A – B

All artists filed by last name under A and B :

Kris Wanders – Mani Neumeier Quintet | Taken by Surprise | Not Two Records

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During the mid-to-late 1960’s future Guru Guru drummer (Mani Neumeier) and tenor saxist (Kim Wanders) played together in the Peter Brotzmann Quintet and in an early version of the Globe Unity Orchestra. Since that time, Mr. Wanders moved to Australia where he still lives and Mr. Neumeier went on to form Guru Guru and collaborate with members of Acid Mothers Temple and Kazuhisa Uchihashi. Now, more than forty years later Mr. Wanders and Mr. Neumeier have gotten back together and put together an extraordinary quintet of mostly lesser known Australian musicians. — Bruce Lee Gallanter Continue reading →

Karl Berger | Werner Hasler | Gilbert Paeffgen | No Business Records

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The electrified acoustic trio combines several worlds. Stories are told here in the jazz idiom: starting from a basic groove is stressed about this and also improvises with nesting and rhythmic themes. The compositions are mainly played on scales from division of the octave harmonic structures and parallelisms, scales, supposedly inspired by such contrasting worlds as well as the oriental Maqamwelt of natural horns in the Alps region. The trio moves also because of the natural inclusion of electronica outside “world music” sound is ethnocentric and exoticism of the young new century – in which bits and bytes a supporting role-play required. The clash of purely electronic and acoustic sounds of the trio receives a new topicality and urgency. Continue reading →

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge and Jonathan Skinner Read at Acequia Booksellers | Vox Audio

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This reading took place at Acequia Booksellers, 4019 Fourth St. NW, Albuquerque, NM on January 2 3, 2011. Mei-mei Berssenbrugge has recently published I Love Artists: Selected Poems (UCal 2006). Jonathan Skinner’s most recent book is Birds of Tifft (BlazeVox 2011). Edited by Bruce Holsapple. Copyright 2011 Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Jonathan Skinner and Vox Audio PO Box S94 Magdalena NM 8782S Continue reading →

Billy Bang’s Survival Ensemble | Black Man’s Blues – New York Collage | No Business Records

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The late, great violinist’s first two albums — the first so obscure I missed it when I assembled a discography for my 2005 Voice piece on Bang. A quartet for the first record, with Bilal Abdur Rahman on tenor and soprano sax, William Parker on bass, and Rashid Bakr on drums. Rahman, an old friend of Bang’s, picked up Islam in prison and recorded reluctantly but more often than not his cutting and slashing is terrific here. Both albums are hit and miss, with bits of spoken word spouting political critique — “when the poor steal, it’s called looting; when the rich steal, it’s called profit” is one turn of phrase. Second album adds Henry Warner on alto sax and Khuwana Fuller on congas — Warner’s another player who shows up on rare occasions but always makes a big impression. Way back when I would probably have hedged my grade, seeing each album as promising but half-baked, but now they’re indisputable pieces of history — and not just because Bang and Parker went on to have brilliant careers. Also note that the label in Lithuania that rescued them cared enough to provide a 36-page booklet on the era and this remarkable music. — Tom Hull Continue reading →

Sabir Mateen | Silvia Bolognesi | Holidays In Siena | Rudi Records

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Poetry’s strength is unexpected. It always surprises us, probably because there is lesser and lesser of it around us. It overcomes geographic distance, generational features and language differences. It drags us to a sublime level, since it moves into a space without reference points and crosses the boundaries of what we can see, hear think and imagine. But how it comes that we speak of poetry for a musical artifact? Because Sabir Mateen and Silvia Bolognesi, in “Holidyas in Siena”, are poets, first of all. Far from a worn out romantic concept (inspiration, destiny…) they create sounds, mix, contrasts, silence spots, that show not only contemporary anxiety but also the joy of playing together. Not only Mateen and Bolognesi have all this and much more, but they are also driven elsewhere, far away, by their poetic license that set them free. So far away that somebody will not like “Holidays in Siena”. Perhaps the same person in which no consequences are left by Fontana’s scratches, by Rothko colors, by Joyce words or by Cage’s silences. Because poetry, music, art are for everyone, but not everyone knows it.– Paolo Carradori Continue reading →

Daniele D’Agaro Adriatics Orchestra | Comeglians | El Gallo Rojo Records

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Free clashes of the “Furlania” (lands of Friuli) in that of the comelican valley, recorded during the small jazz festival organized by D’Agaro in August 2006. Gluttony allegiance towards its own free jazz background, as if it were the first time. There are tasty Ellingtonian echoes in the growl of the arrangements, played by a luxurious orchestra, led by the creative drums of the ever-great Han Bennink. — Giovanni Natoli Continue reading →

Franco D’Andrea Quartet | Sorapis | El Gallo Rojo Records

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Newly awarded as European jazz musician of the year from the Franch Jazz Academy, Franco D’Andrea carries on his fellowship with El Gallo Rojo with this second work. He surprises us giving up to that live dimension that he and his quartet accustomed us to: Sorapis is a studio recording. The listeners may be reassured: the freshness of their approach and the intensity of their performance are untouched. The stretched gait of the stream of consciousness that connects, often as medleys, original compositions and tunes coming from the jazz tradition is also intact. The more concise forms and the clearness of the sonic layers give us the meaning of the passage under the magnifying lens of the recording studio: D’Andrea is once again a poet of the synthesis. — Francesco Bigoni Continue reading →