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Ivo Perelman and Nate Wooley: Polarity 3
by Hrayr Attarian
The stimulating Polarity 3 is the third installment in a series of spontaneous duets between innovative saxophonist Ivo Perelman and equally creative trumpeter Nate Wooley. On these 10 tracks, the two improvisers use silent pauses to craft haunting atmospheres and contemplative melodies. The performances are akin to two complimentary yet independent introspective musings. Languid, wistful tones from both men start off the opener “One." The soft howls and undulating refrains are interspersed in the hypnotic quietude and thus ...
Continue ReadingModney: Ascending Primes
by Vincenzo Roggero
"Ascender" ti investe con la forza di un uragano. Poco più di sette minuti dove il solitario violino di Joshua Modney, collegato ad un pedale distorsore, scatena un'onda d'urto di emozioni che stordisce. Ingannati da un inizio che ha le cadenze di una ballata folk improvvisamente il suono si stratifica, ruggisce, deborda in rumore, rende lo spazio denso e grumoso salvo poi scivolare in una dolcezza apparente, strattonata com'è da dissonanze e armonici. È l'apertura di Ascending Primes, ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by John Sharpe
Even though pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen on hand for Chimaera, the six-piece band is a long way from being merely the storied threesome, which made Double Windsor (Tzadik, 2014), D'Agala (Intakt, 2018) and Free Hoops (Intakt, 2020), plus added guests. As she explains in the liners, the music was originally commissioned for the 2021 Sons d'Hiver festival in Paris and was inspired by the surreal works of French Symbolist artist ...
Continue ReadingChes Smith: Laugh Ash
by Glenn Astarita
Ches Smith's Laugh Ash is not your garden-variety jazz concoction. Instead, it is a genre-defying, shape-twisting auditory escapade that does not just push the envelope--it sends it soaring into the stratosphere. It is both bewildering and bedazzling. These compositions stand as a towering testament to Smith's impressive acumen as a drummer, percussionist, and composer, a veritable Houdini of the music world who escapes the shackles of convention to chart a mesmerizing course through uncharted musical terrains.Right from the ...
Continue ReadingChes Smith: Laugh Ash
by Vic Albani
Dopo lo straordinario lavoro dedicato al Vudù haitiano del 2021 (Path of Seven Colors) anch'esso uscito per la straordinaria Pyroclastic Records di Kris Davis, il batterista, percussionista e compositore Ches Smith, acclamato dal New York Times come “uno dei batteristi più dinamici della scena sperimentale del pianeta," colpisce ancora con un nuovo sorprendente lavoro immensamente variegato, sorprendente (bisognerebbe scriverlo almeno due volte una dopo l'altra) ed imprevedibile sotto ogni punto di vista. La singolare visione musicale del musicista ...
Continue ReadingIvo Perelman, Nate Wooley, Mat Maneri, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Joe Morris, Matt Moran: Seven Skies Orchestra
by Hrayr Attarian
Ever the intrepid innovator, saxophonist Ivo Perelman takes his music in a new direction on the double-disc set, Seven Skies Orchestra. After a long series, primarily of duets, Perelman returns to a larger ensemble setting, a sextet in this case. That is not the only difference between this release and his previous output; the music here, although still entirely improvised and easily recognizable as Perelman's, moves in a more spacious, contemplative direction, less introspective and more outgoing. Vibraphonist ...
Continue ReadingSylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by Troy Dostert
It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...
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