C

All artists filed by last name under C :

Mark Weaver’s Brassum | Warning Lights | Plutonium Records

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Given its name which reflects its brass-heavy instrumentation, you’d expect Mark Weaver’s Brassum to be a celebration of the brass band tradition with evocations of marching bands… But with leader and tubaist Mark Weaver taking on the role of the string bass, this band really is a free Bop ensemble with catchy, intriguing tunes setting up edgy blowing. Little Weaver plays wouldn’t fall easily under the fingers of an adept bassist. That’s not to say that his big brass bass doesn’t add a dominant color to the date. The tuba’s expansive sound envelops the ensemble with a golden fog. Even when vamping, Weaver’s lines (and this applies as well to the undisputed master of this school of tuba, Bob Stewart) resonate with the other horns in the way a string bass does not. Weaver and Eisenstadt prove to be a playful rhythm section. Clucas works well within the context of Weaver’s compositions. Vlatkovich further lifts the session with his robust, ripping trombone lines. …this music, through crafty writing and daring playing, achieves a sound larger than you’d assume from the seemingly meager complement of instruments. —David Dupont (Cadence magazine vol.30, No.6, June 2004, p.46-47) Continue reading →

Amalgam | Prayer for Peace | No Business Records

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It is our great pleasure to present this reissue of the legendary Amalgam recording with Trevor Watts, Jeff Clyne, John Stevens and Barry Guy. This recording received the highest rating by The Penguin Guide to Jazz. It was re-mastered from the original reel to reel tapes. Trevor Watts and NoBusiness Records dedicate this reissue to the great man and musician Jeff Clyne, who passed away in 2009. Continue reading →

Jason Kao Hwang | Will Connell Jr. | William Parker | Takeshi Zen Matsuura | Commitment – The Complete Recordings – 1981-1983 | No Business Records

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In some ways, Commitment was typical of many bands of their time. Between 1978 and 1984, they enjoyed a modest success by the subterranean standards of the Lower East Side. They struggled for gigs during the waning years of the New York loft scene, enjoyed higher profile gigs at several Kool Jazz Festivals, made one short European tour, and recorded one LP. But their music is more significant than this story might indicate. Hwang was among the first improvisers to emerge out of the Asian American movement. His presence in the band as composer and improviser makes Commitment one of the first Afro-Asian free jazz ensembles. The presence of Asian American, African American, and Asian musicians in one band was almost unprecedented in the New York lofts, and their fusion of elements from Asian and African American cultures was unique – Ed Hazell Continue reading →

Curtis Clark Trio | Taagi | No Business Records

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Recorded on successive nights during May 2009 performances in Dallas and Austin, this album represents a great collaboration between jazz veteran and great piano maestro Curtis Clark and young, but very talented Gonzalez brothers – Aaron and Stefan. Piano trio at it’s best. Taagi – which takes its title from the Apache word for “three” – is his first trio recording with bassist Aaron Gonzalez and drummer Stefan Gonzalez. The piano trio is a time-honored jazz institution. Trio recordings have been among the most commercially, as well as artistically, successful in the music – one need only think of Ahmad Jamal’s Live At the Pershing, Erroll Garner’s Concert By the Sea, Bill Evans’ Portrait In Jazz, or Duke Ellington’s Money Jungle. Pianist Curtis Clark previously added to the canon with 1994’s Home Safely, in the company of Dutch master percussionist Han Bennink. For this outing, he’s joined by a pair of fiery young brothers from Dallas for a cross-generational meeting of minds. Continue reading →

John Clarke and Charles Keil in Performance Buffalo, 1984-5 | Vox Audio

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John (Jack) Clarke (1933 – 1991) and Charles (Charlie) Keil were recorded at least three times performing as “Skald/Song” in the mid 1980s, and we have located two of the tapes. Paul Kluger recorded the performance at Nietzsche’s in May 1984. It’s not known who recorded the performance at TheatreLoft in 1985, nor the additional musicians involved. We have not been able to locate a third recording, made at Central Park Grill on May 23, 1986. These recordings have imperfections, such as bleed-through and tape hiss, which couldn’t be eliminated. On the recordings, Charlie plays beaten string bass, hi hat cymbals, barrel drum, finger piano, oriental gongs, rattles, and piri. He’s the author of Urban Blues (U Chicago 1968) and Music Grooves (with S. Feldman, University of Chicago 1994) as well as other books. Jack’s books include The End of This Side (Black Book 1979), From Feathers to Iron (Tomboucto 1987),and In the Analogy (Shuffaloff 1997). Thanks, Charlie, Cass Clarke, Mike Boughn, Mike Basinski, Jim Maynard, the Poetry Collection/Rare Book Room at SUNY Buffalo, Jeff Davis, Paul Kuglar and the Analytical Psychology Society of Western New York for help locating tapes and seeing us through this.

Edited by Bruce Holsapple. Photo of Jack by Paula Satow. Copyright 2009 Charles Keil, the Estate of John Clarke and Vox Audio PO Box 594, Magdalena, NM 87825. Note that on Cut 40 Jack identifies a poem as “American Syntax Without A Sentence.” He later corrects himself. The poem is “At The Edge Of Night.” Continue reading →

Adam Caine Trio | Thousandfold | No Business Records

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Adam Caine is a guitarist, improvisor and composer. Adam fronts the Adam Caine Trio with Tom Blancarte and John Wagner and the Adam Caine Quartet with Nick Lyons, Adam Lane and John Wagner. Adam also plays in Johnny Butler’s Scurvy and Eric Eigner’s Mysterium. Adam grew up in Rochester, New York and studied music at the University of Rochester. Since 2000 he has lived in Brooklyn, New York and has played in New York City and throughout the United States. Adam has performed with Connie Crothers, Paul Smoker, Daniel Carter, Ken Filiano, Phil Haynes, Glen Branca, Haale, and the New York Soundpainting Ensemble. Adam’s 2005 CD, “PIPE,” received rave reviews in the Wire, Cadence, and All About Jazz. In 2008, Adam was awarded a grant from the Brooklyn Arts council for an improvised performance with visual artist Marjan Moghaddam. As a composer for video art, Adam’s music has been featured in over 20 international festivals since 2006. Continue reading →