Reviews that mention Dan Peck
August 19, 2017
Recent Developments
Songlines SGL 1620-2
Harris Eisenstadt Canada Day
On Parade in Parede
Clean Feed CF 413 CD
By Ken Waxman
Having reached a comfortable maturity in his playing and composing, Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based percussionist Harris Eisenstadt isn’t averse to showcasing both his talents in varied settings. Like an athlete who excels at more than one sport, the drummer has with On Parade in Parede created a spirited FreeBop session with his Canada Day quartet. Meanwhile Recent Developments is a spiky recasting of composed chamber jazz played by a nonet. MORE
June 24, 2017
Ohio
Neither Nor Records n/n 006
Dedicated to expanding the duration of microtonal improvisations in inverse ratio to the briefness of instrumental tones, members of the New York-based Earth Tongues trio spread their interpretations over this two-CD set. Each disc is an extended, self-contained performance that meanders through extended patches of near-inaudibility, squeezed extended techniques and equally terse bursts of raucous intersection.
Although ear-straining may be necessary to pick up some of the subtleties of the interaction, both slices of Ohio are the equivalent of peanut butter massively layered on slices of bread: every iota of the grain of the area is covered. Equally committed to solo – that is unaccompanied – projects the three Earth Tongues are involved in all manner of experimental projects. Trumpeter Joe Moffett also works with vocalist Kristin Shipp; tuba player Dan Peck is a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble and has worked with Anthony Braxton and Tony Malaby; while percussionist Carlo Costa is part of bands featuring Sean Ali and Steve Swell among many others. MORE
July 1, 2016
Ubatuba
Firehouse 12 Records FH12-04-01-022
Le Rex
Wild Man
Cuneiform Records RUNE 411
Distinctively re-jigging the rhythm section so that the tuba takes the places of a double bass gives many ensembles a certain post-modern fillip. At the same time by reverting to the early Jazz configuration of a brass bass, the band runs the risk of waddling too often into Second Line simplicity. Two sextets – one American and one Swiss – deal with this challenge inventively, but in different ways, confirming that the lowest-toned member of the brass family usually needs more than condensed space in which to express its full tonal range. MORE
January 6, 2016
Strata
Neithernor n/n 004
By Ken Waxman
Having firmly established himself with smaller bands, percussionist Carlo Costa's ups the ante with Strata, an extended score for 13 musicians, which like the sedimentary matter it reflects, intermingles graphical and notated scores plus improvisation to simultaneously expose sonic layers of substratum. Usually part of stand-alone duos, trios and quartets, the Italian-born, NYC-based Costa is just one of many younger musicians exploring the possibilities implicit in creating large-scale, cyclical performances, including his frequent associates, violinist Franz Loriot – who isn’t on this disc – and bassist Pascal Niggenkemper, who is. MORE
July 6, 2015
Miya Masaoka
By Ken Waxman
As perhaps the pre-eminent innovator on the multi-string koto, Miya Masaoka is fully committed to the present and future via her compositions, performances and improvisations. But at the same time she stays in touch with her roots, often performing in traditional gagaku or court music ensembles, and took time during a recent Japanese trip to visit a shrine associated with members of the extended Masaoka family who have been priests and Shinto singers at that location since the 15th Century. Next year as well she’ll be the recipient of a Fulbright grant that will allow her to live in Japan for three months at a time, studying koto, gagaku and Noh theatre. “I hope to write a new work or series of works based on the research there,” she says. MORE
March 8, 2014
Ingrid Laubrock
By Ken Waxman
One of the many non-American musicians who have set up shop in NYC, German-born saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, 43, has quickly become a presence on the local scene. But the soprano and tenor saxophonist one who was already recognized for her playing and writing elsewhere – London’s highly competitive improv scene – before she crossed the ocean permanently in 2008.
Then again, the Hundewick-raised reedist has always thrived on new situations and challenges. And as someone who didn’t start playing the saxophone until her teens she declares that “I didn't really decide that I wanted to become a musician, it more or less happened … I sort of drifted into it.” MORE
December 19, 2013
(Sit In) The Throne of Friendship
Clean Feed CF 280 CD
Frank Rosaly
Cicada Music
Delmark DL 5006
Transferring personal compositional notions to an ensemble can be challenging, depending on the size and makeup of the group. Both the vibraphone-centred sessions here – led respectively by Chicago drummer Frank Rosaly and New York trumpeter Nate Wooley – avoid the obvious drawbacks by entrusting the interpretations to long-time associates. However the drummer hedges his beats by mixing brief earlier tracks, recorded solo or in quintet formation, with far superior sextet outings from three years later. By maintaining a consistency of vision however, Wooley’s CD comes out on top. Another point of intersection is that while both leaders are identified with the so-called avant-garde, there’s a genuine commitment to showcasing exciting motion in the composition – call it jazz or swing if you wish. MORE
January 1, 2013
Canada Day Octet
482 Music 482-1080
Harris Eisenstadt
Canada Day III
Songlines SGL 1596-2
Modest to a fault, despite Canadians’ contribution to Jazz since its beginnings, it took the 21st century and Brooklyn-based percussionist Harris Eisenstadt to trumpet his native land in his band name. Formed for a series of gigs beginning on July 1, Canada Day, the quintet has since become one of the Toronto-born drummer’s main touring vehicles. Finally now including another Canadian-in-the-U.S. – powerful and unfussy bassist Garth Stevenson – in the band, the high-quality CDs here demonstrate the flexibility of the core unit plus the percussionist’s compositional heft when writing for both the regular group and an expanded octet. MORE
February 5, 2012
Novela
Clean Feed CF 232
Olaf Rupp/Joe Williamson/Tony Buck
Weird Weapons 2
Creative Sources CS197 CD
Splice
LAB
Loop Records 1013
Bioni-Solberg-Brow
Hopscotch
ILK 179 CD
Something In The Air:
Expat Canadians Create High-Class Improv
By Ken Waxman
Almost from the time the professional music business was established in this country, the expected route for success has been for artists to head off to the larger market down south and set up shop there. Canadians from Percy Faith and Maynard Ferguson to Joni Mitchell and Teresa Stratas effectively followed that formula. But today, as American musical hegemony lessens and modern communications almost literally shrink the world, musicians, especially those who play improvised music, can demonstrate that a permanent home in Europe is as beneficial as becoming an American resident. MORE