John Zorn: A Vision in Blakelight (Tzadik, 2012) ****

By Martin Schray

“A Vision in Blakelight” is also part of series of the 21^st century mystical works, this one apparently inspired by the works and ideas of the British poet William Blake - and there are obvious similarities between him and Zorn. Until today Blake is admired for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work - something that could easily be said about Zorn as well. Although both are apparently interested in spirituality they have been skeptical to any form of organized religion. For Blake the artist – not the priest - was the actual connection to God.  As to their art both are hard to classify.

On this album Zorn juxtaposes the Nova Express quartet – which is John Medeski (p), Kenny Wollesen (vib), Trevor Dunn (b), Joey Baron (dr) - to Carol Emanuel on harp, Cyro Baptista on percussion and the British actor Jack Huston reading from Blake’s works.

The pieces are short compared to the tracks on the other albums. The first track “When the Morning Stars Sang together” is the motto of the album because the musicians are obviously the morning stars.  On the one hand the songs are light and breezy, sometimes even crispy like “The Hammer of Los” with its minimalist theme and its piano arpeggios, on the other hand they are absorbing and seductive like “Night thoughts” or “Jerusalem”, sometimes there is even a psychedelic and prog rock approach. But you can also find Keith Jarrett allusions (“An Island in the Moon”) or Naked City and Masada structures augmented with heavy free jazz piano chords (“Marriage of Heaven and Hell”). The album is a wonderfully varied suite reflecting Blake’s vision and eventually one of his most famous quotations (“if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite“) is turned into music by the works of John Zorn.

Listen to “Night Thoughts” here: 

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John Zorn: Mount Analogue (Tzadik, 2012) ****

By Martin Schray

Another album of the 21^st century mystical music series is “Mount Analogue”, which is based on the philosophy of G.I. Gurdjieff. The extensive liner notes and the spine wrapper claim “Mount Analogue”, which is named after an unfinished novel by surrealist writer René Daumal (who was one of Gurdjieff’s disciples) and which consists of one single 38-min.-track, as one of John Zorn’s file card pieces although he claims that it is based on conventional notation.

Zorn is the composer and conductor of the music, the band is Cyro Baptista (percussion, prayer bells, vocals), Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (bass, oud, gimbri, vocals), Tim Keiper (calabash, drums, percussion, orchestral Bells, vocals), BrianMarsella (piano, organ, vocals) and the ubiquitous Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone, chimes, vocals) – and again the musicianship is tremendously great. Zorn’s projects often switch between mellifluous sweetness (The Dreamers) and harsh repulsive brutality (Painkiller), but “Mount Analogue” might be attractive to fans of his more avant-garde and hardcore sounds as well as to those who are more into his easy listening compositions. The music could be described as mystical “Naked City unplugged”, there are dozens of abrupt changes and peculiar sounds to keep you hooked, there are tons of unexpected twists and turns, supported by the again unconventional instrumentation. The musicians easily move between angular new classical music, restrained mumbling and panting, 1950s film noir soundtracks, Jewish or Middle Eastern folk, the typical John Zorn exotica, jazz, lonely piano tunes, or minimalist approaches. Every note is exactly at the right place, there is not one bell tone too much, which creates a lush atmosphere on the one hand but the spooky and creepy elements refer to a dark world also inherent in this music.

You can listen to “Mount Analogue” here: 

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John Zorn: The Gnostic Preludes (Tzadik, 2012) ****½

By Martin Schray

Last week I had a strange but beautiful dream: I was standing on a high cliff and I was looking down on the sea which was smooth as glass. I jumped into the water and stayed there for almost an hour (without any air tank) and swam with sea horses, clown fish, moorish idols, symphysodons, and Mandarinfish which treated me as their playfellow. The water itself was sparkling and of an unnatural green and blue as if I was in a natural whirlpool. It was the most perfect utopia I ever dreamed of (although I know it sounds cheesy) and the whole time I heard the shimmering music of “The Gnostic Preludes”.

From the first chords, notes, flageolets and arpeggios of the first track “The Middle Pillars”

Played by Bill Frisell (g) the music already caresses my ears blissfully before the other instruments drop in (Carol Emanuel on harp and Kenny Wollesen on vibes and bells). John Zorn’s compositions  process all kinds of influences from medieval melodies and Steve Reich’s minimalism (“Music of the Spheres) to Frisell’s own Americana excursions (“The Book of Pleasure”) and exquisite pop and blues (“Diatesseron”), actually all the instruments are interwoven in a delicate architecture of harmony and the rather unusual combination of them creates an atmosphere of the utmost beauty.

In contrast to earlier albums John Zorn’s role in many of his latest releases is mainly that of a composer, he has hardly appeared as an instrumentalist recently. Instead he chooses master musicians to play his pieces, obviously encouraging them to be not just obedient interpreters, but also independent improvisers.

Zorn draws his inspiration from philosophical sources as different as the ideas the Kabbalah, natural mysticism or – obviously in this case – Gnosticism, which might have been a reason to establish his series of 21^st century mystical music. “The Gnostic Preludes” tries to integrate all these spiritual influences in a musical way.

Listen to “The Middle Pillars”: 

© stef

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A Week of John Zorn: Introduction

By Martin Schray

When you look at John Zorn’s creative output it is hard to believe that a day has only 24 hours. He has launched dozens of projects, among lots of others bands like Masada, Bar Kokhba or The Dreamers, projects like Radical Jewish Culture, his series of 21^st century mystical works, or his soundtracks. He is the head of the Tzadik label and the artistic director of The Stone (a non-profit performance space for experimental music in New York), he publishes books and so forth.

In an interview with Jazz Times Zorn once said that the term “jazz” was mean­ingless to him. When he made music, a lot of things came together and that was why the music sometimes tended to be more classical, sometimes a little bit more jazz, sometimes more rock, some­times it didn’t fall anywhere, you could not categorize it, he said it didn’t really belong anywhere, but it was unique and dif­ferent because it came out of his heart. He said that the tradition he felt closest to was the avant-garde, experimental music - or maybe more general - creativity and productivity, even radicalism. Zorn has no TV, he doesn’t read magazines or newspapers, he has no family (except the musical one). His only purpose is to create art.

An important part of his cosmos is cooperation. He likes to work with people constantly if they share his ideas, for example Bill Frisell, Cyro Baptista, Joey Baron, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Marc Ribot, Greg Cohen, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Trevor Dunn, Mike Patton and many others. He likes to think of his collaborators as “a community the way we see the bebop community (...) in the ’50s or the existentialist community (…) in Paris or the abstract expressionists in the ’40s in New York”. They inspire each other, they sometimes live together, they simply communicate. This philosophy is reflected in his latest releases as well.

Today begins a week "rounding up" several of John Zorn's releases from the past year.

© stef

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March 2: Weekend Roundup

Another round-up review of a few older releases as we continue to clear the backlog from last year’s offerings.

By Troy Dostert

Billy Hart/Ethan Iverson/Mark Turner/Ben Street - All our Reasons (ECM, 2012) ***

Although it’s a fairly brief overview, I have to say that this was one of the most burdensome reviews I’ve written for this blog.  This is really due to the fact that, although with fine musicians (Billy Hart, drums; Ethan Iverson, piano; Mark Turner, tenor sax; Ben Street, bass), and a lot of attentive interplay among them on the record, the honest truth is that this release is just plain boring.

Okay, it was intended to be a meditative, introspective kind of record, rather than a barn-burner.  I understand that, and I certainly can appreciate and enjoy quiet and contemplative improvisation when it’s done well.  But that’s not the case here.  Rather, these nine tracks seem to lack any sense of purpose or direction; each seems to meander and sift around for several minutes, before finally trailing off, leaving the listener (this one, at least) desperately seeking a foothold—some way to get into the record and draw something from it.  For me, that just never happened.  

A big part of the problem is Turner, who seems consistently aimless and monochromatic in his playing.  Even when he gets a bit of fire in his belly (as on the third cut, “Tolli’s Dance”), he just doesn’t sound as though he’s fully into it.  Some of the least desirable aspects of the ECM aesthetic are unfortunately on display here: everything’s too clinical, too detached, too unemotional.  Even Hart often seems like just an accessory, as his mallet playing on a number of the tracks ends up sounding like filler, rather than a contribution that can give these songs some much-needed sense of identity.  Maybe with a stronger melodic sensibility, the tracks would cohere a bit better—but the unceasingly icy abstraction in Turner’s playing prevents that as well.  When it’s a chore just to stay focused while making one’s way through a record, that’s not a good thing.  This one was definitely a disappointment.

Steve Beresford and Matt Wilson – Snodland (Nato, 2011) ***½

An odd pairing, with two musicians coming from very different directions joining together for a freely improvised live date back in 2010.   Beresford’s no stranger to this kind of thing, as he is one of the go-to pianists in the free-improv scene; check out his brilliant work on 2012’s Foxes Fox: Live at the Vortex for confirmation of his prowess.  On the other hand, drummer Wilson has earned plenty of his own accolades, but not typically in a free-improv context; he excels in those projects that are just left-of-mainstream.  He’s especially terrific on Myra Melford’s Trio M discs with Mark Dresser, although his own projects are always worth listening to as well.  So does this intriguing combination succeed?

There are some interesting moments, to be sure.  Beresford is a creative and searching player, always trying out a number of different ideas and exploring where they go, and while he can provide propulsive, driving fusillades of notes, he’s often just as content to offer subtle little phrases and patterns, taking his time to work through his options.  Wilson seems game for going wherever Beresford wants to go; indeed, he has always impressed me as being a remarkably sympathetic drummer, always listening and responding to other players with great focus and complementarity.  In some ways, however, this is perhaps the biggest limitation of this recording.  Wilson’s too content most of the time to shadow and support Beresford, without really challenging or suggesting his own possible directions for the duo.  Particularly absent here is the humor and playfulness that Wilson often brings to his work.  Here he just seems too careful.  Maybe it’s just a reflection of him being a bit unaccustomed to working in this kind of a project.

This isn’t an uninteresting disc, by any means.  But while the playing is quite strong overall, the spark needed to make it truly exceptional and memorable just isn’t quite there.

Dennis Gonzalez’s Yells at Eels with Alvin Fielder – Resurrection and Life (Ayler, 2012) ****

Now here we have a recording where everything really does come together—and it’s no surprise, really, given how Gonzalez has devoted years to shaping and developing his Yells at Eels group, and it’s a true family affair, with his sons Stefan (on vibes and drums) and Aaron (on bass) complementing their dad on trumpet (and cornet and flugelhorn), along with trombonist Gaika James and the astonishingly resilient Alvin Fielder, still going strong at 76.  Simply put, this is a terrific recording, with loads of energy, dynamic group interaction, and a soulful spirit that Dennis Gonzalez has always brought to his music.

The eight tracks are all built around fairly simple post-bop themes, with plenty of room for collective interplay and solos as well.  Each player offers memorable moments, with Aaron Gonzalez providing some agile maneuvering on bass and Stefan offering impressive flurries of notes on the vibes.  Dennis is, as usual, first-rate in anchoring the spirit of the group, and Gaika James brings a lot of creativity as well.  Perhaps the most impressive of the five, however, is Fielder himself, who despite being the grizzled veteran of the ensemble is unceasingly propulsive and buoyant in keeping the group moving forward; with active work on the snare to spur things along, he’s much more than just a timekeeper on this record.

A very strong recording all-around, and certainly on par with Gonzalez’s most interesting and rewarding efforts.

Available at Instantjazz.

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Paal Nilssen-Love – Chiapaneca (Bocian Records, 2012) ***½

By Paolo Casertano

Warning – Reality can be really different from my imagination.

If I were an empty white hall in a Contemporary Art Museum under the scorching sun of Mexico, I’d be a hall where people are used to organize concerts. I’d be a big empty white hall with really high walls and maybe with some impressive windows – but eventually I could get along also without windows. If I were this hall, I’d like to host a drum kit inside me. Not an usual drum kit with few standard elements. If I were this hall, I’d like to host a drum kit with dozens of little additional pieces and tricks (metal and wood objects, chains, bells and maybe nails). I’d like to host an extremely extravagant drum kit. If I were a hall with this kind of drum kit, I’d hope someone would invite Paal Nilssen-Love to come and have a solo concert under my big invisible eyes and ears in the ceiling. I’d like to be that hall indeed.

As usual, when I have a Paal Nilssen-Love solo album in my hands, I have great expectations about it. And as usual, listening to it, I notice how he achieves to capitalize on all the sonic possibilities of his instrument. In the first half he moves “more traditionally” (don’t believe me!) among dense passages on snare drum igniting the fire with powerful hits on the bass drum and on the other skins. He always balances eruptive moments with more quiet variations as when he starts playing with the vibrations resulting from a bell and the rhythmic pattern given by the obsessive percussion of an object I can’t identity. This very same element – that throws us on the second side – evolves in an intricate and frantic hammering on all the skins of the kit. This is the majestic rock side of Nilssen-Love. But he likes to move also in really sparse, ethereal atmospheres, so we fall back in a “cymbals moment”, where he takes advantages of all the resonances, hisses and vibrations of scraping metal surfaces. Then there is still one more eruption to go.

My perception and judgment of the album is considerably influenced by the low quality of the recording. Especially in the very first minutes of side A, the sound is rather flat and muffled. Luckily it seems there is some fine-tuning along the way.

The concert has been recorded during the Festival El Nicho Aural at Centro Cultural España in Mexico City on the 12th of May. It’s released with a commendable seventies-like cover art just on vinyl by Bocian Records that made also available some excerpts on its website.

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Ernesto Rodrigues, Radu Malfatti, Ricardo Guerreiro – Late Summer (Creative Sources, 2012) ***½

By Dan Sorrells

Late Summer may be the name of the album, but it also works nicely on this calm, quiet winter day. Stillness is required for an appreciation of this music, a soft blending of Ernesto Rodrigues’ viola, Radu Malfatti’s trombone, and Ricardo Guerreiro’s fragile sine waves and computerized hums.

Over the course of two 40-minute tracks, the trio exercises superhuman patience and restraint. There are no loud or sudden movements; everything is quietly calculated and deployed. The faintest whisper of breath through trombone, the slightest touch of bow to string, all riding above Guerreiro’s barely-there electronics, pitches that are often at the very cusp of our hearing range, tones so high or low that they hardly seem to originate from somewhere outside of our own heads. Drawn away by the smallest distraction, you can totally miss this music. Headphones are a must.

If Late Summer sounds boring, I say it’s all in how you approach it. It is music that demands time and attention—background noise in the wrong environment is enough to completely cancel out much of these delicate improvisations. Not that a state of pure silence is a feasible listening situation, either. In fact, what becomes fascinating about Late Summer is the way it sort of permeates your listening field, how you become unsure of whether certain sounds are the subtlest gestures from one of the musicians, or something seeping in from elsewhere in the house. The second piece even further amplifies this effect: the external sounds of traffic and birds and people in their recording environment are also mixed in, further blurring the lines between musical intention and mere circumstance.

Rodrigues and Malfatti in particular are known for their immense restraint and desire to subtract any perceived superfluities in sound or gesture. The music they make is not for everyone. Some may even question whether such extreme minimalism even constitutes music. But Late Summer serves as an important reminder. In our frenetic modern lives, it can be difficult to slow down to Late Summer’s pace. It almost seems paradoxical, perverse even, that the second recording appropriates rushed city sounds, deploying them to its own unhurried, introspective ends. Finding stillness and a few moments of contemplation in our daily lives is often a tall order. Late Summer makes a stand for these fleeting qualities, things we let slip away at our own peril: attention to detail, awareness of space, time to sit, room to breathe deeply and exhale.

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Borgmann / Jordan

Thomas Borgmann, Wilber Morris, Reggie Nicholson - Nasty & Sweet (No Business, 2012) ****½

Thomas Borgmann, Akira Ando, Willi Kellers - Boom Box: Jazz (Jazzwerkstatt, 2011) ****½

Kidd Jordan - On Fire Vol II (Engine, 2012) ****½

By Stan Zappa

By now, the movements in a work like Nasty & Sweet should have commonly used names. While unmediated dynamics still seems to deny This Music consideration by “real” scholars and critics of “real” music, the structural organization throughout Nasty & Sweet is a familiar one that spans all music. Nasty & Sweet Part I starts as so many pieces of music involving 3 musicians have and will, as there are only so many ways for a trio to go from silence to sound in any music. It is a sprawling alap setting the level of musicianship for the rest of the recording.

Thomas Borgman is one of those rare examples of equal part musician and instrumental virtuoso. The facets are many to Borgman's Tenor tone; in it one hears Coleman Hawkins, Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler and of course, John Coltrane. Borgmann transmutes those now familiar antecedents into something convincing. Less mugging in daddy's pork-pie, more a reading of the gospel before King James got a hold of it. His Soprano (and I believe Sopranino) playing, though not as tonally diverse, is no less tonally distinct than his sound on tenor. It is on the smaller horns where his virtuoso side waxes without the musicianship waining.

With Morris' bass and alternatively and Nichols' drumming, there is little Borgmann could have done to stall the momentum or derail the train. Morris was no less the bassist than Richard Davis, Fred Hopkins or Jimmy Garrison. Sonically and functionally, it is fair to place him in their company. Nichols, another giant of the rhythm section keeps pace with Morris and Borgmann at the same time—a feat that would otherwise necessitates two “normal” drummers. There is no immediate idiosyncratic hook to Nichols drumming, just above average skill firmly rooted in Jazz and the music that supplanted it as the central art music of our day. This is likely why he is so enjoyable to listen to.

Understandably Nasty & Sweet Part I and II have all the hallmarks of live performance—the grandeur of gesture and the bell curve shaped structure. It is interesting to hear Nasty & Sweet (the 5th track on the recording) which, based on the information available to me, I assume was not a recording from a performance. The difference is subtle, which leads me to believe live or in the studio, this group functioned on a high level regardless of the setting. There's an honesty there worth noting—or setting against the rest of the Parent Culture's fakery. Your choice.

Give or take a decade later, Thomas Borgmann's Boom Box dispenses with the feeling of ceremony with a studio recording of discreet, individual, crafted, manicured, memorable songs. Remember them? Not to be linguistically imprecise, but the last maker of “songs” within the “jazz” idiom I could really get behind, that comes to mind at this moment, was David Murray. And it is David Murray, particularly Flowers for Albert that pinged my memory when listening to Borgmann's For Albert and Frank. If I had an Ipod, those two songs wouldn't be too far away from each other—a mutual compliment.

Another standout on Boom Box is the fugue like proportions and dimensions of Little Birds may Fly. Like Bach (yes, that Bach) Borgman knows how to melodically set them up and knock them down with precision and invention. His task is consistently facilitated by the contrapuntal excellence of bassist Akira Ando and drummer Willi Kellers. Was there ever any question, both are forever now in The Book; ours is now to follow and listen.

Boom Box makes you wish you wish the Borgmann trio would come to your home town and stretch out on those songs at your favorite haunt.

Here at the Freejazz collective, we don't get the actual CD's, just the files. Sometimes (but not always) the player on my computer assigns a genre to the music in question. Nasty & Sweet came up as a Blues. Indeed the blues is grabbed for on Nasty & Sweet in a bald (and beautiful) way on We Went That Away.

On Fire by Kidd Jordan is without any such realistic renderings and yet, my blues needs are met far more convincingly within the first few moments than in all the recordings by Borgmann I've heard thus far. Were they both brush painters, Jordan and Mr. Charles Gayle's paintings would look alike, with Gayle's being a larger, more menacing. Borgmann's would show in the same gallery, but would immediately appear different. If pressed I might be inclined to suggest that difference (which isn't hierarchical) might have something to do with race, class, and the difference between the American and the European experience. The aesthetic terrior if you like.

With Jordan, there is the same willful jaggedness of line and joyous abandonment of the tempered scale without quite the same feeling of impending apocalypse as Gayle so gayly delivers. One can indulge in both without risking a panic attack. Even if Jordan was a school of one (and he hardly is), his tone and melodic contour is so fully developed, so confident and clear that when set against the parent culture's plonk, they deserve their own appellation. At the very least let's take note of the fact that Jordan (like Gayle) is part of that exclusive club of tenor players—the Fellowship of Reedsmen who have performed with Milford Graves.

Like Borgmann, Jordan finds himself amply supported by an attentive, interactive rhythm section. Harrison Bankhead on bass (and cello, I believe) is as much a harmonic fixture as he is rhythmic. If there was any question why the drumming is so excellent, it is because the drummer is the very excellent and eminently melodic Warren Smith. Having worked with a diverse panoply of melodicists from Van Morrison to Bill Dixon, Smith sounds right at home with Jordan and Bankhead, adding to the music without ever unduly hogging the mic.

Together, these recordings point to a day when the saxophone trio is perfected, or at the very least exhausted. With so much music on these three recordings, it's hard to grapple with the fact that they are but a mere fraction of the trio sounds produced under the heading This Music, let alone music in total.

Available at Instantjazz.

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Curtis Hasselbring and the New Mellow Edwards – Number Stations (Cuneiform Records, 2013) **** ¾

By Monique Avakian

.ok.

This album is coming through like Joe Strummer channeling the all of Europe via Rune inside a receiver hidden within Area 54 inside an America well-acquainted with Oliver North baking cakes for Ayn Rynd’s architect who to this day remains talking, even if you are unaware of that.

: i. e . ;

we’ve got some “hypothetical” (**) interpretations of secret codes (musical and otherwise) via:
* scores derived from the metaphor and magic of song titles
  * number-puzzles translated through improvised music
  * thoughtful compositional bookending
  * authentic revealing of Dolphy-esque influences
  * employment of choice riff ideas from multiple genres
  * unusual orchestration (including two drummers and vibes!)
  * a repetitive motif of Morse Code bits that are somehow never repetitive
  * collaged images blending old and new

The result? A thoughtful and engaging treat so multi-layered you might miss all the nuance if you are a gobbler.

Take your time with the New Mellow Edwards septet and savor all the judicious and auspicious licks offered so generously to you by this stellar cast of musicians:  Curtis Hasselbring (trombone, guitar), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Chris Speed (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Matt Moran (vibraphone, marimba), Trevor Dunn (acoustic and electric bass), Ches Smith (drums, marimba), Satoshi Takeishi (drums, percussion).

Three (of Many, Many) Highlights:

Vibes: Within this context, it would be so easy to err on the side of over-doing it and end up sounding like a derivative sound track from BeWitched. Matt Moran not only avoids all the sonic traps laid out by this instrument, but wisely and adventurously takes us further into the eloquent beauty that is the future of this too-often side-lined instrument. If you like vibes, you will get excited by this development. If you hate vibes, you will be encouraged by this development. Moran brings a wealth of tradition into his uniquely modern point of view. His soloing choices and chord voicings reveal a comprehensively hued and shaded palette, an open heart, a sense of humor and a well-developed technical skill. (Of special interest: “It’s Not a Bunny,” “Tux is Traitor,” “Stereo Jack’s Bluegrass J’s”).

Guitar:
While Hasselbring offers rhythmic support via guitar on Tracks 1 and 4, it is Halvorson at the helm. As usual, she takes care to provide thoughtful and inventive choices at opportune moments. One of the finest examples begins at 6:40 on “It’s Not a Bunny,” where she seamlessly brings the band from one dimension into the next with a subtle wave of arpeggios. As for the topic of risk and restraint, Halvorson exemplifies a Protean balance that is as mind-blowing as it is consistent. Somehow, she’s able to walk like a giant without stomping on anyone. In terms of sonic inventiveness, Halvorson continues here to blaze her trail with unique bendy notes and wavy chordal splicing. Hers is a path that at times might be easy to miss. Maybe she doesn’t want you to find it, if you’re not really ready.

Arrangement/Concept:
The listener is brought into a realm of depth via cross-genre adventurousness framed by Hasselbring’s conceptual Zeitgeist for this project (funded in part by Chamber Music America's 2010 New Jazz Works Program/Doris Duke Charitable Foundation). Number Stations is based around espionage: specifically, secret codes broadcast by governments to agents around the world via shortwave radio. These messages (denied by governments as real) consist of 5 digit number series streams accompanied by female or children’s voices and musical riffs. Hasselbring wryly extends this method of communication to his band, boldly challenging members to form and break alliances based on numerical ideas and metaphorical instructions. The listening experience is enhanced with this arty, witty nod to Spy v. Spy cartoons, chase scenes from Lancelot Link and choice memories of victorious afternoons playing Stratego with disgruntled siblings. Note also Steven Erdman’s CD-insert collages as his intriguing images round out this frame of reference.

Stand-Out Tunes:
1) A song called: “37 degrees by 56 feet by 39 inches by 111 degrees 32 feet.” Part of the code for me involves the slant quoting of “Baby Love” a la 1964, as well as the embedded magic of the song title, which must have been crafted by the superior mind of a 10 year old running free in the woods with friends disguised as rogues on a long, hot summer day. This tune sticks with you!

2) “Make Anchor Babies”: Every player stands out on here. The tune takes off during the first half into a Latin free sailing vibe, and it’s a sunny day, and you’re driving along a mountain curve in your little red convertible, scarf flying, all too soon plunging over the cliff! And then, the band uses the repeated motif of the two-note interval pivot to get us somehow into the outer space feel of a foggy fjord, and now you are on a small motor boat of some kind, worrying about the gas gage, searching carefully for clues. The electronic sound-play here is evocative and emotive, with a mysterious ending.

3) “It’s Not a Bunny”: Another tune where all players stand out. The form is created by a bookending of the melody hook, making a satisfying sandwich that telescopes out into the most outrageous of wildly concocted funky, jazzy, free-form Scooby-Snacks before upending, accordion-like, into your open mouth and down through your gullet with a snap of one note on the woodblock. Zoinks!
(**)

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Curtis_Hasselbring/Number_Stations/

Curtis Hasselbring's New Mellow Edwards, 2012 NYC Winter Jazz Fest:

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Paul Smoker Notet - Cool Lives (CDBaby, 2012) ****½

By Stef

Sometimes you wonder how musicians promote their albums, or rather try to avoid fans to know that they  actually have new music ready for purchase. If your humble servant did not scan places like iTunes, CDBaby and other eMusic sites and even more disorganised sources (if that is possible at all), spending hours scrolling down new releases of mostly junk (did you know that every day new albums by Louis Armstrong are released, every single day?), and then purchased some of the more promising albums, some great music would never even been reviewed, ever!

Take this fantastic albums by three technical wizards : Paul Smoker on trumpet, Steve Salerno on guitar and Phil Haynes on drums. All three musicians have extensive track records, are as comfortable in classical as in traditional jazz as in free form, have a great warm tone, an adventurous spirit and an incredible sense of pulse.

Put them together - and they have played before - on various CIMP albums, but not as a trio, and you get this little gem. It starts like cool jazz - and the iconic reference to Chet Baker on the cover picture is no coincidence, but what they do with is somethign else  - it swings, it sings, it chills and it pops. The trio move boundaries throughout, changing jazz styles as they see fit, pushing the tradition into unheard areas, without actually losing the connection. And on top of it all ... the three musicians have great fun (despite their cool).

If free jazz ever sounded cool, here is your treat ... don't miss it! Enjoyable from the very first to the very last second.

Listen and buy from CDBaby.


PS - Musicians, label owners, music publishers .... please promote your albums! A single email to this blog may help. Don't let your efforts remain unnoticed. Thanks!



© stef

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