HurdAudio Rotation: Stompin' at the Savoy

KLANG: Other Doors. 2011. Allos Documents: 006.

James Falzone: clarinet

Jason Adasiewicz: vibraphone

Jason Roebke: bass

Tim Daisy: drums

Josh Berman: cornet

with guests-

Jeb Bishop: trombone

Keefe Jackson: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello, electronics

The connection between KLANG and the music of Benny Goodman is both direct and sophisticated. This is no slavish recreation of the music of Benny Goodman, even if there are a few Goodman tunes represented (their take on "Stompin' at the Savoy" is a knockout). The clarinet is well represented here, but the sound is clearly Falzone's. Which makes this an excellent showcase of his well developed voice on the instrument.

The Falzone originals draw their inspiration from the music of Goodman with a contemporary take on their source. Each piece clocking in at around five minutes or less, this ensemble operates squarely within the form and durations of the Goodman era. And this music swings in all the best possible ways. The real attraction to this recording is the ensemble sound of these great musicians. The sequence of clarinet solo melting into a quartet sound followed by mixing in the guest performers before returning to solo clarinet makes for a recording that won't be wearing out its welcome anytime soon. Their interpretation of "Memories of You" with Fred Lonberg-Holm is beautiful and addictive. Highly recommended.

Brad Jones' AKA Alias: Uncivilized Poise. 1998. Knitting Factory Records: KFR-247.

Brad Jones: acoustic bass, electric bass, lead vocals, backing vocals

Abe Fogle: drums, percussion, backing vocals

David Gilmore: guitar

Jeff Lawrence: keyboards, backing vocals

Bob Debellis: alto saxophone, flute

DK Dyson: lead vocals, backing vocals

Beans: lead vocals

Curtis Fowlkes: trombone

There's no questioning the bona fides of Brad Jones as one of the great bass players on the New York scene. His track record working with the likes of Dave Douglas or the Jazz Passengers speaks for itself. And this band is packed with the kind of aggressive, smokin' musicians one can only find in New York City. While this disc does have moments of greatness, it also has several spots that haven't aged well. Tracks like "3 Guesses" are great. The bass solo on "Pocket Prayer 1 (Birth)" that opens this disc is a high point. But then there is the mixed bag of the vocal pieces that veer into an uncomfortable territory between smooth jazz and rap. And there are some cringe-worthy sections that sound like a late night talk show host may step in and cut them off to deliver a mid-week monologue. This one is a disc that overflows with musicianship that hits a range of musical styles. Some of them timeless, some of them dated.

Lina Allemano Four: Jargon. 2010. Lumo Records: LM 2010-4.

Lina Allemano: trumpet

Brodie West: alto saxophone

Andrew Downing: double bass

Nick Fraser: drums

The comparisons between Lina Allemano and Don Cherry are inevitable. Both share the same instrument and the Alemano Four play in the same free jazz tradition that Don Cherry blazed with the Ornette Coleman Quartet. While that comparison is largely positive - born out of a love for the music Don Cherry gave us all - Lina Allemano is her own musician and on Jargon she is following her own, compelling muse. Her partners in crime on this recording are tuned into that same muse as they bring a near-harmolodic precision to the waxing and waning of complementary lines. The result is stunning in an unassuming way. Jargon builds nicely on a tradition that understandably continues to inspire.

HurdAudio Rotation: Arts and Poise

Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians. 2007. Innova: 678.

performed by
Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble
Bill Ryan: director
Gwendolyn Faasen, Stacey Van Vossen, Mary Crossman: voices
Amanda Duncan: voice, marimba
Alexander Hamel: xylophone, marimba, maracas
Samuel Gould: xylophone
Nicholas Usadel, Tim Church: marimbas
Joshua Puranen: marimba, maracas
Gregrey Secor: vibraphone
Daniel Redner: piano, maracas
Craig Avery: piano, marimba
Shaun MacDonald, Kelly Rizzo, Kurt Ellenberger, Lee Copenhaver: pianos
Mark Martin: violin
Pablo Mahave-Veglia: cello
Charlan Mueler, Alexander Kolias: clarinets, bass clarinets

A knockout performance of one of the major minimalist works combined with near-flawless production values. Every instrument has incredible presence in this recording as the one hour pulsating tour through eleven harmonies engulfs the air and any beings held in its sway. The slowly evolving harmonic progression is incredibly satisfying here. One of the lessons of minimalist music is how "change" can become such a focus when there is relatively little of it. In this piece it takes on a grandeur similar to the change from dawn to dusk unfolding across the skyline. The shifting of shadows and the coastal breeze blowing through the open windows almost dances along with the contours of each change as it plays through the speakers. An accompaniment to mid summer existence.

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost [box set - disc 9]. 2004. Revenant: RVN 213.

Albert Ayler interview with Kiyoshi Koyama for Swing Journal.
July 25, 1970 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France

Don Cherry and Mocqui Cherry interview with Daniel Caux.
1971, Paris, France

There's a sadness to these interviews. A sadness of knowing of Ayler's mortality. The demise that would take this artist too soon not long after his 1970 interview and the discussion of the artist lost in Cherry's 1971 interview. A glimpse into a life of one so spiritually and creatively ahead of his time struggling with the petty reluctance of a world that values little. The touching belief and naivete that staying true to his innate direction would pay dividends in this life coupled with a longing to perform in better venues. At this point, Ayler had grown weary of the night club scene and was demanding the respect that his concertized, "classical" creations deserved. Once again, the artist was right and the world was wrong. The contour of a life interrupted traced to its completion in a box set that begins with Ayler playing "straight" takes on Rollins and Gershwin in Helsinki ends with a conversation in France. In between runs a forceful sound that will continue to shape generations of improvisers to come.

Brad Jones' AKA Alias: Uncivilized Poise. 1999. Knitting Factory Records: KFR-247.

Brad Jones: acoustic bass, electric voice, vocals
Abe Fogle: drums, percussion, vocals
David Gilmore: guitar
Jeff Lawrence: keyboards, vocals
Bob Debellis: alto saxophone, flute
with -
D.K. Dyson: vocals
Beans: vocals
Curtis Fowlkes: trombone

Two things found in abundance on this disc is monster chops on every instrument and wide stylistic range. At times sitting squarely in the late-90s Knitting Factory "downtown" sound (back when the Knitting Factory mattered) before veering off into hip hop beats or straight ahead Jazz Passenger swing. Every turn is met with ridiculous musicianship right down to the spot-on vocals and terrifying ability of David Gilmore on electric guitar. Occasionally polished to a fault, but never dull.

Double Dutch Jazz

Misha Mengelberg Quartet
Friday, January 18, 2008 @ International House, Philadelphia, PA

Misha Mengelberg: piano
Dave Douglas: trumpet
Brad Jones: bass
Han Bennink: drums

The sense of theatrical absurdity that permeates the physical force of Han Bennink at the drum kit (often as he dissembles it) or the fluxus tinged clusters beneath the fists and palms of Misha Mengelberg at the piano coexists with deep jazz roots that seemingly extend to the very source of dixieland swing, tin pan alley and the blues with assertive swipes at bop, modal jazz and fusion along the way. That these Europeans have come to be masters of this musical genre and living treasures of improvised music speaks to the lessons learned from the expatriate years of Eric Dolphy, Don Cherry and Albert Ayler.

Misha Mengelberg made his recording debut in 1964 as a sideman for Eric Dolphy's final album. Three years later he founded the Instant Composer's Pool Orchestra, a large ensemble that continues to tour and expose ears to the outstanding avant jazz scene of Amsterdam. The fact that his current quartet includes Dave Douglas - one of the most consistently engaging American trumpet players, improvisers and label mavens of this age - and still gets top billing speaks to the enduring qualities of his music that my own ears are only starting to comprehend.

As a live concert, the Misha Mengelberg Quartet put on a world class performance in Philadelphia. Four musicians with intense creativity and a responsiveness that makes each one of them an ideal collaborative partner. Brad Jones effortlessly picked up phrases and gestures tossed off by Dave Douglas and wove them into the sonic fabric on bass. And the wealth of ideas and sense of play developed between Mengelberg and Bennink was a pure joy to behold.

The evening's long set began with a solo, unaccompanied Bennink putting more energy into a drum solo than most percussionists a fraction of his age. His relentless search for sonic (or visual) resources from anything and everything at hand nearly stole the focal point all evening long. As Mengelberg casually walked on stage and shifted the dynamic toward a duo the chemistry of the understated and overstated sense of the absurd took hold. As the house and stage lights malfunctioned through much of the first half of the set - often plunging everything into complete darkness before casting both performers and audience under the same harsh glow of the house lights - this quartet pressed on, treating the unplanned light show as a natural part of their uncontainable creativity. Bennink and Mengelberg's response toward reemerging into the light often took the form of flightless birds attempting to fly as they soundlessly waved their hands - a gesture of unrehearsed synchronicity.