Mostly Other People Do The Killing

Forty Fort
Hot Cup 091

Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord

Accomplish Jazz

Hot Cup 093

Pastiche, post-modernism and parody are the words that come to mind when examining discs by these youngish interconnected improvisers. Having expanded their chops in post-secondary academic surroundings; having internalized the message of downtowners like John Zorn that no music is sacrosanct; and having adopted the D-I-Y ethic of indie-rockers to release their own recordings – plus possessing formidable talent – these musicians have quickly made names for themselves. Yet as swinging and entertaining as many of the tracks are on these CDs – and they are that in spades – the question of what the next step should be for these seven players hangs in the air.

Recently, Mostly Other People Do The Killing (MOPDTK) has amassed accolades, poll and contest wins and legitimacy as stylists, without any smooth jazz or pop-jazz pandering. All of tracks on Forty Fort – composed with one exception by bassist Moppa Elliott – move with the sort of relentless rhythm that draws in the dilettantes, but also has enough twists and turns in them to impress committed jazzers.

MOPDTK’s parodistic style is most obvious in the packaging. With liner notes by Leonard Featherweight – a jibe at the late jazz critic Leonard Feather – the CD packaging is an exact replica of Roy Haynes’ Out of the Afternoon LP, complete with the four disguised in period sportswear. Saxophonist Jon Irabagon is made up as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, complete with cane and dark glasses; with peaked cap and striped sports shirt trumpeter Peter Evans pretends to be Tommy Flanagan; the dapper Haynes is emulated by drummer Kevin Shea, holding a cymbal, as did the other drummer on the original LP cover; and Elliott replicates the stance and outfit of bassist Henry Grimes. Earlier CD covers by the self-described terrorist bebop band replicate a version of Ornette Coleman’s This is Our Music and Freddie Hubbard’s Night of the Cookers LPs.

Accomplish Jazz’s cover image steers clear of replication, although tellingly particular musical references seem to abound in the pieces composed by guitarist Jon Lundbom. Elliott and Irabagon are on this CD as well, with the quintet filled out by Australian drummer Danny Fischer and tenor saxophonist Bryan Murray, whose leadership of “New York’s only avant-country Merle Haggard cover band” no doubt came in handy when the five tackles The Louvin Brothers’ “The Christian Life” – although no doubt more people know the song from a version by the Byrds.

Besides that cover tune, “Tick-Dog” based on Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia” is the only official contrafact here. Yet throughout memories of themes first played by Eric Dolphy on his Prestige LPs, any number of ECM guitar-oriented sessions, as well as early 1970s Atlantic funk-jazz riffs are in evidence. “Baluba, Baluba” for instance ends the date with a episode of call-and-response hocketing and slurring from the saxophonists, evolved on top of a steady shuffle beat from Fischer. Earlier on, Irabagon’s agitato and andante double tongued stuttering twins Lundbom’s cascading strums and distorted frails to such an extent that the saxophonist may frighten those who only know him as Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition winner.

Big Five Chord’s contradictory side is expressed best on “Phoenetics”, a lyrical waltz that contrast’s Murray’s moderato tenor saxophone lines with guitar strumming and double bass pops. Before a countrified guitar lick changes the piece’s direction, the alto saxophonist lines up with Lundbom’s melodious runs. The remainder of the tune centres on prickly flat-picking, with the guitarist seemingly isolating every note he plays.

Although “The Christian Life” too ends with a recapped head that slips dangerously close to a campfire sing-along, earlier on the nearly vocalized theme alternates with more repeated sing-song textures from the horns which move from moderato to atonal, then to agitato and finally back to moderato. The guitarist’s echoing licks stay in mid-range, while Elliott’s bass solos encompass sul tasto plucks and twangs as well as a walking beat.

Walking, thumping and slapping also characterize Elliott’s bass wok on Forty Fort, with the other members of MOPDTK operating in similar hard and hearty fashion. Hearing Evans whinny and wiggle with brassy Dixieland-styled triplets and Ragtime syncopation on “Pen Argyl” for instance, makes it heard to reconcile that trumpeter with the committed avant gardist, frequently part of saxophonist Evan Parker’s circle. Then again Parker is not known to play over a bugaloo beat complete with chinging cymbals and slap bass lines. Other tunes here reference funk and rock as often s they do Hard Bop or Energy Music with shuffle beats as prominent as sputtering glossolalia.

The title tune for instance is a snaky jazz-dance with the theme spinning between contrapuntally voiced horns and thick bass slaps. Solos include Irabagon’s calculated pitch variations and Evans’ obbligato turning to slithering fortissimo, as one note hovers on top of the bassist’s guitar-like pickling for an extended period. A final variant includes call-and-response from the horns as the speed and velocity of Shea’s drums quicken the pace with ruffs, rim shots and rebounds.

“St. Mary’s Proctor” on the other hand ends up sounding like a broken-octave circus melody that could have been played by the ICP or Italian Instabile orchestras. Evans assays a languid Pino Minafra-like solo which eventually turn staccato, bringing in the nodes and extensions of the notes directly above and below those he’s sounding. Flutter-tongued intensity is the saxophonist’s contribution, while nerve beats and rim shots from the drummer precede a thematic exit in horn double counterpoint.

Elliott’s MOPDTK and Lundbom’s Big Five Chord prove their versatility and skill in many improvised idioms as they accomplish jazz on these two CDs. Each session is a helluva lot of fun for band members and listeners alike. But each leader – and many of the sidefolk – should be asking themselves if fun can be translated into something more profound next time.

-- Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Forty: 1. Pen Argyl 2. Rough and Ready 3. Bluer Ball 4. Nanticoke Coke 5. Little Hope 6. Forty Fort 7. Round Bottom, Square Top 8. St. Mary’s Proctor 9. Cute

Personnel: Forty: Peter Evans (trumpet); Jon Irabagon (alto and tenor saxophones); Moppa Elliott (bass) and Kevin Shea (drums)

Track Listing: Accomplish; 1. Truncheon 2. Phoenetics 3. The Christian Life 3. Tick-Dog 4. Baluba, Baluba

Personnel: Accomplish: Jon Irabagon (alto saxophone); Bryan Murray (tenor saxophone); Jon Lundbom (guitar); Moppa Elliott (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums)

April 29, 2010

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