Hear What I've Been Listening To (7/21)

Photo: Adrien Tillman

Saxophonist (alto and soprano) and composer Caleb Wheeler Curtis has turned a lot of musical minds and ear over the past seven years since the collective quartet Walking Distance released its debut album, "Neighborhood",  in January of 2015. Since then, the Ann Arbor, MI, native has worked and recorded with pianist Orrin Evans (small group as well as The Captain Black Big Band, with bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza in the collective trio Ember, with trumpeter Josh Lawrence, with pianist Jason Moran, drummer Lennie White, and a slew of others. He's issued six albums as a leader or co-leader on a variety including SunnySide Records, Outside In Music, and pianist Evans' Imani Records.

Album # 7, "Heatmap", is also on Imani. The 10-song program finds the saxophonist/composer once again in the company of pianist Evans plus the rhythm section of bassist Eric Revis and drummer Gerald Cleaver.  What one hears is a splendid cross-section of contemporary music; take the rumbling title track which opens with a long dissertation from the pianist that takes its time to develop while the bass and drums build the fluid foundation beneath him.  Curtis enters over halfway through the piece, the urgency of his alto sax showing traces of Ornette Coleman and Henry Threadgill. The leader's fire ignites the rhythm section until the formal close of the piece. "Splinters" is a funky piece that must takes its name from the chopped-up Curtis uses to create the theme. Cleaver booms up from below pushing the saxophonist to a fiery climax.  Evans enters a bit circumspect but soon, aided by the active bass and drums builds an impressive statement.

Photo: Liz Brauer

There a slew of stand-out tracks. The rip-roaring "C(o)urses" opens the album with a red-hot soprano sax solo over rampaging drums, ferocious bass lines, and the pianist "cat-and-mouse" piano lines.  "Tossed Aside" opens as a quiet ballad with impassioned saxophone work. Revis's thick yet melodic bass lines along with gentle piano chords and phrasing over Cleaver's delightful traps playing give the music a feel of mid-1960s New York City r'n'b (to these ears, the music of The Drifters and Ben E. King).  "Limestone" opens quietly as if the music was tiptoeing into existence.  Revis rises up to create a wonderfully melodic solo which gives way to an alto sax solo reaches to the heights without losing the gentleness of its surroundings. Listen to "Trembling" below and its subtle mix of exciting rhythms, the low rumbling of the piano, the fervency in Curtis's lines that plead for release, and the energetic thrum of the bass. Listen deeply.

"Heatmap" closes with the appropriately-named "Whisperchant"––one of the most impressive aspects of this music is how this quartet can sizzle, explode, whisper, and float without ever sounding forced or unnatural. Caleb Wheeler Curtis composed this music focussing on both the musical and emotional content with both being equal. But you must sit down and listen; this is not background music, this is life!

For more information, go to www.calebcurtis.com.  To hear more of and purchase the album, go to  https://calebwheelercurtis.bandcamp.com/album/heatmap. 

Hear Curtis and the band "Trembling": 

Mr. Parker's Trios

Photo: Peter Gannushkin

Earlier this year, AUM Fidelity released "Migrations of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World", a massive yet splendid 10-album set of original music composed and arranged by bassist-composer William Parker.  10 separate groups, 91 tracks, 594 minutes of music, which takes down to ingest, ruminate upon, and understand.  Like the recent works of Wadada Leo Smith and Anthony Braxton (also multiple disk sets), Mr. Parker's music is telling stories, narratives that blend tradition, history, and are very much a reflection of the present day. In the weeks leading to the Pandemic shutdown, the bassist recorded two albums that continue the exploration that his earlier albums began.

Both new releases are trio dates. "Painter's Winter" features the leader on bass, trombonium, and shakuhachi, Daniel Carter (trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, and flute) and Hamid Drake (drums).  The program opens with the hard-driving "Groove 77" led by Mr. Parker's thick bass lines, Drake's funky yet creative drumming, and Carter's muted trumpet lines.  The rhythm section, mixed up high, is in sharp contrast to the thoughtful trumpet throughout.  The title tracks opens with Mr. Parker on trombonium (a smaller, curved, trombone), Carter's flowing flute, and Drake's spare yet conversational drums.  The intensity of the flute and brass interaction picks up and the music begins to bounce as the drummer gets into conversation.  The listener can sit back and revel in the deep sounds.

Carter's smooth-toned alto leads the way on "Happiness" with the bassist, at times, playing counterpoint and Drake right/ tight in the groove. The music slows down for a frantic arco bass solo but afterwards picks up in speed. The introspective is in stark contrast to Drake's dance around the drum set and Mr. Parker's occasional walking bass line.  "Painted Scarf" pairs clarinet and shakahuchi with, at the onset, very quiet or little percussion. Over the 10:49, Drake pushes his bandmates by creating a Native American rhythm which ratchets up the intensity.  "A Curley Russell" closes the program; Mr. Parker dedicates the piece to the late "Curley" Russell, the "be-bop era" bassist who played with Tadd Dameron, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, and Bud Powell (among others).  Carter's lively alto sax leads the way with the bassist's thick tones helping to fill the bottom.  Drake creates a rollicking drum solo which lights a fire under the saxophonist who then creates his most impassioned solo on the disk. After the delightful bass solo, the trio takes the song out in a spirited fashion.

"Painter's Winter" is an album to savor, to sit back and let the sound wash over you time and again.  William Parker, Daniel Carter, and Hamid Drake have history, as they say, know each other well, and sound as if they are having a great time –– you will as well!

For more information, go to www.williamparker.net.  To purchase the album, go to 

https://williamparker.bandcamp.com/album/painters-winter. 

This is "Painter's Winter":

"Mayan Space Station" posits Mr. Parker in the studio with guitarist Ava Mendoza and drummer Gerald Cleaver.  With Ms. Mendoza's highly amplified sound, one could easily call this group a "power trio".  Mr. Parker's locks in with the drummer and this music often has an irrepressible groove.  It's hard to sit still listening to "Domingo"; notice how the guitarist creates a sound and attack not unlike that of Nels Cline but one also hears traces of Tom Verlaine (Television) and blues great Michael Bloomfield (when he played with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on "East-West"). Mr. Parker's infectious groove jumpstarts "Rocas Rojas" with Cleaver diving right in, moving about his drum kit in glee, Ms. Mendoza wailing and shredding above.  The title track opens in the spirited fashion of Arthur Blythe's "Down San Diego Way" with Cleaver's drums (he's using brushes, no less) and percussion paired with Mr. Parker's solid four-note bass runs. Ms. Mendoza jumps in, roaring in musical approval until the 4 minute mark, slows down for a moment, and picks up her sonic attack. The guitarist steps out of the spotlight halfway through the 14:42 track to make way for the raucous bowed bass solo over Cleaver's crashing cymbals and snappy snare.  

"Canyons of Light" is a rubato piece with tremendous cymbal and cowbell work, shimmering/ furious arco bass, and long tones and moans from the guitar. As Ms. Mendoza goes into "attack mode", the rhythm section continue to thrash around beneath. There is a hint of a steady rhythm as the piece fades down at the 10-minute mark.  It's a challenging piece of music that stands out for its aural expressions and passionate musicianship.

Photo: Peter Drukker

The album closes with "The Wall Tumbles Down", another hard-edged piece with a irresistible groove. Ms. Mendoza's chordal romp over a guitar drone gives way to a solo that builds up from a simple riff into a bluesy wailing spotlight.  One can hear the influence of Vernon Reid and Sonny Sharrock especially later in the piece when she loops police sirens. The loops don't disappear until the last minute of the piece. Perhaps, these are the walls of racism, sexism,, and intolerance: nevertheless, it's a powerful finish to an album of powerful moods and sounds.

"Mayan Space Station" is music that demands to be played loud, windows open to the world. William Parker wants to touch the world, wants to help people get out of the doldrums and away from the fears that come blasting out of our televisions, radios, and "smart" phones.  Kudos to Ava Mendoza and Gerald Cleaver for their contributions to this most appealing recording. 

To purchase the album and see more of William Parker's catalogue on AUM Fidelity, go to https://williamparker.bandcamp.com/album/mayan-space-station.

Hear the opening track, "Tabasco":

The Music That has Taken Me Through.....

This pandemic has shaken up everyone's world.  Illnesses are exaggerated, masks are a necessity (not for all but those non-wearers are chancing fate), and we all know someone or ones who has/ have passed. The past month has been quite an emotional time for our family and, while I have not been able to write, I have been listening to a lot of music. This post will include several that have stood out!

Looking at the cover of the new Dayna Stevens 2-CD set, "Right Now: Live at the Village Vanguard" (Contagious Music), just might bring a tear or two to one's eyes. People mingling outside the NYC nightclub, no masks, conversations aplenty, is a sight for sore eyes. Listening to the album might just do the same.  You are posited at a front row table at the Vanguard, the quartet––Stephens (tenor and soprano saxes, EWI), Aaron Parks (piano), Ben Street (bass), and Gregory Hutchinson (drums)––goes through two sets of original material throughout his catalog plus several new pieces (and one Parks composition).  It seems civilized.  The band is fine shape, the leader enjoying their company, and the crowd excited and responsive.  Listen to how the rhythm section pushes Stephens to dig deeply on pieces such as the bluesy "Lesson One" and how the Caribbean rhythms pulsate throughout "Tarifa" (listen below). Stephens playful soprano sax lines are a highlight of the program.

Stephens switches to his EWI (electronic wind instrument) once in each set. His instrument is connected to a Leslie Speaker (the kind often associated with the Hammond B-3 organ) and he exploits that sound on the album's final track "Blakonian Groove" (dedicated to drummer Johnathan Blake)––the piece starts slowly but once Hutchinson starts kicking hard, the moves moves forward with a purpose. In the first set, "Radio-Active Earworm" takes a more introspective approach especially after the leaders long introduction, pianist Parks steps into a handsome musical canvas that builds up to Stephens powerful solo.  The EWI takes on more of a "synth-sound" yet never feels contrived or forced.  

There's plenty of fine music on "Right Now!" from the running start of the opening track "Smoking Gun" to the  Thelonious Monk-inspired  "You Are Me Blues" to the rambunctious "JFK International" and more. Like the best Black American Music, the rhythm section deserves kudos for lighting the fires underneath Dayna Stephens and Aaron Parks while Stephens gets extra credit for doing such an excellent job mining her repertoire.  Live music indeed––enjoy!

For more information, go to daynastephens.net/.  To purchase the specially-priced album, go to https://daynastephens.bandcamp.com/album/right-now-live-at-the-village-vanguard. 

Click the link to hear the delightful "Tarifa"!

Drummer and percussionist Devin Gray was in awe of drummer and percussionist Gerald Cleaver long before they met in 2006––the awe melted into respect as they became friends and musical experimenters.  "27 Licks" (Rataplan Records) is described by Gray as "....a small capture of our “just another day” vibe in the farming of our musical lives."  Nine tracks, 42 minutes, all drums, many rhythms, a delightful conversation during which you can hear all influences disappear and the joy of playing reigns supreme.  It's a waste of time to try and figure out who's playing which part, what's written and what's not––instead, go with their flow and listen with your feet and your body.  Let the songs roll around in your brain, play it loud.  

To find out more and to purchase the album, go to https://rataplanrecordsnyc.bandcamp.com/album/27-licks. 

Click here to check out "The F-Train Drain"!

Brian Shankar Adler goes it alone in the studio for his latest album. "For a Gallery On the Moon" (Chant Records) features the artist on a plethora of instruments; the list reads bowed cymbals, buddha machine, ghatam, gong, kanjira, key chimes, manjira, mridang, opera cymbal, paper, ride cymbals, river rocks, slit drum, tabla, thunder sheet, and electronics.  No traditional drum set to be found or heard. That said, the album is a delightful sound adventure; there are moments that are inventive in the way that books for young children (ages 2-6) can be; in other words, Adler is continually playing with sounds and combinations of instruments, asking the listener to use his/ her imagination to fill in the story. For example, is the use of the thunder sheet in "Flight" meant to symbolize the sounds a flock of geese hear on a late summer evening.  Are the sounds of the gong and ride cymbals on "Cym" inviting or threatening?  The tabla drums on "Relative(s)" create a trance-like rhythm that draws one closer.  

Photo: Jill Steinberg

"For a Gallery On the Moon" lasts just 0ver 31 minutes yet is a travelogue like few you have encountered this year (or, perhaps, other years).  There are moments that bring the music of Terry Riley to mind ("Ghost Box") while the backwards tones of "rahdarkahC" remind this listener of the experimental phase of The Beatle and Jimi Hendrix.  Make up your stories for this music because that's part of what Brian Shankar Adler wants you to do. The percussionist also wants to take you out of your hectic world, make you relax and think about anything but politics and pandemics.  Sounds like a good idea!  

For more information, go to www.brianadler.com.  To hear more and purchase the album, go to https://brianshankaradler.bandcamp.com/album/for-a-gallery-on-the-moon.

Click here for the opening track "Young Blood"!

Summertime Hues (Part 1)

Life has been busy around this reviewer's household and different communities but that does not stop (thankfully) the new releases coming through the mail or the ether.  This column starts a series of shorter reviews of recordings that arrived over the past few months.

Saxophonist, composer, and arranger Quinsin Nachoff is no stranger to utilizing strings in his compositions and performances––in fact, his 2006 debut "Magic Numbers" (Songlines) featured his quartet paired with a string quartet. Violinist Nathalie Bonin played on that project as well as on 2008's "Horizons Ensemble" so she asked her fellow Canadian (she's from Montreal while Nachoff is from Toronto) to write her a concerto.  It took the composer a number of years but the piece was first workshopped in 2014 and then recorded in 2018.  Nachoff decided to collect his classical or classically-inspired works on one album. The results, three different pieces, can be heard on "Pivotal Arc", released this month (August 2020) on Whirlwind Recordings.

The "Violin Concerto" is in three parts, nearly 46 minutes long and features all the musicians listed below save for the composer. Very much in the traditional form but quite non-traditional orchestration, the music features Ms. Bonin's striking and powerful playing throughout but one cannot ignore the work of the Molinari String Quartet as well as the rhythm section of Michael Davidson (vibraphone), Mark Helias (bass), and Satoshi Takeishi (drums, percussion) plus the colorful reeds and brass (kudos to bass trombonist Bob Ellis for his strong low tones).  In his research, the composer paid close attention to a number of 20th Century composers, among them Alban Berg, Igor Stravinsky, Kurt Weill, and others but one also hears folk, jazz, and African elements in the rhythms.

Photo: Evan Shay

The 16+ minute "String Quartet" was commissioned by and is performed by the Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based Molinari Quartet. This music is brash like the Concerto but with even more allusions to the experimentation of 20th Century classical composers.  Through-composed, there are moments in each of the movements that feel "free', as if the musicians were "cueing" each other to make quick shifts in intensity.

The 15-minute title track closes the album opening with a powerful bowed bass solo from Helias.  Ms. Bonin plays the first theme, joined first by the string and then the composer on tenor saxophone.  Various voices move in and out but pay close attention to impressive and, at times, playful percussion of Takeishi.  The brashness of the earlier pieces is replaced by an airiness, a sense of swing instead of flow: listen to the sections float around above the tenor solo and how, as the intensity picks up, for just an instance, so does the tempo.  Ms. Bonin returns closer to the end, the storminess of the middle section is not replaced by a lengthy melody shared by several instruments until the bowed bass returns to take the piece to its gentle conclusion.

As an album, "Pivotal Arc" serves to show the world the versatility and maturity of the composer Quinsin Nachoff.  Listeners might prefer to listen to the "Violin Concerto" in its entirety then come back at a later time to listen to the "String Quartet" and the title track.  There's a lot happening in this music and you really want to pay close attention to hear the richness of the melodies, the excellent musicianship, and the powerful work of violinist Nathalie Bonin. One of this year's more fascinating releases, "Pivotal Arc" is worth your time.

For more information, go to www.quinsin.com.  To hear more and to purchase the album, go to https://quinsinnachoff.bandcamp.com.

Here's the "Second Movement" of composer Nachoff's "Violin Concerto", Natalie Bonin, violin soloist:



Personnel:

Nathalie Bonin - violin soloist 

Molinari String Quartet: 
Olga Ranzenhofer - violin I 
Antoine Bareil - violin II 
Frédéric Lambert - viola 
Pierre - Alain Bouvrette - cello 

Quinsin Nachoff - tenor saxophone, composer 

JC Sanford - conductor  
Michael Davidson - vibraphone 
Mark Helias - bass 
Satoshi Takeishi - drums, percussion 
Jean-Pierre Zanella - piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano sax 
Yvan Belleau - clarinet, tenor saxophone 
Brent Besner - bass clarinet 
Jocelyn Couture - trumpet I 
Bill Mahar - trumpet II 
David Grott - trombone 
Bob Ellis - bass trombone 

Photo: Brian Cohen

Bassist and composer Michael Formanek has been in ears of creative music listeners for nearly five decades. He first came to critical attention when he joined drummer Tony Williams's ensemble and has gone on to play with Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Fred Hersch, Jane Ira Bloom, Marty Ehrlich, Harold Danko, Tim Berne, and a host of others. Currently, he is one/third of the cooperative trio Thumbscrew with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. He's recorded for ENJA Records, Screwgun, Intakt Records, and ECM, the label that issued "The Distance" by his amazing Ensemble Kolossus. His latest release is the third in a trio of albums that bassist Adam Hopkins issued in July and August of this year on his Out of Your Head Records label. All of the albums (the others include bassist Nick Dunston in a quintet setting and saxophonist Anna Webber's Quartet) were recorded live under less-than-ideal conditions or "Untamed" as the label has written on each release).

Formanek's contribution is "Pre-Apocalyptic": recorded in 2014 (but the artist is not sure where), the music, all tracks composed by the bassist, features Tim Berne (alto saxophone), Craig Taborn (piano), and Gerald Cleaver (drums), the same group that recorded his first two albums for ECM in 2010 and 2012––in fact, five of the seven songs come those albums, one from Ensemble Kolossus, and one newer work.  This quartet lives and breathes the music with the ability to stop and start without a dropped note, play complicated melody lines, and all solo with creativity.  Because the four musicians had worked together so often by the time of this gig, their familiarity with the music gives them license to push it forward.  And they do!

The album opens with "Pong", a melody built of repeated three-note phrases which shift in to a circular five-note phrase.  Then Berne and Taborn take off soloing in and around each other, both building off the intensity of Formanek and Cleaver. The bassist leads off the expansive (14:07) "Rising Tensions and Awesome Lights" with a long solo, melodic and percussive, before dropping into a walking bass line while the saxophone and piano work through the melody.  Taborn's wide-ranging powerful, and exciting solo leads into Berne's exploratory jaunt supported by throbbing bass hand-held percussion.  The other 14-minute track, "Intro and Real Action", starts quietly before Cleaver takes over for a lengthy solo that builds in intensity but drops back into a quiet mode for Berne to begin his statement.  There's a bluesy feel in many of his short phrases but he soon begins to interact with the other musicians, making the music louder. Yet, the music never boils over.  This Quartet may have been the first of Formanek's groups to perform "The Distance"––it's such a lovely ballad with an excellent solo from Berne, strong counterpoint from the composer, and excellent colors created by the pianist and drummer.

"Pre-Apocalyptic" overcomes its supposed "lo-fi" beginnings, hence a tip of the hat to mixing and mastering engineer Nathaniel Morgan for making this music sound so alive.  Michael Formanek has always been an impressive musician plus he is also one of the better composers in Creative American Music.  At times noisy, at others subtle, this album documents a quartet at the height of its power. Let these sounds move you!

For more information about the bassist, go to www.amibotheringyou.com. To listen to more songs and purchase the recording ($1.00 of every sale goes to Black Lives Matter), go to https://outofyourheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pre-apocalyptic.

Here's a lengthy piece from the album: