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Jazz Articles about Barry Altschul
OGJB Quartet: Ode To O
by John Sharpe
An assemblage of stars doesn't always result in a constellation. But astronomers will need to take note in the case of the OGJB Quartet, called after the forename initials of the four members: reedman Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul. On the venerable collective's second album Ode To O following their eponymous debut in 2019, one of the most striking traits is how much they sound like a band. As might be expected in ...
Continue ReadingPaul Bley: Touching & Blood Revisited
by Vic Albani
Credo che la maggior parte degli appassionati e ascoltatori di musica jazz che hanno progressivamente conquistato la materia durante i primi anni di ascolto, si sia presto resa conto della immensa peculiarità che un trio-jazz porta con sé, specialmente dopo gli anni in cui un certo Bill Evans portò agli onori della cronaca le particolari geometrie che caratterizzano una delle più emblematiche formazioni della musica afroamericana. Paul Bley è un maestro del piano-trio. Le sue prime registrazioni accanto ...
Continue ReadingThe OGJB Quartet: Ode To O
by Jerome Wilson
The OGJB Quartet, a formidable all-star grouping of saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul, are back with their second album, one even more wide-ranging and soulful than their first, Bamako, (TUM, 2019). The album combines tracks based on gutbucket rhythms with others full of exploratory abstractions. The album title, Ode To O, refers to Ornette Coleman and the title track, written by Altschul, has he and Fonda laying down an assured ...
Continue ReadingBarry Altschul's 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine
by John Sharpe
Even deep into a career which began with the Jazz Composers Orchestra and pianist Paul Bley in the 1960s, drummer Barry Altschul's music remains vital and compelling. Since 2010 his primary leadership outlet has been The 3Dom Factor, a freewheeling threesome completed by bassist Joe Fonda and reedman Jon Irabagon. Long Tall Sunshine, a live date from an unspecified year and location, constitutes the band's fourth album. While the repertoire might be familiar— four of the five cuts also appear ...
Continue ReadingBarry Altschul: Long Tall Sunshine
by Mike Jurkovic
Be ye player or observer, we all crave to experience, shape and seize the untamed virtuosity of the moment. The absolute here and now. You want your attention commanded away by the manic sounds of humans creating a noise, a language that didn't exist mere minutes ago. So check out Long Tall Sunshine, drum master Barry Altschul}'s fourth entry in his trio of extra/ultra live action Tum Records recordings with bassist {{m: Joe Fonda and saxophonist Jon Irabagon ...
Continue ReadingBarry Altschul and the 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine
by Karl Ackermann
For a two-decade stretch beginning in 1971, free jazz drummer Barry Altschul was positioned among the most in-demand percussionists. He made his mark in the fleeting but important group Circle, with Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton. Among the many cutting-edge artists he worked with were Andrew Hill, and Paul Bley. And then, for almost twenty years, the virtuoso musician/composer all but disappeared. Altschul re-emerged with The 3dom Factor in 2013, and the drummer is once again a prolific ...
Continue ReadingBarry Altschul's 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine
by Dan McClenaghan
Drummer Barry Altschul and his chordless 3Dom Factor--featuring reedman Jon Irabagon and bassist Joe Fonda--know how to lay down a rip-snorter. Long Tall Sunshine opens with the title tune, an in-your-face, three-way melee that introduces the group's fourth album in a characteristically steroidal, free-swinging style, throwing blows from all angles. Recorded live, “somewhere in Europe," (record keeping does not seem to be one of the group's strengths), the opening one-two punch of the title tune and “The 3Dom ...
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