Evan Parker/Georg Gräwe - Dortmund Variations (Nuscope, 2012) ***½

By Martin Schray

                                   

Another piano duo album Evan Parker has recently released is Dortmund Variations with German pianist Georg Gräwe  While Parker focuses his energy on tenor exclusively, Gräwe plays on a Bösendorfer Model 225 grand piano.

It is absolutely fascinating to see how this album differs from Parker’s collaboration with Agustí Fernandez - even for non-believers. Like Parker and Fernandez, Gräwe and Parker have a history as well, yet a completely different one. Their only former collaboration is Unity Variations (Okka, 1999) but they have known each other as label mates from Jost Geber’s FMP, and when the then 20-year-old Gräwe released his first album New Movements, Parker already belonged to the established musicians in free jazz. So Gräwe knew the catalogue of the first generation ancestors by heart and wanted to add something new turning to the rich heritage of miner songs (Gräwe is a native of the Ruhr-area town Bochum) and Hans Eisler compositions which he included in the works of his own Grubenklang Orchestra (1982 – 1993). To put it in a nutshell: Gräwe's background is as German as Fernandez’ one is Spanish, and Parker blends his English new music heritage perfectly with both of them.

Dortmund Variation consists of three tracks, and the first 36-minute variation establishes the set of terms. Gräwe's style  is less percussive than Fernandez’, he is playing counter-rotating lines of incredible velocity especially with his right hand and Parker is winding around these notes as if he and Gräwe were dolphins courting.  The two of them seem to know each other so well you could swear that they have played together regularly. Gräwe's knocks out cascades of pearls – it is like watching a New Year’s Day fireworks, although Parker avoids his usual characteristics. This is one of the few albums where he hardly uses circular breathing (just at the end of “Variation III” you can find a short exercise).

In contrast to the recording with Fernandez there are no solo parts here, the album really is a 63-minute duo, a real symbiosis, but if you want to find a flaw you can call this one-sided as well.

Evan Parker’s deconstructions can be stressful over the length of an hour but listeners dedicated to listening carefully as he follows the improvisational process and those who are willing to delve into Gräwe's fresh complexities will definitely enjoy this album.

You can buy the album from instantjazz.com.

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Evan Parker/Agustí Fernandez: The Voice Is One (Not Two, 2012) ****

By Martin Schray

Evan Parker and Catalan pianist Agustí Fernandez have been cooperating for more than a decade in different formations, as a duo on Temparillo (Musica Secreta, 1996), in a quartet with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton on Topos  (Maya, 2007) and Fernandez has been a member of Parker's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble since Memory/Vision (ECM, 2003).  Both are excellent improvisers and both are gifted with an idiosyncratic musical language that enables them to ignore any restrictions that could prevent them from crossing expressive limits.

Although “Part 2” on this album is a Fernandez solo and “Part 4” presents Parker without his companion the title of the album is programmatic, on the album you can hear one voice, they are a small unit.

“Part 1” is the best example for this assumption. Parker starts really sensitive over typical Fernandez chords, his Spanish heritage shines through every note, almost drowsy music for a lazy siesta in the midday summer heat. Suddenly the music changes, it swells and implodes, it becomes stinging and hectic, you can watch it falling apart, swirling, tumbling, and twisting. And then Fernandez’ style morphs into a Cecil-Tayloresque mode, the 88 tuned drums appear out of the blue as if we went into a time machine and stopped in the late 1980s when Taylor met the European avant-garde in Berlin. You feel like having swallowed firecrackers and now you are listening to the mad things that happen inside your body.

Fernandez sticks to this percussive style in his following solo performance, the clusters are hammering against the inside of your skull. But as soon as he has come up with it, there is a metamorphosis of the atmosphere again, everything becomes more intimate and less aggressive, Fernandez pours out thrillers, Phrygian chords and arpeggio cascades and we are indulging in them before another duo takes over. Here Fernandez uses the whole interior of the piano as well, obviously using woodblocks and metal to create intensive strange vibrations and muffled sounds while Parker remains very reluctant in front of these textures. Both of them have been slowly constructing a multilayered collage. In the end the track becomes so fragile that it literally vanishes.

The following Parker’s solo recital is not surprising, however, it is a jaw-dropping circular breathing exercise once again proving his masterful command of the tenor, a beautiful sonic storm scraped out of the organic whole of the concert. Parker’s solo pieces have often been referred to as snake-like and indeed we are listening to a meandering sequence of tones that seems to creep into our ear canals.

“Part 5” and “Part 6” bring down the evening to a round figure, they refer back to the first track, again focusing on the two players as one voice.

“The Voice is One” shows how intimate Evan Parker and Agustí Fernandez have become, how well they interact. A really awesome free jazz album – nothing more but nothing less either.

“The Voice Is One” was recorded live on November 1^st , 2009 at L'Auditori, Barcelona.

You can buy the album from instantjazz.com. 

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John Coxon/Evan Parker/Eddie Prévost: Cinema (Fataka, 2012) ****½

By Martin Schray

If Cecil Taylor is right and “the composition starts with the selection of the players” then this combination arouses great expectations. The re-teaming up of Evan Parker (tenor sax) and John Coxon (electric guitar and prepared piano) brings back memories of Spring Heel Jack, one of  the best bands in the twilight zone between alternative/psychedelic rock and free jazz, and Parker and Eddie Prévost (percussion) have known each other since the labor pains of British free music in the 1960s.

Indeed, “Cinema” fulfills a lot of desires, the whole album is like an acoustic film noir. Although it consists of a single 54-minute-track, it is divided into four parts. The piece blends in and immediately you are immersed in a tight, but spooky atmosphere. Nasty high sounds, guitar feedbacks, creepy bowed percussion noises and deep single guitar notes are buzzing around and Parker is floating over them. Something is going on here but we do not really know what. Coxon, who is a very unusual guitarist, can make his instrument sound like a toy clock or the zither in “The Third Man”, together with Parker’s elaborate sax techniques and Prévost’s almost unbearable high-pitched bowed sounds these sound splinters create an uncomfortable world, as if a man was on the run, afraid of something horrible.

A spacy psychedelic bridge with Parker favoring short, curtailed loops and  sustained notes instead of his more forceful breath gymnastics leads to the second part, a small symphony intermezzo with a restless Coxon, modifying his electric guitar with effect pedals to create bell-like tones and wah-wah madness, fighting with Prévost’s extreme cinematic shivers and Parker’s dynamic circular breathing. It is a chaos of twittering, short licks, jolting, gurgling, sawing, heavy thuds, and electronic noise, it seems the whole track is disintegrating. Then Prévost saves it with a bowed percussion solo, while Parker takes a break, obviously listening to see which direction to take.

Surprisingly, the third part is a rather meditative one with Coxon concentrating on just one string, modulating his tones with effects while Parker and Prévost are dancing around it. It is like a past utopia, a reminiscence of the days when rock and free jazz were close, when AMM were touring with Pink Floyd in the late 1960s. Here Parker is the consistent element, the connector, when Coxon’s wah-wah-atonality and Prévost’s percussion tune in and drop out. And just when you think that this is all the sheer magic this track has in it, the two of them stop, leaving Parker alone who gives us a stunning motherfucker of a circular breathing solo. But the solo has a purpose, it prepares us for the last part, a long exhale of bowed tones, flageolets and shivering long sax tones before the whole thing comes to an end.

I listened to “Cinema” watching a black-and-white movie (I turned down the volume and used the subtitles), the music really works as a soundtrack – but also as a piece of great art.

You can buy the album from instantjazz.com. 

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A Week of Evan Parker

By Martin Schray

“Improvisation is a compositional method“ (Evan Parker)

Each December the Schlippenbach Trio (Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker and Paul Lovens), one of the most long-standing groups in free jazz, tour Germany on their so-called “winter journey”.  They have been doing this for almost 40 years and I have become a regular at their concerts over the last ten years because my town is always on their schedule. You might suspect that it becomes boring to watch the same group every year, but it is the exact opposite, every year they are different. And it is always spectacular to watch them, Lovens mauling his drums and all the things he adds to his drum kit, Schlippenbach singing along with the clusters he plays … and it is particularly marvelous to watch Evan Parker. On his instrument he has a stellar reputation, his technical abilities are exquisite -- he has developed his own language on the saxophone.

But to me there is something else which makes him the unique figure he is in free jazz: it is his ability to listen. He just stands there, eyes closed, swaying slightly. He puts the tenor to his mouth, hesitating to play, putting it away again. He keeps on waiting for the right moment to contribute to the piece, he is even improvising with the group when he is not playing.

Since he has always been interested in new collaborations Parker’s oeuvre is huge, he has released hundreds of album and every year there are between ten and fifteen more. Here is a survey of his latest albums.

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Eric Revis 11:11 - Parallax (Clean Feed 2012) ***½

Reviewed by Joe

What a great pleasure to see the fruits of the tree bloom in such a productive way! Eric Revis for all that don't know him, is the bassist from Branford Marsalis' Quartet. That group had, or has, a very strong tradition of experimenting with mainstream jazz forms, but somehow they've never really stepped out of the comfort zone of post Ornette territory. In the case of Eric Revis, it seems that he is prepared to step out of the comfort zone. This record groups together four very strong players, and something of an interesting 'super-group', in modern jazz terms. It's great to see Ken Vandermark playing with the NY (younger) jazz big league, something that I hadn't expected to see. The strong connection between the players, and in particular the rhythm section of piano, bass and drums. Revis, Moran and Waits have been playing together on and off in different settings for many years, this shows in the music which is powerful and deeply swinging. Ken Vandermark is someone whose already been working in areas similar to this with a myriad of groups such as his own Vandermark 5. His playing is particularly strong on this record, helped by the very modern, tight, and forward thinking group.

The Music:
Some of the material is written - the themes that is - although to my ears, most of the music is improvised, or based round loose structures. Hyperthrall, Celestial Hobo, IV, ENJK and Parallax, seem collective pieces, everyone contributing to the music as it develops. Even on the old chestnut I'm Going to Sit Right Down .. the group takes the theme as just a backbone. But there are a few 'written' pieces. MXR, Spit and Dark Net are three such tunes with complex melodies and interlocking rhythms, providing the group with strong material to forge their improvisations. On other pieces such as Edgar, the music starts with no structure, in this instance building towards a limping waltz (with some 2/4 thrown in to keep it limping?). Spit is a driving tune that swings away giving Jason Moran and Ken Vandermark a chance to test out modern free-bop territory. There's even a blues from Jelly Roll Morton's repertoire, Whinin' Boy Blues. This piece gives the group a chance to get down in a free and raunchy fashion, probably an excellent live tune!

I did wonder if it holds together as a record and I guess it does. Due to the way the tunes and improvisations are put together the record feels a little like a suite, although I doubt that's the idea. There are 12 tunes, but one wonders if fewer tunes and longer impros might have yielded some spectacular results?  However, there's no weak points, and I have the feeling that if Eric Revis keeps this group together and develops it further it could be a very powerful unit. This record sounds to me an excellent starting point, great musicians, fine playing, some real high points in group playing, and more important massive potential. Certainly recommended to all those interested in hearing New York meet Chicago for some powerful music making.

Here's a video of the group at the Jazz Gallery really going for it. Unfortunately the record doesn't have this energy, but what the heck, that's what going to see live music is all about!

The group is made up of Eric Revis on bass, Ken Vandermark; reeds, Jason Moran; piano, Nasheet Waits; drums.

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Solo clarinets

By Stef  

There is nothing as strange as one musician on his own, struggling with his instrument in empty space, trying to shout weep sing jubilate rage with personal feelings by wrestling new tones and sounds out of this piece of concrete matter, playing alone with aesthetics and norms, hopefully trying to get the thinking stilled, letting the sounds produce themselves as if you are the instrument, or as if the instrument is you. And as in other solo recordings, you are on your own, naked and vulnerable with absolutely nowhere to hide. But that also makes it incredibly fascinating to listen to, if well played. 

The first solo clarinet album I ever heard was Evan Ziporyn's "This Is Not A Clarinet", a mesmerizing album vaccilating between classical avant-garde and more free forms. Of course the following albums are also easy to recommend, starting with the great John Carter. 

John Carter - A Suite Of Early American Folk Pieces For Solo Clarinet (Moers, 1979)
Louis Sclavis - Clarinettes (IDA, 1985)
Evan Ziporyn - This Is Not A Clarinet (Cantaloupe, 2001)
Rudi Mahall - Solo (Psi, 2006)
Ned Rothenberg - Intervals (Animul, 2001) The Lumina Recordings (Tzadik, 2006)
Jason Stein - In Exchange For A Process (Leo, 2009)

In the classical genre, you also have Caroline Hartig's "Chalumeau", Romualdo Barone's "Tarantella for Solo Clarinet", Eward Brunner's "Music For Solo Clarinet".

This brings us to some new albums in the solo clarinet genre.


Joachim Badenhorst - The Jungle, He Told Me .. (Smeraldina-Rima, 2012) ****

Maybe it seems a little bit unfair to put my young compatriot Joachim Badenhorst in comparison with the likes of John Carter and Ned Rothenberg, but he stands his ground. Badenhorst resided in New York in the past few years, where he made some incredibly strong recordings with Thomas Heberer's Clarino on "Cookbook" and "Klippe", on Joe Hertenstein's "Polylemma", with his own band "Taro", with Baloni on "Fremdenzimmer", with "Rawfishbones", with Han Bennink in "Parken", and on Tony Malaby's "Novela". No doubt that he is one of the coming men, as a musician and as an artist. He was voted clarinettist of the year 2011 by "El Intruso"'s fourth annual critics poll, to which your humble servant contributed.

About the album then. Badenhorst has none of Ziporyn's abstract precision or Carter's dramatic development, or Rothenberg's incredible presence; his starting position is more intimate, with no objective to impress. The first track is a good example, beginning with a soft moaning sound, full of warmth, free form and the typical repetitiveness of long circular breathing bouts, with ever changing colorings and shadings.

The second track is a quiet meditation on bass clarinet, with floating phrases, offering something that is happening close to you, and almost the opposite of all his solo clarinet colleagues who try to occupy space, Badenhorst takes his corner in the space, and you have to come close to him, as he draws you in, instead of trying to reach every corner of the environment.

"Tenor" is built around a rhythmic circular breathing pace, and is a little more expansive, "Djilatendo" gives the eery impression that he is slowing down a recorded tape while playing unusual glissandos. "Ek Stamel Ek Sterwe"  (I stutter, I die) is rawer, using the full range from low roars to sustained high notes.

Badenhorst's technique is strong and his performance has the perfect balance between knowing his limitations while at the same time not overplaying his obvious technical abilities : the music and his musical ideas keep the main focus, and that's how we like it.

You can buy the album from instantjazz.com. 




  Ned Rothenberg  - World Of Odd Harmonics (Tzadik 2012) ****½

What Rotehnberg does, is pretty exceptional for a solo instrument. His mastery is almost perfect, his tone, his multiphonics, his circular breathing, and indeed his occupation of space, the variations, the hypnotism and the odd harmonics, the way he keeps the listener captivated - at least this one - is unique.

The central piece is "Depth Perception" on bass clarinet, which creates at times the most incredible rhythmic dynamics, full of angered rough moments alternated with delicate sensitivity, control and pure blow-out phrases - screaming! -  while keeping the pulse going. It is at moments hard to believe that this is just one single musician playing one single instrument, but it is. But it is a real "dialogue intérieur" with both conflicting and harmonising elements, bizarre and astonishing, frightening and soothing, and I'm not sure whether the whole thirteen minutes are played in circular breathing mode, but it is in any case a technical and physical and emotional tour-de-force.

"Odd Not Odd" is again an amazing little gem in which you can hear Philip Glass, Johann Sebastian Bach and Evan Parker simultaneously, ending in a bizarre, odd-metered almost synth-like sound.

Because of his choice for circular breathing and this multiphonic dialogue, most of the compositions/improvisations keep circling around the same tonal center, resulting in a mesmerizing, yet often abstract listen.

Despite the fact that both albums are only solo clarinet performances, the approaches are totally different. Both are easy to recommend, also to non-clarinettists. Strangely enough, both youtube videos give almost the opposite impression as the albums, with Badenhorst being more expansive, and Rothenberg more intimate.

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Now Out from OutNow, Right Now

By Paul Acquaro

A write up of some recent releases from the label OutNow has been on my mind for a bit of time now. After catching an exciting release event at Shapeshifter in Brooklyn in late November I've been digging into this batch, enjoying immensely...

9 Volt - Open Circuit (OutNow, 2012) ****½

Guitarist Eyal Maoz appeared recently on Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz's Abraxas recording as a part of a dual team of guitarists and with Bryan Beninghoves' Hangmen as a part of another dual team. In the trio configuration of 9Volt (or quartet with guest Tim Berne), he is front and center - so to speak - though all three members seem to sit equally in the mix.

Starting with 'Squeege,' Maoz's guitar is a deep rumble of distorted harmonic motion while trombonist Rick Parker and guest saxophonist Tim Berne's angular lines intertwine. The reedy alto and the rounded tones of the trombone mix delightfully with Parker's additional electronics effects.  Drummer Yonadav Halevy is a sympathetic listener and a supportive player throughout.

'3 and 2' is an atmospheric number that builds to a colossal climax. Berne again provides accent and spice to the song. In just two songs, 9Volt shows its versatility and depth. Moving on, 'Yes Your Majesty' showcases Maoz's fragmented skronk and shreds of Parker's trombone lines manipulated via loops and electronic treatments. The result is a dark and nasty improv that lurches along. The other tunes offer differing approaches and perspectives but overall the vibe here is of a cohesive group with a great debut recording. I hope to hear more from them soon. 

Yoni Kretzmer 2Bass Quartet - Weight (OutNow, 2012) ****

One of OutNow label owners, Yoni Kretzmer, is the tenor sax player in this group, along with bassists Sean Conly and Reuben Redding, and drummer Mike Pride. This free form group presents a captivating set of songs on Weight. The tandem playing of Conly and Redding is enjoyable, as the two bassists work together to create pulse, texture and melodies. Kretchmer's sax playing erupts from deep within and it's pure and arresting. His split tone climax at the apex of 'Number One' is chilling in intensity and quality.

On tunes like 'Giving Tee' the sax is tempered and focused, curving and sinuous lines rude over the rumble if percussion, eventually giving way to the basses, one which goes off into a solo while the other comps along. Towards the end of the song the group pulls out a simple but affecting melody. Hovering in the lower register, all four musicians contribute to the see-sawing lines as the tune draws to a close. 'Again and Again' has an energy and approach that sums up the album. Fierce and unrelenting, a cheek-puffing-eyeball-popping overblown sax treatment over the pulse of the rhythm section then gives way to tender and unexpectedly lyrical passages.

Maroney/Ilgenfritz/Nescier/Drury - MiNDGaMES (OutNow, 2012) ****

Maroney/Ilgenfritz/Nescier/Drury's album MindGames is a nice collection of improvs and compositions. The opening 'Ledig House' is a collection of related sounds and textures, scrapes, swishes and flutters, but then seques into the playful 'One Off, or Two', in which a whimsical melody shifts subtly around its beat placement and time signiatures. Niescier provides a gentle sax solo, while the rhythm slips around below. Followed by the random scatterings of 'Perplexia', this is obviously the work of inspired and masterful musicians. Each note, whether stricken, blown or conjured in unusual ways, is crisp and clear, precise and thoughtful.

The group here is Angelika Niescier on alto saxophone, Denman Maroney on what's called the 'hyper piano', James Ilgenfritz on double bass, and Andrew Drury on drums. They vacillate between atonal textural improvs and melodic forays and then bring both to bear in the 20 minute closer 'Warum Bist Du Gekommen?', a testament to restraint. Playing inside the piano meshes with sax tones and gentle brushwork, and melodic snippets bend in and out of time and tune, eventually settling into a fragmented and beautiful tune. 

This next duo played last at the concert. By the time they went on, after the intensity of Kretchmer and the smash and scatteration of 9Volt I was a bit exhausted, however moments into their set I found the interaction of Conley's bass with Michaël Attias' soprano sax rejuvenating...

Sean Conly & Michaël Attias – Think Shadow (OutNow, 2012) ***

By Dan Sorrells


Duos can be tough. Bass and sax are a tried-and-true pairing, but the strength of any meeting between the two rides on the imagination and rapport of the players, as the limited timbral variety can quickly grow tiresome. Think Shadow, the duo of alto and baritone saxophonist Michäel Attias and bassist Sean Conly, straddles the line between excitement and drabness. Conly has a flashy, busy pizzicato style which, when first brought out in full force on “Rabid in the Boneyard Blue,” is exhilarating. However, over the course of nearly an hour, the blur of mid-range notes begins to feel a bit numbing. Attias is a worthy adversary too, though he takes a more relaxed approach on Think Shadow than on some of his excellent Clean Feed albums. Sometimes the slow-burners are incredibly effective, such as “Sloe Mink,” but as the album trundles on at the same tempo and dynamic range, I’m left wondering why there can’t be more ear-grabbers like the spiraling, wrenching sax on “Baghdad Bargain.” Think Shadow is pleasant enough, but there are stronger examples out there of what these two are capable of.

OutNow recordings can be found on all the digital outlets (check out their site: http://outnowrecordings.com/).  

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Joelle Leandre/Jerome Bourdellon - Evidence (Relative Pitch) ***½

By Greg McGreevy
 
Jazz and improv musicians have consistently been some of the most adventurous in terms of instrumentation/lineup choices. Due to this, the concept of the duo lineup has been an incredibly rich source of excellent explorations into the composed and the improvised. The reason, I believe, is it is the only circumstance where you have two musicians creating a dialog. It is not a single voice or a varied crowd, but two musicians directly communicating with each other, for better or worse. This was originally, in our preferred vein of jazz, a reason to get together a drummer and someone on reeds to just spend the course of an LP blowing or drumming their brains out. Exhibitions in technical ability and unrestrained free playing were the norm and were highly effective, but naturally, the musicians began to experiment and forge new musical conversations based on different paradigms.

Two of these artists are present on this CD. Joelle Leandre should be recognizable to most of us. She has been a preeminent double-bassist and composer working with some of the best musicians in modern classical, free improvisation, and jazz over the last couple of decades. She has also appeared on any number of duo albums, including the phenomenal A l’improviste with Barre Phillips. Jerome Bourdellon, whom I am admittedly less familiar with, has been an active flautist in the French free jazz scene and beyond, teaming up with legendary sax man Joe McPhee on several occasions.

So naturally flute (and other instruments) + a double-bass (played mostly bowed) is an interesting jazz duo instrumentation to say the least. This album seems to be shaded more toward free improv than jazz, but personally I found it to feel like an orchestra of two playing for an experimental opera. Both musicians show off how talented they are on several occasions. The playing really is top notch, as both musicians are having the kind of true dialogue you would hope for, not the type of scenario where one party is waiting for the other to stop talking so they can say something. There are a lot of highly complex changes and transitions as the they work through and around each other’s distinctive voices.

Both artists, interestingly and playfully, mimic each other’s instruments in several passages, Leandre plucking quick and shrill notes to mimic the flute and Bourdellon drawing long and deep on his flute to create the kind of droning notes a bowed bass would. I think that is part of the appeal on this album. It’s playful and it’s never dreadfully serious. For being more of a free improv based performance, it does not smack of the kind of stone-faced approach that draws on serious themes and massive amounts of space between notes. This album is not entirely playful; there are some beautiful instances of slow moving, spaced, and heavily dense pieces. However, it retains a certain amount of levity, buoyed by the diverse nature of the playing, and a certain cinematic aspect that is hard to achieve with a duo, but mostly possible because of the part the strings play. You will feel the range of atmospheres and emotions shift across the course of the record, then all of a sudden find yourself in the middle of a hoe-down with each performer using vocals as well as their instrument to turn it into a rambunctious quartet piece for a moment. It’s a fun, enjoyable, and ultimately impressive set of pieces throughout.    

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Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans/Weasel Walter – Mechanical Malfunction (Thirsty Ear, 2012) ****

By Troy Dostert

As a glance at the cover of the record would lead one to expect, Mechanical Malfunction explores a somewhat crazed world in which mechanical precision isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Indeed, the more interesting stuff may happen when the organ grinder’s monkey becomes just a bit unhinged…

This is the second recording of this lineup, the first being last year’s Electric Fruit (also on Thirsty Ear), and like the former record, this one too reflects a commitment both to delicate, intricate interplay and heavier, rock-influenced gestures.  The work of guitarist Halvorson and trumpeter Evans should be familiar to the readers of this blog, as Halvorson’s had a number of stellar recordings over the past few years (2012’s Bending Bridges being particularly outstanding), and Evans’ work with Mostly Other People Do the Killing (amongst other projects) has been consistently creative and genre-defying.  Walter is a veteran of the Flying Luttenbachers, among other groups, and thus brings a noisy propulsion to his work on this disc, in the process pushing Halvorson and Evans to explore the more aggressive side of their playing.  The result is an enjoyable and engaging disc, of particular interest to those listeners willing to let their hair down a bit and rock out.

This is not to say that everything here is loud and intense, as some of the more interesting moments are ones in which all three musicians explore more subtle terrain.  The opening cut, “Baring Teeth,” is an especially good example of a strong piece of group improvisation involving Halvorson’s trademark bending lines and Evans’ fluttering passages and assorted growls, while Walter fills in the gaps with a variety of ideas on the drums in a relatively understated way.  But when the group does decide to rock out, as on the second track, “Vektor,” or “Interface,” Halvorson pushes the distortion into overdrive and Walter starts pounding, with Evans taking an equally brazen turn, as he’s more than capable of holding his own through the barrage.  The results are frequently invigorating and powerful.

Editor's note: Mary Halvorson will be performing at JACK New York (Brooklyn) on January 28th with Ingrid Laubrock and Jon Irabagon. For more info. 

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Ivo Perelman / Joe Morris / Gerald Cleaver - Living Jelly (Leo, 2012) ****½

By Paul Acquaro

Living Jelly is saxophonist Ivo Perelman with drummer Gerald Cleaver and guitarist Joe Morris. The group's improvised approach to the recording is described by Morris as:

... being held together by an instantaneously configured natural structure that is built on an evolving melodic and rhythmic form, made with one sound or silence at a time. There is an implied agreement of support and acceptance of each particle that is presented.

Which, judging by the album, probably means that everything just fell wonderfully into place when the absorbing drumming of Cleaver met up with the probing guitar work of Morris and interlocked with Perelman's energetic tenor.  

The trio, using unexpected intervals and imaginative melodic flights, creates engaging spontaneous compositions that breath easily and free. The opening 'In Pursuit of Pleasure' begins with Perelman blowing a bop like melody under which Morris lays down supportive and nearly straight ahead comping. Cleaver's drums are light and precise, adding pulse and texture to the improvization. The abstract components are kept tight and efficient even as the tune gets further out. Fast forwarding to a later track like 'Enigma' we find the same controlled and precise playing put in the service of a different type of song, more frenetic from the get-go, the overall tune is never lost as Morris and Perelman ping off each other's inventions. Cleaver's drumming, again, is driving and undergirding.

Living Jelly follows closely on the tails of the recently released Family Ties (which featured Morris on bass rather than guitar). Throughout the recording, which is taking an early perch on the top of my list of music of the year, Perelman's ideas flow generously and melodically. Overall, the recording is crisp and affords each instrument its own space as they interact and intertwine.

Check out the group this past December in New York:

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