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Ancient but apt, the saying “you can take a boy out of the country, but can’t take the country out of the boy” is more accurate if the country is Canada and the “boys” are male and female musicians in the United States. No matter how busy they are, improvisers are always ready to play north of the border. Last month, for instance, Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based drummer Harris Eisenstadt played two Toronto shows in one day before continuing an American tour.
Harris Eisenstadt – Guewel (CF 123)
Being Canadian doesn’t mean cutting yourself from other interests as Eisenstadt demonstrates on Guewel (Clean Feed CF 123 CD. Named for the Wolof word for griots, the band – cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpeter Nate Wooley, French hornist Mark Taylor and baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton – plays the drummer’s arrangements of West African pop music and ceremonial rhythms which he learned overseas. The tunes contain elements of southern dance tracks and brass band marches. Each horn man has the melodic smarts to meld with Eisenstadt’s multi-faceted drumming, producing catchy yet non-simplistic tunes. With his hunting horn sonorities, innate lyricism and pumping vamps, Taylor is a standout. The sympathetic arrangements stack horn parts atop one another in such a way that every solo becomes almost three-dimensional. Should a tune like Rice and Fish/Liti Liti begins mellow and impressionistic, then a drum beat signals a timbral shift with Taylor’s jujitsu tongue-fluttering matched with near Mariachi-styling from the other brass players. N’daga/Coonu Aduna transcends its marching band flavor as Sinton riffs harshly, accelerating to whoops and brays, while the meandering brass trill rococo detailing around him and Eisenstadt clatters, pops and ruffs.
RIDD Quartet – Fiction Avalanche (CF 121)
Davis is also part of the RIDD Quartet on Fiction Avalanche (Clean Feed CF 121 CD with CanCon provided by his spouse Kris Davis, who studied at the U. of T, and the Banff Centre. Outstanding on 10 group compositions, solos are weighed among Davis’ sensitive drumming, sweeping colors from distaff Davis, Reuben Radding’s tough, but restrained bass, and the kinetic runs of saxophonist Jon Irabagon. On Fiction Avalanche, the pianist percussively chords a counter melody that extends rasping bass slides and flattened reed vibrations. Monkey Catcher is a screaming blues expanded by Irabagon’s fortissimo split tones, yet tamed by Davis’ chord progression, key-clipping and flailing. Sky Circles is both atmospheric and lyrical. In unison the saxophonist’s buzzy trills and the pianist’s comping outline the theme. Segmented by winnowing squeals from Irabagon, the pianist moors the improvisation while advancing the theme chromatically. http://www.jazzword.com/review/126900
Steve Swell - Planet Dream (CF 148)
La costruzione di un processo creativo condiviso è sempre stata la centro dell’interesse del trombonista Steve Swell, musicista le cui notevoli qualità di improvvisatore non sempre trovano il giusto riconoscimento. Planet Dream, in trio con il sax contralto di Rob Brown e il violoncello di Daniel Levin, si muove proprio sulla condivisione delle traiettorie improvvisative, sulla creazione di un obbiettivo espressivo comune che si nutre delle identità dei singoli musicisti per aprirne il lessico all’inaspettato.
In questo senso, il preciso richiamo che Swell fa, nelle note di copertina, alla figura di William Parker [della cui Little Huey Creative Orchestra è, insieme a Brown, un componente fondamentale] è piuttosto eloquente: questo “pianeta dei sogni” è un luogo dove, nelle parole del musicista, “l’accettazione di se stessi, l’accettazione del cambiamento e l’accettazione degli altri con la loro musica e come l’aria che respiriamo”.
Alternando temi scritti a improvvisazioni libere, con una forte attitudine all’astrazione che viene però spesso ricondotta – attraverso un senso del blues lacerato e attualissimo nelle sue fibrillazioni—a un’umanità dai tratti riconoscibili, dolente [i glissando che sia il trombone che il violoncello usano in funzione espressionistica e vocalizzante] ma mai sfiduciata, il trio mette in atto una serie di strategie creative che, se talvolta non hanno nell’immediatezza il loro punto di forza, riescono comunque a non suonare mai autoreferenziali o aride.
A volte entrano in gioco richiami quasi inconsci [pensiamo ai fantasmi di Abdul Wadud e Julius Hemphill, stemperati da una rinnovata ibridazione del gesto] e una semplicità ancestrale, come nell’ostinarsi di “Airtight,” ma il piacere di ascolti ripetuti svela continui piani di scambio emotivo, oltre che sonoro. Non facilissimo in certi momenti e forse meno sognante di quanto non preannunci il titolo, ma davvero denso di musica.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=4267
Scott Fields – Beckett (CF 069)
Guitarist and composer Scott Fields is greatly inspired by the work of other artists, particularly writers and playwrights. The Irish writer Samuel Beckett seems to be a particular inspiration, as this was the first of two homages to his work. Accompanying Fields on this journey are Matthias Schubert on tenor saxophone, Scott Roller on cello and John Hollenbeck on drums and percussion. “Play” is a quicksilver collective improvisation, with cello and saxophone trade sections with a warm but crisp sounding guitar. The music is fast and exciting, propelling bu great drumming and a nervous yet fast and surefooted energy. “Come and Go” slows things down a bit with a performance that is much more abstract and probing. Mournful cello gives things a melancholy air. “What Where” opens with stark saxophone and guitar moving into a wild and free improvisation that moves way out into sections of pure sound. There is a more open section of pointillist guitar and cello moving finally into a nice free section where drums and saxophone are first amongst equals. “Rockaby” finishes things up beginning with guitar focused mid-tempo improvisation and a nice intricate section before they break into a near funk groove with strutting tenor saxophone. I’m not quite sure how Fields used Beckett as an inspiration for this album, perhaps he used the settings or some other aspect from the plays to develop a structure for the improvisations that are conducted here. They evolve in a suite like manner as if there are cues that the musicians are following as keys to their improvisations. Regardless, the music is very interesting and exciting and one needs no knowledge of the literature to enjoy it.
http://jazzandblues.blogspot.com/2009/08/scott-fields-beckett-clean-feed-2007.html
Transit – Quadrologues (CF 143)
Quadrologues es la segunda grabación del cuarteto neoyorkino Transit en Clean Feed. Tal y como ocurría en su primera obra, que tomaba como título el nombre del grupo -o viceversa, ¡quién sabe!-, estos cuatro músicos vuelven a publicar un CD con diez piezas. Con una duración media inferior a cinco minutos, únicamente tres de ellas superan los siete minutos de duración.
Huyendo de los esquemas usuales, los temas comienzan por lo general de un modo suave a partir de las notas lanzadas por uno o a lo sumo dos de los integrantes del cuarteto, especialmente por parte de la trompeta de Nate Wooley o el saxo de Seth Misterka. A partir de ese material el cuarteto va construyendo unas composiciones instantáneas en las que los cuatro músicos combinan elementos estructurales y expresivos pertenecientes fundamentalmente a la tradición de la libre improvisación y del free-jazz, pero en la que también incorporan aromas provinientes del bop o de una cierta forma de entender la música étnica. Sin embargo, por encima de etiquetas o categorizaciones, es un placer para los oidos disfrutar de un discurso creativo en el que los elementos más importante son el diálogo y la interacción entre los cuatro músicos.
http://www.tomajazz.com/bun/2009/07/creando-libremente-en-corto-y-en-largo.html
Alvin Fielder is very ill…
My long-time playing partner and drumming legend, Alvin Fielder, who lives in Jackson, Mississippi, is suffering from acute heart problems, and has been bedridden for a month and a half or so. He was scheduled to play Vision Fest last June with Kidd Jordan and declined due to failing health.
He is too weak to undergo the necessary open-heart surgery, but hopefully he will regain his strength soon…we need him back playing again.
Alvin turned 73 in November of this past year and is known for his excellent drumming with the Roscoe Mitchell Quartet (just before it became the Art Ensemble and they all left for Paris without him), Braxton, John Cage, Sun Ra, Leroy Jenkins, and thousand of other musicians.
Send up your prayers and meditations for his return to health, please!
Fight the Big Bull – Dying Will Be Easy (CF 108)
Valutazione: 4.5 stelle
Nelle interessanti note di copertina, Steve Bernstein, leader dei Sex Mob, associa ciascuno dei quattro brani di Dying Will Be Easy ad altrettanti capolavori della musica orchestrale, citando Black Saint and the Sinner Lady di Mingus, New Orleans Suite di Ellington, Communications ed Escalator Over the Hill di Mike Mantler oltre che Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp ed altri, per il particolare tipo di formazione orchestrale utilizzato.
Verissimo, e l’ascoltatore più attento e preparato riconoscerà pezzi di storia del jazz in ogni anfratto delle quattro tracce presenti sul CD. Ma quello che impressiona veramente in Dying Will Be Easy è l’impatto che il nonetto in questione riesce a creare dalle prime note, coinvolgendo immediatamente l’ascoltatore in un percorso che associa una fruibilità epidermica, tattile, ad un fantastico lavoro di destrutturazione e ricomposizione del materiale sonoro a disposizione.
L’ensemble respira come un unico organismo ma mai come in questa occasione si avverte chiaro e distinto il pulsare di ogni suo singolo componente. Ottoni e ance creano fantastiche trame timbriche che possiedono il nitore delle più frizzanti giornate di montagna nelle quali si percepiscono distintamente profumi e aromi ma dove è l’insieme che solletica i sensi e ottenebra la mente.
Sarebbe un delitto soffermarci su di un brano piuttosto che un altro, ma non possiamo non segnalare l’apertura della title track, con il trombone distorto che fa da apripista ad una sezione jungle dai toni sgangherati che si trasforma a sua volta in un ruspante beat campagnolo per l’incendiario intervento del sax tenore.
Dying Will Be Easy ha la struttura di un EP (poco più di trenta minuti) e la portata di un enciclopedia del jazz. Ma, soprattutto, è la geniale dimostrazione di come si possa attingere alla tradizione per produrre musica fresca, intelligente, curiosa e proiettata nel futuro. In un piccolo-grande disco pressoché perfetto c’è spazio solo per un appunto: per dirla ancora con Bernstein, “a little more guitar, Matt!”.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=3530
Harris Eisenstadt – Guewel (CF 123)
Drummer Harris Eisenstadt makes no attempt at “authenticity” in his use of the Sengelese music that inspires his latest album, Guewel (the Wolof word for griots). As an North American percussionist, he doesn’t presume to recreate or imitate the music of West Africa. However, he’s made a serious study of the music, and the learning of a practitioner informs his incorporation of traditional Sabar rhythms and Senegalese mbalax pop music into his own. Eisenstadt distances himself from the traditional music right off the bat by assembling a quintet with unique instrumentation — trumpeters Nate Wooley and Taylor Ho Bynum, French horn player Mark Taylor, and baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton. It’s a combination of instruments not found in any tradition, African or Western. It’s not a New Orleans brass band; it’s not a classic brass quintet; it’s certainly not an mbalax dance band. But it is a group that’s capable of making a joyous shout that’s emotionally equivalent to New Orleans jazz and Afro-pop music, as well as the delicacy and balance of tone and texture heard in classical music.
Eisenstadt’s role in the music makes both these qualities possible. He’s a minimalist in that he doesn’t play a lot of his kit at once, his rhythms are stripped to their essentials, he doesn’t ornament a beat as much as define or distill it. The spaces in his rhythms let the subtleties of his touch stand out in high relief; they also nicely set off the nuances of the others in the band. Sometimes he uses Senegalese rhythms to propel the band in a conventional sense, but often they provide a mold that shapes the improvisers’ lines or they co-exist as one of several events unfolding in the music. Sometimes the Sabar rhythms disappear entirely as the music veers off on a tangent, sometimes they are implied as the players vary and transform them.
The mbalax melodies Eisenstadt has matched to the traditional rhythms undergo similar transformations. “N’daga/Coonu Aduna” loses its smooth African lilt to a spiny Steve Lacy-like swing. “Barambiye/Djarama” journeys from a disjointed Braxtonian klangfarbenmelodie to riffing ensemble to untethered free blowing. “Dayourabina/Thiolena” becomes just one element in a sound collage incorporating abstract sound, linear variation, and irrepressible, buoyant rhythm.
Trumpeters Wooley and Bynum are a playful pair, they clearly delight in one another’s company. A boyish glee underlies their duets on “N’daga/Coonu Aduna” and they can pivot instantly from rough, growling textures to clean, almost electronic sounds, or from plunger mute wah-wahs to flaming energy playing. Baritone saxophonist Sinton possesses similar range, cranking up a head of free jazz steam on “Barambiye/Djarama” and adding heft to riffs with his powerful low register. Mark Taylor’s French horn frequently provides a linear warmth and chesty mid-range voice that helps fill out the ensemble. He provides marvelous linear counterpoint during the group improvisation on “Kaolak/N’Wolof.” Because he never crowds a soloist, Eisenstadt is an exceptional duet partner and his exchanges with band members provide some of the music inspired moments on the album.
Although Eisenstadt never uses his West African inspirations in traditional ways, he has paid them the highest possible respect by using them in the most authentic way possible — to create music true to himself and his musical conception.
http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD20/PoD20MoreMoments2.html
Sean Conly – Re-Action (CF 124)
****
It takes guts to invite reputed musicians such as Pheeroan akLaff (drums) and Tony Malaby (sax) for a debut album, because they have created their own approach to music over the years. Add the second tenor of Michaël Attias to that, and you can only admire bassist Sean Conly to make this musical project really his own. He has a composing style which is very coherent : very rhythmic and often angular themes with stops and starts for dramatic effect. Yet on the other hand, he gives his band members sufficient space to work around the compositions, and it is in listening to the improvisations that you start to understand why he selected them. Not only because they are good, but because they understand Conly’s musical approach without relinquishing their own style, especially Attias and Malaby fit well together, both free and sensitive players, stylists who know how to express emotions, with akLaff using his incredible wealth of ideas and experience to provide the necessary depth and contrast. The compositions are accessible without being mainstream, with long unison themes, and relatively controlled improvisations. On “Concrete Garden”, ambient sounds are used, with some post-production, and it is the most overt sign of rock influences on the album, but they are present throughout the pieces, giving a powerful drive to the music, as on “Ulterior Motives”, an uptempo rocker with a great theme and some wild soloing. The same approach is to be heard on the dramatic “Saitta”, a real tension-builder, as is “Suburban Angst”. Yet the music is as good on the slower pieces, as on “Luminiferous Ether”, an duo improvisation between Conly and Attias, or “Refutable”, allowing the saxes their full sensitive expressivity. This latter track is a beauty of restrained emotional power, with the two saxes circling around each other, tentatively, sensitively, played over a repetitive bass vamp and some subtle accentuating on the drums. And that’s possibly Conly’s strongest achievement : to make the whole band perform great music, with lots of variations, but it’s primarily on the slowest pieces that the best results are achieved, possibly because of none of these pieces have clear melodic themes, and hence free-er in their concept. But again, it’s without a doubt the variation that makes this album a great piece of music. And apart from being a good composer and band-leader, Conly is a great bass player too. We want more.
http://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/
Luis Lopes – Humanization 4tet (CF 105)
****
Una pulsazione ipnotica con la cavata del contrabbasso che aggancia subito l’attenzione dell’orecchio, il ribollio della batteria che swinga libera, ed il groove di fondo è servito. Poi entra il tenore, ruvido quanto basta, note in economia per frasi suggerite, frastagliate, penetranti; infine la chitarra, elettrica ma dolce, avvolgente e naive, fuori da schemi e modelli riconoscibili.
Si presenta così l’Umanization 4tet, senza clamori, senza effetti pirotecnici, ma con un suono ben definito, un approccio compositivo originale, un fare un poco ruspante, le idee chiarissime, da formazione navigata. Ed invece sono all’album di debutto. Il leader portoghese Luis Lopes è ottimo compositore, chitarrista anomalo, gran assemblatore di talenti, solista maggiormente interessato al risultato complessivo piuttosto che a mettere in evidenza le proprie abilità o le singole voci.
In “Paso (for Pier Paolo Pasolini)“ si mette al servizio della lunga improvvisazione del tenorista Rodrigo Amado, creando macchie timbriche minime ma perfette nell’esaltare i delicati equilibri. In “Principio da incerteza (for Stephen Hawking)“ attraversa il brano con linee dall’andamento irregolare, utilizzando una tecnica di tipo puntillistico con reminiscenze di Derek Bailey. Mentre in “Long March (for Frida Kahlo)“ sono le venature country-folk alla Bill Frisell a prendere il sopravvento.
Detto dei fratelli Gonzalez, figli del grande trombettista Dennis, coppia ritmica affiatata, mobilissima, elastica, implacabile, non si può non sottolineare la grande personalità del sassofonista Amado. In possesso di un timbro d’altri tempi, che si lanci in improvvisazioni furiose come nella conclusiva “4 Small Steps“, o che costruisca frasi dall’architettura ineccepibile, Amado conserva una musicalità, un senso melodico, una souplesse esecutiva assai rare nei sassofonisti odierni che operano nei territori del jazz più creativo.
Gruppo da seguire con grande attenzione.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=2986
Scott Fields Freetet – Bitter Love Songs (CF 102)
Mordant wit and caustic self-deprecation have always been reliable elements in Scott Fields’ creative expression. From the pithy brickbats of semi-fictional critic Hugh Jarrid to the admirable, if puzzling, practice of publishing pans right alongside praises on his website, the guitarist has never shied away presenting the whole package of his persona, prickly pear portions and all. Even by Fields’ archly candid standards this new Clean Feed outing stands out. His liners read as a suite-like screed, pillorying a succession of unnamed assailants to his temper and patience. He saves the strongest recriminations for last, directing black roses and dead rat vitriol at those who have wronged him in love. Track titles wryly embellish on the conceit, my personal favorite being “Your parents must be ecstatic now”. Despite the dour and potentially distracting emotional context, the set stays sharply on point throughout, though it’s hard to tell exactly how much of the acrimony is genuine and how much is amplified for show.
The music curiously recalls the early Nineties work of Joe Morris in its preference for pared down frills-free interplay. Jagged single note runs race regularly atop undulating bass and drums rhythms. Think Flip and Spike, and more specifically “Itan” and “Mombaccus”, and your close to the aural mark. Fields’ tone is often a bit rounder and cleaner than JoMo’s and that may be a function of the recording, but there’s a comparable frequency of densely knotted note clusters, spit out at staccato intervals. Bassist Sebastian Gramss and drummer João Lobo traffic in comparable agitation and irascibility, shading in the cracks around Fields’ chattery plectrum pings while still keeping the pieces intentionally off-kilter. It’s a dynamic intended to ape the disquieting feeling just prior to when one’s heart goes under the knife of betrayal and scorn. The pieces follow similar schemas until “I was good enough for you until your friends butted in” when the seething clouds break a bit into more spacious variation of melancholy. This is easily Fields most jazz-oriented album in many moons and a welcome fang-fringed spin on familiar forms.
http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/001936.html
