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Alex Weiss: Most Don't Have Enough
by Robert Middleton
This album is really special. It doesn't sound like anything else and every song is engaging and interesting. The titles of the songs are also fascinating. Even the collage cover is great and seems to reflect the music. Tenor saxophonist Alex Weiss started writing Most Don't Have Enough during the pandemic and went deep into writing and practicing. Much of the inspiration came from Chris Speed, as Weiss is a big fan of his writing and his tone. ...
Continue ReadingTrevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec folie à quatre: Séances
by Vic Albani
Nel peculiare universo del “jazz obliquo" contemporaneo il bassista Trevor Dunn, ben conosciuto a chi approda spesso sulle spiagge del signor John Zorn, esiste da sempre un ben conosciuto e mai ben definito mondo di ricerca complessa e collegata ai mille meandri della mente umana. Racconta dunque Dunn che nella Francia del XVIII secolo esisteva una setta di cristiani, considerata eretica dai compagni servi di Dio, chiamata i Convulsionari di Saint-Médard. Dopo la morte di un amato diacono, ...
Continue ReadingErik Friedlander: A Queens' Firefly
by Vincenzo Roggero
Il violoncello di Erik Friedlander, dolcissimo, introduce la melodia, poi gradualmente le altre voci si aggiungono con delicatezza, quasi con circospezione a dar forma a una ballad sognante. È la title track, il brano che apre il disco e sembrerebbe marcare in qualche modo il terreno, garantire coordinate di viaggio sicure. Succede invece che già la successiva «Match Strikes» sembra perdere il segnale e scombinare traiettorie, con il pizzicato e le svisate del violoncello, le leggere dissonanze ...
Continue ReadingTrevor Dunn: Séances
by Mike Jurkovic
Holy bank shot Batman! Is Seances, (bassist Trevor Dunn's dissertation on the how humans tend to forget and repeat, ever a radical and electrifying take on things. Anything and everything goes the distance for Dunn and the combined mad genius of his Trio-Covulsant cronies, wickedly cool guitarist Mary Halvorson and the chaotic meter of drummer Ches Smith. It has been eighteen turbulent years since this threesome last convened for the opaquely conversant Sister Phantom Owl Fish (Ipecac, 2004) ...
Continue ReadingTrevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec Folie À Quatre: Séances
by Mark Corroto
If you thought the Hang Mike Pence and Three Percenters crowd are just a phenomenon of the 21st century, let me introduce you to the Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard, an 18th century Christian sect with the hysterical practices of coprophagia (yes, eating feces), spontaneous milk-vomiting and levitation. After the established religious authorities cracked down on the Convulsionnaires, many were sent to mental asylums, but others continued with less public séances or 'sessions.' Composer and bassist Trevor Dunn unearths this ...
Continue ReadingChes Smith, Gretchen Parlato, Sam Rivers and Others
by Jerome Wilson
This is, as usual, an extremely eclectic show, this time featuring big bands, vocalists, some Latin flavors and much more. Artists heard on the show include Ches Smith, Martin Bejerano, Sam Rivers, Gretchen Parlato and the David Sanford Big Band. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 David Sills Double Guitar Quintet “Nardis" from Natural Lines (Gut String) 00:52 Ernie ...
Continue ReadingErik Friedlander: A Queens' Firefly
by Troy Dostert
When a cello is your calling card, it is only to be expected that the “chamber jazz" label will tend to follow you around--and so it has for Erik Friedlander, although that term hardly does justice to the variegated possibilities he sets in motion through his assorted projects. Having worked with a “who's who" list of cutting-edge musicians including Myra Melford, Dave Douglas, Sylvie Courvoisier, John Zorn, and countless others including artists well outside the jazz world such as the ...
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