Jazz Articles
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Fractal Sextet: Fractal Sextet
by Mike Jacobs
In the over two-decade-old “movement" that's come to be known as Swiss Minimalism, guitarist Stephan Thelen has pushed himself to the fore, both with his group SONAR and in solo projects. In recent years, he's been astonishingly prolific (releasing five albums from 2021-2022 alone). With recent group work in Sonar being expanded to include guitarist David Torn, his Fractal Guitar album series (Moonjune, 2019, 2021, 2022) garnering critical acclaim, live albums, Bill Laswell remixes, and his World Dialogue (Rare Noise, ...
read moreStephan Thelen: Fractal Sextet
by Mark Sullivan
Swiss composer/guitarist Stephan Thelen's two Fractal Guitar albums were largely multi-tracked affairs, involving considerable file sharing. The idea of organizing a band to perform the music live may have been inevitable. The resulting Fractal Sextet is an international project consisting of guitarist Jon Durant (USA), keyboard player and composer Fabio Anile (Italy), bassist Colin Edwin (UK), drummer Yogev Gabay (Israel), percussionist Andi Pupato (Switzerland), and Thelen on guitar and programming.The original plan was to get at least the ...
read moreBurnt Belief: Mutual Isolation
by Mark Sullivan
Mutual Isolation is the fourth album from Burnt Belief, the collaborative project of guitarist Jon Durant and bassist Colin Edwin. Edwin is known for playing in Porcupine Tree, his duet Twinscapes with bassist Lorenzo Feliciati, and O.R.k. with King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto, among other projects. Durant has made a series of solo soundscape albums and recently worked with composer & guitarist Stephan Thelen on their duet album Crossings (Alchemy Records, 2021) as well as Thelen's Fractal Guitar (MoonJune Records, ...
read moreJon Durant & Stephan Thelen: Crossings
by Mark Sullivan
These two guitarist/composers first came together when Stephan Thelen asked Jon Durant to contribute to a track on Fractal Guitar (MoonJune Records, 2019). Durant's role was greatly expanded on Fractal Guitar 2 (MoonJune Records, 2021): he played on all six tracks, his fretless guitar playing especially distinctive. Thelen had the idea of doing a duet with Durant when asked to provide a track for a MoonJune Records sampler album. That track was a new version of the title ...
read moreJon Durant: Parting Is
by Glenn Astarita
Imaginative guitarist Jon Durant, co-leader of the band Burnt Belief with Colin Edwards of Porcupine Tree, traveled between the East Coast and his second home near Portland, Oregon, to produce this set of solo guitar works. Yet, according to the artist, the album title reflects the “sweet sorrow" that occurs after his wife visits for a long weekend then returns back East. Hence, Durant's inner-self is transposed via these atmospheric pieces, often resonating with his melodic single note lines and ...
read moreJon Durant: Anatomy of a Wish
by AAJ Staff
Anatomy of a Wish continues the fine discography Jon Durant has been offering us lately of otherwordly guitar textures and haunting dreamscapes. Durant's slick guitar wizardry and multifaceted effects are the backgrounds for trance and inner worlds-shifting -- each piece being alive with deep imagination and undisputed creative vision. Durant is guitar, cloud guitars, and his usual array of amazing sonic manipulations. He is firmly established now, in this reviewer’s opinion, as one of the reigning masters of what I ...
read moreMichael Manring: The Book of Flame
by John W. Patterson
Manring is a master of innovation and way crazy funk fun on the bass. He slaps his Zon bass silly, samples, loops, E-Bows, processes and ultra-sustains his songs into a universe all his own. This is one of the best solo efforts Manring has put on the table to date. I have owned or sampled most of his offerings but on The Book of Flame ALL the stops are pulled out and a real beast is unleashed. Some folks labeled ...
read moreGary Willis: Bent
by John W. Patterson
Gary Willis presents nine jazzy and funkified pieces all his own and two he co-wrote with bandmates. The personnel here are Tribal Tech's bassist Willis, Scott Kinsey on keys, and Kirk Covington drumming on two tracks. Dennis Chambers provides sweet drums on eight tracks. Reeds are Steve Tavaglione wailing on EWI, (electronic wind instrument), tenor and soprano sax and clarinet. Bob Berg also guests playing one mean tenor sax on three tracks.Imagine Tribal Tech with no Scott Henderson ...
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