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Zappa
by Ian Patterson
Alex Winter Zappa Magnolia Pictures 2020 Composer, guitarist and iconoclast nonpareil, Frank Zappa was never an easy artist to pin down, as Alex Winter's perceptive and entertaining documentary makes abundantly clear. If an artist's music should speak for itself, what are we to make of Zappa's freakish '60s collage ...
Chemical Clock: Bad Habitat
by Dave Wayne
Here's another example of music that's devilishly complex, a bit bizarre and full of diverse influences (avant-classical, IDM / electronica, jazz-rock, video game music, and disco-funk, just for starters) which manages to come across as a really warm, human, celebratory listening experience. It's been a couple of years since Chemical Clock issued their eponymous debut album, ...
Mike Dillon: Band of Outsiders
by Dave Wayne
There are so many different ways to rebel in life, and Mike Dillon has done them all. Or so it seems, if the music on Band of Outsiders is any indication. Dillon is that rare musician who can take tropes from any number of disparate musical worlds-metal and Brazilian samba school for example-mash them together and ...
Thollem McDonas: The Beauty of Never Going Back Home
by Dave Wayne
What is often forgotten about improvised music is that it can come from anywhere. Though its history is inextricably intertwined with jazz, improvisation is part and parcel of a myriad of musical cultures. Pianist and composer Thollem McDonas is not just aware of this fact, it is part of his daily existence. About 10 years ago, ...
Joel Palsson: Horn
by Dave Wayne
A 21st Century jazz aficionado really shouldn't be surprised about where his/her jazz is coming from. That said, the whole concept of an Icelandic jazz scene may well bring a wry smile. Known primarily for innovative rockers Björk and Sigur Rós, and smooth jazzers Mezzoforte, the volcanic island nation has also borne innovative jazz artists such ...
Jaga Jazzist: One-Armed Bandit
by John Kelman
After a five-year break from recording, Jaga Jazzist is back. The Norwegian group's Molde Jazz 2009 performance—its first in four years, barring a single 2007 date in Singapore—provided clear evidence that the touchstones defining this sibling-run group remain intact (multi-instrumentalist Lars Horntveth writes all the music; percussionist Martin Horntveth is the onstage spokesperson for the band; ...
Chris Jentsch: Cycles and Reflecting on the Journey
by Ludwig vanTrikt
John Coltrane once said, “Let the music speak for itself." The guitarist/composer and band leader Christopher Jentsch adds an interesting twist on that subject by opting to describe himself when asked about the broader subject of how to capture his music in his own words. “I think of myself as a composer/guitarist working with contemporary improvisational ...
Flat Earth Society: Cheer Me, Perverts!
by Ian Patterson
Fifteen-piece Belgian big band Flat Earth Society is the sonic equivalent of a freak show--weird, wonderful and like nothing you've come across before. Cheer Me, Perverts! is bursting with the energy of punk--sharing some of the anarchy, too--yet the CD exhibits intricate section harmonies and wonderful contrapuntal melodies. The soloists revel in their freedom, and the ...
Acuna/Hoff/Mathisen: Jungle City
by John Kelman
While some accuse the musical innovations taking place in Scandinavia as diluting “America's art form," there's plenty of evidence to the contrary. Many of the artists regularly stretching jazz's boundaries by introducing outside references can play in the tradition; they just choose not to. With Finding Nymo (ACT, 2009), Norwegian trombonist Helge Sunde and his Ensemble ...
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble: Eternal Interlude
by Troy Collins
In addition to leading the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet and performing numerous sideman duties, composer and percussionist John Hollenbeck is renowned for his inimitable multi-layered writing. Hollenbeck studied under composer Bob Brookmeyer before charting a unique path in creative improvised music, incorporating elements of minimalism, post-rock and indigenous folk music into his eclectic compositions. As leader of ...
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