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Christoph Erb / Michael Vatcher: Yellow Live
by John Sharpe
At one time a drum and saxophone encounter would always invoke comparisons with the urtext of John Coltrane's Interstellar Space (Impulse, 1974). While that is still a potent model, present day practice encompasses almost every possible mood and temperament. Swiss saxophonist Christoph Erb and formerly expatriate American drummer Michael Vatcher touch on many such wayward territories on the four cuts which make up Yellow Live, which was recorded at the Gelbes Haus (hence the color-informed titles) in Erb's hometown of ...
read moreChristoph Erb - Jim Baker - Frank Rosaly: Parrots Paradise
by Glenn Astarita
If you're a free-jazz experimentalist or basically open-minded, then a glimmer of paradise might become reality after listening to this off-centered, sinewy session that occasionally sounds like it's bursting at the seams. And while its largely discordant, the musicians' polytonal exchanges and sound-sculpting mechanisms generate loads of interest, coupled with the trio's unsystematic musical lingo. Saxophonist Christoph Erb (Lucerne), analogue synth ace Jim Baker (Chicago) and drummer, sound designer Frank Rosaly --who recently relocated from Chicago to Amsterdam ...
read moreThe Urge Trio: Live in Toledo
by Glenn Astarita
Swiss reedman and noted improviser Christopher Erb performs with likeminded Chicago cohorts, cellist Tomeka Reid and reedman Keefe Jackson, captured during the final gig of their 2013 US tour at the Robinwood Concert House in Toledo, OH. Hence, they vibrantly interact and create a predominately stark or perhaps naked soundscape, devised on minimalism, pathos, probing dialogues and bizarre manipulations of their respective instruments. Reid often operates at the mid-point, as Jackson and Erb toggle between bass clarinet and ...
read moreAdasiewicz - Erb - Roebke: Yuria's Dream
by Glenn Astarita
Experimental saxophonist Christoph Erb recorded this lone 43-minute track in Chicago with prominent improvisers and composers, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and bassist Jason Roebke amid a tour of the US. Here, the trio articulates an immense plane of perceptions, and if charted, may appear as a histogram that contains various deviations from the mean, when considering dips and spikes. The musicians embrace an in-depth improvisational forum, while occasionally abutting the fringes of minimalism. But they also delve into microtonal vistas with ...
read moreErb - Longberg-Holm - Roebke - Rosaly: Sack
by Glenn Astarita
Swiss saxophonist Christoph Erb aligns with prominent exponents of Chicago's nu-jazz, avant-garde scene for a highly expressionistic incursion, modeled with his breathy microtonal notes and free-form abstractions. Blotted by manifold sound-sculpting implementations, rolling rhythms and budding crash and burn stylizations, the musical characteristics radiate an extended reach where anything is possible.The band kicks off the proceedings with “Karung," a piece engineered with unnerving vistas and drummer Frank Rosaly's bustling asymmetrical grooves amid cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm's furious parts, projecting ...
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