Chicago

Jan 29 2020

Best of 2019 #25: Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – “Be Known”

 

The voice of Kahil El’Zabar is music from Afro-Futurism’s past.  The AACM veteran set both Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Ritual Trio in motion nearly fifty years ago, and the intoxicating mix of spiritual jazz, classical, blues, and avant-garde were as effective at obliterating stereotypes and tropes of who should be making which kinds of music as it was at finding both simple and complex ways of expressing the blues and what it meant to live this life.  His music was an inspiration then, and continues to serve as a beacon to musicians today who carry on the Afro-futuristic tradition.  His 2019 release Be Known, with trumpeter Corey Wilkes, baritone saxophonist Alex Harding, and cellist Ian Maksin illustrates all of those qualities, and with an immediacy and a newness that puts the focus on what Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is in the here and now.  Be Known ain’t no throwback album.  This is vision forward.

Your album personnel:  Kahil El’Zabar (percussion, voice), Corey Wilkes (trumpet, percussion), Alex Harding (baritone sax), and Ian Maksin (cello).

Released on Spiritmuse Records.

Music from Chicago, IL.

Cool cover art by Nep Sidhu.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 25 2020

Best of 2019 #42: Matt Ulery – “Delicate Charms”

 

I’ve written negative reviews of three musicians on this site.  They were as follows:  Bill Frisell, Bobby Hutcherson, and Matt Ulery.  Frisell and Hutcherson are jazz giants, and responsible for landmark recordings, and over the course of their careers have been instrumental in the advancement of jazz.  I ripped apart their (at the time) new releases for being far below what they were capable of.  Basically, for the crime of being ordinary.

Matt Ulery’s sin didn’t even rise to that level.  In hindsight, I really should’ve cut the guy some slack.  The bassist and composer is young by jazz standards, but he’s also way ahead of the curve by way of creative accomplishments.  The Chicagoan has already delivered a unique sound that is as inventive as it is classic.  One day I expect to be speaking of his works with the same reverence as I do Henry Threadgill or Wayne Horvitz.  In truth, it was awfully tepid criticism. I basically said his album was too pretty.  And it was.  It lacked some of the edge and mystery of past works.  But in the grand scheme of things, there was nothing really wrong with the album, and perhaps focusing on that single flaw was a bit much… especially in the context that it’s still early, for him (and for us, as listeners), and also possessing an understanding that his music, like all others, exists in a continuum, where some things are merely elements of transformations to come, changes to manifest, and, perhaps a too-pretty recording leading to a grand beauty of the future.

I bring all this up, because that future grand beauty became the present in 2019 with Delicate Charms.  The album has the majestic stature of his jazz orchestra recordings and the curious melodicism of his small ensemble Loom sessions, and yet the elements of each come together in a way that are much different than simple addition, a different kind of math altogether, an abstract calculation where one plus one equals universe.  It’s a gorgeous recording.  It’s also a huge reminder that we are watching evolution in action, tracking artists as their music changes as they change and as the music transforms yet again.  It is easy to forget how truly miraculous it all is.

Your album personnel:  Matt Ulery (double bass), Greg Ward (alto sax), Zach Brock (violin), Rob Clearfield (piano) and Quin Kirchner (drums).

Released on Woolgathering Records.

Music from Chicago, IL.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at: Bandcamp – Amazon

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Jan 24 2020

Best of 2019 #45: Tomeka Reid Quartet – “Old New”

 

The words old and new may be given equal billing in the album’s title, but a cursory listen to the recording will reveal the album skews far more to the latter than former.  But that’s more of a measure of the levels of dissonance and tangled cadences that grace the Tomeka Reid Quartet’s 2019 release.  But all creativity is more than just the math of the medium’s characteristics and stats.  There’s the intent.  There’s the artist herself at the center of things, channeling everything inside, past, present and dreams of the future.  Reid is a musician of today.  Her music is going to reflect the diverse settings and kaleidoscopic influences, musical or otherwise, that shape the person, the cellist, who stepped into the recording studio.  Traditional music is a part of that composite.  The blues, swing, folk are as much a part of her as the oxygen she breathes.  And so they all emerge from Old New, in a new way, as Reid is today.  The blues manifest like a fond memory, and the swing is a photograph, vivid in its recall, timeless in its nature, but transformed by the undeniable passing of time.  This kind of experience, shared by the artist, is everything.

Your album personnel:  Tomeka Reid (cello), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Jason Roebke (bass), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums).

Released on Cuneiform Records.

Music from Chicago, IL.

I wrote about this album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at: Bandcamp – Amazon

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Feb 19 2019

Album of the Day: Colorlist – “Full Circle”

 

Artist:  Colorlist

Album:  Full Circle

Label:  Serein

Style:  Ambient Jazz

Favorite Track: “Electricity”

Music from:  Chicago, IL

What I like about it:  I like how the newest from Colorlist has a real edge to it… well, at least in comparison to their previous recordings, which tended to enter a thick drone and bubble up from there.  But the electronic effects of Full Circle char the edges of the harmonies, and burn at the center of things so that the prevailing motion breaks apart and disperses in many directions.  I like how this creates a different environment for their minimalist approach to bring about a bloom of melody.  I like how this project keeps finding new ways to express a familiar, enjoyable sound.

Your album personnel:  Charles Gorczynski (woodwinds, synthesizers), Charles Rumback (drums) and John Hughes (synthesizers, electronics).

Available at:  Amazon | Bandcamp

Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

Cover art by Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch.

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Feb 14 2019

Album of the Day: Miguel Zenón – “Yo Soy La Tradición”

 

Artist:  Miguel Zenón featuring Spektral Quartet

Album:  Yo Soy La Tradición

Label:  Miel Music

Style:  Chamber

Favorite Track: “Viejo”

Music from:  New York City & Chicago

What I like about it:  I love how this album dances.  I love how the music flutters and soars, and how it also exudes a weighty presence, giving the impression of the mighty flapping of wings.  I like how Miguel Zenón weaves lovely patterns into the surface of Spektral Quartet’s string harmonies, and I love how the two elements seem as separate entities even when they enter a state of perfect unison.  Throughout his career, the alto saxophonist has focused on his native Puerto Rico; its roots in Jazz, its folk music and folkloric traditions, of what it means to be Puerto Rican in the context of the island and as an immigrant in New York City, and so many of the facets that will never fully comprise some elusively defined whole… all the while searching for his own personal creative voice on alto saxophone.  That his trajectory is one that sees him still achieving new, original plateaus of his chosen form of expression is something I very much like, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to see that trajectory continue to unfold.

Your album personnel:  Miguel Zenón (alto sax), Clara Lyn (violin), Maeve Feineberg (violin), Doyle Armbrust (viola) and Russell Rolan (cello).

Available at:  Amazon

Listen to more of the album on Soundcloud.

Be sure to check out the artist’s site.

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