I had barely received the email announcing the release of Kalabalikand I was immediately trudging through the depths of NYC to the Downtown Music Gallery in search of it.
A man possesed, no doubt.
But not without good reason. I was at the first two shows that brought the Scandinavian guitarists together in NYC that previous winter and had …
Recorded in 1967 with drummer Rashied Ali,John Coltrane’s posthumously released Interstellar Space was a template for the sax and drum duo. It is a beautiful and, at times, challenging recording and has been described around the blogosphere as:
“Noisy, abrasive, violent. But it’s the tight playing and the remnants of melody that give Coltran…
The sax-bass-drum trio is a particularly favorite combination of mine. The flexibility of the unit, the space that is filled by the three instruments and both the power and finesse that it can achieve is inspiring. However, I am also pretty partial to the sax-guitar-drum configuration as well. It’s different, the bottom end is more likely…
Camino Cielo Echo, the Tom Rainey Trio’s second effort, features the same group as the debut album, Pool School, however in the intervening time, it seems the group has further developed a sound that is as improvization based as ever, but even more elastic and risk taking. As before, the group is Tom Rainey on drums, Ingrid Laubrock on sax and Ma…
Vinny Golia’sAbstractions And Retrocausalitiesis not only a mouthful to say but also an album to really sink your teeth into. It’s a masterful dish of composed and free passages that mix seemlessly into a lively work.
Working with a sextet gives Golia an exciting assortment of textures and tones which he employes to great effect over the cou…
Anders Nilsson cites fellow guitarist Raoul Bjorkenheim’s solo guitar album Apocalypsoas well as solo works by John Mclaughlin, Sonny Sharrock and bassist Ken Filiano as inspirations for ‘Night Guitar,’ his collection of solo pieces for electric guitar. The songs feel as spontaneous as they feel composed, and contain an air of mystery and expl…
Ambience is to the fore on Lisa Mezzacappa and Nightshade’s album Cosmic Rift. Built upon electric/acoustic soundscapes, the focus in on interactions and textures rather than strong rhythms and striking themes.
The album has been sitting in my iPod for quite a while now, slowly gaining my attention and surprising me each time I give i…
“Wind Sweeping Pines” is a twenty minute track on the Chicago Underground Duo’s sixth album “Age of Energy” and the intensity and emotion that builds by the end of the track is just incredible. Cornetist and electronic sound sculptor Rob Mazurek’s melody sails above the mix of acoustic drums and bubbling electronics. But, it’s the journey to…
I haven’t yet heard Overseas I through III, but catching the series here at IV is quite a pleasure. Eivind Opsvik, with his instrumentally eclectic group, creates a world of unfolding soundscapes that run the gamut from precious to powerful. It’s an excellent collection of music that packs a lot of surprises.
Possibly the most inter…
I’ve enjoyed listening to albums by the Norwegian power trio Bushman’s Revenge over the past couple years, but their latest offering is the most impressive by far. ‘A Little Bit Of Big Bonanza’ is a powerful collection of tunes, that while downright heavy at times, also seems to be constructed with a little more attention to dynamics and composit…
Lama is an electronically enhanced acoustic drum, bass and trumpet trio that has delivered an excellent album with “Oneiros”. The pieces fit together so tightly that there’s hardly room for a wasted note, beat or breath as the musicians move gracefully through the set of songs, nimbly riding the contours between structure and freedom.
Fo…
ByStef
Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson is without a doubt one of the most forceful players ever, combining a ferocity that surpasses Brötzmann with a technique equalling the best and adding an emotional howl that is his unique signature. He is on top of this a real music lover, collector of music in all its diversity and form, interested in…
