Jazz Articles
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Eric Plandé / Hasse Poulsen / Claude Tchamitchian: Beyond Dreams
by Glenn Astarita
Here, we can throw genre type discussions out the door, since this European trio transparently interconnects worldly motifs with tribal insinuations, classic free jazz interplay and asymmetrically improvised and structured song forms. In addition, the musicians artfully generate a magnetic field that also includes bluesy vamps with melodious contrasts and unison phrasings, often cast with ethereal backdrops and chromatic tonalities. On “Levitation" the trio ratifies the song moniker with serene etudes and spacey progressions, heightened by guitarist Hasse ...
read moreThe Clarinet Trio: Transformations and Further Passages
by John Eyles
A clarinet trio is a chamber trio comprising a clarinet, a bowed string instrument such as a violin, viola or cello, and a piano; the phrase can also refer to a composition written for such a trio. However, away from such matters, The Clarinet Trio is the name of a three-clarinet group which first recorded together on October 1st 1998, in Berlin, the resulting album, Oct. 1, '98, having been released on the Leo Lab label in 1999. The first ...
read moreAndrea Massaria: New Needs Need New Techniques
by Glenn Astarita
With his debut solo recording, abstract guitarist Andrea Massaria indulges in sleight of hand framed techniques, while executing free form tonal vignettes that bridge painting with music via nine pieces that are dedicated to, and motivated by three impressionists: Rothko, Rauschenberg, and Pollock. Here, the artist's expressive nature spawns plucking and streaming layers of controlled analog noise and asymmetrical passageways featuring Francesco Forges' multitracked voice on “RA 3." In addition, Massaria's squealing, high-pitched voicings and buzzing lower-register notes form a ...
read moreAlexey Kruglov, Carolyn Hume, Paul May, Oleg Yudanov: Last Train from Narvskaya
by John Eyles
In 2019, the UK-based Leo Records was celebrating the fortieth anniversary of its formation by the Russian émigré Leo Feigin, the self-styled “enthusiastic amateur" who managed to attract a host of first-rate musicians to the label, as well as developing many who were little-known when they joined Leo. An important part of the celebrations was the 8th Leo Records Festival, held in St. Petersburg in October, an event which had become almost annual. As Leo has had a cosmopolitan roster ...
read moreFrançois Lana Trio: Cathédrale
by Troy Dostert
The title of Swiss-based pianist François Lana's latest release, Cathédrale, carries a two-fold significance. Its most obvious reference is to transcendence, something Lana affirms in the liner notes: “Music is a form of spirituality," but it can also be a reference to the sophisticated architectural approach Lana brings to his art. Not only the music, but the album's vivid artwork and the recording process itself were entirely in the hands of Lana and his colleagues, bassist Fabien Ianonne and drummer ...
read moreHanna Schörken: Luma
by John Eyles
German voice artist Hanna Schörken covers so many activities that reading them can easily make one feel exhausted. A published writer and poet, she developed a personal, idiosyncratic approach to sound poetry and experimental voice. Having studied Jazz Singing and Musicology, she is both a jazz vocalist and a free improviser, involved in several projects in the field of improvised and experimental music. As she has lived in France, South America, Germany and the Netherlands, with longer stays in different ...
read moreArmaroli - Schiaffini - Sjostrom: Duos & Trios
by Glenn Astarita
Italian musicians Sergio Armaroli (vibraphone) and Giancarlo Schiaffini (trombone) beckoned reputable Finland-reared Harri Sjostrom (saxophones) to join them for a session consisting of nine duos and three trios that are somewhat noteworthy due to the unconventional instrumentation. Per the album liners, the goal was to create 'events' such as “amazement, wonder or a good mood through the free formation of notes..." and so on. The artists' notes duly resonate via the crystal-clear audio production, providing additional clarity for ...
read moreSimon Nabatov: Time Labyrinth
by Glenn Astarita
Pianist Simon Nabatov is well-known for his explosive semi-structured presentations and freely navigated improvisational advances within this seemingly limitless musical space. But Nabatov is a composer who often stretches the perceived limits of avant-garde jazz. With this effort, he pursues a largely new approach by employing chamberesque forums via an acoustic-electric platform, intensified by consummate woodwind aces Frank Gratkowski, Matthias Schubert and other stalwarts to round out a drummer-less Germany-based septet. In the liners, the leader states that ...
read morePat Battstone and Giorgia Santoro: Dream Notes
by Geannine Reid
Dream Notes is a collaborative effort by American pianist Patrick Battstone and Italian flautist Giorgia Santoro, along with Italian painter Daniela Chionna. Battstone connected to her paintings and had a strong affinity for her improvisational style. Previously her “Immersion" series of paintings was absorbed in his previous recording Elements. When she created the series, “Dream Notes," they were quite different from her previous works, having a Japanese tone, with a starkness which was set to a winter theme. Battstone set ...
read moreUrs Leimgruber - Andreas Willers - Alvin Curran - Fabrizio Spera: Rome-Ing
by Glenn Astarita
These venerable European improvisers tease and taunt the listeners' psyches with free-form minimalist sound-shaping designs and subdued inner-workings with gradual buildups and asynchronous movements, countered by explosive episodes of angst, tinted with creaky sub-motifs. With four lengthy works recorded live in Rome--hence, the album title—American pianist Alvin Curran and Swiss guitarist Andreas Willers incorporate electronics into this otherworldly manifestation of avant-garde frameworks. The players afford themselves plenty of room for discovery and invention while fusing the group ...
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