All About Jazz Italy review by Vincenzo Roggero

Julio Resende Trio – You Taste Like a Song (CF 216)
Valutazione: 4 stelle
Trio da tener d’occhio quello del portoghese Julio Resende. Innanzitutto perché suona in maniera pazzesca e come un unico organismo pensante. I ruoli sono continuamente invertiti non come semplice divertissement ma come stimolante provocazione e sollecitazione delle dinamiche interne.
Il contrabbasso del formidabile Ole Morten Vagan funge spesso da traino melodico contrappuntandosi alle creazioni istantanee del pianista; in fase di sostegno ritmico gira alla larga da pattern accomodanti preferendo pulsazioni anomale e imprevedibili. La batteria di Joel Silva è poliedrica quanto basta, a tratti delicatissima tessitrice di trame quasi impalpabili a volte elastica dispensatrice di grooves sanguigni e trascinanti.

E il piano di Resende? Beh sembra aver assorbito e rielaborato in maniera assolutamente originale l’asse ereditario che parte dal Bill Evans, passa per lo Standard Trio di Keith Jarrett, fino ad arrivare a formazioni come Bad Plus, Esbjorn Svensson Trio e simili. Del primo ricorda l’empatia ed il perfetto senso di equilibrio, del secondo la capacità di essere a tal punto in comunione con classici senza tempo da trasformarli in altro, degli ultimi la sfrontatezza con la quale mischiano generi, rivestono di nobili architetture materiale pop ed hits commerciali, arricchiscono la tavolozza espressiva dei propri strumenti.

You Taste Like A Song gioca molto sulla forma canzone, ma con un approccio assai poco convenzionale, nel tentativo, riuscito, di trovare nella semplicità e linearità delle melodie il terreno ideale per una ricerca profonda sull’essere umano, sulle sue emozioni, sui più intimi sentimenti. Il tutto associando una estrema gradevolezza d’ascolto ad un senso di esplorazione e di ricerca che toglie la musica da ogni rischio di vacuità e di superficialità.

“Silencio-for the Fado,” per esempio, suona come un notturno di Chopin ma il contrabbasso archettato di Ole Mortan Vagan evoca la viola di John Cale e conferisce un alone sottilmente inquietante all’esecuzione. “Improvisacao (call it whatever)” è una deliziosa dimostrazione di come anche la libera improvvisazione possa assumere le sembianze di una canzone sollecitando nell’ascoltatore la più fervida immaginazione. Mentre nell’unica composizione non originale, la celebre “Straight No Chaser,” una volta tanto il pianoforte si defila lasciando il proscenio a percussioni contrabbasso che si inventano trame e sonorità sorprendenti.
Da non perdere.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=6819

All About Jazz Italy by Luca Canini

Daniel Levin – Inner Landscape (CF 224)
Valutazione: 3.5 stelle
Per il suo ottavo Clean Feed, il quinto da leader, il violoncellista Daniel Levin ha deciso di cimentarsi per la prima volta con il format del solo. Un musicista, uno strumento, un microfono, nessuna prova e nessuno spartito: le sei tracce di Inner Landscape, registrate fra Chicago e New York nel 2009, sono totalmente improvvisate, suonate e fissate su nastro alla prima take, con l’intento, spiega Levin nelle note di copertina, «di essere vero, immediato e sorprendente».
Il risultato? Un disco burbero e austero, con il quale non è semplice entrare in sintonia. Levin ha chiesto molto a se stesso e chiede molto all’ascoltatore. Servono dedizione e concentrazione, pazienza e tenacia. È un disco “puro,” Inner Landscape, e come tutte le cose “pure” si fa fatica ad assimilarlo, figuriamoci ad amarlo.

Però hanno un loro fascino queste severe introspezioni, questi paesaggi (landscape) dell’anima (inner) dipinti con mano ferma, tratto deciso e colori freddi. È il fascino della fisicità. La presenza del violoncello (dita, corde, legno, archetto) è nitida, potente, e invita a raffronti cameristici: vengono in mente le suite di Bach, oppure le pagine per violoncello solo scritte da Ligeti, Hindemith e Xenakis. Ma c’è anche l’obbligo di tirare in ballo l’improvvisazione radicale europea, citando, inevitabilmente, il buon Tristan Honsinger (del quale Levin non possiede però la stralunata vena umoristica).

Da centellinare.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=6806

Revue & Corrigee review by Pierre Durr

Compilation – Free classical guitars (ff hhhff hhh)
Compilation – I Never Metaguitar (CFG 005)
A travers ces deux compilations dédiées à la guitare, chacune proposée par un praticien de l’instrument (le Belge Grégory Duby d’une part, Elliott Sharp d’autre part), l’auditeur côtoie diverses approches de l’instrument. Des approches complémentaires. La première peut sembler plus expérimentale, plus ouverte dans la mesure où elle s’inscrit moins dans un environnement identifiable, d’autant plus que ses praticiens (européens) sont moins connus, presque plus anonymes si l’on excepte Nicolas Desmarchelier, Olaf Rupp ou peut-être Roger Smith, alors que les invités de l’enregistrement portugais (européens, américains, voire asiatique avec Kazuhisa Uchihashi…) ont déjà une notoriété certaine, confirmée par plusieurs décennies de pratique, sous leur nom pour une majorité d’entre eux (Elliott Sharp, Jean-François Pauvros, Noël Akchoté, Scott Fields, Mike Cooper, Henry Kaiser…) ou en tant que partenaires d’autres instrumentistes liés au jazz improvisée (Mary Halvorson, Jeff Parker…). Par ailleurs les premiers usent d’une guitare classique dans leur pratique de l’improvisation, tandis que la guitare électrique reste l’instrument de prédilection pour les seconds, même si l’un ou l’autre des officiants use d’une viole de gambe électrifiée (le Suédois Raoul Björkenheim), d’effets divers (Jeff Parker), voire de plusieurs guitares jouées simultanément (Henry Kaiser)… Entre nappes sonores, approches à la power trio, pratique d’arpèges, jeux aux phrasés tantôt plus jazz, tantôt plus rock expérimental, parsemés de séquences improvisées déjantés, “I never metaguitar” reste assez familier tout en cultivant la diversité, alors que “Free Classical Guitars” offre majoritairement des pratiques assez proches les unes des autres dans la mesure où pour la plupart des officiants et au-delà de leur sensibilité personnelle, des détournements sonores qu’ils opèrent ou de la mise en situation de l’instrument , Derek Bailey semble être l’inspirateur principal.
http://www.revue-et-corrigee.net/?v=chroniques&PHPSESSID=32b55e03fe1186eac55bce161a16e603

JazzWrap review by Vern

Ralph Alessi and This Against That – Wiry Strong (CF 220)
Ralph Alessi’s music always has a well structured, complex and cinematic feel to it. He was raised and trained as a classical trumpeter, and it shows throughout all of his releases with a supreme mastery of his instrument. The combination of that classical technique and his love of modern jazz structures makes for exciting and diverse albums every time out.

His work with fellow trailblazing musicians such as Jason Moran, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Steve Coleman among others has put him in an almost indescribable category. Most jazz fans would describe his music as avant garde but his latest, Wiry Strong (Clean Feed Records) feels like his most accomplished and accessible album to date.

Wiry Strong magnificently weaves together diverse ideas, turning them into romantic adventures and in some cases fun excursions. “Station Wagon Trip” has a big orchestrated tone but it is also enveloped a sense of a group moving forward in sound. There are spiraling rhythms that are enhanced by Andy Milne on piano and Ravi Coltrane. Alessi’s performance carries the listener on what feels like a surreal journey but this all works as an enjoyable experience that can easily be grasped by even the newest fan to Alessi’s music.

“Halves And Wholes” is probably the most beautiful piece on the record. It definitely highlights Alessi’s contemporary/straight ahead abilities both in composition and performance. This is a ballad which the band is integral but Alessi carries the tune with a soft touch that is match wonderfully by Milne.

“A Dollar In Your Shoe” and “20% Of The 80%” are both fun pieces combining multi-layered structures with some crisp performances by Gress and Ferber (in the case of “Dollar”). Alessi’s muted trumpet of “20% Of The 80%” adds a level of mystery to the piece along with rolling, repeating patterns from Ferber that keep the avant garde and forward thinking spirit of this group alive. “Wiry Strong” closes out the session in a searching yet forward thinking mode. Alessi and Coltrane lead the group upward in both timing and adventure.

With Wiry Strong, Ralph Alessi has created an album of incredibly rich concepts and captivating melodies that will be rewarding for fans new and old. Ralph Alessi like his many collaborators is among the rare group of musicians who are continuing to push jazz forward and beyond its traditional definitions. Highly Recommended.
http://jazzwrap.blogspot.com/2011/07/ralph-alessi-wiry-strong.html

Touching Extremes review by Massimo Ricci

BRUNO CHEVILLON / TIM BERNE – Old And Unwise (CF 221)
The weight of a gesture is enhanced by conciseness in relation to the muscular strength of who makes it. In that sense the material comprised by Old And Unwise – a full hour of duos for double bass and alto saxophone – frequently seems to relate to the substantial aspect of artistry rather than eliciting the idea of Pindaric flights and schismatic tendencies. Not that Chevillon and Berne are not able to act as sympathetic visionaries when they choose to; on the contrary, their ability of mingling skill and lyricism in a piece like “Quelque Chose Vacille” is inspiring, and in the following “Back Up The Truck” the art of manly defence is completely repudiated in favour of a visit to the melodic vaults. Yet the physical definition of the respective timbres is always what emerges as paramount over consecutive listens. Perspicacious dichotomies and self-imposed constraints characterize Berne’s phrasing in every circumstance; however, when he lets the sax yelp and howl it never comes as unexpected, more a logical development of previously explored options. Chevillon is a terrific instant composer, capable of altering the unchangeable features of an instrument with sharp decisions, significant technical grounding and the unaffectedness of a pluck-and-throb shrewdness which is typical of few master bassists, those who are equally good at sustaining a conversation and let individuality shine during solitary moments of exposure. There’s no finding a weak point throughout, time literally flying thanks to copious doses of outstanding music.
http://touchingextremes.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/bruno-chevillon-tim-berne-%e2%80%93-old-and-unwise/

All About Jazz Italy review by Gigi Sabelli

Daniel Levin – Organic Modernism (CF 212)
Valutazione: 4 stelle
«La verità necessita sempre di essere costruita» dice lo psicanalista francese Michel Schneider, citato all’inizio delle note di copertina di questo bel disco e se, come si legge più avanti «la musica si colloca in quel territorio elusivo tra ciò che noi percepiamo come realtà e l’illusione» allora il lavoro di questo straordinario quartetto sembra aver colto la necessità di organizzare, di pensare e di giustificare ogni forma di libertà: anche la più dirompente.
In effetti, il quartetto (che solo apparentemente sembra evocare qualcosa di cameristico) ha una forza caratterizzante e sprigiona un’energia che risiede nella libertà totale e nella capacità di emanciparsi facilmente da ogni categoria, ma allo stesso tempo risponde ad un proprio ineluttabile rigore.

Qui si mantiene la forza del dialogo grazie a un’interazione tra i quattro strumenti che ha qualcosa di geometrico e di matematico (si ascolti per esempio “Old School” o “My Kind Of Poetry”) e in cui la libertà sembra il frutto di una consapevolezza profonda, per esempio nel walking di contrabbasso spezzato dalle linee di violoncello (in “Action Painting”) che se non fosse per l’unisono con la tromba potrebbero apparire del tutto estemporanee, oppure nello spigoloso incastro dell’improvvisazione tra i quattro strumenti che non prende mai il sopravvento, ma nasce come naturale sviluppo dinamico.

Alla base c’è certamente un grande affiatamento, visto che i quattro (con qualche piccolo cambio di formazione) suonano assieme dal 2002, ma all’origine di questo CD c’è anche l’idea di trovare una “terra di nessuno” tra pagina scritta e improvvisazione concepita, qui più che altrove, come composizione istantanea.
http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=6755

Jazztimes review by Shaun Brady

Bruno Chevillon/Tim Berne – Old and Unwise (CF 221)
Tim Berne’s prodigious discography is mostly stocked with collections of his monumentally scaled compositions, sprawling musical roadmaps for laborious treks through ever-changing landscapes. These two new releases, however, are both wholly improvised sessions, revealing that the scope of Berne’s thinking is hardly diminished by the absence of sheet music.

Old and Unwise finds Berne keeping less-familiar company in French bassist Bruno Chevillon. Where the BB&C trio single-mindedly forged itself into a lumbering, destructive behemoth, this duo outing is a more traditional dialogue between two adventurous soloists. The album takes the form of 11 focused interactions, each staking out slightly different territory.

Berne’s playing has always balanced on a tightrope between tart serpentines and the burly, big-shouldered honk inherited from his mentor, Julius Hemphill. Chevillon proves a perfect complement to that sound, offering up massive slabs of tone to meet the saxophonist’s piercing stabs, bowing gentle elegies under bluesy howls, or meeting breathiness with tense, insectoid buzzing. Chevillon maximizes his bass, coaxing sounds from the instrument outside of its expected range. “Quelque Chose Vacille” opens with almost vocal-like resonances from sharply plucked strings; on “Single Entendre” it becomes a percussion instrument, with pops, slaps and booms. “Cornered” seems to take the idea of “sawing” the bass literally.

It may be difficult to keep up with Berne’s release schedule (even more so with his endless supply of pun-happy band names), but each new title finds his expansive inventiveness diverting down another strangely contoured alley. Almost always, it’s worth the effort to follow his lead.
http://jazztimes.com/articles/27931-old-and-unwise-bruno-chevillon-tim-berne

Jazzwrap review by Vern

Daniel Levin – Inner Landscape (CF 224)
Daniel Levin has been at the forefront lately in the creative circles of jazz. His recordings (both in duo, trio and quartet settings) have been some of the most inventive and challenging in improvised music. It is amazing to think that after seven albums as leader that he has never recorded a solo cello album. Until now. Inner Landscape contains six fully improvised pieces that feel more contextual than spontaneous. It’s a journey of individual passages with distinct stories interwoven between the chords. Levin takes the listener from a well focused starting point, then catapults you into a realm where the boundaries of free jazz, improvisation, classical and jazz just fall by the wayside. It becomes MUSIC. No defined genre (only for you, the listener, to decide). “Landscape 2” displays these thoughts brilliantly. It is a piece with endless possibilities. It begins with some loose but fast paced finger work from Levin. He sets the tempo by utilizing the space around the composition. There are short gaps between each moment before he really begins to focus and let loose. The improvised sections on first listen may be hard to grasp but on second listen you are full engulfed by the structure and patterns Levin has created. “Landscape 6” is Levin walking you through forest at dusk. At first it seems peaceful and you delight in the beautiful trails. But then darkness falls and your psyche creeps in and your thoughts start to betray you. Levin quickly scrambles the pieces and you are left to guide yourself to the exit. But the music moves up in pace, and the journey seems in all directions–Levin brings the listener back only slightly and only for a few moments before literally stretching you right out of the piece (you’ll understand that when you hear the piece). Inner Landscape is a collection of multiple themes with various shapes, colours and patterns that need deep repeated listens. Emotional. Moving. Unexpected. And yet well rounded. There are only a few cellists on the scene today that can make the instrument sound more than what it is in addition to taking you on an other-worldly journey. Daniel Levin continues to do this with ease. Inner Landscape is a superb first solo outing and I’m hoping he sprinkles more like this in between his other projects. Brilliant.
http://jazzwrap.blogspot.com/2011/06/daniel-levin-inner-landscape.html