WILLIAM HOOKER – Earth's Orbit (NBLP 10/11 / Numbered / 2LP-2010)

Label: NoBusiness Records – NBLP 10/11
Format: 2 x Vinyl, Limited edition [hand-written number] of 500 records
Country: Lithuania / Released: 2010
Style: Free Jazz
Bliss (east): 25th March, 2007 at The Stone, New York City.
Bliss (west): 20th July, 2009 at The Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco, California.
Mastered By – Paul Zinman
Recorded By – Robert O'Haire (tracks: A1 to B2), Weasel Walter (tracks: C, D)
Design – Oskaras Anosovas
Co-producer – Valerij Anosov
Producer – William Hooker
Executive-Producer – Danas Mikailionis
Composed By – William Hooker
Printed By – UAB "Garsu Pasaulis"
Records made in Germany

BLISS (EAST)
side 1:

A  -  Chronofiles>
        Tensegrity>
        Tetrahedron .................................................................................................. 20:59

side 2:
B1 - Streamlined Unit ........................................................................................... 11:29
B2 - 4d To Dymaxion ............................................................................................ 11:14

Personnel:
William Hooker – drums
Darius Jones – alto saxophone
Adam Lane – bass

BLISS (WEST)
side 3:
C  -  Tensegrity (4d) – Part 1 ................................................................................ 19:50

side 4:
D  -  Tensegrity (4d) – Part 2 ................................................................................ 19:24

Personnel:
William Hooker – drums
Aaron Bennett – tenor saxophone
Weasel Walter – guitar
Damon Smith – bass

Hooker leads from the front on both discs, molding and shaping the flow with his finely honed, almost orchestral sense of sound placement, density and dynamics imparting form and purpose to even the freest moments. Hooker's compositional frameworks are slight, acting as signposts rather than routemaps, signaling direction but not the precise means to reach the destination. As a consequence frequent daredevil diversions are unpredictable and rewarding.

Free jazz drummer William Hooker has led and participated in some very interesting ensembles during his lengthy career on the free jazz scene, none more so than the fascinating and exciting group assembled for this recording. The first part of this limited edition LP set is a suite entitled "Bliss (east)" with Hooker on drums, Darius Jones on alto sax and Adam Lane on bass. This is a very powerful performance recorded at The Stone in New York City in 2007. The group makes for a lean and powerful trio with Hooker's free ranging drums and Lane's rock solid and dependable bass making a perfect launching pad for Jones's extraordinary saxophone flight. Jones has a raw and thrilling tone on his instrument and the same energy that he brought to his solo album Man'ish Boy and the collective Little Women is on display here. With the immediate and caustic tone of the saxophone combined the elastic bass and ever shifting drums, tracks like the lengthy "Chronofiles" develop a powerful and visceral presence that is continually compelling.

The second section entitled "Bliss (west)" has a different band with Hooker on drums, Aaron Bennett on tenor saxophone, Weasel Walter on guitar, and Damon Smith on bass. At nearly 40 minutes in length, the two part "Tensegrity(4d)" is a wild and thrilling ride. The addition of Walter makes for a more vividly textured recording and the live audience at The Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco is deeply engaged and supportive of the band. The performance builds to a very exciting and dramatic conclusion, the all the musicians locked in and driving to the finish. This was a very exciting and enjoyable album, free jazz fans with a functioning turntable are advised to pick up a copy before they disappear. Hopefully there will be a digital version soon, so that the this music can get the wider audience it deserves.

(Tim Niland - Jazz and Blues Blog)

If you find it, buy this album!

ADAM LANE TRIO – Absolute Horizon (NB2LP 68-I / Extended / 2LP-2013)

Label: NoBusiness Records – NB2LP 68-I / Extended Edition
Limited to 200 copies
Format: 2x Vinyl, LP / Country: Lithuania / Released: 2013
Style: Avant-garde Jazz, Free Jazz
Recorded June 10, 2010 at Wombat Recording Company, Brooklyn, NY
Mixed in Brooklyn, NY July 31, 2012 – by Jon Rosenberg
Recorded By – Ross Bonadonna
Design – Oskaras Anosovas
Photography By [Cover] – Peter Gannushkin
Co-producer – Valerij Anosov
Producer – Danas Mikailionis
Liner Notes – Adam Lane
Music By – Lane, Jones, Anderson
Matrix / Runout: 13-07/5488-0004 NB2LP 68-I

side 1:
A1 - Absolute Horizon ............................................................................................ 8:57
A2 - Stars ............................................................................................................... 6:54

side 2:
B1 - The Great Glass Elevator .............................................................................. 7:48
B2 - Run To Infinity ................................................................................................ 9:52

side 3:
C - Apparent Horizon ........................................................................................... 10:14

side 4:
D1 - Bioluminescence ............................................................................................ 7:23
D2 - Light ............................................................................................................. 10:50

Personnel:
Adam Lane – bass
Darius Jones – alto saxophone
Vijay Anderson – drums, percussion

After listening to the album, it's somewhat mystifying that the program was constructed entirely on improvisation. This attribute alone serves as a testament to the artists' stunning interactions and reformulations, evidenced within each ensuing development.

I’m a sucker for the thick, bluesy tone of Adam Lane’s bass—somehow, he always manages to convey its grittiest, most grounded side. Absolute Horizon kicks off with a track of the same name,  a slow tattoo rising from drummer Vijay Anderson and Lane stumbling into a bass line that can’t help but give off a little swagger. Slowly, a groove coalesces, just the sort of low-end ride to best deliver Darius Jones’s sickly-sweet saxophone. Within minutes, you realize: this is what I want in a saxophone trio. There’s an edge for sure, but also the piece that fits perfectly into the well-worn rhythmic folds of your brain. Things heat up, but the trio never breaks a sweat. They ease out of the track just a coolly and calmly as they brought it into being.

The rest of Absolute Horizon can be typified by a track like “The Great Glass Elevator,” which breaks out a slick bassline about halfway through, the rhythm section working its way to a place where Jones gets everything he needs to go to town. And he does, getting such a deep, soulful sound out his alto that it sounds far more substantial, like a tenor. Elsewhere, “Stars” finds Lane bowing the hell out of his effects-laden bass. It’s not the most effective track, but it showcases a different side of the group as they move away from bluesy, heavily rhythmic improvisation and work towards continuously molding and remolding a unified slab of sound. “Run to Infinity” sounds just as it should, a driving rhythm over which Jones continually accelerates, the gaps between notes becoming ever shorter, the melodic line
further and further compressed. Absolute Horizon closes on “Light,” which has a walking bassline that would be better characterized as sprinting, complete with racing high-hat and uncontainable shouts of exhilaration in the background.

The CD version of Absolute Horizon is nearly twice the length of the LP, and for gourmets, an extended LP release is available too, a double album in a very limited edition of just 200 copies. All tracks are worth your time (“Apparent Horizon” has a particularly tasty bit of drum and bass). Basically, Absolute Horizon is the usual NoBusiness story: above-average musicians making above-average music. A little something for fans of Lane’s rawer side after the more straight-ahead sounds of the Blue Spirit Band releases.

(Review by Dan Sorrells)

If you find it, buy this album!