What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
1993 - Tidal...
Now Playing.......
Jon Balke w/Magnetic North Orchestra - Further
Jon Balke (piano, keyboards), Jens Petter Antonson (trumpet), Per Jørgensen (trumpet, vocals), Morten Halle (alto saxophone), Tore Brunborg (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone), Gertrud Økland (violin), Trond Villa (viola), Jonas Franke-Blom (cello), Anders Jormin (bass), Marilyn Mazur (percussion), Audun Kleive (drums).
Streaming from NAS......... With a lot of white stuff on the ground outside a little music by Jon Blake with the Magnetic North Orchestra felt right. .......after a few tracks it just feels right as well.
Review on ECM Records found here:
Although Norwegian pianist/composer Jon Balke has effectively been with ECM since almost the very beginning, having appeared—at the tender age of 19, no less—with Arild Andersen’s early quartet on Clouds In My Head (1975), it wasn’t until the early 1990s that he broke out on his own with such distinct albums as Nonsentration and this fine follow-up. Further is not only a title, but also a mantra that has dictated his career hence through the mouthpiece of his Magnetic North Orchestra, debuting here. The incantation in horn-speak that is “Departure” welcomes us into a signature sound familiar to Balke aficionados: intimate pockets of detail, pianistic swirls, and robust horns that follow wherever he leads (or is led). Yet despite the 10-piece ensemble behind him, which includes such trailblazers as percussionist Marilyn Mazur and trumpeter Per Jørgensen, Balke finds plenty of room to breathe in arrangements as sparse as they are fruitful. His arcing lines, kissed by the sunlight and molten gold of Tore Brunborg’s reeds, take comfort in their surroundings. “Horizontal Song,” for one, languishes, letting cares fall like maple seeds propellering to the ground—prelude to Balke’s low-flying improvisations. Seemingly born to guide, he flushes through lovely chromatic spreads (“Shaded Place”) and groovy touches (“Moving Carpet”) with an easy charm, painting a children’s book of mythical beasts and cautious heroes.
For my money, the Jørgensen/Brunborg/Mazur nexus is where it’s really at on this date. The trumpet’s spaciousness in “Eastern Forest” and tenor’s limber rolls in “Taraf” evoke seasonal changes and unforgettable memories. Jørgensen flexes his vocal cords in “Changing Song” amid Mazur’s alluring, humid atmospheres, leaving the pointillist wonders of “Wooden Voices” to return us to the brassy fold of “Arrival.”
Balke is an artist whose music hides as much as it reveals, and Further is one way to get closer.
Now Playing......
Paul Motian Band - Garden of Eden
Paul Motian (drums), Chris Cheek (saxophone), Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone), Steve Cardenas (guitar), Ben Monder (guitar), Jakob Bro (guitar), and Jerome Harris (bass).
Streaming on NAS...... About to sit down to dinner and a little music in the Garden of Eden sounds about right!
Review from John Kelman in all about jazz found here:
A recent bulletin board poster suggested that "any human being's imagination and creative thinking wanes with age." Considering how many artists in their sixties and beyond remain not only vital, but are creating some of their best work, it's an easy supposition to refute. Drummer Paul Motian is the perfect example—despite some travel restrictions due to health concerns, he's never sounded better.
Since renewing his relationship with ECM in 2004, his activity has been nothing short of remarkable. In addition to last year's superb trio record, I Have the Room Above Her, he's been instrumental on new releases by trumpeter Enrico Rava and pianist Bobo Stenson. And there's more in the can, including a session for British alto saxophonist Martin Speake, also featuring Stenson and bassist Mick Hutton.
For his first release of 2006, Motian has renamed his longstanding Electric Bebop Band as the less specific Paul Motian Band—reflecting a decreased focus on the group's original premise, and greater emphasis on original material. Garden of Eden also expands Motian's unorthodox lineup of two saxophones, two guitars, bass, and drums to an even more uncommon septet featuring an additional guitarist.
Opening with two Mingus tunes might suggest that little has changed. Still, as always, Motian's concept is really anti-bebop. There are moments where individual soloists predominate—and with saxophonists Chris Cheek and Tony Malaby, as well as guitarists Jakob Bro, Ben Monder, and Steve Cardenas, there's plenty of strength to go around. But Motian's arrangements lean more towards collective improvisation, all couched in defined forms that nevertheless feel open-ended and unrestrictive. And with the disc ending on a similar note with Monk's "Evidence" and Parker's "Cheryl," one might wonder what really differentiates the Paul Motian Band from the Electric Bebop Band.
The answer lies in the nine originals—seven by Motian, one each by Cheek and Cardenas—programmed between the album's bebop bookends. What's always been remarkable about this band is its ability to be texturally rich yet atmospheric and spacious at the same time. One might think that having three guitarists would create a potential for excessive harmonic density and the occasional train wreck, but everyone's listening skills are so advanced that things never get cluttered, despite the number of players.
Garden of Eden also proves the malleability of Motian's writing. Motian's tunes range from the maelstrom-like temporal elasticity of "Mumbo Jumbo" to the dark and ethereal "Etude" and the lyrically folksy "Mesmer," where Motian's light but busy playing seems at odds with the more languid phrasing of the horns and guitars. They could easily be imagined played by his trio with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano. There's inherently more activity here, but it shows just how far Motian has evolved as a writer with a distinctive voice that transcends context.
Motian may turn 75 this year, but on the strength of Garden of Eden it's clear that he's in the midst of a musical renaissance; advancing age needn't be synonymous with a dilution of the creative juices.
Jolie Hollands first album from 2002. Forgot I had this.
The Searchers, since they came up in a conversation tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rXhXLsNJL8
Now Playing.......
Wayne Horvitz and Sweeter Than The Day - A Walk In The Dark
Streaming on NAS........ Finishing the day with a local composer and musician, Wayne Horvitz, a pleasant album to end the day.
Wayne Horvitz (piano), Timothy Young (electric guitar), Keith Lowe (contrabass), Eric Eagle (drums).
Review in All About Jazz found here:
New York-born, Seattle-based keyboardist/composer Wayne Horvitz leads an eclectic variety of projects, including his chamber-esque Gravitas Quartet, which recently released a second recording, One Dance Alone (Songlines, 2008). His sublime semi-acoustic ensemble, Sweeter Than The Day, arose in 1999 from the ashes of his heavily electrified, Meters-inspired quartet, Zony Mash.
Sweeter Than The Day's third recording and first self-released album, A Walk In The Dark, follows the same melodically distinct contours as Sweeter Than The Day (Songlines, 2002) and the quartet's debut Forever (Songlines, 2000). Initially established as an outlet for Horvitz's acoustic piano playing, Sweeter Than The Day has become his most appealing project, realizing the inviting qualities of his writing with an ideal blend of the serene and the animated.
Featuring long-standing members, bassist Keith Lowe and guitarist Timothy Young, and new drummer Eric Eagle, the quartet interprets Horvitz's evocative compositions with the harmonic sophistication of a jazz ensemble and incisive vigor of a seasoned bar band.
Setting aside his arsenal of analog keyboards, Horvitz reveals a wealth of possibilities on piano. Economic and lyrical, his delicate touch invokes the reflective euphony of the French Impressionists on "Undecided." Bluesy expressionism is aroused on "A Walk In The Rain," while "Between The Floors" and "To a Toaster" expose his cubist, bebop roots. The title track and "We Never Met" reveal Horvitz's singular cinematic style, a harmonious permutation of unsentimental, bittersweet nostalgia.
A stalwart sideman since his tenure in Zony Mash, guitarist Timothy Young is the quartet's most dynamic performer. Young waxes poetic with lilting, Frisellian subtlety on "Waltz From Woman of Tokyo," and burns bright on "Between The Floors," where he discharges tart, sizzling cadences. His bristling outburst on Horvitz's dedication to pianist Andrew Hill, "A Moment For Andrew," builds from searing to coruscating.
Keith Lowe and Eric Eagle are a versatile and tight rhythm section, capable of tasteful finesse and taut, in-the-pocket grooves. Their hushed contributions to "Undecided" and "Good Shepherd" border on the subconscious. Conversely, they fashion noir-ish roadhouse blues on "A Walk In The Rain," angular post-bop on "Between The Floors" and hypnotic funk on "Inference."
A rich blend of winsome, folksy Americana, pastoral impressionism and edgy post-bop, A Walk In The Dark charts a cinematic path across the Heartland, embracing the depths of American music traditions.
Now Playing.......
Paul Motain - I Have The Room Above Her
Streaming on NAS...... Always time for a Night Cap...... One sweet album!
Paul Motian (drums), Bill Frisell (guitar), and Joe Lovano (saxophones)
Starting the day with Chris Stapleton - „might as well get Stoned“ doesn’t sound like the worst of all ideas.
on a more serious note: with a very few exceptions on this recording all songs are pure, straight, hand made (new) country pieces, with words worth listening to, sometimes. Nothing fancy, no bling bling, and that is exactly the beauty of it. If your image of America has recently been distorted for some reason, this may be the right stuff to bring you back to some of the uniqueness this country has. Ok, carried away. Maybe getting stoned, at seven in the morning is NOT the right thing to do.
Karl Richter - Bach: Christmas Oratorio.
Inspired by Florestan's post.
On CD:-
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Vinyl Christmas present number one.
E.S.T. - Viaticum
Now Playing.......
Sabina - Toujours
Streaming on NAS.......... An early start on a very cold and dark Tuesday morning....... something with a little beat to get the heart moving.