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Michael Musillami Trio: Dachau
by John Kelman
The intrepid Playscape Recordings imprint, founded at the turn of the century by guitarist Michael Musillami, has been responsible for a small but consistent catalogue of releases that constantly look for new ways to combine forward-thinking compositional form with a more exploratory aesthetic. Working with a relatively small core group of veteran players, the label has ...
Micha: Renku
by Michael McCaw
After studying with both Lee Konitz and Anthony Braxton, it would be hard not to have developed a singular sound or vision. And with Renku, saxophonist Michaël Attias presents himself as his own man, but with numerous shards of reference points. For his stateside debut under his own name, Attias puts forth Renku--his two year-old house ...
Michael Musillami Trio: Dachau
by Jerry D'Souza
One of the significant moments for the Michael Musillami Trio came when the group played in Dachau, Germany in November, 2004. At that time, says Musillami, they were “elevated to a new level. That plateau is still evident on this recording, made possible by several factors, including shared empathy and each player's strength as a musician.
Tom Christensen: New York School
by AAJ Staff
Modern jazz sometimes seems a bit schizophrenic, caught between the extremes of intellectual abstraction and spiritual seeking, and the more ambitious sort often fails because it can't find intuitive connections between the two. Horn multi-instrumentalist Tom Christensen's third release in six years is a pleasure from start to finish because it manages to simultaneously embrace thought ...
Mario Pavone: Boom
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Bassist/composer Mario Pavone split his previous CD between trio and quintet groupings. On Boom he takes the mean, leading an adventurous quartet with longtime collaborator pianist Peter Madsen, omnipresent drummer Matt Wilson, and the industrious Tony Malaby, Pavone's most recent saxophone foil. The quartet deftly navigates Pavone's charts with tightly knit, rhythmically charged ensemble heads and ...
Tom Christensen: New York School
by Jerry D'Souza
Art begets art. Tom Christensen composed the music for this record based on the work of a group of poets and painters from the fifties and sixties known as the New York School. Frank O'Hara wrote some of his poems inspired by the paintings of Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, and Grace Hartigan. In turn, some of ...
Tom Christensen: New York School
by John Kelman
While woodwind multi-instrumentalist Tom Christensen has been making his presence known on the New York scene over the past decade, recording with artists including Joe Lovano, David Sanchez, and Toshiko Akiyoshi, he's been slowly, almost insidiously, emerging as a composer of remarkable depth and invention. His latest release, New York School, is one of those very ...
Michael Musillami Octet: Spirits
by Florence Wetzel
The Michael Musillami Octet shines throughout this tribute to the late multi-instrumentalist and composer Thomas Chapin. The talented ensemble--Musillami on guitar, Peter Madsen on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, Tom Christensen on saxophones and flutes, Art Baron on trombone and didgeridoo, Tom Beckham on vibes and marimba, Satoshi Takeishi on percussion, and Michael Sarin on drums--brings ...
Ted Rosenthal: The 3B's
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
One of the many advantages of indie CDs is that they don't have a sell-by date: you can miss their debut and still write about them. This one stayed in its shrink wrap for over two years, overlooked in the ever-growing pile in my office, but when I finally freed it, just recently, I knew I ...
Spirits
Label: Playscape Recordings
Released: 2004
Track listing: Squid Fantasy; Star; Nambian Sunset; Goody; Spirits Rebellious; Circles; The Walking Wounded
