2018 upon seeing Adam O'Farrill live with Stephen Crump (who is about to come back to town with a different group) and hearing the album El Maquech by the trumpeter's band Stranger Days. There was imagination and fire working together in equal parts. Since then, O'Farrill has released more of his own albums and has worked in numerous bands including Mary Halvorson's About Ghosts project and with pianist Hiromi, whose intense music requires a serious set of chops. Elephant marks the first time O'Farrill has acted as the lone horn, in front of a trio of upcoming but equally skilled players. (Though bassist Walter Stinson was also a part of Stranger Days too.) 

"Curves and Convolutions" launches the set with pianist Yvonne Rogers playing a steady arpeggio, with Stinson adding the skipping counterpoint. O'Farrill, with wah mute, initially floats on top of this rigid setting before the mood loosens up and expands. By the end, the quartet's music has made a big transformation, a feeling that repeats throughout the album.

The three-part "Sea Triptych" follows, each section virtually flowing into the next, giving it the feel of a bigger piece. Dreamy visions of water travel are accentuated by ghost trumpets floating and melting in the background. In "Iris Murdoch," the third section, Stinson holds down an ostinato that has him moving all over the neck, while O'Farrill and Rogers play the edgy melody and Holzman manages to find some funk to glue it together.

O'Farrill's love of soundtracks factors into the music as well. The album concludes with Ryuichi Sakamoto's gentle "Bibo No Aozora," which features the trumpeter sounding lush, as he plays the part originally arranged for strings. Stinson comes up with another flowing solo, boosted by the comping of Rogers, who gets her own sharp solo in as the album closes. "The Return" takes its name from Twin Peaks: The Return; at nearly 12 minutes in length, it feels as much like an epic as the earlier "Sea Triptych" going through a vast array of moods, in a evocative manner akin to soundtrack work.

Throughout the album, O'Farrill clearly has undisputed chops on his horn, but some of the most arresting moments come when he plays some long tones like the muted parts beneath the piano in "Herkimer Diamond." That piece, and the brief "Eleanor's Dance" include strong backbeats which might make them more accessible but never skim on the power of the piece. 

Like O'Farrill, the Out Of Your Head imprint has also grown by leaps and bounds in terms of number of releases in their catalog and their knack for being on the vanguard of exciting improvised music.