Jazz Articles about Tom Abbs & Frequency Response

Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Hawthorne

by Karl Ackermann
September 9, 2018

Bassist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Abbs began his Frequency Response series in 2003 with Conscription (CIMP Records). The group--then a quartet--included tenor saxophonist Brian Settles and drummer Chad Taylor. Alto saxophonist Jason Candler, violinists Jean Cook and Jenna Barvitski are later additions to Frequency Response. On their long-awaited fourth album Hawthorne, Abbs again stands in as a one-man orchestra, playing bass, cello, piano, and tuba. Abbs, primarily known as a free improvisational bassist is also an accomplished filmmaker, having ...

Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Hawthorne

by Don Phipps
August 23, 2018

On his album Hawthorne, Brooklyn-based Tom Abbs showcases his mastery of several instruments and writing styles. Combining free, hard bop, world, and blues styles, Abbs's compositions juxtapose explosive exposés of new music with idioms that hearken back to ancient times. Abbs is joined by Jean Cook and Jenna Barvitski on violin, Brian Settles on tenor, Chad Taylor on drums, and Jason Candler on bass clarinet and alto sax. Abbs handles the chores on bass, tuba, piano, and cello. ...

Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Conscription

by Derek Taylor
October 14, 2003

Chances are any sort of artistic enterprise that operates outside the mainstream relies on word of mouth for its survival. Grass roots conscription has been integral to creative improvised music since its beginnings. Bassist/tubaist Tom Abbs knows this truism first hand, having been a founding father of Jump Arts, a non-profit enclave of artists and musicians that seeks to foster free expression by operating on its own terms.

As it turns out, the group is but one ...