Mark Dresser - Sedimental You

Mark Dresser
Sedimental You
Clean Feed Records

Mark Dresser - bass
Nicole Mitchell - flute
Marty Erlich - clarinet
Michael Dessen - trombone
Joshua White - piano
David Morales Boroff - violin
Jim Black - drums

Recently I acquired an old Columbia 2-record set called Outstanding Jazz Compositions of the 20th Century featuring Third Stream works such as Jazz Suite for Brass (J.J. Johnson), Three Little Feelings (John Lewis) and All About Rosie (George Russell).

Perhaps it's because I listened to Sedimental You shortly after hearing those older works, but I see Mark Dresser in a continuum with the Third Stream composers of the late 50s, who were trying to fuse jazz with classical and concert band music.

In an age where there are countless Free Improv sessions of debatable long-term value being released by small aggregations, it's refreshing to see someone craft adventurous compositions with small group arrangements that skillfully bring together a mix of woodwinds and strings.

Based on the composition titles, there are political points to be made on Sedimental You, but the compositions hold together without that context.

This, along with Dresser's compositions on the DVD Virtual Tour: A Reduced Carbon Footprint Concert Series, provides insight into where modern Jazz-influenced composition is heading.

Rodrigo Amado - Wire Quartet

Rodrigo Amado

Wire Quartet 

Clean Feed

Rodigo Amado – Tenor saxophone

Manuel Mota – Guitar

Hernani Faustino – Double bass

Gabriel Ferrandini - Drums

Rodrigo Amado is a free jazz musician whose sound harks back to the classic saxophonists of the jazz tradition. His thick tone, bluesy in quieter moments and containing an R&B edge, brings to mind players like Gene Ammons and Lockjaw Davis. When things get heated, his tone takes on a grainy quality that reminds me of a young Gato Barbieri. 

His Wire Quartet is composed of bassist Faustino and drummer Ferrandini of the RED Trio; Ferrandini is also part of Amado’s Motion Trio with cellist Miguel Mira. Guitarist Manuel Mota completes the group.

The initial and longest track, Abandon Yourself, alternates between sections where everyone plays nice with each other, in sort of a free jazz version of a ballad session, and moments when things come to a full boil. Probably the most fascinating part of this track, and the record overall, is the tension of the interaction between Amado and Mota, where Amado’s rational explorations of thematic elements are juxtaposed with Mota’s frenzied finger-picking and bursts of noise.

The two shorter tracks that follow are even more compelling than the first, each providing a clearer arc of tension and release with a little more economy of expression.

You would expect the bassist and drummer of the RED Trio to be hand-in-glove, and they are, but this is Amado’s and Mota’s show. This round is a draw, and it’ll be interesting to see how things settle out should they tangle again.

Here's a video from 2007 of the group in concert, with Peter Bastiaan in place of Ferrandini.

New Martin Kuchen on Clean Feed, Injuries

Just saw on Facebook via Clean Feed that Marin Kuchen has a new CD and double LP coming out next week with his nonet Angles 9 called Injuries. The label has a teaser video on YouTube, and it sounds mighty good:

Clean Feed Releases for April, 2014

Now listed on the Clean Feed site:

In Memory of Things Yet Seen
Eric Revis Quartet 

Wire Quartet
Rodrigo Amado Wire Quartet 

II
Lawnmower II 

The Visible Ones
Matthieu Donarier / Albert van Veenendaal 

Salvation Modes
Sei Miguel 

In Memory of… will be Revis’ third for the label, and based on the other two, one I’m really looking forward to hearing. Stef’s Free Jazz Blog already has a review of it. I also have high hopes for the new Rodrigo Amado; I thought Searching for Adam from 2010 was really strong.