Jazz Archives

it ought to take you straight onto Kobaia planet.

(Nanya Do Yara Nanya Do Nasareno Nanya Do Yara)

Shingo Village (Herai)

Well...

Mediafire gave me a nice Christmas present 

when they had blocked access to almost all my uploads on their servers.

Sadly, I can be bothered to do it again.

Re-ups, I mean. Just too many...

I have not decided what to do with this blog yet.

It remains to be seen.

Dig it as much I you still can.

jazzlover

Machine Gun was an improvising band formed in New York City in 1986. Its members were: Robert Musso: guitars, Thomas Chapin: reeds and flute, John Richey: vocals, cut-ups, tapes, TV, Bil Bryant: drums, Jair-Rohm Parker Wells: basses. Karl Berger is featured on melodica on their eponymous first release.

The band name came from the landmark Peter Brötzmann 1968 album release "Machine Gun", an octet recording often listed among the most notable free jazz albums. One critic has written "Machine Gun" offers "a heavy-impact sonic assault so aggressive it still knocks listeners back on their heels decades later." This style significantly influence this band.

Sonny Sharrock frequently performed with the band and appears on the first release, as well as the second, Open Fire.

:::Info by wiki:::

Machine Gun - Open Fire (1989)

1. In The Beginning 5:24

2. A Sultan's Last Stand 4:26

3. Pentagon 6:15

4. Get The Gun 3:56

5. See Africa 5:10

6. Brass Tactics 6:55

7. Recreation 2:14

8. Arsenal Tech High 7:01

9. Mommie Sir 7:03

10. Obsession + Oblivion 5:11

11. Take No Prisoners 3:32

12. Muffy Fails French 5:14

13. Road Worthy 9:16

14. Chillin 1:19

Credits

Bass – Jair-Rohm Parker Wells

Drums – Bil Bryant

Featuring [Special Guest] – Sonny Sharrock

Guitar, Bass – Robert Musso

Saxophone, Flute – Thomas Chapin

Tape, Vocals – John Richey

The first 120 seconds or so of "Mind Over Matter" feature Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, and underground luminaries Lenny White (drums) and George Cables (keyboard) engaged in free-form, expressionist, abstract improv and then, in a short contained explosion, Henderson starts blowing his tenor like he's spitting out rounds of bullets from a gun. 

A torrent solo follows and, just when you think the song won't let up, in comes Curtis Fuller's trombone and then Pete Yellen's flute. The song ends with what almost sounds like the soundtrack to an absurd dream. It's a 13-minute tune broken up into suites and, although it may not be the album's best, it's possibly its most enthralling, and it typifies this album's place in Henderson's Milestone discography -- not his best, but enthralling. There are songs with nouveau-bop heads ("No Me Esqueca") and all-in burners ("A Shade of Jade"). Although the album is rhythm-heavy, it was recorded a couple years before Henderson's funk cloud would really thicken -- Joewas still swinging here ("Invitation"), which ain't so bad. Still, despite the obvious highlights, this undersold gem is a must-listen if only to check "Gazelle" (recorded live) and hear a head-nodding bassline from Ron McClure backing Henderson and Woody Shaw at their fieriest.

:::Review by Vincent Thomas:::

Joe Henderson - In Pursuit of Blackness (1971)

A1. No Me Esqueca 7:08

A2. Invitation 7:36

A3. A Shade Of Jade 7:41

B1. Gazelle 7:34

B2. Mind Over Matter 13:16

Credits

Bass – Ron McClure (tracks: A2, B1), Stanley Clarke (tracks: A1, A3, B2)

Congas – Tony Waters (tracks: B1)

Drums – Lenny White

Piano [Electric] – George Cables

Saxophone [Alto], Flute, Clarinet [Bass] – Pete Yellen (tracks: A1, A3, B2)

Saxophone [Tenor] – Joe Henderson

Trombone – Curtis Fuller (tracks: A1, A3, B2)

Trumpet – Woody Shaw (tracks: A2, B1)

After the superb Coses Nostres, how can one follow up and still appear as on top of their game? Iceberg found the easy (but not so obvious) answer, to make another superb album, and believe me they did. The album actually veers a bit more jazzy in the fusion sense sometimes approaching the over-demonstrative Return To Forever or even a bit Weather Report and still the better Santana (Caravanserai) and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Some moments are so powerful that I cannot help but thinking of Journey's superb jazz-rock debut album with the incredible Ainsley Dunbar on drums.

Right from the opening title track, you know this album will strike all the rights chords if you like the above-mentioned bands, and the Spanish feel is present but nothing obtrusive (hardly any flamenco hints, but more of Rodrigo (Aranjuez) feel. Again Sunyer and Mas take the stage by storm, but the rhythm section is really on top of its game. The only small gripe I might have is that the synths sounds are a bit more "modern", but at least on this album they have been correctly reproduced during the CD transcript. To separate one track and raise it above the rest is simply impossible to this reviewer, because the album is incredibly even, with maybe Magic a bit under par. However, if I must name just one track, listen to the closer Alegries Del Mediterraneo.

A smoking album, just as excellent as the previous Coses Nostres but better rated because of no avoidable sound flaws. Among my top 40 jazz-rock albums, no problems even if I have only known it for the last few months.

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Iceberg - Sentiments (1977)

1. Sentiments (1:50) 

2. Andalusia, Andalusia (5:37) 

3. A Sevilla (5:13) 

4. Ball De Les Fulles (5:30) 

5. Magic (6:23) 

6. Joguines (3:00) 

7. Alegries Del Mediterrani (9:17) 

Credits

- Jordi Colomer / drums, percussion 

- Josep "Kitflus" Mas / acoustic & electric pianos, synthesizers 

- Primitivo Sancho / bass 

- Joaquim Max Suñe / acoustic & electric guitars

In the jazz world, one thing that keeps a lot of fans coming back for more with their favorite artists is the unpredictability factor. It may well be human nature to subconsciously form preconceptions, but with this music, it's usually best to avoid reductionist pigeonholing as, more often than not, it sets self-limiting expectations. Guitarist John Abercrombie has proven, in a career now well into its fifth decade, that just when it seems clear where he's heading, he veers unexpectedly elsewhere—though there always seems to be some thread of commonality running through it all. Since forming the quartet with pianist Richie Beirachthat debuted on Arcade (ECM, 1978), Abercrombie's release pattern with his regular groups has, however, been largely consistent, with three recordings featuring the same lineup before moving, at least, on record, to the next. Even the quartet with violinist Mark Feldmanand drummer Joey Baron that has occupied much of the guitarist's attention in the new millennium released three records with Marc Johnson before Thomas Morgan took over the bass chair to alter its complexion for Wait Till You See Her (ECM, 2009).

Despite no signs of that configuration exceeding its "best by" date, Within A Songrepresents a directional shift of sorts, while still possessing some of the markers that link all of Abercrombie's work together. Drummer Joey Baron is the only carryover in a quartet that, along with bassist Drew Gress—making his second appearance on ECM after his label debut (with Abercrombie) on saxophonist John Surman's Brewster's Rooser (2009)—also features saxophonist Joe Lovano, on his first session for the label since drummer Paul Motian's final trio recording with guitarist Bill Frisell, Time and Again (2007). It's an inspired choice for an album that pays tribute to some seminal music of the 1960s, even though Abercrombie is the only one who fits the bill of his brief liners, referring to ..."an old saying that goes: if you can remember the 1960s you probably weren't there." Abercrombie wasthere and he does remember, but if Lovano, Gress and Baron were, for the most part, pre-teens when most of the inspirations for Within A Song were first recorded, then their subsequent careers—ranging as far and wide as their leader's—have all demonstrated a near-mitochondrial appreciation and, even more importantly, understanding of that innovative period.

Abercrombie has often covered a song or two on his recordings as a leader, but he's largely focused on original material. Within A Song flips the equation, with only three original songs in a nine-song set that touches on Miles Davis, with an indigo-tinged version of "Flamenco Sketches" that's even more impressionistic than the original on the trumpeter's seminal Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959)). Abercrombie also pays tribute to saxophonists John Coltrane, with "Wise One" (from Crescent (Impulse!, 1964), and Ornette Coleman, with the free jazz founder's "Blues Connotation," from This is Our Music (Atlantic, 1961), moving effortlessly from time and changes to greater freedom, only to find its way back, mid-song, for Lovano's ambling but effervescent solo.

Within A Song never actually reaches a boil, with the opening "Where Are You" and Abercrombie's "Easy Reader" setting a relatively gentle pace. Still, the guitarist's title track—which borrows both indirectly and, ultimately, directly from the Youmans/Rose standard "Without A Song"—does turn the heat up to a simmer, while Bill Evans' "Interplay" swings vibrantly at a medium tempo thanks to Gress and Baron, whose powerful punctuations—rarely as flat-out exuberant as some of his best work in Bill Frisell's group of the 1980s/90s, but still demonstrating the occasional slap-happy bent—are unexpected but never gratuitous.

The entire quartet's behind-the-beat approach when it comes to both groove and melody may give Within A Song its generally relaxed veneer, but beneath this largely soft surface is a freer approach that speaks to Abercrombie's explanation, in a 2004 All About Jazzinterview: "I like free playing that has some relationship to a melody; very much the way Ornette Coleman used to write all those wonderful songs and then they would play without chords on a lot of them; but they still had these great melodies to draw you in and act as a reference point; I think having a reference point when you're playing this kind of music is very important."

A cursory look at the collective discography of everyone in this quartet reveals players comfortable with the tradition and in more left-of-center contexts. Given Baron's textural playing here, there are times when Within A Song actually recalls some of Lovano's wonderful On Broadway recordings with Motian and Frisell from the late 1980s/early 90s—where that group found ways to deconstruct well-heeled tunes, albeit with more overt fire, at times, contrasting a similarly impressionistic approach. But if Abercrombie is a less idiosyncratic player than Frisell, he's just as unpredictable. Time and again, on album and in performances ranging from Montreal in 2007 and Mannheim in 2009, to Ottawa in 2010, Abercrombie is both instantly recognizable and perennially fresh, never resorting to stock ideas or signature lines. If he has largely focused on string-driven chamber jazz for the better part of the last decade, with Within A Song he's delivered an unequivocal jazzrecording—one founded on the groundbreaking music of the 1960s, to be sure, but, in the hands of these fine players, resonating with fresh, contemporary relevance.

:::Review by John Kelman:::

John Abercrombie - Within A Song (2012)

1. Where Are You

2. Easy Reader

3. Within A Song / Without A Song

4. Flamenco 

5. Sketches

6. Nick of Time

7. Blues Connotation

8. Wise One

9. Interplay

Credits

John Abercrombie - guitar

Joe Lovano tenor - saxophone

Drew Gress - double-bass

Joey Baron - drums

Larsen Rupin is a Swiss avant-jazz quartet that was founded in 1990 in Neuchâtel. This unique quartet is formed of Daniel Spanhi (drums) who was also a member of Débile Menthol, Nimal and L?Ensemble rayé, Gilbert Ummel (saxophone, vocals), André Schenk (bass) and Julien Baillod (guitars), who joined the band in 2008, to replace Pier-Luigi Pision, their first guitarist.

Larsen Rupin released three albums. Their first album, A Ban, came out in 1992 and featured only three members of the actual band (Spahni/Ummel/Schenk).

Their second album was released in 2003 and named Contredanses. On this album, you can hear a great dark, avant-progressive sound.

The third album is called Procès-verbal and was released in 2007, as a quartet with Pisino on guitars joining the trio of the first two albums. Pisino was replaced in 2008 by Julien Baillod.

With this new line-up, they still have not released an album, but we can expect something good, as all of their other material. They have recently been experimenting on mixes of pop, rock, blues and jazz.

:::Info by Gabriel Rivest (Tsevir Leirbag):::

Larsen Rupin - A Ban (1991)

1. A Ban (5:06)

2. La langue de bois (2:58)

3. Les vaches maigres (4:24)

4. Boules kiesses (4:24)

5. Vieux scratch (2:20)

6. Délaichéance (4:52)

7. La transe continentale (2:52)

8. Carnation (4:58)

9. Lascar Nivore (2:34)

10. Nice Noise (2:44)

11. Trac éléctrique (2:18)

12. Larsen_Crachat (3:58)

Credits

- Daniel Spahni / Drums

- Gilbert Ummel / Sax, vocals

- André Schenk / Bass

What is immediately noticeable upon listening to this delicately and superbly remastered version of Miles Davis classic first -- and only -- album with his original sextet is how deep the blues presence is on it. Though it is true that the album's title cut is rightfully credited with introducing modalism into jazz, and defining Davis' music for years to come, it is the sole selection of its kind on the record. The rest is all blues in any flavor you wish you call your own. For starters, there's the steaming bebop blues of "Dr. Jackie" -- recorded in 1955 for a Prestige session with Jackie McLean. Davis is still in his role as a trumpet master, showing a muscularity of tone that reveals something more akin to Roy Eldridge orLouis Armstrong than Dizzy or Fats Navarro. The tempo is furious as all the members of the sextet solo except for Jones. The saxophonists trade choruses and come off sounding like mirrored images of one another in the slower, post-bop blues that is "Sid's Ahead." With a slippery melody line that quotes two harmonic lines from early New Orleans-styled blues, Davis drives the band into the rhythm section's garage. It's Coltrane first with his stuttered, angular lines, hiccuping halfway through the interval before continuing on with a squeak here and the slightest squawk there. Next up is Davis, blowing fluid and straightened lines, ribbons through the rhythm section's center as Red Garland lays out and leaves it toPaul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones to provide the earnest, time-keeping 4/4 that Davis sidles to in the tune. When Adderley solos, all best are off as he plays as pure a blues as he was capable at the time. Nonetheless, there are the long lines of slurred notes, smattered against Garland's harmonies and he slips into quoting "Skip to my Lou" before knotting it back down to the basics and even then not for long.Coltrane was already exploring the edges of mode and harmony; he used an intervallic invention in the choruses to juxtapose his solo against the rhythm section and it worked -- but it must have made Davisraise an eyebrow. Chambers' solo is as tasteful and as breezy and free as only he could be. His contrapuntal soloing rides the rhythm out, Garland striding along quietly until the tune returns.

"Sid's Ahead" is followed by the track "Two Bass Hit," written by Dizzy and John Lewis. It's an off-kilter blues with a wide middle section, no doubt for Lewis' piano to fill. It's a wonderful ensemble showcase but Davis blows his ass off in his solo, riding through the two saxophonists and challenging them at the same time. But then comes "Milestones" with its modal round and interval, where harmony is constructed from the center up. It is a memorable tune for not only its structure and how it would inform not only Davis' own music, but jazz in general for the next seven years. It would also changeJohn Coltrane's life. The exploratory style of soloing was already revealing itself in Trane's playing, but he loosens it up even more here. More importantly, this is the first place we get to see it in Davis, where there is no goal at the end of the rainbow, there is merely the solo itself in the heart of the mode. The alternate take of this tune, which is featured at the end of the album, tagged on with two others of "Two Bass Hit" and "Straight, No Chaser," has an even longer and weirder solo by Davis where he plays notes he probably never played again. The album's closer is Monk's "Straight, No Chaser," which became a signature tune for the sextet even when Garland and Jones left to be replaced by Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb and later Evans by Wynton Kelly. Like "My Funny Valentine," it was a Davis staple that accented how intuitive the band was with unusual harmonic structures like Monk's. The Adderley solo is remarkable for its fluid, bebop-style runs over Garland's extended chords and flatted sevenths.Cannonball quotes the melody in a myriad of ways and goes off the deep end each time he does, taking the new rendition to its limit, always returning it to the blues root. Davis plays it cool, slithering around the rhythm section staying firmly in blues phraseology, even quoting a reverse harmonic melodic read of "When the Saints Go Marching In," bringing it in and out three times while pushing the blues line to its edge. Coltrane's solo is all over the place, slurring notes as he plays weird scales all over the blues and triple times the rhythm section. But he knows the tune better than anyone here -- he spent six months with Monk just previous to this playing it every night. Coltrane knows how much he can stretch the intervals without breaking apart the body. He inserts his own modal interpretation on the blues halfway through his solo before slipping into the straight, swinging groove of his Blue Train album, finished only two months before. Garland, oddly enough, is the one to travel the furthest from Monk here, coming off with a Bud Powell-esque blues muscle that shifts the entire tune into a straight bebop blues before sifting in a few Errol Garland quotes as the bass solos and then the front line comes in to take it out. The alternate take is even stranger as Garland falters in his time not once but twice and has to find his way back in.

Legacy has done it proud on this series of reissues, as the sound is as fine as technology can currently make it, the notes are terrific, and the alternate takes offer additional delights to fans of the original recordings. They should also be commended for leaving them at the bottom of the album instead of placing them in with the original album's sequence, a practice that though widely used is distracting nonetheless. This is a fine issue of a classic, and treated like the piece of art it is.

:::Review by Thom Jurek:::

Miles Davis - Milestones (1958)

1. Dr. Jackle (5:47)

2. Sid's Ahead (12:59)

3. Two Bass Hit (5:13)

4. Miles (5:45)

5. Billy Boy (7:14)

6. Straight, No Chaser (10:41)

Credits

- Miles Davis / Trumpet, Piano (on Sid's Ahead)

- Cannonball Adderley / Alto saxophone

- John Coltrane / Tenor saxophone

- Red Garland / Piano

- Paul Chambers / Double bass

- Philly Joe Jones / Drums

During one of the timeout in Yves Simon's schedule, his backing band profited from the spare time to record their first album. Indeed this was quite quick (6 days in mid-May at Studio Davout), because they had had time to prepare it, and where even playing their own numbers at soundchecks of the singer's tours. 

The standard prog quartet developed an excellent jazz-rock that was rivalling the classic-driven Mahavishnu Orchestra, where the songwriting was fairly evenly spread out between the four accomplished musicians, although I wouldn't call them seasoned veterans. On a Spanish scale, you could place them between Fusioon's first two albums and Iceberg's jazzier opus like Coses Nostres.

The artwork might induce you to think the group is very percussive, but the sound is very much balanced. 14 relatively short tracks (max 3'40") that meddle into one giant number. In some ways, you'd guess that the tracks written by drummer Bouvier are more rhythmic, but then once they morph into bassist Guselli- written ditties, they don't necessarily become funky. As the short tracks keep speeding by, the listener is never bored, because they (tracks) are all very different and never repeat themselves. Their jazz-rock is still fairly academic, but complex, melodious and subtle finesse.

An excellent but short debut album that did not go unnoticed in the French jazz scene, Priglacit (no idea as to what the title means) is probably the best introduction to Transit Express' music, but you can't go wrong by choosing anyone of their three opus. And when this is the case, it's best to start chronologically.

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Transit Express - Priglacit (1975)

1- Priglacit 

2- Drousia I 

3- Drousia II 

4- Contrat Session 

5- Planerie 

6- Bahar 

7- Contradiction 

8- Ludition 

9- Vanda 

10- Vinitier 

11- Connection 

12- Flaure 

13- Coexistence 

14- ls

Credits

Dominique Bouvier / drums, vibraphone, percussion

Jean-Claude Guselli / el & ac bass

Christian Leroux / guitars, synths

Serge Perathoner / el & ac piano, clavinet, ring modulator, synths

Saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh seems right at home on Pi Recordings, who have steadily assembled a roster of serious conceptualists. The Californian player and academic (do yourself a favor and check out his writings) has always impressed with his synthetic imagination, but on Post-Chromodal Out! he sets himself an almost impossibly ambitious task. Modirzadeh himself describes his “quest to create a seamless exchange of musical structures across cultures.” But rather than another entry in the history of faintly awkward jazz and exotica “fusions,” Modirzadeh’s “chromodality” system is rooted in a very rigorous tuning and harmonization concept that explores the intersections between Iranian dastgahmusic and improvisational polytonality ranging from Harry Partch to Joe Maneri.

Over the course of two lengthy suites — his own nearly 50-minute “Weft Facets” and James Norton’s “Wolf and Warp” (Modirzadeh wanted to see if his system could stand up to another composer’s explorations) — the results prove to be surprising, quizzical, and “fuck yeah” exhilarating. This quintet — the leader on tenor and soprano, trumpeter Amir ElSaffar (with whom Modirzadeh co-led Radif Suite), pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Royal Hartigan — plays with so much range and feeling and technique that they at times sound nearly orchestral. At the heart of these often head-turning effects is the integration of standard and Iranian classical tunings and intonations to shape improvisational possibilities. There’s microtonality simply everywhere, not just in the subtle intervals Modirzadeh uses to make up his craggy, fast-moving lines, but in the timbre of the horns and the piano (Iyer is a knockout from start to finish, playing an instrument retuned to three-quarter tones). Each of these multi-sectioned suites moves through sequences of fascinating tension between passages for swing rhythm section and jabbing piano (“Wolf Two,” for example, or “Facet Seventeen,” which sounds like a Persian Ornette cover band with player piano, buoyed by an immense Filiano/Hartigan groove). Modirzadeh and ElSaffar play fascinating solos where the horn tones seem to flip, quaver, vibrate, and have their own bottom drop out (notice the soprano flourishes on “Facet Twenty-Two” or ElSaffar’s exchanges with Iyer on “Facet Twenty-Four”), as Iyer shifts deftly between disorienting prepared piano and conventional playing, often within a single bar. It’s a pretty terrific effect.

The “Weft Facets” suite features three guests who pop up for extra timbre to boot: Danongan Kalanduyan plays Filipino kulintang on three sections; Faraz Minooei plays Persian santur on another three; Tim Volpicella handles guitar on two. “Interlude One” and “Facet Sixteen,” in particular, shine with these contributions, and Iyer sounds outrageously good alongside the santur on “Interlude II.” Filiano and Hartigan are absolutely central to the coalescence of these multiple moments, an ominous throb here, an anchored groove there, a terpsichorean race all popping up rapid-fire as definable rhythmic and harmonic shapes both set and scramble the contexts for Modirzadeh’s thematic material.

Norton’s “Wolf & Warp” starts out sounding superficially more like what one expects from “jazz.” But as the close harmonies of the horns develop alongside Filiano’s arco and pounding, decentered piano, it speaks to you in its own language that is distinct from the compositional material in Modirzadeh’s suite, even as it is shaped by his concept. And while the leader’s writing tends to blur the boundaries of composition and improvisation more emphatically, Norton’s slightly more lyrical writing (just check the gorgeous closing fragment) tends to put the spotlight on good ol’ solos just a bit more. “Wolf Two – Ensemble” and “Wolf Six” are tours de force for Iyer in this piano idiom, with probing accompaniment from Filiano (who also does some slurring double-stops to great effect). But Modirzadeh and ElSaffar are dazzling as well, combining quick melodic imagination with false fingerings, a wide range of embouchures, and modest overblowing here and there to bring out polytonality.

The effect of Post-Chromodal Out! is like having your head buffeted by a barrage of head-scrambling information, all of it resisting conventional listening, and most emphatically not announcing itself as anything close to conventional jazz-plus-exotica. It’s a powerful statement from a composer, instrumentalist, and band that deserve your time and acclaim.

:::Review by Jason Bivins:::

Hafez Modirzadeh - Post-Chromodal Out! (2012)

1. Facet Thirteen 2:57

2. Facet Fourteen 8:26

3. Facet Fifteen 1:49

4. Interlude I 2:44

5. Facet Sixteen 1:46

6. Facet Seventeen 6:04

7. Facet Eighteen 1:49

8. Interlude II 2:06

9. Facet Nineteen 0:41

10. Facet Twenty 3:12

11. Facet Twenty-one 2:48

12. Facet Twenty-two 3:36

13. Interlude III 1:47

14. Facet Twenty-three 0:55

15. Facet Twenty-four 3:11

16. Interlude IV 2:24

17. Facet Twenty-five/Reprise 2:16

18. Wolf One 1:57

19. Wolf Two-piano Solo 0:57

20. Wolf Two-ensemble 3:40

21. Wolf Two-bass Solo 1:44

22. Warp Three-ensemble 2:39

23. Warp Three-drum Solo 1:00

24. Warp Four 2:29

25. Wolf Five-part One 2:41

26. Wolf Five-part Two 2:24

27. Wolf Six 2:43

28 .Wolf Seven 2:40

Credits

Bass – Ken Filiano

Drums – Royal Hartigan

Piano – Vijay Iyer

Saxophone – Hafez Modirzadeh

Trumpet – Amir ElSaffar

If jazz was ever meant to be a religion, its prayers might sound something like Nan Madol. The title means “spaces between,” and no description of this music could be more apt. The album is an eclectic mandala of drones, eruptions of ecstatic liberation, and snatches of melody from both near and far. Influences range from Japanese folk melodies to Alpine herding calls, and all of them strung by a powerful understatement of continuity.

We open our eyes to find ourselves in a field at night in which a nearby forest looms with untold life. Soprano sax verses mingle with the shawm-like nagaswaram, dripping with the luscious slowness of honey from a broken hive as abstract solos bounce over a corroded surface of ever-so-slightly detuned harps. We proceed from meditation to incantation, calling upon the sounds of spirits rather than the spirits of sound. Melodies drag, are picked up, only to drag again: the final paroxysms of a dying organism laid bare for our imaginations. Motifs flit in and out of earshot like radio transmissions struggling to hang on. The instruments weep as if the entire album were nothing but a cathartic ritual. 

On the surface, the musicians seem unaware of each other, all the while reveling in their secret synergy far beyond the threshold of audibility. This is music on its own plane and we must approach it as we are. There is no middle ground, no meeting point to be had.

This may not be “fun” album to listen to, and certainly not an easy one to describe, but it is rewarding in more metaphysical ways. Far from a jazz album to tap one’s foot to, it is instead a free-form surrender to the possibilities of automatic music. Its mood is inward while its exposition is extroverted and full of exquisite contradictions. If nothing else, the stunning “Areous Vlor Ta” will leave you breathless and vulnerable to the grand Return that brings the listener full circle to where it all began.

:::Review by ecmreviews.com:::

Edward Vesala - Nan Madol (2007)

1. Nan Madol

2. Love For Living

3. Call From The Sea

4. The Way Of...

5. Areous Vlor Ta

6. The Wind

Credits

Alto Saxophone, Performer [Snaga Varam], Flute – Charlie Mariano (tracks: 5, 6)

Double Bass, Voice – Teppo Hauta-aho (tracks: 1, 4 to 6)

Flute – Sakari Kukko (tracks: 1)

Harp – Elisabeth Leistola (tracks: 4)

Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Pentti Lahti (tracks: 5, 6)

Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Seppo Paakkunainen (tracks: 5, 6)

Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Piccolo Flute, Bells, Voice – Juhani Aaltonen (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 6)

Trombone – Mircea Stan (tracks: 5)

Trumpet – Kaj Backlund (tracks: 1, 4, 5)

Violin, Viola, Voice, Bells – Juhani Poutanen (tracks: 1, 4 to 6)

(Editor) One of the best and most significant recordings of then just 27-years old legendary Polish altoist Zbigniew Namysłowski...

"Jazz fills up my life. It means to me everything -- said Namyslowski. -- Playing in a quartet suits me best... Until recently I did not set great store by composition. But now to be successful one cannot merely play Horace Silver's themes and other people's arrangements. And so I have created my own quartet and my own music, to be able to play what I want and how I want...". 

Quoting these words I cannot help recalling a thin and insignificant looking boy who burdened with a huge cello scrambled on to the gigantic stage of the Forest Opera in order to play with the Modern Combo group, which was taking part at the II International Jazz Festival at Sopot (August 1957), as a completely unknown soloist. And yet a few years later Zbyszek Namyslowski won recognition not only with jazz fans and connoisseurs at home but also with the exacting critics abroad -- after numerous tours of his quartet in such countries as Italy, Belgium, West Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Finland, USA. Namyslowski went through most suitable stages before he achieved his present-day results; he played the trombone in traditional and swing bands, for some time also the trumpet and cornet, and when there was need he accompanied the vocalists on piano. 

But the ambitious musician was never after the label of a "multi-instrumentalist". Eventually he chose the alto saxophone in which he could prove himself completely. What we appreciate with Namyslowski particularly is his equally enthusiastic attitude to all styles in jazz; he is always himself while playing hard-bop along with rhythm and blues, free-jazz and the third current along with the fringes of pop-music, and who at the same time would feel an irresistible fascination towards new ventures? A separate chapter could be devoted to Namyslowski's compositions, the more so that his ambition is to draw inspiration from Polish folk-lore which leads to the sort of music that Poland exports as her contribution to the world of jazz. 

While writing on Namyslowski we must say a few words about the remaining members of the band as they also have their say in modern jazz. The pianist ADAM MATYSZKOWICZ (b. 1940) made his first steps as jazzman within the Cracow "jazz boheme"; in 1963 he made his mark as member of "The Jazz Darlings", and already in those days critics predicted him a fine career which was to lead him subsequently to appearances in the quartet of the known Polish tenore saxophonist Michal Urbaniak. His greatest success abroad was his accompanying to the known Polish group "Novi" which won the first prize at the 15th International Jazz Festival in Zurich (1965). The percussionist CZESLAW BARTKOWSKI also became a jazzman in a student milieu having begun his career in the FAR quartet. In 1961 he made himself known to the wider public at the International Jazz Jamboree at the Warsaw Philharmonic, then he participated in the triumphant tour of Namyslowski's quartet (among others in Britain, Italy, West Germany). From time to time he joins other bands such as the excellent quartet of the Polish pianist Krzysztof Komeda. The bass player JANUSZ KOZLOWSKI (b. 1941) started, like his colleagues, as member of modern student bands. For some time he played with traditional bands such as "Warsaw Stompers", Ragtime Jazz Band, the group Bossa Nova Combo and "Pagart's" big band with whom he went on numerous tours abroad.

Siodmawka (Seven-Four Bars) -- After the composition based on Polish mountaineer's themes called "Piatawka" (Five-Four Bars) in which Namyslowski used rarely appearing in jazz rhythm 5/4, the composer went here still farther and used in "Siodmawka" the beat 714. Along with the free form we hive here harmonies of a mountaineer's tune. This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting items of the record. 

Despair -- In respect of melody and harmony, an equally interesting piece. This is a twelve-bar form of  blues, but without the use of the blues scale. 

Frances the Terror -- Here we come to know the quartet operating within free-jazz, the sort of music which perhaps does not appeal to all, but expresses, however, the artistic changes occurring in our days and the evolution of jazz. The band is improvising in two tempi, two phases, and does it very consistently. 

The Beetle Humming in the Reeds -- A folk-tune again, this time it's a Krakowiak. The quartet plays it with dash and half-jokingly. 

My Dominique -- A typical ballad of simple harmonies, in slow tempo. The composer wrote it with his little daughter, Dominika, in mind. 

The Wardrobe -- The composition, which is being played dynamically and in a "dirty" way, may be regarded as a mixture: free harmony + big beat. Let's hear what's been the result. 

Mead Drinker Lola -- A sort of Charleston, a musical joke with typical solo parts. It can do without commentary, being simply a musical relaxation. 

"Despite the comings and goings of our many American visitors in 1964, one of the most refreshing things to hit the British jazz scene last year was the visit of these four young Poles. This album... is a striking illustration of the high standard of European jazz. ("Melody Maker", London, Jan. 9th 1965) "...As an orthodox modern jazz group, they possess all the qualities one would look for in their American counterpart... As a group, the four men are obviously well accustomed to each other's playing.. In addition their music has a strange attractive flavor which one can only put down to their contact with Polish folk music...".  

:::Review by polish-jazz.blogspot.com:::

Zbigniew Namysłowski Quartet - Polish Jazz Vol.6 (1966)

1.  Siódmawka / Seven-Four Bars 8:05

2.  Rozpacz / Despair  6:10

3. Straszna Franka / Frances The Terror 10:55

4. Chrząszcz Brzmi W Trzcinie / The Beetle Humming In The Reeds 9:00

5. Moja Dominika / My Dominique 7:10

6. Szafa / The Wardrobe 7:10

7. Lola Pijąca Miód / Mead Drinker Lola 1:30

Credits

Zbigniew Namysłowski - alto sax

Adam Matyszkowicz - piano

Janusz Kozłowski - bass

Czesław Bartkowski - drums

Latest (so far, the fourth) album from Forgas' troupes, and maybe the best one yet, but it comes after a three or four year silence (Soleil 12 dates from 05) that had us worried. Actually, parts of the compositions were already written a while ago(the next album was originally scheduled in 06), but the line-up suffered a few changes (now a septet), then some tracks were re-written (trimmed down), more added and by the time all of this was dealt with, they were in the summer 08. Just four tracks, all penned by Patrick, packed in an uncompromising fluvial artwork

Opening on one of the older track La Clef that's been on the live repertoire quite while and it shows because the band is really tight on this track, Mlodecka's violin and Alexaline's trumpet on the forefront, the latter distilling a light Spanish ambiance throughout the album. The 16- mins+ title track is the album centrepiece, first as a piano-driven tune where Trognon alternate on sax and flute, then allowing everyone to have its moment in the sunshine. The other cornerstone on which the album is built is the trimmed-down 14-mins Double Sens, a piece that lost over 20 minutes of ideas, most likely to pop up on future albums. What's left is an impressive and tight composition, starting on a strong bass line, but later (the second half) featuring a grandiose exchange of brass, violin and guitar licks, lines and solos over a delightful electric piano. No doubt the album's highlight. The closing 13th Moon starts out as a smooth bass and electric piano-driven mid-tempo on which trumpet, flute and guitar and violin are gliding , but gradually speeds up, gets frantic, than manic ( love these short brass answers between solos and ending up in a wild guitar solo.

Not only is Forgas a brilliant drummer, he's also become an excellent composer (something he wasn't in the 90's), but he's also letting his mates plenty of room for them to express themselves musically. As good as Soleil 12 was, it easy to understand that the FBP has jumped another hurdle and reaches the category of the giant JR/F of the millennium. One of my album of the year.

:::Review by Sean Trane:::

Forgas Band Phenomena - L'Axe Du Fou (2009)

1.La Clef (10:50)

2.L'axe du Fou (16:32)

3.Double-Sens (13:50)

4.La 13ème Lune (8:24)

Credits

-Patrick Forgas/ drums

-Sébastien Trognon/ tenor & soprano sax, flute

-Dimitri Alexaline/ trumpet & flügelhorn

-Benjamin Violet/ guitar

-Karolina Mlodecka/ violin

-Igor Brover/ keyboards

-Kengo Mochizuki/ bass

No, Martin Küchen isn't a composer of programmatic music, conceived only to accompany silent movies, dancers or stage actors, but even if this wonderful Swedish saxophonist also had made music for theatre, dance and cinema, his main work in the fields of jazz and free improvised music has as a personal characteristic the particularity of telling stories. Or, at least, of presenting specific situations you can visualize. Each recording of the several projects lead by Küchen is, somehow, a narrative, and the new Trespass Trio album 'Bruder Beda', is no exception. We're told about a relative of his, Ernst Gerson, a Jewish German veteran of the World War I who became a Catholic monk, adopting the name Bruder Beda. When he decided to return to the secular world, when both the Nazis and the Zionist movement were growing, big troubles waited for him. The music has a narrative drive, telling us a story without words but with emotional depth. It's like a film with sounds, enabling our imagination to build the details. There's intense moments and there's space, with the interposed silences adding more unquietness to the flux of events. Always combining economy of notes and restraint of expression, only going to the extremes when it's relevant and necessary, this is another great accomplishment by Trespass Trio, With other words; Martin Küchen, Per Zanussi and Raymond Strid are back! Don't miss this one: the sax, the bass and the drumkit cry, shout and sigh as if they were alive; Per Zanussi always present, an true anchor, he stands like an old beautiful tree in the middle of a newly erected garden... and Raymond Strid , a master of timbre and dýnamics, is sometimes forceful, other times delicate, but always strangely precise in everything he does. Highly recommended

:::Review by worldjazznews.blogspot.com:::

Trespass Trio - Bruder Beda (2012)

1. Ein Krieg In Einem Kind (take 3)

2. Don't Ruin Me

3. Bruder Beda ist Nicht Mehr

4. Todays Better Than Tomorrow

5. A Different Koko

6. Ein Krieg In Einem Kind (take 4)

Credits

Martin Küchen – alto & baritone saxophones

Per Zanussi – double bass

Raymond Strid – drums

1. The Madness And The Damage Done (5:20)

2. Fisheye (5:08)

3. Exit Sun (8:36)

4. Exit Sun (0:57)

5. HEALTER SKELTER (5:35)

6. The Madness And The Damage Done (3:24)

7. Blackjazz Deathtrance (10:52)

8. Omen (8:46)

9. 21st Century Schizoid Man (8:41)

- Munkeby / Vocal, guitars & Saxophone

- Lofthus / Drums

- Kreken / Bass

- Moen / Keys & Synths 

Although a four-LP Mosaic box set purportedly includes every recording led by the obscure but talented tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks, this 1994 CD has previously unreleased alternate takes of "True Blue" and "Good Old Soul" that Mosaic overlooked. Brooks is teamed with the young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard(on one of his earliest sessions), pianist Duke Jordan, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Taylor for a set dominated by Brooks' originals. None of the themes may be all that memorable ("Nothing Ever Changes My Love for You" comes the closest), but the hard bop solos are consistently excellent.

:::Review by Scott Yanow:::

Tina Brooks - True Blue (1960)

01. Good Old Soul

02. Up Tight’s Creek

03. Theme For Doris

04. True Blue

05. Miss Hazel

06. Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You

Credits

Bass – Sam Jones

Drums – Art Taylor

Piano – Duke Jordan

Recorded By – Rudy Van Gelder

Tenor Saxophone – Tina Brooks

Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard

A great work "Qualia" is ? I absolutely enjoy this sophomore release by Syrinx, and I wish I had known it at the time so I could vote for it the 2009 Top lists. All I can do in the present days, in retrospect, is praise it with all my heart. This French ensemble was quite a big surprise a few years back with their debut effort "Reification", exploring a sort of progressive experimental rock that combined mystic atmospheres and dense, semi-creepy moods; in 2008, "Qualia" retook this interesting trend and instilled a renewed energy into it. As usual, the band's sonic framework is built upon the articulation pondered among the harmonies/leads performed on a much featured acoustic guitar and the driving force driven on by the rhythm section, while the keyboard inputs rigorously fill abundant spaces all over the place. 'Liber Nonacris' opens up the album with agile atmospheres, but eventually, at the 3 minute mark, the sonic development turns to slightly denser grounds. From the onward, the piece evolves in an amazing set of varied themes, abundant yet not overwhelmingly overdone. There are moments in which the keyboard orchestrations assume the leading role in the melodic developments; there is also a mysterious passage in which the bass guitar's interventions get a bigger exposure, in this way adding some stamina to the overall sound. The use of synthesized choral ornaments and emulated mellotron helps to reinforce the recurrent mesmeric ambience. 'Acheiropoietes' features soprano sax in the first passage, which assumes an air of distinction through the unhidden sense of mystery that prevails. The colorfulness portrayed in the subsequent development states a landscape of tension that ends up released during the track's closing section. 'Le Grand Dieu Pan' brings a grayish ambience, properly focused on autumnal textures. The solo piano passage bears a nostalgic beauty, conveniently balanced with the agile section that follows immediately, eventually leading to a majestic display of moderate bombast. Once again, the bass guitar manages to make itself noticed among the whole equilibrated architecture. 'Le Vingt-Et-Unieme Cercle' occupies the album's last 5 ¾ minutes. It is evidently more serene than any of the other preceding tracks, but the overall feel is totally consistent with the spirit of outworld mystery that has assumed control of the musical arrangements in the whole album. The climatic ending may bring some 70s Pulsar memories to some. Well, this was "Qualia", a superb album by one of the best French prog ensembles currently around.

:::Review by Cesar Inca:::

Syrinx - Qualia (2009)

1. Liber Nonacris (19:38)

2. Acheiropoiètes (8:40)

3. Le Grand Dieu Pan (14:45)

4. Le Vingt-et-unième Cercle (5:45)

Credits

- David Maurin / acoustic guitar

- Benjamin Croizy / keyboards

- Samuel Maurin / bass

- Philippe Maullet / drums

Composer John Zorn is a man of many projects, genres and styles. When once asked about styles, in Option, he replied "I'm not afraid of styles; I like them all." He also has a short attention span and because of that his music is a unique aural crosscut of styles—be it avant jazz, classical, cartoon cutups, free improv, computer music—continuously plunging himself into less expected musical territories. Being an intrepid explorer and musical sponge, his wide-ranging interests are so vast and ever-changing that is futile to place him in anything but in a category for himself. It seems that exploration is the motivation and main engine that leads Zorn along his journey to the extreme limits of constant and rigorous research. But not only are his musical interests so wide; his literary and film interests and influences are equally maddeningly broad and diverse, too.

All those references to literary and film interests can mainly be found in the titles of records and compositions. Zorn has found equal inspiration in various literary sources, from crime novels and Japanese manga comic books to occult subjects such as the books of Aleister Crowley, various seekers of the truth and mystics such as G. I. Gurdjieff, the Kabbalah mysticism, and demonology or Gnosticism; in other words, the alternative branch of Christianity. Literary and mystical sources aside, Gnostic Preludes is a fine example of Zorn's unique and fascinating fusion of classical music with western improvisation.

It could have easily been part of his Filmworks series because of its meditative nature. The melody of opening track, "The Middle Pillars" (referencing one of the recommended practices for Sophian initiates) closely resembles the main theme of Filmworks XIII: Invitation to a Suicide (Tzadik, 2002).

Zorn uses the talents of this unusual combination of instruments—harp, vibraphone, bells and guitar—to maximum effect and, as always, he fully engages the performers to be not just dutiful interpreters, but creatively invested collaborators. The sense of beauty lies in the way these instruments are melded in a multi-textured tapestry of sound. Guitarist Bill Frisellis particularly inspired, as his playing shows him being more engaged and focused than he has ever been. Rather than hiding behind his immediately recognizable slow and weaving guitar tones and melodicity, he is more playful and virtuosic. The interplay between vibraphonist Kenny Wollesen, Frisell and harpist Carol Emanuell on "Book of Pleasure" is beautiful, with characteristically minimalistic repetitive motifs on vibes and Frisell providing Dave Gilmour-esque edgy guitar works. It is a gorgeously slow tune with lyrical imagery for the mind and the soul.

"Prelude of Light" continues down this strange yet inviting path. It alters between beautiful backwash of harp and vibes melodies and drones, with Sephardic melodies provided by the intricate guitar. The shimmering nature of the sounds produced on "Diatesseron," "Sounds of the Spheres" and "Circumbulation" creates delicate filigrees that pulsate with absorbing detail. The layered production gives these compositions a hypnotically captivating quality that induces a dreamlike state; the effect is really intoxicating. "Sign and Signal" is another delightful track, featuring beautiful and intricate interplay between Emmanuel and Wollesen's vibes and bells. 

It shimmers with Steve Reich -like pulsating repetitive motifs taken further with Frisell's overtly blissful Sephardic guitar lines. 

It is an infinitely fascinating track that begs to be revisited over and over.

Gnostic Preludes is an intriguing and seductive recording, with a gentle and contemplative feeling that resonates with emotive power. 

It combines the feel of ambiance music with lyrical and melodic prowess seldom seen in Zorn's work. As such, it is a moving work well worth surrendering to.

:::Review by Nenad Georgievski:::

John Zorn - The Gnostic Preludes (2012)

1. Prelude 1: The Middle Pillar 6:39

2. Prelude 2: The Book Of Pleasure 6:06

3. Prelude 3: Prelude Of Light 5:56

4. Prelude 4: Diatesseron 4:35

5. Prelude 5: Music Of The Spheres 8:14

6. Prelude 6: Circumambulation 6:34

7. Prelude 7: Sign And Signal 6:22

8. Prelude 8: The Invisibles 3:35

Credits

Composed By, Arranged By – John Zorn

Guitar – Bill Frisell

Harp – Carol Emanuel

Vibraphone, Bells – Kenny Wollesen

Samaria Celestial is was the drummer for the SUN RA Intergalactic Cosmo Love Adventure Arkestra.  Isis Sun is his first solo outing and acts as a personal tribute to Sun Ra and his unique collection of musical proteges.  The album was almost completely improvised and utilizes numerous complex rhythm tracks, space synth backwash, his brother's wood flute and Samarai's own unique Intergalactic Space Rap.  The package is completed with stunning artwork with full color tray cards, rainbow spiral galaxies, Egyptian temples, resplendent fractals and even an appearance by Sun Ra himself.

For over thirty years, Sun Ra's Intergalactic Arkestra stretched the creative boundaries of avant-jazz. Sun Ra claimed to be from Saturn, and said that he "arrived" on earth to spread the Creator's greatest gift: music. While his outrageous statements gained him attention, it was his talent as a musician and bandleader that earned him respect. Ra was an amazingly gifted musician, but he also surrounded himself with a like-minded, similarly gifted group of musicians. Samarai Celestial played drums for the Sun Ra Arkestra steadily from 1979-1985, and again from 1994 until he passed away in at age 43 in 1997, after a four-year battle with heart disease. 

Celestial credits Ra as one of the greatest musical masters ever, and he dedicated his first solo album, Isis Sun (1995), to the memory of his teacher (Ra passed away in 1992, and the Arkestra continues to tour under the direction of Marshall Allen).

Celestial's music is a far-out cosmic exploration, full of polyrhythms, funky beats, and ear-bending sound experiments. In the liner notes to Isis Sun, Celestial wrote that he was trying to "create something different in music that contained Masterful Elements of the past, present, and future to give my Master thanks for the hours of lessons, dedicated purity, and the development of the omniversal spirit of the arts." The result is a mixture of lightning-fast drumming, free improvisation, and synthesized insanity that both honors Ra's legacy of creative musical expression and highlights Celestial's innovative skill.

:::taken from fromnowherehere.blogspot.com:::

Samarai Celestial - Isis Sun (1995)

1. Sun Ra   14:26

2. Isis Sun   12:26 

3. Unifying Rhythm   20:50

4. Nation Time   15:13 

5. Sun Ra (Edit Version)   7:47

Credits

Bobby Zankel, 

Jason Oettel, 

Rick Iannacone, 

Samarai Celestial, 

Tyrone Hill