OPEN LOOSE – Explicit (Live At The Sunset - 2011)

Label: Marge – MARGE 50
Format: CD, Album; Country: France - Released: Dec 2011
Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Avant-garde Jazz
Recorded live on April 11th, 2011 at the Sunset in Paris by Agnes Minetto.
Liner Notes [Translation] – Gary May
Producer – Gérard Terronès
14 page booklet with photos and liner notes in English and French.

Note:
Cornelia Street Café - Performances
29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, New York, NY 10014
Saturday, Dec 22, 2012 - 9:00PM & 10:30PM
OPEN LOOSE: CD RELEASE, EXPLICIT - LIVE AT THE SUNSET

Open Loose, an archetypal improvising band will be celebrating the release of their brilliant new CD “ Explicit ” . The album, recorded in one night at the Sunset Club in Paris, comprises nine new compositions by composer Mark Helias. Recorded in the middle of a two week tour this recording captures the live intensity of new music being explored and turned inside out by master improvisers. Come here the group live and take home an artifact in the form of their new CD. Open Loose – Explicit - Live At The Sunset.

             Mark Helias - bass, Tony Malaby - tenor saxophone, Tom Rainey - drums

By STEVE REYNOLDS - fresh impressions from the Cornelia Street Café:

...all new Helias tunes ranging from a fractured ballad to a improvised/composed 'out' piece that if played at the start of the first set would have cleared out half the room to incendiary burning groove based monster pieces like the closer the band destroyed the confused universe...
...not much else to be said except I know Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Paul Dunmall, Ellery Eskelin, Peter Brotzmann, Mats Gustafsson, Joe McPhee and Sonny Rollins all still walk this earth and Tony Malaby *still* may be the *greatest* tenor saxophonist alive...
...and Rainey played this solo intro with his hands that was beyond and then with that closing groove exploded reality for me from 5 feet away with less than a third of the house full - leave before the second set?!?!...
I have heard many many drummers over the years and this performance was simply a mind, man - the whole night but *that* last driving intensely powerful passage was comparable in total incredible genius to Hamid Drake on March 27th, 2001 at Tonic with Kessler and Vandermark or Gerry Hemingway ~ 10 years ago with Barry Guy and Marilyn Crispell or Mark Sanders @ The Knit with Evan Parker, Tim Berne and Drew Gress or Andrew Cyrille @ The Knit with Trio 3 back in the late 90's or even Randy Peterson last December with Mat Maneri's Quintet.
...show of the year - and that includes 2 weeks ago at the Stone...
 _ (JAZZ CORNER)

Review:

The group here is definitely open and loose, but never too free – working with some really sensitive interplay between the tenor of Tony Malaby, bass of Mark Helias, and drums of Tom Rainey – a trio who are free at points, yet also have a nice sense of structure too – really balancing different modes within the space of a single song! Helias has a really strong approach to his instrument – and his basslines, although sometimes spare, have a deep-rooted quality that really holds the whole thing together – and there's also possibly an intuitive link, given that he also wrote all the tunes on the set. Titles include "Waltz For Thursday Face", "The Archduke", "Story Line", "Explicit", "Moving Parts", and "Shorty One".

~ 2012, Dusty Groove, Inc.



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MARK HELIAS' OPEN LOOSE – New School (2001)

Label: Enja Records – ENJ-9413 2
Format: CD, Album; Country: Germany; Released: 2001
Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Recorded on September 21, 2000 at The New School for Social Research, NYC.


AMG EXPERT REVIEW:

On September 21, 2000, bassist Mark Helias and Open Loose took the stage at Manhattan's New School University as part of an annual concert series produced by the Jazz Composers Collective. Happily, the tape was rolling and this superb CD is the result. The aptly named trio features tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby and drummer Tom Rainey. Helias pilots the group with a selfless spirit; his compositions walk a fine line between structure and freedom and any of the three instruments can take the lead or recede into the background at any time. Lurching unpredictably between stirring cacophony and wily precision, Open Loose rewrites the rules of jazz trio interaction even as they summon a sound rooted in jazz tradition. Highlights include the driving quasi-funk of "Mapa," the unison themes and frequent tempo shifts of "Startle" and "Pick and Roll," and the moody ballad "Gentle Ben."

-- David R. Adler

                   Mark Helias' Open Loose


BBC Review:

[They] produce a dynamic balance between written and improvised music.

The trio's name "Open Loose" refers not only to its musical style, but also to its personnel, which has seen frequent changes. Mark Helias' compositions are written with plenty of space in them, and are designed to be interpreted openly and loosely. They allow for seamless transitions between composed passages and improvisation, never easy to achieve.

This threesome fully exploits the creative possibilities of the compositions, never opting for a clichéd theme-solos-theme format. The group has the knack of starting with a rather loose - sometimes even ramshackle - piece and slowly allowing it to evolve until it emerges as a tight theme; for example, "Mapa" has a rather impressionistic opening and builds to a tightly syncopated ensemble finale.

Last time out, on the fine album Come Ahead Back, Open Loose featured Ellery Eskelin on tenor, plus Helias and Rainey. In this incarnation, now together for some two years, Malaby replaces Eskelin. Malaby's star has been rising in recent years, thanks to work with Marty Ehrlich, Tim Berne, Mark Dresser, and his own quartet. His playing here will further advance that rise. In freely improvised passages, he displays a penchant for melody and structure that gives them a sense of order. The trio's time and experience together is clearly evident from their interactions; they know and understand each other's playing. No-one dominates because no-one needs to; the three players seem to know and trust each other. They play with great economy throughout - there are no grandstanding gestures here, despite this being a live recording - and produce a dynamic balance between written and improvised music.

_ By John Eyles 2002-11-20

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PAUL DUNMALL SUN QUARTET – Ancient and Future Airs (2009) [Repost]

Clean Feed – CF138CD
Format: CD, Album; Recording Date : 2009; Style: Free Improvisation
Barcode: 5 609063 001389
Design – Travassos, Executive-producer – Trem Azul, Mastered By – Luís Delgado, Photography By – Hernani Faustino, Recorded By, Mixed By – Jon Rosenberg
Recorded on 16 June 2008 at The Living Theatre, New York; (Mixed June 24th 2008)


Review:

As he has proved in other situations – most notably his two decades long membership in both the London Jazz Composers Orchestra and the collective quartet Mujician – saxophonist Paul Dunmall is the consummate group player.

With wide-ranging influences that take in Carnatic sounds, semi-folk material, so-called Ecstatic Jazz and free-form improv, the London-based musician is known for his tenor saxophone playing, but also tries out other members of the saxophone family – including the saxello – and has recently turned his attention to the border bagpipes.

Each of these ancillary horns makes an appearance on these notable quartet sessions. Recorded in the company of fellow British improvisers, the September Quartet features bassist Nick Stephen and drummer Tony Marsh, the trumpet of Jon Corbett and Dunmall ’ s tenor and saxello playing. Flash forward two years to 2008, when after an appearance at New York ’ s Vision Fest, Dunmall recorded the next day as part of the completely different Sun Quartet. Here his partners are all well-regarded Americans: bassist Mark Helias and Kevin Norton on drums and vibraphone, plus Tony Malaby playing soprano and tenor saxophones.

Dunmall not only showcases his tenor work, but his bagpipe style as well.
Of similar build and hirsuteness, both Malaby and Dunmall bring the same lung power to their tenor saxophone playing, using split tones, inflating diaphragm vibratos and altissimo cries to good advantage. Operating in double counterpoint and exploring individual sonic paths only feature distinguishing Malaby from Dunmall – and vice versa – is that one sax appears to be pitched higher than the other. One sky shrieks while the other favors moderato timbres. Exact identification only happens when Malaby switches to the soprano and Dunmall brings out his bagpipes.

During those sections of the extended improv, Malaby ’ s soprano wriggles in serpentine lines which expose nodes as well as notes and uses a grittier tone to goose the tempo. Far away from pipe band harmonies meanwhile, Dunmall ’ s pipes and bellows pump up the available air supply with widened and pressured tones leading to triple and quadruple multiphonics. As the pitch-sliding bagpipe drone redefines the overall sound, Malaby narrows his output with reed biting abrasive tones.

Helias ’ thick lope and Norton ’ s slaps, rebounds and accentuated drum strokes hold the performance together regardless of the reedists ’ oral gymnastics. However the metallic sparkles and slides instituted by Norton ’ s vibraphone in the tune ’ s slower sections create a unique transitional texture. At points either one or another of his percussion instruments foreshadows tempo and pitch changes, as when cymbal taping introduces internal split tones intensity from the saxophonists or when pin-pointed drum strokes and rim shots usher in a section of mellow and balladic reed runs.

Divided into four long sections, as opposed to the massive single track and short encore that make up the other CD, What Goes Around is another ad hoc set up. British expatriate trumpeter Jon Corbett arrived from his home in Germany to record with his homeboys, who besides Dunmall, include veteran bassist Nick Stephens, who has recorded with everyone from Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad to American Norton, and drummer Tony Marsh, a frequent Stephens associate.

Unlike Norton, Marsh confines his work to the drum set and the drummer ’ s traditional time- keeping role, only figuratively stepping forward a few times to take sharp and restrained solos. In this different configuration, there ’ s less good-natured challenging from Dunmall – although his work with Malaby could scarcely be termed a saxophone battle – and more tone intermingling. Still, it ’ s the tenor man who, more often than not, steps outside the comfort zone with measured split tones, while Corbett specializes in andante trumpet flourishes, gentling grace notes and muted obbligatos.

At the same time, the brass man does reveal short, frenetic sound bites or hummingbird-quick tube explorations, as he does on “ Follow Me Follow ” . There, his gentling trumpet obbligato precedes soprano saxophone sluices and cymbal vibrations. Abutting one another, the horns ’ output separate lines as Stephens ’bass walks and Marsh’ s drums rebound. With the horns ’ irregular vibrato sweetened with oral splays and growls, the track ends with a conclusive double bass pluck.

Fittingly the four climax with “ All ’ s Well that End ’ s Well ” , with Dunmall back on tenor, Corbett playing chromatic lines, and the rhythm section creating a rolling wave of string- thwacked thunder plus skittering drum beats and rim shots respectively. As the saxophonist introduces squat split tones and slurs to break up the time, he ’ s aided by the bassist ’ s supple cross strokes and half stops. Eventually the trumpeter and reedist stutter tremolo tones at one another: with one man ’ s timbres echoing the first ’ s almost immediately after initial creation. Finally sul ponticello string work, clattering drum beats, brass flutter-tonguing and reed tongue-stops coalesce architecturally, until the sounds gradually diminishing into a warm flurry of grace notes from both horns.

Whichever part of this mixed Anglo-American program you prefer, each CD shows off Dunmall ’ s inventiveness in a context with equally impressive cohorts.

by Ken Waxman (Jazzword review on July 6, 2009)



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