Listening Booth: Reviews 3rd Quarter, July through September, 2014

July was more or less a month free of writing, seing as Klassekampen's music supplement takes a break throughout that month. I did, however, write some reviews for Jazznytt, Norway's premier jazz monthly, which was relaunched this September.

Several of the records reviewed during these months had been out for a while when my write-ups hit the streets, the exception being my review of the latest Spoon which was published the week the album came out, as well as this week's review of two recent Wadada Leo Smith albums, both of which were released this September.

Speaking of the Leo Smith discs, they are both very good albums that share some common themes: change, particularly over long periods of time, and open spaces. On the brilliant The Great Lakes Suites, Leo Smith hooks up with Henry Threadgill on saxophone and flutes and drummer Jack DeJohnette, in addition to long-time partner John Lindberg on bass. This is stunning, expansive music that is both calm, restrained and patient, yet in bursts volatile and throbbing. This is in line with Smith's vision of the lakes and their importance to the surrounding areas: huge, flat surfaces that at a glance seem peaceful, but with pockets of bustling activity, they're scenes for both recreation as well as commerse and growth. Here, Threadgill plays some of his most touching saxophone lines in years, pensive and careful yet firm and assertive, particularly on the majestic "Lake Huron", equaled by Wadada's longing and piercing trumpet tones, while Lindberg and DeJohnette create supportive frameworks, quietly rumbling and suspensefully bubbling. It is a lovely album.

Red Hill was recorded with a slightly younger generation of musicians: Jamie Saft on keys, Joe Morris – perhaps best known as a guitarist – on bass, and Balasz Pandi on drums. It contains three compositions named after rock formations, and one that shares its name with the Roman diety Janus, a symbol for change, among other things. Rock too, of course, has been formed over long periods of time. With this in mind, the tunes too take time to develop, yet are comparatively busier once they get going. It is intriguing and thrilling music, and in comparison to Great Lakes..., it is equaly cerebral music, yet not quite as emotionally stirring.

•  Spoon: They Want My Soul (Lomo Vista) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 4th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

•  Jemeel Moondoc: The Zookeeper's House (Relative Pithc Records) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 25th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

• Peter van Huffel's Gorilla Mask:  Bite My Blues (Cean Feed) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 8th, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

• Peter van Huffel, Michael Bates & Jeff Davis: BOOM CRANE (Fresh Sound New Talent) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 8th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

• Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites (TUM Records) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 29th, 2014. 5,5 out of 6)

• Wadada Leo Smith, Joe Morris, Jamie Saft & Balasz Pandi: Red Hill (RareNoiseRecords) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 29th, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

Additional reviews:

(These were reviewed for the September 2014 issue of the relaunched Jazznytt magazine, who operate without a grading system)

• Håkon Stene: Lush Laments for Lazy Mammal (Hubro) (Tentative grade: 6)
• Ross Martin, Max Jonson & Jeff Davis: Big Eyed Rabbit (NotTwo Records) (Tentative grade: 7)
• The Microscopic Septet: Manhattan Moonrise (Cuneiform Records) (Tentative grade: 7)

* Grades adjusted for the PerfectSounds scale.

Listening Booth: Reviews 2nd Quarter, April through June, 2014

With the summer vacation well and truly over, and the first reviews of the fall season already published this week, here is a belated overview of records reviewed from April through June, 2014. Additional notes on some notable releases I for one reason or another have not covered previously will be posted at some point later in the week. The first quarter overview can be accessed here. A list of my fave recordings from January to July can be found here.

• Moskus: Mestertyven (Hubro Records) – 9* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, April 14th, 2014. 5,5 out of 6)

•  1982: A/B (Hubro Records) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, May 12th, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

• Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal (Rough Trade) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 2nd, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

•  Steve Lehman Octet: Mise en Abîme (Pi Recordings) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 23rd, 2014. 5 out of 6)

•  Angles 9: Injuries (Clean Feed) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, June 23rd, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

* Grades adjusted for the PerfectSounds scale.

A belated, short Charlie Haden tribute

 Late in the evening on July 11, while vacationing on the western coast of Norway, I logged on to the web via my cell phone for one of the two daily web news updates I hade allowed myself. It didn't take many page views before I read that Charlie Haden had died. Suffice to say, I was deeply saddened. Few pieces of music has moved, shaped and formed me as much as the music Haden made with Ornette Coleman's early quartet, and although I wasn't as enthusiastiv about many of his later collaborations, almost everything he did seemed heartfelt and genuine, and his playing was always a joy to hear. I was lucky enough to see Haden with Coleman and drummer Billy Higgins at Battery park during a day of celebration of Ornette's muci in Battery Park, Manhattan, May 1st 2000.

I was contacted late that July night by Norwegian daily Dagbladet, asking for a comment on Haden and his music. Here's a translated (and slightly edited) version of what I wrote:

- [Charlie Haden] was a giant, a brilliant and distinctive musician, and from what I've heard by people who have been lucky enough to have met him, a humble and extremely friendly man.

- As a leading member of Ornette Coleman's quartet in the late 50s and early 60s, he was deeply involved in the development of jazz as an expression. Given Coleman's democratic principle that encouraged and allowed his fellow musicians to be more involved and gave them inceased musical freedom, Haden became more than just a sideman in the quartet, writes Monsen.

- His powerful yet warm bass tone was as often in the foreground as it was the music's heart and driving force, simultanously liberal and open, deep and vibrant.

- He was both frenetically energetic and thoughtfully lyrical, politically radical and heartbreakingly sensitive. His influence on modern jazz bassists is evident, both in terms of playing style and in the open minded approach to music. He also inspired punk and rock musicians (eg. Minutemen), and maintained a close relationship with the country & bluegrass music of his childhood.

R.I.P.

Fave music January to July 2014. Top 35 albums:

I never got around to posting a "first quarter" list. Truth be told, I never got around to doing a whole lot of things I should have done in the first half of 2014, but consider this an attempt to rectify some of that.

If the list is heavy on jazz, it may be partly because jazz has occupied more of my listening hours from January to July than any other type of music, but also because in my opinion there have been some very good jazz albums so far this year.

Having a soft spot for sax/bass/drum combos, I picked up and Washington, DC based tenor man Brian Settles and his fine loose, spirited and bluesy postbop record Folk (Engine Studios) early in the year. Even better was James Brandon Lewis' Divine Travels (OKeh/Sony); weaving gospel tinged melodies in loose knit avant-bop frameworks, the album is full of warmth in its stormy moments, and commitment in its quiet ones. Supported and colored by the soulful and authoritative bass of William Parker and the drumming of Gerlad Cleaver. A late discovery in the S/B/D trio format is Berlin based Canadian Peter Van Huffel's Boom Crane (Fresh Sound New Talent), who together with bassist Michael Bates and drummer Jeff Davies whips up some very exctiting freewheeling and booming yet catchy and at times even funky postbop that has hardly left my stereo in week.

In the "other trios" category, bassist and composer Max Johnson, trumpeter Kirk Knuffke and drummer Ziv Ravitz has ceated some highly absorbing, shape shifting and pulsating music on Invisible Trio (Fresh Sound New Talent), making it one of the stand out releases this spring. For piano trios, I've enjoyed both Kris Davis Trio's Waiting For You to Grow (Clean Feed), Danny Fox Trio's Wide Eyed (Hot Cup Records) and Fred Hersch Trio's lyrical Floating (Palmetto Records), yet no album regardless of genre has grabbed me as much as Moskus' lovely little Mestertyven (Hubro), brimful of playful, brisk, eruptive and elliptical music.

Other jazz albums of note are Steve Lehman Octet's intriguing, multifaceted and groovy Mise en Abime (Pi Recordings), Sarah Manning's nature and folk inspired Harmonious Creature (Posi-Tone Records), Microscopic Septet's Manhattan Moonrise, and Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek and Thomas Fujiwara's heavy, almost progish Thumbscrew (both Cuneiform Records). There have been other notables too, of course, and I'm still not finished sifting through some promising 2014 realeases.

For pop rock, Dagens Ungdom's sophisticated lyrical wit may not easily translate into English, but their melodies should to anyone attuned to preppy and jangly British or Kiwi guitarpop from the 80's. Paul Heaton, himself a veteran of the 80's, has returned rather triumphantly with Jacqui Abbott. On the rock side of things, Wussy has followed up the great Strawberry with what might be an even better album with the quiet majesty of Attica!. Withered Hand finally won me over with New Gods, and Bob Mould has made his best Sugar record since, well, Sugar with Beauty and Ruin. Post-punk veterans Nightingales grins and snarls on the witty vinyl only For Fucks' Sake, and while I prefer their jumpier previous effort, Sunbathing Animal still showcases Parquet Courts as probably the smartest songwriters currently active in "indie" rock. And Miranda Lambert's rocks as much as all of those on Platinum, which sounds more and more like a winner with each spin.

I do wish I'd heard and connected with more hip hop releases, 'though, but the year's not over yet, and hopefully the summer will give me time to not only catch up, but discover new releases too. Without further ado, the list as of now:

1. Moskus: Mestertyven (Hubro)
2. Wussy: Attica! (Damnably)
3. Max Johnson Trio:  The Invisible Trio (Fresh Sound New Talent)
4. Miranda Lambert: Platinum (RCA Nashville)
5. Peter Van Huffel, Michael Bates & Jeff Davis: BOOM CRANE (Fresh Sound New Talent)
6. Withered Hand: New Gods (Foruna Pop!)
7. Steve Lehman Octet: Mise en Abime (Pi Recordings)
8. Dagens Ungdom: Dagens Ungdom (Metronomicon Audio)
9. Bob Mould: Beauty and Ruin (Merge Records)
10. James Brandon Lewis: Divine Travels (OKeh Records)
11. Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott: What Have We Become (Virgin EMI)
12. Neneh Cherry: Blank Project (Smalltown Supersounds)
13. Kris Davis Trio: Waiting For You to Grow (Clean Feed)
14. Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal (What's Your Rupture?)
15. The Nightingales: For Fuck's Sake (self-released)
16. Microscopic Septet: Manhattane Moonrise (Cuneiform)
17. Leo Welch: Sabougla Voices (Big Legal Mess)
18. Toni Braxton & Babyface: Love, Marriage & Divorce (Motown)
19. Peter Van Huffel's Gorilla Mask:Bite My Blues (Clean Feed)
20. Big Ups: Eighteen Hours of Static (Tough Love / Dead Labour)
21. Made to Break: Cherchez La Femme (Trost)
22. Danny Fox Trio: Wide Eyed (Hot Cup Records)
23. Sarah Manning: Harmonious Creature (Posi-Tone Records)
24. Brian Setles Trio: Folk (Engine Studios)
25. Fred Hersch Trio: Floating (Palmetto Records)
26. Matt Bauder and Day in Pictures: Nightshades (Clean Feed)
27. Lydia Loveless: Somewhere Else (Bloodshot Records)
28. Max Johnson: The Prisoner (No Business Records)
29. Jon Langford & Skull Orchard: Here Be Monsters (In De Goot Recordings)
30. Against Me: Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble Music)
31. Mary Halvorson, Michael Formanek, Thomas Fujiwara: Thumbscrew (Cuneiform Records)
32. Afghan Whigs: Do the Beast (Sub Pop Records)
33. Young Thug & Bloody Jay: Black Portland (mixtape)
34. Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: Liverevil (Hot Cup Records)
35. Rich Halley 4: The Wisdom of Rocks (Pine Eagle Records)

If the above list doesn't resemble the list on the 2014 page as of now, it's because that one hasn't been updated in ages.

Listening Booth: Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal

I'v usually only posted short notes or even just grades for my already published reviews, but at the request of a few English speaking friends, I thought I'd try to translate an entire review and posted it here. We'll see if I can find time to do this more often. First out, Parquet Courts' Sunbathing Animal, originally reviewed for Musikkmagasinet, Klassekampen and published June 5th, 2014.


Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal (Rough Trade):
When Brooklyn based Parquet Courts came rambling full of zest and determination and presented Light Up Gold in 2012, it was good news for those of us with a hankering for brisk if rough hewn rock, where snarls soon give way to grins and then back again. Their 2011 debut had snuck under the radars of many, yours truly included, but one wonders if that very fact may have given the band a chance to hone their craftsmanship.

Because Light Up Gold was the sound of a band who appeared to have found their voice. Molded from the drone rock of the Modern Lovers and The Feelies, but more rattling and full of character. "I'm master of my craft," Austin Brown, one of the band's two singers, asserted on the album's opening track, seemingly on behalf of the quartet. A slacker band whose stories often concerned not falling into the slacker trappings, but rather fighting against writers block and a squeezed labor market, for self-assertion and, lets not forget, trying to sate the appetite post Mary Jane inhalation.

And that they master their craft they proved, so any major tinkering with the formula shouldn't really be necessary. On the other hand, if you have something new to say, some change to the scenery could strengthen the impression. Perhaps that is why the title tune, "Sunbathing Animal", was the first thing most of us got to hear from the new album. Harder and even more snarling than what they had on offer last time around, propelled by a motoric beat in full gear. "This manic pace I cannot slow," as Adam Savage verbalizes it towards the songs end. Lively and fresh.

But whereas the mellower tunes at the previous juncture had a gently rocking feel to them, in slower tempos here they seem to trudge. They do indeed seem slack, and the lyrics – whether observational or quirky stories, as always articulately written – are not enough to grab my attention alone. That said, I did chuckle at the "NO" outburst in "Dear Romano", which seemed like a nod to Televison's Marquee Moon classic "Venus".

On the other hand, Sunbathing Animal sparkles when the band switches on and the riffs spring link they do on "Black and White", with its tumbling bass line imitating the narrator's naked decent down the stairs, and hand claps intensifying the songs gleeful abandon. This and the album's title track, the bouncy "What Color Is Blood", "Vienna II" with its twirling guitars, and the stomping "Back In Town" prove that Parquet Courts are still masters of their craft. When they can be bothered. – 7 (originally 4,5 out 6).

Listening Booth: Reviews 1st Quarter, Jan. through March, 2014

An overview of records reviewed from January through March.

• Arild Andersen Trio: Mira (ECM) – 6* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 20th, 2014. 4 out of 6)

• Tord Gustavsen Quartet: Extended Circles (ECM) – 5* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, January 20th, 2014. 3,5 out of 6)

• Barbara Manning: Harmonious Creature (Posi-Tone Records) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, February 3rd, 2014. 5 out of 6)

• Max Johnson Trio: The Invisible Trio (Fresh Sound New Talent) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen February 24th, 2014. 5 out of 6)

• Ambrose Akinmusire: The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint (Blue Note) – 6* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, March 31st, 2014. 4 out of 6)

• James Brandon Lewis: Divine Travels (OKeh) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen March 31st, 2014 5 out of 6)

• Nils Petter Molvær: Switch (OKeh) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen March 31st, 2014. 4,5 out of 6)

* Grades adjusted for the PS scale.

Fave jazz of 2013

I have previously stated my reluctance to post end of year lists until sometime into the new year, as even at this stage of the year, I'm still sifting through some of the releases that have been sent to me, or ones I have picked up myself along the way, yet not had time to listen to yet. Plus, there are late releases that just haven't accumulated enough plays to register properly, and may not until sometime into the new year; Brian Settles Trio's Folk and Ben Allison's The Stars Look Very Different Today, both sounding very good the last time I played them, being two recent examples. However, I've gotten used to the deadlines for Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll – which asks pollsters to consider albums from around Thanksgiving the previous year to Thanksgiving the year in question, rather than strictly releases from the year that still has almost a month to go – and similar polls, so I'm comfortable enough to post an end-of-year list now (which, as it happens, is very much near the end of the year), while considering the late-comers for a later day. In the case of Settles, Allison and others like them, these should be eligible for the Jazz Critics poll for next year anyway, and so hopefully will not be forgotten by the time we get there.

Anyway, here are my 25 fave jazz albums of 2013. There were several more worthy records this year, and as I mentioned up top, even more may pop up over the coming weeks, but I had to stop somewhere and 25 seemed like a decent number.

1. Eric Revis Trio feat. Kris Davis and Andrew Cyrille: City of Asylum (Clean Feed) – Those who knew the remarkable and boundary crossing bassists Eric Revis only from (fairly) straight-ahead settings with the likes of Branford Marsalis, have been missing out. As his work with Avram Fefer, the post post-bop (you read that correctly) group Tarbaby, and his previous outing as a leader for Clean Feed have proven, Revis is a musician well-versed in the jazz's outer reaches too, but equally important, capable of blurring the lines between the traditional, the modern and the avant-garde. For City of Asylum, Revis teamed up with the equally talented pianist Kris Davis and veteran drummer Andrew Cyrille, mostly improvising a series of loose-knit themes ranging from the graceful to the ominous, creating suspenseful tension, deconstructing a Monk tune and relaxing a stiff-legged Keith Jarrett original along the way, in the latter case the the result was the most moving piece of music I heard in 2013.
   
   
   
2. Barry Altschul: The 3Dom Factor (TUM Records) – Barry Altschul's first record as a leader in 28 years, where he re-examines several compositions from his past and adds three new ones. In collaboration with the bustling sax of Jon Irabagon and the meaty bass of Joe Fonda, Altschul whips up playful, loose and at times refreshingly humorous free spirited jazz. Melodies, always central here, spin out of purposefully tumbling yet resolute and pivotal rhythms as the musicians expertly straddle the rowdy and the buoyant.
   
   
   
3. Steve Coleman and Five Elements: Functional Arrhythmias (Pi Recordings) – Although Steve Coleman has always made intriguing music, this is his best album in a while, full of pulsating zig-zag funk rhythms with complex and thrilling, twirling and leaping melodic lines and thematic ideas.
   
   
   
4. Adam Lane Trio: Absolute Horizon (NoBusiness Records) – Bassist Adam Lane and altoist Darius Jones have long seemed like kindred spirits, both having a penchant for raucous and spirited avant leaning yet thematically focused jazz, infused with rough hewn blues and groovy acoustic funk, among other things. On this exciting, fully improvised set, the two together with drummer Vijay Iyer explore open landscapes of musical ideas, taking tentative steps in one direction, then another, only to dive into grab-the-reins thrill rides at the drop of a few notes, the twists and turns so expertly executed you'd be forgiven to think it was composed.
   
   
   
5. Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Slippery Rock (Hot Cup Records) – While 2007s Shamokin!!! remains my fave MOPDtK album, I've loved every record these über jazz spass-makers have released since, Slippery Rock being no exception. Billed as main man Moppa Elliott's attempt at channeling smooth jazz through his own musical language, this showcases yet again the quartets free spirited inventiveness, keen musicianship as well as their knowledge of jazz' heritage, with the added punch of an almost rock like sound, exemplified by Kevin Shea's booming drums and Elliott's often chugging bass.
   
   
   
6. Billy Martin's Wicked Knee: Heels Over Head (Amulet Records)
   
   
   
7. Taylor Ho Bynum, John Hébert & Gerald Cleaver/Book of Three: Continuum (2012) (Relative Pitch)
   
   
   
8. Ralph Alessi: Baida (ECM)
   
   
   
9. Dr. Kay & His Interstellar Tone Scientists: Dr. Kay and the Search for True Happines (Bangles & Brass Records)
   
   
   
10. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter 2: Mississippi Moonchile (Constellation)
11. Ceramic Dog: Your Turn (Northern Spy)
12. Nate Wooley Sextet: (Sit In the Throne) of Friendship (Clean Feed)
13. Peter Evans Trio: Zebulon (More Is More)
14. Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea (Firehouse 12)
15. Kris Davis: Capricorn Climber (Clean Feed)
16. Atomic: There's a Hole in the Mountain (Jazzland)
17. The Necks: Open (Northern Spy)
18. Digital Primitives: Lipsomuch & Soul Searchin' (HopScotch Records)
19. Michael Pride's From Bacteria to Men: Birthing Days (AUM Fidelity)
20. Ghost Train Orchestra: Book of Rhapsodies (Accurate Records)
21. Tarbaby feat. Oliver Lake and Ambrose Akinmusire: The Ballad of Sam Langford (Hipnotic Records)
22. Rich Halley 4: Crossing the Passes (Pine Eagle)
23. Mark Dresser Quintet: Nourishments (Clean Feed Records)
24. Scott Neumann Neu3 Trio: Blessed (Origin)
25. Rodrigo Amado Trio + Jeb Bishop: The Flame Alphabet (Not Two Records)

The 2013 Jazz Critics Poll - The results are in

For the 3rd year running, I participated in the Francis Davis run Jazz Critics Poll, this year (and hopefully for the coming years; it looks rather good, I'd say) hosted by NPR Music. The results were posted last night. Can't say I'm that surprised by the winner – artist as well as label name recognition and reverence playing its part, maybe. Though I too liked Wayne Shorter's album fine, I didn't and still don't find it worthy of a spot in my top 25, let alone top ten jazz releases of the year.

Five of my picks made the top 50, Steve Coleman's Functional Arrythmias (5) Barry Altschul's The 3Dom Factor (18), Matana Roberts' COIN COIN Chapter Two..., Eric Revis Trio's City of Asylum (44) and Mostly Other People Do the Killing's Slippery Rock (45). Glad to see Mary Halvorson's Illusionary Sea, another album I enjoyed this year yet didn't include in my votes, in the top ten. My full ballot can be accessed here, and you'll be able to access the other ballots via that link too. I'd also urge you to read Davis' accompanying essay.

Addendum: as I've mentioned in previous years, the reissue category is somewhat hurt by the fact that not everybody is sent or can access box sets by such labels as Mosaic. Their release of Clifford Jordan's The Compete Strata-East Sessions could very likely have made my ballot, based on the music I'm familiar with from that set, yet I couldn't bring myself to vote for a release I hadn't had the chance to hear in its entirety.

Listening Booth: reviews 4th quarter, October and November, 2013

Considering year-end lists and requests for poll participation are already popping up, and I need to send in one ballot by the end of the week, I thought I'd post an overview of my published reviews from October through to November. All things going well, I'll post short notes on more albums of note, many of which date back to late summer/early fall, throughout the week.

• Adam Lane Trio: Absolute Horizon (No Business) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, October 14, 2013. 5,5 out of 6. I also wrote an alternative write-up for the Black Friday Special, hosted by Tom Hull, which can be accessed here.)

• Pixel: We Are All Small Pixels (Cuneiform) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, October 28, 2013. 4,5 out of 6)

• Mopti: Logic (Jazzland Recordings) – 6* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, October 28, 2013, 4 out of 6)

• Ralph Alessi: Baida (ECM) – 8* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 18, 2013. 5 out of 6)

• Tim Berne: Shadowman (ECM) – 7* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 18, 2013. 4,5 out of 6)

• Ola Kvernberg Trio: Northern Tapes (Jazzland Recordings) – 6* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 25, 2013. 4 out of 6)

• Karl Seglem: NyeSongar.no (NORCD) – 5* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 25, 2013. 3,5 out of 6)

• Gisle Torvik: Tranquil Fjords (NORCD) – 4* (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, November 25, 2013. 3 out of 6)

* Grades have been re-adjusted for the PS scale.

(New) Air live in the 80s

As many live jazz videos that have been uploaded to You Tube, coming across one of Air or even (New) Air (heck there aren't even one of Henry Threadgill's great 80s Sextet(t)), have proven a fruitless. That is, until yesterday.

While the video was uploaded a year or so ago, it was buried several pages into a search for "Threadgill" that I conducted last night. The video is taken from a film called A Place For Jazz, filmed live at the 1369 Jazz Club in Somerville, Ma., as part of a documentary on that venue, which closed in 1988. There is more info on the club and the documentary here:

Andrew Cyrille joins Henry Threadgill and Fred Hopkins here, which suggests this was filmed sometime around 1986, when Cyrille also joined Hopkins and Threadgill for gigs in Europe under the name (New) Air (Pheeroan AkLaff had taken over the drum stool after Steve McCall left in 1982).

It's a short clip, and not one of the band at their most ferocious or, *ahem* killing, but a gem nonetheless.

R.I.P. Ronald Shannon Jackson

Albert Ayler, Charles Tyler, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, James Blood Ulmer, and again with Ulmer in The Music Revelation Ensemble, Last Exit with Peter Brötzmann, Sonny Sharrock and Bill Laswell, Power Tools with Bill Frisell and Melvin Gibbs, John Zorn, and not least his very own The Decoding Society.

That's some resumé. And those are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head, just after the incredibly sad news of Ronald Shannon Jackson's passing ticked in via Vernon Reid on Twitter last night. Reid was a follower, fan and friend of Jackson, and played with him in The Decoding Society. I think it's fair to say that some of that experience seeped into Reid's music with Living Color, too, which indicates that Ronald Shannon Jackson's legacy is not solely tied to the realm of the avant jazz/rock/harmolodic funk/noise amalgam that he had helped shape ever since he supported Albert Ayler's spiritual cries some time in the mid '60s.

Jackson's playing was both joyous and ferocious, mirrored in his music as well as that of his collaborators: from Coleman's harmolodic masterpiece Dancing In Your Head to Last Exit's violent and confrontational skronk. His discography contains many highlights: Albert Ayler Quintet's Live at Slug's Saloon, recorded in 1966 and released on various labels over the years, Ornette Coleman's aforementioned Dancing In Your Head (Horizon/A&M Records, 1977), Cecil Tayor's Cecil Taylor Unit (New World Records, 1978) and 3 Phasis (New World Records, 1979), James Blood Ulmer's Are You Glad to Be InAmerica (Rough Trade, 1980), Music Revelation Ensemble's No Wave (Moers Music, 1980), Eye On You (About Time, 1980), Nasty (Moers, 1981), Man Dance (Antilles, 1982) and Decode Yourself (Island, 1985) with his The Decoding Society, Last Exit's self titled debut (Enemy, 1986), John Zorn's Spillane (Elektra Nonesuch, 1987), Power Tools' Strange Meeting (Antilles, 1987). And yet we've only scratched the surface.

Below are a few videos of Jackson with various collaborators, most of the uploaded to an account attributed to Ronald Shannon Jackson (whether the account was genuinely his or merely set up in his honor, I do not know).

 Ornette Coleman & Prime Time

Ronald Shannon Jackson & The Decoding Society

Power Tools (Ronald Shannon Jackson, Bill Frisell & Melvin Gibbs)

Last Exit

Listening Booth: reviews 3rd quarter, August and September, 2013

Not many album reviews published in this quarter here, partly due to Musikkmagasinet taking July off, and me covering parts of the Oya Festival and Oslo Jazz Festival instead.

• Superchunk: I Hate Music (Merge) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 19, 2013. 5,5 out of 6)*

• Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea (Firehouse 12) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 9, 2013. 5 out of 6)

• Lars Vaular: 1001 Hjem (Mer Musikk/Universal) - 7 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, September 16, 2013. 4,5 out of 6)

• Ornette Coleman: Friends and Neighbors – Ornette Live at Prince Street (BGP/Ace) - 9 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen,  September 30, 2013. Not graded)

Additional published writing:

• Alabama Shakes – live at Øyafestivalen, August 7th, 2013 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 12, 2013. 5 out of 6)

• Haim – live at Øyafestivalen, August 10th, 2013 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 12, 2013. 5 out of 6)

•  Reports from Oslo Jazzfestival, 2013 (program overview and live reviews, no grades. For Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, August 26, 2013)

* Grade slightly adjusted for the Perfect Sounds scale.

The end of EW and tributes to Robert Christgau

It's a sad and beautiful thing at once. A couple of weeks ago, news filtered through that MSN were cutting down on their original content, and in turn letting their writers go. Among the casualties would be Robert Christgau and his Expert Witness blog. EW has been an outlet for Christgau's music writing since 2010, after he was let go from the Village Voice – a paper he helped to shape into one of the finest places to read about music and culture – a few years earlier, and writing a short-lived version of his Consumer Guide for MSN in between. That one of music journalisms giants once again would lose an outlet is a crying shame, and an indication of how poorly culture journalism at large is treated these days.

Via the community that over the years has formed around the EW blog (hats off in particular to Cam Patterson and Jeffey Melnick), people have been invited to write a few words, a testimonial, in honor of Christgau and his work, a tribute to the blog and the rather unique place that is the comment section, a place which has been (almost entirely) refreshingly free of trolls and other internet evils, and instead a venue for discussions big and small about Christgau's writing, music, culture, politics and other topics of interest

Since the last reviews were posted this Friday, tributes have been pouring in from readers, music fans, fellow writers and critics, and musicians, Chuck Cleaver (of the Ass Ponys and Wussy) and Adam Weiner (Low Cut Connie) among them.

The testimonials have told stories of discovery, inspiration, personal encounters, and much, much more. All have been worthy reads, to various degrees touching, and inspirational themselves. I was trigger happy, and posted a few words a week early, and added some further thoughts on Friday. As an attempt at explaining what makes Christgau one of a kind, and why he's been such an inspiration, my words were inadequate. However, fellow critic and writer Joe Levy stepped up and with his lovely tribute, which I'll allow myself to qoute a few pertinent lines from, pretty much hits the nail on the head:

"The reading [of Christgau's writing] has opened up worlds of new music, of course, but also something else: new ways of thinking, of being in the world. Music is about these things. But so much writing about music is like talking about music. That is, it’s about matters of taste: I like this, you like that, and here’s why everyone who feels differently than we do is wrong, wrong, wrong. 

Bob’s writing is about something else. Many somethings else, in fact. Culture and politics, you bet, but also the whole panoply of experience summed up in that moment right at the start of the New York Dolls’ “Human Being,” when Johnny Thunders invents the Ramones and David Johansen restates the entirety of John Locke’s social contract with these words: “If I’m acting like a king, well, that’s 'cause I’m a human being.” And also a lot stuff about love, and about fighting for your right to party with the same person for as long as possible."

Gary Bartz, Jazz Education & Improvisation

An interesting interview with Gary Bartz on All About Jazz which I was alerted to via @freeformjazzy on Twitter. He makes some interesting observations regarding the jazz study programs and young students – Bartz is a professor at the Jazz Studies Program at Oberlin Conservatory of Music – as well as the notion of improvisation.

On jazz students:

• "My students come in and they can't listen because their first (music) education was reading," he shares. "That's backwards! Your ear is the most important thing in music and you have to start by really listening."

• [H]is wish to get music out of the classroom and back into the streets more where young people will learn it the same way they learned to talk. Music, he points out, is a language, one he thinks we should learn from a young age.

• [S]tudents are learning someone else's version of a composition rather than listening and figuring it out for themselves. 

• "I didn't just listen. I studied. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was studying the music and that developed my ear."

• "[Students] go to school to learn jazz which means they miss out on a whole lot of stuff. If all they are studying is jazz, they are not studying music. They need to study music and then they can play whatever they want."

On improvisation:

•  "Listen to the dictionary definition for improvise: 'unstudied, off-hand, unprepared, unplanned,'" he reads from the dictionary app on his iPhone. "I resent all of that. I've studied too hard over all these years to have what I do described that way." The term Bartz uses instead is "spontaneous composition." Practicing some days for 12 hours at a stretch, he says he knows what he is going to play, even if it is only the second before he plays it. He only improvises if he makes a mistake.

I don't know which dictionary Bartz consulted, but Merriam-Webster is a bit kinder: "to compose, recite, play, or sing extemporaneously" or "to make, invent, or arrange offhand". However, I see where he's coming from. It's not like jazz musicians, when they do not consult or stick to written charts, pull things out of the thin air. No, their knowledge is tied to Bartz' first points, by having listened, then played, made up their own thoughts about what was going on and developing that further. It's what I understand when I hear "improvisation", but using "spontaneous composition" (reminds me of the late Butch Morris' conductions, described as a spontaneous arranging method) might rectify some misconceptions that could still be out there concerning playing jazz-related music.

R.I.P. Cedar Walton

News filtered through on Twitter today that the much loved hard bop pianist and composer Cedar Anthony Walton jr. passed away this morning. Born on January 17, 1934 in Dallas, Texas, Walton played as a leader and sideman on over 200 recordings (discogs.com has him credited 239 times as a performer, even more as composer and arranger, and even that may be missing a few). He has played with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Abbey Lincoln, Clifford Jordan, Hank Mobley and many others.

To say I have a grasp of his discography would be lying. In fact, I got into him fairly late, and so am in reality only beginning to dig into his work. But I do have my faves from what I've heard, topped by the first epynomous record by the band Eastern Rebellion, which in addition to Walton consisted of George Coleman, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins.

Recorded and released in the mid 70s on Timeless, it comes from an era where my jazz interest have always tended towards the avant-garde (e.g. New York loft-jazz, AACM, European freejazz), so it's perhaps no surprise I discovered it late. But Eastern Rebellion is a damn fine piece of hard bop, beatutifully recorded and masterrfully played, and both the compositions and the individual intstrumental contributions are tastefully inventive yet at the same time devoted to no-nonesense, purposeful, straight ahead jazz. The record also includes a fine cover of John Coltrane's "Naima", yet it is the opening track, Walton's own "Bolivia", I would pick as the album's highlight. R.I.P Cedar Walton:

Listening Booth: half year round-up, Jazz, pt.2

Well, my plan went belly up, so I will have to finish this at a later date. Among the remaining releases I have jotted down notes for (from approxomately January to late June 2013) are Tylor Ho Bynum Book of Three: Continuum 2012, Jonathan Finlayson Moment & the Message, Rich Halley 4 Crossing the Passes, and Mike Pride Birthing Days, plus a few pop/rock/rap releases. Part two of this will therefore consists of exactly one album, but I'll add some tentative grades for a couple of other releases from the "in" pile, too:

• Gerald Cleaver's Black Host: Life in the Sugar Mines (Northern Spy) – Late 60s chant-like spiritual jazz, shredding guitars, deep grooves and soaring saxophone cries crash together with splashes of electronics for spice. Half of the eight tracks here stretch beyond the 10 minute mark, the best of which move through free form outbursts, surging grooves, and quieter sections at varying intervals, the opening "Hoover" being a prime example. The lesser ones seem more bound to one motif or idea but end up treading water: "Gromek" keeps churning and churning, but moves very little in any direction. The band, drummer and main man Gerald Cleaver with Cooper-Moore on piano, Darius Jones on alto, Pascal Niggenkemper on double bass and Brandon Seabrook on electric guitar, stir up massive, raw and alluringly violent music at times – "Ayler Children", with its ascending sax and guitar lines over a rapid-fire rhythm, rocks, for lack of a better term. Though not without meditative moments, the ferociousness of this album is its most captivating quality. 7*

• Chris Potter: The Sirens (ECM) – 7*
• Ches Smith & These Arches: Hammered (Clean Feed) – 7*
• Craig Taborn: Chants (ECM) – 6*
• Trespass Trio + Joe McPhee: Human Encore (Clean Feed) – 6*

 * The Perfect Sounds Listening Booth series is where I post jotted down thoughts and impressions of records. The writing of these notes is mostly done during listens, without too much consideration to composition and/or argumentation, and while the intention is that these notes will form the basis of possible future reviews, they should not be considered fully formed reviews in and of themselves. The grades are tentative and liable to change.

Listening Booth: half year round-up, Jazz, pt.1

The next couple of days, I will be posting thoughts on some of the records I've heard these past 6 months, by and large 2013 releases, that I haven't reviewed for Musikkmagasinet or in any other capacity but have listening notes for. I'll try to round up most of these releases by the end of this week, when I leave for a largely internet free vacation by the sea side for a couple of weeks. Starting with a couple of post of jazz records and hopefully come Friday, finishing off with some notable relases of rock/pop/rap/other. Possibly even a top 10 or so list of "2013 faves so far". Some of these albums stretch back to the beginning of the year, some may have been mentioned in previous posts, and may even already appear on the (admittedly not very up-to-date) 2013 favorites page.

EDIT: for info about my published reviews from January to June 2013, see here and here.

• Barry Altschul: The 3dom Factor (TUM Records) – Veteran drummer whips up 10 tunes of playful, loose and at times refreshingly humorous free spirited jazz in collaboration with the bustling sax of Jon Irabagon and the meaty bass of Joe Fonda. Melodies, always central here, spin out of purposefully tumbling yet resolute and pivotal rhythms as the musicians expertly straddle the rowdy and the buoyant. 8*

• Darcy James Argue's Secret Society: Brooklyn Babylon (New Amsterdam Records) – Nothing if not ambitious, the second outing by the Darcy James Argue conducted jazz-rock-avant jazz-post-rock-folk big band is a musical story of sorts about a mythic Brooklyn, in part a collaboration with visual artist Danijel Zezelj. Ellington-esque in vision though not necessarily execution, the music is at times both interesting and even engrossing in its scope, mimicking the hustle-and-bustle of urban life through a variety of styles and techniques, the tunes decisively moving forward. But quite often the music is too rigid, like a cab stuck in the stop-start of rush hour traffic where you'd want it to be like the street wise kid nimbly working his way in and around a crowded street. To put it another way: the jazz doesn't rock enough nor the rock swing enough, and vice-versa. 6*

• Terence Blanchard: Magnetic (Blue Note) – Rhythmically, this recalls both syncopated modern R&B – think D'Angelo's band in their pomp – and modern post-bop/post-fusion. Not unlike such similarly inclined Blue Note releases as the recent Robert Glasper projects, even if this leans heavier on jazz. Spearheaded by the husky tone of Blanchard's trumpet, the playing is tactful, almost restrained at times, which in particular suits the low key ballads neatly. Blanchard also graciously gives plenty of room for the rest of the band: Brice Winston shines on "Jacob's Ladder", for example, while good ol' bass master Ron Carter owns the sprightly "Don't Run", not to take anything away Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane's solos. A gorgeous sounding album, not all of this works: some of it is hampered by a rather schematic turn-taking of solos, and the insistence on building layers-upon-layers in tunes like the title cut, feels a bit heavy handed in the long run. 7*

 * The Perfect Sounds Listening Booth series is where I post jotted down thoughts and impressions of records. The writing of these notes is mostly done during listens, without too much consideration to composition and/or argumentation, and while the intention is that these notes will form the basis of possible future reviews, they should not be considered fully formed reviews in and of themselves. The grades are tentative and liable to change.

Listening Booth: reviewed albums w/ grades, 2nd quarter (April to June), 2013

• Steve Coleman & Five Elements: Functional Arrhythmias (Pi Recordings) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasint/Klassekampen April 15., 2013: 5 out of 6)

• Billy Martin's Wicked Knee: Heels Over Head (Amulet Records) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen April 15., 2013: 5 out of 6)

• Atomic: There's a Hole In the Mountain (Jazzland Recordings) - 7 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen May 6., 2013: 5 out of 6)*

• Chrome Hill: Country of Lost Borders (Bolage) - 6 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen May 6., 2013: 4,5 out of 6)*

• Ceramic Dog: Your Turn (Northern Spy) - 8 (Reviewed for Klassekampen/Musikkmagasinet June 17., 2013: 5 out of 6)

• Made to Break: Provoke (Clean Feed) - 7 (Reviewed for Klassekampen/Musikkmagasinet June 17., 2013: 5 out of 6)*

• Eric Revis Trio: City of Asylum (Clean Feed) - 8 (Reviewed for Klassekampen/Musikkmagasinet June 24., 2013: 5,5 out of 6)*

 *Dodged a notch for the PS scale.

The Yeezus conundrum

If the music has lyrics, they matter.

Some people do them better than others, some put more care and effort into them than others do, some words may seem more prominent or salient than others do. But the same goes for the music. Simply put: If there are words to the music, I'm not going to ignore them.

The balance between the music and the words is another matter. Rarely has a song won me over on the strength of its words alone, whereas the other way around is the norm, I would say, for most people.

A strong lyric – be it witty, thoughtful, wise, true, or simply a well put or cleverly written string of words – will most surely enhance a songs impact. Conversely, a weak lyric – ignorant, stupid, bigoted, or simply a weakly put together string of words – will likely stick out like a sore thumb, and possibly taint or ruin an otherwise decent song. If the songs bad to begin with, then hey... (Dumb lyrics is another matter. Dumb lyrics can work masterfully set to music, and the examples are too many to start listing here).

Then there is the question of voice, which is another matter. Randy Newman is the master of giving voice to people with, let's say, views people like me are less likely to sympathise with. Sometimes to spite them, other times (see e.g. "Rednecks"), they effectually highlight the silliness of either side of the isle.

I've not made up my mind regarding Yeezus yet, and the conversations around the Internet and, to a lesser degree, printed press have been hard to ignore. There are some things on the album that grate, and it's not really the music. With the above in mind, the next few spins of Yeezus should prove interesting.

Bonus reading: Man in the Mirror: the politics of Yeezus (added June 21st, 2013)

Listening Booth: reviewed albums w/ grades, January to March, 2013

Haven't posted notes with any regularity of late, to put it mildly. I'm hoping to rectify that over the coming weeks. The below are albums and EPs that I've reviewed in 2013 up until this week for Musikkmagasinet in Klassekampen, coupled with their original published grades plus my "translated" grades for my 1-10 system.

• Yo La Tengo: Fade (Matador) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Jan. 7., 2013: 5 out of 6)

• Burial: Truant/Rough Sleeper EP (Hyperdub) - 7 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Jan. 14., 2013: 4,5 out of 6)

• Charles Mingus: The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65 (Mosaic) - 9 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Jan. 21. 2013: not graded)  

• Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Slippery Rock (HotCup Records) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Jan. 28., 2013: 5 out of 6)

• Parquet Courts: Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Jan. 28., 2013: 5,5 out of 6)*

• My Bloody Valentine: mbv (self-released) - 7 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Feb. 11., 2013: 5 out of 6)*

• Foxygen: We Are the 21st Century Ambassodors of Peace & Magic - 6 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Feb. 11., 2013: 4,5 out of 6)*

• Miles Davis Quintet: Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia) - 8 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasinet/Klassekampen, Feb. 25., 2013: not graded)
   
• Kris Davis: Capricorn Climber (Clean Feed) - 7 (Reviewed for Musikkmagasint/Klassekampen, Mar. 18., 2013: 4,5 out of 6)

* Dodged a notch for the PS scale.