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Wadada Leo Smith / Douglas Ewart / Mike Reed: Sun Beans Of Shimmering Light
by John Sharpe
Three significant forces spanning two generations of the forward-thinking Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians meet in a poised recital on Sun Beans Of Shimmering Light. Although recorded in 2015 at drummer Mike Reed's Constellation arts space in Chicago, the concert's genesis lies some five years earlier and 700 miles to the east.
Sam Rivers: Braids
by John Sharpe
With the fourth issue in its Sam Rivers archival series, the NoBusiness imprint has unearthed a cracking concert recording of a terrific quartet, completed by bassist Dave Holland, drummer Thurman Barker and tubaist Joe Daley. Very few can match Rivers' breadth of experience, which includes not only with leading lights of the 1960s New Thing like ...
Frank Gratkowski, Achim Kaufmann, Wilbert de Joode, Tony Buck: Flatbosc & Cautery
by John Sharpe
Adding a new member to a long-established group sometimes reinforces the chemistry, at other times it transforms. With the threesome of reedman Frank Gratkowski, pianist Achim Kaufmann and bassist Wilbert de Joode, a unit since 2002, the co-option of Necks drummer Tony Buck propels the outfit more explicitly towards the high-energy end of the free spectrum, ...
Ivo Perelman: The Purity of Desire
by John Sharpe
Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman prolifically documents his work, his discography growing almost by the week. But he finds new things to say and new ways of saying them, even with his most regular collaborators. Witness the stream of superlative recordings he has made with pianist Matthew Shipp. But, at the same time, the New York-based Brazilian ...
RED Trio & Celebration Band: Suite 10 Years Anniversary
by John Sharpe
Since its inception in 2008 the RED Trio has been one of Portugal's foremost improvising ensembles. Pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, bassist Hernani Faustino and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini stand upon the shoulders of the egalitarian trio legacy of pianists Bill Evans, Paul Bley and Howard Riley; no-one leads, no-one follows, but, paradoxically, all three move as one. To ...
Michael and Peter Formanek: Dyads
by John Sharpe
There can be few instances where a parent-offspring hook-up has proved as potent as Dyads by bassist Michael Formanek and his reedman son Peter. With not a hint of featherbedding, the pair interact as equals on a 72-minute program which alternates six charts penned by both with seven collective inventions. While the bassist has amassed a ...
Paul Dunmall, Percy Pursglove, Olie Brice, Jeff Williams: Palindromes
by John Sharpe
Bassist Olie Brice had an inkling that it might be worthwhile introducing two of his collaborators who had never played together before, British reed titan Paul Dunmall and American drummer Jeff Williams. It proves devastatingly correct on Palindromes. They unite, together with trumpeter Percy Pursglove, on a collective live album--recorded at London's Cafe Oto, in February ...
Raf Vertessen Quartet: LOI
by John Sharpe
Belgian drummer Raf Vertessen's quartet unites a mouth-watering array of talent, and he keeps them busy on his leadership debut LOI. Since arriving in Brooklyn, in 2016, Vertessen has dug in deep, enlisting saxophonist Anna Webber, trumpeter Adam O'Farrill and bassist Nick Dunston, all acclaimed leaders in their own right, to realize his charts in a ...
Satoko Fujii / Taiko Saito: Beyond
by John Sharpe
Right from the off, the confluence of grainy flicker and humming drone signals that Beyond won't be like other vibraphone/piano hook ups. Under the moniker Futari, Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and her Berlin-based countrywoman vibraphonist Taiko Saito don't so much take the road less traveled as revel in the thickets, brambles and unexpected clearings discovered when ...
In Layers: Pliable
by John Sharpe
Working on-the-fly, improv outfit In Layers collectively orders timbral maneuvers into captivating momentum on Pliable, its second outing following the eponymous debut (FMR, 2016). The cast remains unchanged, the Portuguese pair of guitarist Marcelo Dos Reis and trumpeter Luis Vicente, being supplemented by Dutch drummer Onno Govaert and Amsterdam-based Icelandic pianist Kristjan Martinsson. Dos ...
