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Whit Dickey/Kirk Knuffke: Drone Dream
If the duo of drummer Whit Dickey and cornetist Kirk Knuffke were a baseball team, their signature style would be small ball, the opposite of towering home runs and 100 mph fast balls. They would win games like they sound here with tight efficient playing. They lay down perfect bunts and easily turn the double play with these improvisations. Opening with “Soaring," the sounds hesitates without being reluctant. Neither party, both of whom have the ability, attempts to overwhelm the ...
read moreSunny Murray: Homework
Sunny Murray, who died in December 2017, was one of the pioneers of free-jazz drumming, having established himself on seminal discs with pianist Cecil Taylor and saxophonist Albert Ayler during the 1960s. Homework presents Murray in 1994 in a bare-bones trio format with a pair of young Philadelphia musicians who went on to work in indie rock. Guitarist Robert Andreano, then 22 years old, relates in the liner notes how his friendship with Murray developed and the idea to record ...
read moreSam Rivers: Emanation
This unissued 1971 live date from the Jazz Workshop in Boston is the first in a projected eight volume series sourced from the personal archive of the multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers, who died in 2011. It captures Rivers with his trio of the period, completed by bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Norman Connors, over two freewheeling sets. Rivers was one of the most significant voices in the 1960s avant-garde. He recorded classic albums for Blue Note, was a founder member of ...
read moreFrode Gjerstad: Day Two
Detail was a band ahead of its time. The co-operative trio formed in 1981 by Norwegian reedman Frode Gjerstad and English drummer John Stevens, was completed in its first incarnation by South African bassist Johnny Dyani. Day Two was recorded in Gjerstad's hometown Stavanger, and as the name suggests, it was the result of the second day in the studio, following on from the session which generated Backwards And Forwards (Impetus, 1982). Originally released by Gjerstad as Okhela in cassette ...
read moreWhit Dickey/Kirk Knuffke: Drone Dream
Duets with drummers form the bedrock of cornetist Kirk Knuffke's whole musical experience, ever since jamming with a friend in high school. Consequently, Drone Dream constitutes the third such twosome to appear in his discography. And he obviously finds drummer Whit Dickey--still best known for his tenure with fiery saxophonist David S. Ware and adventurous pianist Matthew Shipp--a sympathetic foil as it's the second entry with him behind the traps, following on from Fierce Silence (Clean Feed, 2016). The wonderful ...
read moreThe Attic: Summer Bummer
No, the title of the latest release from The Attic, a free-improvisational trio comprised of Rodrigo Amado, Gonçalo Almeida and Onno Govaert, has nothing to do with the track by Lana Del Rey. It is instead taken from the name of the Summer Bummer Festival, at which this superb group performed in Antwerp, Belgium in 2018. Known widely as a tenor saxophonist who resolutely shuns compositions and prefers to play completely free, Amado has gained significant acclaim for his work ...
read moreThe Attic: Summer Bummer
Although the cover painting might be interpreted as a comment on the two-dimensional nature of beach holidays, the title actually derives from the name of the festival in Antwerp where this invigorating free jazz by The Attic was recorded. It's the second outing by the band, which takes its name from its eponymous debut (NoBusiness, 2017). The outfit comprises Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, a muscular tenor gaining in stature with each successive release, his countryman bassist Gonçalo Almeida and up-and-coming ...
read moreWadada Leo Smith / Sabu Toyozumi: Burning Meditation
The Japanese concept of ma—a celebration of the space between things—is one to which trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith can readily subscribe. Space and silence are as important as sound in his conception. The weight given to the pauses between phrases stands out on this live recording from 1994 with Japanese drummer Sabu Toyozumi, which forms another winning installment in the Chap Chap series of archival recordings from Japan which see the light of day thanks to licensing to the Lithuanian ...
read moreHoward Riley: Live In The USA
This archival issue should further bolster British pianist Howard Riley's place among the top rank. Riley first came to prominence with the advent of his pioneering trio with bassist Barry Guy and various drummers including Tony Oxley, which extended yet further the egalitarian template first established by Bill Evans and Paul Bley. However Live In the USA is a forward looking outing in the unaccompanied format Riley has made his own throughout a career which has seen more than fifteen ...
read moreBobby Bradford / Hafez Modirzadeh Quartet: Live At The Blue Whale
This is the third album from the fertile pairing of cornetist Bobby Bradford and reedman Hafez Modirzadeh. Each time they have been joined by a different rhythm section: Ken Filiano and Royal Hartigan on Live At The Magic Triangle (NoBusiness, 2017), and Mark Dresser and Alex Cline on Live At The Open Gate (NoBusiness, 2016). This time out the team stoking the engine room comprises bassist Roberto Miranda and drummer Vijay Anderson. In keeping with past sessions, everyone brings charts ...
read moreLiudas Mockūnas: Hydro 2
Hydro 2 is water music, but it's not to be confused with the orchestral pieces composed by George Frideric Handel back in the early 18th century. Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas is headed even further back in time, back to some Darwinian vision of evolution from the murky primordial seas, forward to our bipedal momentum. Note: If you happen to be a follower of creationism, you might want to skip forward a bit here. Mockūnas, who might be best known as ...
read moreChoi Sun Bae: Arirang Fantasy
A 1995 meeting in Tokyo between Korean and Japanese proponents of the art of free jazz furnishes another entry in the Chap Chap series of improvised encounters issued by the Lithuanian NoBusiness imprint. From Korea, Arirang Fantasy introduces trumpeter Choi Sun Bae, who also features alongside Japanese trumpeter Itaru Oki on Kami Fusen (NoBusiness, 2017), and celebrated percussionist Kim Dae Hwan, who was also a famous calligraphist, and performed with Butch Morris. Completing the group are the ...
read moreShowcase
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A Moment of You by Daniela Soledade
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It's Morning by Led Bib
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Playing The Room by Avishai Cohen - Trumpet
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Roma by Enrico Rava
