Bassist Michael Bisio and pianist Matthew Shipp’s Floating Ice is a rather beautiful recording. It’s a collection of conversations between two masterful improvisors, and the album’s sound is well represented by the title.
There is a delicacy to the intertwining acoustic instruments. Mostly eschewing extended techniques, and working within the…
SacredExhalationsfrom Ra-kalam Bob Moses is a fiery affair, one where you can feel the music as much as you hear it. It is dense and pulsatingat times and reflective and searching at others.
The opening track, ‘Sacred Exhalations’ is a wide-ranging and free affair. Instrumental voices rise and fall, searching tones and unfulfilled wails contr…
Dodovoodoo was a revelation to me. That playing the ring modulated Fender Rhodes and pumping outsophisticatedjazz rock à la Weather Report’s I Sing the Body Electricwas still possible, almost made me weep. In this cynical day and age where fusion has been a dirty word for a long time, this Nordic organ trio was making some of the finest of it to d…
ByPaul Acquaro
There is an energy in Brooklyn. Pushed out of Manhattan by escalating rents and rampant suburbanization, artists and musicians are taking over industrial spaces and occupying neighborhoods. It’s an old story by now (and one past its prime in some neighborhoods) but one that inspired Chicago based clarinetist James Falzone’s l…
It begins with indistinct chatter morphing into a piercing sine wave, then shifting into a high energy solo percussion and finally into an avant-garde yet modern-jazz inflected horn driven melody, all within mere moments. ‘The Bad! Thing’ is an intense introduction to guitarist Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord’s fifth album, No New Tunes.
Like a…
Niels Lyhne Lokkegaard -Vesper (Self Produced, 2012) ****
ByPaul Acquaro
Moody, brooding, lush and seductive, Niels Lyhne Lokkegaard’s Vesper is a study in atmosphere and restraint. Likewise, guitarist Jakob Bro’sTime, who appears on both recordings reviewed here, is also a spacious and deeply moving recording.
The Danish Saxophonist’s …
I’ve been a fan of drummer Jerry Granelli since I stumbled upon News from the Streets in the mid 90’s. The double electric guitar line up and organic pulse of the music just bowled me over at the time. Over the ensuing years, Granelli’s output has been consistently interesting and unique, like with the V16 group featuring electric slide guit…
Trumpeter Joe Moffett’s group is described as a “microtonal free jazz quintet”which after listening toAd Faunumseems pretty apt. However, what that tag doesn’t convey is how they smolder with such intensity, releasing wisps of melodic smoke that hints at the powerful combustion within.
The group features a somewhat unusual line up, joining Moffet…
There was just a cryptic email and a link to Bandcamp for this short (35 minutes), inexpensive (free) and exciting album calledGlas Live at Brotz.
The group, Glas, from Norway isLars Larsson on saxophone,Gunnar Backman on guitar and live loops, Peeter Uuskyla on drums,Niclas Rydh on trombone and Anders Berg on bass, and they are pretty d…
Bassist Daren Burns describes his albumFear Is Not The Natural State Of Civilized Peopleas ‘post-fusion recording for the new world’ and itis recording that is at once a comment on the world post-9/11 and fusion done freely and fiercely well.
The hard hitting passages on the opener, ‘Gothalay’ start off with a furious flood of sound from…
A quick warning — do not attempt to listen to Catatumbo if you have a preconceived notion of how a melody should sound or a rhythm should go.
It’s not that these elements aren’t present, nor that the talented cast of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, percussionist Javier Carmona and bassist Olie Brice do not deliver them in abundance, it’s just th…
Perhaps one reason I’ve been enjoying Altitude so much is that I suffered through the sweltering night at The Stone when AUM Fidelity captured the event. I kind of feel like I earned (and purchased) the recording.
It was hot that night, which is corroborated by Joe Morris in his liner notes. But more so, the music was sizzling. As I listen rep…
