Thollem/Cline/Wimberly - Radical Empathy (Relative Pitch, 2015) ****

By Paul Acquaro

This moody and wonderful album pairs up guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist Thollem McDonas and  percussionist Michael Wimberley for a journey through a heavy and hazy musical darkness.

We begin by wandering through the mist, vaporous shadows obscuring what little light there is in a barren landscape. Burnt stalks of trees rise from the scorched earth as footsteps and faint musical voices recede in the darkness. Thollem's organ pumps out low rumbles while Wimberley's attack is spry and articulate. Cline takes his time to enter, slowly building layers of sonic textures.

As the recording progresses, the music solidifies, and by the time we've hit 'Thinkers Mix', we're hearing an uptempo and spine tingling battle between the guitar and organ. The track features Cline's clean tones juxtaposed with the Thollem's stuttering shards of chords. In 'Howled Ground' we're back to wandering the scorched earth after the previous melee. It's an effective minimalist piece driven almost entirely by the keyboardist. 'The Middle', which puts us - you guessed it - in the middle of the recording, is a group effort again, this time with Thollem on piano (prepared, I believe), Cline back in soundscape mode and Wimberley negotiating the pulse between the two. When the sun shines briefly on 'So to Seep,' the impact of the journey on us travelers in only starting to becomes apparent, after all, we're only about halfway through the recording at this point!

Radical Empathy is an excellent example of three fellow travelers listening deeply to each other and creating an album of mesmerizing depth and texture. Think organ trio but not Wes Montgomery, rather Tony William's Lifetime with Larry Young and John McLaughlin ... it took a few spins in the discman before it began sinking in, but when it did, it happened fast.

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Big Bands going berserk, ballistic or ... bland

By Stef

We rarely review big bands, or mini big bands, and we wish we could get more of those. They are rare because it requires money to set them up and to maintain them. Often they can only last within subsidised structures, yet once in a while those bands escape the monetary logic and survive. We will review some of them here, even we do not do them justice by the succinct nature of the reviews, but better short reviews than no review at all. I hope that the links will give you a better idea of the bands' sounds.


Free Art Ensemble - Cap De Toro (Discordian, 2015) ****½

Wild, rhythmic, free, highly enjoyable from this fantastic Spanish tentet. What they play is composed, with a clear structure, lots of variation, dark menace, powerful uptempo moments and ominous slow moments. It's everything you want to hear from a big band : great themes, powerful soloing and incredible rhythms. It's intelligent music and very compelling. The wonderful Goya painting of "Cronos Eating His Children" fits the music well. Unfortunately I could not find a video to demonstrate their approach, but check the link below to hear the music.

Highly recommended!

The band :
Iván González: Trumpet, Gong, Bells, Percussion, Bird Call, Horn 
Julián Sánchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Bird Call, Horn 
Pol Padrós: Trumpet, Sea Shells, Percussion, Bird Call, Horn 
Oriol Fontclara: Alto & Baritone Saxophones, Bird Call 
Tom Chant: Soprano & Tenor Saxophones, Bird Call 
Albert Cirera: Soprano & Tenor Saxophones, Flute, Bird Call 
Àlex Reviriego: Doublebass & Electric Bass, Percussion, Bird Call 
Marc Cuevas: Doublebass, Percussion, Bird Call 
Ramon Prats & Arnau Obiols: Drums, Percussion, Bird Call 

Listen and order from Bandcamp.


Filthy Habits Ensemble - Gruesome Routines (Discordian, 2014) ****

From the same label, now a nonet. This album was released last year, and is equally worth looking for. It's a little more maverick but sometimes surprisingly gentle.

Pablo Selnik: Flute, Euphoric Pig Noises 
El Pricto: Clarinet 
Agustí Martínez: Alto Sax and Clarinet 
Don Malfon: Alto Sax 
Tom Chant: Tenor Sax 
Jo Miramontes: Synthesizer 
Director Wlkins: Electric Guitar 
Sebi Suarez: Electric Bass 
Vasco Trilla (Thriller): Drums 

Listen and order from Bandcamp.


Orchestre National De Jazz - Europa Berlin (OnJazz, 2015) ****

The "Orchestre National De Jazz" is something of an icon in France, with lots of upcoming young musicians joining forces under the leadership and in the company of established musicians.

In this band, under the leadership of Olivier Benoît on guitar, we have Bruno Chevillon on bass, Jean Dousteyssier on clarinet and bass clarinet, Alexandra Grimal on tenor sax, Hugues Mayot alto, Fidel Fourneyron on trombone, Fabrice Martinez on trumpet, Théo Ceccaldi on violin, Sophie Agnel on piano, Paul Brousseau on keyboards, Sylvain Daniel on electric bass, and Eric Echampard on drums.

The music is not free, but composed modern jazz with some strong improvisational moments. The first album by the band "Europa Paris" was inspired by the French capital, now the attention shifts to Berlin, the German capital. As the liner notes say : "A strange Berlin, still clutching to its breast the scars of a 20th century that symbolizes all its errors, but which grasps the remains of this heavy, omnipresent past with ever-increasing strength in order to underline its reunification, its desire for freedom, and its openness to the world". The compositions are quite fresh and memorable, and the playing is tightly arranged at times, with a band that really enjoys playing this music. As you can expect from a young band, but maybe also because of the inspiration of Berlin itself, the music is quite open to other subgenres such as free jazz, rock and electronic music, albeit within limits. It evokes the city in all its aspects, and that can lead to exuberant music, but also to more intimistic, minimal or even mysterious moments. The great thing about the arrangements are the fact that the whole band is not playing the whole time, and the shifting line-ups also lead to completely different sounds, which gives lots of variation.


Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere - Θ2 (Discus, 2014) ****

One of multi-instrumentalist Martin Archer's many projects, and presented as a rock band instead of jazz. The references they give themselves are 'psychedelic, rock, orchestral, dark, spacious, krautrock, new music, Terry Riley', which will give a good idea of what to expect. Or not? Clearly, the overall compositions are indeed created with rock elements and ingredients. It is one of those exuberant, expansive, hypnotic and maddening pieces of music, that you keep listening to. The big difference with jazz is that there are hardly any individual voices to be heard, but a mesmerising and repetitive behemoth of collective sound.

Martin Archer – organ, electric piano, electronics, Eb saxophones, clarinets, voice, VST trumpet 
Chris Bywater – organ, synthesizers & electronics, samples, percussion, voice, electric violin 
Steve Dinsdale – drums, floor percussion, synthesizer 
frostlake – voice, electronics, glockenspiel 
Yvonna Magda – electric violin, loops & electronics 
Walt Shaw – percussion, voice, electronics 
Terry Todd – bass guitar, effects, voice 
Mick Somerset – concert, alto and bamboo flutes, Bb saxophones 

with

Paul Schatzberger – violin
Heather Cordwell – violin
Aby Vulliamy – viola
Angela Rosenfeld – cello

Juxtavoices - choir

Listen and download from Bandcamp.

Francesco Chiapperini Extemporary Vision Ensemble - Our Redemption (Rudi, 2015) ****

An eclectic effort of jazz, rock and classical music in a tribute to the late Italian saxophonist Massimo Urbani. They do not shy away from complexities or dissonance. This is a strong avant-garde band playing solid and highly varied compositions. The only downside is that it may be too overly ambitious and/or self-centered.

The band :
Francesco Chiapperini: alto sax, flute
Andrea Jimmy Catagnoli: alto sax
Gianluca Elia: soprano and tenor sax
Eloisa Manera: violin
Simone Quatrana: piano
Luca Pissavini: cello
Marco Rottoli: double bass
Filippo Sala: drums
Filippo Monico: drums and percussions


Sin Anestesia - The Transdimensional Seduction Handbook (Discordian, 2014) ****

We're back in Spain, and again on Discordian, now with Sin Anestesia, which means as much as "without anesthetics", a nice name that will make listeners expect the worst, but if the music is adventurous and special, you can indeed listen to it without being sedated upfront. This is possibly the most open-ended and most free jazz album in the entire list, and then one where the weight of the size of the band is not actually felt. All musicians participate in the great developments of themes and activities, but respecting the floor to others by stepping back once in a while. A wonderful balance between the power of tightly arranged big band, and the minimalist timbral explorations by the various sax-players, offer an equally good balance between subtlety and power. Too bad I could not take the time last year to give the album some more space.

Teresa Gómez Ramírez: Soprano sax 
Xavier Díaz Herrera: Soprano and baritone sax 
Don Malfon: Alto and baritone sax 
Agustí Martínez: Alto sax 
El Pricto: Alto sax 
Luiz Rocha: Tenor sax 
Pep Pascual: Tenor sax 
Luís Vallès: Baritone sax 
Ferran Besalduch: Bass sax 
Núria Andorrà: Marimba and percussion 
Ildefons Alonso: Vibraphone and percussion 

Listen and download from Bandcamp.

Daniele Cavallanti & Milano Contemporary Arts Ensemble - Sounds Of Hope (Rudi, 2015) ***½

Relatively mainstream big band, with some wilder excursions, well performed, high quality throughout. Next to some own compositions, the band brings two arrangements of pieces by Wayne Shorter ("Sonia"), and Mongezi Feza ("You Ain’t Gonna Know Me ‘Cos You Think You Know Me”), and dedications to Joe Henderson, Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers and Roscoe Mitchell, just to give you an idea of the musical span covered here. Regardless of the style, the playing is pretty intense. 

The band :
Daniele Cavallanti, tenor sax
Riccardo Luppi, alto & soprano sax, flute
Gianluca Elia, tenor sax (bass sax on Braxtown)
Massimo Falascone baritone & sopranino sax, (contrabass sax on Braxtown)
Francesco Chiapperini bass clarinet, alto sax, flute
Luca Calabrese, trumpet
Beppe Caruso, trombone
Paolo Botti viola, cornet
Gianluca Alberti, bass (right channel)
Valerio Della Fonte, bass (left channel)
Toni Boselli, drums (right channel)
Tiziano Tononi, drums, percussion, gongs (left channel)


Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos - Jazz Composers Forum (Tone Of A Pitch, 2014) ***

Nice, but nothing more, by this Portuguese big band. The compositions by Frank Vaganée, Julian Argüelles, Steven Bernstein, Ohad Talmor, Darcy James Argue, Guillermo Klein.

The band :
Josée Luis Rego, Joao Pedro Brandao, Mario Santos, José Pedro Coelho, Rui Teixeira on woodwinds;
Gileno Santana, Javier Pereiro, Rogério Ribeiro, Susana Santos Silva, Ricardo Formosa on trumpets and flugelhorns;
Daniel Dias, Alvaro Pinto, Andreia Santos, Concalo Dias on trombones;
André Fernandes on guitar;
Carlos Azevedo, Pedro Guedes on keyboards
Damian Cabaud on bass;
Geoclandio Monteiro: percussion;
Marcos Cavaleiro: drums

The name that strikes me here is Susana Santos Silva : again! We keep finding her back these days in totally different musical environments. And that is good!


The Awakening Orchestra - Volume I - This Is Not The Answer (Innova, 2014) **

Hailed by several reviewers as one of the albums of the year in 2014, I have a different opinion. Yes, it's ambitious, yes, it's a mix of genres, from indie rock to classical music with strong jazz ingredients, but it's also very pretentious and self-indulgent. Allaboutjazz compared it to Carla Bley's "Escalator Over The Hill", and being an incredible fan of that monumental and mad and maverick musical, I can assure you that "The Awakening Orchestra" reaches the levels of the ankles of "Escalator Over The Hill", it misses its sense of self-mockery, its freshness, its rebeliousness, its inventiveness, its creativity, its instrumental magnificence, its compositional grandeur.

This is just an ambitious album, that may please some, and the technical quality is good, both of the musicians and the sound. Yet it misses all the qualities that you would expect from 'great' music.

 Kyle Saulnier: composer/conductor; Rob Mosher: soprano saxophone; David Dejesus: alto saxophone; Samuel Ryder: tenor saxophone; Andrew Gutauskas: baritone saxophone; Felipe Salles: tenor, baritone saxophones; Seth Fruiterman: voice; Daniel Urness: trumpet; Seneca Black: trumpet; Nadje Noordhuis: flugelhorn, trumpet; Philip Dizack: trumpet; Michael Boscarino: trombone; Matthew Musselman: trombone; Benjamin Griffin: trombone; Max Seigel: trombone; James Shipp: vibraphone; Michael Macallister: guitar; Aaron Kotler: piano, keyboards; Joshua Paris: bass; Will Clark: drums; Nathan Hetherington: voice.


Michael Mantler - The Jazz Composers Orchestra Update (ECM, 2014) *

There was a time when the Jazz Composer's Orchestra meant a lot to me, their first album, called "Communication" had Michael Mantler on trumpet, Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, Jimmy Lyons, Paul Bley, Steve Swallow, Barry Altschul, and many more. Their second album, called "Jazz Composer's Orchestra" was the real thing, featuring Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Pharaoh Sanders, Larry Coryell, Gato Barbieri. The music then was free, fierce, open, wild and utterly fascinating.

On this album we have the Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band Conducted by Christoph Cech, featuring Michael Mantler on trumpet, Harry Sokal on tenor saxophone, Wolfgang Puschnig on alto saxophone, Bjarne Roupé on electric guitar, and David Helbock on piano. Mantler thought the time was ripe for an update, because he thought the music had so much possibilities and still sounded so fresh after all these decades, that he wanted to have another go at it.

Unfortunately, it's not an "update", it's a burial.

It is pretentious, meaningless and unnecessary. Don't waste your money on it.

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BodaBoda Duo feat. Peter Brötzmann – Modern Persuasion (Tyrfing , 2015) ****

                         

By Martin Schray

Peter Brötzmann basically has preferred three types of cooperations in recent years: well-rehearsed formations like his trio with John Edwards and Steve Noble (plus the extension with Jason Adasiewicz) or his band Full Blast (with drummer Michael Wertmüller and bassist Marino Pliakas), collaborations with people he hasn’t worked before (e.g. with pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh), and then he also likes to be the special guest - as for the Turkish band kONSTRUKt or the German trio Die Dicken Finger (with guitarist Olaf Rupp, bassist Jan Roder and drummer Oliver Steidle) or the Swiss XOL (with trumpeter Guy Bettini, bassist Luca Pissavini and drummer Franceso Miccolis).

This album belongs to the last category.

The Danish BodaBoda Duo consists of guitarist Jakob Thorkild  and drummer Bjørn Heebøll, who have released six albums since their debut in 2004. Among others they have worked with Fred Lonberg-Holm, Raymond Strid or Swedish sax player Sture Ericson. In general their approach reminds of bands like Lightning Bolt - freely improvised, brutal, violent noise which has its roots in experimental alternative rock.

Although Peter Brötzmann usually isn’t so much into this kind of music (when asked about the music he listens to he always points out that this is predominantly the music of his youth - Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins etc.), he likes to play in such brute contexts (just think of Last Exit, Hairy Bones or his work with Keiji Haino). And that’s why you don’t get disappointed here either.

The band throws you in the deep end right away, there is no warming up. “The Beauty“ starts with Brötzmann’s typical call to arms accompanied by a guitar that sounds like a maelstrom of screws and nails, while the drumming is in the best Paal Nilssen-Love tradition. Brötzmann blows like in the old days with Bennink and Van Hove, supported by Heebøll's light-speed cymbal work and mad guitar loops by Thorkild - as if Pat Metheny was on chrystal meth. “Designed“, the second track, opens with a furious yet bluesy Brötzmann solo and when the band drops in they add microtonal staccato shredder before the guitar changes its tone and sound to a more rock-orientated approach that reminds of Living Colour’s Vernon Reid going thrash metal. But then something magical happens: the music stops, only a guitar feedback remains, as if there was a new whole piece.  And while the drums add rimshot barrage at the end, the guitar changes to Spacemen 3’s two-tone “Walk with Jesus“ theme. At this moment alternative rock psychedelia meets hyperactive drumming while Brötzmann displays his Ayler roots. These eight minutes alone are worth listening.

Modern Persuasion was recorded live at The Village in Copenhagen and it is available on vinyl only (or you can download it from iTunes).

You can buy it from InstantJazz.

Listen to “Designed“ here:

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Voice - Sculpting Sound with Maja S. K. Ratkje, a film by IJ. Biermann and Kai Miedendorp (Myrland Films, 2015) *****

By Eyal Hareuveni

It took five years to prepare the first documentary DVD about Norway’s most renowned female composer-vocalist-electronics player-improviser Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and when you watch this arresting film it makes perfect sense. Ratkje is an artist for whom it is almost impossible to encompass in a short, brief encounter. She is a musician who follows only her instincts; strong-minded, nonconformist who does not care much about any conventions, genre or styles; always in a search to find new means for expanding her artistic freedom and sonic vision; always challenges the listener with music that has an edge - as term she uses while describing the selection of songs that she performs with the trio POING - even with noise music, or as she calls it, “energetic blowout, a celebration of life”.

Biermann and Miedendorp decided to let Ratkje present herself in her own words, and she is the only one who speaks about her art, her thoughts about the role of an artist in society, the urge to create art, her conscious decision to work outside of any mainstream art and how she balances between having a family with children and being on the road, far from home. Her voice - when she talks or used as a musical instrument - is placed in scenes in her beautiful, countryside home and through journeys to different performance locations in the magnificent, wild natural scenery of Norway and Europe. There are many insightful scenes that feature Ratkje perform - solo vocals with electronics, her compositions for chamber ensemble and orchestras and different collaborations with the long standing all-female free-improvisation ensemble Spunk, her husband, accordionist Frode Haltli, electronics master Ikue Mori, French double bass master Joëlle Léandre, and many more.

Ratkje speaks about her fascination with sounds, all kinds of sounds, but she wisely transforms this innocent, almost childish fascination, from the calls of birds or invented and manipulated sounds, to new sonic contexts. Sometimes it becomes clear how her classical music background, her deep understanding of what it means to be being fully immersed in music while free improvising or her care about preserving the the rough, natural scenery of Norway inspires her compositions. Still, her rich imagination and sense of invention pushes these inspirations even further. It can be seen even in one of the most composed scene of this film, as she conducts a strings trio and a vocalist who perform her composition, based on a poem of Karin Sveen, still, searching for how to push the musical envelope beyond the musicians comfort zones.

Ratkje is shown as a composer who prefers experimenting over repeating conventional means of composing, creating her own universe of sounds and voices. A sonic universe that is strange yet tempting, sometimes disturbing but still playful, full of excited passion and fun, and moving sense of theatrical drama. She is seen communicating her art with completely different audiences, often ones that rarely listen to music associated with free-improvisation or the avant-garde. These audiences, including children, look totally entranced by the way Ratkje produces free, imaginative voices and sounds; entranced by her manner of finding release and freedom in sound and voices - liberating her and the listeners - from subscribing to any artistic regime, political order or social hierarchy.

Voice present beautifully the immediate appeal of the art of Ratke. Her complex portrait present her as a determined, uncompromising artist with a clear, far reaching vision but also as an artist that still looks to be at home with her voice sounds, to balance her artistic vocation and family. You cannot but surrender to her highly personal creativity, enthusiasm and honesty.

Highly recommended.

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Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity - Firehouse (Clean Feed, 2015) *****

By Joel Barela

A recommendation: get this album, plug in, crank the volume and find something to busy your eyes and hands. That’s not to say this is capable background music. On the contrary, it’s a rush to the forefront that enhances every little movement. Just this week, I’ve used it to drive, to cook, to dance with my wife, and yes, to leave the world behind for a few blistering half hours. The story goes: Gard Nilssen, a longtime fan of both saxophonist André Roligheten and bassist Petter Eldh, found himself in Oslo at the same time as the other two European-circuit men. He asked and they agreed to link up in the studio one summer night. No rehearsals, no charts. That the product of the meeting is something so groove-wound is both surprising and perhaps the only way it could have been.

Throughout the opening three song salvo of 'When Pigs Fly', 'Roundtrip' and 'Adam’s Ale', we’re treated to sounds of intense complexity that never become academic. No matter how insistent Nilssen’s rolls become or how revelatory Roligheten’s responses, the tunes thrive because of their soul. It’s a powerhouse opening that gives way to a more languid 'Salad Days' before Eldh’s bass – tethered and purposeful to start – comes stomping back in to the track around the 1:30 mark following Nilssen’s stabs at the original theme. And just as the tune lays itself down to rest, the band roars back with the thunderous and race-like 'Mojo'. An exhilarating juxtaposition, the movement from 'Salad Days' to 'Mojo' feeds the back half of the album, from Roligheten’s spirited blasts on 'The Resistance' to Eldh’s insistent pulls at Nilssen’s kit to close 'Life, Somewhere Before the Exit Sign'.

Perhaps there lacks enough invention amidst the improvisation - or enough reinvention, given the influences. But it's accessibility is deceiving. They aren't playing down to less discerning ears as much as conjuring something so relatable simply because it doesn't lose its grip on melody in its prevailing physicality. The "Acoustic" is fitting for more than just fidelity to instrumentation; it's the sound of three friends finding that ‘cosmic nod’. By his own estimation, Nilssen said it only took around six hours to construct. There’s a lot to be lost in a variety of ways from that studio in Oslo to my computer in New Orleans; but, when Nilssen calls the sessions “pure magic,” there’s little between us but agreement and, for my part, thanks.

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Joe Hertenstein, Pascal Niggenkemper & Thomas Heberer - HNH (Clean Feed, 2015) ****½

By Stef

Time flies! It's apparently already five years ago that the first album by this trio was released, call it the "black" album. Now we get the "white" album, with the same title "HNH", performed by Joe Hertenstein on percussion, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass and Thomas Heberer on trumpet. In the meantime these three German musicians residing in New York, are known and we have reviewed more than a few of their albums, often in a variety of line-ups, and it makes us happy to find them again now in this trio format.

Hertenstein is the leader of the trio, and his drums and accessories play a key role in how the pieces sound. His playing can be thunderous or subtle, rhythmic or implicit, inventive or rock-ish, straightforward or played on multiple little objects, he drives the trio forward through the composed improvised pieces. Heberer's tone on his microtonal trumpet is fabulous as usual, often crystal clear, sometimes unvoiced with lips that trouble the mouthpiece, or beyond. Niggenkemper is also in a category of his own, also varying between straightforward pizzi to the more complex uses of props to alter the sound of his bass.

They play together in the best possible sense of the word. Enjoying every second of their interplay, which is incredibly tight in terms of overall sound and common approach, yet also open to challenges by the other two and open to surprises that may occur underway.

The music itself is abstract in nature, with recognisable themes emerging from the improvisations and the open interaction. The tone can be very serious and dark, sad at times, but not always, because the playfulness of the interaction often pierces through this like sunrays on a cloudy day. Within most pieces, the atmosphere can shift between quietness and ferocious intensity, between solemn moments and unusual surprises, between familiarity and the bizarre, it is sketchy but it sounds full. Most of the time it's hard to follow the logic of their playing, yet that's part of the fun, and it works perfectly.

A great musical treat!

Available from InstantJazz.

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Mary Halvorson - Meltframe (Firehouse 12, 2015) ****½

By Tom Burris

Maybe it's just me; but has this summer been about nostalgia?  Consider Matthew Shipp's recent nearly perfect Duke tribute album, on which he pays brilliantly irreverent respects to the man.  A few weeks ago I witnessed a couple of  incredible sets of vintage avant covers by the Keefe Jackson Quartet at the Spot Tavern.  Now here comes Mary Halvorson's long anticipated solo outing, which is 100% cover material.  The challenge presented here is for Halvorson to take “band” material and write arrangements for solo guitar.  She brings an eclectic mix of composers to the table, running from Duke to Annette Peacock to Roscoe Mitchell, and (mostly) stays within the structures they have written.  Don't make the mistake of thinking this is laziness or conservatism on Halvorson's part.  It would be pointless to deviate from the structural outlines of these songs.  This recording isn't about jumping off a tune's head to get ur freak on; it's about pulling an existing song apart and piecing it back together to create the most ideal arrangement for solo guitar.  That's where the heart of Halvorson's creativity lies here, no matter how brilliantly she (always) performs as a player.   Exposure to her dissection and reassembly of familiar material provides a real opportunity to examine her approach to composition – and the exercise is endlessly fascinating.

She opens the disc by playing Freddie Hubbard's lines on Oliver Nelson's “Cascades” full on, with the distortion up and fingers nimble.  The chords jerk and slash underneath as a wobbly support, definitely more abstract truth than blues; but the blues are all over this recording!  (Surely someone jokingly suggested the title “Mary Plays The Blues” during these sessions.)  Peacock's weird blues piece “Blood” follows - but where Peacock's over-the-top vocals clashed with soulless synth lines on the original recording, Mary's clean electric guitar latches onto the melody and turns it into soft soul burn.  Where there was tension there is now resolution.  It sounds like the knife finally went in.

Guitarist Noel Akchote's “Cheshire Hotel” is an old-timey weeper of a melody that wouldn't sound out of place on a Tom Waits album.  On the version Sam Rivers recorded Akchote constantly changes tones, weaving in and out of the band.  Halvorson plays against his sonic ideas, substituting Akchote's distortion and feedback for her trademark delay pedal warps.  She also goes pedal hopping on McCoy Tyner's “Aisha,” layering delay and distortion on top of constantly fluctuating volume and tremelo.  This is not mere electronic trickery just for the sake of filling in the gaps; it works on a musical and logical level. 

Unfortunately, there are a couple of tracks that don't seem to be of quite the same caliber.  On Ornette Coleman's “Sadness,” she does a great job of picking out the droning bass line while playing Ornette's part – but it's not enough to carry the entire arrangement.  But I'm still on the fence on this track.  The one I'm currently not having doubts about is Chris Lightcap's “Platform,” a groove track with a tumbling melody line that sounds like a rock version of Zooid.  If it sounds impossible to arrange for solo guitar, it is.  It has moments of pleasure and surprise, but at its worst it sounds like someone playing barre chords along with a song on her iPod at Guitar Center on a Saturday morning.  It's the first time I've had the thought that Mary Halvorson may be a mere mortal like the rest of us. 

So yeah, she is definitely my favorite guitarist on the planet.  Reason 245: Her arrangement and execution of Duke's “Solitude” for solo guitar is so gorgeous and so flawless it brought actual salty, liquid, aggravating tears to my eyes.  Call me a sap; I don't care.  It's not overwrought or maudlin – Mary doesn't do maudlin anyway – it's just beautiful.  And here's what I think reallygot to me: it's Perfect.  It's an arrangement I wish Duke or Strays were still around to hear.  Reason 246: Add an interpretation of Roscoe Mitchell's “Leola” that is arguably even better than the original and you have a masterful performance and ideal album closer.   



Available from Instant Jazz and the Downtown Music Gallery

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The Spanish Donkey - Raoul (Rare Noise, 2015) ****

By Paul Acquaro

The second Spanish Donkey release begins somewhere beyond where the last ended. Joe Morris' seething and scalding guitar is a hot iron pressed again the flesh, and the microtonal keyboard work of Jamie Saft is grinding and eviscerating.

Direct and relentless, the 33 minute epic 'Raoul' begins with Morris' fuzzed-out melody and drummer Mike Pride adding muscle and flair. As Saft creeps in on the organ, the tension rises and Morris begins a wholehearted embrace of the wah-wah pedal. The piece is a tremendous tone poem that could be dedicated to mastodons sinking into tarpits as lava pouring down a volcano ignites the forest around it.

The album is a less about the individual voices as it is the dark and foreboding movement of sound. It's at once sludgy, defiant, nuanced and textured. The shapes of the sounds are as important as the notes themselves which, like on the track 'Behavioral Sink' rises from the slash of Saft's organ and the metallic clang of Morris' guitar.

A hearty listen to say the least!

Available at the Downtown Music Gallery

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Jason Roebke – Every Sunday (Clean Feed, 2015) ****

By Chris Haines

This new album by Jason Roebke sees the double bassist playing in a trio with guitarist Matthew Schneider and drummer Marcus Evans.  There are three extended tracks, the longest twenty-three minutes and the shortest fifteen minutes.  The trio gels extremely well together and as a unit they serve up a sort of cool-free jazz, which winds it’s way along in an exploratory fashion developing as it goes.

It starts with the title track, which is the longest piece, presenting Jason Roebke playing solo at the beginning who is very carefully joined by the others, as they enter as if trying not to be noticed.  In fact, one of the strengths of this album is the overall equality of sound that the individual musicians bring to the group collective.  Schneider’s melodic lines are often left open-ended in a continuous melody-like way and do not demand the focus of the music, at times switching to much more textural and harmonic playing to allow the bass and drums to come to the fore.  Using a steel strung acoustic guitar his playing very rarely dominates, and brings with it the nostalgia of older acoustic jazz combo’s.  The sound of the recording also adds to the overall textural appearance of the music containing the ambience of the Hungry Brain Club in Chicago where it was recorded.

As well as the more structurally open sections of the music there are times, such as on the last track, “For Jimmy Woods”, where a swinging post-bop shuffle canters along rhythmically, albeit gradually deconstructing as it develops.  The beauty of the music contained within Every Sunday is the fine line that is trod between more structurally traditional elements and playing that is completely free, which the group absolutely nails whilst creating a relaxed and serene album with spicier moments.  It is the presence of the sound of the group and it’s textural quality that you are left with after the album has finished, leaving a lasting impression and the desire to listen again.

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Spring Heel Jack with Pat Thomas, Alex Ward and Paul Lytton – Live in Antwerp (Treader, 2014) ****

By Martin Schray

Spring Heel Jack, whose core members are John Coxon (g) and Ashley Wales (electronics), are responsible for one of my all-time favorite albums combining improv, alternative rock and electronic music – Live (Thirsty Ear, 2003), on which they were augmented by a super group consisting of William Parker (b), Evan Parker (ts), Han Bennink (dr), Matthew Shipp (e-p) and Spiritualized’s J. Spaceman (g). Especially the last 20 minutes of “Part II” belong to the most dramatic, melancholic, psychedelic, cinematographic and beautiful moments this kind of music can offer.

Wales and Coxon launched their career in the pop business as producers, composers and remixers (for example for Everything But The Girl’s hit “Walking Wounded”) before they started to concentrate on free improvisation with Disappeared (Thirsty Ear, 2000), for which they invited the British jazz legend John Surman (b-cl) in order to expand their musical possibilities – a concept they have followed ever since. Apart from the above-mentioned musicians they have worked with John Tchicai, Roy Campbell, Kenny Wheeler and Wadada Leo Smith (among others).

So you might imagine that I was thrilled when I heard that there was a new album – but then it turned out that Live in Antwerp was recorded at the WIM free music festival in 2007, a year before Spring Heel Jack’s last studio album Songs and Themes was released. Nevertheless, it’s always good news when you can get access to previously unreleased material of one of your favorite bands. For their penultimate concert Wales and Coxon teamed up with Pat Thomas (piano and electronics), Alex Ward (clarinet) and Paul Lytton (drums).

In contrast to Live, Live in Antwerp consists of London-based improvisers only, it is looser and more focused on a classic free jazz impetus and despite the electronics it is much more acoustic than the electric jazz/fusion approach of the Live band. In addition, Live in Antwerp presents the quintet as a real unit (Live was often split up in sub-groups) which makes the music more coherent. But in spite of the more organic impression and the differences to previous albums there are still the typical Spring Heel Jack characteristics: abrupt harmonic changes, juxtapositions of drums, clarinet and piano in front of electronic thicket, sudden beautiful moments popping up from total chaos, the changing of silence and energy or electronics holding the whole 50-minute performance together.

Spring Heel Jack are a unique band, maybe there will be really new material one day. The concept as such is still promising and exciting.

Live in Antwerp is available on CD, you can buy it from www.instantjazz.com and from the Downtown Music Gallery.

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