Introduction to Syntactical Ghost Trance Music

Sharing here a link to an video that will likely be of interest to Anthony Braxton fans, as well as those who are curious about different compositional techniques. Created by Kyoko Kitamura at the Tri-Centric Foundation, the footage is drawn from various recent rehearsals, interviews and performances.

Enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/858217550/77592d946f

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William Hooker & Phill Niblock - Flowers Of The Spirit (send+receive festival 2020)

send+receive Presents: Hooker-Niblock/Flowers Of The Spirit
from Winnipeg Film Group on Vimeo.

Presented as part of the 22nd edition of send + receive: a festival of sound, based out of Winnipeg, Canada, this two-part program by legendary drummer, poet, and composer William Hooker features a collaboration with filmmaker/composer Phill Niblock, followed by a brand-new solo work, “Flowers of the Spirit,” recorded specially for this occasion. As we endure a year of separation, Hooker’s vision and generosity of spirit traverses cities and continents; from New York to Winnipeg to wherever you happen to be watching.

 Free to watch through October 31st. 

- Cam Scott, blog contributor and Artistic Director of send+receive

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Josh Sinton - Stone Cold Classics of 21st-Century Sax Repertory

Here is an interesting, evolving project from Brooklyn based woodwind player Josh Sinton. After a recent break from music, Sinton has returned with a series of very nicely produced videos on YouTube highlighting the work of musicians who have been influential to him. The list is extensive and will include Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, Roscoe Mitchell, Julius Hemphill, Tim Berne, Hilmar Jensson and compositions by Morton Feldman, Giacinto Scelsi, David Lang and more. Sinton is performing all of these solo on the baritone sax.

Sinton began releasing the videos in late January with a post of Morton Feldman's 'Projection 1 - Realization 5', and he has been releasing a new video every Monday since. The project is planned as on going until April 20th. We just caught wind of it, and enjoyed Anthony Braxton's 'Composition 26F', be sure to check in at https://www.youtube.com/user/sinzheimers, or for audio-only versions at https://soundcloud.com/sinsheimer.

- Paul Acquaro

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Rich Halley 4 – Creating Structure (Pine Eagle, 2015) ****

By Troy Dostert

Still a relatively unsung commodity based in Portland, the Rich Halley 4 have been creating adventurous yet groove-oriented recordings for several years—in fact, this is their fifth in five years on the Pine Eagle label, following up on last year’s excellent Wisdom of Rocks. And while it’s tempting to say that it’s “more of the same,” these guys have been in the sweet spot of freebop-based improvisation for long enough that sticking with what works is a pretty strong strategy.

The record is aptly titled, as each of the sixteen tracks displays a variety of ways in which a song’s logic can emerge during the exploration of an unplanned, uncharted path. Bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley are pivotal, as their ability to follow and lock in behind the horns offers structure, yes—but not so much structure that tenorist Halley and trombonist Michael Vlatkovich are restricted in their ability to seek out new options within each song. One can tell that Carson Halley has indeed been influenced by both the rock and jazz traditions, as his eagerness to bring a driving beat to a lot of the songs really enhances the group’s dynamic power. And Vlatkovich and Halley have a great rapport as well, alternately interweaving spontaneously-conceived lines and shadowing each other’s moves as they see fit. This definitely sounds like a band that has worked closely together for years, as their fluidity and intuition are evident on each cut. It’s also worth noting that these guys know when to enter and exit, without overstaying their welcome: with no track extending beyond seven minutes, and most a good deal shorter than that, there’s no pointless meandering. The overall effect on the listener is to want a bit more, which is a fine thing when the music is this good.

Highlights include the record’s opener, “Analog Counterpoint,” a bouncy, spirited piece featuring just Halley with the rhythm section; “Riding the Trade Winds,” where you can hear Halley channeling a bit of Newk’s “St. Thomas” with an infectious calypso-esque rhythm; “Metal Buzz,” offering a terrific unaccompanied dialogue between Halley and Vlatkovich; and “The Shove,” a propulsive burner with especially effective punchy drumwork from Carson Halley. But truthfully, there are engaging moments throughout the disc, as each track provides a distinctive and well-executed statement. Definitely a record worth getting!

Here’s a video of the quartet playing recently in New York City:

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Evan Parker Days, Set 2

We continue our coverage of recent Evan Parker related albums with the release of the Schlippenbach Trio's First Recordings today. To set the mood, here are the other videos from Mr. Parker's solo show on 9-24-14 at Roulette in NYC.

Set 2, part 1:

  Set 2, Part 2:

From freejazzblog on Vimeo.

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Evan Parker Days

Over the next three days we will be presenting a mix of music and video related to saxophonist Evan Parker. To kick things off, here is a set from a solo show that Parker performed at Roulette in NYC during the Fall 2014. Video is courtesy of Kevin Reilly ... enjoy!

Set 1: 

Evan Parker solo, Set 1 at Roulette, 9-25-14 

Set 2: 

We'll post this later this week, or you can head on over to the Free Jazz Blog video site.

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Nate Wooley and Ken Vandermark - East by Northwest (Audiographic, 2014) *****

By Paul Acquaro

The Winter Jazz Festival hit NYC last weekend. It was a crazy scene - sold out shows, SRO venues - but there was a lot of great music. One show that really stood out was Nate Wooley and Ken Vandermark's duo set. Their concept was modeled after the combo of trumpeter Bobby Bradford and saxophonist and clarinetist John Carter, who were based out of LA during the early years of free jazz. 

This show was the second date on the tour for their new record East by Northwest, the title a reference to their own associations with New York and Chicago. What struck me immediately about the show was just how full and vibrant of a sound they were able to create with just the two horns. No doubt a great deal of this had to do with their compositional approach - melodies and counter melodies stretching out the musical fabric between them, creating an atmosphere as much as actual notes and tones - but then toss in the sheer virtuosity of their playing and it is quite an ear opening experience. I picked up the CD at the show and am pleased to report that what I heard from the stage is captured wonderfully on this album.

The opening track, 'And She Speaks', penned by John Carter, begins with a delicate melody, starting in tandem and then stretching outwards. Elements of extended technique are used to shade in the spaces a little - trills on the clarinet, sputtering on the trumpet, jumps in tempo and treatments, but always rooted - however abstractly - to the melody. 'Best Coast' is another example - the two horns begin a rapid scalar ascent to a surprisingly dissonant destination, then stop, and do it again and again. 'Call The Numbers (for Christian Marclay)' features a vivid solo from Wooley while Vandermatk employs the incidental sounds of his sax to generate additional momentum. A real highlight of the album for me is 'Deconstructed Folks (for Bobby Bradford and John Carter)', the duo starts out with an upbeat theme that soon splits into parallel steams that reconnect from time to time. 

I'll stop here with the track-by-track run down - why ruin the experience? This is a duo that will challenge and delight. Their playing is emotional, imaginative, and connected throughout. 

Check out below video of Wooley and Vandermark playing in Philadelphia and maybe you can still catch them on tour. Plus, you can get the recording over at Instant Jazz, well, right away.

Enjoy some videos from the duo's performance at Fringe Arts in Philadelphia on Jan 11th:

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Guitar Week: Coda

A big thank you to Stefan, Ed, Chris, Martin and Stef for their help with pulling guitar week together. 

We leave the week with the avant rock of Ava Mendoza's 'Unnatural Ways', one of the musicians we've been checking out lately ...

Ava Mendoza- guitar, vox/ Dominique Leone- keys, synths/ Nick Tamburro- drums, percussion

Ava Mendoza has an album coming out on New Atlantis in March. 

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Video Sunday: Tomas Fujiwara Trio

Tomas Fujiwara Trio "Insomniac's Delight"
@ Cornelia Street Café 10-23-14

NY based drummer Tomas Fujiwara has a new trio recording coming out soon on Relative Pitch Records called Variable Bets (it's in our review queue) and this recent recording from the Cornelia Street Cafe captured our ears. Built around a rather angular melody, "Insomniac's Delight" is full of twists - try skipping ahead to the 10 minute mark.

Tomas Fujiwara, drums, compositions
Ralph Alessi, trumpet
Brandon Seabrook, guitar

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Video Sunday: Tim Berne & Keir Neuringer

We're taking a little break today ... 

Tim Berne's Cornered "Embraceable Me" @ The Stone 10-12-14

During a week this past October, Tim Berne was in residence at The Stone in NYC, playing with several different groups. The line up here is:

From Left to Right: Matt Mitchell (piano), Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Michael Formanek (bass), Ches Smith (drums), Ryan Ferreira (guitar) and Oscar Noriega (clarinets)

Keir Neuringer solo @ DMG 10-19-14 2/2

Deep in downtown NYC lies the subterranean home of the Downtown Music Gallery.  On Sundays, the shop runs a series of free concerts - which always makes for a nice way to hear some great music and pick up something new at the same time. This particular video was a recent show by Philadelphia saxophonist Keir Neuringer.

Enjoy.

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Evan Parker Interview

"It's about something that's beyond words so when you try to turn that attraction back into words you're bound to simplify or slightly miss the point." (Evan Parker)

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David S Ware - A World Of Sound

The David Lynch Foundation Television released a short documentary on saxophonist David S. Ware. You can watch the video here.

You can watch a short introduction below. No further comments needed.



© stef

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Joëlle Léandre - Solo (Kadima, 2011) *****

By Stef

Good news for those non-French-speaking music lovers who can now get access to the translation of "A Voix Basse", the biography of Joëlle Léandre, written by Franck Médioni, and translated by Jeffrey Grice. I will not review the book again. It is worth reading. There aren't that many books about modern music, let alone books that are so honest and frank.

What I will talk about are the CD and DVD with solo performances that accompany the book in a nice package published by the Kadima Collective of this other bass player, JC Jones. The CD offers a little over thirty-eight minutes of a performance given at Piednu, France in 2008. The DVD was performed in September 2009 at the Guelph festival in Canada, and clocks a little over thirty-three minutes.

I can recommend the whole package, easily, wholeheartedly.

I cannot describe the music.

I can describe the artist, although I know her only from her music ... and a quick hello after a concert. A true, real artist. Stubborn. Visionary. Uncompromising. Intense. Tender and poetic at moments, raw and angry with the world at other times. She is unconcerned by style, and definitely stays far away from stylistic and formal mannerisms that are needed to placcate the reviewers and the hip audiences. She integrates music as music, and delivers it as music, using elements from tribal rituals over classical finesse to jazz expressionism and avant-garde search for new approaches, yet turning it all into something else, something more authentic, more innovative and - interestingly enough - also more universal. 

She cares about the interaction with other musicians who have a story to tell, whom she can learn from, who can lift her up to a different level, on new journeys, open to musical adventures, but who also likes sharing, in warmth, in inventiveness, in sounds, ....

Yet solo is quite a different experience. And it is surely not her first use of the concept, with albums such as  "No Comment", "Sincerely", "Solo Bass, Live At Otis, Hiroshima", "Concerto Grosso", "Taxi", "Contrebasse Et Voix" preceding this one. And both the CD and the DVD are a delight : balanced, varying between piercing bowed intensity, angry grunts and growls ... and softer plucked pieces sometimes with soft chanting ... but all played with incredible passion for the music, for the beauty of sound, for the surprises that come out of the instrument, that are made to come out of the instrument.

I can describe the music. It is Real. Art. Visionary. Uncompromising. Intense. Tender and poetic. Raw and angry.

Captivating from beginning to end.

Don't miss it. 

Buy from Instantjazz.

Here is the promo video :




© stef

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Trio X live at roulette

No time to write a review today, just a nice video clip on Trio X.

Staggeringly beautiful!


Roulette TV: JOE MCPHEE / TRIO X from Roulette Intermedium on Vimeo.

© stef

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