Category: Recordings
A few weeks ago drummer/composer Devin Gray released the thoroughly engagingSocialytics.The 24 minute release is also a powerful one, driven by his trio with guitarist Ryan Ferreria and trumpeter David Ballou.
Long time associates of Grey, Ferreria is a nuanced sound explorer who notably worked with Tim Berne’s Snakeoil on the 2015 releas…
The Few, a trio from Chicago, released Beauty at Low Temperatures last Autumn. The CD was swept atop my piles of music over the winter, where it stared it at me expectantly for months. Then, a rather random post on Facebook following the meme of “post the cover of an album each day that has influenced you … ” had me searching my other o…
ByPaul Acquaro
I used to live across the street from a park, it was a long rectangular shaped area that bordered an active train track on one side, and on the other side, I’d walk my dog. As we would approach the playground area, at just about where the “no dogs allowed” sign was posted, he’d do his business. At one point I noticed that the …
Not protected like a National Park, National Monuments in the US are nevertheless meant to protect special areas from development and can be created by proclamation by the President. In 1996, President Clinton created Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, an expanse of high desert that contains absolutely stunning landscapes and geological f…
After almost a year of carrying this one around in my devices and listening only through earbuds, I finally played Fictional Souvenirs through the stereo in the apartment. “Ohh, spooky alien music,” said my wife. We typically agree on these things, and I was hearing nothing to suggest anything different. Pianist and electronics player Pat Thom…
To fully appreciate Skullmarks, you should visit the page on John Butcher’ websiteabout the release and look at the images for a bit. Let them sink in. Look at the mix of organics … bones, ceramic, teeth, wood, feathers, and pigments. This music was shaped in reaction to these objects.
The six members of the group Common Objects paid a…
I’ve been toting around a sizable library of music for a while now. My plan is always the same, commit some words to paperthe screen about all of them. Ahh, plans. Now, I’m staring at a near insurmountable list of to-reviews. It is time to make some progress. So to begin somewhere, I’m going to start by focusing on one my favorite instruments, …
Here is an interesting, evolving project from Brooklyn based woodwind player Josh Sinton. After a recent break from music, Sinton has returned with a series of very nicely produced videos on YouTube highlighting the work of musicians who have been influential to him. The list is extensive and will include Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, Roscoe Mitchel…
Fourteen minutes long and packed from start to its all-too-soon finish with energy, drummer Devin Gray’s GPS Trio is a compact and powerful firecracker of an album. Just judging from the names of the GPS, you can pretty much form an opinion on what the group will sound like: G for Gray, a thoughtful composer and a fierce free player. Then th…
A couple of years ago I picked up a book edited by Renata Da Rin and William Parker called Giving Birth to Sound: Women in Creative Music. It came to mind as I was reading Sammy Stein’s new Women in Jazz as the topic obviously intertwined a bit. Both books incorporate interviews heavily into their construction, but whereas Giving Birth to…
Garden Party is an engaging and fun work that teams up some heavyweights like saxophonist Kidd Jordan, bassist William Parker, and drummer Alvin Fielder with younger musicians saxophonist Chad Fowler and pianist Chris Parker, as well as vocalist Kelley Hurt. It is Fielder’s final recording, as he fell sick and passed away after it’s
reco…
By Keith Prosk and Paul Acquaro
Momentum 4 is a box set of duo recordings by Ken Vandermark, recorded at the Elastic Sound Studios in Chicago in 2015 and 2019, and at NYC’s Stone in January 2018. The idea was to capture rare duo performances – even if the musical relationships have been ago long established.
In our review, we have deviated fro…
