Tag: Free Jazz Blog
On Pete Robbins Transatlantic Quartet’s “Live in Basel’, a refined smoothness masks a turbulent undercurrent. You can feel it as the melodic heads recede and the group delves into dense thickets of improvisation. Robbins’ sax has a strong clean sound and whether he is improvising or playing a composed melody, his lines are sophisticated and access…
I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to follow the typically adventurous path of Ken Vandermark and Peter Brotzmann through a handful of new recordings (though I begin with one by the duo of free jazz heavyweights Vandermark and Paal Nilssen-Love). I admit that on the surface these albums are only losely connected by some of the musicians i…
Switzerland’s Grand Reportage Ensemble Deluxe’s album “Live from the Surface of the Sun” takes off with two quick blasts from the woodwind team of saxophonist Jérôme Correa and guest bass clarinetist Lucien Dubuis. This double shot of low register adrenaline certainly gets things started. Weaving into free passages and finally succumbing to entro…
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of writing about The Veil, a recording with altoist Tim Berne, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Jim Black. While the twists and turns on Snake Oil are comparable, many elements of this latest release make it an apples to oranges endeavor. Whereas ‘The Veil’ was a scathing free improvisation of unabashed nois…
Hat & Beard’s album ‘Live at Somewhere There’ is a joyful romp through the Thelonious Monk song book. Each tune is lovingly delivered to what sounds like an audience of five, which simply adds to the recording’s intimate private concert atmosphere.
Taking their duo’s name from Eric Dolphy’s tribute to Monk, guitarist Ken Aldcroft …
I think I may have had a ‘moment of zen’ while listening to this recording. I must admit that I cheated on this one a little at first, skimming the start of the recording, dipping the “play head” to see what was happening with what seemed to be a rather persistent chordal tone. Eventually though, I calmed down and just let it play.
It’s…
Much of the music that I’ve reviewed here, usually in some abstracted way, has jazz underpinnings (though that is not the case with all of the other recordings reviewed here). Headbrain, however, is creating intriguing improvisational music that has its roots in rock and ambient music. For me, it’s exciting to step outside my milieu and lis…
Last summer I had the pleasure of seeing Jason Adasiewicz play with Peter Brotzmann at the Vision Festival and it was the first time I had encountered a vibraphone being played by bow. Adasiewicz used the long fibers to extrude vibrant ringing tones from the metal bars, creating something new to my ears. On the solo piece that opens ‘Spacer’ he emp…
There is no argument in my mind that the Bill Frisell quartet(s) that recorded albums like “Where in the World” and “Look out for Hope” were on to something special. Mixing jazz, rock and Americana, they created a lasting and captivating blend of music, and it seems that some of the musicians who worked in these groups revisit the style in some fas…
Apparently they’ve been at this before, but “Departure of Reason” is my first experience with Jessica Pavone and Mary Halvorson’s duo project. Avant-folk/jazz/rock or something, I find it an interesting, eclectic, exciting and rewarding listen.
The album begins with a strident rhythm guitar played by Halvorson. It has a clean, vibrant, a…
Ada is one dirty delicious hell raising improvisation. Within a minute of the sets start, Nilssen-Love’s wash of percussion stacks, Longberg-Holm’s cello stokes, and Brötzmann’s sax sparks the fire. This blazing recording, a single 33 minute set by the Ada Trio, begins full blast, ends full blast, and runs the gamut of intensity between.
A…
It took me a couple spins to warm up to Ingrid Laubrock’s Sleeptheif’s latest offering “The Madness of Crowds”. At first the minimalist grooves on the opening “Extraordinary Popular Delusions” didn’t quite click. However, I think it was because I was trying too hard. I was listening and trying to make up words about the music, I was not letting…
