This is a recording that has been on high rotation in my playlist list for a bit of time now, and each time I come back to it, I find another interesting facet. I suppose an overarching description of the music is that it’s meticulously composed,and I mean that in a few ways. While there is an overall strong sense of composition that guiding…
We conclude this week of duos with four recordings featuring the saxophone and a stringed instrument – in this case cello, bass, bass guitar and guitar, and then close out with two classic sax and drum duos. The problem is, it’s hard to stop here. Just in the time of the creation of this week of reviews, a new recording from OutNow called Esoter…
Now in its second edition, Trevor Barre’sBeyond Jazz, Plink, Plonk & Scratch, the Golden Age of Free Music in London 1966–1972 is anicely composed survey of the unique approach to free improvisation that came to be in London starting in the mid-1960s. Striking the right balance between entertaining and academically rigorous, the book…
Erik Platz’s debut disc, Life After Lifeis an atmospheric outing made from aunique pairing of instruments. With the help of James Falzone (clarinet), Leanne Zacharias (cello), and Don Benedictson (bass), percussionist and composer Platz takes the time to developan environment for the group totake his compositions on an inward journey. Througho…
Saxophonist Uli Kempendorff’s quartet Field is guitarist Ronny Graupe, drummer OliverSteidle, and bassist Jonas Westergaard. Their music is a great example of the vibrant and highly syncopated blend of modern bop/free jazz that seems to be pouring out of Berlin as of late (I’m thinking of groups like Die Enttäuschungand Soko Steidle).
The gro…
A few weeks ago I had a chance to catch a screening of this new documentary on saxophonist/composer Thomas Chapin. It was an early cut of the film, and about two and half hours long. Not knowing a tremendous amount about Chapin, I went in thinking that 2.5 hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon is quite a commitment … yet as the film neared it…
This set of reviews began with a working title of ‘Berlin!’, but as time went on, the scope crept …
Gebhard Ullmann’s Basement Research – Hat and Shoes (Between the Lines,2015) ****½
An absolute gem, this album is from way back in 2015, and to only get to it now is a bit of a crime on my part. Gebhard Ullman, a woodwind player who splits …
Something striking about clarinetist Ben Goldberg’s music is that whatever the setting, his compositions unfold in delightful and unexpected ways. Perhaps unexpected also best describes this trio recording from Goldberg, Deerhoof guitarist John Dieterich and frequent Charlie Hunter and Nels Cline collaborator drummer Scott Amendola.
Unexpecte…
, with ample help from Martin Schray
Albert Ayler had always been somewhat abstract to me. From my earliest exposure to his music via Marc Ribot’s Spiritual Unity group to Ayler’s own later albums like New Grass, he was an enigmatic figure. Starting off with his uncompromising and harsh tones – tonewbie ears – he presented an extra challenge …
I can’t believe it was late fall already when I took a trip out to 65Fen in Brooklyn to hear the release show for Transcendental Function.It was an intimate and captivatingshow, and it was certainly not my intention to let this one go so long without a mention!
The duo has chosen an apt title, borrowing the term from Jungian psychology that r…
As we wrap up another ‘Guitar Week’, we offer a small roundup as a coda. There are many more new releases and re-releases that deserve attention, but hardly the time to do it all…
Henry Kaiser – Nearly Extinct(Balance Point Acoustics, 2015) ****
Nearly Extinct is a survey of free jazz improvisational approaches, and an attempt to pre…
This new record from the acoustic guitar and woodwind duo of Fernando Guiomar and Paulo Chagas is an unexpected stunner. The opening track, ‘Escape and Return’ begins with a gentle folksy whimsy, but it hardly takes time for the two to dig in, and let loose with a fiery passion. Their paths interlock on the clear strong plucks of the guitar …
