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Ches Smith’s We All Break: Path of Seven Colors
by Vic Albani
Il fatto che da qualche anno la produzione discografica non sia più nelle strette mani delle multinazionali sta man mano aprendo infinite possibilità per gli artisti più creativi e, quantomeno in questo caso, ai nomi collegabili all'avanguardia. Oramai la situazione è chiarissima per i fruitori della stessa (in breve, a noi ascoltatori). Si brindi dunque e innanzitutto alla pianista-compositrice canadese Kris Davis che ha fondato la Pyroclastic Records nel 2016 (al tempo per trovare sbocco alle sue registrazioni ...
read moreAnna Webber: Idiom
by Mark Corroto
Is Idiom, from composer, saxophonist, and flutist Anna Webber, new classical music or jazz? Yes. Is the music scored or improvised? Again, yes. Last question: Is it demanding or easy on the ears? Both. On the heels of two stellar releases, the septet Clockwise (Pi Recordings, 2019) and the Webber/Morris Big Band recording Both Are True (Greenleaf Music, 2020), Webber was commissioned to present Idiom VI at John Zorn's Stone series. She expanded the material from one track heard on ...
read moreChes Smith / We All Break: Path of Seven Colors
by Karl Ackermann
For some time, drummer/composer Ches Smith kept his interest in the Voudou music of Haiti at bay. Recognizing himself as an outsider in that world, he researched, listened, studied, and after years brought a project to fruition. Smith's group We All Break released their self-titled, self-produced debut in 2017 and received less attention than deserved. Now on Kris Davis' Pyroclastic Records, the outstanding Path of Seven Colors should produce wide recognition. Path of Seven Colors is a two-disc ...
read moreRaf Vertessen Quartet: LOI
by John Sharpe
Belgian drummer Raf Vertessen's quartet unites a mouth-watering array of talent, and he keeps them busy on his leadership debut LOI. Since arriving in Brooklyn, in 2016, Vertessen has dug in deep, enlisting saxophonist Anna Webber, trumpeter Adam O'Farrill and bassist Nick Dunston, all acclaimed leaders in their own right, to realize his charts in a way which allows them full expression while at the same time respecting compositional boundaries drawn largely from the free jazz vernacular. ...
read moreRaf Vertessen: LOI
by Glenn Astarita
Since relocating from his native Belgium to New York City, superb drummer and wily composer Raf Vertessen has ingratiated his talents into the region's always burgeoning improv and avant-garde musicscape, performing with upper-echelon musicians, evidenced on this first-rate debut as a leader. Here, the drummer cites influences from the dynamic international contingent of 1960s free/progressive jazz performers who turned conventional jazz frameworks upside down. The drummer's works include budding layers of sound, by using building blocks amid blossoming ...
read moreNick Dunston: Atlantic Extraction: Live at Threes
by John Sharpe
Bassist Nick Dunston, an alumni of the groups of Vijay Iyer, Dave Douglas and Tyshawn Sorey, was responsible for one of the debuts of 2019, with Atlantic Extraction (Out Of Your Head Records). Taking that title as its name, the same quintet inaugurates OOYH Records digital only Untamed series which aims to release high-quality performances with a quicker turnaround than a traditional studio album. Though more lo-fi than usual, (this one was recorded on an iPhone), the music on this ...
read moreDave Douglas: Engage
by Giuseppe Segala
Nella conduzione della propria etichetta indipendente Greenleaf Music, Dave Douglas ha sempre perseguito criteri di attenzione e rispetto verso lo scambio positivo tra esseri umani, ambiente, forme della convivenza. Composizioni dedicate all'azione positiva": così il trombettista definisce questo lavoro in dodici brani, facendo riferimento ai mesi dell'anno e alle tonalità musicali della tradizione occidentale. Un CD che si pone in diretta continuità con il precedente Uplift, pubblicato nel 2018, applicando gli stessi criteri programmatici, la stessa partizione in dodici brani, ...
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