Tag: Free Jazz Blog
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Bassist Máximo Endrek is an Córdoba, Argentina based musician whose work spans free and traditional jazz as well as orchestral music, and this trio outing with pianist Mariano Vélez and drummer Matías Romero is an excellent introduction to his improvised side. Whether the melody is explicit or implied, the piano prepared or straigh…
By Tom Burris
From the outset, this rhythm section can do Henry Threadgill’s Zooid. Devin Gray (drums) and Chris Tordini (bass) have that thing down pat. Reedman Chris Speed and pianist Kris Davis are mixed in (mostly) separate channels and this works well, as they frequently play counterpoint with each other over the top of the amazing s…
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil has already released two excellent albums on ECM. These efforts – the eponymous debut and the follow up Shadow Man were the works of an acoustic quartet and on the newYou’ve Been Watching Me, alto saxophonist Berne expands the group to a quintet and introduces electric elements to the mix, expanding the textures and possi…
I began listening to Matthew Shipp in the early 2000s, drawn in by the ambient and electronics on albums like NuBop and Harmony and Abyss, I soon discovered that there was little of Shipp’s output that I did not enjoy. Whether solo, in a duo or with his long standing trio with Whit Dickey and Michael Bisio, his playing is always striking, and…
The concert for Secret Keeper’s latest recording Emerge was at the Cornelia Street Cafe – and down in the cozy basement club space, it felt a bit like being in on a well kept secret itself. It was an intimate show as the duo of guitarist Mary Halvorson and bassist Stephen Crump captivated the attentive crowd for the evening.
Emergeis the pair…
I recently covered a duo recording of guitarist Dom Minasi paired with saxophonist Blaise Siwula. Last year, I wrote about onewith pianist Michael Jefry Stevens, and another with Hans Tammen. The duo format seems to be one that Minasi enjoys, and for that I’m greatful, as his latest with soprano sax player Chris Kelsey,Duets NYC/Woodstock, is a…
Inmemory of Ornette Coleman, who passed away on June 11th, we are presenting reflections on selections from his influential discography. The recordings presented here not in release order but rather grouped by our contributors. We look forward to your thoughts as well.
Something Else!!!! (Atlantic, 1958)
The very first Ornette Coleman album f…
Saxophonist and clarinetist player Andrew Bishop’s De
Profundisis a neatly conceived recording that seamlessly blends the
composed and the improvised. For this album, Bishop looks towards composer Josquin Des Prez’s
(c. 1440 – 1521) motet ‘De Profundis Clamavi’ for inspiration.
The Renaissance composer was apparently quite
popular du…
It’s a rare and wonderful thing where you are so challenged as a listener that you are not sure of what’s happening, but you know you need more. This happened to me during the 2011 Vision Festival when on one of the nights when the power trio of Peter Evans (trumpet), Mike Pride (drums) and Tim Dahl (extremely electric bass) shredded the atmosp…
Will Guthrie is a percussionist from France who, in addition to his growing discography of solo recordings, also plays in the group Ames Room. Guthrie is a subtle player who is quite comfortable with space and texture, which is highlighted on a new solo recording Sacrée Obsessioncoming out on LP and tape in the fall.
Sacrée Obsession start…
Working with an impressive cross-section of (mainly) Chicago based woodwind players, clarinetist and composer James Falzone’sThe Room Isis a complex and lovely work. The group, The Renga Ensemble, is comprised of Ken Vandermark on Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, Keefe Jackson on tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, contra Bb bass cl…
Following a week of retrospective reviews of exemplary AACM recordings, it seemed a fitting coda to talk about this great new album from drummer Jack DeJohnette and otherwise Chicago related musicians, saxophonists Henry Threadgill and Roscoe Mitchell, pianist Muhal Richard Abrams and cellist Larry Gray.
For the most part, the members of this …
