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Oliver Lake: Right Up On
by Roger Farbey
Despite having performed with the Flux Quartet since as long ago as 2002, this is actually the first recording of compositions by saxophonist Oliver Lake featuring the Quartet. Lake himself is a septuagenarian of renown having been a founder member of the World Saxophone Quartet and Trio 3 with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille (whose Time Being album on Intakt is released this year), to name just a couple of examples. Taking his cue more from György Ligeti ...
Continue ReadingGenerations Quartet: Oliver Lake/Joe Fonda/Michael Jefrys Stevens/Emil Gross: Flow
by Karl Ackermann
As the name would imply, the Generations Quartet spans the ages of its personnel. An off-shoot (of sorts) from the Trio Generations group, it's a semantic difference as saxophone legend Oliver Lake was a guest in the lineup that performed in 2015. From that same tour, we get Flow, a festive exercise of freedom and comradery that could only be realized by a team with the wealth of experience and talent gathered here. Recorded live (but non-sequentially) in Germany, it ...
Continue ReadingMichael Jefry Stevens: Flow
by Budd Kopman
Pianist Michael Jefry Stevens has been involved in many projects in his career over the past forty years. The Generations Quartet started out as a trio six years ago, consisting of Stevens with his long-time musical partner, bassist Joe Fonda and newcomer, drummer Emil Gross. The trio became a quartet with the addition of saxophonist (and Renaissance Man) Oliver Lake, perhaps best known for founding the World Saxophone Quartet with saxophonists David Murray, Julius Hemphill and Hamiet Bluiett.
Continue ReadingOliver Lake / William Parker: To Roy
by John Sharpe
Bassist William Parker has formed productive liaisons with some wonderfully expressive alto saxophone players in the past--Rob Brown and Jemeel Moondoc both spring to mind. But To Roy represents his first time on record with Oliver Lake, best known as a third of Trio 3 and a quarter of the World Saxophone Quartet. They recorded their duo album during the month of dedicatee trumpeter Roy Campbell's unexpected passing at age 61 in January 2014. Each brings a sheaf of compositions ...
Continue ReadingOliver Lake, William Parker: To Roy
by Stefano Merighi
Non mi risulta che Oliver Lake e William Parker abbiano mai collaborato prima di questo ottimo To Roy, almeno in studio. Dal vivo avevano comunemente affiancato la compositrice e suonatrice di zither coreana Jin Hi Kim. E probabilmente si saranno incontrati più volte nei club newyorkesi in tutti questi anni. Ma poco importa. Il loro magistero si illumina naturalmente a vicenda, lasciando scorrere più l'intuito dell'immediatezza che la riflessione soppesata. Sembra spesso che i due si siano ...
Continue ReadingOliver Lake - William Parker: To Roy
by Glenn Astarita
To Roy is dedicated to the late trumpeter Roy Campbell Jr., who had risen among the ranks as a first-call session artist amid a fruitful career as a leader. He was an astute and powerful improviser who succumbed to cardiovascular disease on January 9, 2014. And this album signifies the first collaboration between ultra-modern jazz giants, bassist William Parker and saxophonist Oliver Lake. It's a tightly focused encounter, where the musicians engage in plentiful call and response activities ...
Continue ReadingKatja Cruz, Oliver Lake: Hexaphone
by Alberto Bazzurro
Registrato dal vivo a Graz nel dicembre 2012, Hexaphone (sottotitolo The Cosmology of Improvised Music) ha svariati pregi, fra cui quello di offrire i sette ampi brani che lo compongono sia in versione audio che video. Certo, ciò potrà indurre più d'uno a tuffarsi a pesce sul DVD, anche in considerazione del fatto che la componente visiva è sostanziale, nel progetto, ma un ascolto puro, senza l'aggiunta delle immagini, consentirà per parte sua di concentrarsi unicamente sulla musica, non senza ...
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