Jazz /
35th Reunion
2000 release (no OBI) ** "It may be unfair to compare this recording to the seminal album recorded on ESP almost 35 years earlier, but such comparisons are hard to resist. In truth, the group -- now with Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) assuming an expanded role and bassist Reggie Workman substituting for the late Lewis Worell -- sounds as fresh and, yes, revolutionary as it did back in the heyday of 1960s radicalism. To be sure, each member has changed, but the sounds here are surprisingly r…
Through Acceptance Of The Mystery Peace: The Music Of William Parker
1998 release ** "This recording is an important part of bassist William Parker's early discography and comprises four ensemble pieces. The sound quality is slightly subpar, but the raw, 1960s feel of this album should appeal to those who appreciate the unassuming brilliance of this giant of the string bass. Each of the four tracks features different groups, with Parker composing all the pieces and appearing on all four. The two larger ensembles presage some of the large bands Parker was to lead …
The Environmental Control Office
2003 release ** "An important release is not necessarily a great release, and while the rare Environmental Control Office recording of legendary Swedish saxophonist and clarinetist Bengt Frippe Nordström is a significant contribution to the discography of Swedish jazz, his lengthy improvisations remind the listener of Albert Ayler on an off day, which when you think about it is a complement of sorts. Nordström squeezes a primitive sound from his horns, his tenor sounding precisely how drummer Pe…
Drum Sketches
2007 release ** "Susie Ibarra is a percussionist, but she doesn’t hit you over the head with the fact. Rather, her powerfully delicate, insistent sounds seem to emanate from the landscape of drums and tuned gongs by themselves. Drum Sketches, Ibarra’s first solo CD following several Tzadik ensemble releases, is inspired by various images and sounds of her native Philippines. Among her glowing array of percussion are tuned bronze Kulintang gongs and a Surunay xylophone that blend with field recor…
The Firmament / Fury
1994 release ** "Hooker's music is good, unabash ed free-jazz improvising. He and Lawrence make an effective duet: Hooker's rolling bed of drumming avoids direct comment on Lawrence's strong, Lyons-inflected alto. Of the trio and quartet tracks on the album, Pralaya and Radiance are probably the strongest. The horn players get their solo moments and do well with them, but the music is framed to emphasize the group, and that's where a listener's ears are drawn. There's good group improvising to b…
In Full Flail
1989 release ** An early Available Jelly Quartet; the instrumentation scaled down to two horns, bass/tuba, and percussion. Original compositions and covers of Brian Wilson and Misha Mengelberg. "The 1989 album from Available Jelly, In Full Flail narrowed down the band's physical lineup while extending its musical reach. Down to a quartet, the band included Michael Moore on saxophones and piano, Gregg Moore on tuba, trombone, electric bass, and mandolin, Michael Vatcher as master drummer, and the…
Saturnian Queen Of The Sun Ra Arkestra
Undoubtedly the most sublime constellation in the Sun Ra cosmos, June Tyson’s voice is the perfect guide through one of the most challenging and varied musical legacies ever created. Capable of fierce and sassy declamations as well as intricate melodic weavings, June's voice transcends genre. This first-ever collection affirms June Tyson’s unassailable gravity in Sun Ra’s realm, and features some of June's most popular numbers along with previously unissued tracks. The LP and CD versions include…
The Uppercut: Live At Okuden
2015 release ** "Matthew Shipp, the supreme jazz pianist of his generation, and Mat Walerian, the finest Polish jazz woodwind player of his, have combined their talents in concert on several occasions. This album documents one such event on May 15, 2012. Shipp hardly needs an introduction at this point thanks to a career of over a quarter century, including not only many acclaimed albums under his own name but also a long and prominent tenure in the David S. Ware Quartet and a vast array of coll…
Packet
1995 release ** "This work had its origin in the '60s. That's when I met Irene Aebi and Frederic Rzewski in Rome. The three of us have been working together ever since. The Living Theatre (founded by Julian Beck and Judith Malina in New York) was at that time very active in Italy and, as the most powerful and innovative theatre group anywhere, was becoming part of all our lives. I knew them from New York from the late '50s (The Connection, The Brig), and so did Frederic, who had composed and pla…
Resonance
1997 release ** Daniel Carter, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, voice - Randall Colbourne, drums, piano - Paul Flaherty, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, voice - Raphe Malik, trumpet, piano - Sabir Mateen, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, piano, voice.
News From The North
1993 release ** "This aggressive trio of improvisers is unified by one idea throughout this session: that none of them gives a damn what the other thinks. It's a liberating notion and one not often seen on the other side of the Atlantic. In this set of tracks, the ancient drummer of British free jazz, Tony Marsh, is pitted in with the ever-youthful Paul Rogers and the energetic youngster Simon Picard on tenor. Marsh is the key to the communication as well. His swooping cymbal work and shifting f…
Follow A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
"First visit to the audio equivalent of a graphic novel. Follow A Very Heavy Person is more than an album—it is an experience, an inquiry, an adventure into the unknown, defying easy categorization and existing in the liminal space between music, poetry, and philosophy. Armaroli and his quintet have crafted something truly singular—a journey through sound that is both timeless and profoundly rooted in the ephemeral beauty of the present moment." - Mark Corroto
Janna
2006 release ** "Janna is the recording on which the extraordinary improvising cellist Ernst Reijseger collaborates with Senegalese poet and instrumentalist Mola Sylla and percussionist Serigne C.M. Gueye on a program of songs and poetry that erases the borders between European and African traditions and creates something entirely new from the ruins. This could only be accomplished if each member of this trio brought the entirety of his musical heritage with him to the table and placed it there …
An Italian Love Affair
1996 release ** ""The final in a series of three CDs that feature the idiosyncratic Moscow Composer's Orchestra led by the incomparable Vladimir Miller and featuring ex-Ganelin Trio drummer Vladimir Tarasov and, of course, Tuvan vocalist Sainkho Namchylak. The reason for the title of the album is that it was recorded live at the Bolzano Jazz Festival. Unlike the other discs in this series, this one features long versions of two previously released compositions -- "Two Tone Tuva" and "March of th…
Dreaming Of The Masters Suite
1991 release ** "During the late '80s and early '90s, the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded a number of albums for the Japanese DIW label. While a couple of these releases were fine additions to their catalog (notably, Dreaming of the Masters, Vol. 1 and The Art Ensemble of Soweto), the majority found the band treading water, breezing through tunes and structures long a staple of their repertoire but rarely either breaking new ground or playing with inspiration. Dreaming of the Masters Suite is a…
The Icp Orchestra Performs Nichols - Monk
1989 release ** "The Nichols program, recorded in 1984, was by a band with Sean Bergin (alto sax), Michael Moore (alto sax), Maurice Horsthuis (viola), Toon de Gouw (trumpet), Han Bennink (drums), Ernst Reijseger (cello), Paul Thermos (alto sax), Steve Lacy (soprano sax), Larry Fishkind (tuba), Misha Mengelberg (piano), Wolter Wierbos (trombone), and Garret List (trombone). The Monk program, from 1986, consisted of Ab Baars (soprano and tenor sax, clarinet), Michael Moore (alto sax and clarinet)…
Body And Soul
1993 release ** "No matter how many albums David Murray issues, he never coasts or goes through the motions. This is mainly a quartet date, although Murray shows on the title track his ability to back a singer as Taana Running gives a moving vocal, complete with her original lyrics. Otherwise, these are either spirited uptempo numbers or equally energized ballads. Murray's sweeping tenor sound remains a marvel, and few can match him in controlling drive, pitch and volume. Drummer Rashied Ali has…
Sun
The heart sits and takes in all wakes of the universe. A blessing to discover sound and how it enters the body and is shared to all. I feel the sound wraps in and out of my heart and pours through the saxophone. Searching, discovering the Creator. I pray this music reaches into your heart, goes all the way to the deepest place and blossoms up the most beautiful gardens of joy and love, curiosity. I am forever grateful to meet souls such as Lex, Miguel, and Caroline. Through these recordings I po…
Two For Joyce
2013 release ** "“Two for Joyce – Live in Trieste”, a new cd from Long Song Records/Audioglobe is the successful account of their performance. 50 minutes of improvised music, a long track of music that shows the vast range of their abilities wonderfully. According to some, Tippett gives his best both alone and in a duo, which is not to diminish his excellent work to date in many ensembles. He is a profound and inventive pianist, austere and grandiose at the same time, as when there’s a waterfall…