Roscoe Mitchell | Thomas Buckner | Nils Bultmann | Joseph Kubera | Vartan Manoogian | Stephen Rush | William Winant | Joan Wildman | Hans Sturm | Numbers | RogueArt Jazz

In the 45 years since he recorded Sound, Roscoe Mitchell’s music has steadily evolved and diversified, making the idea of a comprehensive one-disc survey an impossibility. However, as much as any album, the both/and nature of Roscoe Mitchell’s music is vividly represented on Numbers. — Bill Shoemaker, excerpts from the liner notes Continue reading

Yusef Lateef | Nicolas Humbert | Marc Parisotto | Roots Run Deep | RogueArt Jazz

Nicolas Humbert and his co-author Marc Parisotto decided to make a further montage of the readings and songs for the album “Roots Run Deep”. There are short stories and poems set to music, beautifully interwoven with the music Yusef Lateef had played during the shooting of the film “Brother Yusef”. “I return as in a dream of a great American musician” says the old man in a great passage about Lester Young, as sounds and words melt into one song, drawing us closer to the aura of a great jazz era that he himself still incorporates. A true survivor whose roots run very deep indeed. “I’m always making sure that these sounds are coming from the core of my heart.” — Karl Lippegaus, excerpt from the liner notes Continue reading

Joe McPhee | Steve Dalachinsky | Evan Parker | Jean-Jacques Avenel | Joëlle Léandre | Sylvain Kassap | Ramon Lopez | Jean-Luc Cappozzo | Simon Goubert | Raphaël Imbert | Urs Leimgruber | Didier Levallet | Barre Phillips | Michel Portal | Lucia Recio | Christian Rollet | John Tchicai | 13 Miniatures for Albert Ayler | RogueArt Jazz

As for the penultimate phases of this polyphonic hirsutism, fortified by explosions, whirlwinds, chants, howls, bubblings and very high pitched sounds, everything happens as if the last cry recalled, as in a trance, a certain aylerien spirit – did not Robert Schumann write “Music is what permits us to speak with the heavens”. — Philippe Carles, excerpt from the liner notes Continue reading

Nicole Mitchell & an_ARCHE NewMusic Ensemble | Arc of O | RogueArt Jazz

In the vibrant, searching solos of tenor saxophonist David Boykin, multiple-reed player Mwata Bowden, violinist Renee Baker, and Mitchell herself, we encounter a bright, buoyant sense of wonder. A breathless “oh!” set against the backdrop of her majestic, brilliantly textured themes. “We recognize the symbol of the ‘arc’ in the branches of trees, the shape of the sky, the passageways of thoughts moving through our brain, and the rivers and streams carved through sand and rock by water.” Mitchell’s is a deeply organic music, playful and joyous and wondrous, but also full of sophisticated layers of emotional complexity, a spectrum of human feeling, the same range succinctly captured in the simple exclamation: “Oh.” Board the arc, feel the curve, enjoy the ride. — John Corbett, excerpt from the liner notes Continue reading

Peter Kowald | Off The Road | a movie directed by Laurence Petit-Jouvet | RogueArt Jazz

The German bassist Peter Kowald (1944-2002) was one of the major figures of Free Improvised Music. The film OFF THE ROAD was made on and around his extended tour of the USA in 2000. A journey around America in an old Chevrolet Caprice, the film is a “free improvised road movie” featuring encounters with many of the great names of Free Music, set against the background of “Off The Road” America. Continue reading

William Parker | Centering | Unreleased Early Recordings 1976 – 1987 | 6 CD Box Set | No Business Records

This box of music is dedicated to my wife, Patricia. I would also like to thank the producer Danas Mikailionis for his conviction to the project and Ed Hazell for guiding us through these musical memories. I give sincere thanks to all the musicians who made a commitment to the music; those who have passed on to the next life – Billy Bang, Malik Baraka, Denis Charles, Raphe Malik, Jay Oliver, Charles Tyler, Arthur Williams – and those who continue to play and create beautiful music of their own today – Ramsey Ameen, Brenda Bakr, Roy Campbell Jr., Daniel Carter, Ellen Christi, Charles Downs, Charles Gayle, John Hagen, Masahiko Kono, Rozanne Levine, Alex Lodico, Zen Matsuura, John Mingione, Jemeel Moondoc, Lisa Sokolov, Ricardo Strobert, and David S. Ware. — William Parker Continue reading

Theo Jörgensmann Quartett | Ta Eko Mo

The german clarinetist Theo Jörgensmann has always been open for progressive experiments. He is one of the musicians who made the clarinet socially acceptable again in the world of jazz, after the instrument had for years been considered to be old fashioned. It is now fifteen years ago that Theo Jörgensmann lead a successful quartet. After years of playing as a soloist in various projects he has now found a new ensemble with which he can make his visions of a vital, sensuous sounding, European improvised music become real. Christopher Dell, Christian Ramond, Klaus Kugel and Theo Jörgensmann were brought together by the sheer joy of playing music.The remarkable of this new group are its imagination, individuality and creative power. Continue reading

Five Spot | Petras Vysniauskas | Yuri Yaremchuk | Roberta Piket | Mark Tokar | Klaus Kugel | Poltva

The band’s name reveals that this is a quintet, with Lithuanian Petras Vysniauskas on soprano, Ukranians Yury Yaremchuk soprano, alto and clarinets, and Mark Tokar on bass, German Klaus Kugel on drums and Roberta Piket from the US on piano. All five musicians have solid backgrounds, both in traditional contexts as in a more free environment, as is the case here, for this live performance at the Lviv Jazz Festival in Ukraine in 2007, and it is free jazz in the spirit of the seventies, with the whole band working together on a coherent musical flow, rhytmic and forward-moving, with the musicians very concerned to build a unique sound rather than using the improvisation for personal expression. In the hands of lesser musicians this becomes a perfect recipe for either chaos or boredom, but you get the opposite here: discipline and deep listening skills, creativity and variation make this quite a captivating program.– Stef Continue reading

Syntopia Quartet | Mars | Nemu Records

Goodbye Earth WE have landed in a musical world as diverse as the red planet itself. A syn/thesis of musical ideas & ideals presented in an almost U-topia-n way filtered thru strings & reeds, all the while being quietly supported by a backbone of stalwart percussion. Quiet fire. Harmonious disorder. (Tempe Terra/Elysium ala plush basins of gravity’s demise).Steve Dalachinsky nyc 4/05 Continue reading