PUSH THE TRIANGLE
Cos La Machina 1
[D'Autres Cordes, www.digitruc.com]
NEW AMERICAN WING
New American Wing
[New American Wing, www.newamericanwing.com]
EARL HOWARD
Five Saxophone Solos
[Mutable Music, www.mutablemusic.com]
JOE ROSENBERG
The Long & Short Of It
[Black Saint, www.blacksaint.com]
Who said jazz had to be its same old boring self? Let's listen in on what's
grazing' in the grass in that century old genre.
Push The Triangle is a French quintet whose main aim seems to be that of
painting a pastiche landscape. By using an angular approach, the music on
their latest release "Cos La Machina 1" is an exercise in stop and go.
Don't ever think that this is pure jazz [whatever pure means nowadays].
Jenn Priddle's Phil Minton inspired vocals create tension that lingers on
whenever she opens her mouth. With Franck Vigroux rough guitar work,
Médéric Collignon's warm cornet lines, Stéphane Payen's jagged saxophone
solos and Michel Blanc's off-the-mark drum work, the quintet push on in
directions less travelled, into less chartered territories. Much of the fun
of this disc comes in the form of turntable manipulations by Franck Vigroux.
Gentle and hushed one minute, while the next they turn into these audio
beasts. Album's surprise comes in the guise of a brief track "In The
Perfume of the Muse", where Jenn whispers delicately, while Médéric plays
some caressing cornet passages around her. In places, Push The Triangle are
doing imitations of a muscle band such as Naked City, while in other
moments, they're warm and caring balladeers. A personality complex, if I'd
ever heard one.
Founded by guitarist Daniel Raimi, NYC trio New American Wing is a world
onto itself. To group this in the jazz idiom would be a crime [oops! Too
late for that!] but grouping it under classical or contemporary music would
be a misnomer as well. So, we're left with the new music label which seems
to suit this band fine. Trumpeter Jacob Varmus and cellist Erica Sattin
round out the line up. The beauty of the recording is in the ease of
execution of these pieces. Neither jazz nor chamber music, they somehow
linger in this new music category and posses this cinematic quality about
them. There are plenty of open spaces between the notes. None of the
trio's members is in a rush to prove a point, to show off their acquired
skills. Rather, they truly function as an equal part of a team. Jacob
Varmus's trumpet squeals remind me in parts of Dave Douglas's glory days.
The real splendour is with the team of guitar and cello. While Daniel's
method is angular and quite direct at times, Erica uses a more subdued
approach. It seems that for much of the time, her gentle bowing drives the
whole project forward. Minimal, direct but most of all purely ethereal, New
American Wing are definitely a trio to watch out for. In every sense of the
word, this turns out to be an impressive debut.
Thirty year veteran of the improvised and composed scenes,
multi-instrumentalist Earl Howard returns with his "5 Saxophone Solos"
recording. Sparse and meandering are two words that immediately come to
mind when listening to some of these alto pieces. Earl is focused but there
are sections when his playing wonders off the map for a little while.
Whether these elongated pieces are tonal or not is not important. The
listener's ear will adjust to Earl's style and his abstract forms. In a
small way, these solos may be a sibling to Anthony Braxton's "For Alto", but
in another sense they stand apart. While Earl doesn't over-blow at any
given point and time, his solos have much tension built in. It's as if the
composer was at odds with his own self. It's as if he was trying to give us
a glimpse of the complexities of his own life. Dynamics of the pieces vary
from time to time as well. There is no room for Earl to settle into that
comfortable playing pace or mode. True enough, a few of the pieces are
song-like and encapsulate a singing quality about them but for the most
part, the pieces are abstract and complex. Obviously, this is a disparate
avenue for Earl to pursue from his electronic work, but lucky for us, it is
still a success.
After interesting Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman tributes [with his former
ensemble Affinity], soprano saxophonist Joe Rosenberg now pulls out all
punches and presents his most recent quintet. "The Long & Short Of It" is a
concoction of eight of the most fiery ensemble pieces Joe has played on.
>From the over-the-top "Detritus" to the equally intense "Go", the album
shines through and through with top notch musicianship. Three sax assaults
- Rosenberg on soprano, Jean-Luc Guionette on alto and Olivier Py on tenor -
are prevalent throughout the recording. Don't get me wrong, there are still
some rich and satisfying ballads here. Take "Stasis" for instance. As
Rosenberg gently introduces the motif, Oliver Py begins a mid-tempo tenor
solo and a few minutes later Jean-Luc Guionette does the same on his horn.
When the brass trio really belts out a number, they don't hold back. On
"C'est Facile" they play melodies off one another and each player uses the
other more or less as a sounding board. Crunchy and direct solos are what
these three do best and there's plenty of energy in every tiny note they
play. All fire and fury, Joe Rosenberg comes back in fine style.
- Tom Sekowski
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RECENZJE
+ Muzyka z Drogi - Pieśni z Polski, Ukrainy i Rosji
+ Werchowyna - Pieśni święte i Grzeszne
+ Ethno Trio Troitsa - Żurawy
+ Odpust Zupełny - Renesans średniowiecza
+ Pop Ambient 2006
+ Antonelli - The Black Quintet
+ Boxer Compilation
+ Susanne Brokesch - Emerald Stars
+ Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphone
+ Compilation 01
+ Dakar & Grinser - Triumph Of Flesh
+ Duplex - Late Night Driving
+ Electric President - s/t
+ Expression - DJ Mix Series Vol.1: Compiled And Mixed By Jesper Dahlback
+ B.Fleischmann - The Humbucking Coil
+ John Foxx - Cathedral Oceans III
+ Francisco - Music Business
+ Freude-Am-Tanzen Showcase: DJ Koze - Light Spuba / Onur Ozer - Freak Disko / Mark Henning - Yeah But No But
+ Gadgets - Key Moments
+ North Quartet - Malamute
+ Satanicpornocultshop - Orochi under the Straight Edge Leaves
+ Shalabi Effect - Pink Abyss
+ Makoto Kawabata - Your Voice from the Moon
+ Impression Sampler Series - Vol. 1
+ Judith Juillerat - Soliloquy
+ Musik Krause Showcase: Robag Wruhme - Wortkabular Rmxs / Ian Simmonds - International Songs / Krause Duo - Remmi Demmi
+ Nation 12. - Electrofear
+ Optic Nerve - Metal Images
+ The Orb - Orbsessions Vol. 1
+ c/o pop
+ Quio - Like Oooh!
+ Random Noise Generation - Reign
+ Angie Reed - XYZ Frequency
+ +minus - L'écoute libéré
+ I treni inerti - Aerea
+ Marcus Schmickler/John Tilbury - Variety
+ Tisha Mukarji - D is for Din
+ Barry Weisblat/Alfredo Costa Monteiro/Ernesto Rodrigues - Diafon
+ Birgit Ulher/Gino Robair - Sputter
+ Cyril Epinat/Mathias Forge/Jérôme Bertholon - Duo...
+ Larry Tee feat. Princess Julia - The Noughties
+ Andi Teichmann - Fades
+ The Vandermark 5 - Alchemia / The Vandermark 5 - koncert w Scenie Na Piętrze / Ken Vandermark feat. Marcin Oleś i Bartłomiej Brat Oleś - Ideas
+ Toktok Records Showcase
+ Transit Kings - Token
+ Tresor 13 - It`s Not Over
- - - - - - - - -
+ THE TIPTONS - Tsunami / DEREK BAILEY / AMY DENIO / DENNIS PALMER - The Gospel Record: The Reference Edition
+ THE DRONES - Wait long by the river and the bodies of your enemies will float by
+ JUDITH JUILLERAT - Soliloquy
+ DEAF CENTER - Pale Ravine
+ RAIN - A Dream Unthreatened / LIO - 1980 - 2005: 25 Years in Pop - Pop Songs & Ballades
+ FRODE GJERSTAD / NICK STEPHENS - North Atlantic Drift / FAST COLOUR - Antwerp 1988: Suite for Johnny Mbizo Dyani / FRODE GJERSTAD / LOUIS MOHOLO / HASSE POULSEN / NICK STEPHENS - Calling Signals
+ STATIC - Re: Talking About Memories
+ HARALD SACK ZIEGLER - Punkt
+ PETER REHBERG - Fremdkoerper
+ TROUM - Tjukurrpa (Part Three: Rhythms and Pulsations)
+ CALIKA - Small Talk Kills Me / LIBRARY TAPES - Alone in the Bright Lights of a Shattered Life
+ LVXUS - Cloudland / LAWRENCE ENGLISH - Happiness Will Befall / GAUDI:TESTA - 1105 / KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT - Lumottu Karkkipurkki (Vapaa Systeemi) / VARIOUS ARTISTS - Freq_Out 2
+ ÖLVIS - The Blue Sound
+ YUMA NORA - Jewels in the Snakepit / ROBEDOOR - Grendel Glare
+ WHIP - Atheist Lovesongs to God
+ V.A. - Sonar Kollektiv 4 / V.A. - Secret Love 2 - Compiled by Jazzanova and Resoul / V.A. - Voices In The Wilderness: Dissenting Soundscapes and Songs of G.W.'s ; America / V.A. - Gospel for J.F.P. III - Tribute to Jaco Pastorius / V.A. - No Depression / V.A. - FPLCVL Sampler # 001
+ CHAOS BUTTERFLY - Three Living Things / JONATHAN SEGEL - Edgy Not Antsy
+ LOKAI - 7 Million
+ PAAVOHARJU - Yhä hämärää
+ THEO JORGENSMANN - Fellowship
+ MAX NAGL ENSEMBLE - Quartier Du Faisan
+ YANNIS KYRIAKIDES - The Buffer Zone
+ FAT FREDDY'S DROP - Based on a True Story
>> PUSH THE TRIANGLE - Cos La Machina 1 / NEW AMERICAN WING - New American Wing / EARL HOWARD - Five Saxophone Solos / JOE ROSENBERG - The Long & Short Of It
+ DAVID 'FATHEAD' NEWMAN - I Remember Brother Ray / CURTIS FULLER - Keep It Simple / ENRICO RAVA - Tati / DAVID MURRAY 4TET & STRINGS - Waltz Again
+ COLOMA - Dovetail
+ THE ROYAL WE - The Royal We / URLAUB IN POLEN - White Spot / E:GUM - Keyboard Lies / ROMAN - So Ghost? / MAURACHER - Kissing My Grandma
+ MANDARIN MOVIE - Mandarin Movie / PARK ATTACK - Last Drop At Hideout / FUCK-OFF MACHETE - If Gold Was Silver and Silver Was Gold / THE ETERNALS - Rawar Style
- - - - - - - - -
WYWIADY / RELACJE
+ Mick Harris - wywiad
+ WEF 2005: Andrij Kiryczenko w Zachęcie
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