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Rob Brown: Walkabout
by Fran Kursztejn
Despite spending the majority of his career as a side man for William Parker and Matthew Shipp, Rob Brown is perhaps the most recognizable alto saxophonist on the East Coast. Recognizable not because he is famous (far from it), but simply because he is rather difficult to mistake. His sound is abrasive, bellowing and free, oozing with a crooning full-force poignancy reminiscent of his late mentor Lee Konitz. Perhaps it is the singular presence of Charlie Parker in his oscillating ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Hyaku: One Hundred Dreams
by Alberto Bazzurro
Inciso al DiMenna Center di New York nel settembre 2022, questo album è forse il migliore, il più importante e ambizioso, realizzato dalla pianista giapponese in tempi recenti (e sappiamo quanto corposa sia la sua produzione da un po' di anni in qua). Basta, da subito, scorrere i nomi coinvolti nel progetto (in special modo il “grande vecchio" Wadada Leo Smith) per rendersene conto. La musica, poi, ci toglie da ogni dubbio o imbarazzo: siamo di fronte a un lavoro ...
Continue ReadingWhit Dickey Quartet: Astral Long Form: Staircase In Space
by Alberto Bazzurro
Al suo secondo album in veste di leader per i tipi della Tao Forms dopo l'eccellente Village Mothership, in trio con Matthew Shipp e William Parker (estensore delle note di copertina di questo nuovo capitolo, inciso nel febbraio 2021), Whit Dickey coglie altrettanto felicemente (e, diremmo, naturalmente) nel segno alla testa di questo quartetto (tutti suoi i brani in scaletta), estremamente agguerrito e forte di individualità (a cominciare da Mat Maneri, uno che caratterizza sempre massicciamente ogni lavoro a cui ...
Continue ReadingSatoko Fujii: Hyaku: One Hundred Dreams
by Dan McClenaghan
Country music artist Merle Haggard (1937 -2016) released 66 studio albums in his day, along with five instrumental recordings and several live and compilation discs. When asked in a late-career interview if his upcoming album was a good one, he answered (paraphrasing). “I don't know. I've made so many I don't know if the next one's any good or not." He was probably pulling the interviewer's leg. It is hard to imagine an artist presenting a new work ...
Continue ReadingFred Moten, Brandon López, Gerald Cleaver: Moten/López/Cleaver
by Mark Corroto
Chuck D of Public Enemy fame once said, “rap music is the CNN of the ghetto." His words, coupled with samples and the scratching of turntables, were revelatory in their day, very much like a five-minute news update. Poet and cultural critic Fred Moten's words are more like a deep dive graduate colloquy. He presents his poetry together with the accomplished improvising musicians, bassist Brandon López and drummer Gerald Cleaver. At a first pass, listeners will certainly be ...
Continue ReadingWhit Dickey Quartet: Root Perspectives
by Mark Corroto
If it were possible to inhale an entire recording, Root Perspectives by drummer Whit Dickey's quartet might be the perfect delivery system. The music Dickey has put together comes as currents of wind, both a breeze and a gale. It is a drummer-led recording, but with any session this drummer leads (or plays in as sideman) his playing always complements without dominating the music. His new quartet includes pianist Matthew Shipp. Together, the pair have recorded dozens of ...
Continue ReadingWhit Dickey Quartet: Astral Long Form: Staircase In Space
by Mark Corroto
As leader of the Whit Dickey Quartet, the drummer placed total faith in his bandmates for this studio session. The accompanying materials quote Dickey, “I asked them all to not think of time too much; I just wanted them to play, not to follow me or each other." Was that instruction made out of confidence or recklessness? One might say reckless if the lineup were other than the seasoned improvisers the leader assembled. Dickey might be best known ...
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