The Auanders - Live In Pisa (2013)

The Auanders - Live In Pisa (Auand, 2013)

Personnel:

Francesco Lento: trumpet

Gaetano Partipilo: alto sax, flute

Francesco Bearzatti: tenor sax, clarinet

Francesco Bigoni: tenor sax, clarinet

Beppe Scardino: baritone sax, bass clarinet

Federico Pierantoni: trombone

Francesco Diodati: guitar

Francesco Ponticelli: double bass, electric bass

Ermanno Baron: drums

Tracklisting:

01 - Loop Bed

02 - Congo

03 - A Quarries Lamp

04 - Trumpet Garden / Erba

05 - Circle

06 - Joy Plant

07 - Leica Lenses

08 - Virus

09 - Hit

This is a co-production with the Jazzit label as well as a part Auand all-star unit. The members who are leaders of their own include: Partipilo, Bigoni, Scardino and Bearzatti, five of the members have contributed songs to this long (73+ minute) effort. Considering that this is a nine-piece ensemble with four sax players, this is more of a focused group effort with well written pieces. The opening song, “Loop Bed” is a lovely, laid back song, a righteous beginning. “Congo” features layers of Latin-sounding percussion with impressive horn arrangements and some great solos from the bari sax (Scardino), trumpet (Lento) and trombone (Pierantoni). Writing for a nine-piece unit is no easy matter as each piece provides different structures, harmonies and challenges. There are a handful of freer sections amongst the more written pieces, which seem to fit the overall story which holds this together. There a couple of more mellow pieces which feature some exquisite arrangements and elegant solos as well. [DMG Newsletter]

[PLEASE BUY IT HERE]

Or find it in comments!

Gilbert Holmström New Quintet - Tiden Är Kort (2013)

Gilbert Holmström New Quintet - Tiden Är Kort (Moserobie, 2013)

Personnel:
Gilbert Holmström: tenor saxophone
Jonas Kullhammar: stritch, tenor, baritone & bass saxophone
Magnus Broo: trumpet
Torbjörn Zetterberg: double bass
Jonas Holgersson: drums

Tracklisting:
01 - 1976
02 - Osaka
03 - Desert Walk
04 - Libero
05 - Stars Fading Blue
06 - Dog Fight
07 - Indian Chant
08 - Tiden Är Kort

Holmström, now 77 years old, is part of the Nordic jazz legacy in its various incarnations. A Charlie Parker concert at Gothenburg's Concert Hall in 1950 left a lasting impression on him and convinced him to choose a musical career over dentistry. Gilbert Holmström led his own quintet in the sixties inspired by the American free jazz of Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp, and in the seventies his quintet— now called Mount Everest—alternated between fusion and expressive, acoustic jazz, later spiced with Latin elements. Since the mid- eighties his musical activities focused around the Jazzgalleriet in Gothenburg, his hometown, where exhibitions and concerts were organized.

Moserbie—Kullhammar's label—reissued in 2011 the classic album of Holmström quintet from 1965, Utan Misstankar (Without Suspicion), still considered one of the best Swedish jazz albums of all times. Recording Tiden Är Kort (Time is short) with a new quintet is a natural conclusion of the successful reissue. Holmstrom wrote all the compositions except the title piece, taken from the old Christian song.

Holmstrom is backed by Kullhammar and Kullhammar Quartet rhythm section—double bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg and drummer Jonas Holgersson plus the brilliant trumpeter Magnus Broo, a member of the Swedish- Norwegian quintet Atomic. This quintet enjoys supporting the articulate and commanding solos of Holmström, gently repeating and expanding his musical ideas almost like a choir, all locked in light swinging pulse. The emotional ballads "Osaka" and "Stars fading blue" highlight Holmstrom's soft and velvety tenor voice while "Desert Walk" and "Indian chant" emphasizes the tight and supportive interplay with Kullhammar and Broo, all three soaring above the hypnotic, propulsive rhythms laid by Zetterberg and Holgersson. The smoking, be-bop "Dog fight" offers Holmström opportunity to trade fast, muscular solos with Kullhammar and Broo. This heartfelt tribute to a great musical figure is concluded with a soulful ballad that injects a soft swinging pulse to an ancient hymn. [Allaboutjazz]

[PLEASE BUY IT HERE]

And find it in comments!

Torbjörn Zetterberg - Och Den Stora Frågan (2014)

Torbjörn Zetterberg - Och Den Stora Frågan (Moserobie, 2014)

Personnel:
Torbjörn Zetterberg: double bass, percussion
Susana Santos Silva: trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion;
Mats Äleklint: trombone, percussion;
Jonas Kullhammar: tenor & baritone saxophones, clarinet, flute, percussion;
Alberto Pinton: baritone saxophone, clarinet, flute, piccolo flute, percussion;
Jon Fält: drums, percussion

Tracklisting:
01 - En Bra Start På Dagen
02 - Världen Är Sig Aldrig Lik
03 - Mästare av Vad

04 - Ingen Tid Till Ingenting
05 - DO-DODO-DO-DO-DO
06 - Hyllning Till Ovissheten
07 - 1+1=1
08 - Visa Från Mitten av Universum

Swedish double bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg did not record as a bandleader for more than seven years. Zetterberg, a member of the Jonas Kullhammar Quartet and a prominent figure in Nordic jazz since the late nineties, experienced an existential crisis at the peak of his busy, successful career. He felt bored and unsatisfied, so in 2010 he decided to leave city life and moved to a Buddhist temple without his instrument. He stayed at the temple for a year and still spends half of his time there.

Och Den Stora Fragan ("And the Big Question" in Swedish) is a welcome return. Zetterberg employs musicians who played with him before, most of them on his last album as a bandleader, Skildrar Kvinnans Kamp (Moserobie, 2008). He adds Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, who collaborated with him on a set of impressive improvised dialogues, Almost Tomorrow (Clean Feed, 2013) and drummer Jon Falt, a member of pianist Bobo Stenson's trio.

Zetterberg states that he now feels more and more that he actually lives his dream, as he should have since the beginning of his career. Indeed Och Den Stora Fragan is charged with joyful urgency, shiny optimism and confident flowing energy, despite the doubts and uncertainties that accompany any creative, artistic process. His tight arrangements with the swift shifts in rhythm and colors bring to mind the great bands of Charles Mingus. All these qualities are immediately summarized in the opening, 30-second piece "En Bra Start Pa Dagen."

Other pieces highlight Zetterberg as a resourceful and thoughtful composer, with a gift for sketching an evocative, even exotic story, as on "Varlden Ar Sig Aldrig Lik" and "Visa Fran Mitten av Universum." The powerful reed section—Santos, trombonist Mats Aleklint and sax players Kullhammar and Alberto Pinton—produce myriad colors. Zetterberg uses the same strong, opinionated musicians to question basic composition on the open-form piece,"Mastare av Vad."

"Ingen Tid Till Ingenting" is a concise, muscular and fast post-bop piece that stresses the ensemble as a tight, massive unit. "DO-DODO- DO-DO-DO" and "1+1=1" continue in the same vein featuring brilliant, passionate solos. The clarinets of Kullhammar and Pinton add a fragile, gentle colors to the lyrical,"Hyllning Till Ovissheten," that also features a beautiful solo by Zetterberg.

Brilliant, profound and inspiring. [Allaboutjazz]

[PLEASE BUY IT HERE]

Or try it in comments!

Anna Webber - Simple (2014)

Anna Webber - Simple (Skirl, 2014)

Personnel:
Anna Webber - saxophone/flute

Matt Mitchell - piano
John Hollenbeck - drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Carnophobia

02 - Emoticon

03 - 1994

04 - Simplify, Simplify

05 - Washington

06 - I Don't Want To Be Happy

07 - Zig Zag

08 - Invisible Propulsion

09 - For Eric

Simple (Skirl 2014), New York based composer/saxophonist Anna Webber's follow up to her 2013 release "Percussive Mechanics (Pirouet 2013) finds her exploring the expressive capabilities of a trio setting. While the compositional sensibilities introduced in her first album remain, her affinity for polyrhythms being a good example, the new texture provides her the ability to play with more freedom and subtle intricacy alongside her tight arrangements. Of course, her phenomenal bandmates contribute a lot in this respect.

Joining Webber on this outing are pianist Matt Mitchell, known as an in-demand sideman who has played with such luminaries as Dave Douglas and Dan Weiss, and renowned drummer John Hollenbeck, her teacher from her time at the Jazz Institut Berlin. Both collaborators are excellent musicians in their own right and their duo playing is a joy to listen to in itself. Add Webber's inimitable inventiveness and sense of melody and time to the mix and the result is something uniquely special.

The music for the album was written on Bowen Island in British Columbia, where Webber enjoyed the opportunity to isolate herself from the busy bustle of her home in Brooklyn and allow the music to develop organically. The peaceful seclusion is evident in many of the tracks, "Washington" being a beautiful instance of what such opportunities can lead to. The beautiful colors and textures were inspired by the far off mountains of Washington state; anyone familiar with the pacific northwest can hear the picturesque landscape being evoked. Likewise "1994" suggests a calm solitude with its subdued tempo and energy and its, at times, intense use of space. The alternation of dense and open voicings in the piano accompaniment suggest the beautiful struggle of removing oneself from contemporary life, as does Webber's sometimes lyrical, sometimes dissonant melodies.

Conversely, Webber's distinctively percussive and rhythmic compositional and playing style are very much evident throughout the album. A highlight among these compositions is "I Don't Want To Be Happy." With a driving, complex rhythm at the outset leading into a much freer section with wonderful interplay, this song is less obviously connected to the quietude of an island in the pacific ocean. Yet the reality of living with oneself, and only oneself, is not always as charming as a quaint island overlooking a beautiful ocean view. "Simplify, Simplify" is far from simple; the incessant rhythm suggests the ever present struggle of being honest with oneself in such a situation. Aside from these philosophical considerations, these songs groove and have compelling melodies, rhythms and forms.

Fans of avant-garde jazz, small group interplay and unique and driving compositions will all find something to love on this record. The group featured on the album will be performing at ShapeShifter Lab in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday, September 25. [Allaboutjazz]

[PLEASE BUY IT HERE]

And find it in comments!

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]

[PLEASE BUY IT HERE]

And find it in comments!

Black Motor ‎– Never Out Of Fashion - Live In Amsterdam (2010)

Black Motor ‎– Never Out Of Fashion - Live In Amsterdam (Kauriala Society, 2010)

Personnel:

Sami Sippola - tenor saxophone

Ville Rauhala - double bass

Simo Laihonen - drums

Tracklisting:
A1 - Nekala High
A2 - Korpi-Kainuun Marssi / Vaarat Vastukset
B1 - Aamen
B2 - Club El Toro
B3 - Hard Man Anthem

Recorded live December 10, 2008 in OT301 Amsterdam, Holland.
Limited edition of 310 handmade, numbered copies.

OUT OF PRINT!

Find it in comments!

Black Motor - Jumehniemi (2012)

Black Motor - Jumehniemi (Sagittarius-A-Star, 2012)

Personnel:

Sami Sippola - tenor saxophone

Ville Rauhala - double bass

Simo Laihonen - drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Water

02 - No Spell Nor Prayer
03 - Jumehniemi
04 - Kolme Neittä Niemessä

The Black Motor on Sagittarius (after their 1st qbico release) ! probably one of best & more respected free music outfit in Europe right now, for sure they rules in Finland and especially in their own town, Tampere where they even have i think a bi-monthly night called Black Motor Klubi at legendary Club Telakka... it's for sure one of the tightest group i know of, having the chance to play a lot together and this is clearly manifest when you hear their unfocused playing... their most mature work to date ?! the fierceful album's title composition occupy all side A and it's a wild affair, while the three pieces which make up the B-side are a different deal: meditative and joyfull in the moods.

Black Motor is Sami Sippola on tenor and baritone sax, Ville Rauhala on bass, and Simo Laihonen on drums. Jumehniemi was recorded in January 2011 in Jumehniemi, Finland. "The Black Motor on Sagittarius A Star, following their 1st release on sister label Qbico! Probably one of the best & more respected free music outfits in Europe right now, for sure they rule in Finland and especially in their own town, Tampere, where they even have a bi-monthly night called Black Motor Klubi at legendary Club Telakka. It's for sure one of the tightest groups I know, having the chance to play a lot together and this is clearly manifest when you hear their unfocused playing. Their most mature work to date?! The fierce album's title composition occupies side A and it's a wild affair, while the three pieces which make up the B side are a different deal: meditative and joyfull in the moods. [INFINITE LIMITS]

[PLEASE BUY IT HERE]

And find it in comments!