Tag: Free Jazz Blog
It’s starting to look a lot like … this.
Today we present our reviewers top 10 albums of the year, and we also invite you to vote in the annual New Ears Awards.
The nominations for the award were made from compiling the lists below. This year, the blog writers are voting on the same choices, but in a separate poll. The award winner for both …
I know I start too many reviews like this “[album x] has been in heavy play on my [various devices] for quite a long time now…” And so it goes, Das Kondenstat has been in my car stereo and on my iPod for months now, and every time I listen to it, I begin thinking of my review and then my attention is sucked into the music. It is, to my ears, …
I stumbled upon The Few at a show in a now defunct spot in Brooklyn about a year or so ago. They were either the headlining or supporting Ken Vandermark playing solo, or maybe it was a bit of both. Regardless, if I recall correctly, Vandermark opened up the sonic pathways for the The Few to then make their own. The trio’s reserved but insist…
Kyle Motl / Drew Ceccato – Katabasis (s/r, 2017) ****Kyle Motl / TJ Borden – Apperception (s/r, 2017) ***½
West Coast Bassist Kyle Motl works with two very different duo on the recently released Katabasis and Apperceptions. On the former, he’s paired with saxophonist Drew Ceccato, and on the latter, cellist T.J. Borden.
The title Katab…
I don’t know what you all think, but it seems to me that a free jazz (of the fiery variety) holiday album is right on cue. I’m not in the mood for sweet, gentle, or traditional this year, there is just too much going on that is not sweet, gentle, or traditional, but I’m also not quite ready to forgo holiday cheer entirely. So, why not add a pri…
Everyone knows Dave Douglas, right? The prolific trumpeter was a member of the original Masada in the early 1990s and has amassed an astounding and diverse discography over the years. One of his latest is the brass heavy Little Giant Still Life. His partners on the recording are the The Westerlies, whom we last encountered when they were play…
Glorious Ravage is an ambitious multi-faceted undertaking by Bay Area bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa. The work is organized around women, who late 19th and early 20th century, transcended the stereotypical roles of the era and pursued their passions in science, travel, and more. On the recording, Mezzacappa works with a frighteningly t…
I suppose it’s a bit of a conflict of interest to write this review since I also wrote the liner notes; however, since I’ve decided to barrel ahead anyway, I am going to further transgress and paraphrase liberally from the notes I wrote for the album. When I started on them, I took the opportunity to do Q&A’s with the SLD trio’s pia…
Convergences, Divergences & Affinities: The second wave of Free Improvisation in England, 1973–1979 is Trevor Barre’s second book exploring the improvisational music scene in England. This time he moves the timeline from the formative years of the first generation (1965 – 1972) deep into the 1970s, covering the years between 1973 and 1…
Chet Doxas’ Rich in Symbols has just been placed into my guilty pleasures playlist – but it’s not one to feel guilty about at all, it’s just so rich and flavorful that there is no way it can be good for me.
Brooklyn based Doxas works often with trumpeter David Douglas (who has a guest turn) and plays saxophone and synthesizer – the latter …
ByPaul Acquaro
The weekend’s festivities kicked off out on the Race St. Pier, which juts out into the Delaware River at the foot of the Ben Franklin bridge. The performance was the work of composer John Luther Adams entitled “Across the Distance”, specifically written for a couple dozen french horns.
Saturday afternoon, Race St Pier and Fr…
The October Revolution concert festival held Oct 5th through 8th in Philadelphia hinged its name on the seminal summit from October of 1964, organized by trumpeter Bill Dixon at an uptown Manhattan space, back when rents were low and revolution was in the air. That festival is considered one of the galvanizing moments for Free Jazz. Cecil T…
