Dark Poetry

Craig Taborn Trio 

Chants 

ECM

Craig Taborn – Piano
Thomas Morgan – Double Bass
Gerald Cleaver - Drums

Satoko Fujii New Trio
Spring Storm
Libra

Satoko Fujii – Piano
Todd Nicholson – Double Bass
Takashi Itani - Drums

I’ve been listening to these two CDs side-by-side in my car changer, and on more than one occasion I’ve confused them in my head. Listening to them sequentially has proven to be instructive, because the two pianists do share some similarities in approach. Both blend classical and jazz influences in unique ways. Both have a brooding, sometimes foreboding style, darker hues with splashes of light. And both build tension through repetition.

Of course, they have their own voices. Taborn’s music takes on an elegiac quality, working phrases over and over, gaining ground slowly. Fujii jump cuts from motif to motif, resulting at times in a jarring transition, yet somehow making sense at the end. And in each case their cohorts are excellent partners, providing just the right colors and accents.

It’s been fascinating to see the progression in the careers of both artists. Taborn in particular has come so far since he was a member of James Carter’s band back in the day. Fujii’s style is more of a known quantity, but still exciting to listen to. These are both among the best new releases I’ve heard in 2013.

The Top of 2012

Here, roughly in order, is my list of the top releases of 2012. I should say that my current listening is mainly centered around 1) artists who are combining composition with improvisation in interesting ways, and 2) Anthony Braxton, so there are undoubtedly some free improv records that got by me. And if you’re looking for eai or lower case stuff, you’ll be disappointed. But with that being said, here goes: 

Michael Formanek - Small Places (ECM)
A brilliant combination of edgy and emotive writing and playing, it creates a complete environment.

Michael Attias - Spun Tree (Clean Feed)
Attias thrives in a compositionally-based setting versus his recent free improv bent.

Simon Nabatov - Spinning Songs of Herbie Nichols (Leo)
Inspired meeting of iconoclastic composer and iconoclastic interpreter.

Tomas Fujiwara – The Air is Different (482 Music)
A great follow up to Actionspeak. When is he going to get more attention?

Harris Eisenstadt - Canada Day Octet (482 Music)
A broader palette enhances an already great concept.

Nils Wogram - Complete Soul (nwog)
A big step forward for Wogram the composer.

Angelica Sanchez - Wires & Moss (Clean Feed)
This one sneaks up on you, and then you want to hear it again and again.

Eric Revis – Parallax (Clean Feed)
Goes inside, outside, to the tradition and back to today. Some of Vandermark’s best tenor playing that I’ve ever heard.

Vijay Iyer - Accelerando (ACT)
Has found the blend between the intellectual and emotional sides of his music.


Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):

9Volt with Tim Berne – Open Circuit (OutNow)
Just a fun, gnarly, fusion-y (in a good sense) record.

Tim Berne – Snakeoil (ECM)
A maturation of his approach, without losing his essence.

Catatumbo – Catatumbo (Babel Label)
Rumbly, meaty free improv.

Harris Eisenstadt - Canada Day III (Songlines)
One of the best composers out there.

Devin Gray - Dirigo Rataplan (Skirl)
Quirky, interesting, with a great supporting cast.

Mary Halvorson - Bending Bridges (Firehouse 12)
Maybe not quite the level of Saturn Sings, but still worthy.

Steve Lehman – Dialect Fluorescent (Pi)
A butt-kicking trio takes on some standards.

Living by Lanterns – New Myth/Old Science (Cuneiform)
Great blend of inside and outside sensibilities.

Tom Rainey - Camino Cielo Echo (Intakt)
Just when you thought Mary Halvorson couldn’t wring any new textures out of her guitar...

Leo Smith - Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform)
Could have used some editing (gasp!), but engrossing.

Weston/Laubrock/Marshall – Haste (Emanem)
Three people with something to say who find a way to say it together.


Promising, but arrived too recently to potentially make either list:

Paul Giallorenzo Trio – PG3 (NotTwo)

Roscoe Mitchell, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble – Three Compositions (RogueArt)

Watershed (Dennis Fournier) – Watershed (RogueArt)

David S. Ware 1949-2012

It seems a little superfluous to post about the passing of saxophonist David S. Ware, as tributes have hit the Web and public radio over the weekend. Still, Ware, who passed away on October 18 at the age of 62, had such lengthy and uncompromising career that I feel the need to join in celebrating his art. Tenor was his main instrument, although he also occasionally played more obscure horns such as the saxello and stritch. He was intense and unyielding, influenced by Rollins (with whom he studied), and late-period Coltrane but with his own formidable style.

I first became aware of him with his appearance on Cecil Taylor’s Dark To Themselves (Enja), a live recording from 1976. He recorded only sporadically in the intervening years, but in 1988 Passage To Music appeared on Silkheart with William Parker on bass and Marc Edwards on drums. Parker would become a core member of Ware’s seminal group, The David S. Ware Quartet, along with pianist Matthew Shipp and a series of drummers: Edwards, Whit Dickey, Susie Ibarra, Hamid Drake and Guillermo Brown. He had health setbacks in recent years, and underwent a kidney transplant a couple of years ago. He was able to return to activity with a new group consisting of Cooper-Moore (p), William Parker (b) and Muhammad Ali (d), documented on Planetary Unknown and Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden, both on Aum Fidelity. He will be missed, but his music is forever.

Matthew Shipp paid tribute in an article on The Daily Beast. Here's a clip of the Quartet live in Vilnius, a performance released on vinyl by No Business Records:

Batting A Thousand

I recently went 5 for 5 based on my first listens to these:

Michael Formanek - Small Places - might be the best thing I've heard all year

Living By Lanterns - New Myth/Old Science  

Nice compositions/arrangements based on a Sun Ra rehearsal tape

Michael Attias - Spun Tree

Angelica Sanchez- Wires and Moss

Paradoxical Frog - Union

(Pictured above: Michael Formanek)

Variations On The Canon

Evan Parker and Georg Graewe, 

Dortmund Variations
Nuscope Recordings

Evan Parker - Tenor Saxophone
Georg Graewe - Piano

No one has conquered the demands of free improv like Evan Parker. And while at this stage of his career you pretty much know what to expect from him, his mastery of the idiom still makes it a pleasure to hear one of his performances. Dortmund Variations, recorded as part of a Graewe-curated Ruhr 2010 series, consists of three improvisations lasting from eleven to thirty-seven minutes. Parker sticks with tenor throughout, and he and Graewe engage in meaningful conversation that is characterized by subtle shifts in emphasis and tone rather than demonstrative displays of emotion. Think of a stream that’s polished the stones below as opposed to waves crashing over coral. (Wow, I’m going to have to work on my analogies!) Graewe’s notes unspool at a pretty consistent pace, and that’s my one quibble with the performance; a little more contrast from him would have benefited the whole. Still, it’s a dialogue that’s worth listening in on – and attention to the shades of meaning proves a rewarding experience.

New From Nils

Nils Wogram Septet, Complete Soul
NWog Records

Nils Wogram - trombone
Stephan Meinberg - trumpet
Claudio Puntin - clarinet
Frank Speer - alto sax
Tilman Ehrhorn - tenor sax
Steffen Schorn - bass clarinet, baritone sax
John Schröder - drums

An unusual lineup from Nils, 4 reeds, 2 brass plus drums. From the description on the site of his new self-owned label, I gather he wrote and arranged all the selections. As he puts it, "...the horns mix such that one attains these organ-like sounds. The chords function as a whole and do not simply result in six tones that somehow blend together."

The compositions on Soul have a circular feel to them, like you're hearing a different facet each time a section comes back into view. Some reminded me of the way Mingus arranged for horns, with the prominent trombone and the languid bluesy feel. Other compositions had more of a Balkans influence to them. There are sections where the drums lay out that emphasize the wind ensemble, and other sections that have a lot of rhythmic drive. It's a record that I immediately played again after it finished, because I wanted to figure out what was going on.

This is one of the strongest albums I've heard from Wogram, and it could be the start of a new chapter in his career, as I haven't heard arrangements this complex and engaging from him before.

Nils Wogram & Simon Nabatov, Moods & Modes

NWog Records

Nils Wogram - trombone

Simon Nabatov - piano

No one brings out the best in Nils Wogram's playing like Simon Nabatov. This is at least the third duo album the two have recorded, and it's a little jem. Rather than being freely-improvised, Moods & Modes splits compositional duties between the two of them, with 4 selections from Wogram and 5 from Nabatov. It's a joy to hear two artists so closely in sync, whether playing themes in unison or engaging in spirited back- and- forth exchanges in the improvised sections.