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Anna Webber's Percussive Mechanics: Refraction
by Glenn Astarita
Percussive Mechanics seems to be a fitting moniker for New York City- based saxophonist, composer Anna Webber's band, since the core building blocks of her intricately fabricated compositions are huddled within knotty flows and odd-metered rhythms. She doesn't operate within a narrow modus operandi, as each piece poses variable persuasions. A rising star in the avant-jazz community, Webber's group-centric focus and compositional acumen radiates here on her second album for Pirouet Records. Featuring a horde of changeable pulses and atmospherics, ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Simple
by Libero Farnè
La trentenne sassofonista canadese Anna Webber si è trasferita a New York nel 2008, dove ha studiato con Jason Moran ed ha preso contatti con la scena jazzistica più creativa. Dopo un paio di CD per la Pirouet Records giunge a questo lavoro autoprodotto per l'etichetta di Chris Speed. I primi due brani presentano incipit frammentati e puntillistici, metriche dalle nette geometrie, ripetute con insistenza, che poi si trasformano in andamenti più elaborati e mossi, in svolgimenti narrativi ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Simple
by Dave Wayne
If things aren't just right, listening to complicated music can be like doing your taxes. There has to be chemistry, there has to be a narrative, and--even though you don't know what's coming next--the music's got to be on. The players have to be free to speak in a new language; often one divorced from the world of spang-a-lang and rhythm changes. This is the case on Anna Webber's new recording, Simple. Don't let the title fool you! Ms. Webber, ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Simple
by Paul Naser
Simple (Skirl 2014) , New York based composer/saxophonist Anna Webber's follow up to her 2013 release “Percussive Mechanics (Pirouet 2013) finds her exploring the expressive capabilities of a trio setting. While the compositional sensibilities introduced in her first album remain, her affinity for polyrhythms being a good example, the new texture provides her the ability to play with more freedom and subtle intricacy alongside her tight arrangements. Of course, her phenomenal bandmates contribute a lot in this respect.
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Percussive Mechanics
by AAJ Italy Staff
Negli ultimi anni, il basso costo della vita e i sempre intensi fermenti culturali hanno reso Berlino uno dei luoghi di maggiore concentrazione per musicisti, jazz e non, di ogni paese. Uno dei tanti jazzisti statunitensi attivo nella capitale tedesca è il contrabbassista Greg Cohen, che dirige il dipartimento di contrabbasso del locale Jazz Institut, presso il quale si sono incrociati i percorsi musicali dei musicisti coinvolti di questo Percussive Mechanics, il secondo lavoro da leader della sassofonista e flautista ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Percussive Mechanics
by Mark Corroto
First she was a flutist, then a saxophonist, now an outstanding jazz and new music composer. Canada's Anna Webber follows up her debut, Third Floor People (Nowt Records, 2010), with Percussive Mechanics, a skirmish between contemporary composed music and jazz improvisation.As a player, she has recorded with Stephon Harris's Blackout--Urbanus (Concord, 2009)--and has also performed with Jason Moran, Tony Malaby, and John Hollenbeck. It is Hollenbeck that is the touchstone for her compositions here. Webber plays with the ...
Continue ReadingAnna Webber: Third Floor People
by C. Michael Bailey
Those who stand up and give the finger to the status quo must be honored. New York saxophonist/flautist Anna Webber does exactly that, with a recording that brags not one, but two bass-less quartets. Third Floor People is a collection of 11 original compositions by Webber, employing two quartets--one from Montreal and one from New York City. The structure of the quartets are both drums and guitar, with either alto saxophone (Montreal People) or trumpet (New York People).
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