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Ches Smith: Interpret It Well
by Karl Ackermann
Ches Smith's extraordinary Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic Records, 2021) was a breakout recording that placed the drummer/composer at the top of many year-end lists. His sophomore outing on Kris Davis' label bears little similarity to his Pyroclastic debut beyond the artist's knack for discovering unexplored terrain. Interpret It Well reunites the trio of pianist Craig Taborn, violist Mat Maneri, and Smith (The Bell (ECM, 2016)) and adds guitarist Bill Frisell. With these master improvisers in place, Smith ...
Continue ReadingChes Smith: Interpret It Well
by Troy Dostert
Ches Smith is a drummer who can make an immediate impact in a number of ways. His work as a sideman with everyone from John Zorn to Ben Goldberg to Tim Berne is ample evidence of his rhythmic range. But his own projects are just as inventive, from the punkish mania of Hammered (Clean Feed, 2013) to the re-imagined Haitian Voudou on 2021's Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic). If there is a common thread, it is probably found in Smith's ...
Continue ReadingBrand New Releases
by Bob Osborne
This week new albums from Enrique Peña, Gary Eastman, Shawn Maxwell and Philippe Côté with Marc Copland. Also, continuing my look at the recent releases by Craig Taborn and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with their suites inspired by Dewey Redman and Anthony Braxton.Playlist Enrique Peña “Gris" from Intersticios (ears&eyes) 00:00 The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra “The Very Thought Of You" from Where Rivers Meet (Bandcamp) 05:35 Dewey Redman “If I Should Lose You" from Living On The ...
Continue ReadingCraig Taborn: Shadow Plays
by Mike Jurkovic
Recorded with stunning clarity of sound and a brave vision, at Vienna's Mozart-Saal of the Wiener Konzerthaus in March 2020, Craig Taborn's visceral variations on a theme and quixotic poetics rise and fall majestically on Shadow Plays, a bold, fully-rendered successor to his last solo ECM outing Avenging Angel (2011) The rapturously inquisitive Taborn absorbs listeners immediately into his creative space by employing chiming arpeggios (like flocks of birds) and chords of doom to introduce the venturesome, seventeen-minute ...
Continue ReadingBrass And Ivory Tales
by Hrayr Attarian
Innovative saxophonist Ivo Perelman celebrates his 60th birthday with the release of a magnum opus, Brass And Ivory Tales. Recorded over a period of seven years, this nine-volume box set is impressive in both its depth and breath as it matches Perelman with a different piano master per disc. The improvised duets are usually the first documented meeting between the two musicians and the instant and rapidly evolving synergy is fresh and thrilling. Both remarkable and expected is Perelman's ability ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman: Brass And Ivory Tales
by Mark Corroto
Archeologists and cultural anthropologists theorize early humans had some form of music appreciation. They listened to the sounds wind made as it passed through trees. The breeze sounded different passing through oak than it did fir trees, and the sound was altered whether it was spring or fall. Then there were the bird songs, the first Lennon & McCartneys of the stone age. Early man replicated these melodies, with bones that could be whittled into horns or used to recreate ...
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