All About Jazz Italy review by Vittorio Lo Conte

Tetterapadequ – And the Missing R (CF 120)
Questo disco d’esordio della band italo-portoghese si distingue a partire dal fatto di essere pubblicato da una casa discografica che si è meritata in breve tempo fama e rispetto in Europa quanto negli Stati Uniti. I quattro si sono conosciuti durante lo studio al conservatorio de L’Aja, nei Paesi Bassi. La loro scelta di andare in studio appare meditata, rifiutando consapevolmente tutto quello che si impara di solito in termini di armonia e improvvisazione sugli standards.
Troviamo brani completamente improvvisati, che si svolgono per lo più lentamente, ricchi di fascino sia per il suono che per il modo in cui viene proposto l’ascolto delle interazioni fra gli strumenti. Sono momenti spesso brevi, onirici, dal sapore astratto, ma con un continuo dialogo di fondo e la voglia di comunicare insieme a tutti i costi. L’esperienza del free storico, data per scontata, a volte affiora prepotente, come in “Trucco billu billu,” altrove scompare per dare spazio a strutture che coagulano in brani dal senso sottile.

Difficilmente si adoperano toni perentorii, anzi, ci sono anche i dodici minuti di “La virtù dei forti” dedicati al silenzio (per provare la pazienza dei tecnici del suono)? Nel complesso il disco si presenta compatto, alla ricerca di momenti in cui l’intensità della comunicazione avviene attraverso un’apparente levità, che oscilla fra forze centripete e centrifughe, in un equilibrio in continuo movimento. Un tipo di approccio che loro definiscono “confusionismo”…
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=3473

Reuters feature by Elizabete Tavares

LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s capital is normally associated with the melancholic fado music, but a new Portuguese jazz label is making a name for itself around the world with an adventurous approach to producing modern jazz.
Lisbon’s Clean Feed Records has been winning awards and gathering praise from critics in the jazz world for its vibrant exploration of modern jazz.
Founded in 2001, it has released 140 titles from jazz musicians across the planet, one-third of them from the United States, which is also Clean Feed’s main sales market.
“We like to record new artists and new sounds. I don’t like recording old guys doing the same old thing,” said Pedro Costa, founder and the main owner of Clean Feed, who says recording old standards all over again “just doesn’t make sense.”
Its records have been reviewed by jazz magazines and major newspapers. New York’s All About Jazz publication has rated it one of the five best jazz labels in the world for the last two years running.
“Big labels are not recording new artists. So it’s up to us to do that task of capturing and documenting an era … Jazz is all about discovering new sounds and authenticity,” Costa said.
Three of Clean Feed’s releases – including U.S. jazz pianist/composer Angelica Sanchez’s “Life Between” – were named among the albums of the year by All About Jazz.
The label’s biggest success so far in terms of sales is Portuguese pianist Bernardo Sasseti whose “Nocturno” album sold 7,000 copies, mainly in Portugal but also in Japan. In 2008, Clean Feed sold a total of 11,500 copies. It also organizes jazz concerts and festivals from Lisbon to New York.
Joaquim Paulo, author of the book “Jazz Covers” that won last year’s French Jazz Academy award for the best book about jazz, describes Clean Feed as “renowned and adventurous.”
“It has a huge musical and aesthetic sensitivity, along with the enormous courage to record new musicians,” Paulo told Reuters.
The five-strong Clean Feed team rents recording studios and hires sound engineers in a range of countries. The design of disk covers and the packaging is done in the Clean Feed office in downtown Lisbon.
Inside, a vast collection of jazz CDs are on display in a space that hosts the office, a shop and storage rooms.
The clanging and ringing of Lisbon’s trademark old yellow trams outside and the busy life of the Sodre docks on the Tagus river provide additional inspiration to the team.
Costa says the Internet and globalization have helped his small company to succeed internationally despite its distance from jazz hot spots such as New York and he likes it that way.
He said the distance allows them to take a wider view.

“To be in New York would be like being in a cave,” he said. “From Lisbon we can see the world.”

All About Jazz review by Vittorio Lo Conte

Peter van Huffel – Sophie Tassignon – Hufflignon (CF 126)
Peter van Huffel, sassofonista canadese e la cantante belga Sophie Tassignon hanno deciso di mettere su un quartetto e di andare in studio, a New York, firmando un lavoro riuscito, meditato e con un attento equilibrio dei suoni.
La Tassignon padroneggia sia il repertorio antico (un’appassionata versione di “Cum dederit” di Vivaldi) che i vocalizzi sperimentali sdoganati da cantanti come Lauren Newton. Gridi, mormorii, tutto, ma proprio tutto, il possibile della voce umana viene esplorato in modo logico, in dialogo con un sassofono che ha imparato ad esprimersi con un lirismo intenso e con i due compagni d’avventura: il pulsante basso di Michael Bates ed il trombone di Samuel Blaser dai mille borbottii, ma anche abile ad inseguire momenti molto puliti con Peter van Huffel.

Si gradiscono la struttura dei brani, la logica ed una cantante che sa mettersi al servizio dell’esecuzione, molto abile nel rifiutare il ruolo di Primadonna, ma allo stesso tempo capace di improvvisare con molta naturalezza insieme agli altri, in discorsi che, nonostanti la lingua sconosciuta, appaiono abbastanza compiuti.

Rendono l’avanguardia quasi familiare, con gli assoli dei fiati che vanno su coordinate senza troppe note fuori registro. Ma lei, Sophie, è la vera rivelazione, un nome da cui c’è da aspettarsi ancora tanto. Verso la fine del disco, “I Love You Too,” “The Hours,” ha anche modo di firmare un paio di brani sì sperimentali, che meritano un solo aggettivo: emozionanti.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=3474

Free Jazz review by Stef

WHO Trio – Less Is More (CF 135)
*****
The piano trio is probably one of the most common ensembles to be heard in jazz, and truth be told, I am a little weary of them, preferring the expressiveness of a horn section. Yet once in a while, a piano trio comes forward that has something new to tell. When I listened to WHO Trio’s “The Current Underneath” (Leo Records) a couple of years ago, I was immediately enchanted by the sheer musicality of the project. This one, “Less Is More”, is even better. The trio consists of Michel Wintsch on piano, Gerry Hemingway on drums and Bänz Oester on bass. I have rarely come across a band who can create the perfect marriage of tension and lyricism, like this trio does. The “less is more” concept really describes the music well, there is lots of open space, but there is also tension in every note being played. Every sound is full of restraint, as if it only hints at the vast hidden world that made it possible, yet that remains unseen. Implicit music. The note that isn’t played is as important as the one that is. Real beauty is revealed by suggesting it. Despite this sparsity of notes, the music itself makes sense. There is a simple beauty in it, with evolving melodic concepts, interesting compositional structures, and some extended techniques. Each piece is different, though, but all tracks fall within the same logic and supertight control. If the Japanese saying is true that beauty is “controlled passion”, then this album is for sure a great example of it.
freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/

All About Jazz Italy review by Vincenzo Roggero

Joe Morris – Barre Phillips – Elm City Duets 2006 (CF 130)
A volte si intrecciano e si avvinghiano in un abraccio quasi soffocante, altre volte sembrano ignorarsi seguendo traiettorie apparentemente distanti, a volte sembrano intasare tutto lo spazio disponibile, altre volte rispettano un religioso silenzio, quasi timorosi di invadere il terreno altrui.
Stiamo parlando del contrabbasso di Barre Phillips e della chitarra acustica di Joe Morris, impegnati in otto duetti registrati per la sempre più interessante etichetta portoghese Clean Feed. Ma Elm City Duets 2006 è soprattutto una questione di corde, quelle sottili della chitarra e quelle più robuste del contrabbasso.

Corde pizzicate, accarezzate, maltrattate, percosse con le dita e con l’archetto, corde che stridono e che piangono, corde che narrano la vita e quindi raccontano gioie e dolori, illusioni e speranze. Non ci sono canovacci, tracce, punti di raccordo, snodi narrativi in Elm City Duets 2006, semplicemente c’è il fluire libero e senza ostacoli del pensiero musicale di due maestri della musica creativa.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=3644

Tomajazz review by Yahvé M. de la Cavada

Fredrik Nordström Quintet – Live In Coimbra (CF 119)
Lo que es la distribución. Siempre he pensado que, si Fredrik Nordström hubiese grabado en sellos con mejor distribución o, al menos, algo más accesibles, estaría mucho mejor considerado. Tampoco es que sea el salvador del saxo tenor europeo pero es, sin ninguna duda, una de las voces más interesantes que vienen del norte. Su estilo conjuga la tradición norteamericana con la sensibilidad europea y, como ocurre con los buenos, es difícil de encasillar.

Esa resistencia a dejarse definir rápidamente es la que reina a lo largo de su último CD, Live In Coimbra. Con un quinteto de lujo, Nordström ofrece un concierto especial, una de esas actuaciones que se disfrutan de principio a fin y a las que prácticamente no les sobra nada.

Fredrik Rundqvist y el genial Mattias Ståhl son habituales de Nordström y saben bien lo que se hacen, siendo el contrabajista Torbjörn Zetterberg quien menos destaca dentro del quinteto. Para ser justos, hay que decir en su defensa que, cuando se grabó este concierto, acababa de aterrizar en el grupo para sustituir ni más ni menos que a Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten.

Lo que sería la frontline, formada por Nordström y Mats Äleklint, alcanza momentos verdaderamente gloriosos, tanto como solistas como tocando al unísono. Äleklint, a quién pudimos escuchar en el estupendo Every Woman Is A Tree del grupo Angles, también está de sustitución (reemplazando a Magnus Broo, otro que tampoco es fácil de suplir…), y cubre la papeleta con algo más que oficio. Su tremenda implicación es una de las claves del éxito del concierto. Otra de esas claves es el vibráfono de Ståhl, pero, ¿en qué disco en el que participa no lo es?

Nordström no sólo tiene una buena banda; tiene buenos temas, las ideas claras y un gran dominio del instrumento. Su estilo multirreferencial puede recordar a Rollins tanto como a Shepp o Ayler, pero tiene un carácter personal que le hace muy interesante.

La música que estos cinco instrumentistas tocaron en Coimbra aquella tarde de noviembre suena terriblemente espontánea y fresca y, aunque utiliza códigos y lenguajes clásicos dentro del jazz, la sensación de modernidad no se resiente. Verlo en directo debió de ser una gran experiencia. Los demás nos conformamos con escuchar un gran disco, lo que, bien visto, no es precisamente poca cosa.
http://www.tomajazz.com/discos/breves.php?d=2009-02-01#fnq_lic

Tomajazz review by Yahvé M. de la Cavada

Tetterapadequ – And The Missing R (CF 120)
A veces intentarlo es suficiente. El mero hecho de arriesgarse es una recompensa y la búsqueda se convierte en el fin. And The Missing R, el CD que ha sacado el grupo Tetterapadequ recientemente en Clean Feed, es un alarde de búsqueda y de riesgo y, aunque haya momentos de gran irregularidad, la recompensa es real.

Los miembros del cuarteto están muy compenetrados y se percibe en todo momento una gran atención a lo que ocurre a su alrededor por parte de todos ellos. Los cuatro jóvenes comenzaron a tocar juntos en el club De Pater (Holanda) y su nombre proviene de un acrónimo de “De Pater Quartet” al que le falta la “R” a la que se alude en el título del disco. Desde entonces, han desarrollado una música que debe casi tanto a la composición como a la improvisación y que transita por terrenos muy variados.

No falta cierto sentido del humor, aunque la intención del cuarteto parece ser alcanzar un horizonte musical que signifique algo, o que tenga cierta trascendencia. Aunque presumimos que no hay un cerebro único detrás de la maquina, destacan inevitablemente el saxofonista Daniele Martini y el pianista Giovanni Di Domenico. Ambos tienen voces interesantes e inquietas, aunque pueden llegar a protagonizar pasajes un tanto exasperantes.

Con todo, And The Missing R es una grabación estimulante en la que se descubren nuevos matices con cada escucha. Uno de esos discos raros sobre los que me siento incapaz de decidir lo bien que están. Eso si, de bien para arriba, y subiendo.
http://www.tomajazz.com/discos/breves.php?d=2009-02-01#t_atmr

Bagatellen review by Jason Bivins

Joe Morris/Barre Phillips – Elm City Duets 2006 (CF130)
This one is an incredible meeting between Joe Morris — here exclusively on acoustic guitar — and one of his musical heroes, contrabassist Barre Phillips. It had been a while since I’d heard anything from either musician, and this record is quite simply a beaut. It’s the kind of thing that actually restores my faith in guitar playing, which is a pleasure to say. What strikes me about the record as a whole is not just the sumptuous woody sounds, nor even the incredibly kinetic interplay between these two. Good as those qualities are, I was continually bowled over by the lyricism that’s all over this record. From the first notes of “Ninth Square” you wouldn’t necessarily expect this. It rises from gentle but insistent bowing from Morris, coaxing some overtones from steel strings like he was sending smoke signals, with gorgeous drifts and work on the body from Phillips. But beginning with “Recite,” the strange logic and lyricism of the disc begins to emerge from the resounding, percolating lines the pair conjure. As Phillips plays rubbery glissandi on “Saved stones,” Morris plays brilliantine, almost fragile chords. And the lyricism of “June Song” delivers what the earlier pieces had only hinted at, with Phillips playing with unadorned emotion, his deep and robust lines set against Morris’ gentle preparations (or at least what sounds like preparations, a banjo flavor), like their own weird slice of Americana. I find this immensely appealing, but for those who want more grit, consult the chorus of wood and wire on the jittery “Normal Stuff,” or the groaning arco that shapes “Spirals.” Nothing about this is a by-the-numbers improv record. It’s filled with unpredictable moments and dynamic shifts, never losing sight of its own sense of form or harmony, but also opening up the music to contrast and chance aplenty.
http://www.bagatellen.com/?p=2245

All About Jazz review by Mark Corroto

John O’Gallagher – Dirty Hands (CF 132)
Saxophonist John O’Gallagher, a veteran New York player, has been heard in Joe Henderson and Bob Belden’s big bands as well as with the much under appreciated players Pete McCann and Ron Horton. He has made some ambitious recordings, including Abacus (Arabesque, 2003), with Ben Monder, and Line of Sight (FSNT, 2005), with Tony Malaby, as well as previous trio sessions on CIMP.

On Dirty Hands, O’Gallagher presents the jazz equivalent to rock’s power trio. Stripping his compositions down to sax, bass and drums bares all. Fortunately, both his designs and playing hold up extraordinarily well in this open environment.

O’Gallagher toured as a trio with longtime bassist Masa Kamaguchi and veteran drummer Jeff Williams before recording this session in Portugal. The music is a fine mix of composed and improvised music. As O’Gallagher has a passion for tight compositions, the penned works are determined and crafty pieces.

From the gun he slams the ears with the high octane “Bed Bugs,” which is part Jackie McLean, part Steve Coleman. His “any questions?”‘ attitude is carried through to the waltz-like “Borderline,” reminiscent of early Ornette Coleman. Even though O’Gallagher is capable of carrying the entire affair, this is a working group, and Kamaguchi and Williams shine throughout.

Three of the tracks are purely improvised, yet they are not without structure. The bassist opens “Orientations,” and the interplay sculpts a coherent chamber piece that maintains momentum. Conversely the longest piece, “Lessons Of History,” is a nearly 16-minute improvisation that meanders, picking up momentum as it advances. The composed pieces are complex on “F Line,” muscular on “Borderline” and soulful on “Time Finds Its Way.”

O’Gallagher, Williams and Kamaguchi have made a power trio statement as strong as any working trio in jazz today.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=31742

Point of Departure review by Art Lange

John O’Gallagher Trio – Dirty Hands (CF 132)
Dirty Hands isn’t a revelatory album, but it is a remarkable one. By taking a middle path between the buoyantly rhythm-induced free phrasing of Ornette Coleman and the casually intense linear labyrinths of Lee Konitz, alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher achieves a personal approach to loose-limbed, lyrical improvisation that derives from both but sounds like neither. Setting aside his previous interest in extended compositional maneuvers (with influences ranging from Shorter to Schönberg), he and his partners (bassist Masa Kamaguchi, drummer Jeff Williams) shrewdly balance individual spontaneity and ensemble empathy; they respect each other’s space, negotiate an instinctive course of action, and subtly complement the prevailing direction – whether it involves surprising twists of melody (“Swelter”), surging rhythmic impulses (“F Line”), or sparsely etched, nearly transparent details (the first half of “Lessons of History”). The group sound is colored by Kamaguchi’s fragile, spider-web patterns and Williams’ chiaroscuric brushwork. As the primary instigator, though, O’Gallagher keeps things moving by continually adjusting the nature of the melodic line. He may begin by linking together a few angular intervals, toss in a couple of asides that comment upon but don’t develop the melody, then quicken the pace and thicken the line with embellished notes and heightened dynamics. As it gradually takes shape, he may drift into wistfulness, or stretch it taut and sinewy like a clenched muscle. He has a poet’s ear for phrasing in free verse, and alters his tone at will – biting and brittle with a cry at the top of his range (“Bed Bugs”), tart and piping (“”Borderline”), or rounded and fruity, like a ripe zinfandel (“F Line”). But it’s not a music of extremes; compact gestures and alert circumspection provide character enough.
http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD21/PoD21MoreMoments3.html