May 28, 2017

Ballrogg

AbAbaft the Beam
Clean Feed CF 403 CD aft the Beam
Clean Feed CF 403 CD

Like the skill of some overseas manufacturers to replicate North American products so that in look, function and quality they’re almost equivalent, Ballrogg’s comprehensive sound is rooted in the rustic Jazz qualities advocated by the likes of Bill Frisell and Jimmy Giuffre. Yet precisely because the trio’s consists of Norwegian, like a rugged version of a sleek American article, the sonic landscape is sparser, with echoes of minimalist contemporary notation as well as folksy airs. MORE

September 6, 2012

Ballrogg

Cabin Music
Hubro CD 2515

Albert Beger/Gerry Hemingway

There’s Nothing Better to Do

OutNow Records ONR 007

Matthew Shipp Trio

Elastic Aspects

Thirsty Ear TH 57202.2

ROVA Saxophone Quartet

A Short History

Jazzwerkstatt JW 099

Something in The Air: New Excitement at the Guelph Jazz Festival

By Ken Waxman

One of jazz’s watershed musical creations, John Coltrane’s 1965 performance of Ascension marked his committeemen to Free Jazz and has since served as a yardstick against which saxophone-centred large ensemble improvisations are measured. On September 7 at the River Run Centre’s main stage, one of the highpoints of this year’s Guelph Jazz Festival is a reimagining of Coltrane’s masterwork by the Bay area-based ROVA Saxophone Quartet and guests. Not only is the ensemble gutsily tackling the suite, but its arrangement take Coltrane’s all-acoustic piece for five saxes, two trumpets and rhythm section and reconfigures it so that ROVA’s four saxes, and one trumpeter interact with two drummers, two violins, electric guitar and bass plus electronic processing. MORE