Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble

The Moment’s Energy
ECM 2066

John Butcher Group

Somethingtobesaid

Weight of Wax WOW 02

Now that a large portion of improvised music is deliberately moving further away from its swing-blues roots and into an accommodation with New music, a few far-sighted so-called classical festivals have made a place for improvisers. Tellingly, both these captivating CDs featuring ensembles performing large-scale compositions by significant British saxophonists, were commissioned by the United Kingdom’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. More importantly, neither work is a jazz-classical cameo, but expansive enough to allow the composers’ ideas to be figuratively painted on a larger canvas, using an extended sonic palate.

Although Evan Parker, who sticks to soprano saxophone on The Moment’s Energy, and John Butcher, who plays tenor and soprano saxophones plus samples on Somethingtobesaid, are probably the U.K.’s best-known Free Music saxophonists, the range and organization of the other instruments here highlights their differing approach to orchestral creativity. The Moment’s Energy, for instance, is an electro-acoustic exploration and to this end six electronics-manipulators are part of the group, in addition to percussionist Paul Lytton and violinist Philipp Wachsmann – two long-time Parker associates – utilizing live electronics. On the acoustic side, Barcelona’s Agustí Fernández plays both acoustic and prepared piano; New York’s Ned Rothenberg clarinet and bass clarinet; and Peter Evans, another American, trumpet and piccolo trumpet.

Along with Parker, bassist Barry Guy and shô player Ko Ishikawa produce singular acoustic tones. But during the course of the suite, sound processing, sampling remixing and layering predominates, emanating from Lawrence Casserley’s signal processing instrument, Joel Ryan’s sampler and signal processor, Walter Prati’s computer processor plus the live electronics of Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer – who perform as Furt – and the sound projection of Marco Vecchi.

Somethingtobesaid on the other hand is nearly all acoustic, despite Butcher’s pre-recordings, Thomas Lehn’s analog synthesizer, Adam Linson’s bass and electronics and Dieb13’s turntables. Performed live at Huddersfield, sonic pleasure derives from trying to decipher which pulses are created electronically and which are the product of sophisticated extended techniques from Chris Burn’s piano, John Edward’s bass, Clare Cooper’s harp and guzheng and Gino Robair’s percussion and so-called energized surfaces.

Energized is a fine overall description for the CD, consisting of one long improvisation/composition, since gestures encompassing rubs, scraps, shuffles, plinks and strokes – usually fortissimo and staccatissimo – are layered into the piece. From the very beginning unvarying synthesized and oscillated peeps and pumps – not to mention captured voice replayed from the turntable or pre-recordings – reflectively pulse alongside clipped and sul ponticello swipes, slaps and wood-rending sounds from the bassists and guzheng player, plus piano glissandi and buzzing reed partials and tongue slaps. Often the sonic tautness is such that when Butcher plays a few measures in the common saxophone range, backed by Edwards’ slap bass, the effect is as upsetting as if a Renaissance harlequin had made a brief appearance in a Sci-Fi tale.

Although a collective work, space is also made for individual expression that never quite become solos or duos in the traditional sense. Around the seventh track indicator, for example, Burn compresses choruses of cascading keyboard runs and sweeping portamento notes in order to harmonically face off with electronic pulses and voltage vibrations from Lehn’s synthesizer. Afterwards he abruptly pumps out some quasi-stride-piano runs to accompany Butcher’s quacking reed timbres.

Earlier Robair’s crashes, bangs, cymbal slaps and bell-pealing plus freight-train shrills and resonating vibraharp strokes break through the blurry sound field to challenge the super-fast dial-twisting, in-and-out-stop-start flutters, clangs and flanges from the turntable and synthesizer. His energized surfaces as well as Lehn’s ring-modulator-like whooshes also serve as backdrop for curt, sparrow-like sibilant tweets and caws from Butcher. Subsequent reed-biting vibrations hook up with clattering from hard objects placed on and swept aside from the piano strings plus echoing cymbal crashes

Whether involved in pumping counterpoint in front of dense signal-processed crackling or circular-breathing alongside tremolo piano runs, Butcher’s unshaken aplomb while playing directs than concentrates the layers chromatically. Finally the various pitches and tones complete the sound circle.

Mixing live and processed tracks, The Moment’s Energy – recorded one year earlier in Huddersfield as well – is no less notable. Neither is Parkers playing any less self-possessed and energizing. But the other acoustic instruments are prominent as well, slashing holes in the quivering electronic pulses for their instruments’ textures, without upsetting the electro-acoustic balance.

Moving through the sixth and seventh variations on “The Moment’s Energy”, for instance, Guy’s spiccato rubs and pops evolve in double counterpoint with Wachsmann’s sul ponticello scratches and squeaks. As the fiddler’s cumulative timbres roll from the strings, processing exposes parallel violin lines which double and intersect with Wachsmann’s live sweeps. Meanwhile as the vector changes, Guy’s plucks and wood shaking are mixed with equivalent electronic melodic pulses. Later, after triggering signal processing – that is so sophisticated that together with the piano and horns it creates a wide-screen-like cinemascope-like coloration – Evans slurs low-key grace notes and accelerating pitch-slides as fungible organ-like electronic tones pulse beneath him.

Shortly before that Fernández’s extended interlude mixes low-frequency keyboard pitter-patter with stopped and strummed internal string vibrations as clouds of humming electronics splutter beside him. Sailing along harmonically, the pianist also riffs and rustles the keys, the resulting sounds of which are accompanied by rubbed drum tops and cymbals from Lytton.

Fernández’s sparkling glissandi meld with growling and snorting electronic blurs plus variable pitches loop at the top of “The Moment’s Energy II”. But the other timbres soon recede as Rothenberg’s a capella vibrations on bass clarinet accede to flying tongue slaps and affiliated renal resonance. As the undercurrent of buzzing reverb and processed oscillations simmer, the clarinetist is briefly joined by diaphragm vibrato from Parker, and then Rothenberg moves forward with growls and smears alongside hissing, blurry electro pulses, a cascade of plucked stops from Wachsmann and Guy, as well as fleet glissandi from the pianist.

Already celebrated for his playing, the strength of Parker’s composition and presentation is confirmed on “Incandescent Clouds”, one of two tracks recorded live. Here, the staccato, polytonal interaction between bubbling electronics, piano patterning and clipped bass lines is no more or less vivid than what is played on the tracks that mix live improv and electronics.

One can only hope that Huddersfield will continue to commission magnificent larger-group creations such as these from committed improvisers. The first-class creations Butcher and Parker produce on these CDs confirm the wisdom of earlier initiatives.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Moment: 1. The Moment’s Energy I 2. The Moment’s Energy II 3. The Moment’s Energy III 4. The Moment’s Energy IV 5. The Moment’s Energy V 6. The Moment’s Energy VI 7. The Moment’s Energy VII 8. Incandescent Clouds

Personnel: Moment: Peter Evans (trumpet and piccolo trumpet); Ned Rothenberg (clarinet, bass clarinet and shakuhachi); Evan Parker (soprano saxophone); Ko Ishikawa (shô); Philipp Wachsmann (violin and live electronics); Agustí Fernández (piano and prepared piano); Barry Guy (bass); Paul Lytton (percussion and live electronics): Lawrence Casserley (signal processing instrument); Joel Ryan (sample and signal processing); Walter Prati (computer processing); Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer (live electronics) and Marco Vecchi (sound)

Track Listing: Somethingtobesaid: 1. (08.14) 2. (07.47) 3. (05.26) 4. (09.48) 5. (06.36) 6. (06.01) 7. (02.14) 8. (09.07) 9. (04.12)

Personnel: Some: John Butcher (tenor and soprano saxophones and pre-recordings); Chris Burn (piano); Thomas Lehn (synthesizer); John Edwards (bass); Adam Linson (bass and electronics); Clare Cooper (harp and guzheng); Gino Robair (percussion) and Dieb 13 (turntables)

February 1, 2010

John Butcher Group

Somethingtobesaid
Weight of Wax WOW 02

Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble

The Moment’s Energy

ECM 2066

Now that a large portion of improvised music is deliberately moving further away from its swing-blues roots and into an accommodation with New music, a few far-sighted so-called classical festivals have made a place for improvisers. Tellingly, both these captivating CDs featuring ensembles performing large-scale compositions by significant British saxophonists, were commissioned by the United Kingdom’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. More importantly, neither work is a jazz-classical cameo, but expansive enough to allow the composers’ ideas to be figuratively painted on a larger canvas, using an extended sonic palate.

Although Evan Parker, who sticks to soprano saxophone on The Moment’s Energy, and John Butcher, who plays tenor and soprano saxophones plus samples on Somethingtobesaid, are probably the U.K.’s best-known Free Music saxophonists, the range and organization of the other instruments here highlights their differing approach to orchestral creativity. The Moment’s Energy, for instance, is an electro-acoustic exploration and to this end six electronics-manipulators are part of the group, in addition to percussionist Paul Lytton and violinist Philipp Wachsmann – two long-time Parker associates – utilizing live electronics. On the acoustic side, Barcelona’s Agustí Fernández plays both acoustic and prepared piano; New York’s Ned Rothenberg clarinet and bass clarinet; and Peter Evans, another American, trumpet and piccolo trumpet.

Along with Parker, bassist Barry Guy and shô player Ko Ishikawa produce singular acoustic tones. But during the course of the suite, sound processing, sampling remixing and layering predominates, emanating from Lawrence Casserley’s signal processing instrument, Joel Ryan’s sampler and signal processor, Walter Prati’s computer processor plus the live electronics of Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer – who perform as Furt – and the sound projection of Marco Vecchi.

Somethingtobesaid on the other hand is nearly all acoustic, despite Butcher’s pre-recordings, Thomas Lehn’s analog synthesizer, Adam Linson’s bass and electronics and Dieb13’s turntables. Performed live at Huddersfield, sonic pleasure derives from trying to decipher which pulses are created electronically and which are the product of sophisticated extended techniques from Chris Burn’s piano, John Edward’s bass, Clare Cooper’s harp and guzheng and Gino Robair’s percussion and so-called energized surfaces.

Energized is a fine overall description for the CD, consisting of one long improvisation/composition, since gestures encompassing rubs, scraps, shuffles, plinks and strokes – usually fortissimo and staccatissimo – are layered into the piece. From the very beginning unvarying synthesized and oscillated peeps and pumps – not to mention captured voice replayed from the turntable or pre-recordings – reflectively pulse alongside clipped and sul ponticello swipes, slaps and wood-rending sounds from the bassists and guzheng player, plus piano glissandi and buzzing reed partials and tongue slaps. Often the sonic tautness is such that when Butcher plays a few measures in the common saxophone range, backed by Edwards’ slap bass, the effect is as upsetting as if a Renaissance harlequin had made a brief appearance in a Sci-Fi tale.

Although a collective work, space is also made for individual expression that never quite become solos or duos in the traditional sense. Around the seventh track indicator, for example, Burn compresses choruses of cascading keyboard runs and sweeping portamento notes in order to harmonically face off with electronic pulses and voltage vibrations from Lehn’s synthesizer. Afterwards he abruptly pumps out some quasi-stride-piano runs to accompany Butcher’s quacking reed timbres.

Earlier Robair’s crashes, bangs, cymbal slaps and bell-pealing plus freight-train shrills and resonating vibraharp strokes break through the blurry sound field to challenge the super-fast dial-twisting, in-and-out-stop-start flutters, clangs and flanges from the turntable and synthesizer. His energized surfaces as well as Lehn’s ring-modulator-like whooshes also serve as backdrop for curt, sparrow-like sibilant tweets and caws from Butcher. Subsequent reed-biting vibrations hook up with clattering from hard objects placed on and swept aside from the piano strings plus echoing cymbal crashes

Whether involved in pumping counterpoint in front of dense signal-processed crackling or circular-breathing alongside tremolo piano runs, Butcher’s unshaken aplomb while playing directs than concentrates the layers chromatically. Finally the various pitches and tones complete the sound circle.

Mixing live and processed tracks, The Moment’s Energy – recorded one year earlier in Huddersfield as well – is no less notable. Neither is Parkers playing any less self-possessed and energizing. But the other acoustic instruments are prominent as well, slashing holes in the quivering electronic pulses for their instruments’ textures, without upsetting the electro-acoustic balance.

Moving through the sixth and seventh variations on “The Moment’s Energy”, for instance, Guy’s spiccato rubs and pops evolve in double counterpoint with Wachsmann’s sul ponticello scratches and squeaks. As the fiddler’s cumulative timbres roll from the strings, processing exposes parallel violin lines which double and intersect with Wachsmann’s live sweeps. Meanwhile as the vector changes, Guy’s plucks and wood shaking are mixed with equivalent electronic melodic pulses. Later, after triggering signal processing – that is so sophisticated that together with the piano and horns it creates a wide-screen-like cinemascope-like coloration – Evans slurs low-key grace notes and accelerating pitch-slides as fungible organ-like electronic tones pulse beneath him.

Shortly before that Fernández’s extended interlude mixes low-frequency keyboard pitter-patter with stopped and strummed internal string vibrations as clouds of humming electronics splutter beside him. Sailing along harmonically, the pianist also riffs and rustles the keys, the resulting sounds of which are accompanied by rubbed drum tops and cymbals from Lytton.

Fernández’s sparkling glissandi meld with growling and snorting electronic blurs plus variable pitches loop at the top of “The Moment’s Energy II”. But the other timbres soon recede as Rothenberg’s a capella vibrations on bass clarinet accede to flying tongue slaps and affiliated renal resonance. As the undercurrent of buzzing reverb and processed oscillations simmer, the clarinetist is briefly joined by diaphragm vibrato from Parker, and then Rothenberg moves forward with growls and smears alongside hissing, blurry electro pulses, a cascade of plucked stops from Wachsmann and Guy, as well as fleet glissandi from the pianist.

Already celebrated for his playing, the strength of Parker’s composition and presentation is confirmed on “Incandescent Clouds”, one of two tracks recorded live. Here, the staccato, polytonal interaction between bubbling electronics, piano patterning and clipped bass lines is no more or less vivid than what is played on the tracks that mix live improv and electronics.

One can only hope that Huddersfield will continue to commission magnificent larger-group creations such as these from committed improvisers. The first-class creations Butcher and Parker produce on these CDs confirm the wisdom of earlier initiatives.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Moment: 1. The Moment’s Energy I 2. The Moment’s Energy II 3. The Moment’s Energy III 4. The Moment’s Energy IV 5. The Moment’s Energy V 6. The Moment’s Energy VI 7. The Moment’s Energy VII 8. Incandescent Clouds

Personnel: Moment: Peter Evans (trumpet and piccolo trumpet); Ned Rothenberg (clarinet, bass clarinet and shakuhachi); Evan Parker (soprano saxophone); Ko Ishikawa (shô); Philipp Wachsmann (violin and live electronics); Agustí Fernández (piano and prepared piano); Barry Guy (bass); Paul Lytton (percussion and live electronics): Lawrence Casserley (signal processing instrument); Joel Ryan (sample and signal processing); Walter Prati (computer processing); Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer (live electronics) and Marco Vecchi (sound)

Track Listing: Somethingtobesaid: 1. (08.14) 2. (07.47) 3. (05.26) 4. (09.48) 5. (06.36) 6. (06.01) 7. (02.14) 8. (09.07) 9. (04.12)

Personnel: Some: John Butcher (tenor and soprano saxophones and pre-recordings); Chris Burn (piano); Thomas Lehn (synthesizer); John Edwards (bass); Adam Linson (bass and electronics); Clare Cooper (harp and guzheng); Gino Robair (percussion) and Dieb 13 (turntables)

February 1, 2010

Peter Evans/Tom Blancarte

[sparks]
Creative Sources CS 119 CD

Okkyung Lee/Peter Evans/Steve Beresford

Check for Monsters

Emanem 5002

One of a crop of younger players who are slowly redefining the trumpet’s role and range, New York-based Peter Evans stands out. Classically trained, his use of the piccolo trumpet as well as the regular model allows him to access the minimalist aspects of other experimentalists without neglecting the literal brassy qualities which have been the trumpet’s raison d’etre since the days of John Philip Sousa and Louis Armstrong.

As a matter of fact, there are portions of Check for Monsters where his interaction with British pianist Steve Beresford could be an off-the-wall updating of Armstrong’s late 1920s duets with pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines. Followers of Classic Jazz are unlikely to be making a bee line for this or the other disc though, since the improvisational tropes will never be confused for “Muskrat Ramble” or “The Washington Post” march for that matter. At the same time Evans, who also works in contemporary and Baroque so-called classical settings, somehow manages in his playing to extract from his horn textures that ordinarily would be linked to the saxophone. It may be bravura, but the timbres also reflect upon the dual history of those instruments and the saxophone’s birth as part of brass marching bands.

No slouch himself when it comes to outputting percussive measures from his instrument, a few of London-based Beresford’s runs here relate back from free improvisation to honky-tonk chording, not to mention syncopated versions of classically-oriented marches. The pianist, whose playing partners over the years have included drummer Han Bennink, saxophonist John Butcher as well as stints composing film soundtracks, is perfectly adaptable. The third “monster checker” is Korean-born, New York-based, cellist Okkyung Lee who often utilizes extended techniques from her classical background in situations involving dancers and chorographers as well as free improv. Meanwhile, the other half of the [sparks] duo is another New Yorker, bassist Tom Blancarte. A fully committed improviser, his initial influences were Metallica [!] and Black Sabbath [!!].

One may wish that some of those bands’ heavy metal assertiveness beefed up Lee’s inhibited work on Monsters, however. Every spirited sul tasto scratch or sweeping connective slice audible from her cello faces more upfront textures from the other two. Throughout the oddly named pieces the pianist sways and pumps high frequency chords, paced piano thumps and kinetic cadenzas. Meanwhile the trumpeter displays whinnying counter tones, internal breath squeaks, patterning tongue slaps and burbling tones. Over and over, at various speeds, Evans’ triplet exposure and capriccios of staccato timbres rub up against Beresford’s improvisations.

As a change of pace “Gwendol ap Siencyn” is low-key and balladic at the beginning, with piano clusters and brief arpeggios until Beresford’s preoccupation opens up into emphasized cross tones. Finally Lee’s splintering spiccato moves upfront as Evans aggressively gooses the tempo for a nearly limitless series of shrieks and note division, Lee responds in kind with multi-stopping – scrubbing and vibrating her strings – then the pianist bringing things to the end with pseudo boogie-woogie runs.

Recorded two years earlier, the duo with Blancarte is a different matter. The seven improvisations with Gnostic titles similarly bewildering as those on the other CD seem to be more of a meeting of equals. Suggesting that a youth digging Geddy Lee and John Paul Jones may not be completely misspent, the bassist produces powerful tones in a variety of times and tempos. Blancarte’s broken octave stops not only pump up rhythmic responses, but also include enough shuffle bowing and sul ponticello movements to demonstrate that Evans’ output doesn’t overawe him. Abrasively rubbing the bull fiddle’s thick strings if faced with Evans’ multiphonic brays, the bassist’s game plan seems invariably to respond chromatically so the tunes’ basic movement remains evident.

Concentrating on the piccolo trumpet, Evans’ solos are hocketing, rubato and studded with grace notes. Additionally, they’re equally spectacular whether muted to growled interface; slurred saxophone-like from within the capillary cavity; studded with tongue slaps that sound like pistol shots; or include so many tones and timbres that he appears able to sound a cavalry charge and “reveille” simultaneously.

Notable exhibition of the trumpeter’s art, these CDs add to Evans’ growing discography, while recent reports indicate that more extravagant brass feats are in the offing.

--Ken Waxman

Track Listing: sparks: 1. Xangu 2. Summanus 3. Ukonvasara 4. Mulungu 5. Kw-Uhnx-Wa 6. Ishkur 7. Ajisukitakahikone

Personnel: sparks: Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet) and Tom Blancarte (bass)

Track Listing: Monsters: 1. Phacthio 2. Yinothanot 3. Egokrlo-nar 4. Gwendol ap Siencyn

Personnel: Monsters: Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet and trumpet); Steve Beresford (piano) and Okkyung Lee (cello)

June 28, 2009

Okkyung Lee/Peter Evans/Steve Beresford

Check for Monsters
Emanem 5002

Peter Evans/Tom Blancarte

[sparks]

Creative Sources CS 119 CD

One of a crop of younger players who are slowly redefining the trumpet’s role and range, New York-based Peter Evans stands out. Classically trained, his use of the piccolo trumpet as well as the regular model allows him to access the minimalist aspects of other experimentalists without neglecting the literal brassy qualities which have been the trumpet’s raison d’etre since the days of John Philip Sousa and Louis Armstrong.

As a matter of fact, there are portions of Check for Monsters where his interaction with British pianist Steve Beresford could be an off-the-wall updating of Armstrong’s late 1920s duets with pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines. Followers of Classic Jazz are unlikely to be making a bee line for this or the other disc though, since the improvisational tropes will never be confused for “Muskrat Ramble” or “The Washington Post” march for that matter. At the same time Evans, who also works in contemporary and Baroque so-called classical settings, somehow manages in his playing to extract from his horn textures that ordinarily would be linked to the saxophone. It may be bravura, but the timbres also reflect upon the dual history of those instruments and the saxophone’s birth as part of brass marching bands.

No slouch himself when it comes to outputting percussive measures from his instrument, a few of London-based Beresford’s runs here relate back from free improvisation to honky-tonk chording, not to mention syncopated versions of classically-oriented marches. The pianist, whose playing partners over the years have included drummer Han Bennink, saxophonist John Butcher as well as stints composing film soundtracks, is perfectly adaptable. The third “monster checker” is Korean-born, New York-based, cellist Okkyung Lee who often utilizes extended techniques from her classical background in situations involving dancers and chorographers as well as free improv. Meanwhile, the other half of the [sparks] duo is another New Yorker, bassist Tom Blancarte. A fully committed improviser, his initial influences were Metallica [!] and Black Sabbath [!!].

One may wish that some of those bands’ heavy metal assertiveness beefed up Lee’s inhibited work on Monsters, however. Every spirited sul tasto scratch or sweeping connective slice audible from her cello faces more upfront textures from the other two. Throughout the oddly named pieces the pianist sways and pumps high frequency chords, paced piano thumps and kinetic cadenzas. Meanwhile the trumpeter displays whinnying counter tones, internal breath squeaks, patterning tongue slaps and burbling tones. Over and over, at various speeds, Evans’ triplet exposure and capriccios of staccato timbres rub up against Beresford’s improvisations.

As a change of pace “Gwendol ap Siencyn” is low-key and balladic at the beginning, with piano clusters and brief arpeggios until Beresford’s preoccupation opens up into emphasized cross tones. Finally Lee’s splintering spiccato moves upfront as Evans aggressively gooses the tempo for a nearly limitless series of shrieks and note division, Lee responds in kind with multi-stopping – scrubbing and vibrating her strings – then the pianist bringing things to the end with pseudo boogie-woogie runs.

Recorded two years earlier, the duo with Blancarte is a different matter. The seven improvisations with Gnostic titles similarly bewildering as those on the other CD seem to be more of a meeting of equals. Suggesting that a youth digging Geddy Lee and John Paul Jones may not be completely misspent, the bassist produces powerful tones in a variety of times and tempos. Blancarte’s broken octave stops not only pump up rhythmic responses, but also include enough shuffle bowing and sul ponticello movements to demonstrate that Evans’ output doesn’t overawe him. Abrasively rubbing the bull fiddle’s thick strings if faced with Evans’ multiphonic brays, the bassist’s game plan seems invariably to respond chromatically so the tunes’ basic movement remains evident.

Concentrating on the piccolo trumpet, Evans’ solos are hocketing, rubato and studded with grace notes. Additionally, they’re equally spectacular whether muted to growled interface; slurred saxophone-like from within the capillary cavity; studded with tongue slaps that sound like pistol shots; or include so many tones and timbres that he appears able to sound a cavalry charge and “reveille” simultaneously.

Notable exhibition of the trumpeter’s art, these CDs add to Evans’ growing discography, while recent reports indicate that more extravagant brass feats are in the offing.

--Ken Waxman

Track Listing: sparks: 1. Xangu 2. Summanus 3. Ukonvasara 4. Mulungu 5. Kw-Uhnx-Wa 6. Ishkur 7. Ajisukitakahikone

Personnel: sparks: Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet) and Tom Blancarte (bass)

Track Listing: Monsters: 1. Phacthio 2. Yinothanot 3. Egokrlo-nar 4. Gwendol ap Siencyn

Personnel: Monsters: Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet and trumpet); Steve Beresford (piano) and Okkyung Lee (cello)

June 28, 2009

Mostly Other People Do the Killing

This Is Our Moosic
Hot Cup 082

Jon Irabagon

Outright!

Innova Records 699

Alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon, who migrated from suburban Chicago to Astoria, Queens, working with different bands in clubs and studying music along the way, won the 21st annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition last October. On the evidence of these CDs, it’s easy to see why.

Possessed of an upfront style, strong chops and a thorough understanding of the tradition, Irabagon composes swinging and sometimes complex tunes and is a mainstream polymath who obviously impressed representatives of the jazz establishment who hand out awards. No show-boater, the reedist takes only slightly more solo space on his debut session as he gets on This Is Our Moosic and is surrounded on both discs by the highest grade of young New York-centred talent. Overall though, he fares better as one interlocking clog of bassist Moppa Elliott’s extravagantly named Mostly Other People Do the Killing (MOPDtK), then on his own.

Why? Evidently trying to touch all bases on Outright, the alto man and his squad – trumpeter Russ Johnson, keyboardist Kris Davis bassist Eivind Opsvik drummer Jeff Davis plus guitarist Jesse Lewis and programmer Chris Cash on different tracks – brush against nearly every modern jazz current without settling on or buttressing any one with an exclusive statement. MOPDtK’s equally eclectic session at least cleaves to its stance as a “terrorist Bebop” band and interpolates unexpected sound currents on Elliott’s version of POMO deconstruction.

With a CD cover that parodies Ornette Coleman’s “This is Our Music” LP – MOPDtK’s previous disc lampooned original Blue Note records’ distinctive colossal typography and faux-erudite liner notes – the band parades its influences upfront, but isn’t afraid to mess with expectation, something Irabagon merely touches on as leader.

Plus the MOPDtK tunes seem to better articulate the band members’ varied backgrounds. Trumpeter Peter Evans for instance, also plays microtonal solo trumpet, has worked with European avant gardists like British saxophonist Evan Parker, plus performs on piccolo trumpet in Baroque settings. Kevin Shea also drums with synthesizer player Matt Mottel in Talibam! and has a duo with guitarist Mary Halvorson; while Elliott teaches math and music. On his own, Irabagon plays in both Bop and 1980s pop cover band. MOPDtK covers Billy Joel’s “Allentown” at his insistence.

More generic to the group’s concept is Elliott’s compositional conceits. “My Delightful Muse” for instance is labeled funk, but comes across more like Dixieland call-and-response. On its axis is Evans spraying choruses of growls and tattoos, followed by piles of staccato triplets. With Irabagon alternately snorting and squeezing agitato wails and mouse squeaks, the tune reaches a climax of echoing double counterpoint while Shea rings glass armonica-like concussions and Elliott slaps his strings. With the horns and rhythm section sounding similar notes in different tempi, all eventually slide back to the Trad-Jazz replication with sul tasto bass lines serving as the finale.

Other pieces reference everything from the Batman theme to “Sidewinder”-styled funk, with Hard Bop licks and rock-styled backbeats appearing and vanishing at different junctures. “Drainlink” for example, has the saxophonist building tension while stuttering a stop-time chorus, as the bassist hits strings and wood repeatedly. “Fagundus” is another jumping Bebop tune encompassing a rasping counter line from Evans as simultaneously Irabagon extends his emotional flutter tonguing with pulsating slurs.

Defining and definitive “Effort, Patience Diligence” is a bravura 12/8 head, which packs nearly every blues cliché into fewer than six minutes. With Elliott walking, Shea shaking bells and tambourines plus Evans squeezing notes until they bray, it’s an undulating, chromatic melody that could have sneaked over from a Preservation Hall Jazz Band session, until, of course, the saxophonist breaks things up with tongue stops and reed bites.

Perhaps Irabagon’s debut disc should have demonstrated the same faith in eclecticism. Never less than professional, it resounds with a Back to the Future vibe much of the time. Included are a POMO run through of “Groovin’ High”; unaccompanied downward slurs and burbles from the horns on another tune that seems to replicate the “Lonely Woman” head; and a skewed neo-Dixieland party-time take on the band’s theme complete with fluid clarinet licks and lurching, almost inchoate rhythmic overflow.

More notable are “Charles Barkley” and “That Was Then”. The former is built on stops from bassist Opsvik, a Norwegian living in New York, who also works with tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, and the strumming arpeggios and block chords of Canadian expatriate pianist Davis. As drummer Davis rolls and pumps and Johnson blasts a near freylach line, Irabagon turns the piece around with stop-time and rubato meandering, halving the tempo with a cut-and-thrust solo that’s half Hard Bop and half Free Time. With the husband-and-wife piano/drums team playing at double tempo, hip-hopping back to the original swinging theme, the alto man eventually reveals his inner Hank Crawford, while Johnston exposes his inner Marcus Belgrave.

As for the later tune, a sweeping panoramic trumpet exposition over woody bass thumps eventually gives way to Davis eschewing low-frequency chords at the top end for lurching organ note clusters mated with the drummer’s shuffle beat. Following a mid-section taken up by guest guitarist Lewis spewing sprays of pop-rock licks and crunching, distorted chords, vocal backing from the so-called “mixed choir” of musicians doesn’t quite get the piece back on track.

In fact, the most out-of-character composition – for Irabagon at least – is “Quorum Call”, which posits a move away from the expected. Pianist Davis introduces the later tune with some inside-piano string clipping and soundboard rumbles that soon mix it up with muffled grace notes from Johnson and cascading vibrations from the saxophonist. Defining itself as an antiphonal freeform interlude, the composition rests on busy paradiddles and military-style press rolls from drummer Davis. Also present are oscillated knob-twisting from Cash that practically redefines the composition until a Hard Bop-like head kicks in, redirecting the piece to exit with rolling, kinetic cadences from the pianist and pops and drags from the drummer.

Obviously someone with a burgeoning reputation, Irabagon has promise – definitely as a sideman in a close-knit, organized band as MOPDtK’s CD demonstrates –but thus far has yet to make a major recorded statement. Nevertheless, judging from these discs, it’s hoped that in future he will develop into a notable stylist – and not just another poll winner.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Moosic: 1. Drainlick 2. Two Boot Jacks 3. Fagundus 4. The Bats in Belfry 5. East Orwell 6. My Delightful Muse 7. Biggertown 8. Effort, Patience Diligence 9. Allentown

Personnel: Moosic: Peter Evans (trumpet and piccolo trumpet) Jon Irabagon (alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, Moppa Elliott (bass) and Kevin Shea (drums)

Track Listing: Outright: 1. Anchors (By Design) 2. Quorum Call* 3. Groovin’ High 4. That Was Then+ 5. Outright Theme# 6. Charles Barkley 7. Oddjob

Personnel: Outright: Russ Johnson (trumpet); Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone); Kris Davis (piano and organ); Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Jeff Davis (drums) plus Chris Cash (programming)*; Jesse Lewis (guitar)+; Mixed Choir+ and Original Outright! Jass Band#

February 8, 2009

Jon Irabagon

Outright!
Innova Records 699

Mostly Other People Do the Killing

This Is Our Moosic

Hot Cup 082

Alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon, who migrated from suburban Chicago to Astoria, Queens, working with different bands in clubs and studying music along the way, won the 21st annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition last October. On the evidence of these CDs, it’s easy to see why.

Possessed of an upfront style, strong chops and a thorough understanding of the tradition, Irabagon composes swinging and sometimes complex tunes and is a mainstream polymath who obviously impressed representatives of the jazz establishment who hand out awards. No show-boater, the reedist takes only slightly more solo space on his debut session as he gets on This Is Our Moosic and is surrounded on both discs by the highest grade of young New York-centred talent. Overall though, he fares better as one interlocking clog of bassist Moppa Elliott’s extravagantly named Mostly Other People Do the Killing (MOPDtK), then on his own.

Why? Evidently trying to touch all bases on Outright, the alto man and his squad – trumpeter Russ Johnson, keyboardist Kris Davis bassist Eivind Opsvik drummer Jeff Davis plus guitarist Jesse Lewis and programmer Chris Cash on different tracks – brush against nearly every modern jazz current without settling on or buttressing any one with an exclusive statement. MOPDtK’s equally eclectic session at least cleaves to its stance as a “terrorist Bebop” band and interpolates unexpected sound currents on Elliott’s version of POMO deconstruction.

With a CD cover that parodies Ornette Coleman’s “This is Our Music” LP – MOPDtK’s previous disc lampooned original Blue Note records’ distinctive colossal typography and faux-erudite liner notes – the band parades its influences upfront, but isn’t afraid to mess with expectation, something Irabagon merely touches on as leader.

Plus the MOPDtK tunes seem to better articulate the band members’ varied backgrounds. Trumpeter Peter Evans for instance, also plays microtonal solo trumpet, has worked with European avant gardists like British saxophonist Evan Parker, plus performs on piccolo trumpet in Baroque settings. Kevin Shea also drums with synthesizer player Matt Mottel in Talibam! and has a duo with guitarist Mary Halvorson; while Elliott teaches math and music. On his own, Irabagon plays in both Bop and 1980s pop cover band. MOPDtK covers Billy Joel’s “Allentown” at his insistence.

More generic to the group’s concept is Elliott’s compositional conceits. “My Delightful Muse” for instance is labeled funk, but comes across more like Dixieland call-and-response. On its axis is Evans spraying choruses of growls and tattoos, followed by piles of staccato triplets. With Irabagon alternately snorting and squeezing agitato wails and mouse squeaks, the tune reaches a climax of echoing double counterpoint while Shea rings glass armonica-like concussions and Elliott slaps his strings. With the horns and rhythm section sounding similar notes in different tempi, all eventually slide back to the Trad-Jazz replication with sul tasto bass lines serving as the finale.

Other pieces reference everything from the Batman theme to “Sidewinder”-styled funk, with Hard Bop licks and rock-styled backbeats appearing and vanishing at different junctures. “Drainlink” for example, has the saxophonist building tension while stuttering a stop-time chorus, as the bassist hits strings and wood repeatedly. “Fagundus” is another jumping Bebop tune encompassing a rasping counter line from Evans as simultaneously Irabagon extends his emotional flutter tonguing with pulsating slurs.

Defining and definitive “Effort, Patience Diligence” is a bravura 12/8 head, which packs nearly every blues cliché into fewer than six minutes. With Elliott walking, Shea shaking bells and tambourines plus Evans squeezing notes until they bray, it’s an undulating, chromatic melody that could have sneaked over from a Preservation Hall Jazz Band session, until, of course, the saxophonist breaks things up with tongue stops and reed bites.

Perhaps Irabagon’s debut disc should have demonstrated the same faith in eclecticism. Never less than professional, it resounds with a Back to the Future vibe much of the time. Included are a POMO run through of “Groovin’ High”; unaccompanied downward slurs and burbles from the horns on another tune that seems to replicate the “Lonely Woman” head; and a skewed neo-Dixieland party-time take on the band’s theme complete with fluid clarinet licks and lurching, almost inchoate rhythmic overflow.

More notable are “Charles Barkley” and “That Was Then”. The former is built on stops from bassist Opsvik, a Norwegian living in New York, who also works with tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, and the strumming arpeggios and block chords of Canadian expatriate pianist Davis. As drummer Davis rolls and pumps and Johnson blasts a near freylach line, Irabagon turns the piece around with stop-time and rubato meandering, halving the tempo with a cut-and-thrust solo that’s half Hard Bop and half Free Time. With the husband-and-wife piano/drums team playing at double tempo, hip-hopping back to the original swinging theme, the alto man eventually reveals his inner Hank Crawford, while Johnston exposes his inner Marcus Belgrave.

As for the later tune, a sweeping panoramic trumpet exposition over woody bass thumps eventually gives way to Davis eschewing low-frequency chords at the top end for lurching organ note clusters mated with the drummer’s shuffle beat. Following a mid-section taken up by guest guitarist Lewis spewing sprays of pop-rock licks and crunching, distorted chords, vocal backing from the so-called “mixed choir” of musicians doesn’t quite get the piece back on track.

In fact, the most out-of-character composition – for Irabagon at least – is “Quorum Call”, which posits a move away from the expected. Pianist Davis introduces the later tune with some inside-piano string clipping and soundboard rumbles that soon mix it up with muffled grace notes from Johnson and cascading vibrations from the saxophonist. Defining itself as an antiphonal freeform interlude, the composition rests on busy paradiddles and military-style press rolls from drummer Davis. Also present are oscillated knob-twisting from Cash that practically redefines the composition until a Hard Bop-like head kicks in, redirecting the piece to exit with rolling, kinetic cadences from the pianist and pops and drags from the drummer.

Obviously someone with a burgeoning reputation, Irabagon has promise – definitely as a sideman in a close-knit, organized band as MOPDtK’s CD demonstrates –but thus far has yet to make a major recorded statement. Nevertheless, judging from these discs, it’s hoped that in future he will develop into a notable stylist – and not just another poll winner.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Moosic: 1. Drainlick 2. Two Boot Jacks 3. Fagundus 4. The Bats in Belfry 5. East Orwell 6. My Delightful Muse 7. Biggertown 8. Effort, Patience Diligence 9. Allentown

Personnel: Moosic: Peter Evans (trumpet and piccolo trumpet) Jon Irabagon (alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, Moppa Elliott (bass) and Kevin Shea (drums)

Track Listing: Outright: 1. Anchors (By Design) 2. Quorum Call* 3. Groovin’ High 4. That Was Then+ 5. Outright Theme# 6. Charles Barkley 7. Oddjob

Personnel: Outright: Russ Johnson (trumpet); Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone); Kris Davis (piano and organ); Eivind Opsvik (bass) and Jeff Davis (drums) plus Chris Cash (programming)*; Jesse Lewis (guitar)+; Mixed Choir+ and Original Outright! Jass Band#

February 8, 2009

Carnival Skin

Carnival Skin
Nemu 003

By Ken Waxman

Blending extended techniques from a variety of genres – including modern notated composition – with elements of Ornette Coleman-like free jazz, Carnival Skin proclaims its individuality in instrumentation.

That’s because the German-American quintet has as one lead voice, Bruce Eisenbeil’s guitar – an instrument whose sinuous fills and rough chording aren’t often heard in hard-core free improv situations. Similarly the overall instrumentation is less than commonplace.

German drummer Klaus Kugel, who works with New York trombonist Steve Swell; and bassist Hillard Greene, who has backed pianist Cecil Taylor; provide the proper rhythm, yet often simultaneously function as complementary soloists. Meanwhile the so-called front line includes the guitar of Eisenbeil, who has also partnered with Swell; the trumpet and piccolo trumpet of younger Peter Evans, who also performs contemporary classical and electro-acoustic music; and veteran clarinetist Perry Robinson, whose affiliation with the New Thing goes back to the early 1960s. Improvising together in twos and threes worked so well that the five decided to attempt this band session.

That such disparate backgrounds should interlock so completely is a tribute both to the players and the material, with the CD including one tune from each band member and the short, group-improvised title track. It features wide intervals floated on Robinson’s rubato upper register warbles, high-note slurs from Evans’ piccolo trumpet and Eisenbeil’s ostinato strumming.

So at ease with jazz language that he at various times suggests Grant Green’s bristling funk-like single-note picking and at others the accelerated slurred fingering and flanged delays that various plectrumists in Coleman’s Prime Time bands aimed at, Esenbeil is no monomaniacal guitar hero.

Instead a more common strategy is blending his cascading fills and sandpaper-like string abrasions with the horn players’ polyphonic output. On the brassman’s “Monster” for instance, the guitarist’s string snapping meets Evans’ quickly vibrated triplets and Robinson’s narrowed tongue squeaks. Elsewhere the trumpeter expresses himself in harder and faster bent notes or plunger choruses and the clarinetist does the same with flute-like whistles or emphasized smears.

Fixated on solid time-keeping throughout, Greene also provides the CD’s most ambitious piece in the almost-12-minute “Iono”. Written as a series of near-concertos, the modal-like melody showcases ringing and resonating guitar rasgueado; low intensity but steady arco lines from the bass; press rolls from Kugel; and backward moving discordant triplets and slurs from the horns, which climax with Robinson’s buzzy, low-pitched solo.

Melodic and discordant at various times – often within the same composition –

Carnival Skin, the band, meets all the compositional challenges presented to it. Carnival Skin, the CD, confirms that unhackneyed, contemporary improvisation can be created no matter the instrumentation or the players’ age or background.

In MusicWorks Issue #96

November 21, 2006