27 May
Long Lines by Thread Quintet
Tuesday, 27 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Some cranky old guy once yelled in NY (or was it PA?), "you crazy kids and your damned jazz!" He must’ve been yelling at/about this lot, the Thread Quintet, as they are a r…
27 May
Visions by Mark Leonard Nick Skrowaczewski and Stanley Zappa
Tuesday, 27 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
With this recording, Mark, Nick, and Stanley reveal an aesthetic and methodology informed by the music of the 60's that later supplanted "jazz". The trio looks to John Colt…
26 May
Danses Paralleles by Gael Mevel Trio
Monday, 26 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Pianist Gael Mevel leads his rhythm section through a chain of circular movements, performed within the context of loosely based and relatively abstract waltzes. In the lin…
22 May
Oneness by Kali Z. Fasteau
Thursday, 22 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Kali Z. Fasteau is dedicated to extending and further exploring the visions of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Don Cherry. She has the chops, the education and the expe…
21 May
Spontaneous by William Parker & The Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra
Wednesday, 21 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Bassist William Parker’s large ensemble is known for its vociferous, free form excursions. In the liners, Parker sets the tone for this set via his lighthearted, depiction …
17 May
The Voice of Twilight by Kakalla
Saturday, 17 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Not only is Thomson Kneeland a bassist with a unique musical voice, but also he’s a bassist with a unique musical vision. Following up on his earlier work, The Voice of …
14 May
Scrapbook by William Parker
Wednesday, 14 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The Thirsty Ear label continues to release music that is both fresh and imaginative. Scrapbook by bassist William Parker is another fine example of what happens when a trio…
13 May
Studio/Live - Birds And Blades by Barry Guy - Evan Parker
Tuesday, 13 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The reverent musical partnership continues to surge onward, as disc 1 features the "Studio" works and disc 2 contains the "Live" portion of the program. On this effort, Eva…
12 May
Tribute To Lester by Art Ensemble of Chicago
Monday, 12 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
One of the longest-lasting working bands in jazz history is the Art Ensemble of Chicago. It has remained virtually intact since its inception in the middle 1960s, with the …
10 May
Live In Paris at the “Gibus” (180-Gram LP) by Sun Ra
Saturday, 10 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The best way to describe this music is to say it is out there on the fringes of all that has ever made any sense in recorded music, particularly jazz. There really is no ot…
09 May
Muziek van en voor De Keurcollectie by Het VogelKwartet
Friday, 09 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Muziek van en voor De Keurcollectie is the sound track of the recording that bassist Tjitze Vogel composed at the request of producer Leo Erken to highlight moments …
08 May
Circle Squared by Mark Taylor
Thursday, 08 May 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Despite its distinctive mellow tone--or perhaps because of it--the french horn has few practitioners in jazz. Those few like Julius Watkins or Vincent Chancey have become c…
08 May
Idendtifiable by Yokoyama Aoki Wong & Chan
Thursday, 08 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This outing from these four gentlemen could have benefited from a group name. Something as simple as the Unit would have worked. The group performs like one tight unit. The…
07 May
New Dance by Anthony Ortega
Wednesday, 07 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Multi-reedman Anthony Ortega enjoyed stints performing with the Lionel Hampton and Don Ellis big bands, yet his solo activities have been scattered throughout several decad…
02 May
The GoodandEvil Sessions by A Group of Musicians with GoodandEvil
Friday, 02 May 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
In contrast to the Blue Series which will also continue unto itself, the premiere recording of the Blues Series Continuum from Thirsty Ear is "The GoodandEvil Sessions". Sp…
30 Apr
The Concept by Jim Ryan's Forward Energy
Wednesday, 30 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Dig my man, a-wailin’ sax! San Francisco Bay Area improviser Jim Ryan seeks the jazz-avant Grail, and finds it, too. The grail in this case is late-period John Coltrane …
29 Apr
The Bandwagon by Jason Moran
Tuesday, 29 April 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Jason Moran’s is one-third of a series of recent Blue Note releases recorded at the famous Village Vanguard. While it has taken other artists decades to appear at the Vangu…
28 Apr
Freedom of the City by London Improvisers Orchestra
Monday, 28 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
With the orchestra’s latest release and others, it’s more about the sum of the individualistic parts that round out the base musical concepts. This album features a venerab…
25 Apr
Dedicated to You, But You Werent Listening (180-Gram Vinyl LP) by Keith Tippett Group
Friday, 25 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The Keith Tippett Group was a jazz-rock-fusion super group consisting of Tippett (a young 22 years) on piano with such standouts as Robert Wyatt (drums), Elton Dean (alto s…
20 Apr
The Pilgrimage by Andrew Lamb Trio
Sunday, 20 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Seldom recorded tenor saxophonist Andrew Lamb’s briskly executed tenor sax lines are equalized by a rather brawny sound, as he leads this trio through a sequence of friskil…
17 Apr
Altrastrata by Blast
Thursday, 17 April 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Listening to this band sparks notions of a child trying to figure out the mechanics of a newly received toy. Based in the Netherlands, this quartet does its best to defy th…
17 Apr
Le Ventre Negatif by Lê Quan Ninh
Thursday, 17 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Lê Quan Ninh’s music is a very personal and intimate. The French percussionist plays a bass drum laid horizontal on a stand, and uses it as a "sound table" for the v…
16 Apr
Yall Just Don't Know by Dapp Theory
Wednesday, 16 April 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
It isn’t too often that you come across a record that totally captivates your attention. Upon first hearing "Y’all Just Don’t Know" by Dapp Theory, I was du…
06 Apr
The Voice Imitator by Frank Gratkowski Jerome Bryerton Damon Smith
Sunday, 06 April 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This live CD matches veteran German improviser Frank Gratowski with Americans Jerome Bryerton (Chicago) and Damon Smith (San Francisco). The music here is more about mood a…
05 Apr
St. Louis Shoes by Greg Osby
Saturday, 05 April 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Alto sax guy Greg Osby (b. 1960) has proven himself to be one of the more interesting saxophonists of his generation. He emerged as part of the Brooklyn/NYC-based M-Base co…
04 Apr
Swept Away by Mary Ann McSweeney
Friday, 04 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
"Swept Away" is bassist Mary Ann McSweeney's second CD outing with her present band, which includes husband Mike Fahn on trombone, Donny McCaslin on reeds, He…
02 Apr
The Environmental Control Office by Bengt Frippe Nordstrom
Wednesday, 02 April 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The Gospel According To Albert Ayler: that’s the language/syntax spoken here by reedist Bengt Frippe Nordstrom (1936-2000), an Ayler acolyte and something of a legendary fi…
28 Mar
Tandem Rivers by Blaise Siwula & Adam Lane
Friday, 28 March 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Saxophonist Blaise Siwula is one of the more prolific New York City area improvisers and organizer of free-jazz based concerts. Whereas, bassist Adam Lane is rapidly becomi…
27 Mar
Unquenchable Fire by Deep Listening Band & Joe McPhee Quartet
Thursday, 27 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
In 1998, the first recording ever was made in the not-yet totally shaped studio at the Deep Listening Space in Kingston, NY. This recording is called UNQUENCHABLE FIRE. The…
CIMP has released for the first time a Trio X recording. It is called JOURNEY. Trio X is made up of Joe McPhee on saxophones, Dominic Duval on bass, and Jay Rosen on drums.…
18 Mar
Quake by Erik Friedlander
Tuesday, 18 March 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
On Quake, Erik Friedlander reconvenes his cross-cultural group Topaz, last heard on the 1998 release, Skin. It feels as though no time has passed; it’s as if …
17 Mar
All’ Alba by François Carrier Trio with Uri Caine
Monday, 17 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Although his is not a household name among jazz listeners in the United States--at least not yet--François Carrier is causing quite a stir in Canada, where one of his previ…
16 Mar
Suite for New York by D.D. Jackson
Sunday, 16 March 2003
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Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
D.D. Jackson has taken his artistic ambitions to a higher level with the release of Suite for New York. After gradually building a solid reputation as a jazz pianist…
11 Mar
It's Not Up To Us by Byard Lancaster
Tuesday, 11 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The term "lost classic" is a favorite of critical types (this one included), one used to describe an album that did not get critical and/or popular acclaim in its time of r…
10 Mar
Rastafari by Leo Smith w/ the Bill Smith Ensemble
Monday, 10 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This is a reissue of modern jazz-avant-garde trumpeter Leo Smith’s fine 1983 LP for the Canadian "Sackville Records," label. This edition includes the original album cover …
08 Mar
Mad 6 by Ravi Coltrane
Saturday, 08 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Strangely enough, producer Yasohachi "88" Itoh considered Ravi Coltrane too untrained to record him the first time that Itoh heard him. Now that Itoh is launching the Eight…
06 Mar
Quake by Erik Friedlander
Thursday, 06 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Modern jazz cellist Erik Friedlander has carved out a niche within New York City’s "downtown scene," and other artistic arenas due to his extensive involvement with like-mi…
04 Mar
Ur Lamento by Triolid
Tuesday, 04 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
This French improvising trio ventures off into a series of alien soundscapes as they explore odd tonal contrasts via intersecting micro-themes and much more. However, Laure…
03 Mar
Scrapbook by William Parker Violin Trio
Monday, 03 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The Blue Series on Thirsty Ear continues with SCRAPBOOK from the William Parker Violin Trio that includes Billy Bang on violin and Hamid Drake on drums. This recording alon…
01 Mar
Oneness by Kali Z. Fasteau
Saturday, 01 March 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Kali Z. Fasteau is perhaps the un(der)-recognized Queen of Jazz’s free/avant wing (something of a boy’s club though it’s getting better, c.f. Ellen Christi, Myra Melford, e…
25 Feb
St. Louis Shoes by Greg Osby
Tuesday, 25 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Greg Osby has recorded his most accessible CD yet. Listeners who found Osby to be too abstruse in past recordings will find St. Louis Shoes to be engaging, if not do…
25 Feb
Visitation by Joe McPhee with the Bill Smith Ensemble
Tuesday, 25 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
A distinction between a real release and a re-release sometimes is necessary, but not in the case of VISITATION, originally coming from Sackville Records (Bill Smith’s own …
22 Feb
Live by Spring Heel Jack
Saturday, 22 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
EFX acolytes, John Coxon and Ashley Wales (Spring Heel Jack) continue their modern/free jazz indulgences with this live release, recorded in England. As the meeting …
20 Feb
Resistance by ROVA
Thursday, 20 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The Sax Gods have smiled upon us once again! ROVA, America’s favorite saxophone quartet are back with another brilliantly challenging (or is that challengingly brilliant? n…
18 Feb
Trips Jobs and Journeys by Noah Rosen
Tuesday, 18 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Brooklyn, NY., born Noah Rosen’s debut outing as a leader was recorded in Paris (his home-base), as the pianist apparently draws from his extensive musical career, for this…
18 Feb
The Dream Catcher (for Wilber Morris) by Kevin Norton Quintet
Tuesday, 18 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
The great modern jazz bassist Wilber Morris was scheduled to perform on this date. Sadly, he passed away in August 2002. To that end, the quartet plays with the utmost assu…
17 Feb
Live by Spring Heel Jack
Monday, 17 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Thirsty Ear has just released Spring Heel Jack LIVE. This CD is one of the continually exceptional recordings in the Blue Series. Not only are the members of Spring Heel Ja…
13 Feb
The Dream Catcher (for Wilbur Morris) by Kevin Norton Quartet
Thursday, 13 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
There’s generally two different kinds of "tribute" albums: those that present respectful (usually) or skewed (occasionally) versions of tunes by an inspirational figure, th…
EKG = a duo of two guys that clearly don’t believe in smiling for album covers. Clearly conceptual, Object 2 is second in a series of projects where musicians create…
06 Feb
Compliments Of The Mysterious Phantom by Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Thursday, 06 February 2003
Published in
Free Jazz / Avante Garde - CD Reviews
Admittedly, part of what has been missing from many of the Rahsaan Roland Kirk reissues, not to mention his original studio albums, is the frenzy that he stirred up among h…