Roundup: More Guitars

By Paul Acquaro

A couple of weeks ago Stef wrote up a great review of guitar related albums. In it, he expressed concern that it seemed like many guitar albums went unreviewed on the blog ... well, that's probably true to some extent, as there is just too damn much good music in general, but I'd like to take a moment to point out some guitar album reviews from this past year including guitar week, the menacing Slobber Pup, veterans like Bill Frisell, mad scientists like Marc Ribot and Mary Halvorson, rootsy Ross Hammond and the ever fascinating Marc Ducret.

Ok, that's not quite comprehensive, but now with that off my chest, why not add a couple more names to the list?

Here we go with some stocking stuffers just in time for the holidays...

Stephen Crump's Rosetta - Thwirl (Sunnyside, 2013) ****

Is it right to start off a review of guitar albums with a bassist's album? I think so since it seems that Stephen Crump likes working with great guitarists. He recently released a duo effort, Secret Keeper, with Mary Halvorson, and in his Rosetta Trio he surrounds himself with two fantastic players in Liberty Ellman and Jamie Fox.

The album with Halvorson was quite successful, drawing on the more subtle aspects of the duo's playing and likewise, Thwirl is also an understated but insistent affair. The Rosetta Trio places the bassist's playing in contrast between the two guitarists to great effect. Tunes like the opening 'Ending' features the guitarists playing rhythmic figures against each other, while the bass provides and anchor between their phrases. Openly strummed chords announce the alt-rock 'Reclamation Zone', while a folksy-bluesy melody floats above.

Thwirl is an album full of texture and feel, give it a listen:

Mary Halvorson - Ghost Loop (ForTune Records, 2013) ****½

Speaking of Mary Halvorson, my gut reaction to her new trio release Ghost Loop (a live concert recording that seems to be available from Instant Jazz), is that it's just flat out excellent. Halvorson's compositions and studio recordings seem to keep growing in scope and sophistication - from the trio to the quintet and recently to the septet recording. Ghost Loop is stripped back to the essential three piece: Halvorson on guitar, Ches Smith on drums and John Hebert on bass, so the textures and horn arrangements that she had been developing on her recent recordings are less of a factor and the the trio's playing comes to the fore.

Several of the tracks really showcase Halvorson's versatility, such as the gently arpeggiated "Into the Sea Into Me (No. 36)", which as the tune evolves, erupts with raw power.  However, these delightfully fierce moments are balanced out with quite lyrical passages. The jarring syncopations in "Crashes Like Light (no. 29)" are captivating and showcases just how in tune the trio is with each other. The tracks are Halvorson's compositions, some of which have appeared on her recordings and others making what seems to be recorded debuts.

This is an excellent, unexpected, and quite welcome album. Check it out:

Bogdo Ula - The Return of the Sons of Ra (self released, 2013) ****

One of my favorite Finnish power trios (yes, I have more than one) keeps flying ever further out into the unknown. Illustrated clad in spacesuits with their craft nearby, Bogdo Ula's fourth album spans the cosmic void effortlessly. Delving deep into sound collages and impressionistic sequences and segueing into expressive Rypdal-like arcs, the group turns searching improvisations into kinetic journeys.

The ringing of Samuli Kristian's heavily effected guitar on 'Killing Horizon' echoes loudly over the rumble of Jean Ruin's bass and the pulse of Ivan Horder's drums, while the improvised melodies between the guitar and bass on 'Io Gas & Coal Company Wish You Bon Voyage' are sparse and effective. More and more atmosphere is creeping in, along with spaciousness, electronics and risk. It seems that each new release finds the trio stretching the boundaries of their brand of jazz rock.

Check them out:

Bushman's Revenge - Electric Komle - Live! (Rune Grammofon, 2013) ****

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Norway's Bushman's Revenge make some rare concert appearances in New York City. The power trio tore it up with a nonchalance that comes with a knowing confidence, brutalizing and harmonizing their way through scintillating sets.

So, it's with pleasure that I give Electric Kolme - Live! a spin. Recorded at the Storyville jazz club in Molde in May 2012, the limited pressing LP's tiny grooves (with includes a CD of the album as well) somehow contains the scarring guitar of Even Helte Hermansen, the propulsive polyrhythyms of Rune Nergaard and the zestful electric bass of Gard Nilssen. While the group leans towards the heavier side, their music is still loose and specked with reflective moments that give the powerful passages even more heft. If I were to pick a favorite song from this set it may have to be to their scorching version of Ornette Coleman's 'Lonely Woman, but then again, Sonny Sharrock's 'As We Used to Sing' is excellent as well.

Put it on the record player, turn it up way too loud, wad up some toilet paper in your ears, and behold the Bushman's Revenge.

Rich Rosenthal - Falling Up (Muse-Eek, 2014)  ***½

Guitarist Rich Rosenthal hasn't recorded much as a leader to date, but has worked with some big names in the field, like Joe McPhee, Michael Bisio, Joe Giardullo among others. On Falling Up, the New York based guitarist has made a nice debut.

'Powder Hysteria' kicks things off with a dissonant ping ponging of chords, segueing into a unison melody between the guitar and sax. After a flurry of notes, space opens up for a compelling set of solos.  Track two, 'No Baby', begins with the oddly chanted words 'No Baby' whose syllables are transformed a rhythmic motif. An edgy solo by Rosenthal follows. Track 4, 'We Sneezawee', finds Rosenthal playing with a fuzzier tone, the bass is a little punchier, and were into some solid jazz-rock. The next track 'Eternal Meltdown' has some sharp shards of sound bring tossed around after a dramatic sax intro. My only complain is that some momentum is a lost with the synthesizer on 'Airing Out'.  Overall, Falling Up is a compelling album that fuses adventurous ideas with an accessible approach.

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Thomas Borgmann, Wilber Morris & Denis Charles - Live in Poland (Not Two, 2013) ****

By Stef

Sometimes it's great that albums get re-issued, but this one is somewhat special, because the original vinyl album was released on the Italian Sagittarius label only three years ago. For the "why vinyl?" critics this will be a treat - a real CD with the same concert that took place in Poland in March 1998.

The trio is Thomas Borgmann on sax, the late Wilber Morris on bass, and the late Dennis Charles on drums.

This is without a doubt free jazz at its best - it soars, it sings, it dances, it goes deep into tribal origins, creates magical musical interaction, applauded and encouraged by a very present audience, pushing the three musicians onward and forward, in directions they themselves may not have anticipated, yet which are very memorable.

On the long opening track "Bird Bath", the trio moves from contemplative harmonica playing - in the style of Don Cherry's melodica-playing - over tribal polyrhythmics with pumping bass and rejoicing soprano to a kind of crowd-pleasing interaction of drum beats and audience handclapping, accompanied by shouting, ending in a heartrending and bluesy slow finale, with Borgmann switching to tenor.

Listeners interested in the trio will mark the difference with their version of the same composition on their "The Last Concert - Dankeschön" (Silkheart, 2000). Same song, completely different performance.

The second track is "Nasty & Sweet", also on the Silkheart album, but here starting with Borgmann on ocarina, then tenor,with bowed bass sucking the listener into a more contemplative mood, full of ominous darkness, released into gutwrenching cries on the horn, supported by Charles' loose percussive foundation, as if this was the outro of a longer piece, but gradually the intensity and the volume increase into a soaring continued avalanche of deep emotional outbursts.

The album finishes with "One By One", which itself starts with a subdued funky tenor solo intro with gospel sentiment, then followed by a drums solo, and then - as you can deduct from the title - a bass solo. Simple and great.

What makes the album equally recommendable is the great sound quality, which gives the bass for once a very clear voice.

In sum, great music, great fun, great audience.

Available at instantjazz.com.

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Round-Up: Chicago

By Tom Burris

Stirrup - Sewn  (428 Music, 2013) ***½

 

Psychedelic groove jazz?  Post-rock meets chamber pop?  All of those elements are here, but the end result isn't nearly as daft as the genre-speak makes it seem.  The whole of Stirrup's sound gels quite naturally, so you don't need to fear that this may be an overly self-conscious experiment in style-hopping.  In fact, I believe the opposite may be true.  The trio is so open in its approach that it allows for a wide range of influences and sounds to flow into the music they create. 

The disc opens with Nick Macri (bass) and Charles Rumback (drums) providing the sturdy pavement that Fred Lonberg-Holm pedals his electric cello (or guitar) across.  This is the basic sound of the group, I suppose – but it doesn't begin to describe what they set out to do with this recipe.  Gorgeous exotic melodies from Lonberg-Holm's guitar on “The Profit of Field Stripping” are reminiscent of Ask The Ages-era Sonny Sharrock.  He also does the hippie noodling pretty well, as on “Insen for Yonsei,” where he channels Santana.  But don't fear the tie-dye as it comes tinged with exercises like “Song for Salim,” a long uptempo groove that sounds like the Contortions covering “On the Corner”.

Macri and Rumback are an ace rhythm section, solidly holding down the ship throughout every type of twist and turn, as on “Convulsive,” a slow, long meditative track that is the highlight of the recording.  Jazz raga?

Frank Rosaly / Cicada Music  (Delmark, 2013) ****½

Rosaly's name crops up on a ton of recordings on Chicago-based bands, but I believe this is the first one that features him as a bandleader.  His solo recordings have revealed a deep interest in sonic texture, so it's not surprising that he has chosen a unique lineup for Cicada Music: three clarinetists (Keefe Jackson, Jason Stein, James Falzone), vibes (Jason Adasiewicz), bass (Jason Roebke) and percussion (Rosaly).

It opens with a short piece featuring Rosaly (on drums and electronics) and Adasiewicz, before the bass clarinet bullfrog honk of “Wet Feet Splashing” yanks you toward a cartoon lake full of ducks and freshwater fish set beneath shimmering stars.  (Fellow Chicagoan Lilli Carre would be the perfect video director for this band.)  This is followed by the slow and dreamlike “Babies,” with its beautiful harmonic structure and sublime clarinet solo.  Clarinets belch and wheeze their way through the brief “Yards,” while Roebke plays the cracklebox over Rosaly's solid foundation.

“Tragically Positive” serves as a fine example of how well these players work together.  According to Rosaly's website, the band was conceived five years ago – which is plenty of time to develop the telepathic interplay on display here.  They're like a stone-faced version of MOPDTK.  It's also impossible to avoid thoughts of the “Out to Lunch” Dolphy/Hutcherson axis when listening to this band; but it seems the possibilities of the vibes/reeds combination have not been fully explored – as proven throughout this disc.

The real standout track here is “Typophile/Apples,” which opens with a cacophony worthy of Brotzmann.  The three reeds go ballistic while Rosaly and Adasiewicz lay out an impressionistic base underneath.  The drums and vibes are joined by Roebke's bass on a groove dance that features a lone clarinet (Jackson?) playing exhilarating swirling lines.  The piece is broken into various sections by melody lines played in unison.  It's the centerpiece to this triumphant debut recording of Frank Rosaly as a composer and a bandleader. 

 Jason Roebke and Tobias Delius - Panoramic (Not Two, 2013)****

It's hard to hear the saxophone / upright bass combination and not think of film noir soundtracks; but send that off into a freer territory and it becomes a bit like a post-modern version of the genre.  Roebke and Delius begin with the blues – and then point it directly at the night sky.  Blues and the abstract moon.

Their rapport is fascinating.  There is a center to this music that each acknowledges in their playing (beyond the blues), but that neither directly references.  It's as if they're both tethered to each other; and they're hashing out a plan of escape.  This music is that dialogue, with all of the disagreements over the details and the handshake of an agreed-upon common goal. 

Highlights include “No Light,” where Roebke's bowing and Delius' long Arthur Doyle-type lines come together to create an atmosphere of a sweaty, oppressive, humid afternoon – and the meditative-but-playful “Punkin,” where Delius' habit of following up a particularly long note followed by a series of quick runs is matched by Roebke's whip-smart replies, which seem to catch up and begin writing hopscotch patterns onto the floor before Delius can jump into them.  It's an amazing game of tag where you can't tell who is the hunter and who is the prey. 

Keefe Jackson's Likely So – A Round Goal (Delmark, 2013) *****

 

Welcome to the sound world of Keefe Jackson's all-reed ensemble.  The entire saxophone family is represented here, as is the majority of the clarinet clan.  There are six musicians in addition to Jackson (Mars Williams, Wacław Zimpel, Marc Stucki, Dave Rempis, Peter A. Schmid, and Thomas K.J. Mejer) and the music they play is cerebral and concise, with plenty of room for the individual players to communicate their own ideas within the framework of Jackson's compositions.  Think pop-song Braxton.

As for the compositions, Jackson really came into his own around the time of Seeing You See, his phenomenal Ornette-fueled Clean Feed quartet disc from 2010.  His writing seemed to take a u-turn away from his modus operandi as a player.  While his solos generally pulled apart whatever music he played and attempted to reconstruct it in interesting ways, his writing began to take on a constructionist approach, calculated from the ground up.  When this is applied to the all-reed conglomeration, with Jackson understanding the textures of these instruments above all other combinations, it has the potential to become an architectural masterpiece.  With this band executing the blueprint plans, that's exactly what it becomes.

This is the most difficult of his many projects; but it is also the most rewarding listen.  The chord structures and, especially, the textures of this music are thrilling in ways I never would have expected from music that is not percussion driven.  The harmonic structure of some of these pieces are so incredible I have to wonder what Monk disciple Steve Lacy would've made of this.  It's difficult to discuss the individual pieces, as they all seem to belong to the whole – and the synchronicity these guys achieve in executing them is nothing short of terrifying. 

A few details (without the aid of liner notes):  Rempis takes a solo on “Bridge Solo” that consists of rhythmic chugging based around a few notes and considerable harmonics.  Marc Stucki drones a harmonium note on “Neither Spin Nor Weave” so a keyboard reed instrument is also represented.  Mars Williams (I think) blows an impressive soprano solo at the beginning of “Roses” - full of overtones and grace notes – as other players appear underneath droning in unison.  A melodic pattern follows, then Monk-like accidentals and chords that spiral and warp, pushing it over the top.  Intoxicating.  And whoever the soloists are on the title track... holy mother of crap!

This album was recorded in front of a very lucky live audience in Berne, Switzerland.  Highest recommendation.

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Happy New Ears 2013

Hi everyone!

Here we are again with our highly contested yet equally enjoyable HAPPY NEW EARS AWARD for the most innovative listening experience of the year. This is how it works. We present you below a longlist of albums that meet the criteria of having offered a new, novel, creative, innovative approach and perspective to music. This is not necessarily the best album of the year, but it should create a feeling with the listener of hearing something surprising, never heard before, discomforting or comforting in a different way, yet with an attractiveness and fascination that makes you want to hear it again and again.

Here is the currently proposed list from our reviewers:

• Anthony Braxton Sax Quintet 
• Andrew Cyrille - Duology  
• Fire Orchestra - Exit! 
• Keefe Jackson's Likely So - A Round Goal 
• John Tchicai - Tribal Ghost  
• Merzbow / Gustafsson / Pandy - Cuts 
• Mostly Other People do the Killing - Red Hot 
• Black Host - Life in the Sugar Candle Mines 
• Gaspar Claus - Jo Ha Kyū 
• Axel Dörner & Mark Sanders - Stonecipher  
• John Edwards & Okkyung Lee - White Cable, Black Wires  
• Kristoff K. Roll & Daunik Lazro - Chants du Milieu  
• Parque - The Earworm Versions  
• SPUNK - Das Wohltemperierte SPUNK  
• Mikołaj Trzaska - Gra Różę  
• Okkyung Lee - Ghil   
• Looper - Matter  
• Mohammad - Som Sakrifis
• Nate Wooley - (9) Syllables  
• Streifenjunko - Sval Torv (released dec. 2012)
• Joe McPhee/Thurston Moore/Bill Nace - Last Notes 
• Various Artists: Long Story Short  (Martin)
• Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile  
• Anthony Braxton: Echo Echo Mirror House 
• Yves Reichmuth Quartet - Fingertongue 
• Elliot Sharp Aggregat - Quintet  (to be reviewed)  
• Frank Gratkowski, Philip Greenlief, Jon Raskin: All At Once 
• Common Objects - Live In Morden Tower (to be reviewed) 
• Objets Trouvés - Fresh Juice (to be reviewed) 
• Postmarks - National Parks (to be reviewed)  

12/9 Update: a couple of late additions to the list from our reviewers (an oversight):

• Alexander Hawkins: Song Singular
• Dunmall, Hanslip, Gibbs & Richard: Weeping Souls
• Tomas Challenger & Kit Downs: Wedding Music 

You can add albums for the longlist between now and the end of the week. We - the review team - will then reduce this list to a manageable shorter list. On this list the votes can be cast and we will have the winner by year-end.

Many thanks in advance for the suggestions.

- Free Jazz Blog

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Alexander Hawkins: Song Singular (Babel Label, 2013) ****½

Reviewed by Joe

Piano solo albums are one of those mediums that reveal much about the composer, probably because there's really no place to hide! "Song Singular" is a new album out on the Babel label from the composer/pianist Alexander Hawkins made up of ten pieces. It shows off not only his very quirky, but catchy, compositions, but also what a top level pianist Hawkins is. Stylistically it's difficult to place him in any one camp but if you're familiar with the solo albums of pianists Randy Weston, Matthew Shipp, Misha Mengleberg, Craig Taborn or Myra Melford then you have an idea of the type of playing and musical direction the music takes. In particular, like Randy Weston, his use of a strong bass note rhythms, Hawkins manages to create complex melodies which even if abstract are also accesible.

There are ten titles on the record, one of them a re-worked version of "Take the A Train" (Billy Strayhorn). The music borders between a contemporary classical feel, not unlike Henri Dutilleux, and bright powerful Monk type spiky melodies built around intervalic leaps and a stumbling time feel. "Stillness from 37,000 ft" (tk4), has a bass line that sounds out of sync. With its melody gradually building up steam, the two lines,  like a conversation, vie for their own space. "Two Dormant, One Active" (tk5) starts with a curious line reminding me of of a standard. This is not surprising, a few tracks later at "Take the A Train" (tk7), you also have the same reaction of "I know this tune, but ...?" Another tune that does this is "Hope Step the Lava Flow" (tk6) which is the closest you get to a regular tune with an almost walking bass line. Maybe it's this which makes the music so interesting. Themes and ideas develop, giving you food for your ears you listen intently, following the maze of notes that unravel. "Early Then, M.A." (tk2) and "Dancing Between Points" (tk8) could be called ballads, playing with time or tempo, and could be called - could one say - rhapsodic. They both use the piano's  full range to create lush chord sounds and rippling arpeggios.
 
This album will be a delight to anyone who enjoys melodic (modern) music that has a direction. On this record you get to hear a pianist developing ideas with no holds barred, creating music and pushing boundaries at the same time.

A quick note: Alexander Hawkins (and his Ensemble) released this album in tandem with "Step Wide, Step Deep", also released on Babel this year. As yet I haven't had time to listen to the ensemble record, but I notice there are a couple of titles which pass between the two albums. We'll keep you posted here on the blog in the next weeks for an update - the album looks very promising!

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The Dickens Campaign - Oh Lovely Appearance (Self, 2013) ***

By Stef

Drummer Deric Dickens gets the company of Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Jesse Lewis on guitar. Interestingly enough, for Knuffke this is the second album this year in a trio with guitar and drums, after "Sifter" with Mary Halvorson and Matt Wilson, yet the nature of this one is totally different.

The songs are all based on or coming from the American tradition of gospel and country folk music, as collected by the great musical archeologist Alan Lomax, who collected music from around the world, but here the focus lies clearly on the American tradition, which makes the album sound very much like a Bill Frisell and Ron Miles collaboration, but then a little rawer, more direct and less sophisticated. That is by itself not a bad thing, and it clearly adds to the authenticity of the playing.

The music is sweet and sounds familiar, the playing is good and intimate, although at times the volume gets a notch higher and the violence of Lewis electric guitar goes a little beyond what you could expect from the nature of the tune.

Listen and buy from CDBaby.

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Nils Petter Molvær & Moritz von Oswald: 1/1 (EmArcy, 2013) ***

By Martin Schray

One of the critical remarks Nils Petter Molvær has often had to face is that he allegedly justs repeats the formula of success of his hit album “Khmer” (ECM, 1997) mixing electronics with a trumpet sound that reminds of Miles Davis. But whether you like him or not, Molvær has often tried to reinvent himself, for example on “Streamer” (Thirsty Ear, 2004) on which he used rather dark beats (instead of the drum and bass lines of “Khmer”) to back up his mellow trumpet sounds or – even more – on his last album “Baboon Moon” (Columbia, 2011) where he used Erland Dahlen’s (dr) and Stian Westerhus’s (g) rock approach to create a fantastic kraut-rock-meets-Scandinavian-new-jazz record.

On “1/1” he is back to electronics again with Berlin-based former Palais Schaumburg drummer and techno/dub producer Moritz von Oswald (he founded the Basic Channel and Chain Reaction labels with his friend Mark Ernestus). Molvær and von Oswald have known the music of each other for a long time but haven’t actually met until a friend of von Oswald came up with the idea of working together knowing that both musicians like analogue sounds and consider themselves as improvisers (von Oswald has recently been very interested in live processing). Their collaboration is based on respect, admiration and concentration, as von Oswald said in an interview and on the fact that both of them don’t like to be pigeon-holed - they do not think in genres as jazz, for example.

Their music works great whenever von Oswald builds a minimal atmosphere displaying warm and elegant dub grooves which Molvær can use to exhale poetic trumpet blow-outs like on “Development” or the wonderful “Future”, a track which is also interspersed with mean short electronic samples. Molvær almost vanishes completely here, he lets the track breathe. And it works with the two bookending tracks “Noise 1” and “Noise 2”, both dark cinematic and atmospheric soundscapes, especially because of von Oswald’s gloomy drone-like textures and synthetic, dissonant grooves.

Unfortunately, the collaboration works less when the grooves are one-dimensional and too monotonous as in “Transition” (the longest track) and “Step by Step”, when it seems that they have no real idea in which direction the music should go and the tracks are plain interior decoration. Von Oswald has even described this music as “music noir”, when you only hear the noise of a dark city, but he also said it was functional music for bars or rides on deserted highways late at night.

All in all  “1/1” is a nice album but it drags on a bit here and there.

Listen to “Development” here:

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Mats Gustafsson & Thurston Moore - Vi Är Alla Guds Slavar (OTOroku, 2013) ****

By Janus and Karl

We love Austria. We don’t know if there is a country of that size which is so deeply into free jazz hosting so many great festivals (Wels, Nickelsdorf, Ulrichsberg, Saalfelden, just to name a few). And we also love Arthur Schnitzler, Thomas Bernhard, Ingeborg Bachmann and Werner Schwab as well as Topfenstrudel and Palatschinken, the lakes in the Alps, the accent etc. So we were in the best mood when we were driving our jazz mobile (a light violet 1974 Ford Capri with which we wanted to paint Vienna red) through Bischofshofen in Austria’s Pinzgau-Pongau region. We wore our usual Afro hairstyle wigs, Mats Gustafsson’s and Thurston Moore’s latest album “Vi Är Alla Guds Slavar” pumping out from our heavily modded stereo at crazy volume, when were spotted by a team of rock aficionados in Nirvana and Motörhead T-shirts. Since both of us like these bands we gave them our nicest smiles when we had to stop at a crossroads but they started yelling at us. “What kind of crap are you listening to? Is this slam dancing music or what?”  We remembered that our friend Colin once told us a story about a journalist listening to Chopin who was attacked by a bunch of yoofs and so we said something rather harmless like: “We are all slaves under God.” A collective grin broke out between us as they exclaimed, “We were just kiddin’, so are we!” They then tossed two bottles of a locally brewed beer in our direction. We caught them in flight and opened the swingtop bottles with a “plop”. “This is some crazy shit you’re listening to”, they said. “But it sounds cool”. “Yes, no wonder you are interested in it, it’s Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore on guitar,” Janus told the guy in the Nirvana shirt. “Let’s drive to our farmhouse and then we can put the thing in a real stereo and have some more beers? You guys look funny, let’s have a great time.” And that’s what we did. At least until the coming of our latest bipolar disease attack that, clearly, in our case has a quadrupled effect…(you really should have not said Ludwig Wittgenstein is a wimpy windbag my dear Karl… you know our minor league German speaking friends tend to be touchy about the subject…oops - this note was not meant for publication!)

It’s no wonder these marvelous guys were so deeply fascinated because the great thing about Mats Gustafsson and Thurston Moore is that you never know what you get. Their first duo release “Play Some Fucking Stooges” does not contain any Stooges songs, it is just a great energy bomb. But if you expected the same thing here you might be disappointed because the first side of “Vi Är Alla Guds Slavar” starts with something that sounds like wind chimes in a Tibetan monastery (obviously created by Moore’s guitar on his lap). The evolution of the composition is very dull and, compared to their former releases, there is an almost meditative atmosphere. When Gustafsson, who only plays selected amplified table-top electronics on the first track, creeps into Moore’s sounds, the track takes a turn and becomes spooky and gloomy, the idyll is destroyed as if a terrible magnetic storm had haunted the Himalayan mountains. It sounds like exploding bombs, monstrous chainsaws and an earthquake were at work – simultaneously. Side B finally presents Gustafsson on soprano sax – but only for a few minutes (only here the music is close to classic free jazz, it is almost a reminiscence to the great Evan Parker/Derek Bailey albums). Moore clatters on the strings and the magnets of his instruments, then suddenly he throws in a Hendrix quotation and Gustafsson is back to electronics and the monsters of noise seize power again. If the surface is brutal and overwhelming, the background is no less populated of sound elements. Before the final outburst, the short intercourse around minute fifteen evokes a Kraut rock taste that remind us one more time of the versatility of the couple.
     
The miracle of this album is that it refuses to use the beaten tracks which is why it is able to create a starry universe of fragments and noises which whispers, roars, twinkles and rages, it seems as if its soundscapes are breathing. The texture of these two top class sound craftsmen is so dense that it dazes you on a maximum level, but at the same time it never really loses attention on details. Gustafsson’s and Moore’s music is exciting, full of empathy, broken and versatile - in other words: just great.

And, yes, if you’re asking yourself, we’re planning to go back to Bischofshofen (it’s a beautiful place and the people are really nice) with a really much powerful subwoofer soon.

The album is available on limited vinyl including a digital download or as a download only from the labels website.

Listen to them here and watch the video in which Moore tells the story how they first met:

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Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio: Follow the Sun (Delmark, 2013) ****

By Martin Schray

This album finally gives me the chance to apologize. When I reviewed Vinny Golia/Marco Eneidi/ Lisa Mezzacappa/Vijay Anderson’s  “Hell-Bent in the Pacific” about a year ago I claimed that New York was the (free) jazz capital without even mentioning Chicago and its outstanding musicians. Actually an inexcusable mistake.

The city’s jazz history is intrinsically tied to the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), to names like – among others - Muhal Richard Abrams, Fred Anderson, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis or Kahil El’Zabar, who founded his two most famous groups, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and the Ritual Trio, in the 1970s after he had joined the AACM, whose chairman he became in 1975. Not only is he a great percussionist whose style is deeply rooted in African rhythms and instrumentation, he is also a great singer.

His latest Ritual Trio album “Follow the Sun” presents him in top form (he recently celebrated his 60th birthday) displaying a new and beautiful collection of his own songs as well as cover versions. The current line-up of his band is Ari Brown on tenor and piano, Junius Paul on bass, and El’Zabar himself on drums, kalimba, and earth drum and on this album they are augmented by great guest vocalist Dwight Trible and Chicago legend Duke Payne on second tenor and bagpipes.

The album contains almost classic jazz instrumentals like “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” or “Our Journey” but actually the vocal tracks are more interesting.

Two highlights of the CD feature El'Zabar in a duet with Trible – "Great Black Music" and "Grandma's Hands" – both with a strong focus on piano, acoustic bass lines and percussion. The first one is actually about the philosophy of the AACM with Trible repeating phrases like “Open your soul” or “A power much stronger than itself” in front of Brown’s piano interspersions, El’Kazar’s beautiful kalimba and his warm baritone constantly reciting and murmuring the words “Great black music” so that the whole track develops a very spiritual quality. On top of it Duke Payne throws in a bagpipe solo with the instrument sounding like a soprano saxophone. Bill Withers’s “Grandma’s Hands”, a song about his grandmother, is based on an irresistible soul groove and El’Khazar and Trible sing it as if the old woman was the personification of  hope for all African Americans in the US. It is more powerful and self-confident than Withers’s rather melancholic version (which is wonderful in a different way) but it is also a really gloomy evaluation of the situation because it ends with the lines ”But I don’t have grandma anymore/If I get to heaven I’ll look for grandma’s hands.”

Last but not least “Up your Mind”, the final song of the album, is a real killer capturing the magic live atmosphere of one of the group’s gigs. Actually it is two tracks in one because the composition tilts after four minutes from a fast percussion-driven rocker to a deep slow funk monster that creeps into our ears so that you cannot help to move your feet. It is a song in the tradition of Gil Scott-Heron or Terry Callier. Great album!

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Vlady Bystrov, Helen Bledsoe & Alexey Lapin - Trioloque (Leo, 2013) ****

By Stef

Vlady Bystrov plays clarinets, Helen Bledsoe flute and Alexey Lapin piano, and what they concoct together is nothing short of amazing: an abstract, light, open-textured, sophisticated, subtle mix of genres that shift between jazz and free improv and new music and modern classical, creating stories full of wonder and surprise, gentle yet with conflict, like a fight among people who love each other, tension arises, dissonance flares up, yet somehow deep down the sense of harmony remains undisturbed, even if you can't anticipate what's coming next, what the reaction will be on the new development by one of the players, will it be in agreement, and reconciliation, moving this forward, or in contrast, pushing the music in another direction, you cannot tell, and while all musical concepts have been done away with, just to show with more clarity the real things underneath reality that they usually hide, you keep listening with interest, how moments of real joy, of tenderness and drama alternate as if you are watching life itself expand, expressed and even deepened, all through a great translation of feeling by three artists who create new musical wordless languages, full of eery beauty.

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