HurdAudio Rotation: The Gradual Instant

Arrington de Dionyso & Gust Burns: Ataque Holotropical. 2006. Limited edition CD-R.

Arrington de Dionyso: reeds
Gust Burns: piano

Arrington de Dionyso and Gust Burns launch themselves into a free improvisation based primitivism that allows frenetic eddies to form around singular gestures before bolting off toward other sonic currents. Arrington allows his heart and gut to pour through his bass clarinet without impediment from intellect. Though intellectual currents do run strong through this physically demanding set. Gust Burns allows for rhythmic, often predominantly percussive playing for extended periods of time as he explores textures that both compliment and act as a foil for de Dionyso's excesses. Though he is often at his best with blurs of sound that form a rich harmonic canvas.

Kenny Dorham: Quiet Kenny. 1959 (re-released in 1992). Prestige/New Jazz: OJCCD-250-2.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Paul Chambers: bass
Arthur Taylor: drums

Quiet Kenny for the gentle soul who was never brash with his hard bop trumpet skills. A style of music and an instrument known for drawing out the over-the-top showman, Kenny Dorham delivers devastating performances through restraint, calm focus and an unbelievable tone. This is one of the greats from the jazz tradition that simply deserves more awe. And certainly deserves more focused listening to discover the unerring logic behind each of his improvisations. His is clearly the mind of a great arranger. It doesn't hurt that Quiet Kenny includes a quartet of legends. The feel of Tommy Flanagan's piano playing combined with the luminaries of Paul Chambers and Arthur Taylor is evidence of Dorham's taste in bringing equals to the recording session.

Reuben Radding: Fugitive Pieces. 2006. Pine Ear Music: 002.

Reuben Radding: double bass
Matt Bauder: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Andrew Drury: percussion
Nate Wooley: trumpet

Listening is an exercise in memory and the ability to focus on the present moment in the face of memory. Fugitive Pieces has been an exercise in long term memory. In my mind, I had remembered this disc as a textural exercise with frictions and extended techniques that completely obscured the instruments contributing to these stark textures. This time through Fugitive Pieces that obfuscation was completely gone. The individual instruments appear in the soundscape with remarkable clarity. My increased familiarity with the individual players contributing to an ease at recognizing the improvised contributions to these austere sonic landscapes. An otherworldly sound that embodies the overwhelming beauty and grandeur of a windswept desert or slowly melting glacier. A sound imbued with humanity even as it operates on an almost geologic scale. In the end, the memory comes out stronger from focusing on this sound as I look forward to how my next encounter with this music will strike me.

HurdAudio Rotation: The Lucky Hum

Jenny Scheinman: Shalagaster. 2004. Tzadik: TZ 7709.

Jenny Scheinman: violin
Myra Melford: piano, harmonium
Russ Johnson: trumpet
Trevor Dunn: bass
Kenny Wollesen: drums

Aggressive, downtown musicianship applied to a hybrid of folk music and jazz. The result achieves that rare balance of simplicity and sophistication. This is what happens when the effusive, improvisatory energies of some of the best players goes toward a music that keeps a strong melodic focus. An exquisite record with more than a few jaw dropping Myra Melford solos. This is a great ensemble. Highly recommended.

Matana Roberts: Lines for Lacy: Ellington/Staryhorn for Solo Saxophone. 2007. Limited edition CD-R.

Matana Roberts: alto saxophone

With the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn as grounding melodic landscape, Matana Roberts swims from within this music with a fluid sense of improvisational purpose. The dedication of this live solo set to the soprano saxophone great Steve Lacy adds yet another vibrant dimension of passion to this performance. Matana Roberts sustains her unaccompanied presence by drawing upon a deep reservoir of personal love - a love devoid of any crass, commercial sense of the word - to play well within the living, breathing interior of this material. Acting as a flexing, connective tissue between a lineage of jazz that clearly includes this outstanding alto saxophonist.

Kenny Dorham: Trompeta Toccata. 1964 (2006 Rudy Van Gelder remaster). Blue Note Records: 0946-3-62635-2-6.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Richard Davis: bass
Albert Heath: drums

Jazz has seen more than its fair share of artists deserving more enthusiastic recognition. And it's the divine craftsmen like Kenny Dorham that are especially under-celebrated. Dorham was one of the hard bop era's most consistently great arrangers and soloists with an introspective bent. Even the trumpet showcase title track "Trompeta Toccata" displays a thinking man's approach to showing off one's chops. That such an amazing record could spend so much time under the radar - I mean Joe Henderson was his sideman on this session for crying out loud - is difficult to ponder. But an all to familiar part of so many jazz careers. There is plenty of material here in this short set to fuel new ideas and directions for current jazz artists even a half century after it was recorded. In short, this is one of the classic Blue Notes deserving of many more ears.

HurdAudio Rotation: Quiet Fugitives

Kenny Dorham: Quiet Kenny. 1959 (re-released in 1992). Prestige/New Jazz Records: OJCCD-250-2.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Paul Chambers: bass
Arthur Taylor: drums

These ears love a paradox. With Kenny Dorham one finds the odd balance of a be-bop master - a style of music marked by extreme command within the midst of complex harmonic structures and an almost machismo swagger at mastering one of the most demanding styles of music - with a trumpet player of such unassuming stature. His tone, his arrangements and his astonishing ability to spin such well-formed solos sounds natural to the point of effortlessness. Understatement within high achievement. Quiet Kenny shows off his solo chops within a set of standards and straight ahead charts backed by a quartet of hard-bop heavy weights.

Reuben Radding: Fugitive Pieces. 2006. Pine Ear Music: PEM 002.

Reuben Radding: bass
Matt Bauder: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Andrew Drury: percussion
Nate Wooley: trumpet

Desolate yet collaborative soundscapes. The exhale of breath, or friction of scraping brings the instruments into focus as large bodies projecting sound from the microscopic level. Physics in the service of sonic art. Upon repeated listenings - and repeated live experiences with many of these performers - the personalities and individual sounding sources become clearer even as they melt together into a singular image. The focus on detail in these improvised forms owing more to landscape than portraits. A space worth exploring.

Jim Black: Alasnoaxis. 2000. Winter & Winter: 910061-2.

Jim Black: drums
Hilmar Jensson: electric guitar
Chris Speed: tenor saxophone, clarinet
Skuli Sverrisson: electric bass

I forget just how pleasant this recording is. A good quartet with a healthy mix of oddness, inventiveness and musicianship. The pieces take peculiar turns through a range of tempos - often speeding up or slowing down as needed - while touching on a multi-stylistic sensibility. Hilmar Jensson grounds this sound with his steady electric bass while Chris Speed takes several understated flights of fancy across the texture. Music that grooves convincingly without lulling the mind into complacency.

HurdAudio Rotation: At the Altar of Jazz

Matana Roberts: Matana. 2007. Individually painted CD-R available from the composer.

Matana Roberts: saxophone

Matana Roberts brings all the introspective, experienced and emotionally raw material of a writer to her improvised, solo alto saxophone performances. Her individual voice drawing upon the tangible influences and sense of self she dedicates to the expressively lyrical lines that emerge. This short set is an offering to the music of Steve Lacy. Sonically stated with a voice that is often both strong and vulnerable. The strength found in asserting Matana's own place along the same continuum that includes the likes of Steve Lacy, Sonny Rollins and Charlie Parker. The vulnerability found in the exposure of extended, unaccompanied solo improvisation as an act of honest homage to the greatness that serves as inspiration.

Kenny Dorham: Trompeta Toccata. 1964 (re-released in 2006 - Rudy Van Gelder edition). Blue Note Records: 0946 3 62635 2 6.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Richard Davis: bass
Albert Heath: drums

This recording is an oasis of incredibly "right" music that couldn't be more on the mark at the end of a crazy week. If your ears have ever been hooked by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers then you already know the outstanding arrangements that Kenny Dorham produced. With the opening title track the air immediately fills with the allure of Dorham's arranging prowess applied to his own compositions. Stacked with a hot quintet, this is another one of the classic, jaw-dropping Blue Note records from a truly golden era. Kenny Dorham is a trumpet player and composer that continues to grow on these ears - leaving unexpectedly deep impressions with each passing.

Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet: Husky. 2006. Hyena Records: HYN 9349.

Skerik: tenor saxophone
Craig Flory: baritone saxophone, clarinet
Hans Teuber: alto saxophone, flute
Steve Moore: trombone, wurlitzer
Joe Doria: hammond organ
Dave Carter: trumpet
John Wicks: drums
guest - Isalee Teuber: vocals on one track

In the soundscape of Critters Buggin', another one of Seattle-based Skerik's dynamic vehicles of musical mayhem - the funk is all dominant. With Syncopated Taint that same engine sits under the hood as it propels the charts along. The churning organ lines from Joe Doria give this sound its purr as the horn section shifts gears through melodic vistas. The funk is tempered down into soul-drenched bed with frequent bursts of groove-heavy energy leading in and around heady solos.

HurdAudio Rotation: Doctor Badguy

Albert Ayler: New Grass. 1968. Re-released in 2005. Impulse!: A-9175.

Albert Ayler: tenor saxophone, recitation, vocals, whistling
Bill Folwell: electric bass
Burt Collins: trumpet
Joe Newman: trumpet
Garnett Brown: trombone
Seldon Powell: flute, tenor saxophone
Buddy Lucas: baritone saxophone
Bert DeCoteaux: arrangements, conductor
Call Cobbs: electric harpsichord, piano, organ
Bernard Purdie: drums
Rose Marie McCoy: vocal
Mary Maria Parks: vocals

1968 was the same year Albert Ayler recorded Love Cry - possibly one of the most perfect free jazz recordings of all time. New Grass is cut from an entirely different cloth. And to call it flawed would be generous. With Ayler literally begging listeners to give this music a chance right in the first track it still remains a struggle to understand why he invested so much creative energy into this endeavor that he clearly believed in. Perhaps the understanding of how Ayler's abilities to channel a fierce primal improvisational style toward a more progressive and free sound places too much of a filter on this music - making it sound imprisoned and regressive by comparison. I try to imagine what I would think of this sound if I didn't know it was Ayler and doubt it would have come to my attention at all.

William Parker Double Quartet: Alphaville Suite: Music Inspired by the Jean Luc Godard Film. 2007. Rogue Art: ROG-0010.

William Parker: bass
Rob Brown: alto saxophone
Lewis Barnes: trumpet
Hamid Drake: drums
Mazz Swift: violin
Jessica Pavone: viola
Julia Kent: cello
Shiau-Shu Yu: cello
special guest - Leena Conquest: vocals

Conceptually, and in execution, this disc is a complete artistic success. I'll have to see the Godard film that inspired this suite, but anything that inspires a track called "Doctor Badguy" can't be anything less than outstanding. If only more film soundtracks followed this kind of smart, inspired writing and improvisation. If only more film soundtracks had Hamid Drake's drumming peppered throughout the sound along with the conceptual sense of individuality and poetry William Parker brings to this music. It's hard to imagine a visual equal to this accomplishment.

Kenny Dorham: Quiet Kenny. 1959. Re-released in 1992. Prestige/New Jazz Records: OJCCD-250-2.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Paul Chambers: bass
Arthur Taylor: drums

This 1959 session isn't as adventurous as the Trompetta Toccata disc that holds such immediate appeal for these ears. But there is that trumpet tone and improvisational quality in sharp focus that only deepens the fascination with Dorham's sound.
Quiet Kenny is an apt description of the way Dorham's appeal sneaks up on the senses. He's a classic example of substance triumphing over flash.

HurdAudio Rotation: Of Sands and Isles

Kenny Dorham: Trompeta Toccata. 1964. Re-released in 2006. Blue Note Records: 0946 3 62635 2 6.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Richard Davis: bass
Albert Heath: drums

There's plenty of reason to celebrate Kenny Dorham as a great composer and arranger as well as an extraordinary hard bop trumpet player. And this particular performance of his original composition "Trompeta Toccata" should be all the evidence one needs to recognize his ability on all fronts. Adding Joe Henderson at his prime into the mix makes this an unbelievable record - unbelievable being pretty much the standard at Blue Note in the 1960s. This one is a welcome spin from the rotation.

Marianne Trudel Quintet: Sands of Time. 2007. TRUD 2007-1.

Marianne Trudel: composer, piano
Rob Mosher: soprano saxophone, oboe
Jonathan Stewart: tenor saxophone
Morgan Moore: bass
Robbie Kuster: drums

There's a sparkling lyricism to this music as the compositional and improvisational instincts of Marianne Trudel weave fresh - and often surprising - turns with varying configurations of solo, trio and quintet settings. The piano is often at the center of this music as the energy emanates outward from the ivories.

Herbie Hancock: Empyrean Isles. 1964. Re-released in 1999. Blue Note Records: 7243 4 98796 2 1.

Herbie Hancock: composer, piano
Freddie Hubbard: cornet
Ron Carter: bass
Tony Williams: drums

This disc is a great way to get an ear full of Ron Carter. The bass work on both takes of "Oliloqui Valley" feature some of the best Ron Carter sound I've heard. Empyrean Isles is a must have for any serious jazz collector and possibly one of Herbie Hancock's best recordings of all time. Everything comes together from the compositions, the astonishing talent of this quartet combined with the clarity of Rudy Van Gelder's re-mastering of these classic tracks.

HurdAudio Rotation: The Medium is the Messenger(s)

Elliott Sharp/Tectonics: Field & Stream. 1998. Knitting Factory Records: KFR-227.

Elliott Sharp: doubleneck guitarbass, bits and bytes, drum programming, tenor saxophone
Zeena Parkins: sampler, little green drone guitar
Frank Rothkamm: drums, bass

This one has always struck me as the more reserved and texturally nuanced of the three "Tectonics" releases. The electronica timbre pallet is more pronounced in the overall balance and drum programming technique while still retaining the abrasive turns that keep things from settling into the mundane qualities of much of the electronica genre. The final track, "Lithic" takes a complete departure from the forward motion of the rest of Field & Stream as it settles into a static processed electronic texture. It's a fitting coda for this studio effort from Elliott Sharp.

Ornette Coleman: The Empty Foxhole. 1966 (re-released in 1994). Blue Note Records: CDP 7243 8 28982 2 1.

Ornette Coleman: alto saxophone, trumpet, violin
Charlie Haden: bass
Denardo Coleman: drums

The mournful trumpet, played with the rough technique of Ornette Coleman, carefully and simply tracing out the melodic contours of the title track as a 10-year-old Denardo Coleman plays a simple pulse with Charlie Haden weaving the bass within the texture before this short track blossoms into a harmolodic haze is one of the rewarding moments uncovered as one spends time with this under valued (and often not listened to enough given the focus on the age and lineage of the drummer found in online reviews) Coleman recording. There's a quiet space between each performer as they paint with spare strokes. The timbre of Coleman's violin and trumpet playing takes some getting used to. But he's not turning to those instruments for a conventional sound or technique as Coleman's relative unfamiliarity with his secondary axes sheds a different light on the raw essence of his melodic sensibility.

Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers: The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia volume 1 & 2. 1955. Re-released in 2001. Blue Note Records: 7243 5 32148 2 1 & 7243 5 32149 2 0.

Art Blakey: drums
Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Hank Mobley: tenor saxophone
Horace Silver: piano
Doug Watkins: bass

It's hard to believe that mono can sound so good, but given the caliber of the players on this recording - all of them at the top of their game - there's plenty for the ears to drink in regardless of the number of channels. But for a monophonic recording it has remarkable clarity (thank you Rudy Van Gelder for being on the scene with the microphone at this gig). After an unusually hectic week at HurdAudio, these two discs are exactly what the brain needs to both unwind and simply marvel at the Kenny Dorham arrangements.

Speaking of Dorham, this is the recording that brought this great trumpet player into sharp focus as a player, composer and arranger at HurdAudio. While this is a quintet that could have made anything sound spectacular, it's these particular arrangements that make this listening experience into something transcendent from an evening that still gives off enormous luminescence more than half a century later.

HurdAudio Rotation: Some String Theory, Some Chicago Deep-dish Dissonance and Some Bop

Laurie Anderson: Life on a String. 2001. Nonesuch: 79539-2.
Laurie Anderson: vocals, keyboards, violins, gongs
with various (small) combinations of:
Elena Barere: concert master - Joey Baron: drums, percussion - Martin Brumback: percussion arrangement - Vinicius Cantuaria: percussion - Mino Cinelu: percussion - Timothy Cobb: bass - Greg Cohen: acoustic bass - Jill Dell'Abate: orchestra conductor - Enrico DiCecco: violin - Jonathan Dinklage: violin - Karen Dreyfus: viola - Barry Finclair: violin - Danny Frankel: percussion, hand claps, "box-o-toys" - Eric Friedlander: cello - Bill Frisell: guitar - Jean Ingram: violin - Mitchell Froom: keyboards, claviola, mellotron, wurlitzer - Liheng: baritone banhu - Vincent Lionti: viola - Eyvind Kang: violin - John Kelly: background vocals - Ann Leathers: violin - Jeanne LeBlanc: cello - Dwight Mikkelsen: copyist - Heidi Modr: violin - Jan Mullen: violin - Tom Nelis: vocals - Van Dyke Parks: string arrangements, conductor, keyboards - Ellen Payne: violin - Joel Pitchon: violin - Sue Pray: viola - Lou Reed: guitar - Ben Rubin: bells - Peter Scherer: keyboards, percussion - Jamshied Sharifi: additional keyboards, strings - Ricky Sortomme: violin - Skuli Sverrisson: bass, little organ, percussion programming, high bass, sounds, bowed guitars, keyboards - Chris Speed: saxophone - Cuong Vu: trumpet - Carol Webb: violin - Judith Willmer: viola - Hal Willner: turntables, samples - Mocean Worker: beats, keyboards - Fredrick Zlotkin: cello

I'm unusually sensitive to the brevity of the song forms upon this particular listening. Even within these tight, almost haiku structures Laurie Anderson finds plenty of room to disrupt expectation. The vernacular language of popular musics bend under all the deviations and odd twists upon the timbres as even the poetry takes some halting turns in the service of Anderson's unique story telling method. There's a lot going on in this studio set and the quality of the players makes for a rewarding listen.

Chicago Tentet: American Landscapes 2. 2007. Okkadisk: OD12068.

Peter Brötzmann: composer, clarinet, tarogato, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Mats Gustafson: baritone saxophone, slide-saxophone
Ken Vandermark: clarinet, baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone
Joe McPhee: trumpet
Hans Bauer: trombone
Per-Ake Holmlander: tuba
Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello
Kent Kessler: bass
Paal Nilssen-Love: drums
Michael Zerang: drums

It takes several minutes for the steady crescendo of energy, intensity and volume to build in this second landscape. After more than 12 minutes most mere mortals would have peaked. But this is a Peter Brötzmann composition, so there's plenty of rocket fuel to throw onto the fire as he brings a unique intensity that has become a point of fixation in the HurdAudio landscape for the past few months. When things eventually do crest this music continues to surge with a quiet dissonance that fills out this long-form composition. There's plenty of room within these thick textures for the individual qualities of the improvisers to cut through. Sometimes ugly beauty such as this possesses the greatest degree of honesty.

Kenny Dorham: Trompeta Toccata. 1964 (re-issued in 2006). Blue Note: 0946-3-62635-2-6.

Kenny Dorham: trumpet
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Tommy Flanagan: piano
Richard Davis: bass
Albert Heath: drums

While on an Art Blakey listening binge last year I began to focus on the great compositions, arrangements and playing of "Messenger" Kenny Dorham. A 1964 session with Dorham as the leader and the great Joe Henderson on tenor, this one is every bit the can't miss Blue Note bop record of that era I expected and then some. The title track in particular is a knock-out. The technical re-mastering for this Rudy Van Gelder Edition is also right on target as the balance between this great rhythm section and horns draws the ear right into these inviting bop soundscapes.