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Joe Morris Bass Quartet: High Definition
by AAJ Italy Staff
Assai più noto come chitarrista originale, stilisticamente poco assimilabile a qualsiasi modello di riferimento nell'ambito dell'improvvisazione, il bostoniano Joe Morris ha da qualche anno allargato la sua attenzione anche verso il contrabbasso, strumento con il quale non raggiunge l'eccellenza della sei corde, ma che gli consente di ampliare ulteriormente i propri orizzonti espressivi, cabina di comando ideale per interagire, indirizzare, sollecitare in tempo reale l'organizzazione sonora delle esecuzioni. Il tratto distintivo di questo High Definition è un gioco di rimandi, ...
Continue ReadingJoe Morris - Barre Phillips: Elm City Duets 2006
by AAJ Italy Staff
A volte si intrecciano e si avvinghiano in un abraccio quasi soffocante, altre volte sembrano ignorarsi seguendo traiettorie apparentemente distanti, a volte sembrano intasare tutto lo spazio disponibile, altre volte rispettano un religioso silenzio, quasi timorosi di invadere il terreno altrui. Stiamo parlando del contrabbasso di Barre Phillips e della chitarra acustica di Joe Morris, impegnati in otto duetti registrati per la sempre più interessante etichetta portoghese Clean Feed. Ma Elm City Duets 2006 è soprattutto una questione di corde, ...
Continue ReadingJoe Morris Bass Quartet: High Definition
by Troy Collins
One of today's most iconoclastic jazz guitarists, Joe Morris is a staunch tonal purist whose crisp, spidery cadences and blistering angular runs are legendary in the jazz underground. Seeking new avenues for expression, Morris added upright bass to his instrumental arsenal in 2000. Since then, he has split his time between leading his own ensembles as a guitarist and playing bass as a sideman with fellow artists Rob Brown, Whit Dickey, Steve Lantner, Daniel Levin, and Matthew Shipp. ...
Continue ReadingJoe Morris Bass Quartet: High Definition
by Glenn Astarita
Joe Morris has often switched between guitars and bass throughout his rather fruitful recorded legacy. He's spiraled toward the zenith of modern day progressive/avant-garde jazz artists via his numerous solo ventures and collaborations. High Definition might well stand as one of his crowning achievements, where he performs exclusively on bass while serving as the director of operations.
Morris remains entrenched in the winners' circle, given the impressive scope of this top-flight band. With multi-reedman Alan Chase and multi-hornist ...
Continue ReadingJoe Morris: What You Can Throw & The Story of Mankind
by Clifford Allen
When guitarist Joe Morris began playing contrabass in outfits with alto saxophonist Rob Brown, drummer Whit Dickey and others at the beginning of the 2000s, it might have struck some as a surprise. But whatever the differences in requirements between those two instruments, Morris' central axis as both player and composer is rhythm birthing flight. And indeed, the spread of these two instruments merges most in the fact that the same person propels them. Two recent trio releases, ...
Continue ReadingBelogenis/Downs/Morris: The Flow
by Jeff Stockton
You've heard the news: The music business is in shambles. Major labels have seen computers take a big bite out of their profits and rather than adapt, they prefer to sue. Independent labels aren't faring much better and independent jazz labels are faring worse than that. Foreign labels even have to contend with a declining dollar, raising prices on the members of their already shallow pool of American buyers. Leave it to Ayler Records of Sweden to ...
Continue ReadingMorris - Vandermark - Gray: Rebus
by AAJ Italy Staff
Alla fine un rebus è un rompicapo. I solutori hanno solo una manciata di lettere a disposizione e devono spremere molto le meningi per trovare il bandolo della questione. Partiamo dagli elementi noti: la chitarra di Joe Morris, abrasiva e isterica come non mai, un Ken Vandermark dedito esclusivamente al sassofono tenore e la batteria frammentata di Luther Gray. Il disco, registrato in studio, segue di soli due giorni la performance del trio al Tonic di New York, nel gennaio ...
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