Oles/Trzaska/Oles/Cappozzo - Suite For Trio + (Fenommedia, 2005) *****

Better late than never. This album was released about two years ago, but I managed to get hold of it just now, so it can still get a review, and with reason. I have expressed my appreciation for the Polish twin brothers Marcin Oles (bass) and Bartlomiej Oles (drums) before, and with this album they climb even higher in my esteem. Their fellow countryman Mikolaj Trzaska plays sax to form their usual trio, and Frenchman Jean-Luc Cappozzo now also joins on trumpet. I had never heard of Cappozzo, and I'm glad I do now, because he is really excellent in this free musical environment, which is suprising for someone who apparently learned to play in the French army. This is the kind of free jazz that I like the most : free improvisation on a structured basis, creative, rhythmic, soft and intense. Listen to the title track : a unisono melody of sax and trumpet on a slow Eastern rhythm, out of which the trumpet frees itself for a beautiful solo, then the whole thing evolves into a bass solo by Marcin Oles, and believe me, this guy is among the best you can hear on the instrument these days, both pizzi and arco. His touch is both elegant and powerful, his improvisations melodic and creative (his solo bass album "Ornette On Bass" is also worth checking out). "JLC" starts with solo trumpet, then the band joins with some dissonant interplay, followed by arco bass which move into a folkish melody which could have been written by Henri Texier. "Budmo" is a slow, sad and gloomy piece, which stands in strong contrast to the next one,"5-5", a funky uptempo rhythm fest, with amongst others a stunning duet between trumpet and drums, which then evolves into a variation of Ravel's bolero, with the well-known slightly dancing rhythm. Mikolaj Trzaska, on bass clarinet, is the star of this track. You could say that Trzaska is almost the opposite of Peter Brötzmann : he is a very sensitive sax player with a velvet tone, although he can do some fierce and outside blowing if needed, but it always remains elegant. An I think that word sums up the whole musical style of this album. The last track, "Urodzaj", starts with flutes in a kind of jungle atmosphere, with light trumpet blasts, reminiscent of Don Cherry and Codona, but then Marcin Oles comes on the stage with a wonderfull bass line and he takes the whole band along into a beautiful melody with trumpet and sax alternatingly in unisono and counterpoint, fantastic, but too short, too short, too short... This is free music that is not aggressive, music that is accessisble even if you haven't heard this kind of approach before. Anyone with interest in jazz will appreciate this album. It's rhythmic, melodic, great mastering of the instruments, great interplay. A real treat. Don't miss it!

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Joshua Redman - Back East (Nonesuch, 2007) ***

On this album Dewey Redman's song brings hommage to Sonny Rollins' Way Back West, the first sax trio album ever. When I started listening to it and heard the tones of "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top", I feared for the worst, but I kept listening, and to my satisfaction. The albums starts out within the tradition, but not for long, because Eastern scales and rhythms starts seeping into the music and they keep having their mark on most tracks of the CD, with titles such as "Zarafa", Coltrane's "India", Shorter's "Indian Song", "Mantra #5", "Indonesia". Two of Rollins' own songs are also covered. Although most pieces have a sax/bass/drums line-up, this is definitely not a "band" recording. Additional saxes join in on some pieces, and not the least : two tracks have Dewey Redman on sax, recorded before his death in September last year, other tracks have Joe Lovano and Chris Cheek as sidemen. The basses are played by Larry Grenadier, Reuben Rogers, Christian McBride and the drums by Ali Jackson, Brian Blade and Eric Harland, in short about the best you can hear on the circuit these days. A nice album, with great musicians and tight interplay, but if Redman had taken a little bit more risks, the overall effect would have been more gripping.

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Loren Stillman - Trio Alto Vol. 1 (Steeplechase, 2006) ***

Loren Stillman is a great sax-player with a powerful yet warm tone. On this album he is accompanied by Steve LaSpina on bass and Jeff Hirshfield on drums. The trio takes on a number of standards such as "All The Things You Are", "Body and Soul", "What Is This Thing Called Love?" amongst others, but then not in the umpteenth version drained from all lifeblood, but in a very novel fashion, first reduced to their harmonic essence and then rebuilt and touched upon through sustained improvisation. In this manner the version of "All The Things You Are" is in the best free jazz tradition barely recognisable at the beginning (like in former days free performance mode "guess what tune I'm playing now!"). It's only after seven minutes into the solo that the melody is recognisable. Yet this is not free jazz, but modern contemporary jazz that is accessible without having to fall back on familiar melodic structure. Stillman's great strength is that he focuses his solos wells and that he brings the music with depth, and this makes listening an exciting experience. This is not background music. And Stillman is not alone of course : with Hirshfield and LaSpina the trio forms a perfect band for a creative, enthusiastic, great album. Jazz with soul!

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Giovanni Guidi - Indian Summer (CamJazz, 2007) ****

Once in a while mainstream piano ensembles deliver albums of a stupefying beauty, such as "If" by Myriam Alter, "Le Pas Du Chat Noir" by Anouar Brahem or "L'Arbre Pleure" by Nathalie Loriers. This album belongs to the same category : a chamber music atmosphere, strong melodies, tight compositions, musical tension and variation through smart arrangements, emotional depth, and all this without any pretense. This is music which Americans would call European jazz, but without the often heavy-handed ECM approach. I do not usually like jazz that doesn't leave the beaten track, but the aesthetics on this album easily overcome this. Guidi is creative enough with lots of ideas to bring a fresh performance for these strong compositions, even if they are covers of for instance Ornette Coleman's "Round Trip". Guidi is accompanied by Dan Kinzelman on clarinet and sax, Francesco Ponticelli on bass and Joao Lobo on drums. The music is sometimes visually intense and playful like on "Il Campione", or sad such as in "September Never Comes", or menacing such as in "Windmill". Smart, refreshing music.

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Taylor Ho Bynum - The Middle Picture (Firehouse, 2007) ***

Taylor Ho Bynum has been the trumpet player in Anthony Braxton bands, but the music he brings on this album cannot be compared, with the exception on the importance given to compositional structure. Ho Bynum is accompanied by a band consisting of Matt Bauder (sax, clarinet), Mary Halvorson and Evan O'Reilly (electric guitar), Jessica Pavone (viola and electric bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums). "Brooklyn With An E", the opening track, brings us a light story, with the guitar playing a repetitive dissonant pattern, with drums and cornet filling the space. "Woods" starts with solo cornet and after about three minutes the rest of the band barges in with pointillistic notes without apparent coherence out which the viola emerges with a sad improvisation. Miles Davis' "In A Silent Way" brings a very sad consecutive sax and cornets solos on top of menacing percussion, guitar and bass. Throughout the album Taylor Ho Bynum uses many influences, but he tears them apart first, then sticks them together again like in a collage, but in an abstract manner, without recognisable figures. Each time a theme emerges, or a rhythm, or even an instrument, it is immediately replaced by something else. This offers lots of variation for sure, yet as a listener you loose every foothold you expect to get. And that becomes tiring after a while... There is without a doubt a strong unity in the musical vision, and all tracks fit perfectly well together, but it is not really my thing.

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Cooper-Moore - Digital Primitives (Hopscotch, 2007) ****

What is this...? An absolutely new way in the approach of jazz! Free jazz piano-player and iconoclast Cooper-Moore does not play a note of piano on this album, but he plays "diddley bow, mouth bow, bango, voice", some pretty unusual instruments which nevertheless fit perfectly in the music on this album. This is free jazz with a high level of joy in the performance but also of fun in the music itself : rhythmic complexities, some hard blowing at times, and especially the incredible interplay on these short yet to-the-point pieces. Chad Taylor on drums is exceptionaly strong, but Tsahar on sax is stellar as well, even composed at moments, and it is indeed a rare occasion when you hear the Israeli sax-player hit a tune. And then there is Cooper-Moore's role with the instruments he seems to have borrowed from the etnographic museum around the corner. This music is hard, funky and different : a free jazz version of Tom Waits, even to the extent that there is even a use of traditionals, as in "Ol' Saint Peter", on which Cooper-Moore even sings, and not bad at all, listen to it on the link below to have an idea. But it's not all funky funky, there are also some quiter pieces, even subdued, such as "Refuge" or emotinally strong such as "Money Wars", but enough talking : all the music can be heard below : judge for yourself.

Listen to the album :

Turn It Up
Old Saint Peter
Human Interest
Electric Garden
Bones
Digital Primitives
Misanthropes
True To Life
Money Wars
Refuge
Back It Up


Here is some clarification I received from cooper-moore about the review :

"The song "Ole Saint Peter," was written by me in honor of the late German bassist, Peter Kowald, whom we greatly admired and very much miss.

I've only heard Tom Waits a couple of times. I grew up listening to Oscar Brown Jr and feel very close to what he was doing."

Thanks!

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Ellery Eskelin - Quiet Music (Prime Source, 2006) ***

Saxophonist Ellery Eskelin brings us quiet music indeed on this double album, yet don't let the title surprise you, this is not easy listening, but a permanent search for new musical avenues, yet brought in a calm and composed manner. Eskelin is accompanied as on his previous albums by Jim Black on drums, Andrea Parkins on keyboards and accordion, and with newcomer Jessica Constable on vocals, and on some pieces also with Philip Gelda on keyboards and voice. And what Eskelin does with this band, or rather what this band does together with Eskelin is excellent. The points of departure are recognisable, but brought differently, with tight interplay and unexpected turns. I am not a fan of vocal jazz and I definitely dislike vocalese, singing without words, and that explains the rather mean score I give to this album.Without the input of Jessica Constable the music would sound different, but I think I would appreciate it more.

Click Here For Video Samples

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Tomchess & The Lovedogs - In The Beautiful Future (Foot Jumbo Records, 2007) ***

World jazz is often, like unfortunately very often in fusion music, an arrogant endeavour to connect different styles that do not really have anything in common. That is not the case on this CD by Tomchess & The Lovedogs (which can be ordered via CD Baby or downloaded trough iTunes), and which brings a mix of Arabian music, jazz (and ambient). Tom Chess plays ney, oud, reeds, guitar, djembe, and he has enriched his knowledge of these instruments in Africa and Asia. On this double album he is accompanied by Shane Shanahan and Ravi Padmanabha on percussion, Nathan Peck on bass and Alicia Rau on trumpet, all four strong musicians with a broad experience in both jazz and world music. The angle of attack for the album is world music, literally, because Tom Chess brings several of the pieces first solo on oud or ney, and the following song brings the same but with the whole band. And the musicians are good, something to be enjoyed in the long improvizations, and that is the best distinction between this band and many unsuccessful attempts by other bands. The overall feeling is one of world music, and even the street noises of voices that are thrown into the mix as background act functionally. This is pretenseless, respectful, nice world jazz, refreshing, tasty and lightly digestible like a bowl of fresh salad.

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Rodrigo Amado - Teatro (European Echoes, 2006) ****

The Portugese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado seems to replace Ken Vandermark in this trio with Kent Kessler on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. Vandermark played often enough with both of them in all possible line-ups and group configurations. Amado is also the sax-player in The Lisbon Improvisation Players, a Portuguese jazz band, with which Denis Gonzalez also made several performances. Amado is a different sax player than Vandermark, a little softer, more searching, more melodious, a little less energetic (but who isn't). The power of this band is that they create music, varying between hesitating and intense, calming each other, encouraging each other, propulsing each other to peaks, but without losing the focus, and with sufficient variation in the way they play their instruments to keep things fresh and exciting, even on the two longer pieces. The second of those, Pandora's Box, starts slow and searching, yet evolves into a rhythmic party full of intensity and musical joy, a piece in which both Kessler and Nilssen-Love get ample space for soloing. On the title song Kessler plays arco, Amado his baritone sax, and together they start the most abstract piece of the album, with the drums adding light touches and accents. This is no blowing fest, but very restrained, elegant and relatively accessible free jazz by three exceptional musicians. Highly recommended.

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Sonny Simmons - Tales Of The Ancient East/For Ustad Bismillah Khan (Parralactic 39 & 40, 2002) ****

This is an exceptional album, one you have to hear if you like world jazz. Sonny Simmons leads us on a spiritual and musical journey that is as repetitive as it is exciting, and the whole is impressive. I have listened to it many times and I'm still not able to distinguish one piece from the other, but that's irrelevant, and I think it adds to the overall hypnotic trance-inducing effect (not that I'm prostrated on the floor all shaking and rolling with my eyes, but close). The harmonium and synthesizer of Rosie Shakarian give a deep droning background, with Brian Glick's bass clarinet following them in the deep undertones, once in a while adding accents, and on top of that Sonny Simmons soloes on English horn, a deep-sounding oboe, an unusual instrument, which he plays in the Arabic scale and in combination with the deep sound, this creates a very sad and moaning tone. Brandon Evans adds some relief with his flute and Indische shenai (the instrument used by snake charmers). Once in a while there's some Arabic chanting, the only percussion is the odd tongue-slapping by the clarinetists. In short, a unique musical concept, repeated in every piece, gives of course a strong coherence to this album, which is, believe me, strong.

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