Emergency! - Live In Copenhagen (2010)

Emergency! - Live In Copenhagen (2010)

Personnel:
Otomo Yoshihide: Guitar
Ryoichi Saito: Guitar
Hiroaki Mizutani: Bass
Yasuhiro Yoshigaki: Drums

Tracklisting:
1. Re-Baptizum (Yasuhiro Yoshigaki) [14:11]
2. Sing Sing Sing (Louis Prima) [13:39]
3. Fables of Faubus (Charles Mingus) [14:02]
4. The Inflated Tear (Rahsaan Roland Kirk) [15:03]

Documenting Emergency!’s first ever concert outside of Japan, this album presents a dynamic performance in the band’s original style of psychedelic swing, featuring a rocking rhythm section and roaring guitars working through three famous jazz tunes as well as one explosive original.

Recorded 12 July 2006 at Stubnitz, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Find link in comments!

Yuganaut - Sharks (2010)

Yuganaut - Sharks (2010)

Personnel:
Stephen Rush - Fender Rhodes, Micromoog, euphonium, etc
Tom Abbs - bass, violon, tuba, didjeridoo
Geoff Mann - drums, cornet, madoline, vibraphone

Tracklisting:

01 - Breakthrough
02 - Zhu
03 - Fade to Frenzy
04 - Landfill/Sharks
05 - Lost in the Field
06 - See Saw
07 - Local Motive
08 - Vger
09 - Wrenchwork
10 - Again, and Sweetly

It is somewhat easy to be fooled, by the playfulness of Yuganaut's musicians, into thinking that Sharks is a flippant album. So, as rapidly as the thought occurs let it perish. The music on this album is deep as the ocean of sound from where it comes, and the musicians do a fine job of exploring the tones and textures that abound, as the music deliberately tumbles from their various instruments, to make a confluence of dramatic sound which, in turn, tells a sonic story all its own. When bassist Tom Abbs chugs with pedal point behind the chopped colorings of percussionist Geoff Mann—both joining Stephan Rush as he howls through the bent pipe of his trombone—the shuffle of "Breakthrough/Zhu" unfurls from its Zen-like mode into a bloom of naked color.

Similarly, on "Fade to Frenzy," a kind of ironically backsliding visual feast which sounds like the expressionistic world of Dr Cagliari—whose footage was being played backwards—still sounds as thogh the track is moving ever onward. Abbs is a virtuosic musician, extending from the entire family of stringed instruments to some brass and woodwinds. Here he is heard kicking up a storm on tuba and that haunting instrument of the Australian outback, the didgeridoo. Also on bass and on cello ("Lost in the Field" and other tracks) Abbs holds notes long and hard, plying them with overtones that intensify their color and make for a wonderfully vivid palette of sound.

Rush is more of an experimentalist. As a musician, he does not seem rooted in any instrument, although he seems drawn to all things keyboard—a fact borne out by his penchant for bringing toys to the set—but all is soon forgotten when Rush picks up his trombone and bleats plaintively behind Mann's brassy interlude on "Lost in the Field," Abbs' mournful cello notwithstanding.

Mann is the most colorful musician of the trio, his percussion work the glue that binds much of the Sharks' music.. His ability to awaken vast palettes of color—rolling easily on snare drum or dropping dramatically placed bombs on his bass drum while sniping away at the bevy of cymbals—is a thing of rare beauty. "See Saw," "Local Motion" and "Vger" are outstanding examples of his fine sense of rhythm and melody, enrobed in a rhythm all its own.

Although the album rocks excitingly from track to track, the crowning moments come on the ultimate track, "Again and Sweetly," a sonic gem of sweeping expanse. While sounding utterly new, the musicians manage to improvise around myriad familiar songs that appear and disappear throughout; an agglomeration of sound that makes Sharks memorable long after the music dies. [allaboutjazz]

Find link in commets!

Yuganaut - This Musicship (2008)

Personnel:
Stephen Rush - Fender Rhodes, Micromoog, euphonium, etc
Tom Abbs - bass, violon, tuba, didjeridoo
Geoff Mann - drums, cornet, madoline, vibraphone

Tracklisting:
01 - Running
02 - Stumblechuck
03 - Channeling
04 - Whacked In The Head
05 - Time Cycle
06 - Internal/External
07 - Missing Limbs
08 - Stimulus
09 - Gobble Gobble
10 - Statement
11 - Perspective
12 - Hymn For Roscoe

Music involves action and interaction. It has the ability to communicate, hint, allude, connote and refer not only beyond itself but also to itself. Whether or not the communication process is completely understood by all those involved, music allows for the messages to be particularized in the experience of the listener.

Yuganaut’s debut release, This Musicship, is a fascinating sonic exploration into the realms of free and ambient jazz. Inspired by one of the most important and still controversial figures of free jazz – Ornette Coleman – the freedom from the constraints of usual patterns is what allows Yuganaut to successfully communicate in a language all its own.

It’s formless, but not without an inner logic that ties it all together. The percussion and bass are in constant communication, continuously reacting to one another. Squeaks and squawks of elk calls and slide whistles are fully interwoven in tracks like Stimulus. With almost no ‘traditional’ jazz skills demonstrated, the absolutely engaging Time Cycle (drenched in turkey and duck calls) presents a fresh perspective in the world of sounds. The unique appeal of Yuganaut is this – because the band’s structure does not depend on traditional jazz skills and techniques, its sound requires the listener to judge unjudgementally.

Its free group improvising, quirky themes and solos are unpredictable, even on repeated listens. But tracks like Missing Limbs and Perspective manage somehow to be stunning each time. The spectacular depth to these compositions, such as mad scribbling sounds layered in space-like synth textures, allows listeners to take as much or as little away from it as they like. It incites a hunger to come back and explore for more.

As you approach the final tracks, the stimulating space-like sounds conjure up memories of Sun Ra’s cosmic sound explorations. Statement and Hymn for Roscoe are perhaps two of the best examples of this approach, because with a good pair of headphones on in a dark room, the temporary travel from all things earthly is spectacular. After spinning your imagination around for several minutes, Hymn for Roscoe returns to familiar musical grounds (with a lovely organ passage), that dissolves and reforms itself several times before leaving you all alone and silent.

This Musicship is an expression of three men – driven by an inspired and fearless abandon – who have come together to weave a sonic statement of utter brilliance. That being said, this is required listening for anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of The Shape of Jazz to Come – literally.[Musesmuse]

Find links in comments!