Peggy Lee

New Code
Drip Audio DA 00318

Larry Ochs/Miya Masoka/Peggy Lee

Spiller Alley

RogueArt ROG-0016

Tony Wilson/Peggy Lee/Jon Bentley

Escondido Dreams

Drip Audio DA00206

Alex Cline

Continuation

Cryptogramophone CG 140

Extended Play: The “Other” Peggy Lee

By Ken Waxman

Established in Vancouver for nearly 20 years following extensive musical study in her native Toronto, Peggy Lee has become one of the most in-demand cellists in both improvised and New music. Occasionally working with her husband, drummer Dylan van der Schyff, but more frequently on her own, Lee’s string prestidigitation is prominent in meetings with Canadian, American and European musicians.

Recent discs show the range of her talents. Spiller Alley RogueArt ROG-0016 features her as part of a trio completed by Bay area saxophonist Larry Ochs and New York koto player Miya Masaoka. Meanwhile Escondido Dreams Drip Audio DA00206], is a trio with other Lower Mainlanders: guitarist Tony Wilson and saxophonist Jon Bentley. Wilson, Bentley and van der Schyff are also on the cellist’s New Code Drip Audio DA 00318 along with other West Coast luminaries – trumpeter Brad Turner; guitarist Ron Samworth, trombonist Jeremy Berkman and electric bassist André Lachance. On Continuation Cryptogramophone CG 140 percussionist Alex Cline gathered a similar group of California-based improvisers – violinist Jeff Gauthier, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton to play his tunes. Lee is the only non-American.

Cline’s writing has an Asian feel to it. Scene-setting gong resonations color nearly every track, with Melford’s winnowing harmonium drone sometimes adding to the Far Eastern emphasis. Eclectic in execution, most of the compositions bounce from near- syrupy melodies usually advanced by the fiddler, to modern swing propelled by thumping bass and the pianist’s dynamic patterning. In between, Lee’s malleable timbres join with Gauthier’s brusque lines for thematic elaboration, or add staccato runs and spiccato jumps to advance the rhythm. “On the Bones of the Homegoing Thunder” is the most spectacular tune. It manages to wrap an exposition and recapitulation of temple bell peals and mournful cello runs around walking bass lines, kinetic piano runs plus string-clipping and triple-stopping from cello and violin.

Lee’s octet CD is less formalized, though no less eclectic, but democratic in its soloing. Both guitarists are partial to folksy twangs as well as Hard Rock-like distortions; the horns produce R&B-like vamps plus processional harmonies; Turner on flugelhorn is the languid melodist; and van der Schyff constantly pumps parts of his kit. Meanwhile the cellist personalizes the material. On “Tug” her angled sweeps tug apart into spikier runs the horns’ ceremonial grace notes. On “Not a Wake Up Call” flanged and distorted guitar licks shatter into jagged and ricocheting slurs as Lee’s spiccato multiphonics help gentle the theme so that it runs into the calming “Floating Island” – complete with muted trumpet – which follows it. Dealing with a tune as familiar as Bob Dylan’s “All I Really Want To Do”, her mordant modal interjections halt a conventional, C&W-styled reading, and encourage agitato horn shrills on top of Byrds-like guitar strumming and a vocalized saxophone obbligato.

Bentley’s woodwind arsenal has more space on Escondido Dreams, proving adapt at both speedy and languid tempi. “Man and Dog” plus “Monkey Tree/Just Stories” demonstrate this. On the first, the saxophonist defines the Impressionistic theme, along with Lee’s cello obbligato. After descriptive unison passages first with the cellist, then with the guitarist, sax trills dovetail into slurs as Wilson strums mandolin-like chords and Lee sweeps across the soundfield. Tougher and animated, the later is a roller coaster of a tune built on contrapuntal reed bites and electrified guitar interjections. Following a raucous call-and-response section, the guitarist’s chromatic patterning and Lee’s spiccato runs reintroduces the note-dangling theme.

Veteran Ochs uses more advanced techniques than Bentley on Spiller Alley, while the multi functions of Masaoka’s many-stringed koto negate the need for drums. Ironically, despite the textures of the venerable Japanese instrument, and unlike Continuation, this CD has almost no Asian reflections. Expert in rasgueado and chromatics, Masaoka treats her koto as if it is a combination harp, 12-string and six-string guitar. Bringing out node striations as well the sounds of the notes struck – as does Lee – the string duo attaches and detaches timbres to mutate the program as Ochs enlivens his work with wide octave jumps, staccato blasts and circular breathing.

Climaxing the session during the nearly 18½-minute title tune, the three criss-cross each other’s lines and runs, off-setting or cushioning when needed. With Ochs peeping and shrilling arpeggios, Masaoka unleashes a torrent of cascading tones and Lee exposes multi-string runs. The cumulative consequence showcases imperfectly formed but not unpleasant, textures from each. Operating in triple counterpoint, blurry interaction comes into focus, with the end result trilled, swept and resonated into a stripped-down mutual rapprochement.

While each musician’s skill melds to produce these notable CDs, each would be unthinkable without Lee’s talents and interactive expertise.

-- For Whole Note Vol. 14 #7

April 4, 2009

Alex Cline

Continuation
Cryptogramophone CG 140

Larry Ochs/Miya Masoka/Peggy Lee

Spiller Alley

RogueArt ROG-0016

Tony Wilson/Peggy Lee/Jon Bentley

Escondido Dreams

Drip Audio DA00206

Peggy Lee

New Code

Drip Audio DA 00318

Extended Play: The “Other” Peggy Lee

By Ken Waxman

Established in Vancouver for nearly 20 years following extensive musical study in her native Toronto, Peggy Lee has become one of the most in-demand cellists in both improvised and New music. Occasionally working with her husband, drummer Dylan van der Schyff, but more frequently on her own, Lee’s string prestidigitation is prominent in meetings with Canadian, American and European musicians.

Recent discs show the range of her talents. Spiller Alley RogueArt ROG-0016 features her as part of a trio completed by Bay area saxophonist Larry Ochs and New York koto player Miya Masaoka. Meanwhile Escondido Dreams Drip Audio DA00206], is a trio with other Lower Mainlanders: guitarist Tony Wilson and saxophonist Jon Bentley. Wilson, Bentley and van der Schyff are also on the cellist’s New Code Drip Audio DA 00318 along with other West Coast luminaries – trumpeter Brad Turner; guitarist Ron Samworth, trombonist Jeremy Berkman and electric bassist André Lachance. On Continuation Cryptogramophone CG 140 percussionist Alex Cline gathered a similar group of California-based improvisers – violinist Jeff Gauthier, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton to play his tunes. Lee is the only non-American.

Cline’s writing has an Asian feel to it. Scene-setting gong resonations color nearly every track, with Melford’s winnowing harmonium drone sometimes adding to the Far Eastern emphasis. Eclectic in execution, most of the compositions bounce from near- syrupy melodies usually advanced by the fiddler, to modern swing propelled by thumping bass and the pianist’s dynamic patterning. In between, Lee’s malleable timbres join with Gauthier’s brusque lines for thematic elaboration, or add staccato runs and spiccato jumps to advance the rhythm. “On the Bones of the Homegoing Thunder” is the most spectacular tune. It manages to wrap an exposition and recapitulation of temple bell peals and mournful cello runs around walking bass lines, kinetic piano runs plus string-clipping and triple-stopping from cello and violin.

Lee’s octet CD is less formalized, though no less eclectic, but democratic in its soloing. Both guitarists are partial to folksy twangs as well as Hard Rock-like distortions; the horns produce R&B-like vamps plus processional harmonies; Turner on flugelhorn is the languid melodist; and van der Schyff constantly pumps parts of his kit. Meanwhile the cellist personalizes the material. On “Tug” her angled sweeps tug apart into spikier runs the horns’ ceremonial grace notes. On “Not a Wake Up Call” flanged and distorted guitar licks shatter into jagged and ricocheting slurs as Lee’s spiccato multiphonics help gentle the theme so that it runs into the calming “Floating Island” – complete with muted trumpet – which follows it. Dealing with a tune as familiar as Bob Dylan’s “All I Really Want To Do”, her mordant modal interjections halt a conventional, C&W-styled reading, and encourage agitato horn shrills on top of Byrds-like guitar strumming and a vocalized saxophone obbligato.

Bentley’s woodwind arsenal has more space on Escondido Dreams, proving adapt at both speedy and languid tempi. “Man and Dog” plus “Monkey Tree/Just Stories” demonstrate this. On the first, the saxophonist defines the Impressionistic theme, along with Lee’s cello obbligato. After descriptive unison passages first with the cellist, then with the guitarist, sax trills dovetail into slurs as Wilson strums mandolin-like chords and Lee sweeps across the soundfield. Tougher and animated, the later is a roller coaster of a tune built on contrapuntal reed bites and electrified guitar interjections. Following a raucous call-and-response section, the guitarist’s chromatic patterning and Lee’s spiccato runs reintroduces the note-dangling theme.

Veteran Ochs uses more advanced techniques than Bentley on Spiller Alley, while the multi functions of Masaoka’s many-stringed koto negate the need for drums. Ironically, despite the textures of the venerable Japanese instrument, and unlike Continuation, this CD has almost no Asian reflections. Expert in rasgueado and chromatics, Masaoka treats her koto as if it is a combination harp, 12-string and six-string guitar. Bringing out node striations as well the sounds of the notes struck – as does Lee – the string duo attaches and detaches timbres to mutate the program as Ochs enlivens his work with wide octave jumps, staccato blasts and circular breathing.

Climaxing the session during the nearly 18½-minute title tune, the three criss-cross each other’s lines and runs, off-setting or cushioning when needed. With Ochs peeping and shrilling arpeggios, Masaoka unleashes a torrent of cascading tones and Lee exposes multi-string runs. The cumulative consequence showcases imperfectly formed but not unpleasant, textures from each. Operating in triple counterpoint, blurry interaction comes into focus, with the end result trilled, swept and resonated into a stripped-down mutual rapprochement.

While each musician’s skill melds to produce these notable CDs, each would be unthinkable without Lee’s talents and interactive expertise.

-- For Whole Note Vol. 14 #7

April 4, 2009

Tony Wilson/Peggy Lee/Jon Bentley

Escondido Dreams
Drip Audio DA00206

Larry Ochs/Miya Masoka/Peggy Lee

Spiller Alley

RogueArt ROG-0016

Alex Cline

Continuation

Cryptogramophone CG 140

Peggy Lee

New Code

Drip Audio DA 00318

Extended Play: The “Other” Peggy Lee

By Ken Waxman

Established in Vancouver for nearly 20 years following extensive musical study in her native Toronto, Peggy Lee has become one of the most in-demand cellists in both improvised and New music. Occasionally working with her husband, drummer Dylan van der Schyff, but more frequently on her own, Lee’s string prestidigitation is prominent in meetings with Canadian, American and European musicians.

Recent discs show the range of her talents. Spiller Alley RogueArt ROG-0016 features her as part of a trio completed by Bay area saxophonist Larry Ochs and New York koto player Miya Masaoka. Meanwhile Escondido Dreams Drip Audio DA00206], is a trio with other Lower Mainlanders: guitarist Tony Wilson and saxophonist Jon Bentley. Wilson, Bentley and van der Schyff are also on the cellist’s New Code Drip Audio DA 00318 along with other West Coast luminaries – trumpeter Brad Turner; guitarist Ron Samworth, trombonist Jeremy Berkman and electric bassist André Lachance. On Continuation Cryptogramophone CG 140 percussionist Alex Cline gathered a similar group of California-based improvisers – violinist Jeff Gauthier, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton to play his tunes. Lee is the only non-American.

Cline’s writing has an Asian feel to it. Scene-setting gong resonations color nearly every track, with Melford’s winnowing harmonium drone sometimes adding to the Far Eastern emphasis. Eclectic in execution, most of the compositions bounce from near- syrupy melodies usually advanced by the fiddler, to modern swing propelled by thumping bass and the pianist’s dynamic patterning. In between, Lee’s malleable timbres join with Gauthier’s brusque lines for thematic elaboration, or add staccato runs and spiccato jumps to advance the rhythm. “On the Bones of the Homegoing Thunder” is the most spectacular tune. It manages to wrap an exposition and recapitulation of temple bell peals and mournful cello runs around walking bass lines, kinetic piano runs plus string-clipping and triple-stopping from cello and violin.

Lee’s octet CD is less formalized, though no less eclectic, but democratic in its soloing. Both guitarists are partial to folksy twangs as well as Hard Rock-like distortions; the horns produce R&B-like vamps plus processional harmonies; Turner on flugelhorn is the languid melodist; and van der Schyff constantly pumps parts of his kit. Meanwhile the cellist personalizes the material. On “Tug” her angled sweeps tug apart into spikier runs the horns’ ceremonial grace notes. On “Not a Wake Up Call” flanged and distorted guitar licks shatter into jagged and ricocheting slurs as Lee’s spiccato multiphonics help gentle the theme so that it runs into the calming “Floating Island” – complete with muted trumpet – which follows it. Dealing with a tune as familiar as Bob Dylan’s “All I Really Want To Do”, her mordant modal interjections halt a conventional, C&W-styled reading, and encourage agitato horn shrills on top of Byrds-like guitar strumming and a vocalized saxophone obbligato.

Bentley’s woodwind arsenal has more space on Escondido Dreams, proving adapt at both speedy and languid tempi. “Man and Dog” plus “Monkey Tree/Just Stories” demonstrate this. On the first, the saxophonist defines the Impressionistic theme, along with Lee’s cello obbligato. After descriptive unison passages first with the cellist, then with the guitarist, sax trills dovetail into slurs as Wilson strums mandolin-like chords and Lee sweeps across the soundfield. Tougher and animated, the later is a roller coaster of a tune built on contrapuntal reed bites and electrified guitar interjections. Following a raucous call-and-response section, the guitarist’s chromatic patterning and Lee’s spiccato runs reintroduces the note-dangling theme.

Veteran Ochs uses more advanced techniques than Bentley on Spiller Alley, while the multi functions of Masaoka’s many-stringed koto negate the need for drums. Ironically, despite the textures of the venerable Japanese instrument, and unlike Continuation, this CD has almost no Asian reflections. Expert in rasgueado and chromatics, Masaoka treats her koto as if it is a combination harp, 12-string and six-string guitar. Bringing out node striations as well the sounds of the notes struck – as does Lee – the string duo attaches and detaches timbres to mutate the program as Ochs enlivens his work with wide octave jumps, staccato blasts and circular breathing.

Climaxing the session during the nearly 18½-minute title tune, the three criss-cross each other’s lines and runs, off-setting or cushioning when needed. With Ochs peeping and shrilling arpeggios, Masaoka unleashes a torrent of cascading tones and Lee exposes multi-string runs. The cumulative consequence showcases imperfectly formed but not unpleasant, textures from each. Operating in triple counterpoint, blurry interaction comes into focus, with the end result trilled, swept and resonated into a stripped-down mutual rapprochement.

While each musician’s skill melds to produce these notable CDs, each would be unthinkable without Lee’s talents and interactive expertise.

-- For Whole Note Vol. 14 #7

April 4, 2009

Larry Ochs/Miya Masoka/Peggy Lee

Spiller Alley
RogueArt ROG-0016

Tony Wilson/Peggy Lee/Jon Bentley

Escondido Dreams

Drip Audio DA00206

Alex Cline

Continuation

Cryptogramophone CG 140

Peggy Lee

New Code

Drip Audio DA 00318

Extended Play: The “Other” Peggy Lee

By Ken Waxman

Established in Vancouver for nearly 20 years following extensive musical study in her native Toronto, Peggy Lee has become one of the most in-demand cellists in both improvised and New music. Occasionally working with her husband, drummer Dylan van der Schyff, but more frequently on her own, Lee’s string prestidigitation is prominent in meetings with Canadian, American and European musicians.

Recent discs show the range of her talents. Spiller Alley RogueArt ROG-0016 features her as part of a trio completed by Bay area saxophonist Larry Ochs and New York koto player Miya Masaoka. Meanwhile Escondido Dreams Drip Audio DA00206], is a trio with other Lower Mainlanders: guitarist Tony Wilson and saxophonist Jon Bentley. Wilson, Bentley and van der Schyff are also on the cellist’s New Code Drip Audio DA 00318 along with other West Coast luminaries – trumpeter Brad Turner; guitarist Ron Samworth, trombonist Jeremy Berkman and electric bassist André Lachance. On Continuation Cryptogramophone CG 140 percussionist Alex Cline gathered a similar group of California-based improvisers – violinist Jeff Gauthier, pianist Myra Melford, bassist Scott Walton to play his tunes. Lee is the only non-American.

Cline’s writing has an Asian feel to it. Scene-setting gong resonations color nearly every track, with Melford’s winnowing harmonium drone sometimes adding to the Far Eastern emphasis. Eclectic in execution, most of the compositions bounce from near- syrupy melodies usually advanced by the fiddler, to modern swing propelled by thumping bass and the pianist’s dynamic patterning. In between, Lee’s malleable timbres join with Gauthier’s brusque lines for thematic elaboration, or add staccato runs and spiccato jumps to advance the rhythm. “On the Bones of the Homegoing Thunder” is the most spectacular tune. It manages to wrap an exposition and recapitulation of temple bell peals and mournful cello runs around walking bass lines, kinetic piano runs plus string-clipping and triple-stopping from cello and violin.

Lee’s octet CD is less formalized, though no less eclectic, but democratic in its soloing. Both guitarists are partial to folksy twangs as well as Hard Rock-like distortions; the horns produce R&B-like vamps plus processional harmonies; Turner on flugelhorn is the languid melodist; and van der Schyff constantly pumps parts of his kit. Meanwhile the cellist personalizes the material. On “Tug” her angled sweeps tug apart into spikier runs the horns’ ceremonial grace notes. On “Not a Wake Up Call” flanged and distorted guitar licks shatter into jagged and ricocheting slurs as Lee’s spiccato multiphonics help gentle the theme so that it runs into the calming “Floating Island” – complete with muted trumpet – which follows it. Dealing with a tune as familiar as Bob Dylan’s “All I Really Want To Do”, her mordant modal interjections halt a conventional, C&W-styled reading, and encourage agitato horn shrills on top of Byrds-like guitar strumming and a vocalized saxophone obbligato.

Bentley’s woodwind arsenal has more space on Escondido Dreams, proving adapt at both speedy and languid tempi. “Man and Dog” plus “Monkey Tree/Just Stories” demonstrate this. On the first, the saxophonist defines the Impressionistic theme, along with Lee’s cello obbligato. After descriptive unison passages first with the cellist, then with the guitarist, sax trills dovetail into slurs as Wilson strums mandolin-like chords and Lee sweeps across the soundfield. Tougher and animated, the later is a roller coaster of a tune built on contrapuntal reed bites and electrified guitar interjections. Following a raucous call-and-response section, the guitarist’s chromatic patterning and Lee’s spiccato runs reintroduces the note-dangling theme.

Veteran Ochs uses more advanced techniques than Bentley on Spiller Alley, while the multi functions of Masaoka’s many-stringed koto negate the need for drums. Ironically, despite the textures of the venerable Japanese instrument, and unlike Continuation, this CD has almost no Asian reflections. Expert in rasgueado and chromatics, Masaoka treats her koto as if it is a combination harp, 12-string and six-string guitar. Bringing out node striations as well the sounds of the notes struck – as does Lee – the string duo attaches and detaches timbres to mutate the program as Ochs enlivens his work with wide octave jumps, staccato blasts and circular breathing.

Climaxing the session during the nearly 18½-minute title tune, the three criss-cross each other’s lines and runs, off-setting or cushioning when needed. With Ochs peeping and shrilling arpeggios, Masaoka unleashes a torrent of cascading tones and Lee exposes multi-string runs. The cumulative consequence showcases imperfectly formed but not unpleasant, textures from each. Operating in triple counterpoint, blurry interaction comes into focus, with the end result trilled, swept and resonated into a stripped-down mutual rapprochement.

While each musician’s skill melds to produce these notable CDs, each would be unthinkable without Lee’s talents and interactive expertise.

-- For Whole Note Vol. 14 #7

April 4, 2009

IAN SMITH/SIMON H. FELL/HARRIS EISENSTADT

K3
Bruce’s Fingers BF 58

HARRIS EISENSTADT
Ahimsa Orchestra
Nine Winds NWCD0237

Having established himself with hard work as an in-demand percussionist and band leader in Los Angeles, Toronto-born Harris Eisenstadt is branching out. He’s traveling to the East Coast, Europe and Africa to match wits with his improvising contemporaries and writing more involved compositions for larger ensembles.

K3 is an example of the former, where he hooks up with British-born bassist Simon H. Fell, who now lives in France, and Dublin-born, London-based trumpeter Ian Smith. Conversely the Ahimsa Orchestra is a local project, featuring the percussionist, conductor Omid Zoufonoun and two differently constituted, 12-piece ensembles running through two of Eisenstadt’s compositions, the three-part “Non-Violence” and the four-section “Relief”. Kudos must go to the young drummer for attempting different projects. However, while he fits comfortably with Smith and Fell, his reach seems to have exceeded his grasp with the 67-minute CD by the band named with Mahatma Gandhi’s word for enemy-loving non-violence.

Throughout the parts are greater than their sum, since some of the West Coast’s most accomplished, outsides players – including trumpeters Dan Clucas and Kris Tiner, tubaist Mark Weaver, reedists Vinny Golia, Kyle Bruckmann and Sara Schoenbeck, guitarist Noah Phillips, and trapsmen Alex Cline and Eisenstadt himself

– get to show off their skills.

Unfortunately, the surrounding through-composed passages are non-connective and nearly threadbare. Orphan riffs are one thing, but when they resemble intermezzos and leitmotifs that can’t decide whether to be impressionistic or early 20th century classical, chutzpah takes the place of coherence.

Probably the best playing comes in the last section of the second suite when several countermelodies featuring Ellen Barr’s flute, Clucas’ muted trumpet and Bill Casale’s pulsating bass give way to an undulating stentorian tuba solo from Weaver that’s perfectly backed by bounces and flams from Eisenstadt. When the drummer turns to a more conventional rhythm, the trumpeter’s tremolo trills shine, suggesting that “Relief IV” may be a postlude rather than a proper climax.

Earlier in the same suite, driven by the rattles and rims shots from the understated percussion of the composer and Cline, massed orchestral harmonies give way to a squirming clarinet solo from Brain Walsh and a glottal lower register bassoon line from Schoenbeck that precede an conclusive crescendo. Splayed, cross-sawed textures from guitarist Phillips’ follow bell resonation from the percussionists, with both players rolling and rumbling through the penultimate thematic variation as sputtered split tones and pitch-sliding vibrations courtesy of Walsh and Golia produce diffuse harmonies. Still, despite Weaver’s obbligato and a horn crescendo, the overall impression is cold because the compositional glue holding the piece together seems to be lacking.

It’s the same story with “Non-Violence” despite some harmonic coloration created by a piccolo-trumpet tremor, valve twisting plunger work from trombonist Toyoji Tomita, reed squeaks and aviary twitters and sophisticated bass drum spots and reverberating cymbal parts from Eisenstadt. Here the connective material appears even more prettified than on the subsequent composition. Simultaneously though, there’s too little of it as well, often exposing the disconnected motifs among the yowling, rubato reed and brass timbres.

The situation was more balanced a year earlier at London’s Klinker club during the trio meeting. A memento of the drummer’s visit to the United Kingdom, Eisenstadt’s apparently more relaxed in the improvisational role on the four instant compositions here. Fell, who is has been a consummate combo player for years – as well as being an ambitious composer – is an asset in any circumstances, but the biggest surprise is Smith.

A far cry from his tentative work from three years previous when he recorded alongside some BritImprov veterans, his confident soloing in all registers of the horn easily allows him to hold up his part of the triangular equation. Perhaps consistent work with the London Improvisers Orchestra, consisting of some of the city’s most accomplished improvisers has toughened his chops.

No matter the cause, the spurts of resolute brass timbres with which he decorates his solo on the last three minutes of “Voiceless Velar Stop” are some of the most impressive trumpeting anywhere. Smith appends a few bent notes as a coda, having been hectored along by steady bowing from Fell and blunt ratamacues from Eisenstadt. Prior to that, the trumpeter moves from audacious mouthpiece tongue kisses to wah-wah buzzes plus clenched teeth slurs; he’s so in step with the drummer, that often a tone could be as much brass as percussion.

Imbued with the sprit of older British rhythm makers like Tony Oxley and Roger Turner, Eisenstadt sleekly works his way through his kit, matching heavy knocking on the rims with split-second whispering reverberation, and clanging chains on top of the heads as often as he attacks them full force. Someone who has studied with the griots in Africa, he brings darbuka and djembe hand-drum resonations to other sections, such as an extended work-out on the final track which contrasts nicely with Fell’s legato, Europeanized bowed notes.

Able to express spiccato vibrations with the same ease as walking, the bassist’s string organization encompasses buzzing sul tasto excursions and sections where he moves the tonal centre with polyrhythmic scratches and reverb. Strumming and sometimes nearly in slap bass territory, Fell is never at a loss as to how to rebound the pulse back and forth to the others. Plus the trumpeter is there to let loose with anything including sonorous pedal tones, purring valve whistling, fowl-like quacks, speedy brass bites and plunger whines.

Maybe one day Eisenstadt can translate his impressive performing and compositional talent from small combos to larger ones. Perhaps working with a more compact group would have benefited his conception for the AHIMSA ORCHESTRA. As it stands now though, K3 is a keeper, with the other CD of most interest to those who want to preserve every marker in the drummer’s accelerating career.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: K3: 1. Potassium 2. 1024 Words 3. Voiceless Velar Stop 4. The Unit Vector Along the Z-Axis

Personnel: K3: Ian Smith (trumpet); Simon H. Fell (bass); Harris Eisenstadt (percussion)

Track Listing: Ahimsa: Non-Violence: 1. I 2. II 3. III Relief: 4. I 5. II 6. III 7. IV

Personnel: Ahimsa:

Tracks 1-3: Liz Allbee and Kris Tiner (trumpet); Toyoji Tomita (trombone); Phillip Greenlief (b-flat clarinet); Kyle Bruckmann (oboe); Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon); Steve Adams (C flute); Bill Horvitz and Noah Phillips (guitars); George Cremaschi (bass); David Branddt (vibraphone); Harris Eisenstadt (percussion); Omid Zoufonoun (conductor) Tracks 4-7: Dan Clucas (trumpet); George McMullen (trombone); Mark Weaver (tuba); Brian Walsh (b-flat clarinet); Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon); Vinny Golia (bass clarinet); Ellen Burr (C flute); Phillips (guitar); Jessica Catron (cello); Bill Casale (bass); Eisenstadt and Alex Cline (percussion); Omid Zoufonoun (conductor)

January 30, 2006

ALEX CLINE/KAORU/MIYA MASAOKA /G.E. STINSON

Cloud Plate
Cryptogramophone CG 121

DEREK BAILEY/AMY DENIO/DENNIS PALMER
The Gospel Record
Shaking Ray SRR-CD004

Using the human voice in improvisation can be tricky. Singing words brings with it the fear that metrical qualities will overtake spontaneous interaction; used wordlessly, its proper place among other instruments is suspect and sometimes redundant.

CLOUD PLATE and THE GOSPEL RECORD deal with variations of these snags and neither fully overcomes the obstacles. On the first CD, Kaoru – no last name – so diffuses her vocal timbres through electronics that often you lose track of the human element, especially when she seem to be expressing herself in ethereal tones that are neither Japanese nor English. Conversely, Amy Denio intones the lyrics of the gospel songs on the other session with such bright-eyed conviction, despite the instrumental mayhem behind her, that you’re not sure how much is parody and how much Pentecostal.

One leans towards the former. That’s because Denio, an on again-off again member of the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, usually plays saxophones, accordion and bass, writes film soundtracks and chamber pieces, and has worked with bands like Curlew and The Pale Nudes.

Her associates here are British guitarist Derek Bailey, whose religion is more Free Music than Christianity, and The Shaking Ray Levis (SRL)’ Dennis Palmer, a avant gardist from the American South, who plays rhythmic synthesizer and samples and contributes the odd Carter Family-style harmony vocal. Still Palmer is based in Chattanooga, Tenn., where as a child he used to watch a particular religious program which featured the famous gospel quartet, the Stamps. Furthermore, while the songs may be taken from a hymnal found in a five-and-dime store, gospel music has always had an influence on innovators, with everyone from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash and Albert Ayler and Duke Ellington having recorded religious material.

THE GOSPEL RECORD is much more POMO than any of those examples, however. Denio’s timbres may sound more like Dale Evans than ex-rockabilly turned gospel singer Wanda Jackson, but considering her vocals are frequently double tracked, separated into disparate voices, or in the case of “Joshua Led God’s Children” sung in an uncomfortable falsetto, the effects seem a little less than reverent. Also, considering that she vies for aural space on that tune with Palmer’s samples that are mid-way between sousaphone drone and Bronx cheer, it’s not likely that Denio or SRL will ever be heard on evangelical broadcast.

Throughout, Bailey produces amp-shaking distortions in higher pitches, harsh flanged guitar runs and jumbled, oscillating tones that are as mocking as the lyrics are sincere – it’s not likely he’ll be on the gospel train ay time soon either. His eccentric approach to the material combined with Palmer’s instrumental work, which includes signal-clipping in and out of focus, and rumbling, bouncing near-percussive beats, lifts the program instrumentally.

An engaging and wacky trifle, THE GOSPEL RECORD is tongue-in-cheek fun, but at barely 14 minutes, no major statement.

CLOUD PLATE may be envisioned as one though, and that’s part of its predicament. At almost 66½ minutes – with three tracks around the 13 minute mark – the otherworldly, atmospheric timbres sometimes get a bit wan. Contributing to this pallid wash is the instrumentation of the Los Angeles-based musicians.

G.E. Stinson, who co-founded the Jazz/Rock/World Music band Shadowfax, brings guitars and so-called implements to the session. Miya Masaoko who performs traditional Japanese, notated contemporary, performance pieces and improvisations with musicians such as trombonist George Lewis, uses an electric koto to produce miasmic sounds. Only percussionist Alex Cline, who has worked in bands with Stinson as well as reedist Vinny Golia among many others, brings a concentrated rhythmic sensibility to the eight tracks filled with reverberating strings and vocal tones from Kaoru, an ongoing Stinson collaborator.

Using what sounds like a vocoder to turn her voice robotic and synthesized, Kaoru’s contributions often seem barely there, and as if she’s reciting prose rather than singing. With the buzzing of so-called electronic effects and the projection of string drones dominating most tracks, much of her vocalizing is out-of- earshot mumbling. Infantile cries and ethereal tones, often distorted, are heard as well. Periodically it may be that words are part of her disconsolate sounding plaints, but precise language and sense are lost among the musical mists.

These include abrasive reverb, intentional distortion and scratched string runs from Stinson’s guitar, and ricocheting cymbal claps, metallic pings and hollow resonation from Cline’s percussion. When all these sounds, real and sampled, link to the cascade of scrapes and wiggles that characterize Masaoka’s koto turns, the effect is that of skewed gagaku music. Replication or crinkling rice paper is heard on both the first and final tracks, serving as connective tissue for real-time improvisations.

Among the ruffling chords and chromatic picking the most satisfying performance is “Naming”, which clocks in at fewer than three minutes. Yet all the tones stretched to excessive length elsewhere are presented and accounted for here. There are multi-tracked cries, whispers and shouts from the vocalist, bells and gong rattling from the percussionist, singular finger picking from the guitarist and sweeping colors from the kotoist.

“Assisted Collapse” is the other track that makes more of an impression since it’s much livelier than the rest. Mixing slanting arpeggios from Masaoka, ratcheting flams and ringing bell tones from Cline, and an underlying guitar drone which accelerates to fuzz tones and down to finger picking action, the tune logically reaches a climax then dribbles away to silence.

No one is suggesting that CLOUD PLATE could or should have been as condensed as THE GOSPEL RECORD. But briefer tracks and more succinct idea elaboration may have produced a more memorable session.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Gospel: 1.Let The Little Sunshine In 2. Heaven Will Surely Be Worth It All 3. I Miss A Friend Like You 4. The Ole-Time Religion 5. Joshua Led God’s Children 6. I’m Gonna See Heaven 7. I’m Bound Fort Land of Canaan

Personnel: Gospel: Derek Bailey (guitar); Dennis Palmer (voice, synthesizer, samples); Amy Denio (voice)

Track Listing: Cloud: 1. Ions 2. Robot Mudra 3. Mountain 4. Cloud 5. Naming 6. Visual Drift 7. Assisted Collapse 8. Face

Personnel: Cloud: G.E. Stinson (guitars and implements); Miya Masaoka (koto and effects), Alex Cline (percussion); Kaoru (voice, percussion, sound toys and effects)

August 22, 2005

Vinny Golia Quartet

Sfumato
booklet notes for Clean Feed CF 036CD

Texas-raised trumpeter Bobby Bradford has long been associated with idiosyncratic reed players. Most people know him as the brassman in an important -- but little recorded -- version of Ornette Coleman’s Quartet in the early 1960s; others recall his long partnership with the late clarinetist John Carter with whom he recorded a series of memorable, interrelated LPs in the 1970s and 1980s.

Just as noteworthy however has been his decades-long collaboration with multi-woodwind player Vinny Golia, live and on record, the most recent of which is displayed in glorious fashion on this CD.

Like Bradford, with whom he hooked up with in Los Angeles, Golia is a non-Californian who has adopted the Golden State as his home. Bronx, N.Y.-born Golia, who is also a visual artist, is famed for his impressive command of nearly every member of the reed family -- more than two dozen and counting when last heard. He’s also a doer, who from his base in Beverly Hills -- an address known for anything but musical innovation -- has nurtured, employed and recorded scores of young and/or under-appreciated creative improvisers from all parts of the North American West Coast.

Drummer Alex Cline and Angelo-turned-Brooklynite bassist Ken Filiano, featured on this CD, are two of those musicians. Besides impressive work in other contexts, both have been part of various Golia groups, ranging from combos to big bands, for at least two decades. Sfumato, the CD, named for a painting technique coined by Leonardo da Vinci and used in his master works such as the Mona Lisa, is a particularly fine example of this mature quartet’s interactive art.

The disc was recorded in Lisbon, just before the band participated in Jazz ao Centro - Encontros Internacionais de Coimbra - 2003, a festival that takes place in a location two hours drive north of the Portuguese capital. Obviously pumped for what proved to be an enthusiastically received performance, the band members give their all on Sfumato, which features nine of Golia’s distinctive compositions. It also provides the composer with a peerless showcase in which to demonstrate his prowess on sopranino and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, G piccolo and contrabass flute.

Sfumato, the visual arts term, is mutated from the Italian words for smoke and blended. The procedure overlays translucent layers of color to create perceptions of depth, volume and form -- blending these attributes so subtly that there’s no perceptible transition between one and another.

Visual artist-turned musician Golia obviously grasps and values that style, and musically he utilizes it on the compositions here. Many are built on attractive blends between brass and reeds, while extended string and percussion techniques frequently add to the available palate.

Longer compositions such as “Transition of Power” and “All Together Now” are particularly fine examples of this. With space available, the reedist can utilize the timbres of more than one horn in sequence, without upsetting the sfumato implicit in the compounding of Bradford’s often half-valve work and his own reeds, not to mention the astute brushstrokes -- in the drummer’s case literally -- applied from Cline and Filiano.

“Transition of Power” for instance, features Braford’s grace notes flirting with exotica so that it sounds as if he could be playing a radung or Tibetan trumpet. Meanwhile, on top of a bass and drum overlay, Golia contributes contrabass flute lines -- alternating parts with the trumpeter. His later soprano saxophone solo take its cues from mid-period John Coltrane, exhibiting slinky, Arabic pigmentation, without resorting to shrill tones. Together, Cline and Filiano contribute daubs of polyrhythmic counterpoint, until the horns once again meld into a single brush stroke to take the piece out.

“All Together Now”, another definition of cooperation, features hocketing bass clarinet timbres, sul ponticello bass lines and double-timed grace notes from the trumpet. Applying pointillistic techniques, the players slide from double, triple and quadruple counterpoint to passages featuring broken cadenzas. Especially notable are the intimations of military bugle-like tattoos from Bradford and echoing, cavernous sluices from Golia.

Just as da Vinci had his irrefutable influences as an artist so do the band members as musicians. While Golia’s initial playing opportunity was with Anthony Braxton, echoes of the influential Coleman Quartet and the initial New Thing era turn up often, especially since he’s working with Bradford in a quartet situation.

Unsurprisingly because of the title, this stylistic tick is most apparent on “That was for Albert Phase 3” and “That was for Albert Phase 5”. But with no one playing either tenor or alto saxophone the links to Albert Ayler and/or Coleman aren’t that obvious. The later tune is a demonstration by Filiano of subtle but spectacular advanced arco and pizzicato work, an extension of what had been attempted by Coleman bassists -- and Bradford band mates -- Jimmy Garrison and David Izenzon in the 1960s. Oddly though, Golia’s floating flute line seems more related to the work of the almost forgotten Giuseppi Logan, while it appears that Bradford is mimicking Donald Ayler’s intentional primitivism on the first version of the song. No one, however, could mistake Cline and Filiano’s work for that of Milford Graves and Gary Peacock from years past.

Interestingly enough, “NBT-take 2” also has Coleman Quartet echoes in its irregularly voiced call-and-response twitters and textures from the horns. But with Golia emphasizing the metallic quality of his sax and Bradford’s soaring brass voice more serene in maturity now that he’s at almost 70, than it was with Coleman years ago, in truth this quartet sounds nothing like the Coleman combo.

In fact, that’s what most distinguishes Sfumato from other CDs and makes it so memorable. It isn’t a retread or a tribute to any one musician or style, nor is it an attempt to create currently fashionable sounds. Instead it’s an object lesson in how painterly positioning of each member’s overlaid color contributions can produce a sonorous session whose individual attributes blend subtly into a complete whole.

Ken Waxman

Toronto

December 2004

January 15, 2005

THE VINNY GOLIA QUINTET

One, Three, Two
Jazz’halo TS018/19

Recorded at three different concerts in Belgium on September 12, 13 and 15, 2001, ONE, THREE, TWO is a creditable quintet session, which, considering the date, not surprisingly lacks some of the go-for-broke energy multi-reedist Vinny Golia brings to many of his other discs.

Still the cohesion of the band is evident on the 11 Golia compositions written expressly for this instrumentation, that are spread over two CDs with almost 2½ hours of music. However, a combination of ennui regarding the situation in the United States, and concert necessities, which seems to necessitate contributions from each musician on nearly every tune, means that some pieces and solos are overly extended. Considering that Golia had been playing with brothers, guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Alex Cline since 1976, expressive trombonist Michael Vlatkovich since 1981 and bassist Scott Walton for at least five years at that point, no sound is less than thoroughgoing professional, though. And many of the pieces are outright exciting.

Significantly enough, Disc 2, which was all recorded at the final concert, is livelier and more cohesive than what appears from two earlier shows on Disc 1. Additionally that disc’s final four numbers showcase the energy and skill of the band at its zenith.

Particularly impressive are the back-to-back “Make it Snappy” and “Yari”. Beginning with a peeping clarinet run, the former soon finds Golia pitch shifting and producing double-tongued, hocketing glissandos. Followed by plunger ‘bone blasts and march time drum rolls, the reedman then introduces stop time irregular trills that move up the scale and are extended with circular breathing. Linking this to “Yari”, Golia, on flute and the trombonist’s tones intertwine in front of walking bass lines

Given his head, Vlatkovich embarks on an extended slurred solo, initially facing counterlines from the flute and flailing fills from guitarist Cline. But as he begins burrowing into the bottom of the horn, Golia piccolo twitters take the top part, drummer Cline jazzily bounces his snares and makes his cymbals sizzle, Walton double stops and the guitarist outlines a Joe Pass-meets-Herb Ellis solo, all slurred fingering and speedy fills.

These distorted runs radiate all over “Bridge Made of Waters”, with fretman Cline’s distortions and tremolos adding to the textures smeared, blown out and ratcheted by the others instruments. Earlier, one of the musicians provided some atmospheric grunts and on “The Happy”, Walton slaps his bass. The trombonist adds to the retro feel on this blues by alternating Frank Rosolino-like pecks and Vic Dickenson-like slurs, while Golia turns from producing a pinched, staccato sopranino trill to stomping, stop time Southwestern tenor tones. Coupled with ringing guitar work, this track could prove to any naysayer that exploratory musicians are just as capable of swinging as neo-con jazzbos. Would that this animation had extended to all the tunes on both discs.

Elsewhere, it’s often Vlatkovich’s melding of post-bop speed with tailgate-style emotion that provides the spark on many other tunes. Moving among his various horns, Golia too can join in for some call-and-response fire, but when earlier pieces clock in at least 17 minute plus, some of the momentum is lost after every player contributes a solo.

“On Behalf of My Benefactors”, the longest track at 20 plus minutes, certainly ends up this way. Contrapuntal textures moving back and forth between polyphonic ‘bone slurs and whistling reed lines meets woody bass tones and finger tip picking from Nels Cline. Golia then introduces a chirping, circular soprano timbre that accelerates to panpipe tones and sideslips into other keys. Following pummeling rolls, paradiddles and flams from the drummer and an echoing guitar chord, a quarter note bass line stabilizes the piece into a swing tune with the trombonist tonguing out speedy breaks and Golia chirping and smearing his notes. Still Vlatkovich’s triplet display pales a bit whenever other players have to get their licks in before the tune ends.

As with much of his other sideman work, especially with Golia, Nels Cline keeps his guitar hero showmanship to a minimum here, sticking mostly to complementary finger style forays rather than distorted, single string reverb. Brother Alex is similarly restrained, providing shuffle rhythms and a heavy backbeat when needed, otherwise expressing himself through inventive percussion forays, as early on when his traps output take on a resemblance to a gamelan. When not walking, Walton rasps out resonant accompaniment. And the three generally free up enough space for Golia and Vlatkovich to soar.

Among his many horns, the reedist can be relaxed or intense on soprano, emphasize higher-pitched ney-like tones from the same instrument and on tenor create snorting obbligatos, which are still more Teddy Edwards than Trane. On clarinets he jumps from slurred and squeaky coloratura tones to Morse code-like compressed single notes and choked squeals.

Meanwhile the trombonist smoothly bends notes at certain places, sneaks up the scale with a thinner tone, double tongues at others, and can create his own call and response with two distinct sounds. Shoving a mute deep within his bell and pulling it out just as quickly, he moves from a buzz to purr. Elsewhere it appears as if he’s vibrating the bell directly against a thin metal sheet for some lowering rubato tempos.

Although some of material on the first disc is weaker, Disc 2 is still essential for all Golia followers or fans or first-class improvisational music. And, come to think of it, less than perfect Golia Quintet sounds are still better than much of the music being marketed as jazz these days.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Disc One: 1. Hexo-Lateral (for Buckminster Fuller) 2. None That Are Giants 3. While All Are Away 4. On Behalf of My Benefactors 5. Prelude to the Orphans Disc Two: 1. Drum in the Circle of Stone 2. Waiting, Waiting, Waiting…… 3. Make it Snappy 4. Yari 5. Bridge Made of Waters 6. The Happy

Personnel: Michael Pierre Vlatkovich (trombone); Vinny Golia (sopranino, soprano and tenor saxophones, A clarinet, ocarina, piccolo, C and alto flutes); Nels Cline (guitar); Scott Walton (bass); Alex Cline (drums)

July 12, 2004

JEFF GAUTHIER GOATETTE

Mask
Cryptogramophone 112

Perhaps this CD could be called Revenge Of The Pros. That’s because all of these California-based musicians have extensive experience working on commercial pop, funk and contemporary jazz dates as well as for film and TV soundtracks. This band however allows them to play their own music.

The problem is, that while the sounds here are heartfelt and obviously technically impeccable, they’re also much “prettier” than you would expect on a jazz date. Not that jazz necessarily has to be “ugly” to be hip, which is itself an outmoded concept, but when the Goatette’s twin touchstones seem to be modal-style impressionism on one hand and showy jazz rock on the other something has to suffer.

Take “Enfant”, a romping Ornette Coleman melody. Jeff Gauthier’s echoing violin flights are never going to be mistaken for Coleman’s -- or come to think of it Ornette’s saxophone playing -- but at least his work and the ringing tones of David Witham’s acoustic piano appear to have some congruence with the sentiment of the tune. But that can’t be said for the wild, steel-cold guitar runs of Nels Cline or the overstated drum parts of his twin brother Alex?

“Forgiveness” appears to suffer from the opposite predicament. Built around Bill Evans-like piano chords, the reading is almost too hushed and reverent. Because of that, the effectiveness of blending muted, resonating guitar and tempered violin playing one half step apart is buried in an ambiance that is more reminiscent of a tea dance than a night club.

With performances like this, it’s not hard to recall that pianist David Witham, who has been George Benson’s music director for more than a decade, has worked with pop-jazzers like Tom Scott, Grover Washington and Larry Carlton. Steady bassist Joel Hamilton’s associations ran the gamut from mainstreamer Eddie Daniels, smooth-jazz maven Dave Grusin and more experimental musicians like percussionist Gregg Bendian and multi-reedman Vinny Golia. Both Clines worked with Golia and with Gauthier made up three-quarters of the late bassist Eric Von Essen’s band.

Here, the violinist’s “Ephemera - for Eric”, which revolves upon Hamilton’s forceful bass and Nels Cline’s 12-string guitar, is more celebratory than morose. Although it deals with Von Essen’s untimely death, Gauthier’s bright, trebly tone tries to extend the late bassist’s airy musical ideas.

Gauthier, a former concert violinist, also has a varied resumé that takes in work with folks like mainstream pianist Jimmy Rowles, former Weather Reporter Peter Erskine and Golia. His more than 20 years of film and TV work have included “almost every Star Trek film and TV show spin-off known to man”.

This understanding of popular culture and cinematic scope helps those compositions that are more memorable. “Clea’s Bounce”, for instance, written in 5/4 time, is a funky, near-rocker that twists and turns through a shuffle drum rhythm, 1970s-style electric piano fills and guitar work that recalls jazz-studio cats like Howard Roberts. Taking the place of a horn, Gauthier’s arching fiddle comes with the kind of clean, swinging articulation that a pre-fusion Jean-Luc Ponty liked to play.

Then there’s the title tune, an almost 18-minute, four-part suite, written by Gauthier during a Mexican vacation trip. Surprisingly lacking a Spanish motif, it begins by centring on snaky LA crime drama piano shading, harsh guitar lines and hard rock drumming, and ends up utilizing silences as well as sounds. Later ghostly tones are succeeded by stately Oriental-sounding court music, complete with whistling winds and shimmering gongs. Gauthier’s rococo string stylings extend this Chinatown/LA Confidential mood a little further, though a pyrotechical guitar sample, heavy on the whammy bar seems to move it into Wayne’s World Territory.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Clea’s Bounce 2. Waltz for K.P. 3. Enfant 4. The Fools 5. Ephemera - for Eric 6. The Mask 7. Forgiveness

Personnel: Jeff Gauthier (violin, electric violin); Nels Cline (guitar, 12-string guitar); David Witham (piano, electric piano); Joel Hamilton (bass); Alex Cline (drums, percussion)

February 22, 2002