Quantcast
NEWS: Get More Jazz News Direct from a Musician's Profile Page STORES: CDs/DVDs/Vinyl/Sleeves | Downloads | Posters | Art
jazz
HOME NEWS REVIEWS ARTICLES MUSICIANS PHOTOS FORUMS
  Login   |   MY AAJ Signup  
Intro Site Map Free Daily MP3s Videos Upcoming Releases Guides Editorial Calendar Help Wanted  
Advanced
Contact Us   |   Advertise   |   For Contributors   |   For Musicians



Calendar - Venues
Teachers - Musicians


Long As The Day Is
Sarah Montes
Child in My Heart
Tanja Maritsa
Momentos Cubanos
Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet
Chat Noir
Christoph Irniger Quartett
The Swingin' Bassoon
Daniel Smith
Change of Scenery
Peter Paulsen
Advertise Here


Jazz Excursion Radio



"Piercing the Veil"
Charles Lloyd
All My Relations

Listen Now






Featured Visual Artist
Scott Friedlander

GLOBAL COVERAGE



Push AAJ Content
AAJ Live | RSS | Widsets

Headlands

Natto Quartet | 482 Music (2003)

Discuss  

Sounds of the mystical Orient and the more assertive Western world clash head-on when the Natto Quartet ignites. Philip Gelb, an extremely versatile and resourceful shakuhachi player, and Shoko Hikage, an astute proponent of the ancient koto, contribute the Eastern sensibilities that flow well beyond the cultural borders of their instruments’ roots. On the Western front, pianist Chris Brown and electronics specialist Tim Perkis provide the 21st century impetus to sustain the transformation. Together, the California-based quartet becomes an exploratory team intent on establishing a new world order where improvised creativity is the sole determinant of beauty, even if that beauty is in its earthiest form.

Each artist plays a distinctive role in forming this free collective. Gelb’s shakuhachi arsenal consists of instruments of varying lengths that alter the pitch and cover a wide tonal range. He shows absolute dominance over the difficult reeds. Gelb has taken the shakuhachi out of the meditative field and has plunked it squarely into the improvising arena, where his originality is continually on display. Brown takes a fully unstructured approach to his reconnaissance mission. His approach from inside and outside the piano combines aggressiveness with thought-provoking development of logical freeform sequences. Brown’s playing erupts with physicality, although his forcefulness is always under control and able to be abated at will.

Tim Perkis is a wizard on the electronic controls. He bends and twists tonal centers while always maintaining a musical stance devoid of sheer noise or static elements. This inventiveness in sound production makes him an exceptional contributor to this group. Hikage blends spirits of the past into this strongly flavored brew. Her blunt, interruptive statements reverberate and rebound against the reams of chilling improvisations encircling her. She straddles dual cultures with aplomb and makes her instrument sing out emphatically.

While collective interaction is at the heart of the music, the performers also spin off in engaging partnerships, which in turn inspire spontaneous contributions from the others. For example, Gelb spars gingerly with Hikage, encouraging Perkis to enter wrapping electronic impulses around the stark but strangely soothing output. Brown listens intently and interjects jabbing comments for emphasis. And so it goes throughout the recording, with each dual encounter leading to profound group interpretation. Instruments that are centuries apart in origin and light years apart in concept find a common ground for promoting unity. The Natto Quartet effectively marries these divergent influences, producing music for our time.

Visit www.482music.com .


Track listing: Miso (3:15) / Soba (4:22) / Yuba (6:49) / Nuka (6:57) / Kukicha (10:07) / Sake (6:24) / Mochi (9:14).

Personnel: Philip Gelb-shakuhachi; Shoko Hikage-koto; Tim Perkis-electronics; Chris Brown-piano. Recorded: August 12, 2002, Sausalito, CA.

Style: Modern Jazz/Free Improvisation | Published: May 01, 2003


  Discuss   Add to Google  


More Articles by Frank Rubolino
Vision Festival 9: Vision For A Just World
On Tour With The Evan Parker Trio
Walking, Crying, Laughing, Running
Garage Concréte & Dialogues
Nosferatu
Now Is
Red Rooms & Twenty Minutes in Brooklyn

More Recent Reviews
Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone - Songs & Lullabies Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone
Songs & Lullabies
The Jazz Mandolin Project - Jungle Tango The Jazz Mandolin Project
Jungle Tango
Abby and Norm Group - Melodic Miner's Daughter Abby and Norm Group
Melodic Miner's Daughter
Sonny Rollins - With the Modern Jazz Quartet Sonny Rollins
With the Modern Jazz Quartet
Paal Nilssen-Love & Mats Gustafsson - I Love It When You Snore Paal Nilssen-Love & Mats Gustafsson
I Love It When You Snore
Lesli Dalaba / Fred Frith / Eric Glick Rieman / Carla Kihlstedt - DalabaFrithGlickRiemanKihlstedt Lesli Dalaba / Fred Frith / Eric Glick Rieman / Carla Kihlstedt
DalabaFrithGlickRiemanKihlstedt



CD Review Search
Artist Name  
Album Title  
Record Label  
Author  
 

Most Read CD Reviews
Last 30 Days | All Time

Most Read Articles
Last 30 Days | All Time



 
More CD Reviews





Sarah Montes
New CD: Long As The Day Is












  Privacy Policy | Dedicated Servers All material copyright © 2008 All About Jazz and/or contributing writers/visual artists. All rights reserved.