Tag: Free Jazz Blog
This guitar and piano duo album from Joe Morris and Agustí Fernández is an outing by like minded improvisors, happily extending the definition of melody and the physical limitations of their respective instruments. Between rich acoustic tones they scratch and pluck in unintended places, creating rhythm and melody in adventurous ways.
The serie…
Picked by John Zorn for his new Spotlight series on Tzadic records, one suspects something interesting must be is going on with Aram Bajakian’s trio. One spin of the Brooklyn based guitarists debut recording and these suspicions are confirmed. The songs on this album seductively, destructively and quite entertainingly blend passion, reverence and…
From Quebec, the Maikotron Unit refers to themselves as ‘mythic’ in some of their press material. Now, the ‘mythic’ may refer to the elusive maikotron, a reed instrument with a range that dips below that of the bass saxophone, or perhaps it is related to the scope or origin of their mission, which is “dedicated to research in New Music.” Regardle…
Joe McPhee’s Survival Unit III’s “Synchronicity” is a tough, dark and moving affair. His experience working the timbers and tones of the avant-garde with his saxophone and clarinet is on great display. The recording was made of a concert date at The Hideout in Chicago in 2007, the sound is excellent and the audience was obviously quite appreciati…
I recall a coffee table book, probably from the late 90s, that was dedicated to photographs of industrial spaces. The stark black and white photography, with subtle shades of grays and grittiness, revealed a certain beauty in these man made landscapes. Stretching from Jersey City to Berlin and beyond, these images were at the same time austere an…
I seem to like a piano trio that is well marinated in rhythm. No matter how lush – both hands on the keyboard and the sustain pedal pressed – or how spare, if served with that extra dash of flavor, I’m hooked. Alon Nechushtan’s ‘Words Beyond’ hits the spot. From the opening moments of the jaunty ‘Muppet Shock’, the bass, drum and piano are perf…
Ken Vandermark is frightfully prolific. This recent release, ‘Last Train to the First Station’ by the Reed Trio is just one of the many current albums and groups in which he is a member. The Reed Trio is Vandermark on clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, Mikolaj Trzaska on bass clarinet, alto saxophone, c-melody saxophone and Waclaw Zim…
When listening to the Marcin Wasilewski Trio’s Faithful, I’ve begun developing a feeling that there is something that I’m not quite tuned in to. Having not heard this trio’s music before but having read some laudatory write-ups online, I must I admit I was anticipating something, though what, I’m still not entirely sure.
Wasilewski’s approach to…
Aram Shelton’s ‘This Was…’, recorded with his group Arrive in 2008 is a serious affair that is quite a fun and demanding listen.
I was first struck by how cool this group was, cool in the sense of how the vibes, the upright acoustic bass, the commanding sax, and some very hip drumming, casts a spell. At the same time, I was impressed by how ho…
Hailing from Poland, the Contemporary Noise Sextet is redefining the definition of the word ‘noise’ for me. To them, it seems ‘noise’ means well constructed and full sounding. “Ghostwriters Joke” is a seriously good piece of work that while not exactly free jazz, or even straight ahead jazz, is a collection of arrangements that sometimes border …
I hadn’t heard Ted Sirotas work before digging into “Vs. the Forces of Evil”, but just a glance through the personnel indicated I was in good company and the Latin groove of the opener “Grendel” — reminiscent of Return to Forever ala Light as a Feather — that came on when I clicked play on the iPod, confirmed that I was in for a treat.
‘Vs. t…
The Steampunk literary genre essentially imagines a present informed by Victorian sensibilities and driven by steam technology. Imagine though, just for a moment, another alternate present in which popular music is not shaped by lowest common denominator tastes and gobs of derivative schmear. What do you hear? For me, the top forty slots are pret…
