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Our own esteemed Chuck Nessa has just released Silver Cornet by the Bobby Bradford/Frode Gjerstad Quartet. Here's an excerpt from my review: "The instrumental line-up and Bradford’s history would suggest that their music would be heavily influenced by Ornette, but at least as a listener that’s not really the case. In fact, the Quartet really reminds me of Other Dimensions In Music in the way the music rises and falls in a very natural way. Bradford has what I call an “organic” approach to improvising; everything flows, nothing seems forced, and it’s very conversational. You really hear the history of jazz and free music in his playing. Listening to Frode is like what I imagine watching Pollock at work was like: At first everything looks random and disconnected, but over the course of time you see an arc, a progression. He infers, rather than states, and he’s a great foil for his front-line partner. The acoustics of the Dallas show made picking up the bass difficult, so it’s great to hear Ingebrigt’s contributions so much more clearly. He’s all over his instrument, with a lightening-quick approach that reminds me of Barry Guy at times. And Frank Rosaly? Well, I’ve never seen anyone play like he does. His approach involves rapidly taking various cymbals off their stands, placing them on top of drumheads, and striking or swiping them. It’s mesmerizing live, and what almost got lost was how well he can drive the band when needed. Once the Dallas performance was finished, I had a vision in my mind that the music hadn’t really stopped, that it was a river that would keep flowing. Silver Cornet is proof of that." You can read the full review of Silver Cornet on improvisedblog.

I've just posted a review on my blog of the mind-melting new album from Ingebrigt Haker Flaten's The Young Mothers. Here's an excerpt: "The Young Mothers is a group formed in Austin by Ingebrigt Haker Flaten that synthesizes free jazz, electronics, punk, rap and God knows what else in their pursuit of musical mayhem. For the record, I generally hate these kind of groups, because many times the components sound grafted onto each other, or they’re really a rock band that adds some scronky sax with no context in relation to the whole. When Dennis Gonzalez of Yells At Eels told me about this project, I was thinking to myself, “Uh, how am I going to tell this nice man that this thing sucks?” But one listen to a mothers (sic) work is never done and I was a fan...it's a blast of energy that hits you across the face and doesn’t back down...On Wells, the original, Jason Jackson’s tart, angular alto on top of a No Wave guitar riff reminded me of The Contortions, a pioneer of this approach..." You can read the full review of a mothers work is never done on my blog.