Jazz Articles
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The Eternals: Espiritu Zombi
by Mark Corroto
Adventurist listeners want more from their music. That's why they venture into jazz, world, and improvised music. If you were a fan of the Talking Heads in the 1970s and 80s, the band's expanded lineup of backing singers and percussionists, plus keyboardist Bernie Worrell and guitarist Adrian Belew propelled the band out of its new wave niche and into an African flavored global sound. Same can be said for Chicago's The Eternals. Originally a duo of Damon Locks and Wayne ...
read moreAva Mendoza: Unnatural Ways
by Glenn Astarita
The debut album led by West Coast USA guitarist, vocalist Ava Mendoza parallels some of the principles established by the renegade New York City downtown scene with correlations to avant- rock albums produced by John Zorn for his long-running Tzadik record label. I listened to the LP, and it appears that the only other option would be to purchase the digital download. But the wide dynamic range of vinyl serves this band well. The musicians' kinetic energy ...
read moreChris Pitsiokos Trio: Gordian Twine
by Mark Corroto
Saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos answers a slight variation of the classic Zen koan, what is the sound of one hand ripping a telephone book in two? It is this: alphabetical orderliness counts, but then again so does maelstrom. Gordian Twine, his debut as a leader, showcases his organizational and compositional skills, and, maybe more importantly, it places him within the vortex of a cyclone of sound.This new kid on the block saxophonist has been working solo, in duos with ...
read moreHenry Kaiser - Damon Smith - Weasel Walter: Plane Crash Two
by Glenn Astarita
This album was created shortly after experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser's large ensemble collaboration with fabled Brit guitarist Ray Russell The Celestial Squid (Cuneiform, 2015), as Plane Crash Two marks the second installment of the trio's unadulterated free improvisation exploits. Here, three longtime associates generate that special synergy required to pull it off. Regardless of tempo or pitch, the musicians expand, contract and generate call and response patterns via microsecond-like reactions amid the ensuing developments. The program is consummated ...
read moreBrandon Seabrook: Sylphid Vitalizers
by Glenn Astarita
Guitarist Brandon Seabrook (Andrew Drury, Anthony Braxton) is justifiably garnering considerable press as a burgeoning firebrand who terrorizes or perhaps, atomizes the banjo and guitar with punk metal, free jazz and anarchistic rock proclivities. With his third solo release he conjures otherworldly and brain-bending propositions via an array of highly disciplined supercharged performances on banjo and guitar. He's also a frequent collaborator on the jazz improvisational front amid first-call session duties for new wave jazz productions that our largely outside-the-box. ...
read moreBarker / Dunmall / Dahl: Luddite
by Glenn Astarita
This is the second album emanating from celebrated British saxophonist, Paul Dunmall's 2012 visit to New York City, performing at the Vision Festival, and follows his initial 2013 appearance for New Atlantis Records on a date led by guitarist Edward Ricart, titled Chameleon. Hence, top New York City-based improvisers, drummer Andrew Barker and bassist Tim Dahl--the latter appearing on three tracks, lend their faculties for a set that poses a myriad of irregular rhythmic explorations. And while Dunmall's explosive tenor ...
read moreColin Webster/Mark Holub: Viscera
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by Sammy Stein
To be able to say you have heard something unique is rare these days. Of course, every musician's recordings are unique but occasionally there arrives an album which is truly 'stand alone' and Viscera (New Atlantic),the third album by saxophonist Colin Webster and drummer Mark Holub is one such album. The album consists of track after track of incisive, aggressive, full-on free jazz played at a rate and with such alacrity it defies any attempt at categorization. This is no ...
read moreTatsuya Nakatani & Shane Perlowin: Anatomy of a Moment
by Dave Wayne
On Anatomy of a Moment, Aleuchatistas guitarist Shane Perlowin joins the legendary percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani for a series of duets that are as perplexing as they are beautiful. Sticking largely to fingerstyle acoustic guitar, Perlowin's controlled and tightly parameterized improvising stands in stark contrast to Nakatani's varied and unpredictable sound experiments. While his playing in the Aleuchatistas is highly electric and aggressive, here, Perlowin seems almost meditative. Taking cues from artists such as John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Jack Rose, ...
read moreTOTEM>: Voices of Grain
by Budd Kopman
For those that have heard TOTEM>'s Solar Forge, Voices of Grain will be familiar territory as guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil, bassist Tom Blancarte, and drummer Andrew Drury deepen and extend their intensity and group empathy while expanding their range of expression. While Solar Forge is white hot through and through, Voices of Grain has pacing of sorts, in that translucent, spacious, and at times beautiful tracks, separate the denser, more “frantic" tracks. It is in these tracks that TOTEM> ...
read moreEdward Ricart Quartet + Paul Dunmall: Chamaeleon
by Glenn Astarita
Guitarist Edward Ricart has studied in Europe and aligned with a multinational roster of experimental jazz artists amid his adventurous work in the free-rock duo, Matta Gawa and avant-garde, and Sonic Suicide band. Based in Washington D.C., the artist reaps the benefits of UK tenor sax titan Paul Dunmall and world-traveler, trumpeter Herb Robertson for this ensemble date, comprised of instantaneous compositions. The band projects an open-world scenario, where experimental jazz improvisation and psycho-rock are embedded within introspective ...
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