Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Territory Band: Collide

176

Territory Band: Collide

By

View read count
Territory Band: Collide
Collide is Ken Vandermark's sixth release for his transatlantic small big band (or is it a large small group?) of American jazz meets European improvisers. Unlike the prior sessions, this disc is comprised of a single composition, divided into five parts.



The Territory Band has, at its core, players who execute Vandermark's writing with a satisfying proportion of improvised and ensemble playing that has as its contemporaries bands like the Brötzmann Tentet, the ICP Orchestra, and Barry Guy's LJCO. Vandermark has always acknowledged these bands, but this recording brings to mind another band that had ties to his Chicago scene. The music heard on Collide is solidly in the tradition of Sun Ra's vision.



The five-part composition, recorded live in 2006 at Chicago's Millennium Park, opens with a spirited swing. This kind of acknowledgment to jazz history finds Axel Doerner playing some blues-inflected trumpet over the composed parts, only to open things up to the strings of cellist Fred Longberg-Holm and guitarist David Stackenäs. Certainly the crowd felt the groove as saxophonist Fred Anderson strolled into "Part 2, and we hear his signature tenor sound blowing huge notes. The world twists in an odd direction with Lasse Marhaugs electronic accompaniment, a sort of burning electronics akin to a G.X. Jupitter-Larsen' deconstruction. The tradition has morphed, as suddenly the group's swinging is challenged by the digital future. Never fear, the composed section and its beat returns. Anderson deals with the electronics and the ensemble, soloing in front and over the energy systems created.



Part 4 is the culmination of the piece, with the band working at full strength. Vandermark's composition is tested, expanded, and driven hard here. To his credit the music, held together by dual percussionists Paul Lytton and Paal Nilssen-Lovem, is never confused nor does it dissolve into chaos. The last part opens with the drummers calling the session to conclusion. The music churns, not unlike a Brötzmann Tentet, but the true spirit is that of Sun Ra and his love of all things ceremonial. Did the musicians have the urge to parade through the audience carrying Fred Anderson on their shoulders? I bet they did.

Track Listing

Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5.

Personnel

Ken Vandermark
saxophone

Axel Doerner: trumpets; Per-

Album information

Title: Collide | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: Okka Disk

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Ken Vandermark Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.