Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Various Artists: No W... Now!

125

Various Artists: No W... Now!

By

View read count
Various Artists: No W... Now!
In the interests of full disclosure, it should be stated that No W... Now! is an expressly political CD. It is subtitled "A Musical Petition Against George W. Bush," and proceeds from its sale go to the liberal organization Not In Our Name. While this reviewer has liberal politics, it is fair and appropriate that this review will concern itself entirely with the music.

Not everything here is jazz. Most of the music is what is loosely classified as the "downtown" school. There's some static, drone-based improvisation, such as the Unstable Ensemble's "Gob Wee Shrub." Elliott Sharp's "These Days" is a fascinating construct of extended guitar techniques and laptop-generated sound. On the other hand, there's "Hey George," an obscenity-laced bit of punk rock.

The jazz performances here are free or fusion, and they're mostly very good. The rubato deconstruction of "Study War No More" by R. Ruzow's Subterraneans brims with agony, beauty, and excellent ensemble playing. "The March Of The Fourth Reich" by the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is aggressive, ominous fusion. Jack Wright's "There's No Music Like No Music" is an unaccompanied soprano sax solo, full of unpredictable lines and sounds that slowly but surely draw the committed listener in to a heartfelt core.

The rest of the music varies widely in genre and quality, and includes some protest songs composed for this recording, some electronica, and a bit more free jazz. Because No W... Now! is tied in with a liberal advocacy group, and because the views of Not In Our Name do not necessarily represent those of All About Jazz (or this reviewer's, entirely), it's hard to recommend this one without serious reservations. There isn't a lot of jazz on it, and some tracks are crude or uneventful, but if you're a devotee of downtown music in all its diversity and you sympathize with the goals of Not In Our Name, then by all means check it out.

Visit Passive Aggressive Records on the web.

Track Listing

Post Cold War Guilt Song, Study War No More, My Country, The March Of The Fourth Reich, These Days, Illuminated, Rhrr, Let Running Dog Imperialists Lie, There's No W In President, No Fair, There's No Music Like No Music, Hey George, Excerpt from "Thomas Paine", Gob Wee Shrub, A Poem Of Change, Turkeys In Texas.

Personnel

Andrew Elliott, vocal; Roger Ruzow, trumpet; Neil Starkey, bass; Jamie Shepard, percussion; The Sleepwalker, guitar, vocals; Reed Mathis, bass; Brian Haas, electric piano; Jason Smart, drums; Elliott Sharp, guitar, laptop; Newpoetic; Scott Rosenberg, baritone sax; Tom Surgal, percussion; Lin Culbertson, keyboards; Brady Sansone, guitar, tape recorder; Kyle Bruckmann, organ, vocals; Kurt Johnson, bass; Philip Montoro, drums; Mark Stevens, drums; Jack Wright, soprano sax; Threat Language; Loren Connors, guitar; Neel Murgai, guitar; Andrew Burnes, piano; Marty Belcher, tenor sax; Jason Bivins, guitar; Joe Donnelly, baritone sax; Matt Griffin, percussion; Eric Weddle, electronics; Pauline Oliveros, accordion, electronics, vocal; Lea Jones, guitar, vocal.

Album information

Title: No W... Now! | Year Released: 2004

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Various Artists 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

Hold On
Mark Winkler
The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle
Ben Thomas Tango Project
Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates

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.