Zero Centigrade – Unknown Distances (Audio Tong, 2011) ***½

 By Ananth Krishnan

The adventure continues - Vincenzo and Tonino return with yet another concoction of their sonic explorations with Vincenzo handling the trumpet and Tonino taming the guitar. This time around, the release is via the small Polish label Audio Tong which seems to be the perfect outlet for the likes of such experimental and unclassifiable music. The treatments of the instruments are pretty much the same as what we experienced in the first release but what is different here is the layout. Whilst the duo dabbled in fairly long pieces (the average length clocking at around 8 minutes) in I'm Not Like You, in Unknown Distances the songs are relatively short.

This setting, in my opinion, is ideal for kind of the output that this duo produces - engaging not grating, occupying without meandering. Another factor that works in the favour of the musicians is the fact that there is a more constructive feel to this entire outing - mind you, the instruments are still subjected to all the extremities they can endure to produce sound but there is an underlying and palpable theme that pervades the 40 odd minutes musical journey.

The opener, Into the Storm, almost reminds of the music in one of the fight sequences in the movie, The Hero (the Quentin Tarantino one) - discordant plucks of the guitar with some eerie background compositions (Tonino is credited with "compositions" in the CD; I believe this has to be it). Clouds #1, the third and also one of my favourite is one track that seems to approach a semblance of melody with the guitar but chaos soon follows but unlike the earlier album the breaking of melody here is more through minimalist rather than violent means, that makes for a far more pleasant listen. Dry River is another strong track that almost flirts into a tune suggesting a strong underlying structure waiting to be unearthed.

I am not going to debone track by track for I believe every track has its own story to tell for this time around, the duo seem to have an eerie consistency that pervades the entire album and that consistency is something I like - there seems to be a destination and all the atonal plucking and scraping seem preordained to keep this feeling alive (take for instance the tracks good morning and upward - the former has an almost jaunty feel about it while the latter uses repetition to build a more tangible and salubrious structure - both fit perfectly well into the flow of the album; clouds #2 followed by cleft are both tracks that seem to use minimalism very effectively; under the volcano – well I think it suffices to say that is a track that carries a perfect name!!).

The entire album ebbs and flows - building and releasing tension, hinting at themes that go into disarray soon after, haunting yet beautiful at times. The entire music is tighter this time evoking a wholesome listen while the earlier effort was a little disjoint. Once again, without any hesitation I will recommend this album to the more explorative listener - there is more depth and more purpose to this outing that the previous one. Even thought I cannot put my finger on it, there is some element that is just waiting to be tapped in this music - maybe another instrument or maybe timbral changes - when that’s revealed this music is going to be that much more irresistible, here's hoping that the duo manages to nail that.

Until then......

Listen and download from Bandcamp
   

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Joe Morris Wildlife - Traits (Riti, 2011) ****

By Stef


Two years ago, Joe Morris's Wildlife was a trio, with the leader on bass, Petr Cancura on tenor saxophone, Luter Gray on drums, and now the band gets extended with Jim Hobbs on alto sax, giving the overall sound a richer feel and more depth.

With the opening track, "Howling", the double sax front line delivers a strong statement of open-ended wails, without clear path or endpoint, in a real free jazz blowfest, yet as the album evolves, organisation and closer interplay start to gradually emerge, a little more so on "Tracking", with the rhythm section providing a solid intro for the interlocking horns who challenge and mirror and join each other's concepts yet without actually developing a common theme.

On the third track Morris leads the way with a long arco intro, for again a kind of parlando conversation between the two saxes, overlapping and arguing, getting more and more excited as they move forward, neither of them willing to take a step back. "Game", the fourth track is a boppish piece, seemingly prepared, yet possibly entirely improvised, now with the musicians playing consecutively, first Cancura, then Hobbs, then Gray, then Morris - the joy of soloing and coming back to common ground, even if fully improvised.

The most interesting track is "Display", on which the hypnotic rhythm and the vibrating tones of Cancura's tenor give a kind of African or Middle-Eastern flavor, and despite the unusual approach, Hobbs picks it up seemlessly and takes the idea forward as if rehearsed. The album ends with the longest track, "Territorial", with joint improvisation again from the very start, again underpinned by a solid rhythm.

The rhythmic basis, the instant improvisation, the technical mastery, the variation and unique character of each track, combined with the raw yet refined delivery, make this one of the albums that fits the definition of free jazz quite well, and one that is highly recommended to the lovers of the genre.


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Lisbon Berlin Trio (Clean Feed, 2011) ****

By Paul Acquaro

Lisbon Berlin Trio starts with the scratching and scraping of picks across the coils of round wound electric guitar strings. Percussion rattles below and a bowed bass fills the space in between. The muted soundscape grows and soon the guitar is lashing out with distorted chord tones and a disjointed rock-ish melody. By the end of the tune, the song is far from where it began. While it seems like the ten minute long 'Hang Out With' covers a lot of ground, other vibes permeat this album as well.

The probing bass on song 'Mutant Free 1' invites Lopes to play flowing and rhythmically punchy lines. The percussion adds pulse to the mounting tension, ultimately breaking down into free sputters, scratches and plucks. Most likely entirely improvised, each song is listenable and interesting, featuring thoughtful and controlled playing, but also the willingness to let go and let the moment take the songs where wherever they will go. 'Song for M' is a good example of group restraint, whereas 'Mutant Free 2' builds to a climax with the guitar shooting syncopated blasts of energy from his fretboard.

On guitar is Luis Lopes from Portugal, and on bass and drums, are Robert Landfermann and Christian Lillinger, both from Germany. This collection strikes me as being different than some of Lopes' other efforts I am aware of, like Humanization 4-tet and Afterfall. The playing here feels more raw and immediate, with a stronger rock elements throughout. The Clean Feed web sites describes the music as the results of musicians who "don’t specially care to give a 21st century content to the jazz format; it just happens they enjoy, and play, different kinds of music, and usually do it crossing boundaries and mixing vocabularies."

So, perhaps The Lisbon Berlin Trio is and is not a guitar trio. It almost doesn't matter that Lopes is playing guitar, it really is a whole new instrument in his hands, one that is approached in clusters, shapes and abstract extrusions rather than more familiar "guitaristic" sounds and shapes. Overall, a very nice album in which all the songs belie a telepathy between the musicians. It is a trio that I hope to hear more from in the future.

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7K Oaks - Entelechy (Die Schachtel, 2011) ****

By Stef

Three years ago, the German-Italian band 7K Oaks released its debut album, "7,000 Oaks", that won general acclaim, including mine. The band is Alfred 23 Harth on bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet, electronics, Luca Venitucci on keyboards, Fabrizio Spera on drums, percussion, and Massimo Pupillo on bass. Now, three years later, they release their second album, recorded live in Hasselt, Belgium in 2008.

The album is even more ferocious than the first one, starting with a groundswell of unleashed energy, power and anger and violence, but then one that treats the listener with respect and unlimited variations of instruments from sax to trumpet, from piano to organ, with sound density that can diminish, yet never loses intensity. The band mixes jazz with the raw anger of rock music and the distorted noise of electronics and avant-garde, either consecutively, but preferably all together.

The second track is quieter yet full of implicit tension, with lots of unreleased energy being built up under the surface of floating, scratching, wailing and distressed tones, setting the scene for the hypnotic rhythm underpinning the third track, even more accentuated by Venitucci's ever ascending chords, opening a magnificent avenue for Harth's distorted trumpet howls, that keep moving relentlessly towards the expected eruption, yet in contrast it evolves into a quiet and pleasing sax solo, humming the tune from "At Last I Am Free", the CHIC hit, also known to more educated audiences from Robert Wyatt, then shifting the melody into a full blast emotionally expressive post-bop mode, and then - no holds barred - propulsing it right out of the stratosphere ... but coming back to earth, gently.

Impressive!


So, you may ask : what is "entelechy", and for your education, you find some answers here at the source of all information. It means in a way using energy to become what you are ... "It is the entelechy of an acorn to be an oak tree".
      

© stef

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Achim Kaufmann - Verivyr (pirouet - 2011) *****

By Joe Higham

On the first listen to this album I sensed that it would be a strong contender for 5 stars. It's an album that covers everything interesting and important in improvised music. It explores, swings, uses dissonance, melody, it surprises and delights you. In fact it's a lesson in what's not being taught in jazz conservatories world wide, how to make individual music that blurs boundaries and shows a sense of tradition.

Achim Kaufmann has been on the scene for many years and yet he seems to slip under the general listening public's radar screens, and when talking about top quality music, this album really stands out. A strong statement with not a dud on the album, all tracks are first-rate. From the starting 'Permission (Dingbats)' which moves gently around like the swell of the sea, to the last tune 'E Jinx'(Tk 10), a sort of minimalist repeated melody with a very strong rocking - Jim Black - beat, it's also short and sweet. These tunes sandwich the other eight exceptional tunes which although very free in feeling are also very strong melodically. 'Elephant and Boats' (Tk 1) goes everywhere before settling down. Kobuk (Tk 3) seems to lurch about as if three drunks were playing with a beautiful togetherness. 'Bright industrial Smile' (Tk 5) is a swinging tune with Andrew Hill feel to it, probably the closest one gets to a standard jazz piece.

Tk 7 'La Quadrimoteur' feels as though three musicians are fighting over who has the melody with frantic playing and heavy piano, bass and drums. In fact the last half of the album takes you by surprise as tracks 7, 8, 9 & 10 are highly rhythmic pieces, almost funky in their conceptions. It's a great way to keep the listener involved as the music constantly picks up throughout the album and by the time you arrive at the last few tracks you're hooked. In part the success - of the trio and the CD - is in the groups ability to play music which although rhythmically complex sounds so natural, almost like a magician who makes the impossible look so easy. The album is also very musical, not at all distant, making for very enjoyable but stimulating listening.

An excellent album which is highly recommended, and possibly my choice of album of the year? (*) If you look through the blog (Stef is also a Kaufmann fan) you'll notice many other fine albums from this excellent pianist and this could be the moment to discover Kaufmann if you don't know him already.

The trio is : Achim Kaufmann piano, Valdi Kolli bass, and Jim Black drums.

* = Hmmm, difficult to decide which ones to vote for as yet ...?

     

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HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD 2011

Here we are again for the Free Jazz Blog Readers Poll for the best innovative listening experience of the year. Let me emphasise that we are not talking about the best album as such, but we will reward the band or musician who show us new paths for music to take in the future, while at the same time offering lots of joy to the listener. The list of best albums will be on a separate overview.

Here are the simple rules for the HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD 2011 :

Phase 1 - between now and December 3 - establishment of the shortlist - everyone can make recommendations for the most innovative listening experience of the year. The contributors to this blog will make a shortlist out of the suggestions. Of course you can only select the albums that were reviewed during the year on this blog.

Phase 2 - from December 4 till December 29 - everybody can vote on the shortlist of fifteen albums selected by the reviewers.


To kick-start, here is my (Stef's) recommendation for the longlist, but as said, more suggestions are welcome.

1. Foton Quartet - Zomo Hall
2. Afterfall
3. Lisa Ullén & Nina de Heney - Carve
4. Agustí Fernández, Barry Guy & Ramón López - Morning Glory
5. AMM - Uncovered Correspondence
6. Jim Black, Trevor Dunn, Oscar Noriega, Chris Speed - Endangered Blood
7. Darren Johnston, Aram Shelton, Lisa Mezzacappa, Kjell Nordeson - Cylinder
8. Nate Wooley & Taylor Ho Bynum - The Throes
9. Sei Miguel & Pedro Gomes - Turbina Anthem
10. Rob Mazurek - Calma Gente
11. Peter Evans Quintet - Ghosts
12. Louie Belogenis Trio - Tiresias
13. Thomas Heberer's Clarino - Klippe
14. Joe Hertenstein, Thomas Heberer, Joachim Badenhorst, Pascal Niggenkemper - Polylemma
15. Guillaume Roy, Vincent Courtois, Claude Tchamitchian - Amarco
16. Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky & Alexander Ragazanov Revelation
17. Scoolptures - White Sickness
18. Reed Trio - Last Train to the First Station
19. Bruno Duplant, Paulo Chagas & David Sait - Late Winter, Early Spring
20. Kiyoharu Kuwayama & Masayoshi Urabe - From The Abolition Port
21. BB&C - the Veil
22. Farmers By Nature - Out Of This World's Distortions
23. Fire! with Jim O'Rourke - Unreleased
24. Kontra Trio - Jeux Circulaires
25. Bill Dixon - Envoi
26. Tarfala - Syzygy
27. Satoko Fujii & Min-Yoh - Watershed
28. Kaza - Rafale
29. RED Trio + John Butcher - Empire
30. William Parker - Winter Sun Crying
31. Peter Evans & Nate Wooley - High Society
32. Daunik Lazro - Some Other Zongs
33. Mural - Live At The Rothko Chapel
34. Benoît Delbecq & François Houle - Because She Hoped
35. The Limbo Ensemble - Plebiscitu

Please share your thoughts!

Thanks
stef


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Circulasione Totale Orchestra – PhilaOslo (Circulasione Totale, 2011) ****½

By Stef

This double-CD by Frode Gjerstad's large ensemble starts with the horrendous electronic screeching of Lasse Marhaug, but then gradually the music develops, harsh, raw, intrusive, overwhelming, overpowering, with the triple drums of Louis Moholo-Moholo and Paal Nilssen-Love and Morten J. Olsen, accompanied by the acoustic bass of Nick Stephens and the electric bass of Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, the full rhythm section picking up rhythm and Børre Mølstad's tuba accentuating it with a repeated tone, yet the behemoth gradually slows down for Bobby Bradford's cornet to bring the first clear tones, played in his bluesy tone over Kevin Norton's vibes, and Sabir Mateen and Gjerstad himself adding the sax and clarinet lines. On the seventy-one minute long first disc, recorded in Philadelphia, the band shows its real strength by moving as one, not only in the exuberant parts, but especially in the quiet moments, in which sounds bubble up organically like sounds from nature waking up at dawn, all different yet painting a great common canvas of surprise and purity. But of course madness erupts again, with screeching electronics, disrupting every notion of possible comfort, to be altered by steady rhythm and great soloing, "electric Miles"-like at moments.

The second disc is recorded in Oslo, and features the same band, except for two changes : Per Zanussi plays the electric bass and Anders Hana joins on electric guitar. The piece is a few seconds shorter only, and offers the same joyous wildness, and it is hard to say which is best, and possibly nobody can, and that's probably the reason why we get both in one package. The electric Miles elements are a little more accentuated because of the electric guitar, but that's just a little touch, the rest is as rambunctious, boisterous, booming, cacophonous, clamorous, crashing, deafening, deep, ear-piercing, ear-splitting, emphatic, full, heavy, high-sounding, intense, piercing, powerful, raucous, blustering, roaring, rowdy, sonorous, thundering, tumultuous, turbulent, uproarious, vehement, vociferous ... in short capable of waking up the dead ... and real fun at that.

Yet the great power of the album is its variation, and other moments are delicate, gracious, restrained, ritzy, sensitive, sophisticated, subtle ...  resulting in a bewitching, captivating, entrancing, hypnotic, mesmerizing performance.

I hope you get the gist: free and wild and adventurous and deep?

Forstår du?


© stef

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The Limbo Ensemble - Plebiscitu (Audio Tong, 2011) ****½

By Stef

The album comes in a strange rectangular format, with working class girls from bygone days, all with their similarity yet different stories, staring at you, with sympathy, somehow capturing the essence of the music. The music is strange too, edited improvised music by nine musicians from around the world in a suite of chamber music, over which Paolo Chagas, the editor, plays his instruments : sopranino clarinet, flutes, field recordings, bass clarinet, short waves, electronics, soprano saxophone and oboe.

The other musicians are Karl Waugh on violin, Quincas Moreira on cello, Bruno Duplant on doublebass, Massimo Magee on trumpet, Thomas Olsson on electric guitar, Travis Johnson on cello, Paulo Duarte on electric guitar, and Fernando Simões on trombone and objects.

You hear at most five musicians at the same time, and even then the result is absolutely minimal, with bits of sound carefully sprinkled around to create something new, something surprising, something refreshing, something gripping. Paolo Chagas uses the musical vision of Ukrainian composer Thomas von Hartmann (1885-1956), a contemporary of Schoenberg, Kandinsky and Nijinsky, who wrote in his essay "On Anarchy in Music": "While the inner voice does not revolt, everything is permitted. In all the arts, especially music, any method born from an inner need is correct."

It is equally no surprise that elements of classical music (violin, cello) as present as jazz (bass, trombone, trumpet) and modern music (eletronics, field recordings), or even with  rock  elements coming from the strange dry guitar sounds of Paulo Duarte.

The careful selection and manipulation, the crafty re-orchestration of improvised pieces by Chagas results in a very coherent sound: human and emotional as the result of the improvisation, fragile and finished because of the editing.

It does require open ears at moments, but the Limbo Ensemble offers a fascinating and surprising listening experience.

Highly recommended!


You can also download the album and donate what you want. Be generous, this music has value.




© stef

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Sax Trios

By Stef

You can comment on the choice of putting the four following albums in one review, but they all have something in common apart from being played by a sax-bass-drums trio, and that is their musical warmth and their cosy exploration of the known, doing their own thing, with character while remaining accessible. None of these albums will alter musical history, but that is also not their ambition - yet they are highly enjoyable all the same.

Matt Renzi, Stefano Senni, Jimmy Weinstein - 4 Stories (El Galo Rojo, 2011) ***½

I knew tenor saxophonist from his album "The Cave", but that's about it, and I heard drummer Jimmy Weinstein from his quartet album "The Ocean", with Satoko Fujii. Here they are joined by Stefano Senni on bass for what is a true trio album. The music is as gentle and warm as it is free and improvised. There is no sense of urgency, no need to make noise, just calm elaboration, intimate and velvety interaction, the modern equivalent of the sixties cool jazz sax trios.

The entire album was recorded as one go, with no preconceived plan or melodies, in the sequence presented here. There is nothing spectacular about, and equally nothing that goes against the grain. Nice work and enjoyable.

Greg Ward's Phonic Juggernaut (Thirsty Ears, 2011) ***½

Altoist Greg Ward has an warm buttery tone that places him in the same league as Matt Renzi, also keeping his playing to the mid-range of his register, but his approach to music is more nervous, more complex, and obviously composed, at times moving into the musical space carved out by Rudresh Mahanthappa and Steve Lehman. The real attention-grabber is Damion Reid's drumming, whose agitated hyperkinetic drive and power is often in stark contrast to the gentle playing of Ward himself and Joe Sanders on bass. The overall result is also nice and enjoyable, with some interesting moments, but it is not the "juggernaut" that will crush and destroy ... you will survive the listening experience.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Håkon Kornstad, Jon Christensen - Mitt Hjerte Altid Vanker 1 (Compunctio, 2011) ***½

Now that we are in the area of modern jazz and the more gentle approach to sound, fans will also appreciate this nice Norwegian trio album by bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, saxophonist Håkon Kornstad, and drummer Jon Christensen. Apart from the first track, "Death And The Flower" by Keith Jarrett, with whom Christensen collaborated in the past, the other compositions are improvisations based on Norwegian folk songs, but then played in the same post-boppish mode that flows almost naturally in the wake of the opening piece, and gradually open some more adventurous explorations yet without alienating the enthusiastic audience too much. The recording was made in Oslo in 2009.

A great and heartwarming album for cold winter nights.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Håkon Kornstad, Jon Christensen - Mitt Hjerte Altid Vanker 2 (Compunctio, 2011) ***½

Interestingly enough the trio also released a second album that continues the same approach, now performed live in Uppsala, Sweden in 2009. Three of the compositions are identical as on the previous album, but the overall sound is different, much closer, intimate and confined than the resonating space of the Oslo performance. The first and last track are a traditional folk song that Håker Flaten's grandmother used to sing, and which is also figuring on "Elise", the first in a minor key, the second version in a major key, as it was originally sung.

Again, what can I say? .... A great and heartwarming album for cold winter nights.


© stef

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Tony Malaby - Novela (Clean Feed, 2011) *****

By Paul Acquaro

Novela by Tony Malaby is a real treat. It tantalizes the senses with its complex yet accessible horn arrangements, burns with a restrained energy that propels the soloists and builds so imperceptibly that by time we are half way into the first piece, "Floating Head," and the piano's slightly disjointed but flowing phrases come to the fore, we are ready for a slight breather. The bass clarinet phrases with the horn and drum hits below the soloing trumpet is fantastic -- it is easy to be happily lost in the melodies, counter melodies, individual and ensemble improvisations.

The arrangement of the second tune, "Floral and Herbaceous," with its slow moving melody is a fraught affair, collapsing in the middle into just a solitary voice. Then, slowly, evocatively, the tune rises again from its own ashes. The playing and the arangements are inspired and inspiring, covering the range from bouts of frenetic dissonance to soaring climaxes.

The material comes from Malaby's discography, recorded in different group settings over the years. This arrangements on Novela were done by pianist Kris Davis and she is co-credited as such on the album. The group is an nonet, with Malaby on soprano and tenor saxophones, Michael Attias on alto, Andrew Hadro on baritone, Joachim Badenhorst playing bass clarinet, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Ben Gerstein playing trombone, Kris Davis on piano, John Hollenbeck playing drums and Dan Peck on tuba.

The extensive wind and brass section gives a lot of textures and colors to paint with and the result is a fascinating album. The ideas are big, the details are never lost, and the arrangements never overwhelm the tunes, leaving much space for group and individual improvisation.

Buy from Instantjazz.

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