Nacka Forum - Fee Fi Fo Rum (2012)

Nacka Forum - Fee Fi Fo Rum (Moserobie, 2012)

Personnel:

Goran Kajfes: Cornet, Bass trumpet, Steiner EVI, Percussion, Tutor, Flexatone, Electric trumpet
Jonas Kullhammar: Tenor-, Baritone- & Bass saxes, Piccolo flute, Clarinet, Mini Moog, Mellotron, Percussion, Moisturizer
Johan Berthling: Double Bass
Kjell Nordesson: Drums, Vibraphone, Timpani, Tambourine

Tracklisting:

01 - Fanfarum För Forum
02 - Borkum Riff
03 - Jimmy
04 - Buss 446
05 - Dinner With Inner
06 - Yasuragi
07 - Gluck
08 - Occasions
09 - Fanfarum For Electric Forum 

The group's only a quartet, but they've got a combination of sounds and instruments to rival that of a much larger ensemble! The strength of the record really comes from the twin horn talents of Goran Kajfes and Jonas Kullhammar – the former on cornet, bass trumpet, flexatone, electric trumpet, and Steiner EVI – the latter on tenor, baritone, bass sax, flute, clarinet, minimoog, mellotron, and even moisturizer! These two stalwarts of the Swedish scene are well grounded by the rhythms of Johan Berthling on bass and Kjell Nordeston on drums (and a bit of vibes) – working with a firm guiding hand on some of the more focused tunes here, and really letting Kajfes and Kullhammar stretch out their tones at other points. Titles include "Fanfarum For Electric Forum", "Jimmy", "Dinner With Inner", "Yasuragi", "Borkum Riff", and "Gluck".[Dusty Groove America]

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Best record of the year, in my humble opinion!!!

Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble - Live In Nashville & Louisville (2011)

Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble - Live In Nashville & Louisville (Sagittarius A-Star, 2011)

Personnel:

Arthur Doyle: tenor sax, voice
Vin Paternostro: roland 505
Ed Wilcox: percussions
Leslie Q: bass

Tracklisting:

01 - Sin
02 - Ash
03- Vanish
04 - Us
05 - Soul 

Recorded march 26 & 27, 2004 at Springwater tavern & Artswatch

"The final available rec. i have left of Arthur, unfortunatly ?! I kept it for the last since i find it a really special goody: a more intimate 4et live dates from 2004".

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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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Enrico Rava - On The Dance Floor (2012)

Enrico Rava - On The Dance Floor (ECM, 2012)

Personnel:
Enrico Rava: trumpet
Andrea Tofanelli: trumpet, flugelhorn
Claudio Corvini: trumpet, flugelhorn
Mauro Ottolini: trombone, tuba
Daniele Tittarelli: alto saxophone, flute
Dan Kinzelman: tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
Franz Bazzani: keyboard
Giovanni Guidi: piano, Fender Rhodes, toy piano
Dario Deidda: bass
Marcello Giannini: electric guitar
Zeno de Rossi: drums
Ernesto Lopez Maturell: percussion

Tracklisting:
01 - Speechless
02 - They Don't Care About Us
03 - Thriller
04 - Privacy
05 - Smile
06 - I Just Can't Stop Loving You / Smooth Criminal
07 - Little Susie
08 - Blood On The Dance Floor
09 - History

It was only after Michael Jackson’s death that Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava gradually became aware that he had for many years been ignoring, in his words, “one of the great protagonists of 20th century music and dance. A total artist. A perfectionist. A genius. I felt the need to delve more deeply into Michael’s world. There was only one way to do that: play his songs.” Thus this live album, recorded at the Rome Auditorium with the Parco della Musica Jazz Lab. Enrico’s trumpet is at its most extroverted here, vaulting above the spirited arrangements by Mauro Ottolini. Michael Jackson’s protean pop songs have never been heard quite like this. Rava is currently playing European festivals with this programme.[ECM]

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL! You are a genius!

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Anders Nilsson / Gerald Cleaver / Raoul Björkenheim - Kalabalik (2012)

Anders Nilsson / Gerald Cleaver / Raoul Björkenheim - Kalabalik (DMG/ARC, 2012)

Personnel:
Gerald Cleaver: Drums
Anders Nilsson: Electric Guitar
Raoul Björkenheim: Electric Guitar

Tracklisting:
1 - Spiraling Skies (13:07)
2 - Vortex (5:26)
3 - Incarnation (8:38)
4 - Robot Tango (13:47)
5 - Saga Raga (8:43)
6 - Descension (9:20)

Wonderful new album by two great Scandanavian guitarists (Raoul and Anders) with the propulsive Gerald Cleaver. Like the hype says below, definitely big hints of early John McLaughlin and the most exploratory bits of Jimi. Really great. Highly recommended.

"In late December of 2010, our great friend and world-trotting guitar demon Raoul Bjorkenheim, was in town for a couple of weeks. Just after Christmas, Raoul and fellow Scandinavian guitar great Anders Nilsson played a duo gig up in Harlem attended by Manny, myself and a few other informed fans. It turned out pretty well with the spirit of Jimi Hendrix - and early John McLaughlin - floating behind both guitarists. A light went on in my head! I asked Raoul and Anders to do an in-store concert on the first Sunday of 2011 at DMG with possibly additional players. They decided to ask the great percussionist Gerald Cleaver to complete this trio. The set was well attended, turned out better than any of us could have imagined, and cemented their relationship a working trio. Professionally recorded by Robert O'Hare, mixed by Robert Musso, and mastered by Mike King - we couldn't ask for better collaborators on the post-production end! The music is spectacular! Although it was completely improvised, it sounds as if there was some sort of script involved. Raoul, Anders and Gerald spin tales of wonder. It is an exciting, intense and demanding journey with incredible interplay, humorous detours and like the best of any progressive session, it completely works! It has been a few years since the last DMG/ARC release due to financial reasons, but we knew we would have to release this one. It's that FANTASTIC! Manny & me are jumping up and down with joy because we know that this disc will make y'all smile! Are you ready for Kalabalik!?! We know you are!"[waysidemusic]

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And have a sunny summer vacation!

Othin Spake - The Ankh (2006)

Othin Spake - The Ankh (Rat Records, 2006)

Personnel:
Teun Verbruggen: drums, toys and dustbingrooves
Mauro Pawlowski: guitar and weirdness
Jozef Dumoulin: fender rhodes and effects

Tracklisting:
01 - Part 1
02 - The Poem of Hyndla
03 - Höôr
04 - Certified 31% Evil
05 - Fry
06 - The Bureau of Atomic Tourism
07 - Plastic Picollo Factory Box

Othin Spake started as a joke. Put together march 2005 by Teun Verbruggen, who got “carte blanche” at Archiduc in Brussels. Teun decided to play a complete Improvised session with the exentric guitarplayer Mauro Pawlowski (dEUS, Somnambula, Mitshubishy Jackson,…) and piano-rhodesplayer Jozef Dumoulin (Mäâk Spirit, Magic Malik, Octurn,…)
This first session (on a lousy, rainy sundayafternoon) turned into a complete musical party going from very rough soundscaping, to punk, minimal elektronic and Jazz.
It was an unbelievable event with very fresh, innovating music from three musicians who never played together before.
Immediately they were asked for Jazz-middelheim 2005, Petrol, Flanders Jazz Meeting (where they immediately became one of the most discussed bands …. “This is no Jazz!!!!!!”
Now they’re asked to Play John Zorn’s supportact at AB, Brussels and many other great things are pending.

They’re not playing pure Jazz but they call their music “emofreejazznoizesweetpunk” which comes close to what they’re bringing. Every concert is a complete discovery and a fully improvised set … so worth checking out!![cdbay]

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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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