J – K – L

All artists filed by last name under J, K and L :

Andrew Lamb | Tom Abbs | Michael Wimberly | Guillermo E. Brown | Rhapsody in Black | No Business Records

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It gives me great pleasure to once again find myself in the midst of expressing my thoughts about another recording of my work. The Creator had blessed me with the opportunity to have the wonderfully creative bass, tuba, and didjeridoo performer Tom Abbs, who has been with me for slightly over a decade, together with two of the most unique, musically diverse and culturally aware percussionists today – Michael Wimberly and Guillermo E. Brown. These gentlemen are true pfrofessionals both on and off the bandstand, which is a great pleasure for me to state. The works on this recording are organic and unpretentious, laced with the type of communication that can only be obtained, and experienced by those who are truly kindred spirits. — Andrew Lamb Continue reading →

Nate Wooley | Christian Weber | Paul Lytton | Six Feet Under | No Business Records

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Six Feet Under (2009 [2012], NoBusiness): Trumpet, bass, drums, respectively. Lytton is the best known, one of the major drummers of Europe’s avant-garde, but Wooley has been prolific since 2002, even more so since he started releasing records under his own name in 2009 (AMG lists eight, missing this one — an LP release limited to 300 copies, so I’m glad to have received my CDR). Scratchy, lots of low volume, high pressure maneuvers, making the few sections where the trumpet breaks loose all the more impressive. —Tom Hull Continue reading →

Joe Moffett | Noah Kaplan | Giacomo Merega | Jacob William | Luther Gray | Ad Faunum | Not Two Records

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It’s not a terribly common rationale for a session of freely improvised music. “The idea was to offer an almost ritualistic praise of animals,” says trumpeter Joe Moffett. And so these five players, under Moffett’s de facto leadership, chose the group name Ad Faunum. “To the animal” is one possible rendering from the Latin, although Ad Faunum (“To Faunus”) is actually the title of Ode XVIII by the Roman lyric poet Horace (65 BC-8 BC). Faunus is half man and half goat, the Roman counterpart to the Greek god Pan. “I was thinking of a primeval idea,” says Moffett, “an idea of ‘worship’ music, something very old, even prehistoric. It relates to the kind of primal energy I imagined creating with this group. Also, I was reflecting on people’s almost religious regard for animals, on humanity’s complex relationship to these other creatures that live in the world.” — DAVID R. ADLER, New York, June 2011 Continue reading →

Andrea Wolper | The Small Hours

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One of the best things about releasing a CD is it gives one the opportunity to express gratitude to the many people who’ve helped along the way. I have to start with Ron and Ken, without whom this would surely be a very different CD. Playing music with them—not to mention hanging out between sets—is just a hell of a lot of fun, and they both continue to inspire me more, I’m sure, than either would imagine. Victor, Frank, Lou, and Jamey all have unique voices that we wanted on the date, and they all jumped right in, fully and generously. I’m grateful to each of them for their special contributions. Todd brought not only his expertise as a producer, but also respect and openness, as well as a belief in the project that really made a difference. Thanks also to Katherine Miller, whose great technical skills are matched by great ears, and to Todd Gerard for his excellent work and sensitive approach. — Andrea Wolper Continue reading →

Nobuyasu Furuya Quintet | The Major | No Business Records

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Nobuyasu Furuya is a relatively little-known Japanese reedman who lives in Lisbon, where he’s been making associations with some of the city’s finest improvisers. Following his 2009 debut on Clean Feed (Bendowa, with bassist Hernâni Faustino and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini) he’s back with The Major, joined by the RED Trio (Faustino, Ferrandini and pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro) and trombonist Eduardo Lála in six original compositions ranging from pulpit-pounding to cagy sonic exploration. On tenor, Furuya’s playing is reminiscent of Peter Brötzmann and Mototeru Takagi, and the RED Trio is akin to a contemporary version of ARC or a free-improv version of the Garland / Chambers / Taylor rhythm section. They’re surely one of the most cohesive improvising trios in modern music, and collaborations with figures like John Butcher, Nate Wooley and now Furuya are extra icing on the cake. The three build up a detailed storm behind his gruff, burnished shouts and Lála’s tailgate on “Jap Agitator Caught Again”, bashing and whacking brush alongside the leader’s manic sear. Opening the flip side, “Where Are the Brothers and Sisters?” has a chunky ragtime to no-time rhythmic bash, with Lála’s Rudd-like slushy chortle sailing on the pianist’s eddies. The trombonist is an impressive member of the front line, belting out jovial and brusque commentary. The Major is an enjoyable and frequently compelling session with strong, engaging interplay and flashes of studied seamlessness. What more could one ask for from a second date? — Clifford Allen Continue reading →

Daunik Lazro | Jean-François Pauvros | Roger Turner | Curare | No Business Records

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Exceptional music that’s blazingly intense yet judiciously moderate, Curare, apparently named for the South American muscle-relaxant plant, captures sessions recorded almost two years apart from what in advanced music terms is a super group. All of its members have been plying their trade in this gene since the 1970s, French baritone saxophonist Daunik Lazro with the likes of soprano saxophonist Michel Doneda and bassist Joëlle Léandre; fellow Gaul, guitarist Jean-François Pauvros with everyone from drummer Makoto Sato to harpist Hélène Breschand; and British percussionist Roger Turner with seemingly every advanced sound explore in the United Kingdom, North America and the Continent. Never before have they recorded in trio formation and the four tracks hang together so well because of another contradiction: each cooperates fully with the others, but no one alters his individual style. — Ken Waxman Continue reading →

André Goudbeek | Lê Quan Ninh | Peter Jacquemyn | Uwaga | Not Two Records

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André Goudbeek – tenor sax | Peter Jacquemyn – bass, voice | Lê Quan Ninh – percussion. Recorded live at the Alchemia, Kraków on October 23, 2008. Recorded by Rafal Drewniany. Mixed and mastered by Rafal Drewniany (dts studio). Cover art work by Peter Jacquemyn. Photograph by Pierre Michel Zaleski. Design by Marek Wajda. All compositions by André Goudbeek / Peter Jacquemyn / Lê Quan Ninh Continue reading →

Evan Parker and Zlatko Kaucic | Round about one o’clock | Not Two Records

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Bogdan Benigar is the musical director of the Ljubljana Jazz Festival. He gave me the opportunity to perform with the great musician Evan Parker on the occasion of the 50th Jubilee Festival. I met Evan the day before the concert and there was an instant connection between us. I told him a story about being in Spain and playing with the amazing Mike Osborne in Valencia and Madrid. It was in 1978 in a small club called TRES TRISTES TIGRES in Valencia. It was an absolutely thrilling experience, despite the fact Ozzie was very ill at this time (acute schizophrenia). I remember a concert in Madrid with a sold-out theatre (over 1000 people) where we didn’t have any PA system, and the sound of Mike’s alto was so strong, so powerful, hit so directly into the heart of people that the public was just stunned. After that, I didn’t have any news of him. I was told that he went into a mental hospital to cure himself. He stopped playing after 1982 and went back to Hereford, his home. He passed away on September 19, 2007. So Evan and I decided to dedicate this record Round About One O’clock to the memory of Mike Osborne – Ozzie. — Zlatko Kaucic Continue reading →

Scott Fields Ensemble | Frail Lumber | Not Two Records

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Scott Fields (born September 30, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois), is a guitarist, composer and band leader. He is best known for his attempts to blend music that is composed and music that is written and for his modular pieces (48 Motives and 96 Gestures). He works primarily in avant-garde jazz, experimental music, and New Music. Fields was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He started as a self-taught rock musician but soon was influenced by the musicians of the Association for the Advancement for Creative Musicians, which was active in the Hyde Park neighborhood in which he grew up. Later he studied classical guitar, jazz guitar, music composition and music theory. In 1970 Fields co-founded the power avant-jazz trio Life Rhythms. When the group disbanded two years later he played sporadically, but soon all but quit music until 1989. Since then he has performed and composed actively. His ensembles and partnerships have included such musicians as Marilyn Crispell, Hamid Drake, John Hollenbeck, Joseph Jarman, Myra Melford, Jeff Parker, and Elliott Sharp.
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