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David S. Ware New Quartet: Théâtre Garonne, 2008

by Giuseppe Segala
È giusto ricordare un gigante come David S. Ware. La quantità di energia e poesia che egli convoglia nella propria musica e nel suono poderoso del sax tenore (e stritch) lo accomuna a grandi come Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler. L'etichetta AUM Fidelity lo ricorda con merito nella collana a lui appositamente dedicata, denominata DSW-ARC Series, che ha pubblicato significative documentazioni postume dal vivo del sassofonista, giunte al quinto volume con questo Théâtre Garonne, 2008, che mette in scena ...
Continue ReadingDopolarians: Garden Party

by Giuseppe Segala
Non si potrebbe trovare un titolo più calzante di questo Garden Party, per un disco che in tutta la propria estensione si dipana come un incontro piacevole tra vecchi amici, avvezzi a dialogare in tutta rilassatezza, perché conoscono bene il reciproco carattere, sanno dove il discorso andrà a parare e lo gestiscono in modo leggero. Ma l'incontro non si adagia sul già previsto: non mancano infatti le arguzie inattese, i reciproci stimoli di chi mette in campo tutta la propria ...
Continue ReadingOkuden Quartet: Mat Walerian/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/Hamid Drake: Every Dog Has His Day But It Doesn't Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter

by Karl Ackermann
A student of eastern philosophy and Japanese culture, reed player/composer Mat Walerian coined the Okuden series name from a Japanese word meaning inner teachings." Walerian had studied piano at six and taught himself saxophone while in his teens. He expanded his self-taught regime to include clarinet and flute in 2008-9. Walerian has sporadically taken lessons from Matthew Shipp. His musical interests are broad and he had earlier played classical Japanese music, heavy metal, psychedelic, funk, and jazz. Walerian's original music ...
Continue ReadingEdward 'Kidd' Jordan, Joel Futterman, William Parker, Hamid Drake: A Tribute to Alvin Fielder - Live at Vision Festival XXIV

by Troy Dostert
When the free jazz world lost drummer Alvin Fielder in 2019, it lamented the passing of someone who had in many ways worked to expand the reach of avant-garde jazz, to widen its accessibility to fans and students alike. His well-known status as a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and Black Arts Music Society, not to mention his participation on seminal recordings like Roscoe Mitchell's Sound (Delmark, 1966), should not overshadow his presence ...
Continue ReadingMatthew Shipp String Trio: Symbolic Reality

by John Sharpe
Pianist Matthew Shipp's String Trio reunites three familiar collaborators whose paths cross in multiple settings. Bassist William Parker and violist Mat Maneri complete a line-up unchanged since the triumvirate's debut By The Law Of Music (Hatology, 1997). In the twenty-plus years since that point, they have further cemented their standing in the jazz world as leading stylists on their instruments. In this chamber setting they function as interlocking parts in a mysterious jigsaw which depicts an abstract realm ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Carter, Matthew Shipp. William Parker, Gerald Cleaver: Welcome Adventure Vol. 1

by Mike Jurkovic
It takes all of fifty-seven seconds for Welcome Adventure Vol. 1 to move from what starts as of one of those gnarled but exquisite, corpse-like Matthew Shipp solo mind-opuses into exactly that but with some friends. Friends who want want to swing but in a just-out, avant way. It's where their heads are at the moment and is the advance directive imbued in the spirit of Welcome Adventure Vol. 1. The three performances, Majestic Travel Agency," Scintillate," and ...
Continue ReadingDaniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver: Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1

by Karl Ackermann
When multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp met for an esoteric evening of discussion and music at Tufts University in 2017, the net result was Seraphic Light (AUM Fidelity, 2018). That three-part improvised program was one of the best free improvisation albums of the year. On Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1, the trio expands to a quartet with the addition of drummer Gerald Cleaver. The new formation brings with it a sound different from the first excursion. ...
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