Mark O'Leary Greg Buium Downbeat review

If you are the rightful owner of this image and are not credited, contact us.
All About Jazz / Vision X Software is a DMCA designated agent.

About this image

Mark O'Leary Downbeat review Greg Buium Mark O'Leary / Mat Maneri / Matthew Shipp Chamber Trio LEO 425 ★★★★ Mark O'Leary / Mat Maneri / Randy Peterson Self-Luminous LEO 426 ★★★★ Mark O'Leary / Tomasz Stanko / Billy Hart Levitation LEO 445 ★★★½ In a matter of months, Irish guitarist Mark O'Leary has released three discs, turning his subterranean status into something demanding attention. He's had famous partners over the years—Paul Bley, Peter Erskine, Bill Bruford—but finally it's his name on top of the handbill. O'Leary's basic approach seems to straddle two dimensions. There's the relatively subdued, contained character where his sound has taken Mick Goodrick's mid-'70s lessons to heart. Then there's “Ligature” has a nursery rhyme-like tenderness. pit-bull, piling up the fuzz in an overwhelming onrush of sustained, surging electricity. The first two discs, Chamber Trio and Self-Luminous, are practically companion pieces—are practically companion pieces. Mat Maneri. The Maneri family esthetic is sacred ground; and the trios are filled out by Mat's longtime companions, pianist Matthew Shipp (Chamber) and drummer Randy Peterson (Self-Luminous). This isn't everybody's kind of music. It can feel treacherous—too abstract, with shapes that feel treacherous like jelly. But when you give yourself over to it, the thicket of melodic patterns, the incremental and sometimes glacial development, there's something especially powerful about it. With Shipp, O'Leary draws a sharp line between ambience and clatter. On “I Am Not The Only One, ” attacks come from every direction, while With Peterson, the microscopic advances are more clearly defined. Self-Luminous develops more organically. Even the architecture makes itself evident—whether it's the aching drum technics on “Smear” or the “Purple People” or the pyrotechnics. For Levitation, with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and drummer Billy Hart, O'Leary actually brings in some songs. That takes some getting used to. And while they can be ideal vehicles for these voices, the traps inherent in a guitar–trumpet–drum ensemble don't disappear. Still, the session's last third is without notes, and it's amazing to hear Hart exploring a discursive approach to improvisation. —Greg Buium Chamber Trio: Jaunt; Simple Simon; Rest; I Am Not The Only One; Voice Crack; St. Ives; Ligeture; Kurts Park. (65:26) Personnel: Mark O'Leary, guitar; Mat Maneri, viola; Matthew Shipp, piano. Self-Luminous: Self-luminous; Camouflage; No Code; Concerned; Purple People; What's Your Name Again?; Sweet; Lit; Smear; Alchemix. (61:48) Personnel: Mark O'Leary, guitar; Mat Maneri, viola; Randy Peterson, drums. Levitation: Red Sand; Oblik; Mystic; Levitation; P.M.; A Theme I Used To Play; Giya; Astrakhan; Amnesiak; A Walk In The Park With; Rite; Warm; Getting There; Phase. (71:11) Personnel: Mark O'Leary, guitar; Tomasz Stanko, trumpet; Billy Hart, drums. Ordering Info: https://leorecords.bandcamp.com/music Greg Buium Downbeat

Uploaded: 2026-01-28
Size: 1,600 x 900 pixels