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Geof Bradfield: Colossal Abundance
by Dan Bilawsky
In the summer of 2023, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and trumpeter Chad McCullough launched Calligram Records--a label focusing on the Chicago creative music scene and its branches. The first batch of albums was strong, with showcases for each of the label heads' respective combo projects, trumpeter Russ Johnson's chordless quartet, and newcomer tenorist Arman Sangalang. A wide variety of offerings followed--the global stew of Atlantic Road Trip's first flight, a kicking trio date from guitarist Scott Hesse, a broad-minded gathering with ...
Continue ReadingEthan Philion: Gnosis
by Angelo Leonardi
L'impronta di Charles Mingus torna a caratterizzare il secondo album di Ethan Philion, il contrabbassista di Chicago che ha felicemente debuttato due anni fa con Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside). Rispetto a quel progetto dedicato alle composizioni politiche del contrabbassista ci sono differenze formali e sostanziali che rendono la nuova opera diversa e ancor più coinvolgente: le composizioni sono tutte di Philion (eccetto la mingusiana “What Love," già riscrittura di uno standard di Cole Porter); il tentet di allora è sostituito ...
Continue ReadingChris Rottmayer: Being
by Jack Bowers
On Being, his fourth album as leader, Wisconsin-based pianist Chris Rottmayer has chosen to appraise the music of pianist Mulgrew Miller, as written for and performed by the Woody Shaw Quintet. Russ Johnson sits in for Shaw on trumpet and flugelhorn, while the celebrated bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Matt Endres round out the quartet's capable rhythm section. Half of the album's ten numbers arose from Rottmayer's study of Miller's work with Shaw; the other five are ...
Continue ReadingChris Rottmayer: Being
by Troy Dostert
Pianist Chris Rottmayer has been a valued presence in the Madison, Wisconsin jazz scene for some time, both as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin and as the leader of a couple of well-conceived albums. His Sunday at Pilars (Pilars, 2019) and So in Love (self-released, 2020) reveal a self-assured musician who can handle classic repertoire with authority. But his latest effort, Being, ups the ante by offering a collection of his own compositions, in this instance animated ...
Continue ReadingEthan Philion: Meditations On Mingus
by Angelo Leonardi
Questa rilettura del songbook mingusiano, conferma la potenza evocativa e l'attualità di quelle composizioni. La scelta da Ethan Philion ha privilegiato brani che testimoniamo l'impegno civile e politico del contrabbassista di Nogales e sono particolarmente d'attualità oggi. Il disco di apre con un brano dal titolo emblematico, “Once Upon A Time There Was A Holding Corporation Called Old America," che Charles Mingus non registrò mai in studio ma è presente nella registrazione live (a lungo introvabile) di At ...
Continue ReadingDave Bayles Trio: Live at the Uptowner
by Jack Bowers
Here's a rather unusual lineup for a trio: trumpet, bass and drums. Russ Johnson is the trumpeter, Clay Schaub the bassist, Dave Bayles the drummer and leader. That is rather like assembling the Gerry Mulligan quartet without inviting Mulligan. Bayles' trio was recorded live in February 2023 at the Uptowner nightclub in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it has a regular weekly gig. The concert, which lasts well over an hour, consists of five original compositions by Schaub, three ...
Continue ReadingEthan Philion: Gnosis
by John Chacona
When it comes to making memorable entrances, Ethan Philion is on a par with Seinfeld's Kramer. The Chicago bassist burst into the scene with Meditations on Mingus (Sunnyside Records, 2022), an audacious debut recording on which he arranged familiar selections and deep cuts from the towering jazz bassist Charles Mingus. On Gnosis, the forces are smaller and perhaps so is the ambition of Philion's concept. Yet from the very first notes of “The Boot," which begins with a shriek from ...
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