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Cuong Vu: More Than Just Notes
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Truculent blasts of white noise kissed with delay. Ghostly whispers evolving to plaintive cries. Soaring melodies comprised of bold, rounded notes. Trumpeter Cuong Vu's vast sonic palette was formed with intense dedication and by choosing nonconformist paths.After moving to New York in 1994, his sound quickly found a home with veterans like drummer Gerry ...
Happy Apple: Happy Apple Back on Top
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Before becoming synonymous with self-indulgent excess--or worse, smoothed-out pap--fusion offered the excitement of joining jazz improvisation and harmonic sophistication with rock energy and driving rhythms. Though they may not self-identify with fusion, a growing number of musicians raised on both rock and jazz feel no compunction in drawing influences from and blending both. One such group ...
Steven Bernstein: Diaspora Suite
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Diaspora Suite is the fourth installment of trumpeter Steven Bernstein's Diaspora series, which explores the connections between Jewish melodic traditions and contemporary styles. And it may be the most personal. The six-hour session was recorded in Oakland, California--Bernstein's hometown--and included musicians he's played with since grade school: multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum, trombonist Jeff Cressman and drummer Josh ...
Tony Malaby: Tamarindo
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Saxophonist Tony Malaby is a relentless musical seeker, not content to bask in his growing renown. He constantly works in diverse groups, as both a leader and sideman, often favoring trios because their copious space accommodates his expansive ideas. His approach is contemporary; he seeks partners that are fully active in shaping and interpreting the music, ...
Tim Berne's Bloodcount: Seconds
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Nearly ten years after their last performance, saxophonist Tim Berne has resuscitated archival recordings of his influential group Bloodcount. The three-disc Seconds includes two concerts from 1997 and a documentary DVD from 1994. Hardly leftovers, the package boasts previously unavailable original compositions and the type of bristling performances that forged the band's reputation. ...
Andrew D: Skadra Degis
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Throughout his career, Andrew D'Angelo has been known for pushing creative limits and challenging stylistic boundaries. A formidable improviser, he's as likely to spit incendiary lines from his alto saxophone as he is to ruminate introspectively on bass clarinet. Skadra Degis is the debut from his trio with bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Jim Black--two musicians ...
Trio M: Big Picture
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
Superficially, the combination of pianist Myra Melford, bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Matt Wilson might seem unusual, though the three have previously commingled. Melford and Dresser are known for their work in freer contexts or exploring extended compositional forms, while Wilson--by no means a neo-traditionalist--has forged a reputation playing more established forms and grooves. After years ...
Billy Martin / John Medeski: Mago
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
In their nearly twenty year history, drummer Billy Martin and organist John Medeski have developed an acute affinity built on a shared rhythmic feel and devotion to improvisation. On Mago, they return to the duo format, the seed that blossomed into the successful trio Medeski, Martin & Wood (MMW). The eleven tracks crackle with vitality, as ...
Trevor Dunn and Shelley Burgon: Baltimore
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
In the pursuit of improvised music, any instrumentation, no matter how unorthodox, is valid, as long as the musicians have the appropriate experimental attitude and chops to back it up. Bassist Trevor Dunn and pedal harpist Shelley Burgon discovered that an expansive vocabulary and reservoir of ideas can make possible a taut, dynamic musical dialogue, even ...
Barking Hoop
by Sean Patrick Fitzell
French filmmaker and writer Guy Debord's art probed how modernization and economic forces caused alienation in everyday life. Music composed in his honor was the impetus for an artist-run, independent record label: drummer-percussionist and composer Kevin Norton's Barking Hoop. It's dedicated to developing original and unique work outside established parameters, which Debord would applaud. ...
