Category: Recordings
Last year when I reviewed Mars Williams An Ayler Xmas Vol 3, I wrote that I was hoping that this would continue to be an annual event – a new collection of Ayler/Holiday mashups to counteract the deadly ear-poison of ‘All I Want for Christmas (is you)’. I also secretly wondered how Williams could keep finding new inspiration with the theme. Now, k…
The Rewardis an aptly titled recording. For one, the recording, an LP from the French label RogueArt, which has been instrumental in releasing several recordings from the New York based pianist this year alone, is being released to coincide with Matthew Shipp’s 60th birthday. Then, it is also Shipp’s first LP only release since Sonic Exploration, a…
Saxophonist Rich Halley, hailing from Portland, has a background that begs metaphorical reading: he’s a trained biologist who conducted research on rattlesnakes, likes to spend time in the wilderness, and ended up in the music business. Somehow his 2019 outing with pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist Michael Bisio, and drummer Newman Taylor Baker, Terra…
and Stef GijsselsAs Covid has continued to wreak havoc on the lives of musicians (yes, actually that could be expanded to the the world, but that’s for another day) some have sought other ways to express themselves, make some income, or work on something that that has been in the “if I just had time to…” category. Here are just a few that have c…
We had to do some digging in our archives to find percussion duets. We found the following:Michel Lambert & Rakalam Bob Moses – Meditation On Grace (FMR 2008)Lucas Niggli & Peter Conradin Zumthor – Profos (Not Two, 2009)Hamid Drake & Jesse Stewart – Timelines (Art Stew, 2013)Dane (Claire) Rousay & John Kennedy – Audit (Congruence, 2…
This may be the Terje Rypdal album I have been waiting for, how did they know?Conspiracy is the first since the Norwegian guitarist’s 2013 classical album Melodic Warrior(with the Hilliard Ensemble and Bruckner Orchester Linz, which never really struck a chord with me), and suffice to say, I am quite happy to hear Rypdal back in the small group ter…
Open Border has been with me for many, many months. I’ve listened to it numerous times, and each time thought “ok, now, I will sit down a write something.” However, it wasn’t until I plugged in my earbuds and took a walk that it finally happened.One way to listen to music is of course to listen closely, intentionally, and with minimal background so…
A number of relatedly unrelated things come to mind each time that I listen to 85bears. First there is how the winding lines of the windy instruments in the foreground bop and weave around each other with melodically free abandon, kind of like the early recordings of Ornette Coleman. Then of course, Chicago. Allusions to the Chicago Bears football …
Who isn’t up for a pleasant surprise from time to time? Especially these days when the surprises tend to be the less welcoming kind, The No Base Trio from Puerto Rico is definitely of the better type, and their eponymous debut is most certainly a welcome one.The group, formed in San Juan 10 years ago, is Jonathan Suazo on alto saxophone and EWI, Ga…
Interview with Ken Vandermark. Photo (C) Cristina Marx/Photomusix
and Stef Gijssels
There is hardly a more hardworking musician as Chicago-based, and world renowned, woodwind player and composer Ken Vandermark. Just in the past few months he has released a large band recording, ENTR’ACTS’ Soigne Ta Droite, as well as one with a new qua…
Guitarist John Scofield has long been tangentially associated with ECM records. His first appearance dates back to a Peter Warren release on the related JAPO label in 1982. Since then he has appeared on several recordings with bassist Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires group, and with Trio Beyond, a take on Tony Williams’ Emergency with organist Larry Gol…
It begins with a crash, I suppose it’s all 10 musicians striking at once. A lingering note from a flute blends into a bright melodic phrase carried by the piano and sax. A thrum from the bass and static laden electronic buzz provides a slightly textured musical canvas. The track, ‘Perpetual Desk (for Ikue Mori)’, is the shortest of the three …
