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.


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