Jan 24 2017
I interviewed saxophonist Donny McCaslin for The Bandcamp Daily.
We talked about his new album Beyond Now, his collaboration with David Bowie on Blackstar and the interrelationships between the two.
Here’s a LINK to go read it.
And you can listen to and purchase the new album Beyond Now on Bandcamp.
Jan 8 2017
While it can be problematic to classify the music on John Zorn‘s Tzadik label, there do tend to be some general themes in which to bundle recordings up for presentation in a column such as this. The titles loosely referred to as the Alhambra Ensemble sessions would be one example.
What began as a trio session with a specific framework and tone changed significantly over the arc of three recordings. Yet, while each of the albums has its own personality, they possess core attributes that tie them all up as belonging to the same family of music.
What do I most love about these recordings? Beautiful melodies that mainline straight to the heart, rhythms that make a cerebral connection, and a traceable evolution of sound as the personnel and thematic material expands. And tranquility. I love the tranquility that reigns supreme over this music, even when it flashes some edge and burns fiercely from within… there’s always a transcendent serenity that keeps bringing me back to these gorgeous, friendly recordings.
I have a whole bunch of Tzadik recordings on my shelf and digital library, and it’s been my intention for years to begin publishing some rundowns of what I enjoy and why. This is the first of those columns.
Let’s begin.
The 2009 release Alhambra Love Songs is one of my very favorite Tzadik releases. It’s also proof of how diverse the label’s range of expression has grown. This set from the trio of pianist Rob Burger, bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Ben Perowsky performs John Zorn compositions paying tribute to the Bay Area and the artists who call it home. But while the tribute subjects range greatly from Vince Guaraldi to Mike Patton to Clint Eastwood, the album’s prevailing sound keeps to one where melodies generate a ton of warmth and tempos keep to a chipper, easy-going nature.
The album’s winning quality is the comforting flow that carries along from piece to piece, unhurriedly, and in which every facet of every melody is allowed to shine. A track like “Novato” slips in a bit of old-school funk, while “Larkspur” adds some edge and both “Pacifica” and “Tiburon” possess a determined, serious tone, and all of it flows seamlessly into the album’s genial confluence, and none of it detracts from those gorgeous melodies, as vibrant as sunlight on a forest stream.
Your album personnel: Rob Burger (piano), Greg Cohen (bass) and Ben Perowsky (drums).
Read more on the Tzadik site. Available at: Amazon | eMusic
The scope and breadth of the Alhambra Trio grew for the 2010 release In Search of the Miraculous. Gone were the associations with a specific place on planet Earth. Zorn wrote compositions that would serve as odes for the new millennium. And where Alhambra Love Songs had an almost quaint personality to express its gorgeous melodies, the reformatted Alhambra Quintet lets loose with dramatic flourishes and surges of intensity, and trades in a streak of nostalgia for a more abstract sense of mysticism.
Vibraphonist Kenny Wollesen and electric guitarist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz join the original Alhambra trio. Between the addition of personnel and compositions more open to thematic interpretation, it’s as if the entirety of the horizon line shot out exponentially in both directions. But even with the amped up activity, there’s still an immensely contemplative atmosphere to this music. Opening track “Prelude: From a Great Temple” gets right to dictating that tone with melodic lines that curl and twist and cycle in odd patterns, triggering daydream imagery that’s more suited for enchantment than interaction.
The thing is, with all of the changes, it’s still not that far removed from the original trio session. A track like “Affirmation” shows how those melodies with the sunny disposition still find a home on the current recording. And while the flow from track to track isn’t as prominent on the newest, it’s still alive & kicking in the duration of each individual piece. The rhythmic approach lives to bring those melodies to full bloom, and yet the melodic development sounds to have the best interests of the rhythm at heart, and it’s why each quality goes hand-in-hand regardless of where the spotlight is aimed.
Your album personnel: Rob Burger (piano, organ), Greg Cohen (acoustic bass) and Ben Perowsky (drums), Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (electric bass) and Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone).
Read more on the Tzadik site. Available at: Amazon | eMusic
The third of the (to date) three Alhambra Ensemble recordings expanded the line-up while continuing the evolution of the theme. The 2010 release The Goddess: Music for the Ancient of Days is a set of odes paying tribute to women of mythological significance. Guitarist Marc Ribot and harpist Carol Emanuel sit in on this session, and both accentuate the melodies in ways not done previously, with the former bringing out their combustibility and the latter their potential for growth if allowed to go wandering.
The mystical sound that cropped up on In Search of the Miraculous is ratcheted up several notches on The Goddess, as are the tempos. What’s remarkable is how the greater intensity of this recording doesn’t shatter the prevailing serenity… it’s just a case of experiencing it at higher speeds. The melodies are still as crisp as ever, but they come from multiple directions on this session, and the patterns take on a cyclical shape and seem to wind about one another endlessly, obliterating the point where one begins and the other ends. And all of it is beautiful.
Your album personnel: Rob Burger (piano), Ben Perowsky (drums), Trevor Dunn (bass), Carol Emanuel (harp), Mark Ribot (guitar) and Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone).
Read more on the Tzadik site. Available at: Amazon | eMusic
*****
Dec 8 2016
On Lean, the trio of Allison Miller, saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh and bassist Simon Jermyn move through influences like a chameleon across an ever-changing landscape. The alluring drone of “Spotswood Drive” leads into the jaunty groove of “Electric Sun,” which, in turn, becomes the late night ballad “Lean.” The furtive motions of “Olney” and “Bunker” are alike in their presence but on opposite ends as far as delivery, as are “Otis” and “Comptine,” but in terms of intensity. And then there’s final track “Fast Fish,” a resting place of a straight-ahead post-bop. And in each instance, with each different form of expression and influence, it sounds like trio is right at home in its environment, as if that were their sound all the time and the previous and subsequent album tracks hadn’t or won’t reflect any changes of any kind… just blending in, one tune at a time.
A supremely enjoyable recording.
Your album personnel: Allison Miller (drums, “bike” and pedals), Jerome Sabbagh (tenor & soprano saxophones) and Simon Jermyn (electric bass and pedals).
The album is Self-Produced.
Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Available at: Bandcamp
Every bit of this album leads to the impression that they’re having the most ever fun on Swivel. Miller’s Honey Ear Trio of herself, saxophonist Jeff Lederer and bassist Rene Hart (plus cornetist Kirk Knuffke sitting in for a handful of tracks) keeps stepping up with the wildest expressions, and it’s the kind of thing that elicits both wonderment and smiles. Whether it’s a seriously different take on Monk’s “Evidence” or an original like “Changeling,” the trio just blasts away before suddenly hitting the brakes for some rhythmic playfulness. Some tracks open up seams of electronic effects, and how they pair with boisterous organic instruments makes for some intriguing compare and contrast. Even on a track like “Lullaby,” when it seems like the trio is throwing a curveball with a peaceful, ambient tone, they still punctuate the silence with pointed saxophone bursts and rhythmic eddies… a sort of sunlight-on-the-water’s-surface effect, except that the light can burn and the water could pull you under if not careful. And then there’s the rubber ducky squeak on “Squeaky Toy,” which is immediately eclipsed by a motorcycle roar, with the trio running on a full tank of gasoline for the entirety of the track. But even at the other end of the spectrum, “Speak Eddie” has them taking a straight-ahead route and tempering their enthusiasm without lessening the excitement.
There’s nothing about this album that isn’t to like.
Your album personnel: Allison Miller (drums, percussion), Jeff Lederer (saxophones), Rene Hart (acoustic bass, electronics) and guest: Kirk Knuffke (cornet).
Released on Little (i) Music.
Listen to more of the album at the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon
What a seriously rich sound Miller and company conjure up on Otis Was a Polar Bear. Her Boom Tic Boom sextet could masquerade as an ensemble twice that size, and probably still eclipse the larger group with its presence. Some of this has to do with the pairings that create ideal situations where the sound of consequence is greater than the sum of the individual parts. It’s why the contra-alto clarinet of Ben Goldberg, the violin of Jenny Scheinman and the piano of Myra Melford are able to jack up the intensity on “Shimmer” while maintaining the harmonic strength at something to fall softly into. And it’s why Goldberg and cornetist Kirk Knuffke can surf the torrents of Melford’s piano and still muster up a wry blues on “Hoarding the Pod.” But the success of this album also has a lot to do with the compositions and where the musicians take them. How else to explain the subtle shift from cheery tunefulness to a thick introspection on “The Listener” or how the raindrops of melody on “Lullaby for Cookie” resonate as massively as any thunderstorm. And then there’s the shadowboxing that goes on between bassist Todd Sickafoose and Miller, both in the foreground and behind the scene, and insinuating their will upon the tune in both instances.
This is one of the very best things to come out in all of 2016.
Your album personnel: Allison Miller (drums, percussion), Ben Goldberg (clarinet, contra-alto clarinet), Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Jenny Scheinman (violin), and Todd Sickafoose (upright bass) and Myra Melford (piano).
Released on the Royal Potato Family label.
Nov 8 2016
Since the US Presidential election has taken many of you to the breaking point of a nervous breakdown, this seems like an ideal opportunity to formally introduce you to the music of Andreas Ulvo.
His name has come up many times before this, both on this site with various projects and also on my eMusic and Wondering Sound recommendations columns. The Norwegian pianist, composer and photographer has the soothing and introspective calm of a wintertime fireplace, which, really, all of us could probably use today.
For solo projects, Ulvo has two recordings. The most recent is the 2016 release Unchangeable Seasons. Like his 2011 debut Light & Loneliness, the music has an elegance and a grace made for solemn Sunday mornings and those Saturday nights when the weekend electricity has finally died down and a sense of peace is longed for. Ulvo increases the level of activity on Unchangeable Seasons, where a take on Mozart’s “Rondo alla Turca” has the cyclical action that flirts with playfulness. But for the most part, the music is embodied by tracks like “Kjempevise-slåtten,” which have the hypnotic effect of swirling mists, but possess a chill that cuts to the bone.
(Available at: Amazon | eMusic )
The one real divergence between debut and sophomore release is the vocal contribution on the latter’s title-track. The song’s pop music overtones are interspersed with gorgeous flurries of piano and strings, and that give and take between the gentle vocal passages and the furious instrumental passages is, at times, rather breathtaking.
Ulvo likes to add interludes of improvisational fragments, striking images that aren’t really there for their individual personality, but instead possess a value as facilitator and support for the album’s persona viewed as a single entity. And as a matter of striking imagery, sometimes it’s those scenes between the scenes that add the essential narrative that turns a simple story into an epic tale.
Ulvo’s collaboration with the trio Slagr was a compelling display of how drama is no obstacle to creating serene music. 2012’s Softspeaker had Ulvo bringing his Nordic Jazz-classical-folk form of expression to mesh with the Norwegian folk of the trio of cellist Sigrun Eng, vibraphonist Amund Sjølie Sveen and the hardanger fiddle of Anne Hytta.
The Nordic folk element speaks strongest on this gorgeous recording. The melodies are succinct and clear and beamed wide like a friendly smile. The rhythmic component that balances this out, however, is what really gives this recording its depth and personality. The way Ulvo shifts between a harmonic partner with cello and a rhythmic conspirator with vibraphone and fiddle creates a balance between two prominent features, and allows both to shine. And that’s why this album is perfect for the first rays of morning light cracking open the nighttime or driving through the city in the middle of a rainstorm… there’s a tranquility and a liveliness to this music that is adaptable to any kind of setting. This music is in harmony with its surroundings, no matter what they might be.
(Released on the Atterklang label. Available at: Amazon | eMusic )
Ulvo is also a member of the Eple Trio.
Of their 2014 release Universal Cycle , I wrote that it is the kind of music for drifting away to, but that trio of pianist Andreas Ulvo, bassist Sigurd Hole and drummer Jonas Sjøvaag ramp up the voltage on the details and the nuance, so that tiny sounds carry far and wide. It’s not sleepy music, but it is made of the stuff of very active dreams. It engages without challenging. It immerses without overwhelming. It is quite beautiful.
My own opinion is one that believes that this trio embodies so much of what is possible from the Nordic Jazz genre. Their balance of jazz improvisation and folk influences, the merging of minimalism techniques and dramatic surges of intensity, the ability to morph between song structure and unstructured expressionism and the way their dreamlike imagery can provoke both emotional and cerebral reactions all speak to just how vibrant and evocative their music is.
There’s been an exciting development about some of their older and live works that I’ll be announcing in a column soon, likely in the aftermath of the year-end blitz. But for now, check out a track from their 2014 release…
(Released on Shipwreckords. Available at: Bandcamp | Amazon | eMusic )
(And you can read my original write-up on this site by following this LINK.
Hopefully some of that music will help get you through the US election or, really, any day when you need a dose of serenity for a soundtrack to your day.
Let’s end with a video from Ulvo’s 2016 solo project Unchangeable Seasons…
*****
Feb 11 2017
My interview of Sean Foran is up at The Bandcamp Daily
My interview of Trichotomy pianist Sean Foran has been published on The Bandcamp Daily. Foran talks about the early days of the trio, the trio’s new album Known-Unknown, the changes with his solo project Frame of Reference, and reveals that Australians have been hiding the nifty phrase “bubbled along” from me all my life.
Go read it -> LINK
Like this:
By davesumner • Announcement - Music, Interviews • 0 • Tags: Bandcamp articles, Sean Foran