Swedish Azz - Azz Appeal (2011)

Swedish Azz - Azz Appeal (Not Two Records, 2011)

Personnel:
Mats Gustafsson - alto, baritone, slide saxophones, live-electronic
Per- Ake Holmlander - tuba, cimbasso
Kjell Nordeson - vibes
Dieb13 - grammophone, live-electronic
Erik Carlsson - drums

Tracklisting:
1. opus 3 - Fånerier, nr 8 - Full opus 4 / PH Wallin (08:30)
2. Karl- Bertil Jonsson 14 år / G Svensson (02:30)
3. Lidingö Airport / B Nilsson + Visa från Utanmyra / trad-Jan Johansson (10:30)
4. Hugin och Munin / G Riedel + Fedja / L Gullin (16:05)
5. Elysium / L Werner (06:08)

New group by Mats Gustafsson and Per Åke Holmlander, consisting of five European improvisers loving, respecting, and playing the swedish jazz masterpieces from the 50´s and 60´s.
The Golden Age of Swedish Jazz happened in the mid 50´s, as we were told, and was represented by some very distinct and personal voices that were all taking their main inspiration from the American West Coast Jazz, but transforming it into a swedish colour and language, also including elements of traditional Swedish Folk Music.
Lars Gullin, Jan Johansson, Bernt Rosengren, Georg Riedel, Lars Werner, Berndt Egerbladh and later Per Henrik Wallin were all part of this movement and we just LOVE this music!
Swedish Azz wants to explore the possibities to use these wonderful and strongly lyrical melodies and put them in a contemporary structure and soundscape. We want to find out, or at least try out, what will happen when you put these melodic lines in connection with a.o. live electronics and experimentation in form, using the freedom of improvising freely.[NotTwo Records]

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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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Les Rhinocéros - Les Rhinocéros (2011)

Les Rhinocéros - Les Rhinocéros (Tzadik, 2011)

Personnel:
Michael Coltun: Basses, Effects, Loops, Noise, Toys, Acoustic And Electric Guitars, Percussion, Vocals, Sampling, Keys
David Coltun: Violin
Kenneth Congmon: Saxophone
Kevin Downing: Trombone
Tom Klecker: Drums, Percussion
Andrew Landau: Saxophone
Joey Pappas: Double Bass
Leo Svirsky: Piano
Peter Tran: Electric Guitars, Effects, Loops, Noise, Vocals

Hailing from the Washington, DC area, the young band Les Rhinocéros delivers a crazy world in sound, blending aspects of rock, world music, noise, ambient and jazz. The trio of teenagers was formed in 2008 while the players were still in high school, and has developed since then into an intense and wildly imaginative group that takes music to its extremes. Emotional, minimalistic, intense and grooving, this is music that goes beyond imagination to the edges of sanity. The group continues their sonic experiments by adding unusual instruments into the traditional rock band setting.

Tracklisting:
01. Intro/Whispering
02. Beeps and Boops
03. Up
04. Les Rhinocéros
05. Tuml
06. Moon
07. Scenic 1
08. Choo Choo! (4 On The Door)
09. I Too Once Bought A Bicycle
10. Scenic 2
11. Johnway
12. Mark It 8

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Hardly recomended!

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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Endangered Blood - Endangered Blood (2011)

Endangered Blood - Endangered Blood (Skirl, 2011)

Personnel:
Chris Speed - tenor saxophone
Oscar Noriega - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Trevor Dunn - bass
Jim Black - drums

Tracklisting:
01 - Plunge
02 - Rare
03 - Epistrophy
04 - Elvin Lisbon
05 - K
06 - Tacos At Oscars
07 - Iris
08 - Uri Bird
09 - Valva
10 - Andrew's Ditty Variation One

Endangered Blood formed in 2008, to play a benefit concert to help pay for fellow musician Andrew D'Angelo's medical bills. For the performance, drummer Jim Black and bassist Trevor Dunn—two of the saxophonist's band mates—enlisted saxophonists Chris Speed and Oscar Noriega. As happens so often in modern groups, familiar players in different combination produce compelling results.

Black and Speed are both veterans of Tim Berne's vanguard band, Bloodcount, as well as Human Feel, Pachora, Yeah No and Alas No Axis. Dunn has been a member of Mr. Bungle and bands led by John Zorn, while Noriega is one of Berne's latest finds, and a longtime collaborator with Satoko Fujii.

The quartet's brief and intense tribute to D'Angelo, "Andrew's Ditty Variation One," begins with a two-horn lockstep sprint that quickly evolves into a time-shifting squawk-fest. With Black bashing out a barrage of beats, the two horns mimic D'Angelo's infamous raging sound that is often performed onstage, wriggling on his back.

But the disc is not at all about camp. The quartet draws together its many influences, from Eastern European to alt-rock, to push the boundaries of performance jazz. Speed is credited with the writing here, but he draws not only from his writing with The Clarinets and Human Feel, but his work in Black's Alas No Axis and drummer John Hollenbeck's The Claudia Quintet.

With Noriega doubling on bass clarinet, Speed is able to enlarge the sound on "Rare," and present Thelonious Monk's "Epistrophy" with a much darker tone, as if played by men in over-sized wool coats lifting heavy objects. "Tacos At Oscars" swirls some Philip Glass-style unison horns around Black's frenetic drumming. This recording's purpose becomes clear, however, on tracks like "Uri Bird," which melds funk and bebop, or "Iris," a New Orleans blues outfitted with an old-school sawed bass and parading horns.

Endangered Blood signals a sort of watershed in the evolution of creative music that was once called jazz. The dust has cleared, and what's left is an idiosyncratic and very entertaining sound. [allaboutjazz]

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Aram Shelton's Arrive - There Was (2011)

Aram Shelton's Arrive - There Was (Clean Feed, 2011)

Personnel:
Aram Shelton - alto saxophone
Jason Adasiewicz - vibraphone
Jason Roebke - double bass
Tim Daisy - drums

Tracklisting:
1. There was...
2. Cradle
3. Lost
4. Fifteen
5. Frosted
6. Golden

There aren't many musicians tied to more than one musical scene, but Aram Shelton is one of those rare examples.Both the Chicago and the Bay Area avant-jazz and free improv circuits benefit from this horn player who improvises with a composing perspective and composes to serve collective improvisation. Arrive, which dates back to 2001, is one of Aram's Chicago bands, and you can sense the connections with this city's jazz and experimental traditions, including the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. His individual alto saxophone style makes us think of the early music played by Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton: it's bitter and argumentative, but also ascetic, expressionist, with a sense of measure. Aram Shelton's parallel interest for electroacoustic music isn't strange to this approach. His partners in "There Was..." are the right ones for such an "in-between" focus. Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz is an exquisite colorist, but also a master in what concerns intensity and balance.With his double bass, Jason Roebke is a secure time-keeper and a trustable space-organizer, even when he puts the "center" way out there. Tim Daisy is the kind of drummer indispensable when a band needs to keep the motor running and simultaneously to be free from strict pulses. What an astonishing quartet we find here, indeed... [Clean Feed]

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