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Steve Swell: Unlimited Musical Possibilities
by Victor L. Schermer
"Free Jazz" and “Avant-Garde Jazz" are catch phrases often associated with musical pioneers such as Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor but more broadly refer to music that goes outside of the mainstream of melody, harmony, rhythm, and structure. When that happens, opinions and emotions abound. Reactions vary from disgust to excitement and enthusiasm, and it is rare to find a balanced view on the subject. The question arises, why does the same music so strongly attract and repel? To seek ...
Continue ReadingSabir Mateen – Frode Gjerstad: Sound Gathering
by AAJ Italy Staff
Inciso a Brooklyn nel settembre 2007, questo bell'album vede coagire due storici (per quanto appartati) alfieri della free music quali il norvegese Gierstad, classe 1948, e il neroamericano Mateen (Philadelphia, 1951), ospite l'almeno altrettanto glorioso trombonista Steve Swell, musicisti sui cui palmares incontriamo i nomi di William Parker, Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray, Lol Coxhill, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, Han Bennink, Bill Dixon, Anthony Braxton e innumerevoli altri numi tutelari dell'avanguardia jazzistica. Tanta generosità di collaborazioni trova puntuale riscontro ...
Continue ReadingSteve Swell: Steve Swell's Slammin' The Infinite
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Using something that Walt Whitman said about prolific writing, trombonist Steve Swell posits that the more he creates--the more he writes and therefore performs--the more likely he is to produce something worthwhile. Although he does not mention it, this also suggests pushing the boundaries and being nonjudgmental about any of his work until he arrives at something of substantive value. What this might be is impossible to predict, until it is actually created and performed, and the response to it ...
Continue ReadingSteve Swell: Sound Miracles
by Gordon Marshall
Trombonist Steve Swell captures the energy of a big band in the close quarters of a small group. An alumnus of Buddy Rich's and Lionel Hampton's bands on the one hand, and collaborator with Anthony Braxton on the other, he seems bound to have fixed upon such a hybrid configuration at some point. But how an artist could exhibit such stylistic range and adaptability to begin with, and on top of that reconcile them in a career that has already ...
Continue ReadingSteve Swell's Slammin' The Infinite: 5000 Poems
by John Sharpe
There was a time when the addition of a chordal instrument such as piano to a horn-led free jazz quartet would have been viewed as a nod to the mainstream. But not the case now and especially not when the pianist in question is John Blum and the group is trombonist Steve Swell's Slammin' The Infinite. Underground legend Blum stays on board for their fourth outing after his guest appearance on Live At The Vision Festival (Not Two, 2008) and ...
Continue ReadingSteve Swell: Planet Dream
by AAJ Italy Staff
La costruzione di un processo creativo condiviso è sempre stata la centro dell'interesse del trombonista Steve Swell, musicista le cui notevoli qualità di improvvisatore non sempre trovano il giusto riconoscimento. Planet Dream, in trio con il sax contralto di Rob Brown e il violoncello di Daniel Levin, si muove proprio sulla condivisione delle traiettorie improvvisative, sulla creazione di un obbiettivo espressivo comune che si nutre delle identità dei singoli musicisti per aprirne il lessico all'inaspettato. In questo senso, il preciso ...
Continue ReadingGebhard Ullmann: Don't Touch My Music voll.1 & 2
by AAJ Italy Staff
La Not Two è una label polacca che oltre a testimoniare il meglio del jazz autoctono dedica grande attenzione alla musica creativa proveniente dal resto dell'Europa e, soprattutto, da Oltreoceano. Il catalogo che si è venuto a formare nel corso degli anni si è arricchito di testimonianze importanti con artisti quali Anthony Braxton, Satoko Fujii, Ganelin Trio, Mattew Shipp e Ken Vandermark Five, quest'ultimo con il fantastico 10 CD box Alchemia. E Alchemia è il nome del jazz club di ...
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