Tuesday, 13 December 2022
Everything Returns
The new album from the modern Yiddish/Klezmer avant-folk group reunited after a 15-year hiatus Black Ox Orkestar formed from Montréal's fertile post-punk scene of the early 2000s, featuring members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion and Sackville, releasing two acclaimed and influential albums Ver Tanzt (2004) and Nisht Azoy (2006). Everything Returns picks up right where the band left off, with incisively atmospheric, uniquely modern Jewish diasporic folk music of brooding balladry filtered through the lens of an indie-rock sensibility, exquisitely recorded by Greg Norman (Nina Nastasia, Jason Molina) Black Ox Orkestar will be making select live concert appearances in Toronto, Montréal, Keene NH and Brooklyn NY, December 13-17 RIYL: A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Daniel Kahn, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Arooj Aftab, Tindersticks, The National, Alasdair Roberts, Xylouris White, The Klezmatics
More Touch
The release of her critically acclaimed 2021 debut Maquishti marked vibraphonist and marimbist Patricia Brennan as a startlingly original voice on the improvised music landscape. That promise is more than fulfilled with Brennan’s remarkable follow-up, More Touch, which finds the visionary percussionist leading a wholly unique quartet featuring bassist Kim Cass, drummer Marcus Gilmore, and percussionist Mauricio Herrera. Due out November 18 via Pyroclastic Records, More Touch expands brilliantly on the singular vocabulary showcased on Brennan’s solo debut. Enhancing the resonant beauty and percussive melodicism of the vibraphone and marimba with extended techniques and subtle electronic manipulation, Brennan employs an expansive sonic palette that blurs the lines between progressive jazz and contemporary classical music. On More Touch, she bridges tradition and innovation by drawing influences from the Afro-Cuban and Son Jarocho traditions – and their attendant improvisatory practices – of her native Mexico. The singular make-up of Brennan’s quartet was sparked by her experiences playing in percussion ensembles while a conservatory student at Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. “A percussion quartet is all about creating a collective texture or timbre,” she explains. “At the same time there's a very strong improvisational culture in my hometown of Veracruz because of the Afro-Cuban music and Son Jarocho influence. In a way, the goal for this quartet was to have four percussionists together as a unifying starting ground, and adapt that idea as closely as possible to a more traditional jazz quartet.” Brennan’s connection with Herrera was another starting point for the project. The Cuban-born master percussionist spent four years in Mexico in the early 2000s before relocating to New York, and brings a shared pool of influences from both the Afro-Cuban tradition as well as his direct experience in Brennan’s homeland. “Mauricio knows the tradition inside and out, which I really appreciate and respect,” Brennan says. “There's a lot of influence from Cuban percussion back home, so just knowing that Mauricio comes from that lineage is inspiring in itself. But within that tradition it can be difficult to find a musician with the mindset to explore different realms. Mauricio has worked with people like Andrew Cyrille and Aruan Ortiz, musicians who lean a bit more into that outer sphere, so he's able to adapt the tradition.” In Marcus Gilmore, Brennan has enlisted one of the most distinctive and original drummers in modern jazz, someone who has explored rhythmic traditions from Cuban, African, and Carnatic musics as well. “Marcus is an incredible musician,” Brennan says. “Like Mauricio, he has a foundation that is aware of the tradition not only of his own instrument but also in the kinds of music that I am inspired by. On top of that, he's able to play really free or swing – he's very malleable, and I was searching for a drummer that could navigate all those avenues.” A bass player may not typically be considered a percussionist, but in completing her reimagined percussion quartet Brennan knew that Cass would think like one. “Kim is very interested in complex rhythmic structures and navigating through them,” she explains. “I wanted him to play the traditional bass role, but I know that he also has the mindset of a drummer. He’s always thinking about different ways of creating texture with rhythm.” Brennan’s own virtuosic yet boundless approach to the vibes and marimba takes the percussive and melodic aspects of the instruments into uncharted territory via her use of electronics, adding further possibilities to an already expansive ensemble. The result is a compellingly unpredictable venture, where reggae soca grooves buoy intricate, angular melodies; warm, ringing tones skitter into electronic glitchiness and give way to redolent, Xenakis-inspired silences; the infectious beat of Cuban son spirals into higher-order geometric designs; and mesmerizing Batá drums become shrouded in resplendent, borealis-like swathes of color. More Touch suggests the tactile nature of this percussion-focused project, but it also hints at the vibrant humanity that ripples through the stunning interplay and evocative silences that make this music such a moving and captivating experience. “The title reflects a constant inner search for me,” Brennan concludes. “It’s about being in touch with who I am and where I come from, but also being in touch with other people. With the right people, music making happens when you don't have to say anything. In order to get to that point, you have to be so connected, so in tune with each other. It comes from being in tune with nature and the universe and the world and other people, all at the same time.” Patricia Brennan Mexican-born vibraphonist, marimbist, improviser and composer Patricia Brennan has been hailed by JazzTimes for her “unconventional sensibilities… reinventing the art of vibraphone composition and technique.” Having performed with the top symphony orchestras in Mexico while still in her teens, Brennan studied at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and such new music ensembles as Eighth Blackbird. Brennan is a member of the Grammy-nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, Mary Halvorson’s Amaryllis, Michael Formanek’s Ensemble Kolossus, Matt Mitchell’s Phalanx Ambassadors, the Webber/Morris Big Band; and Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio with cellist and composer Tomeka Reid. She has also collaborated with pianist Vijay Iyer as a member of Blind Spot with writer Teju Cole and bassist Linda Oh, and performed and recorded with such renowned musicians as Sylvie Courvoisier, Dan Weiss, Trevor Dunn, Dave Douglas, Fay Victor, Darius Jones, and many others. Brennan’s own projects include her solo debut, Maquishti, and MOCH, a collaborative duo with percussionist, drummer and turntablist Noel Brennan (DJ Arktureye). Pyroclastic Records Pianist-composer Kris Davis founded Pyroclastic Records in 2016 to serve the release of her acclaimed recordings Duopoly, Octopus (with Craig Taborn) and Diatom Ribbons with the goal of growing the label into a thriving platform to serve cutting-edge artists. In 2019, Davis launched a nonprofit to support those artists whose expression flourishes beyond the commercial sphere. By supporting their creative efforts, Pyroclastic empowers emerging and established artists — including those on its 2022 roster: Tony Malaby, Ches Smith, Nate Wooley, Patricia Brennan and Trevor Dunn — to continue challenging conventional genre-labeling within their fields. Pyroclastic also seeks to galvanize and grow a creative community, providing opportunities, supporting diversity and expanding the audience for noncommercial art. Additionally, its albums often feature artwork by prominent visual artists—Julian Charriére, Dike Blair, Mimi Chakarova, Jim Campbell and Raymond Pettibon among recent examples. Patricia Brennan – More Touch Pyroclastic Records – PR 22 – Recorded March 31-April 1, 2022 Release date November 18, 2022
Hodges: Front and Center Vol. 1
As influential as he’s been on the history of the jazz saxophone, Johnny Hodges is usually discussed wholly in light of his key role in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. On his second release as a leader, saxophonist Owen Broder shifts the spotlight to focus more intently on the legendary altoist. With Hodges: Front and Center, Vol. 1, Broder and his gifted quintet explore nine compositions associated with the Rabbit (the nickname that Hodges earned early in his career and the source of several conflicting stories), culling pieces both from the Ellington repertoire as well as from the saxophonist’s often overlooked catalogue of small group albums. Due out October 14, 2022 via Outside In Music, Hodges: Front and Center is hardly an exercise in nostalgia. On his acclaimed 2018 debut, Heritage, Broder offered striking new interpretations of American roots music from Appalachian folk to early blues, spirituals to bluegrass. He takes a similar approach to Hodges’ music here; the interpretations are not radically altered, but Broder’s insightful arrangements honor the beauty and elegance of the originals while lending them a deeply felt modern vibrancy. “My generation is really a product of all that Charlie Parker brought to this music,” Broder points out. “Bird was such a founding father and introduced the language that became the language of the saxophone. But Johnny Hodges has always been a big influence on my playing. I really enjoy his lyrical, melodic playing and the warm vocal quality of his approach to sound.” Broder was introduced to Hodges’ playing while still a high school student in Jacksonville, Florida. Naturally that initial exposure came via Ellington’s music, with Hodges being one of the foundational voices that the bandleader sculpted his signature sound to fit. Only later did Broder begin to discover Hodges’ extensive small group discography, beginning with a pair of 1959 releases co-led by the two giants: Back to Back and Side By Side. It was the 60th anniversary of those two landmark albums that instigated this project. Broder embarked on a short tour in the summer of 2019, assembling local bands in each city he visited to delve into the Hodges songbook. In the interim he recorded the video album Our Highway with Cowboys & Frenchmen, the eclectic ensemble that he co-leads with fellow saxophonist Ethan Helm. When it came time to record the Hodges project, Broder assembled a stellar group well versed in both modern jazz and the vintage styles that this album (and its follow-up second album, currently slated for the spring of 2023) investigates. In addition to Broder on alto and baritone saxophones, the band features trumpeter Riley Mulherkar, a co-founder of the renowned brass quartet The Westerlies as well as a regular member of Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, where he takes on the Miles Davis role; pianist Carmen Staaf, who serves as musical director and pianist for singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and co-leads the band Science Fair with drummer Allison Miller, a frequent collaborator; bassist Barry Stephenson, a member of Jon Batiste and Stay Human as well as the band of drummer/vocalist Jamison Ross, a high school classmate of Broder’s; and Bryan Carter, another high school friend whose drumming has been heard everywhere from Jazz at Lincoln Center to Sesame Street. “Some of them are old friends and some of them are new friends,” Broder says. “But because of their musical backgrounds, they all felt like the obvious choices for this band.” The album opens with Clarence and Spencer Williams’ “Royal Garden Blues,” from Back to Back, which immediately draws the listener in with its buoyant swing and robust excitement. Any fear that this is some backward-glancing museum piece drops away with Broder’s burnished, sinuous solo, followed by Mulherkar’s rambunctious turn on the muted trumpet. Quickly realizing that the two Ellington small group collaborations were almost exclusively made of blues tunes, Broder dug deeper to find material, leading to discoveries like the strolling “Viscount,” from 1957’s The Big Sound, or Gerry Mulligan’s piquant “18 Carrots for Rabbit,” which offers a bold showcase for Broder’s supple bari attack. Ellington is of course represented here, via a rollicking rendition of the immortal “Take the A Train” that reserves the famous theme until the song’s closing moments. The piece’s sheer joy stands in brilliant contrast to Hodges’ achingly gorgeous “Ballade for the Very Sad and Very Tired Lotus Eaters,” with Broder’s breathy, strong yet vulnerable baritone playing revealing all the nuance and lyricism that he learned from Hodges over Carter’s delicate brushwork and Staaf’s gracefully elegiac mood-setting. Bridging six decades of musical evolution with an exuberant spirit and a shrewdly modern perspective, Owen Broder and his standout quintet have crafted a welcome reminder of Johnny Hodges’ profound soul and lyrical genius. Front and Center, Vol. 1 is both a fitting tribute and a luminous expression of the timeless state-of-the-jazz art. Owen Broder Owen Broder is a saxophonist based in New York City who runs in a variety of musical circles. His American Roots Project’s debut album, Heritage, was praised by DownBeat Magazine as a “transcendent work of art,” while his quintet Cowboys & Frenchmen has received critical acclaim for its three full-length recordings. Broder is a member of the GRAMMY® nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and the Manhattan Saxophone Quartet and has performed with internationally respected artists such as Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project, Trio Globo, and YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. UNCSA’s 2021 Artpreneur of the Year Award and the 2018 Eastman/ArtistShare® New Artist program recognized Broder’s entrepreneurial ventures; most notably, in response to the pandemic, Broder co-founded and performed in Live From Our Living Rooms. Credited as “the first online jazz festival” by Rolling Stone, the initiative raised over $140k in support of US-based musicians whose performance careers were halted due to COVID-19. As an educator, Broder teaches Jazz Theory and Jazz Arranging at Portland State University and saxophone lessons at Pacific University. Owen Broder – Hodges: Front and Center, Vol. 1 Outside In Music – OiM 2224 – Recorded Sept. 10-11, 2021 Release date October 14, 2022
Monday, 12 December 2022
Sfumato
Here is an item in Vinny Golia’s discography that gives a global sense to his life as an artist. Before being a musician, Golia was a painter. A very particular one, trying to translate to color what he heard in the music he liked most, from Varèse and Messiaen to John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. In his youth, he used to go to jazz concerts in his native New York to sketch the performers, based in what he saw but also in the music itself. His growing interest in what was happening soundwise made him turn to music definitely, first picking the soprano saxophone and then all the members of the instrumental family invented by Adolph Sax, from the sopranino to the contrabass, an arsenal soon extended to other reeds – all the clarinets, the bassoon and the english horn, but also flutes and ethnic woodwinds from several geographic origins. And he learned to master all those instruments by himself, only taking some basic lessons from his heroes, like Anthony Braxton. The curious thing is that if his painting was inspired by music (he “played” some painting gigs in real time, along with improvising musicians), the music he’s performing and recording for 30 years now is informed by some of the visual arts main characteristics, sounds functioning like colors. “Sfumato”, the new album of his quartet with the legendary trumpeter Bobby Bradford, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Alex Cline, is a direct reference to that visual background, aluding to the painting technique developed by Leonardo da Vinci to create the perception of depth and volume. The famous Mona Lisa is a consequence of that proceeding, and so is this magnificent record. But take notice: “Sfumato” isn’t the typical “painting-turn-to-music” creation of the experimental sound art field: Golia’s option for the audio medium made him a musician and not a sound sculptor. As such, he deals entirely with the formal elements that make music what it is historically, and even if he has an innovative approach, tonal / melodic phrasing and groovy poly-rhythmic sustenance is something he praises much. That’s why he’s also a composer in the traditional sense, dealing with counterpoint or cadenzas, even when a bit bizarre and broken. With Bradford, Filiano and Cline he can apply something analogous to the sfumato resources to the music they play here, but it’s not brush work what they’re doing.
Refraction Solo
Label Trost Records [TR 229]
Released October 28. 2022
Recorded Live July 04, 2021, Church of The Holy Ghost, Igreja do Espírito Santo, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal