Tag: Free Jazz Blog
The highly anticipated, carefully selected, and impeccably curated top 10 lists of 2013 from the Free Jazz Collective, an incredibly subjective selection based on an amazing 1,166 albums which came our way during the year that roughly fit this blog’s profile, without counting all the unbelievable sh*t that we also receive, now that our blog’s popu…
The opening moments of CACAW’s Stellar Power is a quick study in contrasts. A heavy rhythmic figure kicks things off and then soon enough a light electric piano locks into anabstract groove only to circle back to the thick riff. The rhythms keep shifting back and forth, never too steady, but never toowobblyeither. Then at the halfway mark…
What is this?
The dark rumble of bass and drums is suddenly pierced by a sharp melody from a clarinet, it appears suddenly like an X-Acto knifepoking through dense fabric, slowly shredding the material and letting bits of light through. Then some fearsome guitar playing ratchets up the intensity … it’s Alex Ward’s group Forebrace and their a…
Saxophonist Catherine Sikora’s playingis not predictable, you never know where a line, or even the instrument’s tone may go, and she knows how to use it to create captivating sounds.Tracks in the Dirt,a recent improvised collaboration with guitarist Han-earl Park and bassist Francois Grillot, exemplifies this restless experimentation. The rec…
A couple of weeks ago Stef wrote up a great review of guitar related albums. In it, he expressed concern that it seemed like many guitar albums went unreviewed on the blog … well, that’s probably true to some extent, as there is just too damn much good music in general, but I’d like to take a moment to point out some guitar album reviews from t…
A little while back I reviewed Lama’s Oneiros. It was a fantastic album, subtle and nuanced, but also with some more aggressive moments. Revisiting my last review, every word still fits this new live recording featuring guest woodwind player Chris Speed:
The pieces fit together so tightly that there’s hardly room for a wasted note, beat o…
ByMartin Schray andPaul Acquaro
Sometimes you come across an artist by chance. Although I (Martin) heard about Frank Gratkowski before, I haven’t seen him live or bought one of his albums. But since I go to all of the concerts Peter Ernst organizes in his seminal Nigglmühle (a spectacular location in Bernbeuren, a small village in the Alpine U…
In a very recent interview with Avant Music News, bandleader and composer Mark Dresser explains that the origins of his new album Nourishments began with a musical / culinary exchange between Chef Paul Canales and one of Dresser’s groups,Trio M,that included concerts with Canales cooking for the audience for between-set-dining.
Suffice to say,…
Bassist Brian Questa’s album Jazz Booty is not a loud album, but I think it’s best listened to that way. How else can you ensure that you are hearing all of guitarist Mary Halvorson’s slinky spiky runs, saxophonist Tony Malaby’s emotional melodies and Questa’s adventurous playing?
Take track 4, ‘Fast Booty (with)’, for example. It’s a quick n…
One of my favorite Bill Frisell albums is a duo recording he did with pianist Fred Hersch called Songs We Know from way back in 1998. Lyrical and spare, it breathed a life into tunes like ‘It May as Well be Spring’ that I found captivating. Well, fast forward a decade and a half and Hersch has released another excellent piano-guitar duo re…
Saxophonist Tim Berne’s compositions are never what you expect — or rather they are totally what you expect if you are hoping to be led to an unanticipated destination in a circuitous manner. Yet, no matter how unique each adventure is, you know that you’ll arrive safely, if somewhat addled.
Snakeoil’s first release was a highly lauded event,…
As Stef recently pointed out, our fortune here at the Freejazzblog is to be exposed to so much wonderful new music, and our curse is the unmanageable desire to listen and share every single one. So, sometimes we have to compromise and do a review ’round up’ style …
Chis Kelsey & What I Say – The Electric Miles Project (Self-released, 2…
