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Pierre Favre & Sergio Armaroli, Andrea Centazzo, Francesca Gemmo: The Art Of Sound(s)
by Mark Corroto
It would not be prudent to overlook history when considering the music created by the improvising artists of The Art of Sound(s). As William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: “By that destiny to perform an act / Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come in yours and my discharge." In other words, this 2024 recording could not exist without the accumulated experiences and creative legacies of its four musicians. At the center stands Swiss drummer Pierre Favre, ...
Continue ReadingFridolin Blumer: Beyond Scope
by Mark Corroto
Are there norms in free improvisation? A better question might be: are there rules? Free improvisation has been called many things--instant composing, non-idiomatic improvisation, spontaneous composition, intuitive music--but no matter the name, the question of structure remains. To explore this, let's look beyond music to another art form: film. Specifically, the 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film follows Jeffrey “The Dude" Lebowski, played by Jeff Bridges, who is ...
Continue ReadingChristoph Gallio: Stone Is A Rose Is A Stone Is A Stone
by John Eyles
Anyone approaching this album unawares needs to be warned that its playing time of 36' 34" is divided into sixty nine tracks ranging in length from six seconds to a minute and 41 seconds, and that the tracks are labelled as Roman numerals from one to 69 with 10 of the track titles being extended by dedications to unidentified individuals (for example, “XXXIV to Sisa Wandeler"). For anyone keen to know more, the track titles are printed on the rear ...
Continue ReadingRuss Johnson: To Walk On Eggshells
by Glenn Astarita
Russ Johnson, a Chicago-bred trumpeter with a knack for adventurous jazz, joins forces with Swiss bassist Christian Weber and drummer Dieter Ulrich, both stalwarts of the Zurich jazz scene. Johnson's resume boasts collaborations with everyone from Lee Konitz to his own genre-bending Russ Johnson Quartet, while Weber and Ulrich have carved out reputations as nimble improvisers, notably in projects such as Oliver Lake's For A Little Dancin (Intakt, 2010) and Co Streiff's sextet. This nine-track album is a ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli / Francesca Gemmo / Barry Guy: At Sotto Il Mare First Visit
by John Sharpe
Deep hinterlands distinguish the three protagonists on this exceptionally simpatico date and imbue it with a sharpened sense of purpose. You might call it freely improvised, but as the liner notes reveal, unplanned might be a better descriptor. Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli, who seems to be the principal mover, reportedly gave short verbal instructions before the music began. And while his exact words are not provided, they may account for the cohesion of what follows. Or perhaps not. Practiced improvisers, ...
Continue ReadingPaul Bley: Floater & Syndrome The Upright Piano Sessions Revisited
by Chris May
One way for a musician to conjure rapture is through full-frontal shamanic assault, the sonic equivalent of the Orgasmatron machine that Jane Fonda's character encounters in Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi romp Barbarella. Funk is an ideal vehicle. But the sensations produced are superficial and short-lived. A less travelled path instead uses subtlety, understatement and nuance, and the music approaches laterally, almost by stealth. The stratagem demands more of the musician, and indeed more of the listener, but the result can ...
Continue ReadingEllery Eskelin Trio New York: About (or On), First Visit
by Mark Corroto
It might be tempted to say that Ellery Eskelin's Trio New York is deconstructing the eleven standards on the two-disc set About (or On) First Visit. But that would be a misreading. This is not a breakdown of classic material in search of alternative meanings or structural analysis. Rather, Eskelin, alongside organist Gary Versace and drummer Gerald Cleaver, channels something more elusive--what ancient philosophy once called the fifth element, or aether. Their interpretations evoke the atmospheric essence of these songs, ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli Quintet: Follow A Very Heavy Person
by Mark Corroto
Time, as a concept, transforms into an endless playground in the hands of Sergio Armaroli. In Follow A Very Heavy Person, the quintet expands upon the foundations laid in Introducing A Very Heavy Person, delving deeper into the sonic and philosophical dimensions of John Cage and Kenneth Patchen's 1942 experimental radio play, The City Wears A Slouch Hat. Emerging from the same recording session, this second volume extends and reinvents its predecessor's exploration of simultaneity, improvisation and the ephemeral nature ...
Continue ReadingAlbert Ayler Trio: Prophecy Live, First Visit
by Glenn Astarita
This 1964 New York City recording, now remastered and released on the Ezzthetics label, captures Albert Ayler with Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray at a crucial juncture in the saxophonist's development. This performance at the Cellar Cafe marks an early, vital snapshot of a trio that would become foundational to the free jazz movement. It is a chance to hear Ayler's radical sonic explorations in their initial stages before his sound fully solidified into the intensely spiritual and often ecstatic ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli: Introducing A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
by Mark Corroto
If you reject the assumption that time is linear, the ability to conceive of a time machine is simple. Assume for this discussion that the concepts of past, present, and future are a false dichotomy. In other words, the past and the future simultaneously occur with the present. Composer and percussionist Sergio Armaroli accepts this premise and his quintet accomplishes a rather time-less travel through twelve tracks. Let's back up a bit. In his career, Armaroli has been ...
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