Modern/Avant New Releases: A running thread

[David Ayers]

2 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

 

Look for Proton Pump with Sakata. With Corsano ripping it up plus Satoh on piano.

Amazing recording 

 

Lining it up on Spotters as we speak...

[mjazzg]

Definitely looks worthy of investigation.

Satoh is at Oto next week, not with Sakata sadly but still worth a trip I think

[ghost of miles]

On 7/15/2019 at 0:21 PM, Steve Reynolds said:

Looks Good. Thanks for bringing this thread up. I’m sure I’ll get this at some point.

More importantly for me is to make sure I get those live recordings on Oturoku as both of those should satisfy my interest in the more old school side of my improvisational ear.

most recently I’ll STRONGLY recommend the following recordings. Many very fine abstract recordings have been exciting me but these might be the most interesting and editing of what I’ve been listening to:

Tidal Heating - guitar, bass drums on Not Two

Michal Dymny on guitar, Rafal Mazur on acoustic bass guitar & Vasco Trilla on the drum kit

 

Old Smoke - sax, bass & drums on Relative Pitch. Steve Baczkowski on saxophones, Brandon Lopez on double bass & Chris Corsano on drums. Blistering.

 

Bind the Hand(s) That Feed - Sax, bassoon/electronics & drums/percussion

Michael Foster on saxophones, Katherine Young on bassoon & electronic effects with the *great* Michael Zerang on all things percussive. Maybe my favorite new recording I’ve heard over the past year or so.

 

plus all newer Dave Rempis releases but especially look for Kuzu with a guitarist & drummer that are new to me. Tasha Dorji on guitar & Tyler Damon on drums. WOW.

 

Hey Steve, thanks for the shout out to Tyler Damon here--he's a friend of mine, lived in Bloomington for a few years before recently moving to Chicago.  An amazing musician for sure.  Saw him last with Dave Rempis at Bloomington's Blockhouse and they all but set the place on fire.  

[Steve Reynolds]

Ready for round 2 from Anthony Braxton Quartet (2014) New Haven on Firehouse 12 Records 

4 CD set - 4 continuous improvisations - each between 57 & 64 minutes   

Braxton plays only saxophones (no clarinets and for whatever reasons I’ve never been attracted to the sounds Braxton creates on any of the clarinets he plays) - from the beastly contrabass saxophone up through the sopranino Sax. 

His riffing and wailing and skronking on both the bass saxophone & contrabass saxophone throughout this recording along would make this the best improv release I’ve heard this year but add in Taylor Ho Bynum who plays in his very attractive virtuosic very jazz like manner on 5 different brass instruments ranging from his trumphone to a piccolo trumpet IIRC, then this mega-session is elevated beyond that.

They asked the duo of Nels Cline on electric guitar and Greg Saunier on drums to join them to complete the quartet. Story goes that Braxton and Bynum was the others play a duet show and Anthony was excited enough to plan this session. I’ve seen Nels live in different groups maybe 4 or 5 times and he’s always good but here he is spectacular in his voicing and is totally immersed in the group improv esthetic. Saunier takes some getting used to but he builds up the sound of the group to great walls of beautiful rocked out glory. Wow. 

for me among the most exciting new recordings I’ve heard in the past couple of years. Once I adapted to the switching horns approach, I’ve enjoyed each subsequent disc more than the last but I have zero idea if that amazing 4th Disc is any better than the 1st Disc!!!

Edited October 24, 2019 by Steve Reynolds

[erwbol]

21 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Ready for round 2 from Anthony Braxton Quartet (2014) New Haven on Firehouse 12 Records 

4 CD set - 4 continuous improvisations - each between 57 & 64 minutes   

Braxton plays only saxophones (no clarinets and for whatever reasons I’ve never been attracted to the sounds Braxton creates on any of the clarinets he plays) - from the beastly contrabass saxophone up through the sopranino Sax. 

His riffing and wailing and skronking on both the bass saxophone & contrabass saxophone throughout this recording along would make this the best improv release I’ve heard this year but add in Taylor Ho Bynum who plays in his very attractive virtuosic very jazz like manner on 5 different brass instruments ranging from his trumphone to a piccolo trumpet IIRC, then this mega-session is elevated beyond that.

They asked the duo of Nels Cline on electric guitar and Greg Saunier on drums to join them to complete the quartet. Story goes that Braxton and Bynum was the others play a duet show and Anthony was excited enough to plan this session. I’ve seen Nels live in different groups maybe 4 or 5 times and he’s always good but here he is spectacular in his voicing and is totally immersed in the group improv esthetic. Saunier takes some getting used to but he builds up the sound of the group to great walls of beautiful rocked out glory. Wow. 

for me among the most exciting new recordings I’ve heard in the past couple of years. Once I adapted to the switching horns approach, I’ve enjoyed each subsequent disc more than the last but I have zero idea if that amazing 4th Disc is any better than the 1st Disc!!!

I was curious to see what you would make of it.

[Д.Д.]

On 10/24/2019 at 10:16 PM, Steve Reynolds said:

Ready for round 2 from Anthony Braxton Quartet (2014) New Haven on Firehouse 12 Records 

4 CD set - 4 continuous improvisations - each between 57 & 64 minutes   

Braxton plays only saxophones (no clarinets and for whatever reasons I’ve never been attracted to the sounds Braxton creates on any of the clarinets he plays) - from the beastly contrabass saxophone up through the sopranino Sax. 

His riffing and wailing and skronking on both the bass saxophone & contrabass saxophone throughout this recording along would make this the best improv release I’ve heard this year but add in Taylor Ho Bynum who plays in his very attractive virtuosic very jazz like manner on 5 different brass instruments ranging from his trumphone to a piccolo trumpet IIRC, then this mega-session is elevated beyond that.

They asked the duo of Nels Cline on electric guitar and Greg Saunier on drums to join them to complete the quartet. Story goes that Braxton and Bynum was the others play a duet show and Anthony was excited enough to plan this session. I’ve seen Nels live in different groups maybe 4 or 5 times and he’s always good but here he is spectacular in his voicing and is totally immersed in the group improv esthetic. Saunier takes some getting used to but he builds up the sound of the group to great walls of beautiful rocked out glory. Wow. 

for me among the most exciting new recordings I’ve heard in the past couple of years. Once I adapted to the switching horns approach, I’ve enjoyed each subsequent disc more than the last but I have zero idea if that amazing 4th Disc is any better than the 1st Disc!!!

Man, I gave up on Braxton 15 years ago, still can't recover from hearing this: 

But I am looking forward to seeing Rodrigo Amado with Joe McPhee tonight. 

[Steve Reynolds]

5 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

Man, I gave up on Braxton 15 years ago, still can't recover from hearing this: 

But I am looking forward to seeing Rodrigo Amado with Joe McPhee tonight. 

Where and with who else or is it a duo.

I never even tried any of the Braxton “standards” recordings except the Monk, Marsh & Charlie Parker projects. I always thought that stuff was hit or miss. Usually the best things/aspects would be the other musicians (Paul Smoker, Joe Fonda Misha Mengelberg & Han Bennink on the Parker music for example).

This quartet music/improvised music has little to do with any of the above. 

I sure wish to get a chance to see the quartet live if they ever choose to set up some concerts.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Steve Reynolds

[erwbol]

Braxton has still got it. His latest solo album Solo (Victoriaville) 2017 sits proudly alongside previous efforts. Some of the Diamond Curtain Wall Music recordings are also worth considering. The best are probably Trio (Victoriaville) 2007 & Quartet (Mestre) 2008.

[Д.Д.]

6 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Where and with who else or is it a duo.

This was the Rodrigo Amado quarter with Kent Kessler and Chris Corsano. McPhee was playing tenor exclusively, and he was playing beautifully. He seemed to be in quite a lyrical mood (having turned 80 two days ago might have had something to do with it). Unfortunately, Amado insisted on playing non-stop all through the set. There literally were no more than 10 minutes cumulatively in a 1.5-hour set when he did not play. There were probably four minutes when McPhee played without Amado, the these were the highlights of the concert. When they were playing together they were mostly drowning each other out. McPhee is one of my favorite musicians, and I saw him live probably 10 times, and it was never that good - I tend to blame his sidemen (the trio with John Edwards and Klaus Kugel I saw last year was extremely boring fire-music skronkfest). I wish I saw Trio X... 

Amado fell back on the same licks all the time, was very repetitive. I've heard an enjoyed quite a few albums with him, and today was the worst I've heard him do.

Corsano was quite interesting but man is his bass drum bashing annoying.     

McPhee will now proceed to Wels Music Unlimited festival where he is one of the featured artists: http://www.waschaecht.at/music-unlimited/    

[Д.Д.]

New Mat Maneri Quartet album, "Dust" on Sunnyside. I love it when Maneri plays viola, and it's always a pleasure to hear the drummer, Randy Peterson.

https://sunnysidezone.com/album/dust-3

 

[Steve Reynolds]

3 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

New Mat Maneri Quartet album, "Dust" on Sunnyside. I love it when Maneri plays viola, and it's always a pleasure to hear the drummer, Randy Peterson.

https://sunnysidezone.com/album/dust-3

 

Saw the quartet live this past fall and they were wonderful. More subdued than some of Mat’s bands but this one is a unique special group. Randy Peterson remains just about my favorite drummer and his interplay with Mat is priceless. Fwiw Mat has played only viola for over 10 years now. He varies the pedals he uses and sometimes plays without a pick-up when he plays duets with Evan Parker, Joelle Leandre, Matt Shipp, Lucien Ban or others. 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Steve Reynolds

[Д.Д.]

6 hours ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Saw the quartet live this past fall and they were wonderful. More subdued than some of Mat’s bands but this one is a unique special group. Randy Peterson remains just about my favorite drummer and his interplay with Mat is priceless. Fwiw Mat has played only viola for over 10 years now. He varies the pedals he uses and sometimes plays without a pick-up when he plays duets with Evan Parker, Joelle Leandre, Matt Shipp, Lucien Ban or others. 

Oh, I did not know he focuses on viola now. Cool. This new release is nice (and very well recorded) - but very very soft, samey and sort of static. Of Mat's recent releases I really liked the trio with Albrech Maurer (on violin) and Lucian Ban in NEMU: http://www.nemu-records.com/nemu-015.html . More tension and variety there, interesting contrast of violin and viola. I listened to it on Spotify so often and enjoyed it so much I bought the CD, which does not happen too often these days.     

[Steve Reynolds]

5 hours ago, Д.Д. said:

Oh, I did not know he focuses on viola now. Cool. This new release is nice (and very well recorded) - but very very soft, samey and sort of static. Of Mat's recent releases I really liked the trio with Albrech Maurer (on violin) and Lucian Ban in NEMU: http://www.nemu-records.com/nemu-015.html . More tension and variety there, interesting contrast of violin and viola. I listened to it on Spotify so often and enjoyed it so much I bought the CD, which does not happen too often these days.     

I listened through once on Tidal and it is soft and almost all of that slow tempo that sometimes can be very powerful. I’m not sure they captured the dynamics that Mat & Randy exhibit in a live performance. The set they played included most of this music but some of it seemed to explode in volume and in tempo. Lucien’s pristine sound and touch is captured very well on the recording. I do wish they put some freely improvised intense passages/pieces on the recording. For me that is what elevated the set/show to the typical high level of performance that I expect from any ensemble with Mat. 

I also recently saw Mat Maneri with a Matt Mitchell Ensemble where he played parts of very challenging intricately composed music as well as some mind-bending improvised sections. The band also included Ben Gerstein & Brandon Seabrook along with Mitchell & Kate Gentile. It was a fine but not transcendent set. It almost hit the perfect balance between composed & improvised but the structures were unique & creative but did not give the musicians enough room to truly explode the music.

Then I saw Mat in a trio with Assif Tsahar & Ches Smith. An hour of totally improvised music with Mat playing at his highest level. Using a bass pedal, regular pedal, and no pedal, his mprovising was jaw-dropping. Stunning. As good as this music gets, IMO.

Hopefully if this was recorded well, Assif will get this released somehow. After Randy, Ches is the best drummer with Mat for this sort of thing.

Edited November 19, 2019 by Steve Reynolds

[Д.Д.]

Hmmm, Assif Tsahar - have not heard his music in years. Will check out what's on Spotify. But right now need to decide if I want to go see Atomic live tonight.  

[Steve Reynolds]

1 hour ago, Д.Д. said:

Hmmm, Assif Tsahar - have not heard his music in years. Will check out what's on Spotify. But right now need to decide if I want to go see Atomic live tonight.  

Code Read with Dresser & Hemingway is on the streaming services. It is spectacular IMO. 

[mjazzg]

Some new Evan Parker

https://vortexjazzclub.bandcamp.com/album/work-in-progress

And a chance to support a great venue

[Д.Д.]

A new (actually, recorded in 2001) digital release by Tobis Delius, Cor Fuhler and Dylan van der Schyff: https://whirrboom.bandcamp.com/album/fietstour . 

I skimmed through, sounds very nice. And it's a "name your price" download, cheapskates rejoice! Well, all van der Schyff bandcamp releases are "name your price": https://whirrboom.bandcamp.com/music    

[Д.Д.]

An upcoming Polwechsel + Klaus Lang release on Hat Hut: https://www.hathut.com/ . A cause for celebration, as far as I am concerned - this is a fantastic band. 

[king ubu]

ezz-thetic - but listed hathut.com … that *is* confusing. And I guess I'll go for it, too!

Got several others besides the fantastic Giuffre in the meantime. The Lossing, Shipp and Koglman are all pretty good, need more time/spins with the Studer, which to me on first Impression wasn't that easy to get into, but I may have picked the wrong day to give it a spin.

Also just got Vol. 1. of Trane in Graz, but had no time yet to listen, same with Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin with George Lewis.

Somehow, while Uehlinger still has weird ideas (the botched Marion Brown, re-programming the sequence of Trane in Graz …), it almost seems like he's back on track (and still the old stubborn self, pissing off the new owner of the Hat catalogue … after all, the Chinese logo on the ezz-thetic Releases seems to stand for … yup, right, "Hat Hut" of Course  )

I guess I'll consider Outhere on track with Hat once they put out the missing part of Braxton in Willisau ...

Anyone knows if there are any plans regarding the Joe McPhee Recordings? Will he bring them back with CvsD or Not Two? I certainly hope to see some more of it being reissued.

Btw, the new Rivers on NoBusiness is terrific!

[Д.Д.]

Just ordered the Giuffre one today.

Hard to say what Outhere plans to do with the Hat Hut catalog. They had just two CDs reissued in 2019 (Mengelberg and ROVA) and there is nothing listed in the "upcoming" section.  

Edited December 11, 2019 by Д.Д.

[David Ayers]

Looks like Outhere bought the label in good faith and then the owner has turned round and tried to shaft them. Can’t support that. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by David Ayers

[Д.Д.]

15 minutes ago, David Ayers said:

Looks like Outhere bought the label in good faith and then the owner has turned round and tried to shaft them. Can’t support that. 

Well, we don't know the details. The new Outhere Hat Hat reissues state "for Outhere by Hat Hat" - this might be merely a licensing / distribution deal. In any case, I think it's safe to say that what's happening now is not what Outhere expected. Herr Ubu, care to investigate?  

Edited December 11, 2019 by Д.Д.

[king ubu]

From what I know, Mr. U cashed in and ran ... no distribution but sold, gone, ties cut.

[David Ayers]

5 minutes ago, king ubu said:

From what I know, Mr. U cashed in and ran ... no distribution but sold, gone, ties cut.

That’s what I thought. 

[Д.Д.]

If it were an outright purchase it would not have been "Hat Hat for Outhere" I think... Whatever, they are grown-ups, I guess they will figure it our between themselves. I only hope the back catalog (including hat ART 6000 series!) will remain available on Spotify. It will be funny if Uehlinger starts recompiling his previous Hat Hat releases for ezz-thetic imprint. In any case, he is releasing new music (and, surprisingly, a lot of it), and I am thankful for this.