Zed Trio . Lost Transitions

Toulouse-based sax player Heddy Boubaker, along with fellow guitarist David Lataillade and drummer Frédéric Vaudaux, are ZED, a free-music unit that delivers a mix of wild free-form improvisation and punk energy for an hour of high density sound surge. Fasten your seat belts.

Heddy Boubaker, as & bs s
David Lataillade, el. g
Frédéric Vaudaux, dr, perc

Recorded at Studio Le Sous-Marin, Toulouse, France
on October 19, 20 & 21, 2009.
Cover art by Bernard Minier.

2195

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Luís Lopes . Humanization 4tet Electricity

Following his Humanization 4tet’s debut in 2008, Portuguese guitarist Luís Lopes joins forces again with Rodrigo Amado on tenor sax and González brothers Aaron and Stefan on bass and drums for a new muscular set where free jazz meets rock meets blues at the crossroads. Enjoy the ride!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Jean-Marc Foltz/Matt Turner/Bill Carrothers . To the Moon

In the liner notes you can read that the sole plan for the session was : “Let’s find some music, somewhere… over the rainbow”, and the three musicians got to work, resulting somewhere “on the moon”. The trio is Jean-Marc Foltz on clarinets, Matt Turner on cello, and Bill Carrothers on piano.

I have shared my admiration for Foltz’s playing in earlier reviews, Matt Turner is known for his work with Scott Fields, Jeff Song and Bill Carrothers, yet his best album is still with Ken Schaphorst’s trio “Indigenous Technologies”, Carrothers himself has made some name in the past years with his own musical approach, one which is usually too mainstream to find a place on this blog but certainly one with great merits. Of the three, Turner and Carrothers are the ones that are used to color within the lines, Foltz daring to go outside of the lines, and their combination is a strong one.

The music on the album can be described as abstract lyricism, or modern romanticism. On some pieces patterns emerge, but not necessarily, and if they do, the trio manages wonderfully to steer away from cheap sentimentalism, yet they add the raw, unexpected and expressive elements that make this music so fascinating and refreshing.

I will not review each piece, but give some examples. On “Black Butterfly”, Foltz’s bass clarinet soars over a dark, odd-metered left hand by Carrothers, and when Turner’s elegant stretched and mournful arco tones join, you get a musical universe full of conflict and joy, all created within barely three minutes.

“Knitting Needles” starts with eery flageolet tones on the cello, with the clarinet repeating a single dark phrase, and Carrothers playing great percussion inside his piano. Again the world is full of gloom and darkness, Turner starts playing full-toned circling around the same tonal range, as does Foltz, and with Carrother’s relentless hammering the end result is staggering and hypnotic.

“Moondrunk” is fully within the world of romanticism, with slow atmospheric piano chords, but listen how Foltz use of timbral changes on his clarinet adds emotional power, twisting his tone into a heartfelt cry of madness, ending in a barely audible moan. He takes this concept even a step further on “Crosses”, which could have fit well within the David Darling catalogue on ECM if it were not for Foltz’s gut-wrenching sounds on clarinet.

I am more than a little excited about this album. It is not free jazz, far from it, yet for an entirely improvised piece of music, it has the kind of restraint and discipline that is rare. What the trio does is so strong and lyrical that it is highly recommended, regardless of genre classification. Their technical mastery and subtle creativity lifts this music far above the average. Even if some pieces are abstract, and there is some left-of-center playing, this is an album that should please wide audiences. Let’s hope it does.

freejazz-stef.blogspot.com
By: Stef

2239

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

J. Léandre, F. Houle, R. Strid . Last Seen Headed, Live at Sons d’Hiver

Seven spontaneous compositions/improvisations recorded in January 2009 by French bassist Joëlle Léandre, Canadian clarinetist François Houle and Swedish percussionist Raymond Strid during the annual Sons d’Hiver festival near Paris.
That night, the three were last seen – or heard – heading towards musical excellence, and attaining it with the cumulative power of bass string bounces, double-tongued portamento reed trills and ruffs, rebounds and paradiddles from the drum kit often on show and frequently moving in counterpoint with each other throughout the performance

2172

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Free Unfold Trio . Ballades

The Free Unfold Trio ventures, and we with them, where many would instead turn round and go back : to the edge of the unknown, to secret places where an underlying depth permeates every gesture; where it feels good to lose oneself now and again. On the razor’s edge, in the open air, wandering about between silence and what’s unplayed. Four stretched out ballads, their melodies in dotted lines, as if diffracted, of dazzling brightness – gleaming seen as an art form.

label Info

Two years ago I got quite excited by the debut album of the Free Unfold Trio on the French Amor Fati label, with Jobic Le Masson on piano, Benjamin Duboc on bass and Didier Lasserre on drums, three of the most forward-looking musicians in France at the moment. While I loved the density, nervous agitation and telepathic interaction of the band for its first release, the trio has now moved into a totally different direction with their second release, creating lots of open space in between the notes and the sounds, yet maintaining the same level of tension, like suspense being built up in a movie. That tension is maintained by the permanent contradiction between the lightness and the openness of the texture on the one hand, and the dark and gloomy undertone of the slow development of the improvisations on the other. The overall approach has a lot in common with the WHO trio’s “Less Is More”: sparse notes of the piano interact with finely chosen notes on the bass and accurate percussive effects, creating a musical universe that is quite inviting without being familiar. Like on their first album, the three musicians find each other blindly, which contributes to the overall cohesiveness and strength of their musical vision. The album is quite short by today’s standards, less than thirty minutes in total, but that’s for sure it’s only downside. Excellent.

Free Jazz

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Niklas Barnö, Joel Grip, Didier Lasserre . Snus

This trio was first put together by Marc Fèvre, the active foreman of parisian dynamic wine and free music venue, l’Atelier Tampon, for the celebrations of legendary bassist Alan Silva’s 70th birthday. Ayler Records liked this, and decided to record and produce a CD with the group a few months later.
The meeting between the two swedes, Joel Grip and Niklas Barnö, and the frenchman Didier Lasserre, is a clash of free minds, nestled up in improvisation, stating their now’s with a firm but gentle slap in your face.
Free music it is, and energ(et)ic all the more. A special blend of free jazz and free improv, a sophisticated mix of talents that tastes different, fresh and highly addictive.

Label info

For ignorants (1) like me : snus is a Swedish kind of chewing tobacco. Unlike snuff, it is steam-cured rather than fire-cured, it is not fermented and contains no added sugar. Typically it does not result in the need for spitting, which offers huge social and practical advantages. The sale of snus is illegal in the European Union, but well, it’s too popular for the Swedes to take that detail into account.

For ignorants (2) like me: snus is also the debut release of this great trio, with Niklas Barnö on trumpet, Joel Grip on bass and Didier Lasserre on drums. Swedish musicians Grip and Barnö have regularly played together before, but this is their first album the with French master drummer. The fully improvised performance was recorded live at l’Atelier Tampon-Ramier, Paris, France in June of last year. From the very beginning, the three musicians dive in head-first, with a rawness and directness that is absolutely appealing. No need for melody or rhythmic structure, just strings of sounds weaving through each other, full of energy, enthusiasm and intensity, using the range of their instruments to the full, and often going beyond. Even on the slower tracks, like “Water”, the tension remains, because the three musicians listen quite well to each other and build the pieces really as a joint creation. Despite the lack of clear anchor points, and its level of abstraction, the performance has its warm components, some bluesy references, some sensitive moments, and that is the result of their musical approach, which is not an amalgamation of sounds, but a progressive evolution of phrases and moods. Just like the chewing tobacco it refers to: this music is “not fermented and has no added sugar”, but it is tasteful, juicy and authentic.

The track titles read like the ingredient list of “snus”, embedded between the additives “E1520″, which is a tobacco humectant, and “E500″ which is an acidity regulator. Reasons enough to enjoy!

Free Jazz

Buy

2159

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Dennis Gonzalez – The Great Bydgoszcz Concert

featuring Rodrigo Amado
The Great Bydgoszcz Concert

“In March of 2008, my sons and I got on board a northbound airliner that would take us first from Dallas to Minneapolis, then Amsterdam, and finally to our long-awaited destination, Warsaw. Zbigniew Szwajewski and I had worked on the possibility of our touring northeastern Poland for a few months, and it was about to happen. At the same time, in Lisbon, Portugal, saxophonist Rodrigo Amado was boarding a plane which would take him to Warsaw where he would meet us for our second tour together.

We’ve always had a great time playing with guest instrumentalists, but Rodrigo is more than a guest – he is like a brother to all three of us, and a fine improviser as well… stronger and stronger all the time, as you can hear in this recording. As for my sons Aaron and Stefan, I’ve been playing music with them for ten years now in Yells At Eels – in May of 2009 we celebrated our first decade together – and they are monsters on their instruments (as jazz musicians like to say), and a real joy to play with.

We were warmly met at Warsaw’s Frederic Chopin International Airport by Jarek Polit, owner of the finest jazz and blues record store in Poland, Rubikon, and our translator/caretaker in Warsaw, Joana ‘Asia’ Chojnaska. From that moment on, the four of us were treated like royalty, every need met the second we mentioned it. The audiences were right with us from the first note, and they completely filled the venues where we played, cheering us on at every turn, and coming up to talk to us and congratulate us on our music. And although Zbig is a busy industrialist, he drove us everywhere, taking care of problems, checking us in and out of hotels, making sure we were awakened at the right time to make our daily treks to the different cities where our concerts were to be presented, feeding us the best food at the right time, and just generally preparing everything in advance so that we didn’t have a care in the world, except for playing the best we could for our newfound (and in some cases, long-standing) fans. Our thanks to Zbig, Asia, Jarek, and our driver Jacek, as well as the presenters at the concert halls and clubs where we played in Warsaw, Pozna?, Bydgoszcz (Mózg especially, where this was recorded), Gdynia, Olsztyn, and then again in Warsaw, where the legendary Tomasz Sta?ko was in attendance.”-Dennis Gonzalez

jazzloft

2126

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Nuts : Symphony for Old and New Dimensions

This is the second release by the wonderfully free band “Nuts”, and the first release was in my opinion among the best albums of last year, with a double trumpet front line, two drums and the bass of Benjamin Duboc. Rasul Siddik and Itaru Oki play trumpet and flugelhorn, Didier Lasserre and Makoto Sato play the drums. Duboc’s philosophy is that music has no center anymore, it is created by the context of players, of the moment, of the creative inspiration. And that’s how the music sounds: shifting phrases, floating on an evolution of ideas and inspirations of the moment, moving forward, yet without a clear path but still focused. The first part is close to twenty-five minutes long, the second fourty-three minutes, and they were recorded live at Le Carré Bleu, in Poitiers, France on February 5, 2009. And what you here is music flowing, with variations in the levels of intensity, without rhythms or melodies, yet utterly musical and lyrical. There is nothing harsh, abrasive or violent, just this interesting development of creative interaction. The band is one of the best developments in the musical lineage that was started by the AACM, but the title suggests other sources as well : Don Cherry’s “Symphony For Improvisers”, “Old & New Dreams”, and “OtherDimensions In Music”. All among my favorite albums and bands. Creative beauty, sensitive lyricism, controlled freedom, respectful dissonance, and moments of magical expressivity. Let’s give them a five star rating again. By: Stef

2123

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Zero Point : Plays Albert Ayler

Zero Point : Plays Albert Ayler

aylDL-062

Germn Bringas, as, ts

Itzam Cano, b

Gabriel Lauber, dr

1. Vibrations

2. The Wizard

3. Tune Q

4. Infant Happiness

5. Saints

6. Children

7. Improv 1

8. Improv 2

9. Angels

Total time: 48:50

Recorded at Caf Jazzorca, Mexico City

on September 22, 2006.

Cover art by ke Bjurhamn.

1964 was a watershed year for Ayler. He formed his seminal trio with drummer Sunny Murray and bassist Gary Peacock and recorded Spiritual Unity, an album whose influence and stature can be heard in the music of Zero Point, an obscure free jazz trio based in, of all places, Mexico City. Plays Albert Ayler is among the titles offered by Ayler Records exclusively as a digital download and the MP3s add to the feeling that this is a secret document, that you are among the privileged who?ve heard it. Saxophonist German Bringas doesn?t attempt to match Ayler?s unmatchable vibrato and his switching from alto to tenor mitigates a bit of the power one associates with Ayler?s attack, but when Itzam Cano?s bass resonates, it underscores Peacock?s remarkably influential technique and Gabriel Lauber maintains a swirling continuous rhythm that flows from Murray?s sui generis style.

This band is a shining example of Ayler?s global reach.

AllAboutJazz

By: Jeff Stockton

1700

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Anderson/Baknhead : The Great Vision Concert

Anderson/Baknhead

The Great Vision Concert

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylCD-052

players: Fred Anderson (tenor sax), Harrison Bankhead (bass)

A long-standing tradition, drinking from the sources of jazz, following its developments towards an increasingly free expression, this acoustic duo explores the various streaks that comprise that music, featuring a particularly lyrical element, close to the spiritual both in outlook and in the literal sense as genre. The intimate encounter between two fine-tuned players provides an instance of an expressive form. Going all the way back to be-bop and out into the ocean of free jazz, of modal constructions and expressive emphasis, the tracks present the music of this duo in a live setting, releasing its developments into a social medium.

Perteneciente a una tradicin venerable, que bebe de las fuentes del jazz, siguiendo sus desarrollos hacia una expresin de mayor libertad, este do acstico explora diversas corrientes que integran dicha tradicin, incluyendo un elemento de notable lirismo, cercano a lo espiritual en tanto que planteamiento y como gnero musical. El encuentro ntimo entre estos dos msicos sintonizados plantea un ejemplo de esa forma expresiva. Recorriendo todo el camino de regreso al be-bop y saliendo al mar abierto del free jazz, de construcciones modales y nfasis expresivo, los cortes presentan su msica en directo, permitiendo que el contacto con un medio social.

m-1689

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Exploding Customer : At your service

Exploding Customer

At your service

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylCD-063

players: Martin Kchen (alto, tenor sax), Tomas Hallonsten (trumpet), Benjamin Quigley (bass), Kjell Nodeson (drums)

Within free jazz territory, an area is explored from a contemporary set of concerns. Acoustic winds and funk are blended with driving grooves and tight if casual-sounding arrangements while idiomatic compositions, after jazz conventions, feature a series of freer, experimental, extended instrumental forays as a means allowing a redefinition of the role of instrument -almost bordering on schizophrenia- through a two-fold, simultaneous monologue of rhythm section lines and trance-influenced, stark duos weaving intimate atmospheres apart from a strong influence of traditional melodies and rhythms (much after Ch Haden?s folklore).

Dentro de un territorio free, se explora un terreno desde un conjunto de inquietudes contemporneas. Vientos acsticos y funk se fusionan con poderosos ritmos y arreglos ajustados aunque de sonido desenfadado, mientras que composiciones idiomticas, inspiradas en las convenciones jazzsticas, incluyen una serie de incursiones ms libres, experimentales y de tcnica ampliada como recurso para redefinir el papel del instrumento ?casi llegando a la esquizofrenia- a travs de monlogos simultneos, en dos niveles, de la seccin rtmica as como dos prximos al trance, desprovistos de artificio, que tejen atmsferas ntimas, adems de la influencia puntual de melodas y ritmos tradicionales (en lectura de Ch Haden)

m-1685

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Michel Lambert : Unclouded Day

Michel Lambert

Unclouded Day

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylDL-061

players: Michel Lambert (drums), Raoul Bjrkenheim (guitar), Jeannette Lambert (Vocals), Mat Maneri (violin)

Taking free jazz and free improvisation as departure point and developing along the lines of experimental sound and extended instrumental techniques and discourse, this quartet presents an original and balanced approach to modern post-free. Beneath the apparent simplicity of casual-looking interaction lies the successful equilibrium of a carefully conceived idea. Striking coexistence of melodic materials contained within more complex harmonic envelops, resulting in multiple simultaneous perspectives that prevent, like a cubist painting, any specific angle from monopolizing the attention.

Partiendo del free jazz y la improvisacin libre y avanzando por la vertiente del sonido experimental y las tcnicas y discursos instrumentales ampliados, este cuarteto presenta un planteamiento original y equilibrado en relacin al post-free actual. Bajo la aparente simplicidad de una interaccin desenfadada se esconde el logrado equilibrio de una idea cuidadosamente elaborada. La sorprendente coexistencia de materiales meldicos contenidos en entornos armnicos complejos da como resultado un abanico de perspectivas simultneas que impiden, como en un cuadro cubista, que cualquiera de los enfoques especficos monopolice la atencin.

m-1639

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Luther Thomas Quartet : Finally! Total unity in 3 phases

Luther Thomas Quartet

Finally! Total unity in 3 phases

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylDL-041

players: Luther Thomas (alto sax), Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut (guitar, amp, drums), Ed Chang (Computer, home made reeds, tenor sax), Motoko Shimizu (toys, recorder, voice).

Applied in separate layers, the materials -idiomatic sax, acoustic percussion, trouve noise, extended guitar, taped samples, voice- propose a series of sound collages approached from a fresh, collectively improvised sance making a strong claim in favour of an independent coexistence where shifting cubist perspectives speak volumes.

Aplicados en capas sucesivas, los materiales ?saxo idiomtico, percusin acstica, ruido encontrado, guitarra ampliada, samples en cinta, voz- plantean diversos colages sonoros desde una perspectiva fresca, improvisada en grupo con especial hincapi en una coexistencia donde las cambiantes perspectivas cubistas resultan elocuentes.

m-1556

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Bayashi : Help is on its way

Bayashi

Help is on its way

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylCD-053

players: Vidar Johansen, Bjrnar Andresen, Thomas Strnen

An original reflection on language takes place in an uncharted territory. Departing from free/experimental jazz, the extension of the linguistic palette occurs through the immersion in various modern languages, resulting in a hybrid form where electroacoustic, contemporary and jazz discourses meet. Sophisticated, parallel, unrelated layers ?radically different universes coexist- produce an outstanding outcome while the casual impression that comes from regular interaction lends an easy, impromptu varnish to things.

Reflexin original sobre el lenguaje en un territorio ignoto. Partiendo del jazz experimental o free, la ampliacin de la paleta lingstica se produce mediante la inmersin en varios lenguajes modernos, resultando en una forma hbrida donde se encuentran los discursos electroacstico, contemporneo y jazzstico. Capas sofisticadas, paralelas, independientes ?coexistencia de universos radicalmente distintos- producen un resultado sorprendente mientras la impresin de lo casual, resultado de una interaccin prolongada, aporta un barnz fortuito, sin artificio.

m-1552

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut Quintet : Allemanstratten

Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut Quintet

Allemanstratten

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylDL-045

players: Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut (guitar, amp), Blaise Siwula (alto), Ras Moshe (tenor), Nick Gianni (saxes, flute, mandolin), Mike Fortune (perc)

Phrased in a radical free jazz language, form and content are interwoven in an egalitarian approach to playing. The various voices bob in a flow of alternating sound masses by means of simultaneous soloing and parallel developments and interaction around a shared circle that results in a listening impression very close to the direct experience of live acoustic sources.

Expresado en lenguaje free jazz radical, forma y contenido se entrelazan en ejecuciones de planteamiento igualitario. Las diferentes voces aparecen intermitentes en un flujo de masas sonoras alternantes mediante solos simultneos y desarrollos paralelos e interaccin en torno a un centro compartido que ofrece una impresin auditiva muy similar a la experiencia acstica en directo.

m-1543

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Per Henrik Wallin Trio : The Stockholm Tapes

Per Henrik Wallin Trio

The Stockholm Tapes

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylCD-032

players: Per Henrik Wallin (piano), Lars-Gran Ulander (Alto sax), Peter Olsen (drums)

Situated in the post-free era, parallel to the early 70s ECM prelude, by means of open, extended pieces featuring dense interactions akin to the earlier and renewed harmonic materials and new approaches to form and interaction of the latter, and thoroughly pregnant with reminiscences of groups ?Circle- or individuals ?Jarret-.

Situada en la era post-free, paralela al preludio de ECM a principios de los 70, a travs de cortes abiertos, extensos con densas interacciones propias de aquel y renovados materiales armnicos y nuevos planteamientos interactivos y formales de este y salpicados por doquier de influencias de grupos ?Circle- o individuos ?Jarret-.

m-1537

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

Surd : Live at Glenn Miller Caf

Surd

Live at Glenn Miller Caf

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylCD-020

players: David Stackens (guitar), Fredrik Augustson (tenor, alto saxes), Filip Augustson (bass), Thomas Strnen (drums)

This group explores all manner of areas and languages ?incursions into extended instruments, post-free, free improv, asymmetric rhythm and symmetric harmony jazz- with a compositional broadband encompassing various genres, aesthetics and influences in what constitutes a refreshing approach to jazz quartet possibilities.

Este grupo explora todo tipo de zonas y lenguajes ?incursiones en la ampliacin instrumental, post-free, improvisacin libre, jazz de ritmo asimtrico y armona simtrica- con una banda ancha compositiva que cubre varios gneros, estticas e influencias en lo que es una mirada refrescante a las posibilidades del jazz quartet.

m-1532

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!

The electrics : Live at glenn miller caf

The electrics

Live at glenn miller caf

label: Ayler Records

ref: AylCD-034

players: Axel Drner (trumpet, slide trumpet), Sture Ericson (tenor sax, clarinets), Ingebrigt Hker Flaten (bass), Raymond Strid (drums)

Revisiting jazz with the baggage of more abstract journeys, a live recording by this quartet where the simultaneous solos spread over continuous, shifting tempi layerings and the contour of language is suspended to take a close look of abstract components of noise and seamlessly return to the linguistic surface to gain a broader perspective.

Reconsiderar el jazz con el bagaje de viajes ms abstractos desde la grabacin en vivo de un cuarteto donde solos simultneos se despliegan sobre superposiciones rtmicas cambiantes y continuas y perfiles lingsticos que se suspenden para observar su aspecto ruidista y regresar sin pausa a una superficie lingstica vista con mayor perspectiva.

m-1527

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed!