Svenska Kaputt - Suomi (2015)

Svenska Kaputt - Suomi (Moserobie, 2015)

Personnel:
Jonas Kullhammar: saxophones
Reine Fiske: guitar
Torbjörn Zetterberg: bass
Jonas Holmegard: drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Mellantillstånd

02 - Paroni 

03 - Nötskalsmusik #1 

04 - Veesaltonen 

05 - Gårdagens Visa\Keijsaren

A brilliant musical project from the Moserobie jazz underground of Sweden – one that brings together four completely wonderful players, but in ways that are very different than most of their work in other settings! The sound here is very open and spacious – not in a mellow way, or an ECM mode – but instead this really introspective approach to the properties of the musicians' individual instruments – almost as if they're using this project as a way to thoughtfully explore things from different sonic angles, sometimes with a surprisingly sensitive vibe. Yet there's also some nice currents of darkness in the music – things are definitely never too sweet – and surprises include some piano from both Jonas Kullhammar and Torbjorn Zetterberg – alongside Zetterberg's more familiar bass (both electric and acoustic), and Kullhamar's music on tenor, flute, baritone, and oboe. Guitarist Reine Fiske also plays piano on one track – and guitar on the others – and the group also features drums from Johan Holmegard. [Dusty Groove]

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Joshua Abrams - Magnetoception (2015)

Joshua Abrams - Magnetoception (Eremite, 2015)

Personnel:
Joshua Abrams: Guimbri, Bass, Celesta, Clarinet, Harp [Small], Bells
Hamid Drake: Frame Drum, Tabla, Congas, Drums [Trap Kit]
Emmett Kelly: Electric Guitar
Jeff Parker: Electric Guitar
Lisa Alvarado: Harmonium
Ben Boye: Autoharp [Chromatic Electric Autoharp]

Tracklisting:
01 - By Way Of Odessa
02 - Lore
03 - Of Night
04 - Broom
05 - Translucent
06 - Of Day
07 - Magnetoception
08 - Spiral Up
09 - The Ladder

In a recent Invisible Jukebox interview in The Wire, Chicago bassist Joshua Abrams speaks about “constructing an environment” through his music. “One is creating a space to immerse the listener in sound,” he explains, “and creating room for slowness, for a different rate of attention perhaps.” Magnetoception, Abrams’s third Natural Information Society album for Eremite, demonstrates this concept wonderfully. 

Fans of 2010’s Natural Information and 2012’s Represencing will find themselves in familiar territory here, marked most notably by Abrams’s guimbri (among his other instruments) but also by Emmett Kelly and Jeff Parker’s electric guitars, Lisa Alvarado’s harmonium, and Ben Boye’s autoharp. (Hamid Drake, a new addition to this particular project, plays a variety of hand percussion as well as drum kit.) But as a double LP Magnetoception gives the group a new opportunity to stretch out, breathe, and craft an immersive sound environment.

The album opens with “By Way of Odessa,” a side-long piece whose meditative ambient patience, punctuated by Drake’s frame drum, focuses the listener’s attention not by grabbing it but by creating space for it. Eventually the guimbri picks up, before dying down again. The rise and fall of the track’s energy foreshadows the album’s larger structure, more an organic sinuous movement with multiple climaxes than a simple linear escalation.

One climax comes at the beginning of the third side with “Translucent.” The tune’s odd-meter ostinato, carried by the guitars and Abrams on acoustic bass, keeps us entranced but alert, as if we’re burrowing down towards the heart of something, yet not quite there. That heart might come soon enough with the title track. “Magnetoception” finds the album at its densest and perhaps most dramatic, a tightly woven sonic textile of jittery muted guitar, insistent guimbri, and tireless drumming. The group’s natural, protean interplay is in evidence here too, with Drake wrenching the breakneck 6/8 groove into a shuffle for a few glorious bars at one point. Elsewhere brief solo interludes like “Of Night” (Abrams on clarinet) and “Of Day” (autoharp) provide contrast and help contract the scope of the music before opening out again.

“The Ladder” brings things to a close with mid-tempo interlocking guimbri and tabla overlaid by shimmering autoharp and carefully measured guitar lines. This final track leaves us neither too high nor too low, but safely in the middle ground of the album’s dynamic energies. And if Abrams is as inspired by the Gnawa tradition of ritual healing as he is by their use of the guimbri, then “The Ladder” can be said to deliver us out of Magnetoception’s restorative environment better than we entered it. [Free Jazz Blog]

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The World Heritage - Travelling Silk Road (2012)

The World Heritage - Travelling Silk Road (Magaibutsu, 2012)

Personnel:
Katsui Yuji: violin
Yamamoto Seiichi: guitar
Kido Natsuki: guitar
Nasuno Mitsuru: bass
Yoshida Tatsuya: drums

Tracklisting:
1. Xi-Ang

2. Tongko
3. Theheran

4. Samarkand 

5. Rome

6. Istanbul

7. Bagdad

Live recordings of drummer Yoshida Tatsuya's World Heritage band from Koenji HIGH in 2009, condensing and editing the show into one incredible hour of sophisticated rock improvisation. This is the 4th release for World Heritage band, with Nasuno Mitsuru on bass, the dual guitars of Yamamoto Seichi and Kido Natsuki, and violinist Katsui Yuji. [Squidco]

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Extremelly huge and fantastic record!!!

Karkhana ‎– Live At Metro Al-Madina (2015)

Karkhana ‎– Live At Metro Al-Madina (Sagittarius A-Star, 2015)

Personnel:
Umut Çağlar: Flute, Violin, Percussion

Mazen Kerbaj: Trumpet, Trombone [plastic], Synth [crackle]

Sam Shalabi: Oud, Electric Guitar

Maurice Louca: Organ

Özün Usta: Double Bass

Sharif Sehnaoui: Drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Under The Red Light, Part I
02 - Under The Red Light, Part II

This is one of the most powerful releases in the combined Qbico and Sagittarius A-Star catalogues. Imagine a cross between Kluster and Taj Mahal Travellers with a Middle Eastern feel (the musicians are from Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon). Their first record was recorded live in Beirut on February 25th, 2014. The musicians are Mazer Kerbat (trumpet, plastic trombone, crackle-synth), Umut Çağlar (flutes, violin, kalimba), Sam Shalabi (electric guitar, oud), Maurice Louca (synth, electronics), Özün Usta (double bass, cura) and Sharif Sehnaoui on drums. The sound that you hear at the end of the second clip it's not a monster's breath. The ticket to the ride. [Shiny Beast]

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Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Archestra - The Reason Why Vol. 2 (2014)

 Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Archestra - The Reason Why Vol. 2 (Headspin, 2014)

Personnel:

Goran Kajfeš: Trumpet, Cornet, Percussion, Synthesizer

Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson: Baritone, Alto and Sopranino Saxophone, Clarinet, Flutes

Jonas Kullhammar: Tenor and Soprillo Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute

Jesper Nordenström: Organ, Upright Piano, Synthesizer, Omnichord

Andreas Söderström: Acoustic, Electric and Lapsteel Guitar

Reine Fiske: Electric Guitar, Mellotron

Robert Östlund: Electric Guitar, Sytnthesizer

Johan Berthling: Electric and Acoustic Bass

Johan Holmegard: Drums, Percussion

José Gonzáles: Voice

Tracklisting:
01 - Dokuz Seki/Esmerim
02 - Adimiz Miskindir Bizim

03 - New Track
04 - A Lua Girou
05 - Tamzara
06 - Yet Again

It is impossible to guess where Sweden's most innovative musicians will take us when he releases the new album, but one can always be sure to have a fantastic musical adventure. Here he begins with a few covers of Turkish psychfunk from the early 70s, and it he finds a groove that beats most of what he has done before. Reine Fiske electric guitar flippers away somewhere where no electric guitar found since 1972, and Goran Kajfeš self shines when he says Ulf Adåkers mission channeling Miles most exquisite funky tones in entirely new ways. Like the mixture arkestern spoiled us with volume one, we then both Armenian folk music and Brazilian influences, in a subtly beautiful interpretation of Milton Nascimentoz "A Lua Girou". Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra excel themselves, and it is thus mixed beautifully and ridiculously captivating both jazznovisen as connoisseur in the audience must cheer. [Nöjesguiden]

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Highly recommended! This tune is already nominated to swedish Grammy! One of the best album in 2014!

And you can find "The Reason Why Vol. 1" right here!

Bruno Vansina Orchestra - Morning Forest aka Nose Up Bottom Down (2014)

Bruno Vansina Orchestra - Morning Forest aka Nose Up Bottom Down (Rat Records, 2014)

Personnel:

Bruno Vansina - alto saxophone
Christian Mendozza - piano
Bert Cools - guitar
Stefan Lievestro - bass
Teun Verbruggen - drums

(on tracks 1,2,4,5,7):

Malik Mezzadri - flute
John Ruocco - clarinet & tenor saxophone
Kristien Cueppens - oboe
Kensuka Taira - bassoon
Bart Indevuyst - french horn
Steven Dellanoy - tenor saxophone
Wietse Meys - tenor saxophone & clarinet
Carlo Nardozza - trumpet
Jeroen Van Malderen - trumpet & flugelhorn
Frederik Heirman - trombone
Tom Verschoren - trombone, bass trombone & euphonium
Kobe Proesmans - percussion (2, 4, 5)

Tracklisting:

1. Dark Night (10:31)
2. Fiesta Festivo (12:31)
3. Morning Forest aka Nose Up Bottom Down (5:21)
4. Ploink (11:31)
5. Groove Along (13:09)
6. Symphony Of The Fried Bananas (8:45)
7. Bike Insprivation (11:11)

Belgian saxophonist Bruno Vansina crooned and shouted his way through the Zappa-esque art rock-jazz of 2009's Nirvana Bonus and the Demons of Shame but, in sharp contrast, his Bruno Vansina Quartet (plus guest vibraphonist Steve Nelson) released the sparkling, beautifully expressive creative jazz album Stratocluster in 2012. The often stunning 2014 Rat Records album "Morning Forest aka Nose Up Bottom Down" -- credited to the Vansina Orchestra -- falls squarely on the saxophonist's creative jazz side, but on a comparatively massive scale. Here, the Vansina Quartet has expanded into a five-piece -- with leader/composer Vansina on alto, drummer Teun Verbruggen, pianist Christian Mendozza, guitarist Bert Cools, and bassist Stefan Lievestro -- augmented by an 11-piece grouping of horns and reeds arranged by Dree Peremans (and with percussionist Kobe Proesmans added on three tracks). With composition titles including "Ploink" and "Symphony of the Fried Bananas," one might expect the Vansina Orchestra to plow some of the same sometimes oddball Zappa-influenced turf as Vansina's Demons of Shame outfit or Peter Vermeersch's Flat Earth Society big band, to which the saxophonist has contributed for years. But Vansina clearly had something else in mind for his own large ensemble. Instead, Morning Forest takes inspiration from the likes of Gil Evans and Charles Mingus, sweeping the listener along through the multi-layered arrangements and deep color palette of five spacious full-orchestra compositions in the ten- to 13-minute range.

Opener "Dark Night" begins sparsely, the leader's alto reinforcing a mysterious mood over pulses and washes from the quintet before high reeds and then forceful horns open the composition to the modal explorations of clarinetist John Ruocco, the supporting ensemble building around him in a balance of beauty, tension, and drama. The pace remains measured and even ritualistic, but the piece's ultimate brightening suggests darkness giving way to a lovely sunrise. In sharp contrast, "Fiesta Festivo" and "Ploink" -- the former arranged by Vansina and Peremans and the latter by Vansina alone -- kick up the tempo with highly infectious grooves. "Fiesta Festivo" has a strong Afro-Latin flavor with numerous rhythmic shifts, ensemble permutations, and solo showcases, the track's ebullience highlighted by the freewheeling flute and exuberant vocalizing of Malik Mezzadri, while the stuttering syncopations and sharply jabbing horns of "Ploink" push into animated circularity before building to an ultra-tight finale highlighted by Verbruggen's rolling drumwork. The horns and reeds provide comparatively subtle coloration to "Groove Along" as Vansina and then Mezzadri explore the interstices formed by a slow and irregularly accented pulse, while "Bike Insprivation" brings the album to a rousing conclusion. Along the album's multifaceted journey, outliers come in two tracks from the unaccompanied quintet: the slow tango-esque title track falls within the small-combo Stratocluster aesthetic, while "Symphony of the Fried Bananas" tumbles between angular composed lines and noisy, skronky improv (with wild, effects-laden axework from Cools). The latter comes as a particular surprise, but it's as excitingly immediate as Morning Forest's full-orchestra tracks are gorgeous, atmospheric, and vibrant.
[Allmusic.com]

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Alan Silva & Celestrial Communication Orchestra - Desert Mirage (1982)

Alan Silva & Celestrial Communication Orchestra - Desert Mirage (IACP, 1982)

Personnel:

Alan Silva: conductor
Pierre Faure: flute
Carl Schlosser: flute, piccolo
Aldridge Hansberry: flute ,alto flute
Karo: alto clarinet
Denis Colin: bass clarinet
Jean Querlier: oboe, cor anglais
Bruno Girard: violin
Pascal Morrow: violin
Didier Petit: cello
Itaru Oki: trumpet, bugle
Jeff Beer: trumpet
Serge Adam: trumpet
Bernard Vitet: trumpet
Michael Zwerin: tuba
Doménico Criseo: tuba
Francois Cotinau: tenor saxophone
Georges Gaumont: tenor saxophone
Arthur Doyle: tenor saxophone
Philippe Sellam: alto saxophone
Sébastien Franck: alto saxophone
Henri Grinberg: soprano saxophone
Antoine Mizrah: electric bass
Rosine Feferman: bass
Francis Gorge: guitar
Francois Leymarie: electric bass
Jacques Marugg: vibraphone, marimba
Adrien Bitan: vibraphone
Ron Pittner: drums
Bernard Drouillet: drums
Gilles Premel: percussion

Tracklisting:
LP 1
01 - Desert Mirage (20:06)
02 - A D N (08:20)
03 - After Coda (09:40)

LP 2
01 - February The Third (1St Part) (14:41)
02 - February The Third (2Nd Part) (09:29)
03 - Procession (10:57)

Recorded on June 25,26 & 27, 1982 at Aquarium Studio, Paris.

Rare double LP by Alan Silva and the Celestial Communication Orchestra entitled "Desert Mirage" - released in the early 80s on the French IACP label. The band includes Arthur Doyle, Itaru Oki, Bernard Vitet, Francis Gorge, Ron Pittner, and more. Great spiritual jazz or free jazz! Gatefold cover is in EX condition with just some tape at spine. These sprawling vistas - like flying and/or floating over vast sky- and landscapes. Immersed but somehow not attached. On this LP the music has sometimes a dreamlike quality (see/hear "Desert Mirage") and au contraire to his LPs on BYG the music here has a more "structured" sound. Not that I would dislike "unstructured" sounds from Alan Silva or per se...

The Silva - as ever.

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OUT OF PRINT!!!

Joshua Abrams - Represencing (2012)

Joshua Abrams - Represencing (Eremite Records, 2012)

Personnel:
Joshua Abrams: guimbri, organ, ms20, harps, bells, harmonium, mpc
Lisa Alvarado: gong & harmonium (4, 7, 8)
Mikel Avery: drums (4, 5)
David Boykin: tenor saxophone (4, 6)
Emmett Kelly: electric & acoustic guitars (4, 7)
Nicole Mitchell: flutes (6)
Jeff Parker: electric guitar (8)
Tomeka Reid: cello (5)
Jason Stein: bass clarinet (6)
Chad Taylor: gong & drums (1, 2)
Michael Zerang: tambourine (8)

Tracklisting:
1. San Anto
2. Represencing
3. Moon Hunger
4. Sound Talisman
5. Sungazer
6. The Ba
7. Enter Mountain Amulet
8. Cloud Walking
9. Hidden Track

Chicago jazz/improvised music bassist Joshua Abrams brings out the guimbri, a three-stringed North African ceremonial lute, when playing with his Natural Information Society. Live, the instrument’s hypnotic groove provides the supple, willowy base from which the other instrumentalists leap. On his new album, Represencing, Abrams assembles some of the city’s best improvisers to work over the guimbri, but that droning beauty always lies at the core.

While plenty of modern musicians denounce the use of iPods and other on-the-go listening, the necessity of sitting at a record player and focusing for ritual trance music is kind of undeniable  – not to mention that this is a vinyl-only release. That immediacy and communal relationship is one that carries over from the recording process itself, as Abrams invited the improvisers into his home studio.

Dropping the needle onto the first side of the LP initiates the upward spiral, Chad Taylor’s gong and hand drums interlocking with Abrams’ guimbri, bubbling springs of David Boykin’s tenor saxophone purling outwards. The night falls as the first half closes on “Moon Hunger”, Boykin’s lightly breathed flourishes, the drama of rippling organ and Abrams’ lithe, repeating tone-clusters falling away into the night.

The second half of the disc re-starts the process, gongs and harmonium drone bringing the listener back into the meditative state. The sun rises again as well, Tomeka Reid’s cello curling around and flitting in eclipsing glory. It all closes with the entrancing “Cloud Walking”, with Michael Zerang somehow making even the tambourine an interesting addition to a track.

The core, though, remains the guimbri, Abrams’ playing on songs like “Enter Mountain Amulet” hitching, stuttering, and flowing at all the right moments to get you swaying like a mystic. Represencing is the kind of album that effaces the reality that you know exists outside of it, returning you to a time and place in which this sort of ritual trance focuses life. [Consequense of Sound]

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John Stevens' Away - At Home (2013)

John Stevens' Away - At Home (Loose Torque, 2013)

Personnel:
John Stevens: drums
Robert Calvert: saxophones
Jon Corbett: trumpet
Nick Stephens: electric bass
Nigel Moyse: guitar
Martin Holder: guitar

Tracklisting:
01 - Openersanni
02 - Just a Matter of Time
03 - Relative Space
04 - Whoops a Daisy
05 - Homewhats That

A funk and soul music binge undertaken by John Stevens when he was laid up after surgery was the impetus for the group Away. Though it remains dwarfed next to Stevens’ accomplishments with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Away was the drumming giant’s unique way of tapping into the jazz-rock craze of the mid and late 1970s. Away released several albums on the Vertigo label in that time period, and recordings have been sporadically released in the years and decades since, but for the most part, much of the group’s output has been largely unavailable, existing only as assorted notations in the mind-boggling John Stevens discography. Over the past few years, however, Away bassist Nick Stephens has taken to releasing some vintage recordings on his own Loose Torque label, and it’s a wonderful thing. You see, Away was a group that made most fusion bands sound like mere fission.

Away at Home was recorded in 1978 at the Plough Stockwell, a frequent haunt of the band. For this gig, Jon Corbett joined the group, creating a formable funk-jazz sextet of sax, trumpet, drums, bass, and dueling electric guitars. While there’s no question this ensemble was wading into the same waters as Miles Davis, Weather Report, and others across the pond, there’s an energy continually present on Away at Home that seems sorely lacking from a lot of American electric jazz. Away at Home presents an unsubtle, driving music that both embraces the intoxicating headspace of a tightly locked groove and captures the intensity of the classic free jazz free-for-all. Away feared no tempo or crescendo.

Away at Home features four long tracks (and a short fifth piece), most of which are extended mash-ups of tunes from Away’s Vertigo LPs. “Relative Space” makes its mark with an unbearably catchy descending horn line, the track rocketing along until it eventually segues into the  funky, cymbal-driven beat of “What’s That.” The beat is reprised much later at the end of the band’s set, sending the audience through the roof. It’s a perfect encapsulation of what made Away more remarkable than so many of their contemporaries: a small club exuberance that always trumps the bloated, arena-rock detachment that would become fusion’s downfall.

Away at Home is piece of jazz-rock history worth grabbing on to, especially when there’s currently so little from this group to go around. It’s also a side to John Stevens that some of his fans might not be aware of, and a great reminder of what a tireless, passionate force he was in all realms of this music. [Free Jazz Blog]

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Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra - The Reason Why Vol. 1 (2013)

Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra - The Reason Why Vol. 1 (Headspin, 2013)

Personnel:

Goran Kajfeš: Trumpet, Cornet
Jonas Kullhammar: Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Flute, Lyricon
Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson: Baritone Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo Flute
Andreas Söderström: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Jesper Nordenström: Organ
Robert Östlund: Organ, Electric Guitar
Mats Äleklint: Trombone
Johan Berthling: bass
Johan Holmegard: drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Yakar Inceden Inceden
02 - Storstad
03 - Desire Be, Desire Go
04 - The Nodder
05 - Okwukwe Na Nchewube
06 - Badidoom
07 - Es War Enmal
08 - Karina

Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra reveals the DNA of X/Y on new studio album The Reason Why - Vol.1.

2011 Nordic Music Prize winner and his large jazz ensemble reimagine Turkish psych, Brazilian soul, German psychedelic electronica and progressive jazz/rock on the follow up to the hugely successful X/Y. In preparation for his fourth studio recording, trumpeter Goran Kajfeš trawled his personal record collection to choose seven pieces of music that join the dots between the diverse array of influences in his music.

The Reason Why - Vol.1 sees Goran Kajfeš’ Subtropic Arkestra reimagine such colourful music as the Turkish psych of Edip Akbayram, the soulful groove of Brazilian singer Arthur Verocai, the German psychedelic electronica of Cluster and the progressive jazz/rock of Soft Machine, Bo Hansson and Tame Impala, among others.

The Reason Why - Vol.1 is in many ways a direct extension of his ambitious X/Y project and acts as a tribute to Kajfeš'  myriad inspirations and also as an attempt to push jazz away from the beaten track and into new territories.

Croatian-born (Sweden-raised) Kajfeš is a tireless innovator and a key figure of contemporary Swedish culture. In addition to his work as a bandleader, sideman and producer, he has worked with film, theatre, art and dance. In 2012, he released X/Y, an ambitious two-part recording through which he expressed contrasting aspects of his musical personality. Described as "a total work of art" and awarded 5/5 by The Independent (UK), given 4/5 by MOJO (UK) and voted Best Album of 2012 by Rob Young (The Wire) in Artforum Magazine, X/Y earned Kajfeš the prestigious Nordic Music Prize ahead of favourites Bjork and Lykke Li.

With a nod to Sun Ra legendary cosmic jazz ensemble, the 10-strong Subtropic Arkestra comprises the cream of the contemporary Swedish music scene with saxophonists Jonas Kullhammar and Per Johansson, guitarist Andreas Söderström (Ass, El Rojo Adios), bassist Johan Berthling (Fire!, Tape) and drummer Johan Holmegard (Dungen, The Amazing), Andreas Werllin (Wildbirds&Peacedrums, Tonbruket) among others. [Headspin]

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The best jazz album of year so far! Hardly recommended!

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Rakka - Soutu (2012)

Rakka - Soutu (Nordic Notes, 2012)

Personnel:

Kusti Vuorinen: accordion, organ, percussion
Masa Orpana: tenor saxophone, flute
Jykä Ahola: trumpet, flugelhorn
Ville Rauhala: double bass
Janne Tuomi: drums, percussion
+ Simo Laihonen: percussion on 4 tracks

Tracklsting:
1 - Rosinante
2 - Reverence
3 - Soutu
4 - Try Not
5 - Laululintu
6 - Autuaita Ovat Autuaat
7 - Route 325

Rakka's members started to play together in the early nineties. They have played in many well-known Finnish bands such as Suurin Onni, Circle, Black Motor or Anssi Tikanmaen Film Orchestra. In its debut album "Soutu" ("Rowing"), the band mixes sounds from a mystical feeling, calm sights and improvised jazz. Songs from the album are written by Kusti Vuorinen who was nominated for Jazz Emma 2011, Masa Orpana who is one of the top Finnish saxophone players and Ville Raauhala who has played with many great jazz players like Raoul Björkenheim, Peter Brötzmann, Iro Haarla or Verneri Pohjola.

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Prezens - Slipped On A Bar. (2006)

Prezens - Slipped On A Bar. (Screwgun, 2006)

Personnel:
David Torn - guitar
Tim Berne - alto saxophone
Craig Taborn - keyboards
Tom Rainey - drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Bar To Be (11:41)
02 - Bar To See (08:46)
03 - Bar Too, Eh (09:12)

"this live performance, from 2006, was one of the 1st in which it
became apparent (to me, anyways) that the band showed itself as a
natural ensemble effort, with its own kinda vivacity & push/pull/push;
the 4 of us, stable instabilities, steady irregularities, hyperdense
and/or empty.....
..... but, regardless:
with a strong motive to become immersed in whatever it was the damned
music seemed to want, & the freaking electric nerves of trust required
for that." David Torn, 2008

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Othin Spake - Child Of Deception And Skill (2008)

Othin Spake - Child Of Deception And Skill (Glasvocht Records, 2008)

Personnel:
Jozef Dumoulin - Electric Piano[Fender Rhodes]
Mauro Pawlowski - Guitar
Teun Verbruggen - Drums

Tracklisting:
01 - The Ballad Of Vafthruthnir: Introductary Note (4:35)
02 - Gore (5:56)
03 - Skinfaxy (2:53)
04 - The Glittering Day Doth Draw (9:33)
05 - The Evil Art Contest (4:22)
06 - Warped Dreamer (6:05)
07 - Grace Of The Shadowy Keep (6:09)
08 - The Nethack Dictionnary (10:54)
09 - Child Of Deception And Skill (5:38)
10 - Indigo Mystery (Poem Of Frygg) (10:56)

Jozef Dumoulin is a Rhodes dynamo. Drummer Teun Verbruggen's free-jazz plus whatever else combo Othin Spake would be lost without his pitch bent keyboard. It's not that he is constantly showing off technical wizardly, that's left to the guitar freak outs of Mauro Pawlowski. It's that Dumoulin holds the improvisations together, a glue that keeps Pawlowski's wild, infrequent, but ultimately brilliant guitar insanity from overshadowing the affair and keeps Verbruggen's accelerando from shooting the group to the moon. Dumoulin plays the middle man. The keyboard, save for a few exceptions where Dumoulin and Pawlowski swap patient/impatient roles or when the whole combo is stuck down tempo, often becomes more propulsive than the rhythm section'a driving force in its calmness and the hopefulness of its utterances. Its middle piece "Warped Dreamer" that really makes the whole session, only the second time the group came together to perform, worth it. "Warped Dreamer" is one of those miraculous moments that could only come about in improvisation. Verbruggen and Powlowski swirl around Dumoulin's slow creation of a near melody sometimes Verbruggen syncs in rhythm with him or Powlowski copies the stilted chord progression, sometimes they both shoot off frantic spurts in opposition to the piece's obvious center. But as the tempo increases and Verbruggen takes rhythmic control, the three fall into a beautiful sync with each other. Its unfolds so excellently, and works almost too well as the climax, possibly because the rest of the session never really picks up the pace in the same way.

The downside comes in the interludes, and the slow-moving latter half. The group forays into its most experimental at its most snail-paced, sometimes creating amazing ambient pieces that seem too good to be unscripted ("The Glittering Day Doth Drain" as an exemplar) as well as issuing forth loads of interesting noises, but often times wandering too far away from the center, that fearless stumble forwards and upwards. Again, moments like "Warped Dreamer" leave the listener wanting a continuously higher high, leaving one in the dregs of musical addiction. "Child of Deception and Skill" is still doubtlessly the work of three brilliant musicians. The faults aren't worth dwelling on, and I don't have the expertise to really get at the sublimity of the strong points, of which there are many. The news that Trevor Dunn, a bassist whose resume includes Mr. Bungle and John Zorn, will be featured in Othin Spake's upcoming 2009 slated CD should also come as fairly great news. Until you get a chance to hear that, or see them live somehow, this release will suffice quite nicely. [John Ganiard]

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Mr. Rencore + Tim Berne - Intollerant (2011)

Mr. Rencore + Tim Berne - Intollerant (Auand, 2011)

Personnel:
Tim Berne: alto sax;

Beppe Scardino: baritone sax, bass clarinet;

Gabrio Baldacci: baritone guitar, bass, loops, efx;
Daniele Paoletti: drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Ort Milos
02 - Kepas J
03 - Hurricane
04 - Intollercaos
05 - Book B
06 - Mr. Rencore
07 - Bren Corner

Mr. Rencore was formed in 2006 by baritone guitarist Gabrio Baldacci and drummer Daniele Paoletti, who had been playing together for 15 years in other bands. Three years later, they added baritone saxophonist Beppe Scardino.

All three musicians are at ease in several genres, with careers that have traversed rock, folk jazz and free improvisation, making them comfortable bedfellows. Adding chameleon-like alto saxophonist Tim Berne—who came in specially for this project—the music on Intollerant is a salivating blend of form and texture that dips into a host of styles to come up with portraits that electrify the imagination.

Baldacci composed five tracks, while "Kepas J" and "Bren Corner" are collective improvisations, which show how the band members interweave ideas and work in empathic understanding through a rich collage of styles.

The approach to "Kepas J" is pensive, with fragments from Scardino's bass clarinet floating into the effects from Baldacci as Paoletti adds a skewered beat. All of this is held together by Berne, his alto saxophone weaving a melody through the disparate strands. Berne fathoms the ambit perfectly without suffocating it. This leaves room for the band members to pursue logical tangents that take the form of scalding notes from the baritone guitar and an escarpment of rhythmic cascades from the drums until they all come together and rock out.

"Bren Corner" is more open-ended. Time and space are molded into myriad shapes and sounds. A conversation between Baldacci and Scardino begins in the throes of guitar chords and strangulated clarinet before it gets laid back. The texture turns dense, but no one hogs the limelight; there is room for ideas to float in and out, for ruminations to be folded into the tapestry and for oblique references to be made part of the whole.

The fierce, driving "Mr. Rencore" is a vivid document of the art of marrying composition to free idiom. The horns lock front and center, essaying a volatility that reverberates right through. Melody is rife when Scardino plays the bass clarinet before he goes on a bend while Berne is more modulated. The free movements calibrate their sense of adventure in a constant forging of abstractions and their dissemination. It's wonderfully representative of the approach of the band.

Mr. Rencore, with Tim Berne, in tow is a revelation, showcasing as it does an array of pulsating moods and structure.(c) allaboutjazz

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Skerik's Bandalabra - Live At The Royal Room (2012)

Skerik's Bandalabra - Live At The Royal Room (Royal Artist Group, 2012)

Personnel:
Skerik - sax
Dvonne Lewis - drums
Evan Flory-Barnes - bass
Andy Coe - guitar


Tracklisting:
01 - Freeborn
02 - Plutocracy
03 - Simulacrum
04 - Beast Crusher
05 - Charlie Don't Ike It
06 - Jennacosta

Skerik, the enduringly saxophonic, punk jazz iconoclast, introduces his latest project Bandalabra. Joining him are three of his fellow Seattle hometown's most revered players: Andy Coe on electric guitar, Evan Flory-Barnes on upright bass and Dvonne Lewis on drums. In Skerik's words, Bandalabra is intended to conjure the sounds of "Fela Kuti meeting Steve Reich in rock's backyard." A bold assertion, but one for which the music bears witness. Together, the quartet syncopates and snakes, floats free and snaps tight with hypnotic afrobeat rhythms, minimalist canons and improvised harmonics. There's a duality that demands listeners both dance communally and get lost in their daydreams. On their debut album 'Live At The Royal Room,' captured at the band's first ever public performance, the foursome head into the deep unknown, creating music in the moment for over 60 minutes straight. Halfway through the evening, they hit upon the illest of psych grooves, one later dubbed "Beast Crusher." Here the visceral and cerebral become one, the music explodes into the Northwest skies and Skerik's Bandalabra is born into the world a fully realized vision.
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Piero Bittolo Bon Jümp The Shark - Codename: Ohmlaut (2011)

Piero Bittolo Bon Jümp The Shark - Codename: Ohmlaut (El Gallo Rojo, 2011)

Personnel:
Piero Bittolo Bon: alto saxophone, flute
Gerhard Gschloessl: sousaphone, trombone
Pasquale Mirra: vibes, glockenspiel
Domenico Caliri: electric and 12-string acoustic guitars
Danilo Gallo: double bass, rickenbacker bass
Federico Scettri: drums

Tracklisting:
01 - When Will The Bruce Lee
02 - Die Teuflische Quinlan
03 - Heiligesruder
04 - Samantha Fox aka Kawaii Oppai! Banzai!!
05 - Secret Life Of The Mullet People
06 - Survival Advantages Of Viscera Fat
07 - Kwisatz, Kwisatz, Kwisatz
08 - Outro

A brand new charachter abruptly crashes into the routine of your favourite quintet! The real essence Jump The Shark: will Gerhard, our nice uncle from Bavaria, succeed in helping the band ratings increase, following Scrappy Doo and Cousin Oliver's trail? Will a simple diaeresis be enough to bring back Sugoi Sentai! Gattai!!'s ancient glory? Slippery but abrasive sounds like shark skin, delicious as an resistor-würstel flavoured omelette. Piero Bittolo Bon. [buy it here]

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Vermilion Sands – Reverb Overdub (2007)

Vermilion Sands – Reverb Overdub (Tearbridge Records, 2007)

Personnel:
Shoji Imakita, Yoichi Moriyama - Drums, Percussion
Katsumi Sugahara - Bass
Masahiko Ohno - Electric Guitar
Yutaka Hosokawa - Electric Guitar, Trumpet
Polnareff - Voice
Kyoji Honjo - Keyboards
Ikuo Taketani - Vocals, Trumpet, Saxophone
Noriya Maekawa - Engineer

Tracklisting:
1 - Jacob's Elevator
2 - Brimstone And Fire
3 - Ignorance Is Innocent
4 - Nada
5 - Un-T

Best music ever made!

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Griot Galaxy - Live At the D.I.A. (2003)

Griot Galaxy - Live At the D.I.A. (Entropy Stereo Recordings, 2003)

Personnel:
Faruq Z. Bey – tenor, alto, soprano saxophone
Anthony Holland – alto, soprano saxophone
David McMurray – tenor, alto, soprano saxophone
Jaribu Shahid – bass
Tani Tabbal – drums, percussion
MARZ Society:
Sadiq Bey – dance, percussion
Fahali Igbo – djimbe
Tani Tabbal - doundoune

Tracklisting:
Disc 1:
1. Z-Series A) Zinji Lebarb B) Zenelog C) Aintro D) Find It
2. Necrophilia
Disc 2:
1. After Death
2. Fosters
3. Marz Society
4. Spectrum
5. Shadow World

For nearly two decades Griot Galaxy was at the vanguard of the Detroit Music scene. Members of the band performed and recorded with Roscoe Mitchell, Sun Ra, Abdullah Ibrahim and Phil Cohran. The fact that there were only two releases of the band under their own name during this period seems criminal. Entropy Stereo is pleased to present this complete concert performance at the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1983. Beautifully recorded, this is Griot Galaxy at their peak. Griot Galaxy was Faruq Z. Bey, Tani Tabbal, Jaribu Shahid, Tony Holland and David McMurray.

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Various Artists - Qbico U-Nite VI & VII, Detroit & Buffalo, USA (2010)

Various Artists - U-Nite VI & VII, Detroit & Buffalo, USA (Qbico, 2010)

Tracklisting and personnel:

U-Nite VI
Bohemian National Ballroom, Detroit
Nov. 16, 2006

side A
Faruq Z. Bey with Northwoods Improvisers:

Faruq Z. Bey - tenor, alto sax
Mike Carey - bass clarinet, tenor sax
Skeeter C.R. Shelton - soprano, alto, tenor sax, flute
Mike Gilmore - vibes
Mike Johnston - bass
Nick Ashton - drums, percussion

a1. Emerging field
a2. Half life (with special guest Perry Robinson on clarinet)


side B
Muruga and the Global Village Ceremonial Band:

Muruga Booker - Drums & Percussion
Belita Woods, Treylewd, Louie “Babblin” Kabbabie - Vocals
Vittala Bookvich - Percussion
Richie “Shakin” Nagan - Shakers
Perry Robinson - Clarinet
Mark Hershberger - Saxophone
Ralph Koziarski - Saxophone & Percussion
Ken Kozora - Zen Drum & Keyboards
Richard Smith - Bass
George Kerby - Guitar

b. Self A Dilic Funk


side C
Odu Afrobeat Orchestra:

Adeboye Adegbenro - vocals, tenor and alto saxophones
Chris Facini - guitar
Chad Gilchrist - guitar
Joel Peterson - bass
Kevin Callaway - drums
Akunda Brian Hollis - conga
Faruq Z. Bey - alto sax
Michael Carey - tenor saxophone
Marko Novachcoff - baritone sax
William Townley - trombone

c1. Machine Gun
c2. Kakati Yaga


U-Nite VII
Soundlab, Buffalo (presented by Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center)
Nov. 18, 2006

side D
Steve Baczkowski/Ravi Padmanabha

Steve Baczkowski - baritone sax, tenor sax, pungi
Ravi Padmanabha- drums, percussion, pungi

d1. Malleus
d2. Incus
d3. Stapes


side E
Andrew Barker & Daniel Carter

Andrew Barker - drums, percussion
Daniel Carter - flute, clarinet, alto sax

e. improvisation


side F
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble

Arthur Doyle - voice, alto sax
Nuuj - electronics
Dave Cross - turntables
Tim Poland - clavinova
Vin Paternostro - Korg EA-1
Ed Wilcox - percussion, drums

f1. Cave dross
f2. Crass dove

Memorable and probably unrepeatable two qbico u-nites rec. in Detroit & Buffalo in 2006. worths mentioning: Perry Robinson jamming with Faruq Z. Bey and Northwoods Improvisors, Muruga Free Funk Band in full glory with the lovely Belita Woods and members of P-Funk, like Louie “Babblin” Kabbabie from Lebanon or Treylewd, Perry too (audience got carried away and i saw people dancing on top of other people shoulders ?!) ! Odu Afrobeat Orchestra led by Fela’s alumni Adeboye Adegbenro (sax/vocals/real deal) in which also Faruq played that night, Steve Baczkowski/Ravi Padmanabha with an hypnotic pungi duo, a long and fascinating improvisation by Andrew Barker/Daniel Carter (qbico 02) and finally what’d be one of the very last rec. of the Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with nearly all his original members. from afro-jazz, funk and afro-beat to free jazz/free music and outer space... more then two hours of great lake music! [qbico]

"I just randomly chucked a side of this Qbico triple LP compilation on, not having the vaguest notion of where to start, and I'm straight into the groove with the Odu Afrobeat Orchestra, not an outfit I've heard before but one I'll be doing my best to check out in the future on the basis of the fine Fela-invoking leads and grooviest of rhythms. Elsewhere you've got some crazy drum skills from Ravi Padmanabha fighting for and against some super crazy sax tones from Steve Baczkowski, a quite unique-sounding set from Arthur Doyle's Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, a cracking set from Andrew Barker and Daniel Carter that flows from laid-back club tones into the occasional violent eruption, Faruq Z. Bey's outing with the Northwood Improvisers which starts off with swing-laden bop before collapsing into an every-man-for-himself noise orgy and the jazzy funk of Muruga and the Global Village Band. I wish I had time to listen to all of this properly 'cos the vast majority of it sounds pretty mega". [by Brett]

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Kolkhöze Printanium - Vol. 1 Kolkhöznitsa (2008)

Kolkhöze Printanium - Vol. 1 Kolkhöznitsa (2008)

Personnel:
Paul Brousseau: keyboards, voice and drums
Maxime Delpierre: guitars and effects
Hugues Mayot: sax
Philippe Gleizes: drums
Jean-Philippe Morel: bass and effects

Tracklisting:
01 - Sans Le Savoir
02 - Our Faces At the Motown (Part A)
03 - Our Faces At the Motown (Part B)
04 - Stalker At79
05 - Fsy Tokyo
06 - Kolkhöze
07 - Ssen Soupape
08 - Chaotic Mantra
09 - Kolkhöze Talk
10 - Morgenrot (Part A)
11 - Morgenrot (Part B)
12 - Errance Digitale
13 - Petrovsky 1988
14 - Surround
15 - Mana

Creating a unique voice is not easy, and especially not in the very crowded fusion genre of rock and jazz, but what this French band creates is totally unusual, rich and intense. This is possibly one of the darkest albums I have heard in years. The rock rhythms are heavy, over which slow gloomy, unison themes of sax, guitar and keyboard are woven, with electronics, ambient sounds and the slow declamation of texts in Russian. The rhythmic backbone is industrial, repetitive, like heavy production machinery churning out endless identical products at the end of an assembly line. The great tension in the music arises from the solo instruments, trying to escape this repetitive horror, trying to liberate themselves, complaining, yearning, pleading in the meantime. Once in a while, the tune of the piece becomes joyful, almost ironic, as a sugary coating to hide the horror beneath, as on "Stalker AT79". But beauty has its place too, as the slow sax solo on "FSY Tokyo", played with a background of a-rhythmic bells, metal sounds and undefined scraping. Despite the wide variety of approaches in the 15 tracks, the coherence is extremely strong, including in the art work of the album, which depicts "Worker and Kolkhonitza", a Soviet sculpture made by Vera Moukhina in 1937. The band creates a musical world, something apart, very profound without falling into the trap of exaggeration. It is not about the effects, it's about the music. It is also very French, continuing the roads taken by Camisetas and Limousine, but taking it a step further. There is a little bit more drama, more cinematic effect, more staging, but that's part of the listening fun. Not everything works though, and in my mind the last track could have been left out, but that's a minor comment. Despite the music's dark edge, the ultimate hope for humanity message comes through loud and clear. Absolutely impressive. [Free Jazz]

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