Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Gypsy Schaeffer: Portamental

171

Gypsy Schaeffer: Portamental

By

Sign in to view read count
Gypsy Schaeffer: Portamental
Based in Boston, Gypsy Schaeffer is a modern jazz quartet that marches to a different drummer. The unique and forward-leaning foursome brings a fresh sound to the forum, exploring jazz from various angles.

The band's instrumentation stands apart from the hoi polloi of jazz. Without a chording instrument like the piano or guitar, Gypsy Schaeffer is able to create harmonic structures through alternative means. Bass, saxophone and trombone weave delicate lines to depict modal harmonies as well as standard chordal frameworks. They're totally free in their work, bringing each layer of harmony into focus naturally.

Everybody solos at length, and the quartet merges its collective improvisation together maximally. The band's free improvisation proves adventurous, yet its music swings. Each selection is an original. "Mummer's Day features a down-home New Orleans swagger, while "Portamental swoops casually with the heft and drive of the avant-garde. "Ponus Ridge pushes forward at an incredibly fast pace, while "Time Management varies its rhythmic approaches. This latter piece, composed by the band's drummer, proves complex in its building-block foundation, but easy on the ears.

Gypsy Schaeffer makes a point of preserving lyrical beauty in their work while bringing us plenty of food for the imagination. Highly recommended, the group's latest album comes as a blessing to jazz's modern mainstream.

Track Listing

Under Construction; Mummer's Day; Faces in the Sand; Time Management; Sleep; Ponus Ridge; 01; Schemin'; Ugly Hand; Portamental.

Personnel

Andy Voelker: saxophones; Joel Yennior: trombone; Jef Charland: bass; Chris Punis: drums.

Album information

Title: Portamental | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Self Produced

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.