Clean Feed Records: Ravish Momin, Ethan Winogrand & Wishful Thinking

Ravish Momin's Trio Tarana Miren (A Longing) Clean Feed 2007	Ethan Winogrand Tangled Tango Clean Feed 2007	Wishful Thinking Wishful Thinking Clean Feed 2007

Since 2001, the Portuguese label Clean Feed has provided curious listeners with a prolific and sundry catalog of creative musicians from both sides of the Atlantic. With seventy-five-plus releases to date, the latest offerings are global in scope, maintaining high (and wide) standards for new improvised music.

Ravish Momin's Miren (A Longing) featuring Sam Bardfeld (violin) and Brandon Terzic (oud) is informed by both jazz and North Indian classical music, employing additive rhythms, circular melodies and modal approaches to solo construction. Tunes like "Tehrah , "Miren and "What Reward? contain odd-length phrase structures, while "Fiza goes for a suasive bhangra-esque dance beat. Momin's writing varies from the long, catchy contours of "Ragalaya to the quirky leaping gusto of "Fiza . Terzic brings an affinity for the Middle-Eastern maqam system, as evinced by his taqasim-style improvs on "Tehran and "What Reward? , while Bardfeld is a miniaturist, working in small strokes to create larger frescoes.

In contrast to the "modal belt traditions evident in Miren, Ethan Winogrand's Tangled Tango traces its roots to CBGBs punk, '90s neo-funk and the polyrhythmic dexterity of Elvin Jones. The rhythm section - Winogrand (drums), Ross Bonadonna (guitar), Carlos Barretto (acoustic bass), Eric Mingus (electric bass) - is joined by frontliners Steven Bernstein (slide trumpet) and Spaniard Gorka Benitez (tenor sax). Winograd maintains strong compositional control over the cuts, assembling sections that bridge seamlessly. Bonadonna's comping style, more contrapuntal than chordal, contributes to the interactive possibilities of the proceedings, most exemplified on "Crocodilian Wag , an extended exploration beginning with bass and drums, then guitar and tenor, leading finally to a four-way intersection with no stop signs. Like Miren, Tangled Tango is mixed with an ear towards balancing fore- and background elements into a unified soundscape; the albums are also similar in that they are drummer-led groups utilizing sophisticated rhythmic vocabulary and long-form sensibilites.

Wishful Thinking is a joint venture that, like the other releases and consistent with Clean Feed's global scope, draws on an international cast of players: German trumpeter Johannes Krieger, Brazilian tenor saxophonist Alipio Neto, British pianist Alex Maguire and a Portuguese rhythm section consisting of bassist Ricardo Freitas and drummer Rui Gonçalves. A group of leaders, Thinking benefits from the compositional talents of four of its members, particularly Neto, resulting in a diverse menu of tracks. Freitas' bubbly fretless electric bass is an immediate asset, charismatic but not overbearing; Maguire's comping (like Bonadonna's on Tango) is more impressionistic than didactic, while his soloing is splashy, executed with no-note-left-behind bravura. Krieger and Neto are equally excitable and energetic, so the overall tone is driving, yet one of the finest moments occurs during "Lament , a short vignette that finds the group building to and heaving a collective sigh.

Tracks & Personnel

Miren (A Longing)

Tracks: Tehrah; Fiza; Ragalaya; Miren; What Reward?; Fiza.

Personnel: Ravish Momin: drums, percussion, cajon, talking drum; Sam Bardfeld: violin; Brandon Terzic: oud, effects; Tanya Kalmanovitch: viola.

Tangled Tango

Tracks: Broadway Jitters; Transmissions; Successions; Una Vuelta; Tangled Tango; She's Flying Gumbo Low; Nocturnal Snow; Crocodilian Wag; Pickup Sticks; Time to Kill; What Next; Wrapping Paper.

Personnel: Gorka Benitez: tenor & soprano saxophones, flute; Steven Bernstein: trumpet, slide trumpet; Ross Bonadonna: guitar; Carlos Barretto: double bass; Eric Mingus: electric upright bass; Ethan Winogrand: drums.

Wishful Thinking

Tracks: Hina's Fate; John's Fragment; Zombra; 443; Eléctrico 28; Urs's Epitaph - DER HIRT; Bundawar; Buffalo Hill; Ao Lunaj; Shi Jing.

Personnel: Johannes Krieger: trumpet; Alipio C. Neto: tenor saxophone; Alex Maguire: piano; Ricardo Freitas: electric bass; Rui Gonçalves: drums.

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