Chris Kelsey - The Crookedest Straight Line, Vol.1 (CIMP, 2007) ***½

It seems to become a fashion again in free jazz circles to play inside-out, starting with tightly composed themes which refer back to the roots of jazz, but then only just to serve as the base camp for more adventurous free explorations. Soprano sax player Chris Kelsey uses this approach here with his fine quartet, which also includes John Carlson on trumpet and flugelhorn, François Grillot on bass and Jay Rosen on drums. The first track "Post Modern Time" is a great piece of free bop, with walking bass and all, and full of energy, to be followed by the beautiful "Poor Relations", a more abstract, slower piece, that evolves rather freely, with alternating solos by the two horn-players ending in a long unisono theme. The next piece also starts unisono in the same vein of musical color with a relatively complex theme and ditto rhythm, which lays the foundation for again great solo work. "Fangle" starts boppish, with sudden tempo and rhythm changes, reminiscent of Ornette Coleman, and then John Carlson tears away on his trumpet, a pleasure to hear, above an uptempo high intensity drumming by Rosen whom we seldom hear in this role, hard and energetic yet with his usual precise accentuating, opening space for a scorching solo by Kelsey, all the while being propulsed further forward by the rhythm section. Then suddenly, above all this intense powerplay, Carlson starts playing a slow, soft, almost romantic solo, and he brings this machine from hell to a grinding halt, and bridged by some light drumming, back to the main theme. And that's the nice thing about this band : the four musicians are a perfect fit, playing in support of one another, with focused soloing, managing to create a common musical color. The beautiful "Ask I Won't Tell" starts in a structured manner, with a lightly dancing melody brought by the sax and with the trumpet echoing the theme, paving the way for a powerful solo by Kelsey. Both horn-players are excellent, and it's not surprising that Kelsey asked Carlson to join his band, since both players have a warm tone, a melodic and structured approach which they combine with creative and abstract tone-setting, and this track illustrates this very well. As Kelsey says it himself, this is probably his most accessible album so far : "Maybe, although it's a wildly relative judgment. Kenny G (or even Branford Marsalis) this ain't. It simply is what it is. I dig it, and hope you do, as well." We certainly do.

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Contet/Chevillon/Corneloup - Nu (In Circum Girum, 2006) ***

Pascal Contet plays accordion, Bruno Chevillon bass and François Corneloup baritone sax. And this trio tries to give a new definition to music on this CD. The title "Nu" can of course be read as the English "new", but also and more appropriately as the French for "naked". "Less is more" seems to be the core principle and the trio ventures to grasps essence of emptiness : searching for the rights sounds and how to fill an empty space with them, but then preferably as sparse, as careful and as respectful as possible. There are some really beautiful things on this CD, such as the crying sax in the opening track, or the soft bass playing in the second one, or the eery and sustained tones that Chevillon manages to squeeze out of his instrument. This music is so fragile that you barely dare to listen to it out of fear of damaging it. But unfortunately they do not keep the creativity at high enough levels to make from each piece something great. The empty space becomes too large and their musical approach too limited, or they have to look for such unconventional angles, that it becomes too cerebral. And is really too bad, because there is some really great music here, like the last-but-one track, "Elle était la", on which Corneloup just like at the beginning gets some beautiful soft howling sounds out of his sax, perfectly accompanied by the warm bass and the hypnotic accordion.

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Lucien Dubuis - Tovorak (Tovorak Records, 2005) ****

This sax trio led by Swiss reedman Lucien Dubuis funks and rocks from beginning to end, without stopping, without halting, playing as if their life depended on it. The music is very rock-influenced, close to the best pieces of other sax trios such as The Happy Apple or the Belgian band Slang. Dubuis' playing is strong, and often reminded me of Ken Vandermark. And that's a great compliment. He is one of the top young European musicians, having played with the European Young Jazz Orchestra, and for this trio he is accompanied by Roman Nowka on bass and guitar, and Lionel Friedl on drums, objects and dance (?). The tracks are short, 14 for the whole album, yet their compactness is part of their strength. Yes, there is soloing on this album, and even great soloing, but the real power is in those beats and the sustained intense energy emanating from this trio. They describe themselves as "Imagine a chromosomic mingling of a touch of John Coltrane genes and the DNA of the Beastie Boys: the Crossover Jazz Trio just enjoys playing the jazz stuff, just as Madonna would enjoy sex after a year in jail, with lust !"

That sounds pretty clear, and it is actually a pretty good description of their music. However, what this album is all about, remains a mystery, even with the explanation given : "Tovorak, the monster with spines, learned the fabulous techniques of the Sumo for many years and is now back to save the world. But can he resist the indecent and hysterical offers of Samantha, Britney, Lorie, Kent and Falbala ? Will he be able to transcend his own weakness and see his quest of a phantasmagorical paradise through?"

Never mind the explanations, this is great music, adding some new twists to free jazz, and it is fun too. Worth looking for!

Listen to some sound samples :

Non Pas
'veux pas dormir
HPC1erE
Dear Mr. Crunch

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Nagl/Bernstein/Akchoté/Jones - Big Four Live (HatHut, 2007) ****

After the success (relatively speaking) of their first studio album "Big Four", the new live version is a more than welcome addition. The band consists of an odd group of musicians : Max Nagl on sax, Steven Bernstein on trumpet, Noël Akchoté on guitar and Bradley Jones on bass. Nagl is Austrian, and best known for his more avant-garde leanings, as is the French guitarist. Bernstein is a good mainstream trumpet player and excellent in musical arrangements and probably best known from his Diaspora CDs on the Tzadik label (and Sex Mob, of course!). Brad Jones is an American bass-player with references going from Don Byron and Marc Ribot to Elvis Costello and Sheryl Crow. And the chemistry between these four gentlemen is excellent, because their technical skills allow them to master all jazz forms and sub-genres, and they demonstrate this here with lots of tongue-in-cheek and respectful joy. The whole of jazz history is being dealt with here, from traditional 12-bar blues, over swing, bop, hard-bop to more modern styles, but then brought by an intimistic free-jazz chamber ensemble, that can swing if need be. Most tracks start with well-rehearsed tunes, just to set the stage, and by itself this is fun, because the melodies and their perfect rendition are a real treat for the ear, but it becomes even more fun once they start playing around with the themes, transforming them, throwing them around and receiving them back. Bernstein has the lion's share of the compositions and that's not really a surprise since his knowledge of jazz history is certainly the deepest, yet that he manages to stand his role in the more free moments is a surprise and good to hear. And the opposite is certainly true for Nagl and Akchoté : their knowledge of the more classical idiom is excellent and the ease and joy with which they handle the mainstream parts are great. And that's what the audience thinks too. It claps and cheers, and probably the longest during and after the long and exhilirating "New Viper Dance", in which Jones gets the opportunity to demonstrate the sensitivity of his bass-playing during a long solo. "Big Four" is probably the nicest composition, more modern, more free, more sensitive, and the beautiful serpentine soloing of the horns are solidly supported by the bass. "Muddy" evolves from a jazzy melody to a straight-ahead Muddy Waters tribute, with Akchoté playing sensitive pentatonic blues scales, great, nice, fun, and the support by bass and horns is simple yet effective. In sum, the musicianship, the interplay, the rhythm and tempo changes, the bouncing of themes, the joy, the call-and-response, the musical quotes from jazz history : this is all candy for the ear, an album to enjoy.

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Wadada Leo Smith & Günter Sommers - Wisdom In Time (Intakt, 2007) *****

On "Wisdom In Time", Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Günter "Baby" Sommer (drums, percussion) revisit their collaboration of ten years ago, now without the late Peter Kowald' bass. In the continuation of his great album "Compassion" of last year, the duo setting seems to suit Smith perfectly, and he - or rather "they - delve into the sheer emotional and spiritual power of pure sounds - melody and rhythm being often only latently present in favor of patternless clarity and intense interaction. This careful and very attentive, almost considerate and respectful handling of sound by Wadada Leo Smith is of course not new to him, but I have the impression that he brings it to even higher levels of perfection than before, more abstract yet also more accessible, a rare combination which is hard to explain. Sommer is excellent throughout, not only adding accents, but actively driving Smith at times, reacting and propulsing at the same time, bringing a more tribal coloring to the music, especially on "Woodland Trails To The Giants" and "Old Times Roll", as opposed to Adam Rudolph's softer meditation-like approach on the previous album. Smith's use of electronics increases the tonal variation, but without being excessive, just creating shades, offering more depth to his sustained crystal-clear tone. Their ode to Peter Kowald in "Bass-Star Hemisphere" offers absolute sheer musical beauty, in a combination of sadness and joy, interspersed with little dance-like intervals, or dark menacing drum-rolls and somber bells, leaving lots of space without any urge to fill the space between notes. This is music stripped bare of any needless ornamentation or melodic anchor points, and thereby creating a feeling of wide expansive vastness and openness, involving the listener in their spiritual journey. Again, highly recommended.

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Other Dimensions In Music - Live At The Sunset (Marge, 2007) *****

Two things are extremely hard to believe.

First, about five years ago I bought ODIM's "Time Is Of The Essence Is Beyond Time", which I thought was awfully chaotic and empty, so I put the band in the don't-ever-listen-to-them-again category . Some years later I was encouraged by Phil Freeman's excellent book "New York Is NOW! The New Wave Of Free Jazz" to listen to their first self-titled album and to "Now!", their second release, which I think are two absolutely fabulously brilliant albums. I was totally misguided by the reviews on Allmusic.com, that claim that "Time ..." is their best album, and in fact, it's quite the contrary.

Second, they have just released a double live album on the French label Marge, which got NO, I mean NO (ZERO) reviews whatsoever, anywhere....(hence the fact that I cannot show you the cover picture : nothing to be found on internet and I have no scanner to copy the cover for you). And it's not only hard to believe that this album received no attention so far, it's a crying shame too! So, lovers of free jazz, this album exists and it is excellent.

For those who don't know Other Dimensions In Music : the band consists of Roy Campbell on trumpet; Daniel Carter on sax, flute and trumpet; William Parker on bass and Hamid Drake on drums. And what they bring is free jazz at its best : spontaneous improvization with rhythm, empathy, beautiful soloing and telepathic interplay. These four stellar musicians have played together for decades and in various bands and it shows. Drake and Parker play like they are one person with two bodies, and their rhythmic foundation supports the tonal soundscapes weaved by Campbell and Carter, who both have a huge background, but more importantly, they play with the rare combination of emotional and creative power. There is lots of variation in the instruments used : Parker also uses the musette, the reed instrument played by Dewey Redman in Old & New Dreams, stopping his solo and switching to arco, Hamid Drake sings and plays snare drum, Carter sings as well. The second variation comes from the variety of styles they integrate into their improvizations, often implicitly : blues, swing, bop, african, middle-eastern, and the third variation comes from the levels of intensity, ranging from subdued and spiritual to high-pitched high energy playing, but rarely chaotic skronking, like the great swells of the ocean, moving up and down in large uninterupted movements, all different, yet all part of the same. And all this has a meaning - the titles speak for themselves : "Blues configuration", "Afro Carribean High Life", "Blues for Baghdad", "Funk The Government/The Betrayal of New Orleans/Hurricane Katrina", "Suite for Miles Davis", "For Louis, Cootie and Lester", "James Brown Ascension", ... gives you an idea what musical references are used to illustrate the titles. But it's not only political or musicological in nature, in essence their music is spiritual : "multilayered music that is drenched in vision. Blues vision, world music vision, 21st Century vision, it's the music called Black Mystery Music that comes from the deepest parts of Africa, Asia and Europe. Sounds that can be found in the furthest reaches of the cosmos. The mud that binds the music is the call of the human soul in need of healing. Combined with all the beautiful things that have ever existed since the beginning of time". And Parker continues in the liner notes : "We never know what will happen from minute to minute in the music but we are ready to go anywhere it wants to go, without being restricted by style". And that's exactly what this double CD has to offer : excellent free playing, moving naturally, rhythmically, full of intensity, full of spirituality and musical vision.

Buy it!

And you can at Sunset Records

Here are some sound samples from their previous album "Now!", just to give you an idea of what they sound like :
For The Glass Tear
Blue Expanded

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Dennis Gonzalez - Geografia (Self published, 2006) ****

Dennis Gonzalez is a trumpet player whose tone and approach to music I really like : his tone is warm and composed, his music adventurous yet elegant. "Yells At Eels" is the name of the trio he has with his sons Stefan (drums, vibes) and Aaron (bass), yet often further supported by guest musicians, like on this album : Carl Smith on tenor, Devon Wells on flute, Kim Corbet on trombone, Bill Pohl on electric guitar, alternating each other for one or two tracks. The music is open, bluesy, quiet, beautiful and inspiring. The accent is on the common musical creation, the musicians weave tonal layers and search for a joint composition rather than demonstrating their improvisational instrumental skills. And the music really benefits from this functional approach. The pieces flow like clouds or water, melancholy, dramatic, slow, at moments impressive and impactful. Especially the long "Crow Soul" is powerful, and brings up memories of Terje Rypdal's Rolling Stone (on the Odissey LP version) in terms of rhythm, bass line, overall mood and tone, flowing seemlessly into the next, equally long, yet more energetic and more electronic "Mutation Station", which leads to a great climax. The last track is a dedication to William Parker, and rightly so, don't we love him all??? One of the other strengths of the album is the unity of style which is maintained throughout all the pieces. Strong.


The CD can be ordered from Dennis Gonzalez personally, and believe me, he puts it in the mail the day your e-mail reaches him on "dennisgonzalezx@aol.com".

Below you can watch a video of a Yells At Eels performance of Ornette Coleman's Happy House (nothing to do with this album, though)

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Billy Stein Trio - Hybrids (Barking Hoop, 2006) ***½

On his first album guitarist Billy Stein brings us, together with bass-player Reuben Radding and drummer Rashid Bakr, an interesting hybrid form of free improvization and structured form. The three musicians search and turn around each other, creating music which is surprising, inventive, recognizable at times, more often rhythmic than not, never dull. Stein himself plays guitar as if he is the conductor, giving directions to both other players with his soft-toned guitar and ditto presence. And bass-player and drummer take up the challenge. Radding and Bakr are of course well-known in the more avant-garde jazz circles, yet hear they can be heard from their more accessible side, and what they show here is excellent. The music never gets so far as to create real melodies or themes, yet they bring a whirling rhytmic unity of unobtrusive sounds and counter-sounds, inventive and creative.

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Ethnic Heritage Ensemble - Hot 'n' Heavy (Delmark, 2007) ****

Percussionist Kahil El'Zabar has two bands with which he releases new albums with the regularity of a clock : the Ritual Trio and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, the latter most often a quartet. There aren't any major differences between both bands, neither musically, nor in terms of overall feeling and effect, apart from the line-up which offers a different coloring to the music. The music is strongly based in rhythms, with a fixed, contagious groove, that is maintained throughout the track, which offers the soloists ample space on their spiritual quest, built around beautiful, often long melodic lines. Atmosphere, enthusiasm, mutual encouragement and interaction between the players are all central to the concept of the band, sometimes exuberant, sometimes subdued, yet always very rhythmical and with lots of space. The major difference between both bands is the line-up : the Ritual Trio consists of percussion, bass and sax, while the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is composed of percussion, the trombone of Joe Bowie, the sax of Ed Wilkerson or - like here - Ernest Dawkins, once every so often joined by Fareed Haque on guitar. And the repertoire is absolutely identical : El'Zabar classics such as "Ka-Real", "Ornette", "Love Outside Of Dreams", "Ancestral Song", "Alika Rising", "Papa's Bounce", etc. can be found on several records by both bands. And who cares? Only this album brings a totally new song list. And Joseph Bowie on trombone is replaced by Corey Wilkes on trumpet and flugelhorn (even played at the same time!). Quite some changes at first sight, but that does not apply to the music. The compositions keep their rhythmic base, the melodies are beautiful, the structure and arrangements simple, the percussion absolutely fabulous and the joy of playing of the musicians is a treat for the ear. And the music is at its best when performed live, in a small setting, intimistic and close. And the audience reacts like it does here : spontaneous, enthusiastic, part of the performance. The musicians give an excellent reading of El'Zabar's compositions : Corey Wilkes is really strong, Dawkins composed, with a warm bluesy tone, Haque gives the necessary harmonic support and soloes well, and El'Zabar himself is unequalled on hand percussion, and as well on his signature instrument, the thumb piano. This is mainstream jazz in its free-est form, or free jazz in its most melodic and rhythmic variation, but I don't think El'Zabar cares about these distinctions, as long as the music sounds well, creates space and spiritual feeling. And it does that for sure, and it offers joy on top. Recommended.

There is also a DVD of this performance, to be bought separately.

Luister naar samples :

Major To Minor
MT
Hot 'n' Heavy
There Is A Place
Black As Vera Cruz

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Jacek Kochan - One Eyed Horse (Gowi Records, 2005) ****

Another remarkable CD of Polish origin : drummer Jacek Kochan, with master saxophonist Greg Osby and Austrian trumpet player Franz Hautzinger. Krystyna Stanko's voice is present at some limited and barely audible places. And believe me, this is a great album. Kochan's music is highly rhythmic, funky even at times, but with free inclinations simultaneously, with beautiful melodies and interplay, against a restrained backdrop of electronics and ambient sound. This is modern jazz at its best, the kind of music from which so many would-be innovators of today could learn from : this is real music, with energy and intensity, clever musical constructions, full of variation, creative, emotional. The CD consists of 15 relatively short tracks, often built on a (strong) rhythmical pattern, often electronically transformed, and Kochan imitates to perfection what DeJohnette does on Miles Davis' Bitches' Brew : to keep that high-tempo rhythm going in full support of rhythmless sax bursts or slow melodic trumpet, by economically and relentlessly hard-hitting the hihat, just to take the initiative back again to demonstrate to all who want to hear what rythmic wonders such a drumkit can contain. Kochan is a great drummer, period. And Osby and Hautzinger feel perfectly at ease in this context, whether it's uptempo free, funky, or slow melodic, it all fits, not too mellow, at times a little rough, yet accessible. The real power of this album is the unity of style, and the fact that the electronics are fully subordinate to the music. Highly recommended.

Listen to sound samples :
Rift
Drop
Sun Doesn't Know She Is A Star
Fear No More (whole track)
Simoom (whole track)

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