LOTTE ANKER / CRAIG TABORN / GERALD CLEAVER – Live At The Loft 2005

Label: ILK Music – ILK 148CD
Format: CD, Album; Country: Denmark - Released: 30 March 2009
Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz
Live concert recording from Loft, Cologne on June 22, 2005.
Recorded At – Loft, Köln, Germany
Barcode: 5706274002010

The music appears as played and heard with a minimum of editing.

A pure improviser, Danish native Anker pushes and pulls a variety of extended themes on this recording, with the American-based team of acoustic pianist Craig Taborn alongside drummer Gerald Cleaver.

This is the second release by Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker with her trio with Craig Taborn on piano and Gerald Cleaver on drums. The concept that started on the first album, "Tryptich", comes to fruition on this live date, and takes the concept a notch higher. Gone are the high-toned nervousness, and some of the density of the improvisations, making room for slower, warmer, more deeply felt and opener structures, and it works to perfection. Anker delves deep into the nature of music, stripping it of all its mannerisms, patterns and clear melodic lines, revealing a subtle, sensitive, melodic emotional nakedness, fragile and beautiful, intense and heartfelt. Taborn and Cleaver provide the ideal support and interaction, enjoying the subtleties, reinforcing the emotional depth, adding perspective and color, but leaving the center stage to Anker, whose calm presence defines the music. On "Magic Carpet", the long first track, she moves the music from calm, almost contemplative moments to increasing levels of intensity towards the end, but without raising her voice, or without losing the sensitivity, drawing Taborn and Cleaver into her realm of fast little sounds, who echo her, join her, then take over for two consecutive solos, compact, efficient, but great. The equally long second piece starts again in the faintest of modes, with barely audible sax notes vibrating in the air, floating sensitively, encountering their counterparts from the piano and finger-played drums, dancing around each other rhythmically, but then one without recognizable pattern. And out of this almost-silence erupt some gut-wrenching agonizing wails, slowly, plaintively, and then listen how Taborn takes over, capturing the idea, playing around with the implicit rhythm for a wild yet light piano excursion, and when Lotte Anker joins, she moves the piece back to slowness, stretching her notes, laying a quiet blanket on top of the rhythmical frenzy that Cleaver starts creating, followed in that by Taborn, leading to a strange musical contrast between the rhythm section and the tenor, the one hectic, the other slow. The last piece, "Berber", brings again this strange mixture of abstract and deeply emotional music, demonstrating that in the right hands and ears, musical purity in all its polished rawness, in all its real sensitivity, devoid of fake feelings, averse of false pretention, is not a vague dream, but a real possibility. Free form unleashes true feelings. An absolutely stunning performance.

_ By Stef
http://www.freejazzblog.org/2009/04/lotte-anker-craig-taborn-gerald-cleaver.html


ILK Music – CATALOGUE:  http://www.ilkmusic.com/catalogue/



Buy this album!

IVO PERELMAN QUARTET – The Hour Of The Star (2011)

Label: Leo Records – CD LR 605
Format: CD, Album; Country: UK - Released: Apr 2011
Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz
Recorded by Jim Clouse at Park West studios on September 20th, 2010.
Artwork by Ivo Perelman
Packaging: Jewel Tray

"The hour of the Star" by the newly formed all-star Ivo Perelman quartet is a fierce tour-de- force that will leave improv music fans breathless. The mesmerizing interaction between Ivo Perelman (saxophone), Matthew Shipp (piano), Joe Morris (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums) proves that intensity and attention to detail can coexist when delivered as a cohesive artistic statement. A band bound for greatness!
_ Leo Records

"A Hora da Estrela" [The Hour of the Star] is the last work by Clarice Lispector, released shortly before his death in 1977. Hour of the Star is the latest album by Ivo Perelman, released by the English label Leo Records, in 2011. After 34 years, the tireless New- York based Brazilian saxophonist and artist revisits the theme accompanied by some of the most creative and active musicians in the current "free- jazz"/improvised music scene. His recent albums have been named after works by Clarice Lispector (Soulstorm, Apple in The Dark, etc.), which seems to have become an obsession for Perelman, translating the essence of Lispector's confusing, distressing, melancholic and, to some extent, liberating character into his music.

Hour of the Star was recorded just one week before the quartet's live debut in São Paulo, in September 2010. This was the first time the four musicians had played together. They had recorded and played as trios and duos, but never as a quartet. I had the chance to see them perform first hand in São Paulo. One could call this quartet a "super group", but I prefer not to refer to them as such, as the term is closely linked to the music of the 1960s and 1970s, made by musicians with inflated egos, which isn't the case with Perelman's quartet.

With each new release, Perelman has continued to develop his technique. His breathing is unique, very characteristic and different from other saxophonists. As soon as one hears his playing you can tell that it is Perelman's. His music is urgent; it has to stretch out from limits and reveal feelings, whatever they may be, to the outside world. His music is challenging. It has become increasingly developed, complex, but without being boring: it encompasses huge energy and creativity. Whenever people think that Ivo's musical career has peaked, he brings out another great record. Hour Of The Star' has the complexity, density and melancholy found in Clarice Lispector's works, but if we close our eyes we can see the abstract paintings directly relayed via Perelman's music.

The release begins with "A Tearful Tale", in a very fragmented and angular way with just Ivo and Shipp; this becomes more cohesive as Morris and Cleaver join in, leading to a peak after almost 13 minutes. "Singing the blues" is what we could call the most "conventional" on this album, followed by the brilliant and powerful "Hour of the Star", the high point of the album. In its 14 minutes, the quartet does not demonstrate any sign of fatigue or lack of creativity. The track is explosive, with impressive interaction between the musicians. It is one of Perelman's best compositions in his long career.

"The Right of Protest" is the shortest piece on the album and also the most melancholic. Shipp and Perelman play it as a duo. "As for the future" is just the trio of Perelman, Morris and Cleaver, while Matthew Shipp lays out. Starting calmly with Cleaver, the track develops in such a way that the listener just has to get involved. Morris and Cleaver provide the necessary support for Perelman to take off on his solos perfectly. It is worth remembering that Joe Morris is a guitarist with a highly personal technique, but recently he has concentrated on playing bass, as he does here. The album closes with "Whistling in the Dark Wind" at the highest level, with Matthew Shipp and his "hammered" piano, while Perelman wrings everything he can out of his sax, stretching the limits of the instrument. A breathtaking close to one of the most sincere, honest and challenging forms of music.

Review by Cláudio PENTERIANI (2011-08-10)



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MAT MANERI featuring JOE McPHEE – Sustain (2002)

Label: Thirsty Ear – THI57122.2
Series: The Blue Series
Format: CD, Album;  Country: US - Released: 2002

THIRSTY EAR STUDIO RECORDINGS/ THE BLUE SERIES, 2002
Executive Producer: Peter Gordon
Engineered by Jamie Saft; Recorded at Frank Booth
Mastered by FLAM at Mindswerve Studio, NYC
Artistic Director for Blue Series: Matthew Shipp
Design and Photography: Cynthia Fetty, www.dahliadigital.com
Re-design (inside) by ART & JAZZ Studio SALVARICA; Designer: VITKO

Review:

In the last couple of years, Mat Maneri has been incredibly prolific. His versatility and range, especially on the viola, have facilitated work within widely different musical contexts. On Sustain he joins a quartet of active NYC musicians, plus special guest Joe McPhee on soprano saxophone. These players have built strong intuitive relationships over time in various collaborations, enabling them to make musical statements in an unforced, natural way. Sustain offers deliberate, open individual and collective improvisation.

The tracks on Sustain alternate between the "Alone" series (solo performances by each musician) and group improvisations. The contrast afforded through this arrangement allows the listener to appreciate each individual voice both on its own and in combination with the other players, making for a nice overall sound because everyone has something different to say. Maneri opens the disc with round, resonant notes rich with harmonics, hinting more than he actually states. (That leads quite nicely into the group tune "In Peace," a sort of psychedelic trip through outer sound.) William Parker's take on "Alone (Unravel)" strays from his usual intensity to a more open, spacious aura. And when he goes out on his own, drummer Gerald Cleaver coaxes texture and color from his kit, suggesting rub more than hit, stroke more than punch.

The four quintet pieces span a wide range of moods without sounding contrived or scattered. "Nerve" has a frantic, bubbly energy that hurries ahead, rarely pausing to gather steam. Both Craig Taborn and Maneri use effects to alter their sound, bringing it perilously close to a primal scream; meanwhile, the rhythm section stops and starts, eventually heading toward a insistent groove and then off into the wild beyond. On the other hand, the title track showcases Maneri's ability to say more with less. Gentle, undulating viola lines intertwine with McPhee's floating voice on the soprano sax, lending an ethereal atmosphere through generous use of space and time.

As might be expected from a group of this caliber, Sustain is a fine disc. Its inventiveness and range most emphatically reflect Maneri's own approach to improvisation.

_ By NILS JACOBSON, Published: October 10, 2002 (AAJ)



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ANDREW BISHOP, GERALD CLEAVER, TIM FLOOD – Time & Imaginary Time (2006)

Label: Envoi Recordings
Catalog#: env0501
Format: CD, Album; Country: US; Released: 2006
Style: avant-garde, free improvisation, Contemporary Jazz, Free Jazz
All Compositions by Andrew Bishop
Recording in Solid Sound Studios, Ann Arbor, MI.
Photographer: Glenn Bering

The trio of Andrew Bishop (saxophones and clarinet), Gerald Cleaver (drums), and Tim Flood (bass) draws its aesthetic through the use of diverse methods to find a balance of composition and improvisational forms along with a search for a cohesive equilibrium of musical genres.

Review:

On his inaugural release as a bandleader, saxophonist/clarinetist Andrew Bishop proves that avant-garde jazz benefits greatly from the touch of a skilled composer. Sure, you need chops, and Bishop has chops to burn, whether navigating the Lacy-esque architecture and parallel time universes of "Cleaver's Loops" on soprano or blistering the wallpaper with his tenor overtones on the ten-plus-minute fiery "People's Republic" -- the former titled after this trio's drummer, Gerald Cleaver, and the latter a tongue-in-cheek but affectionate reference to everything liberal and progressive about Bishop's Ann Arbor hometown. But an ability to raise the roof is only part of the picture. A composer of contemporary orchestral and chamber music, Bishop combines a jazzman's fire and flow with a rigorous compositional sensibility, resulting in a potent and highly satisfying blend. Even his "free jazz" maintains a strong sense of thematic development. Upon hearing the entirety of Time & Imaginary Time from "Prologue" to "Epilogue," you will perceive a narrative cohesion and sense Bishop's overarching theme "inspired from theories on human understanding and conception of time," even if, like the best jazz composers, Bishop approaches thematic material from oblique angles and doesn't hit you over the head with obviousness.

The CD's sense of continuity is enhanced by the recurrence of "Fragments" themes in various guises here and there -- a solitary 40-second "Fragment," executed with stop-and-start precision by Bishop (on tenor), Cleaver, and supple bassist Tim Flood, reappears later as the launching point for five minutes of expressive pyrotechnics from the trio members on "Fragments in Imaginary Time," a disc highlight. Meanwhile, the two parts of "(Shattered Fragments)" are brief vehicles for clarinet, bass, and drums to break the "Fragment" into smaller shards of sound, and "Fragments on a Curve, to Find" twists the theme into yet another shape, stated principally by Flood as Bishop gently swoops and flutters above on soprano. As an additional wrinkle, Bishop sequences the "Fragments" inventively, hinting at the theme in an early context and revealing it more explicitly later. This and the disc's quieter, spacious, and exploratory interludes can lead to some pleasurably deep listening, but Time & Imaginary Time can whomp you on the head even if you aren't paying close attention, as the trio burns through a funked-up uptempo cooker like "Get It!" (exclamation point entirely appropriate) and the aforementioned "People's Republic." Meanwhile, the paradoxically ultra-tight and free-flowing "Picking Up the Pieces" benefits greatly from Flood's in-the-pocket basswork and Cleaver's ability to conquer even the most challenging rhythms. Bishop, Cleaver, and Flood have been intermittently active in Ann Arbor since the late '90s, weathering even Cleaver's move from Michigan to become an in-demand drummer on the New York City creative jazz scene. So they are far from strangers to one another, and the nearly telepathic communication heard during this disc's improvisations attests to that fact.

As for Bishop himself, the reedman can be heard as a bandmember on releases by Ann Arbor jazz stalwarts like pianist Ellen Rowe, guitarist Carl Michel, and flügelhornist Ed Sarath, and thanks to Envoi Recordings his projects as leader are finding their way to CD circa 2005. More Bishop recordings can be expected, and on the basis of Time & Imaginary Time creative jazz fans have much to anticipate.

_ by Dave Lynch

 

Andrew Bishop

Andrew Bishop is a composer and improviser in highly diversified musical idioms. As a composer he has received over 20 commissions from professional organizations and universities, numerous residencies, and recognition and awards from ASCAP, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Andrew W. Melon Foundation, and a nomination from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He leads a variety of his own ensembles and his two recordings as a leader Time and Imaginary Time and the Hank Williams Project (both on Envoi Recordings) received high praise from the New York Times, Downbeat, and All About Jazz, among others. He has performed with Karl Berger, Sandip Burman, Kenny Burrell, Eugene Chadbourne, Ray Charles, Gerald Cleaver, Drew Gress, Jerry Hahn, Chris Lightcap, Mat Maneri, Tony Malaby, Hank Roberts, Jacob Sacks, Craig Taborn, Clark Terry, Matt Wilson, and John Zorn among others.

Read more: International Society for Improvised Music (Member details: Andrew Bishop) http://www.isimprov.org/members_details.php?memid=247

Tim Flood 

Tim Flood is a bassist and composer based in Ann Arbor, MI. As a jazz bassist, he has performed with artists such as Uri Caine, Frank Lowe, Hank Roberts, Roswell Rudd and many others. His original electronic compositions and mixed-media installations have been shown at venues such as The Detroit Institute of the Arts, Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening Space, and the Sync '05 Digital Art Festival. Tim recently completed a Masters Degree in Media Arts from the University of Michigan.

I also recommend mini-album:  Tim Flood Quartet - "Mag Mell" (2012)

Blowing many minds is "Mag Mell" , an uncanny mini-album from the Tim Flood Quartet on Null Records . Flood plays bass and acts as a producer/arranger for these 7 short studies on the darker parts of spiritual jazz. Sounding like "Meditations" or "Ascension" style Coltrane on a serious death trip, cloaked in delay and a teeth-gritting look inward, Andrew Bishop plays horns (and some sick doomsday flute on the last track), Gerald Cleaver does the drums and Jacob Sacks plays piano that gets twisted into some hissing insect buzzes. The songs are mostly done in three minutes, trading the usual extended-form exploration of free jazz for a fragmented, highly edited bigger picture. The cover art (by Tom Hohmann from Mounds/USA is a Monster/Scheme ) makes it look like a commune psyche record, the thing plays on 45 and there's only a couple hundred floating around. Strange and beautiful, entirely.

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GEBHARD ULLMANN Basement Research - Don't Touch My Music, vol. 1 and vol. 2 (2007)

Gebhard Ullmann Basement Research - Don ’ t Touch My Music vol. 1
Label: Not Two Records – MW 803-2
Format: CD, Album; Country: Poland; Released: 2008
Style: Free Improvisation
Recorded Live in concert at Alchemia, Krakow on October 22, 2007. 
Mixed and mastered by Jens Tröndle in March 2008. Band photos by Katarzyna Paletko. Cake drawing by Marta Wajda. Cover photo and design by Marek Wajda. Produced by Gebhard Ullmann for NotTwo Records.
All compositions by Gebhard Ullmann

Gebhard Ullmann – bass clarinet & tenor saxophone | Julian Argüelles - soprano & baritone saxophones | Steve Swell – trombone | John Hebert – bass | Gerald Cleaver – drums

Liner Notes:

How to celebrate your 50th birthday 

I don’t know how most people feel, but when I reach a certain milestone, such as a 50th birthday, I can think of no better way to mark the occasion than by playing great music, your own music with great musicians to enthusiastic crowds from Poland, to the Czech Republic and in your own hometown at a major European jazz festival, one of the biggest of them all. That ’ s exactly what my good friend Gebhard Ullmann did in 2007. Even it wasn ’ t MY 50th, it was great to be there, enjoying his performing with the great musicians you hear here. Not to mention the music was so very hot!!! Being my own DIYer, I know how hard it is to put a good tour together, logistics, hotels, trains, planes. Geb did a fantastic job on this one and everybody in this band understood all the work involved. We just had a ball playing. Those are the ingredients that make a good band great. Not to mention everyone had each other ’ s back. Listen to this disc and you ’ ll see/hear what I mean. From the first night in the Czech Republic this band was spot on. Everyone jumped into Geb ’ s music, tearing up the great music he writes and contributing great solos and support all around. The vibe in this band is so positive, I would vote for some of these guys for President of the U.S. or Germany, if I could. And the people at Alchemia and of course Marek Winiarski of NotTwo were so fantastic some of us hung out at the club till the wee hours. It seems every band I play with at Alchemia does the same thing. It must be the water there.

As far as working with Geb, he really knows how to lead, which is part psychology part musicology. He knows how to get us to play and have a great time doing it. His joy was our joy. He is such a first class guy. We really enjoyed getting down for Geb on this one. And I don ’ t think he touched my music once.

— Steve Swell, NYC April 2008


Review:

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Gebhard Ullmann lays down the ground rules without ado with the slam-bang title Don't Touch My Music. There should be no qualms about that, Ullmann's music is made to draw rapt attention. The closer one listens, the more there is to discover. Ullmann brings in an evolving, and revolving, cast of characters to give voice to his music. Each ensemble brings certain attributes and direction to his compositions that absorb various strains to enrich them. Basement Research with Steve Swell, Julian Arguelles, John Hebert, and Gerald Cleaver has marked an indelible presence with their earlier work. And there's no messing around with them this time either.

The members of Basement Research have honed empathy to a fine skill. Surprise is the hallmark of their cross-pollination of genres. The band dons and doffs styles in seamless motion, playing in sweet consonance at one moment and taking off at tangents the next. An intimate conversation warps into disparate strain. And with the wit and sly humor they inject, this CD turns out to be quite the excellent entertainer. “ Don't Touch the Music ” is a fine showcase for their creativity. Ullmann brings in the tenor saxophone and blows a myriad of blustery notes. Swell and Argulles lay down calmer lines in tandem leaving Ullmann to his own devices.

The melodic theme wisps in and out, the band romps into swing, the horns honk and bop, while the rhythm section lays down a steady beat. The spirit of New Orleans permeates “ Kleine Figuren No. 2 ” with the sounds of Mardi Gras and a funeral march saturating the melody before they turn on the switch and move into a Latin snap, the samba and uppity swing with the meter and tempo making for infectious bedfellows.

Every track is tantalizing.
No matter which way the ear is cocked, the music has vitality, panache, and verve.

By Jerry D'Souza (AllAboutJazz)

Gebhard Ullmann Basement Research - Don ’ t Touch My Music vol. 2
Label: Not Two Records – MW 804-2

Gebhard Ullmann – bass clarinet & tenor saxophone | Julian Argüelles - soprano & baritone saxophones | Steve Swell – trombone | John Hebert – bass | Gerald Cleaver – drums


Review:

When Gebhard Ullmann took his Basement Research into Krakow 's Alchemia Club to celebrate his 50th birthday, he recorded two sets of music. The first was released as Don't Touch My Music, Vol. 1. Like the first, this second set is unedited and unchanged, and shows just how intuitive and empathic the band is.

Ullmann's compositions encapsulate several idioms. He goes from blues to a march, transforming into free idioms without a twinge. And just as his writing is earthy, so too is his playing. He never wastes a note and creates music that leaves its mark on the anvil of time. And if his playing is the cornerstone of the band, his accomplices are no less distinguished in essaying their craft.

Ullmann fires up "Das Blaue Viertle" from a funereal beat into a hot and grinding climax. Along the way, he has Julian Arguelles (soprano and baritone saxophones) and Steve Swell (trombone) help in the transition. The deep growl of the baritone and the wailing cry of the trombone are muscular trajectories, but a waft of swing that cools the air, and the silken curtain that Swell and Arguelles drop behind Ullman, brings their vision full circle.

"New No Ness" takes concept and resolution to another level. In an elegiac encounter, John Hebert (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (drums) are cool protagonists holding a conversation in almost hushed voices. Their path is unhurried as the bass gives voice to a soft shower of chords tempered by the rhythm of the drums. The mood is rent asunder by the invasion of the brass. Shards fly, volatile darts criss-cross, tumultuous lines leap, and the energy is intense. The phases are distinct but just as the calm tells its own story, the storm sets up its own pitch.

In the exquisitely delightful nugget "Don't Touch Our Music," Ullmann, Arguelles and Swell set out on individual roads, marking their journey with breathy phrases, tongue-slapped interjections and quaint melodic lines that disappear almost as soon as they come in. They stop for brief conversations and then traipse off again. It is all quiet and the curtain ringer for a performance that should stay long in the memory.

By JERRY D'SOUZA, Published: August 6, 2009 (AAJ)

_____________________________


Gebhard Ullmann, Steve Swell, Julian Argüelles, John Hebert, Gerald Cleaver

With 'Basement Research' Gebhard Ullmann released his first cd for the italian label Soul Note / Black Saint in 1995.
Four of the most interesting individualists out of the new generation of contemporary jazz players realized their very personal and intense musical ideas. The cd has been widely critically acclaimed and been listed in the us-college-radio-jazz -charts for several months.
The second cd 'Kreuzberg Park east' (with Ellery Eskelin, Drew Gress, Phil Haynes) released on Soul Note in 2000 had even more impact in jazz circles.
After a European tour with Tony Malaby replacing Eskelin in 1999 (documented on the cd 'Live in Muenster') and a 5- year pause the new 'Basement Research' project went on tour again in 2004 as a quintet. the final 2005 line-up featured Gebhard Ullmann (bcl, ts) Steve Swell (tb) Julian Argüelles (bs, ss) John Hebert (bass) and Gerald Cleaver (dr).
The 4th cd 'New Basement Research' was released 2007 once again on Soul Note as part of Gebhard Ullmann's 50th birthday celebrations, made a lot of best-of-the-year lists and received a 4 1/2 star review in DownBeat in March 2008. A very successful tour followed closed by a concert at the prestiguous Berlin Jazzfestival in November 2007.
'New Basement Research' was among the best of 2008 cds in DownBeat and 'Don't Touch My Music vol.1' was named one of the best cds of the year by Allabout Jazz New York.
'Don't Touch My Music vol.1 & vol 2.' recorded live at the Alchemia club in Krakow, Poland was released in 2009.
The band toured Europe again in october 2009. for this tour Tim Daisy replaced Gerald Cleaver.
We are looking forward to record the 7th cd and tour again in February/March 2013. Pascal Niggenkemper will replace John Hebert for this one.

Gebhard Ullmann - tenor saxophone and bass clarinet (photo by Josl. Knaepen)


Budd Kopman in Allaboutjazz about 'Basement Research live in Muenster':
 "Ullmann thrives on playing without a net, and being caught live only enhances the experience. i have always thought that deep inside, Ullmann was a blues man, but in the same way as Coleman Hawkins, neither come right out and play the blues per se, but it always lurks beneath the surface. Perhaps it is not coincidental that "in Muenster" starts with "Blaues Lied (blue song)" a very deep but also deeply twisted blues ...
The band is very, very hot on this record. Malaby gives as much as he gets, Gress plays powerfully, and haynes injects his percussive sounds at will. The music twists and turns, never standing still, as many waves go, crest and crash, only to start again. This performance manifests the sound of surprise that is at the core of the best jazz."

Germán Lázaro in Cuadernos de jazz, Spain about 'Kreuzberg Park East': 
 " ...as dense as Dolphy's 'Out To Lunch'. Without doubt one of the best cd's of the year 2000"

Steve Day in Avant magazine, UK 2000:
 " Kreuzberg Park East is just about the best thing i've heard in this century."

Andrew Bartlett about 'Basement Research' 1995: 
" Ullman's bleating and blatting into spirals and multiphonic mayhem with the utmost reserve. so far, one of the year's finest mergers of jazz vocabularies."

Steve Swell - trombone (photo by Daniel Theunynck)

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Steve Swell has been living, working and performing in New York city for all of his adult life. He has toured and recorded with such diverse jazz personalities as mainstreamers Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich, to so-called outsiders like Anthony Braxton, William Parker and Jemeel Moondoc. Swell has twelve recordings as a leader or co- leader and is a featured artist on more than sixty other releases.
He first came to public attention performing with Makanda Ken McIntyre in the multi-instrumentalist's concert at Carnegie recital hall in 1985. He toured and recorded with altoist Tim Berne and his group 'Caos Totale.' (two cds on the jmt label). During this time Steve also toured and recorded with Joey Baron's 'Barondown' who released three cds on jmt, New World and Avant.
Even though he is identified with the 'downtown scene' Swell has been developing his style in the more so- called 'traditional avant-garde' arena. Co-leading projects such as 'Space, Time, Swing' with Perry Robinson, being a sideman in William Parker's 'Little huey creative music orchestra' and working with other similar people has kept him on this circuit.
His newest cd, 'unified theory of sound, this now' featuring Jemeel Moondoc, Cooper Moore, Wilber Morris, Kevin Norton and Matt laVelle, was released on the Cadence label in March 2003. Swell was a featured soloist in Anthony Braxton's opera, 'Shala Fears For The Poor'.


Julian Argüelles - baritone and soprano saxophones (photo by Daniel Theunynck)

Julian began his career as a musician at the age of fourteen touring throughout Europe with the European community big band. Quickly he gained recognition as an original musician and joined the much acclaimed 21 piece UK big band "Loose Tubes".
In 1986 he was awarded the prestigious pat smythe award and has also been awarded several BBC awards.
In 1990 the Julian Argüelles quartet, with John Taylor, Mick Hutton and Martin France recorded their first cd "Phaedrus".
The second cd "Home Truths" was released in 1995 with Mike Walker on guitar, Martin France on drums and Steve Swallow on electric bass. The BBC commissioned Argüelles to write 60 minutes of music for a new band to be premiered at the 1996 Bath Festival, the octet was formed and the music became his fourth album "Skull View" which was Voted Jazz cd of the year 1997 by the independent on sunday. His previous two albums had been Voted Jazz cd of the year in both 1995 and 1996.
Julian has worked with musicians drawn from around the world including Archie Shepp, Tim Berne, Hermeto Pascoal, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Peter Erskine, Chris McGregor, John Scofield and Carla Bley. He is also a member of several big bands including the Kenny Wheeler Big Band, Django Bates' Delightful Precipice and Colin Towns' Mask Orchestra.
In 1999 Julian released his first album for provocateur the critically acclaimed "Escapade". His second, some 5 years later, was the much anticipated "As aAbove So Below", a large scale work for jazz and classical musicians featuring the 20 piece trinity college of music string ensemble.

John Hebert - bass (photo by Daniel Theunynck)

John moved to New York city from New Orleans in 1994, where he has become a highly in demand jazz bassist. he has worked with Andrew Hill, Paul Bley, Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Liebman, Maria Schneider, Fred Hersch, John Abercrombie, Greg Osby, Tim Berne and many others.
As well as performing John also teaches clinics and master classes world wide including the Rhythmic Music Conservatory of Copenhagen, Portland State University and the maine jazz camp. John holds a b.m. in jazz performance from William Paterson University.

 Gerald Cleaver - drums (photo by Daniel Theunynck)

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. inspired by his father, John Cleaver, also a drummer, he began playing the drums at an early age.
In 1995 he accepted an appointment as assistant professor of jazz studies at the University Of Michigan, and in 1998 also joined the jazz faculty at Michigan State University. Gerald taught at both universities until 2002, at which time he relocated to New York. He has been a part of several personally significant working ensembles, Roscoe Mitchell's Note Factory being the longest and most important. While a student at u of M Gerald met pianist Craig Taborn and has continued a fruitful and inspiring musical relationship with the fellow note factory member. In Detroit he also met and played with legendary saxophonist Charles Gayle, with whom he has recorded and continues to play with from time to time. In 1999 pianist Jacky Terrasson asked Gerald to be a part of his then-quintet, and also later his favored improvisational ensemble, trio.
Once in New York, Gerald found work with several other ensembles: Mark Helias' Open Loose, David Berkman and Joe Morris' Quartets, and Mat Maneri and Matt Shipp's Varied Ensembles, with whom he has recorded several times. Tim Ries, Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus, Kevin Mahogany, The Detroit Jazz All-Stars, featuring Kenny Burrell, Hank Jones and Frank Foster, Marilyn Crispell, Ralph Alessi, Muhal Richard Abrams, Marty Ehrlich's Traveler's Tales, among others, are also those whom Gerald has toured with.
Most recently, he has formed the ensemble, Veil of names, and has recorded "Adjust", for the Fresh Sound new talent label.


Enjoy the music.

Welcome to new prog-blog "Different Perspectives In My Room...!".
Enjoy the music, and please leave a comment. Thanks in advance.

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LOTTE ANKER, CRAIG TABORN, GERALD CLEAVER – Floating Islands (2009) [Repost]

Label: ILK Music; Catalog#: ILK 162CD; Denmark, 2009
Live concert recording, Concert Hall, Copenhagen Jazz Festival (07/2008)
(Jazz Style: avant-garde, free improvisation, Contemporary Jazz, Free Jazz)


Review:

One great album in a decade is an achievement, two great albums in one year is exceptional, yet this trio with saxophonist Lotte Anker, pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Gerald Cleaver does it. After “Live At The Loft”, published earlier this year, also on Ilk, the trio is back with a new studio album. Anker also figures on the excellent “Mokuto” album. Cleaver participated in the equally great “Farmers By Nature” with Craig Taborn, and on Miroslav Vitous “Remembering Weather Report” .

This is the third album by the trio, and they get better with each release.

The album starts with repetitive prhases on the saxophone, built around a single tonal center, accompanied by muted minimal drumming by Cleaver, soon to be joined by the piano, setting the tone for pure musical hypnotism. Anker keeps building the tension by slightly altering the tone and the pitch, leaving the foreground to the piano, equally soft and minimal, but she keeps the sax present, barely audible, with Cleaver maintaining his muted rumbling sounds, Taborn keeping the attention going, but then after a while the sax resurfaces, slowly moaning, fragile and vulnerable, full of soaring lyricism, then the volume builds, Cleaver gets his sticks out, Taborn uses his left hand for some more powerful chords, and the composition shifts seamlessly into the sixteen minute long second track “ Ritual ” , with intensity and tension building and growing, at a slow and wonderful pace, full of restraint and passion, mesmerizing and trance-inducing, with the rhythm becoming more angular, with the piano pounding chords, the drums kicking and the sax keeping up its wailing, screaming, full-toned howling, with the rhythm shifting underneath, falling in step, moving away again, and when you think this must end, well,… it just doesn ’ t, the power increases, the volume increases, the tension increases, … mad, mindless, repetitive, full throttle, the piano goes haywire, the drums go nuts, and then the sax reduces its pitch, and the rhythm changes again, odd-metered, with only piano and drums hammering on without the sax, increasing the tempo, dominating the scence, and then, out of nowhere, the sax is back again, for another round of heart- rending, gut-wrenching high-pitched wailing, only to end with the piano turning the music out of the storm into quiet waters, full of impressionistic sophistication, moving into the third piece, “ Transitory Blossom ” , on which Anker ’ s sound is again as sensitive as it gets, soft and fragile, evoking the temporariness of things, with almost romantic piano, and again the piece flows as one into “ Backwards River ” , more wayward, more avant-garde, with staccato playing by all three instruments, yet adapting quite rapidly to each other while shifting the piece together towards different musical territory, more nervous, full of wild agitation, with currents and counter-currents played by Taborn on his keys, with Cleaver going berserk at the drumkit, and when their double violence reaches the relentless power of high-speed rapids, the sax joins to add her slice of mayhem to the rhythm section pandemonium, with squeals, shouts, and howls, on and on and on, but things do come to an end, and the the piece suddenly slows down into a jumpy rhythm, unwillingly almost, but the sax goes, the piano goes, the drum stays, leading out and leading in the last track, “ Even Today I ’ m Still Arriving ” , as if the river reaches the ocean, with the sax sounding like seagulls, then the sax plays solo, melodic, lyrical, yet weird in a way, and also beautiful, sensitive, with the piano adding sad minimalistic and impressionistic tones, calm and measured, with Anker adding some sparse notes, not many, but with a stunning emotional depth.

This album has it all : the mastership, the skills, the balance, the musical baggage to draw from, the musical vision, the coherent delivery, the variation, the adventure, the passion, the discipline, the raw emotional power, the sophistication, …. Absolutely stunning.

By Stef (FreeJazz)



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