Greg Ward & 10 Tongues - Touch My Beloved's Thought (Greenleaf Music, 2016) ****

By Paul Acquaro

Touch My Beloved's Thought is an audacious undertaking that draws inspiration from the drama, passion, and presentation of Charles Mingus' 1963 recording Black Saint and Sinner Lady. Chicago based saxophonist Greg Ward typically leans toward edgy modern jazz, with nods towards classic hard bop and free jazz, but on Touch My Beloved's Thought he takes it much further, creating a dazzling score for a 10-piece group comprised of trusted colleagues.

The inspiration came in form of a commission to honor Mingus' masterwork, and from this, the piece was developed, like the original, with an accompanying dance production (choreographed by Onye Ozuzu). The resulting performance, the one from which this recording was made, was debuted at Constellation in Chicago in August of 2015.

While going back to the Mingus album certainly enriches the listening experience, it is not required, as Ward explains, the connection to Mingus's piece was more of inspiration and continuation rather than a rewriting. The composer took snippets, intros, arresting intervals, and fleeting moments as jumping off points to create something unique. Even the title refers back to the sub-title of the original.

Kicking off with 'Daybreak', a sequence of chords played by the saxophones beckons, as the listener is drawn to the layered opening fanfare. Right away the composition is striking, especially as the theme is recast again and again, gaining depth and heft. The saxophone solo at the 4-minute mark is a delicious break, especially against the rich accompaniment. The opening truly sets the stage - the follow up 'Singular Serenade' breaks down the big sound into a more intimate scene - driven by piano and steeped in the blues. There is a vaguely nagging familiarity to the melody.

In 'With All Sorrow, Sing a Song of Jubilee', a ballad, introduced by piano hosts an extended trombone solo that harkens back to an older style of jazz, but fresh enough to underscore how good music is timeless. The follow up 'Grit' is a perfect encapsulation of a Mingus riff, bold and joyous, and something to grab onto. Finally, let's listen together to the incredible horn arrangement in 'Round 3' – it's a brass fantasy worthy of getting lost in. Stomps and shouts and a bass line so sumptuous it'll make you weep.

On Touch My Beloved's Thought, brash voicings and subtle changes work hand-in-hand with sizzling solos and energetic ensemble work to bring this homage alive. In this connected age, when all music is available, at any time and anywhere, and the rich well from which to draw inspiration is ever flowing, you can glance backwards but you must keep moving ahead. It's great to hear such a work being created in 2016 and would support any argument about vitality of jazz right now.

Personnel:

• Greg Ward: alto saxophone, compositions
• Tim Haldeman: tenor saxophone
• Keefe Jackson: tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
• Ben LaMarGuy: cornet
• Russ Johnson: trumpet
• Norman Palm: trombone
• Christopher Davis: bass trombone
• Dennis Luxion: piano
• Jason Roebke: bass
• Marcus Evans: drums.

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Jason Roebke Octet – Cinema Spiral (NoBusiness, 2016) ****

By Eric McDowell

Perhaps the most efficient way to sample Chicago’s wealth of top-notch musicians would be to attend a gig by the Jason Roebke Octet. A veritable who’s-who of scene-leaders, the Octet comprises Greg Ward on alto sax; Keefe Jackson on tenor and sopranino saxes, plus contrabass clarinet; Jason Stein on bass clarinet; Josh Berman on trumpet; Jeb Bishop on trombone; Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone; Mike Reed on drums; and, of course, Roebke himself on bass. As busy as every one of these guys is—they’ve probably all hit our blog’s pages in the two years since the Octet’s debut, High/Red/Center (Delmark, 2014)—each one brings to Cinema Spiral the full force of his power, thoughtfulness, and individuality.

While on the surface these seven tracks offer plenty to enjoy—from tight group arrangements to masterful solos to killer freewheeling group improvisation—you might need a few listens to really appreciate Roebke’s vision here. There’s a certain slipperiness to the album, a clever ambiguity that proves Cinema Spiral to be an apt title, reflecting as it does the music’s play with the line between a whole gang of film-related binaries: community and isolation, motion and stasis, parts and whole, even predetermination and improvisation. Expectations, in other words, aren’t much use.

The album opens (“Looking Directly Into the Camera”), for example, with swells of sound, tightly controlled and full of potential energy, but only twenty seconds in abruptly reroutes into a lengthy halting bass solo. As the other instruments join back in—starting with hair-raising bowed vibraphone—it becomes clear that Roebke’s structural design extends all the way across the album’s seven tracks, each one with its own quality but intimately connected to the next, like scenes in a movie. It’s not until the very end of track two, the gently swinging “Focusing,” that those opening swells return, a motif that both helps maintain the larger organization of the piece but also toys with our sense of forward movement: how did we get back here?

According to Greg Buium’s excellent and highly recommended in-depth Point of Departure feature on Roebke, the bassist calls motifs like this one “little vignettes.” Elsewhere the vignettes are harder to pin down, rising subtly underneath the matrix of group improvisation and then receding so that, kaleidoscopically, all the tumbling tonal colors pull together for just a moment, before slipping apart again. In describing his compositional process, Roebke cites Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi as a model: “It’s not like everyone’s improvising, and then everyone’s playing written material. The way that Herbie Hancock was doing this stuff, it was like, everybody’s improvising, and then all of a sudden Julian Priester and Bennie Maupin would play some line as sort of a background, to nothing. It was not a background. It was just a thing—that somebody took and then went a different direction with it” (quoted in Buium).

Though it’s rewarding to listen for and learn to recognize these cues, as I said above, you don’t have to in order to enjoy the music. The ballad “In the Moment” features some gorgeous trombone work from Bishop, as well as another tasteful bass solo. There’s a great dual feature for bass clarinet and sax on “Getting High.” “People Laughing” starts in hysterics and somehow finds its way to whispery extended techniques. As the album climaxes it delivers my favorite two tracks last: first the grooving “Waiting,” which puts the segue model to maximal use, and finally “L’Acme,” a lush 6/8 stunner where expert ensemble improvisation meets solid writing in a perfect, fleeting balance.

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Hearts & Minds – self-titled (Astral Spirits, 2016) ****½

By Tom Burris

Astral Spirits should release “Stocky,” the opening track from the debut Hearts & Minds album, as a 7” single asap!  Paul Giallorenzo's keyboards propel this no-wave gem into a bizarre plane where its catchy, jerky riff could jump-start a whole new genre.  Seriously, this brilliant, bizarre, brief little track is potentially monumental.  Don't let this moment pass!

Now slow down the intensity and speed of the opener & spread its parts out over the length of an entire album and here's what you get:  Giallorenzo's keyboard bass lines plodding stiffly straight outta vintage Sun Ra.  Jason Stein's playing is suddenly reminiscent of John Gilmore, although that probably has more to do with me – and Giallorenzo – projecting that onto him than anything else.  Frank Rosaly alternately swings and jerks the rhythm in the way that only Frank does.  Giallorenzo changes textures as often as Rosaly changes rhythms.  And I'll be damned if Stein's tone doesn't keep getting grittier and smoother at the same time. 

Prog-rock also rears its ugly head in the best possible way, with a Soft Machine-style melody at the root of “Streaming,” on which Giallorenzo also keeps a vintage Alice Coltrane sounding bass line moving the whole thing along.  Stein takes a solo here that is highly melodic, while also exuding a natural masculine roughness.  There is also a track called “Nick Masonry” whose second half features a melody that sounds like it came straight from the Gong songbook.  And more of Soft Machine's melodic sense is found on the closer “Old Balance”.

The band draws from a wealth of diverse sources and the combination of these elements is perfectly balanced.  Highly recommended.

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Jackson/Baker/Kirshner – The Noisy Miner (Astral Spirits, 2016) ****

By Tom Burris

Recorded at Constellation in Chicago in November 2015, this trio consisting of Keefe Jackson (reeds), Jim Baker (piano/synth), and Julian Kirshner (drums) sounds like it's been together forever. The way they come barreling out of the gate, full of beauty and richness, on the first track, “These Trails Differ,” brings to mind David S. Ware's late 90s quartet – and they don't even build up to that. They start from there. Before this track is over, I also realize this may be the most confident I've ever heard Keefe Jackson sound.

Jackson opens “Sailing Stones, Sliding, Moving” with grunts and growls into the horn while Jim and Julian map out the course. Keefe beings playing notes and squealing, but stays in madman mode – eventually allowing that to dissolve into braying like a wounded animal. J & J build up again underneath him. That's the pattern of this conceptual work. Do it twice.

A strange thing happens about 5 minutes into “There Is No Fact, However Insignificant” where Jim and Keefe hold down notes, making it sound like the music has flatlined. It sounds a bit like something from the Hearts & Minds album – both bands have the same instrumentation in their line-ups – but J/B/K is much looser. There are times throughout where it is a bit difficult to distinguish between Keefe's horn and Jim's synth – and those are often times when Kirshner's playing propels the group into the stratosphere, conjuring up nothing so much as the label's name itself.

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Gunwale – Polynya (Aerophonic, 2016) ****

By Tom Burris

Albert Wildeman is Gunwale's secret weapon. He propels the group with roly-poly stabs on his bass, all accents and rhythmic tumble, that bring unfailing allegiance from drummer Ryan Packard & inspiration to saxophonist Dave Rempis. When Wildeman starts urging Packard onward, you can tell that Rempis is on cloud nine. Their early tentative steps, heard here, were recorded in Chicago at Elastic and the Hungry Brain back in January.

Packard also adds electronic textures to the mix, which is becoming more prominent in the sonic landscape of the city these days as well. Of the four albums I received for Free Jazz Blog's “Chicago Week,” all four feature a musician whose responsibilities include adding electronic textures to the canvas. Now this isn't a new sound, of course – but having an electric gurgle player on hand seems to be as essential as a drummer to Chicago bands these days. Frankly, I love it – mostly because provides the widest possible sonic palate for acoustic players to incorporate and react against.

The best example of this textural experimentation happens during “Bevel,” where Packard settles on a triad chord of feedback tones and Rempis joins in with a fourth, holding it via circular breathing technique. The chord drops as Wildeman enters the fray, giving a new air of seriousness – yeah, the beard-stroking kind – to the proceedings. The volume and intensity build until the tide finally rolls in, creating wave after subtle wave of rolling stew.

Wildeman and Packard perfect this rolling propulsion on the next track, “Liner,” accelerating it to a more manic pace. Rempis takes off for majestic heights as the groove becomes tighter. Around the four and half minute mark, a funk groove moves in unexpectedly – but Wildeman and Packard are throwing in unusual accents that give it just enough jolt to confuse your feet while sustaining the dancing in your head.

An excellent debut from a band that you'll want to watch progress before your eyes. Go see 'em on tour this month!

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Rempis/Abrams/Ra - Perihelion (Aerophonic, 2016) ****½

By Lee Rice Epstein

Perihelion is the new album from the trio of Dave Rempis on alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone; Joshua Abrams on bass and clarinet; and Avreeayl Ra on drums and wooden flute. It’s their follow-up to Aphelion, reviewed here by Tom Burris. Yes, it’s a massive double-album of free jazz, but it’s also achingly gorgeous, fierce as hell, and contains some of Rempis’s finest playing on record. In addition to the usual trio, Perihelion adds guest Jim Baker, keyboard and electronics, on the entire second disc. It sounds hyperbolic, but I needed this album in my life, partly as a document of the Chicago scene I never properly took advantage of while living there for 6 years. Living there, first with one newborn, then another, it was impossible to get out to shows. Weird how 6 years flew by, and suddenly we were leaving town knowing we never properly settled in. And now, here comes Perihelion.

The album consists of two live performances. The first is from August 2015, recorded at Elastic Arts. The second is from January 2016, recorded at The Owl. The main difference between the two is the addition of Baker, but both are just super fantastic.

Abrams kicks off “Enceladus” with a brief solo. Rempis joins in a bluesy, soulful mood, carving the suggestion of a melody out of his solo. By the time Ra joins, there’s a shape to the track, and Rempis and Abrams start to turn up the heat. Once the trio is about 5 minutes into “Enceladus,” everyone’s moving, and the pace doesn’t really let up for another 40 minutes. That’s not to say the tempo stays at that speed, but it’s the pace of ideas that doesn’t let up. Abrams is adept at using space and silence to craft evocative lines. There are more shades here than, say, early Ballister albums (although truthfully that band has evolved into something of an oddball cousin to this trio). Rempis really has reached some next-level phase of playing. On disc two, “Cassini Division” and “Pan and Daphnis,” his opening runs combine a full-throated baritone growl with a lyricism that deepens the whole band’s contributions. About 5 minutes into “Cassini Division,” Baker and Abrams perform a fluid duet, accompanied by Ra shading in the space with light cymbal work. Rempis comes back with another soul-infused line that echoes some of Baker’s runs. As on Aphelion, this group plays with almost telepathic interplay. Rempis and Abrams chase each other through a sing-song duet that gradually builds, with Baker joining on high, ringing chords. The album closes with the relatively short “Pan and Daphnis.” Each player gradually slowing their play into long, quiet tones that seem almost like a molasses-slow replay of the track’s early skittering improvisation. Some albums just connect with you in a way you didn’t anticipate, and this was certainly one. Whatever the reason, the band itself or the timing of hearing this, it was just what I needed.

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Dave Rempis & the Aerophonic Download Series

By Paul Acquaro

This year, Chicago-based saxophonist Dave Rempis began a download-only series on his Aerophonic label. While I'm passionately dedicated to the physical medium, the digital releases of side projects, live shows, and the like, is not something I'm complaining about!

Rempis/Johnson/Ochs - Neutral Nation (Aerophonic, 2016) ****

In Spring 2015, Dave Rempis - alto/baritone saxophones, Darren Johnston - trumpet, and Larry Ochs - sopranino/tenor saxophones took the work they began on 2014's Spectral on the road. Neutral Nation documents the tour with a show recorded at the venue Hallwell's in Buffalo, NY. The sound is quite good, capturing the smallest nuances to the full onslaught of reeds and brass.

There is nothing traditional about the work of this trio, the lack of rhythm and harmonic support leaves a big space for their ideas to grow. And grow they do as evidenced by the two long tracks presented here. As 'Pierce Arrow' starts, the intensity of listening and reacting that this trio engages in becomes obvious - snippets will often connect, though sometimes not, friendly dissonances and passionate musical arguments arise, all connecting with a larger musical purpose.

A companion piece to Spectral, Neutral Nation is an excellent reminder of the magic of live playing and pure improvisation, taking their previously recorded concept one step further.

Rempis/Morris/Reid/Baker - Nettles (Aerophonic, 2016) ****

Nettles is a collaboration between Chicagoans Dave Rempis (sax), Tomeka Reid (cello), Jim Baker (piano) and lone New Englander Joe Morris (guitar) and was, according to the Aerophonic website, born from an effort by Morris to become better acquainted with the thriving Chicago scene. A series of concerts organized by Ken Vandermark in the summer of 2013 made this possible, and Nettles is from a show at Elastic Arts from August that year.

The result of this meeting was an ad-hoc group that is quite finely attuned, listening and adjusting to each other, and improvising music that is both fragile and robust. The first track, "White Dead", clocking in at 24 minutes, begins with a series of short airy puffs from Rempis, followed by reserved entrances from Baker, Morris and Reid. The playing grows stronger: a fast run from Morris, a trill from Rempis, scrapes of the string and plucks from Reid, and increasingly longer melodic snippets from Baker. Then it suddenly drops off and the musicians begin to re-establish themselves, first in a lovely ballad between Reid and Baker, then a passage where Morris joins, his melody augmented by the piano and sustained tones from the cello. When Rempis re-enters, it’s a lithe melody that comes to the fore, and again Baker’s piano work is an integral partner. The intensity comes not from volume, but from the intricate combination of tempos, configurations, and evolving motifs.

At times introspective and at other times outgoing, Nettles runs circles around the MBTI. From "White Dead" to the closing "Spotted Dead", this is a captivating recording.

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J@K@L with Michael Attias – Static Adieu (1980 Records, 2016) ****

By Tom Burris

Keefe Jackson (reeds), Julian Kirshner (drums), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello, tenor guitar) released a cassette last year called If Honor And Wisdom And Happiness Are Not For Me, Let Them Be For Others. The group has continued working together and is now referring to itself as J@K@L (Jackson@Kirshner@Lonberg-Holm). They have just released a second cassette of a live recording with special guest Michael Attias (alto sax), recorded in Chicago at the Owl in March of this year.

The first side of the cassette (a single track called “Oblivion and Forgetting Always Win in the End” - a title you can trust!) opens with the trio (Attias doesn't appear until Side B) charging out of the gate representing said shared Oblivion. By the 3-minute mark, however, they have gelled into something spectacular, speaking in tongues in praise of something pleasingly unholy. Fred is the guardian of all things electronic and skronk here, running his instruments through multiple effects; and his first challenger is Keefe Jackson's tenor sax. (Here's where the community spirit unravels and the battle commences.) Fred wins, so Keefe grabs his sopranino and immediately the intensity level goes up for the entire band. Fred is eventually driven back to his cello by an honest-to-God SPIT SOLO from Keefe. Jackson is not a good sportsman. He gloats over his victory by playing like a mountain man from Joujouka, bucking and squealing like a possessed Bou Jeloud, while Fred tries to drown him own with cello distortion & Kirshner runs referee. Final assessment: the listener wins.

Side B (@BYG Actuel, since this entire side struck me as an homage to vintage sides of this label) features Mr. Attias and Mr. Jackson frequently blurring the line between soloist/support/collaborative roles, keeping Fred and Julian on their toes throughout. On a section of the title track, Lonberg-Holm manages to play bass, lead, and alien wallpaper sounds simultaneously. Kirshner also takes a sublime drum break, followed by Sonny Sharrock's Monkey–Pockie–Boo band. (The follow-up track, “Acuities,” sounds more like Alan Silva's Luna Surface band. See? Total label tribute thing.) After hearing the first side, I figured the band would use Attias to really up the ante and push it over the cliff (like Dave Burrell's Echo), but nah – Attias' brilliant art of conversation brings about the best of all possible outcomes: communication.

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Trio Red Space - Fields of Flat (Relay Digital, 2016) ****

By Lee Rice Epstein

Fields of Flat is the debut from Trio Red Space, a new trio led by drummer Tim Daisy, featuring Mars Williams on soprano and tenor saxophones and Jeb Bishop on trombone. It’s a brisk album, with 5 tracks clocking in at 29 minutes total, but each song is packed so tightly it hardly matters.

All three are veterans of free jazz, and the album is rich with swirling ideas anchored by Daisy’s compositions. I’ve long admired Daisy’s ability to compose these melodies and counter-melodies that seem to blend a martial, folkish feel with uptempo swing. That’s evident on every track, beginning with “Pro Flowers.” Opening with a Williams solo, the trio come together on the snappy melody before spinning apart in a winding loop of improvisation and restatements of the theme.

In a sense, the album has the feel of the classic Ornette Coleman quartet, reduced even further by eliminating the bass. Bishop is outstanding, as always, leading off “Mind, Space” with a solo that previews the song’s languid explorations. There’s a fleeting theme that bubbles up to the surface throughout, but “Mind, Space” feels more like a reflective mood piece.“Coal Dust” kicks off on a strong martial theme from Bishop, with Daisy doubling on snare and cymbals and Williams soloing hard over top. The trio shifts abruptly into an open improv section, with some excellent playing from Bishop. Towards the end, the theme returns, first with Bishop and Williams doubling over Daisy’s solo, then with all three in unison.

“Fields of Flat” opens with Daisy on radios. Gradually, Williams and Bishop enter with long tones, creating something of a staticky call and response. It’s the shortest track, but taking the album as a whole, it fits nicely in the overall ebb and flow, leading directly to a Daisy solo that starts the album closer, “Onwards.” Daisy’s musicality on the drums makes him one of the best, especially in improvised settings. And his playing on “Onwards” is both powerful and lyrical. He really leans into a heavy swing during Williams and Bishop’s dueling themes, then crashes his way through the improvisations. It’s a thrilling, rumbling closer, with Williams’s saxophone screaming nearly to the end. In the very final 20 seconds, the band quickly drops to near-silence, finishing the album with a brief, gentle fade to close.

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Ken Vandermark's Made to Break Live - Systems vs. Artifacts Extravaganza

Made to Break at the Stone, NYC, January 2016.
Photo by Peter Gannushkin.

By Eyal Hareuveni

Ken Vandermark’s Made to Break quartet is one of his most radical and experimental ensembles ever. Made to Break was founded in 2011 and is a kind of a sound lab that enables Vandermark to play with elements inspired by Ethiopian music - as distilled from his playing with the Dutch group The Ex and the late Ethiopian sax player Gétatchèw Mèkurya, ideas drawn of New Music, as explored by iconoclast composers as John Cage and Morton Feldman. And, obviously, mixing these elements with his inclusive, forward-thinking perspective of modern jazz and free improvised music.

The unique instrumentation of the quartet - Vandermark on tenor and baritone saxes and clarinet; Austrian Christof Kurzmann, who began to collaborate with Vandermark on his project, El Infierno Musical (El Infierno Musical. A Tribute To Alejandra Pizarnik, Mikroton, 2011), on the ppooll audio software; fellow Chicagoan drummer Tim Daisy, who collaborates steadily with Vandermark since the days of the seminal Vandermark 5 and later with the many other outfits, including the Resonance Ensemble and Audio One groups; and the newest addition to the quartet, Dutch electric bass player Jasper Stadhouders, who joined the quartet in April 2014 (replacing original bass player Devin Hoff who played on the quartet first three releases) - as well as the singular personalities of all four musicians and their diverse approaches, offer Vandermark almost infinite opportunities to explore new textures with each composition and every performance.

The accumulative, diverse experiences of these four musicians guarantees the constant, risk-taking evolution of its sonic envelope. Kurzmann played alto saxophone and clarinet before he switched to electronics, focusing on exploring a highly personal and expressive approach of playing electronics. Stadhouders is also a guitarist, known from the explosive free jazz trio Cactus Truck or the more eclectic pan-European quintet Spinifex, and Daisy often blends contemporary perspectives in his composed, electro-acoustic works. With such resourceful musicians, Vandermark can construct and reconstruct his compositions with changing elements of melody, sound and groove-based rhythms as an ever-evolving works-in-progress on every performance of the quartet.

The following three live albums, released on Vandermark's 'Systems vs. Artifacts' imprint of his Audiographic label, document the versatile spirit of this quartet and its rich language during its November 2014 European tour.

Made to Break - Before the Code: Live (Audiographic Records, 2016) ****½

The first live recording is from one of Vandermark’s favorite European clubs, Klub Dragon in Poznan, Poland, captured on from November 5, 2014, the second date of Made to Break at the club and about a week before the quartet recorded its fourth album, Before the Code (Trost, 2015). This recording features the same sequence of compositions prepared for the recording session but in radical alternate realizations.

The opening piece, “Dial The Number” (dedicated to the Belgian-French director Agnès Varda), already establishes the integral role of Kurzmann within the multifaceted, driving rhythmic sensibility of the quartet. His commanding and inventive use of an electronics-based language charges Made to Break's interplay with a built-in dimension of tension, surprise, and danger. He interferes, expands, and challenges ideas about melody, linear structure, sonic cohesion, and pulse. Kurzmann's contribution intensifies the ongoing, powerful commotion to steer the collective, rhythmic groove to more abstract searches. The more lyrical “Off-Picture No. 119” (dedicated to the Copenhagen-based, British-American director Joshua Oppenheimer), combined with the dramatic progression of “Windows Breaking Hammer” (dedicated to German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder), stresses both the immediate manner that Vandermark, Stadhouders and Daisy can adapt and incorporate any of Kurzmann's ideas, as the anarchist, twisted-accordion sounds or the Sun Ra-tinged wild, atmospheric flights, into their strong, groove-based ride. Made to Break finishes this intense set with the short, sketchy encore “Dragon Improvisation”.

Made to Break - N N N (Audiographic Records, 2016) *****

The second live installment was recorded at the Martinschlössl in Vienna, Austria on November 13, 2014, right after the Made to Break finished the recording session of Before the Code (Trost, 2015) at the Amman Studios. The quartet sounds energetic, buzzing with adrenaline and excitement from the successful recording, playing expansive and powerful interpretations of old compositions in entirely different combinations than those explored before.

The opening, 35-minutes of “Before and After” (dedicated to American photographer Lee Miller) features Vandermark and Kurzmann, with an imaginative reeds-tinged sound, exchanging solos. Their different languages often blend into one dense and rich sonic unity, resonating and deepening each other articulations even in the most abstract, searching and lyrical segments, as if both were engaged in a kind of fast, busy talk. “Off-Picture No. 119” is interpreted this time in a loose rhythmic approach that highlights the clever and dynamic interplay of Stadhouders and Daisy.

The slow-cooking “For and Against” (dedicated to American minimalist artist Carl Andre) is introduced by a brilliant, extended solo bass of Stadhouders that cements the piece rhythmic spirit, later joined by Daisy, Kurzmann, and Vandermark, that keeps intensifying Stadhouder's leading role. A short free-improvised piece introduces Made to Break closing piece, the 30-minutes explosive and most radical “That Life” (dedicated to German dada sound poet Kurt Schwitters). Vandermark plays in a his most fiery, free jazz mode, colliding again and again with the subversive, otherworldly blows and noises of Kurzmann, both enjoy the massive yet playful rhythmic drive of Stadhouders and Daisy.
    

Made to Break - Dispatch to the Sea (Audiographic Records, 2016) ****½

The third live installment was recorded on the eleventh stop of this packed tour at Het Stadsmagazijn in Antwerp, Belgium on November 18, 2014, four days before the tour ended. On this later date the quartet incorporates elements from compositions written for Cherchez la femme (Trost, 2014) to newer pièces.

The opening piece, “Waiting Waiting” (dedicated to Belgian director Chantal Akerman), settles immediately on a muscular funky pulse, but soon is spiraled to distant sonic universes with Kurzmann wild electronics. Stadhouders cements the throbbing pulse of this piece with his fat bass lines throughout its many shifts and extended solo parts. The following 29-minutes of “A Cacophony Of Words” (dedicated to American novelist William Gaddis) highlights the unique interplay between Vandermark and Kurzmann. Surprisingly, their interaction is quite physical given that Kurzmann plays only on a laptop, often a confrontational one, sometimes Kurzmann even takes the subversive role of  deconstructing the loose architecture of this piece and suggesting a futuristic one. This set is concluded with “Off-Picture No. 119”, that was already featured in both previous live installments. This time the interpretation emphasizes the flexible rhythmic sensibility of all four musicians, as a tight, collective and as resourceful soloists.  

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Sounds from Chicago

Over the past year (or more) Chicago has been coming to me. Let's arbitrarily pick a date to begin: January 2016 kicked off with saxophonist Ken Vandermark's week long residency at the Stone. It was a brilliant one, with performances by many of his collaborations, including Made to Break and the duos with Paal Nilssen-Love and Nate Wooley. This was followed by the residency of ex-Chicagoan Matana Roberts, who played at least one set with current Chicagoan Tomeka Reid. Then there were sets by Jason Stein at Downtown Music Gallery, Rye in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Madison Square Garden, of course.

I had my mind-boggled at a Revolution Arts show featuring Dave Rempis and then there was Tim Daisy on the ground at IBeam last Fall. Just last week Ken Vandermark and The Few were playing in Williamsburg, and I am positive that there are a whole bunch of other shows I am forgetting, and then, all the ones I wasn't aware of.

So, this week the Free Jazz Blog would like to bring a little Chicago to you: a week of reviews connected by the people and spirit that permeates the musicians from the Jewel of the Midwest.

We kick off this week with Eyal Hareuveni's review of three new Made to Break albums, released on Ken Vandermark's new download imprint "Systems vs. Artifacts" at Audiographic records.

- Paul

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