Tag: Free Jazz Blog
When I first heard about the album, Pine Barrens, I was intrigued. A press release came out indicating that Holus Bolus leader, woodwind player and composer Josh Sinton, would be releasing the album on his own via his website. I decided to follow the albums’ release, but soon found the experience a little tricky. So, I’m quite happy that he al…
A few weeks ago I caught up with some slightly older releases, finally getting to Elephant9’s2011 releaseLive at the BBC. Upon posting, I had no idea that this new studio album was dropping, and like a sudden blast of refreshing Nordic air, the latest Elephant9 made an unexpected and most welcome arrival.
However, before I go any further, I…
Bassist Ben Thomas is a recent arrival to the jazz scene in NYC, prior to which he was active in upstate New York and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. The trio that he directs on Endless Mountain Region is saxophonist Tony Malaby and percussionist Aaron Staebell.
Endless Mountain Regions works in between the lines of free and co…
In the note that came along with Bogdo Ula’s Crash Canis Majoris, guitarist Samuli Kristian indicated that the Finnish trio was making a conscientious effort to change up their sound. This power trio’s music, which is fully improvised, features full throated guitar, punchy bass, and propulsive percussion. So, what could be wrong?
“In a sense,…
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…
