Musician of the Year 2012 (an addendum)

By Martin Schray

I guess it has been quite obvious by my reviews that my favorite musicians this year are Mats Gustafsson and Peter Brötzmann.

Mats Gustafsson is a phenomenon. Like Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Ken Vandermark and others he has released more than ten albums this year and all of them of stellar quality. It may seem that I am a bit generous with superlatives or that I am an uncritical fan but in the end let’s face facts: He has the ability to integrate interesting new musicians (and therefore elements) to his long-term collaborations Fire! (feat. Oren Ambarchi) and The Thing (feat. Barry Guy; and Neneh Cherry), in the first case my album of the year (far ahead of anything else: “In the Mouth a Hand”) because it combines kraut rock and free jazz in an unheard way, in the second case he gears down to more classical free jazz (“Metal!”) and makes an 1980s pop star return from oblivion (“The Cherry Thing”). He also recorded with an Ethiopian musician (Mesele Asmamav, on an instrument called krar) and the  result of an out-of-the-blue- 45-minute jam session in a hotel room in Addis Abeba  is one of the most surprising pieces of music I have heard this year (“Baro”; with Paal-Nilssen-Love on drums). Additionally, he is one of the few who can fascinate listeners with solo records on which he reveals a romantic side and a deep knowledge of history (“Bengt”, “Mats G plays Gullin”). If you think you get it about him, he releases stuff like “Play some fuckin’ Stooges” with Thurston Moore, an ideal crossover record between free jazz, alternative rock, punk attitude and new music. In the end you can see what a great musician he is when you listen to his trio with Raymond Strid and John Russell where he plays in a very intimate way (“Birds”) or in his mind-blowing duo with Colin Stetson (“Stones”). How does this man do it?

Have I mentioned that he is also part of Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet?

Peter Brötzmann is 71 years old and he keeps on touring and releasing stuff – it’s simply amazing. Although he is always interested in new collaborations he is mostly admired for his consequence. His tentet (+1) is the most fascinating larger ensemble in free jazz (only rivaled by Anthony Braxton’s band and Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble) and the fact that he has broken it up after 14 years was one of the saddest news lately. “Walk, Sleep, Love” is a marvelous example for large group interaction, his duo with Jason Adasiewicz on vibes proves that his sound also works in a completely different context (“Going all Fancy”). Almost classic are his collaborations with trios (with John Edwards and Steve Noble on “The Worse the Better” and with Masahiko Satoh and Takeo Moriyama on “Yat”) and with drummers, this year he worked with Jörg Fischer for the first time (“Live in Wiesbaden”), another great album. Although I like him best when he lets the beast out (on “Snakelust” with Hairy Bones or on the first CD on “Trio Roma”) I discovered what an outstanding solo performer he is. My personal performance of the year was his concert at the Center for Jewish Studies under Heidelberg’s old quarter (the second CD of “Trio Roma” gives you an impression). Chapeau!

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End-of-year Lists Galore

Allright, here they are then, the albums of the year 2012 as selected by the entire review team of the Free Jazz Collective. Each reviewer presented his (unfortunately not her) list of the ten best albums of the year. Based on the commonalities between those lists, we selected the top-10 that we all favoured.

The Free Jazz Collective Top-10 albums of 2012

1. Eve Risser, Benjamin Duboc & Edward Perraud - En Corps
2. Angles 8 - By Way Of Deception
3. The Thing With Barry Guy - Metal!
4. Aram Shelton Quartet - Everything for Somebody
5. Henry Threadgill Zooid – Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp
6. Nicole Mitchell - Arc Of O
7. Mary Halvorson Quintet - Bending Bridges
8. Martin Küchen - Hellstorm
9. Levity - Afternoon Delights
10. Stian Westerhus - The Matriarch & The Wrong Kind Of Flower

Every contributor to the blog also made his own list of preferred albums.

Denti Alligator

1.             Eve Risser, Benjamin Duboc & Edward Perraud - En Corps

2.             Aaron Novik - Secret of Secrets

3.             Neneh Cherry & The Thing -  The Cherry Thing

4.             Bester Quartet -  Metamorphoses

5.             Charles Gayle - Streets

6.             Keith Rowe -  September

7.             Mats Gustafsson - Bengt

8.             David Krakauer -  Pruflas -  The Book of Angels Volume 18

9.             King Tears Bat Trip -  King Tears Bat Trip

10.          The Thing With Barry Guy -  Metal!

Paul Acquaro

1.             Mary Halvorson Quintet - Bending Bridges

2.             Elliot Sharp Trio - Aggregat

3.             9 Volt - Open Circuit

4.             Elephant9 with Reine Fiske - Atlantis

5.             Joe Morris, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver - Altitude

6.             Paul Dunmall & Tony Bianco - Thank You To John Coltrane

7.             Eivind Opsvik - Overseas IV

8.             Aych - As the Crow Flies

9.             Scorch Trio with Mars Williams - Made in Norway

10.          Tim Berne - Snake Oil

Tom Burris

1.             Eve Risser, Benjamin Duboc & Edward Perraud – En Corps 

2.             Nicole Mitchell – Arc of O 

3.             Jooklo Duo & Bill Nace – Scratch 

4.             Mary Halvorson Quintet - Bending Bridges 

5.             Henry Threadgill Zooid – Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp 

6.             Rob Mazurek Pulsar Quartet – Stellar Pulsations 

7.             Sam Rivers, Dave Holland & Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York 

8.             Hairy Bones – Snakelust 

9.             Noah Bernstein – Six 

10.          Ballister – Mechanisms 

Daniel Sorrelis

1.             Eve Risser, Benjamin Duboc & Edward Perraud - En Corps

2.             Eli Keszler - Catching Net

3.             Angles 8 - By Way of Deception: Live in Ljubjana

4.             Angharad Davies, Tisha Mukarji, Dimitria Lazaridou-Chatzigoga - Outwash

5.             Pedro Sousa & Hernâni Faustino - Falaise

6.             Martin Küchen - Hellstorm

7.             Way Out Northwest - The White Spot

8.             Mikołaj Trzaska, Ollie Brice, Mark Sanders - Riverloam Trio

9.             John Tilbury - For Tomasz Sikorski

10.          Henry Threadgill Zooid - Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry, Spp.

Phil Coombs

1.             Angles 8 - By Way of Deception - Live in Ljubljana

2.             Nicole Mitchell - Arc of O

3.             Steve Lehman Trio - Dialect Fluorescent

4.             Daniel Erdmann - How to Catch a Cloud

5.             MMM Quartet - Live at Metz' Arsenal

6.             Emile Parisien - Chien Guepe

7.             Aram Shelton Quartet - Everything for Somebody

8.             Matthew Shipp Trio - Elastic Aspects

9.             Max Johnson Quartet

10.          Eve Risser - En Corps

Joe Higham

1.             John Butcher and Toshimaru Nakamura - Dusted Machinery

2.             Levity - Afternoon Delights

3.             Aram Shelton Quartet - Everything for Somebody

4.             Daniel Erdmann - How to Catch a Cloud

5.             Marc Ducret - Tower Vol. 4

6.             Eve Risser - En Corps

7.             Outhouse - Straw, Sticks + Bricks.

8.             Arts and Sciences - New You

9.             Kay Grant & Alex Ward - Fast Talk

10.          Fred Lonberg-Holm's Fast Citizens - Gather

Paolo Casertano

1.             Stian Westerhus - The Matriarch And The Wrong Kind Of Flowers

2.             Joe McPhee & Eli Keszler - Ithaca

3.             Nate Wooley/Peter Evans - Instrumental Vol. 1

4.             Colin Stetson & Mats Gustafsson - Stones

5.             The Thing with Barry Guy - Metal

6.             Steve Lehman Trio - Dialect Fluorescent 

7.             Martin Küchen - Hellstorm

8.             Peter Kolovos - Black Colors

9.             Paradoxical Frog - Union

10.          John Tilbury - For Tomasz Sikorski

Ananth Krishnan

1.             Thomas Heberer – Cookbook

2.             Angles 8 - By Way of Deception: Live in Ljubjana

3.             Levity - Afternoon Delights

4.             Trespass Trio - Bruder Beda

5.             Maya Homburger and Barry Guy - Tales of Enchantment

Stef Gijssels

1.             Eve Risser, Benjamin Duboc & Edward Perraud – En Corps

2.             RED Trio + Nate Wooley - Stem

3.             Mikołaj Trzaska Ircha Clarinet Quartet* ‎– Zikaron - Lefanay

4.             Thomas Heberer's Clarino - Cookbook (Red Toucan, 2012)

5.             Mathias Küchen - Hellstorm

6.             Wadada Leo Smith - Ten Freedom Summers

7.             Skogen - Ist Gefallen In Den Schnee

8.             Angles 8 - By Way of Deception: Live in Ljubjana

9.             Pretty Monsters

10.          Dark Poetry

Martin Schray

1.       Fire! - In the Mouth a Hand

2.       Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet+1 - Walk, Sleep, Love

3.       Evan Parker's Electro Acoustic Ensemble -  Hasselt

4.       Stian Westerhus -  The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers

5.       Hairy Bones - Snakelust

6.       Martin Küchen - Hellstorm

7.       Mats Gustafsson/Thurston Moore -  Play Some Fucking Stooges

8.       Colin Stetson/Mats Gustafsson - Stones

9.       Pao -  Pao

10.    Arts and Science  New You

.... and by the way, you can still vote for the HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD  for the most innovative listening experience of the year.

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Max Johnson Trio - Elevated Vegetation (FMR Records, 2012) ****½

By Philip Coombs

Dear Mr. Johnson;

Two records in one year! Thanks for keeping me entertained and keeping my anticipation time between records to a minimum. A music lover can't ask for much more than that.

A Fan.

Do people even write fan letters anymore? Do they request 8"X10" autographed pictures or do they just download everything? Do artists even have pictures anymore?

Well here is Max Johnson's picture, his snapshot of three men in a room making music, and as with any great composed shot, here would be his law of thirds for creating a great image.

First Law: Max Johnson (bass) has the ability to search out the best musicians to suit his current project. Ziv Ravitz (drums), drawing from his Israeli roots, contributes not only a solid and earthy foundation for the others to play over but also provides just enough world music flavor without making it old or tired. Listen to the beginning of "The Chirps of Imaginary Birds" to get a taste of what I mean. Rounding out the trio is Kirk Knuffke (cornet), who not only writes a great track for the album ("Meta Analytical Procedures for Social Research"), but also takes Johnson's melodies and arrangements and transports them from the ground, past the weeds and straight to the fruit on top of all the vegetation. His playing on "Money, Money, Money" is fantastic.

Second Law: Johnson constantly displays his ability to maintain all of the rhythmic qualities needed in a trio setting but can switch gears to push the melody. Regardless of what is happening in the track, your ear will find its way back to the bass somehow. On the opening track "Blue Willie", he keeps the time under the cornet yet seamlessly finds a way to either finish, start and interject the melody in unison with Knuffke.

Third Law: He is always changing. Very little here sounds the same as his quartet record from earlier this year. I admit, I was expecting the same, but was forced once again to question what it is I like. Now I can't turn it off. Tracks like "Crackdown" and "Many Celebrations" are germinating seeds that get under your skin, just waiting for you to add your own water and sunlight.

So there you have it. I am a fan, hoping that music of this calibre will continue into 2013.

Buy it from his Bandcamp page or anywhere else you can find it.

Here is what I mean about "Many Celebrations".

         

© stef

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Boneshaker - Boneshaker (Trost Records, 2012) ****

By Martin Schray

I don’t like Decembers. The days are getting shorter and shorter, it is cold and muddy outside, the cities are crowded with aggressive people shopping for Christmas. Christmas actually: What has it become? It starts in early November with the first decorations and ends on Boxing Day when families have almost killed themselves fighting over their Christmas dinners. It’s hell! My personal strategy to overcome December is a self-made musical advent calendar. One track each day keeps madness away. Today, on 26th of December, it is 'Hostilities of Progress' by Boneshaker, a hardcore trio consisting of Mars Williams (reeds, toy instruments), Kent Kessler (bass), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums and percussion).

To be honest, I chose 'Hostilities of Progress' at random, I only wanted Boneshaker to be part of my calendar today. I could have chosen What does not kill you (another programmatic title) or 'Sticky Wicket' as well, these pieces would have had a similar effect. But 'Hostilities in Progress' is perfect because this piece starts with a typical Brötzmann howl (I actually checked the notes on the LP if he was guest-starring) and does not release you for the next 15 minutes. I am gonna play it over and over again. It is full throttle free jazz, you feel your fists clench and your face contort while listening to it. After you survived it there is nothing left in you (and maybe in the players neither) because you (and they) did the best to handle the insanity around us.

But there is hope on the album as well: 'Beauty of Sadness', the second track on the album, is unlike the other pieces. It is indeed a beautiful and melancholic - but also a grim - composition starting with a solo improvisation by Kessler which sounds like a double bass in a philharmonic orchestra gone astray, before Williams joins in with a heartbreaking theme that reminds one of Ry Cooder’s “Paris, Texas” theme, only that it is played by a saxophone in a zombie ghost town. The track is full of scattered drum parts, toy instruments, creepy voices, absolute silence, bowed bass lines, and an incredibly elegant saxophone at the end.  When you listen to it in the dark, it is really scary. On the other hand the beautiful elements the track includes make me look forward to another new year, even knowing that there will be another December at the end – but also another advent calendar.

Boneshaker is not newfound territory but it is music which is emotionally exposed and raw. Exactly what I need to cure my Christmas blues.

You can listen to the first track here:



Boneshaker is released on vinyl only.

You can buy it from instantjazz.com

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Musicians Of The Year 2012

By Stef  

We can argue a long time about the best albums of the year, or the most innovative ones, because nobody has listened to everything and tastes differ of course.

It's the same with the somewhat arbitrary list of "Musicians Of The Year", a list drawn up by myself, based on the quality and variety of the music presented by some artists this year.

Here is my list, with some explanations of why these musicians have outdone themselves, to the joy of their fan-base. Some of the luminaries of the British free improvisation scene demonstrate that creativity and open-mindedness do not dwindle with age, and then the younger generation with solid and upcoming talent. They all surprised me this year, and of course very positively.


The revelation of the year was French pianist Eve Risser, and that should be no surprise to readers of this blog, but I was personally also entranced by the new music direction that the British violinist Angharad Davies presented, as well as by Ingrid Laubrock's prolific participation on some of the most noteworthy albums of the year. I will start with the ladies, out of courtesy, but there is no ranking in this overview.

Eve Risser

For many of us she arose out of nowhere to bring one of the most acclaimed albums of the year, "En Corps" with Benjamin Duboc and Edward Perraud. It blew me to pieces the first time I listened to it, and it has kept doing that. It's not because I did not know her that this is her first album, quite to the contrary, and she released albums before with Polish bassist Rafal Mazur, or with bands like Donkey Monkey and Fenêtre Ovale.







Angharad Davies

British violinist Angharad Davies released two albums in the more minimalist genre but both of outstanding quality, "Outwash" with Tisha Mukarji and Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, and"Ist Gefallen In Den Schnee" with Skogen, and "Pluie Fine" with Cremaster Duo. Like Risser, Katherine Young, Mary Halvorson, Magda Mayas, Hannah Marshall and many more, she is among the most daring young female artists, with a clear and solid vision on what sound can sound like.

Ingrid Laubrock

Even she did not release any new material under her own name, 2012 also seems the absolute breakthrough of German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, with "Union" by Paradoxical Frog, "Catatumbo" with Javier Carmona & Ollie Brice, "Haste" with Veryan Weston and Hannah Marschall, , "Camino Cielo Echo" with Tom Rainey and Mary Halvorson, and "Old Myth/New Science" by Living By Lanterns. Her way of playing the tenor is something else, something new, quite expressive and adventurous, unharmed by too much training, and it's this raw authenticity that makes her music appealing.




Barry Guy

From the classical "Tales Of Enchantment" with his partner Maya Homburger, the impressionistic miniatures on "Games And Improvisations" with Katharina Weber and Balts Nill, "Hexentrio" with Paul Plimley and Lucas Niggli, to the more extravert "Lava" with Liudas Mockunas, and the explosive "Metal" with The Thing, Barry Guy adds musical value in whatever genre or line-up he performs in. His playing is as precise as it is creative. And on top of this, he is also as part of Evan Parker's ElectroAcoustic Ensemble in the excellent "Hasselt". He also performed with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra on "Schweben - Ay, But Can Ye", and the album "One Four and Two Twos" brings us some older performances by John Stevens, Paul Rutherford and Evan Parker. In short, a prolific year for the British bass-player, but primarily with outstanding records.

Evan Parker

His fellow countryman and long-time musical partner Evan Parker also had an astonishing year in terms of quality and quantity of output, with no less than ten albums and we may have missed a few. His ElectroAcoustic Ensemble released one of the most innovative albums of the year with "Hasselt", he was the invited star on "Vivaces" by Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée, but he also shone in smaller ensembles, such as All Told's "Meetings with Remarkable Saxophonists" with John Edwards and Eddie Prévost, and the stellar "The Bleeding Edge" with Okkyung Lee and Peter Evans, "Live At The Vortex" with Foxes Fox, a fabulous duo with Agustí Fernández on "The Voice Is One", an equally stunning trio with John Coxon and Eddie Prévost on "Cinema", with George Graewe on "Dortmund Variations", on "Improcherto" with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, and then the release of older performances with John Stevens, Paul Rutherford and Barry Guy on "One Four and Two Twos", and the re-issue of "Supersession" with Barry Guy, Eddie Prévost and Keith Rowe, all of those still to be reviewed. He produes more albums than we have to review.


Nate Wooley

Nate Wooley has always been one of the stars on this blog, yet now again he is part of the best albums of the year, with RED Trio on "Stem", with Christian Weber and Paul Lytton on "Six Feet Under", his very adventurous solo albums "(8) Syllables",  "The Almond", then his collaboration with Bruno Duplant and Julien Héraud on "Movement & Immobility", and in a more traditional format on Harris Eisenstadt's "Canada Day III". Some absolutely fascinating recent work by him still needs some review on this blog, but they are in the pipeline :  "The Nows" with Paul Lytton, "Instrumentals" with Peter Evans, "From The Discrete To The Particular" with Joe Morris and Agusti Fernández, and on Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten's "NY Quartet". You have a number of musicians who are part of the scene, or who manage to create their own voice and carve out their own space in music, yet Nate Wooley is at the absolute center of it, shaping future style, contributing to music history and influencing lots of other musicians with his sometimes uncompromising approach ... like Barry Guy and Evan Parker. You can sometimes question what he's doing, but I guess that's what it means to be boundary-breaking.



A couple of other musicians also stand out, but because they were already among the "Musicians Of The Year" before on this blog, we will just mention them. The first is Martin Küchen who continued to deliver fantastic albums with Angles 8 "By Way Of Deception", on his solo album "Hellstorm", or with the Trespass Trio's "Bruder Beda". The first two of those albums figured on this blog's top-10 of the year, a major achievement.

The second worthy mention is for bassoonist Katherine Young, who also figured on our "Musician Of The Year" list before. She confirms her idiosyncratic approach to the instrument, and her search for new musical languages with "After Party - Releasing Bound Water From Green Material ", "Pretty Monsters",  and Verdure Into Onyx.

The third person is Wadada Leo Smith, less prolific, but with such superb quality that he's worth a mention again : "Ancestors" his duo album with Louis Moholo-Moholo, his unique "Ten Freedom Summers", and with again a totally different sound on "Dark Lady Of The Sonnets" with Min Xiao-Fen and Pheeroan AkLaff. 

Have I missed some musicians? Sure, truckloads of them. Yet I just wanted to select the ones really worth looking for. With the abundance of new material being produced, it's good to have some anchor points. Listen to the musicians mentioned above. They shape listening.

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