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Jason Candler
Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Hawthorne

by Karl Ackermann
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 ...
Continue ReadingTom Abbs & Frequency Response: Hawthorne

by Don Phipps
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. ...
Continue ReadingEarth People: Now is Rising

by Florence Wetzel
It's time to welcome another offering from Earth People, one of the most innovative and exciting groups on today's avant-garde scene. The group excels once again with the absolutely fresh Now is Rising, a soulful amalgam of sound that showcases its versatility and formidable gifts. This incarnation includes Andre Martinez on drums and percussion, Jason Candler on alto sax and guitar, Doug Principato on guitar, vocals and keyboards, Francois Grillot on contrabass, Mark Hennen on piano, Sabir Mateen on alto, ...
Continue ReadingEarth People: Simple... Isn't It?

by Rex Butters
Characterizing themselves as “the psychedelic free music experience,” Earth People formed in 2001 after performing together in what would have been a one-time-only TV appearance. In addition to a core of André Martinez, Doug Principato, and Jason Chandler, the band also includes a who’s who of New York musicians, including Karen Borca, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, Mark Hennen, and Francois Grillot. Vocalist M brings a flexible six-octave range that finds its way through thorny passages like smoke. Reed rioteers Carter, ...
Continue ReadingEarth People: Sky Readers

by Florence Wetzel
If the cold weather is keeping you away from the clubs, you can still experience the excitement of a live performance with Sky Readers. The disc captures the art of improvisation, the high wire act that occurs when a song writes itself through musicians and their instruments. And with Earth People, a group composed of skillful and imaginative players, the music is a full-throttle adventure. As the Salvador Dali quote in the liner notes states, “If you understand your painting ...
Continue ReadingEarth People: Simple...Isn

by Terrell Kent Holmes
At one point on the title cut of Simple...Isn't It??, the latest CD by Earth People, the band's enigmatically-named singer, M, purrs, "Would you like...the usual? I didn't think so!" That contempt for the mundane exemplifies this vibrant work of spiritually driven, boundary-busting cadre music. The group's debut CD, Waking the Living, covered some of the same ground but with a slightly larger ensemble. On Simple their roster consists of four members, the music no less potent. ...
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