François Carrier - Happening (Leo Records, 2007) ****

François Carrier is a stellar Candadian soprano saxophonist. His tone is warm, buttery, yet powerful. I was already strongly touched by his former CDs. "Travelling Light" with Paul Motian and Gary Peackock, is in my eyes the musical equivalent of a watercolor painting : sensitive, precise, gentle, but so strongly emotional. "Play" is more of a free jazz outing with drums and bass, again recommended. On "Happening", Carrier brings his music a step further, adding Mat Maneri's viola and Uwe Neumann's sitar to the party, an unusual combination, with his regular partners Pierre Côté on bass and Michel Lambert on drums. This double CD is one great free collective improvisation, with at first temptative and sometimes hesitant approaches in the creation of the music, but as the first long piece evolves, it starts hitting solid ground and a coherence of sound. This is indeed unusual music. It offers the contradictory feeling of a band playing in your living room, while opening a musical horizon of pure and unlimited space. It has the expansive freedom of the music of Jan Garbarek, but instead of Nordic chill, you get a warm, almost tropical charm. A great adventure of free music. Despite Carrier's extreme respect and the long solo space he offers to his bandmates, especially Matt Maneri, he is the star of this CD. He has the rare quality of playing sensitively and powerfully at the same time. A great musician to follow. If there is one negative aspect to give, it is the sound balance of the recording : the sitar sounds very far away at times, and with the limited "voice" of the instrument, this is a pity.

Below you can watch a five minute video sample of the performance.

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Tin Hat - The Sad Machinery of Spring (Hannibal/Rykodisck, 2007) ****

Tin Hat (Trio) is a group to my taste. Call it chamber jazz, call it folk jazz, it is great music. The core of the band consists of Mark Orton (guitar, dobro, banjo, piano, basss drum, bass harmonica) and Carla Kihlstedt (violin, viola, celeste, trumpet violin, piano, bass harmonica, vocals). Accordionist, pianist Rob Burger has apparently left the trio and has been replaced by Ben Goldberg (clarinet), Ara Anderson (trumpet, toy piano, celeste) and Zeena Parkins (harp).
I think they're fantastic because they are outside any known genre, yet with creativity and a clear musical vision. On top of this, the musicians are great instrumentalists. The music is soft, non-intrusive, friendly but with character, at moments sweet, but with claws. Music to listen to on a Sunday morning when it rains. Sadness indeed, melancholy galore. Is it jazz? Of course it is. Of course it isn't. But because jazz is the sponge of all musical genres, let's call it jazz.

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Trumpet Trio - the list

Here is the list of the trumpet trios (trumpet/bass/drums) I know of at the moment.

Don Cherry - Blue Lake
Charlie Haden/Don Cherry/Ed Blackwell - The Montreal Tapes
Roy Campbell - Ancestral Homeland
Roy Campbell - Communion
Roy Campbell - Ethnic Stew & Brew
Tomasz Stanko - Bluish
Paul Smoker Trio - Genuine Fables; Come Rain or Come Shine
Trio East - Stop Start
Trio East - Best Bets
Chicago Underground Trio - Slon
Chicago Underground Trio - Chronicle
Hugh Ragin - Metaphysical Question
Raphe Malik/Cecil McBee/Codaryll Moffett - Storyline
Cuong Vu - Come Play With Me
Kahil El'Zabar/Lester Bowie/Malachi Favors - The Ritual
Tim Hagans - Audible Architectures
Herb Robertson - Falling in Flat Space
Herb Robertson - Sound Implosion
Ian Smith/ Simon Fell / Harris Eisenstadt - K 3
Michael Bisio Trio - Composance
Dave Ballou - Insistence
Andrzej Przybielski - Abstract
Masahiko Togashi - Session In Paris, Vol. 1 (with Don Cherry & Charlie Haden)
Wadada Leo Smith - Touch The Earth
Ehran Elisha - Suite Empathy
Dennis Gonzalez - Geografia
Eye Contact - Embracing The Tide/Making Eye Contact With God
Eye Contact - War Rug
Birgit Ulher - Sperrgut
Scott Tinkler Trio - Dance Of Delulian (1996)
Scott Tinkler Trio - Sofa King (1997)
Scott Tinkler Trio - Shrike Like (1999)
Tigersmilk - Tigersmilk (2003)
Tigersmilk - From The Bottle (2005)
Tigersmilk - Android Love Cry (2007)

Suggestions are welcome.

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Exploding Star Orchestra - We Are All From Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey, 2007) *****

Rob Mazurek is hard to pigeon-hole. With his Chicago Underground Duo/Trio/Quartet he produced consistently great avant-garde jazz CDs. On his solo albums, he took often even more adventurous routes, including some failures (including his concept of underwater trumpet, which is a nice gimmick, but not to listen to for a whole album). Last year's electronic Brasilian experiment with the Sao Paulo Underground was also not really my cup of tea. But now there is the Exploding Star Orchestra, a mammoth of a CD, a collosus of music : structured chaos, plenty of energy, intense and sensitive pieces, a line-up of top musicians, yet with a clear coherent vision in terms of composition and execution. The CD consists of three pieces : Sting Ray and The Beginning Of Time, Black Sun, Cosmic Tomes for Sleep Walking Lovers. The first notes of the CD set the tone for the whole : with a solid beat not unlike the Mission Impossible theme, the "beginning of time" commences, with flute, vibraphone and trombone in the lead roles, the rhythm and melody suddenly change after four minutes, but the tempo remains high and relentless. On one part of the first piece, the energy of some twenty eels is transformed into sound, as a background for some free improv. But don't let this deter you : it does work. The second piece is introspective piano music and the third brings free group improvisation, interrupted by repetitive minimalistic music, orchestrated chaos, tight interplay and strong soloing. I have no name for this music. It truly is genre-defying. It's not big band, not experimental, not free jazz, not avant garde, not mainstream, not spiritual music, not film music, but it is all of it. This music is not always for sensitive ears, but anyone will have to acknowledge the musical power of "We Are All From Somewhere Else" .

A masterpiece.

Rob Mazurek – Composer, Director Cornet, Electronics

Nicole Mitchell – Flutes, VoiceJeb Bishop - Trombone

Corey Wilkes - Flugelhorn

Josh Berman - Cornet

Matt Bauder - Bass Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone

Jeff Parker - Guitar
Jim Baker – Piano, ARP Synthesizer, Pianette

Jason Adasiewicz - Vibraphone

John McEntire – Marimba, Tubular Bells, Edits, Recording Engineer

Matt Lux - Electric Bass Guitar

Jason Ajemian - Acoustic Bass

Mike Reed – Drums, Percussion, Saw

John Herndon - Drums

Order or download at Thrill Jockey : here

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Alvin Fielder Trio - A Measure Of Vision (Cleanfeed, 2007) ***

Alvin Fielder is a jazz-drummer and a pharmacist and one of the founding members of the AACM in Chicago, a highly unusual combination. "A Measure Of Vision" is a collaboration with Chris Parker on piano, Dennis Gonzalez on trumpet and the latter's sons figure as guests : Stefan on vibes and Aaron on bass. The first two pieces are relatively introspective, and because of the line-up and of Gonzalez's tone, remind me a little of Tomasz Stanko. That changes with "Camel", the third and longest piece, where Aaron's bass sets a different tone, and the whole vision becomes more expansive, with great soloing, first from father Gonzalez, to be followed by Chris Parker, Aaron Gonzalez and Alvin Fielder. Musically the album wants to reconcile the old with the new, and some of the titles als hint at this attempt to close the divide between the generations : "Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy", "Your Young Men Shall See Visions", "Your Old Men Shall Dream Dreams". Whatever the bullshit, these gentlemen know what music is : they quote freely from the jazz songbook, yet bring it at times to a high level of abstraction, blending genres. The last piece "The Cecil Taylor - Sunny Murray Dancing Lesson" is a real treat. Fielder is strong, an economical drummer who accentuates with precision. The revelation for me on this CD is pianist Chris Parker, whom I didn't know, and who lifts the album above the average.

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Drake/Beger/Parker - Evolving Silence Vol. 2 (Earsay, 2006) ****

It must be clear that I am more than a little crazy about Hamid Drake and William Parker, the best "drum&bass" duo of the world. And "Evolving Silence, Vol. 2" confirms this again. This is the second CD of a series of recordings that the duo had in Israel with Albert Beger, an Israeli sax-player/flautist, who is not really known, but he deserves otherwise. His playing is creative, precise, sensitive, melodious. It's bizarre that the CD was issued as two albums because they actually form one, and with some effort they might even have fit into one CD, because both are relatively short : 42 and 40 minutes. Other downside : you can only order them in Israel, but the good news is that they arrived within a week's time.

Then there is the music : exactly as I like it. Pulsing and complex rhythms with seas of freedom to move for the whole trio. You can hear the players enjoy the interplay, reacting to each other, coming back to the main theme, just to move away from it through free improvisation. The first piece is powerful, furious even, but also melodic. The second one is a free improv of flute and bass. Beger sings, howls, snorts and heaves through his instrument, but rhythmically and ending with a slow and beautiful solo. On "Funky Lacy" Drake takes the initiative, and we get his typical powerful beat, with little touches in between, drum-rolls, deleted shots, funking like hell. Beger and Parker join the fun. "Skies of Israel" is a menacing and slow piece, lead and controlled by Parker who conjures a beautiful melody out of his arco. Then unisono with Beger, in a serpentine interplay. You can hear the pain, the loss, the fear, the despair, ... Parker plays some wonderfully shrill tones in the high notes, piercing your heart, then the trio brings the song to an end, sensitive and joined by common feelings. Remarkable! This last piece alone makes the purchase worthwhile.

Parker's daughter studies in Israel, which explains his presence there.

Both albums are now available for download on emusic.com.

To order a hard copy : http://labels.third-ear.com/

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Kahil El'Zabar - The Ritual

Another trumpet trio (and there are more to come). This is actually the first CD by Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio, although not yet named as such. In essence this trio consists for two thirds of members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago : Lester Bowie (trumpet) and Malachi Favors (bass), who play one of their own songs, Magg Zelma (from Full Force, 1980) on this album. This is just one song, but still close to 42 minutes long. This music has deep SOUL, sensitive, solemn, intense, open, authentic, respectful. I doubt whether this album can still be purchased anywhere, but it's available for download at iTunes.

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Trio X - Roulette At Location One (Cadence, 2006) *****

A moment of joy. New CDs are entering the new year and Roulette At Location One by Trio X is already reserving its space on the rankings of best-of-2007. Duval starts the first piece, Funny Valentines of War, with a contemplative bass, to be joined after several minutes by the sparce notes of Joe McPhee on sax and Jay Rosen on drums. After four minutes Duval and Rosen bring in a stomping rhythm, while McPhee remains contemplative with a serene and slow rendering of My Funny Valentine. The contrast between rhythm section and sax is big, but then McPhee lets loose and the theme turns more into "war" than "my funny valentine", just to change the mood again into a fragile and subdued interplay, ending a lightly funky mode. The second piece, Improv of Melodies and Themes, brings a loose collection of known themes, with Lonely Woman being the center-piece. This composition by Ornette Coleman, with McPhee on soprano and Duval on arco bass, is gloomier and sadder than ever. These are pieces which the trio has often played before and they master the themes to perfection, yet still managing to bring them in a refreshingly innovative way. The same level, with recognizable themes throughout (Ellington, Monk), is kept up on the rest of the live album. The variation between serene pieces and intense passages, the technical mastery and the telepathic interplay of the three musicians, is absolutely stellar. The small crowd attending the performance is enthusiastic, and rightly so. This is what music is all about. Highly recommended.

Can be downloaded via iTunes.

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Mâäk's Spirit - 5

Mâäk's Spirit is a Belgian jazz band that has a track record of avant-garde adventures, with varying success. Lives and Le Nom Du Vent are so far their best records, their collaboration with Moroccan musicians and singers on Al Majmaä was less good. Their fourth CD brought a combination of jazz with spoken word, something I am allergic too.

On this CD, the attack is different : the spoken word is still there, but the electronics and post-production reign. The music is extremely violent, and I would qualify it as noise-jazz or violent-jazz if these terms exist. The album starts with a big band swing, which sounds like it comes out of from a 78" album played on a grammophone. But then the violence takes over, once in a while with added poetry, and the violence doesn't stop. The last part of the CD was recorded live in Brussels in March 2006, a concert which I attended. Guitarist Jean-Yves Evrard ended the last with only one string on his instrument, to give you an idea of the powerplay this band brings. But don't get me wrong, these are six top musicians, yet the chaos, the electronic distortion and the violence smother the musicality which tries to rise to the surface once in a while. These guys are not afraid to leave the beaten track, but this is a little too much for me.

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John Appleton & Don Cherry - Human Music

This is what I meant in my piece on Don Cherry. His openness to look for new things, has often lead to abuse of his name for the sake of selling impopular music.

This reissue on CD brings us electronic music of the early days, which is more technology-driven than musically inspired. The only thing I hear are blips and squeacks and whooshes and peeps. It is unclear where the contribution of Appleton ends the one of Cherry begins, but it is in any case not really succesful.

To avoid.

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