T – U – V

All artists filed by last name under T, U and V :

Gebhard Ullmann Basement Research | Don’t Touch My Music Vol.1 and 2 | Not Two Records

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Multi-instrumentalist and composer Gebhard Ullmann lays down the ground rules without ado with the slam-bang title Don’t Touch My Music. There should be no qualms about that, Ullmann’s music is made to draw rapt attention. The closer one listens, the more there is to discover. Ullmann brings in an evolving, and revolving, cast of characters to give voice to his music. Each ensemble brings certain attributes and direction to his compositions that absorb various strains to enrich them. Basement Research with Steve Swell, Julian Arguelles, John Hebert, and Gerald Cleaver has marked an indelible presence with their earlier work. And there’s no messing around with them this time either. The members of Basement Research have honed empathy to a fine skill. Surprise is the hallmark of their cross-pollination of genres. The band dons and doffs styles in seamless motion, playing in sweet consonance at one moment and taking off at tangents the next. An intimate conversation warps into disparate strain. And with the wit and sly humor they inject, thees CD’s turns out to be quite the excellent entertainer. Continue reading →

Kazutoki Umezu KIKI Band | Alchemic Life | Not Two Records

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Kazutoki Umezu (Alt sax, Soprano sax, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet) is one of the most important reed players in the world. One of his recent project s – Kazutoki Umezu “Kiki” Band” blends elements of middle Eastern music, rock and jazz. In addition to pursuing his own projects, Umezu continues to participate in those of others both in Japan and overseas with jazz or improvisation artists such as Yosuke Yamashita, Koichi Makigami, Yoshihide Otomo, Eastasia orchestra, Mal Waldoron, David Murray, Lester Bowie, Barre Phillips, Peter Brotzmann, Carlo Actis Dato. He also enjoys musical relationships with leaders of the New York improvisational music scene such as John Zorn, Ned Rothenberg, Anthony Coleman, George Lewis, Fred Frith, Marc Ribot, Frank London, Don Byron, David Krakauer, Kevin Norton, Mark Stewart and Wayne Horvitz, often making appearances with them at the Knitting Factory in New York. — Continue reading →

Ken Vandermark | Resonance | Not Two Records

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At the end of the week, music fans from all over the region flocked to the concerts in Lviv and Krakow that the musicians had been rehearsing for over the preceding five days, one group even chartering a jet from Georgia. At the end of the week, when it was time to say goodbye, the bonds formed between some of the musicians were so strong that some couldn’t contain their tears. But for many of these artists it was adieu rather than farewell as many intend to build on their Resonance experience by collaborating with each again in the future. — Philip Palmer, Jazzwise magazine) Continue reading →

Joe McPhee | Mikolaj Trzaska | Jay Rosen | Intimate Conversations | Not Two Records

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Intimacy permeates many kinds of relationships. It is rare that in one context, several can be examined simultaneously. But the language of music coupled with the poetry of viewpoint can cover descriptive territory without too much hardship to demonstrate that intimacy requires depth of connection and can stretch the parameters for gaining insight and paying attention…– Lyn Horton, All About Jazz Continue reading →

Oluyemi Thomas | Henry Grimes | The Power Of Light | Not Two Records

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It’s widely known that Henry Grimes stopped playing music in 1968 and didn’t touch the bass for nearly 35 years. Since picking up the instrument again four years ago, he has regained the strength and authority that earned him a strong reputation in the first place. His approach and tone put him in league with highly skilled players associated with the instrument. He moved gracefully around the neck, plucking rapidly and producing sounds with a deeply penetrating tone and authority. Half the time, his pizzicato lines came while holding the bow in his hand, ready to launch into some deep blue arco lines at a moment’s notice. The performance marked the first collaboration of Grimes and multi-reedist Oluyemi Thomas, the latter a resident of Oakland, Calif, and a member of the music and poetry unit Positive Knowledge. Mutual artistic respect brought the duo together and the rapport continued throughout their musical exchanges. Thomas switched among bass clarinet, musette, soprano sax and wooden flute. Along the way, he added gongs and shakers, as well as the occasional dance move to drive home a theatrical quality and the enthusiasm of the evening. His soprano playing offered an especially compelling section of the hour-long performance… — Mike Shanley / Jazz Times Continue reading →

Ganelin Trio Priority | Live in Lugano | Not Two Records

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Ganelin, Vysniauskas and Kugel are more than just plain avant-gardists that break up all connections behind them just to pay tribute to some future aesthetic. They make use of the method of American jazz in order to listen deeply into the European musical tradition. That way, they shed light on great gestures of baroque music, they internalize the painful individualism of Romanticism and recapitulate the careless lightness of traditional folk music. It is no less than trans-European, inter-traditional and multi-sensual improvised music. What was said above about their rich musical supply is also true without exception for the pianists new formation. With Vysniauskas and Kugel, Ganelin may be less missionary and pugnacious as in the 70´s. But in an age of euphemisms where all fronts have been veiled or dissolved, precisely translatable statements make sense only for the most ardent of idealists. Today´s Ganelin Trio draws from the variety of life an even greater amount of options and perspectives. By not submitting to the worn out primacy of the moment but instead implicating the freedom of the whole process in every moment of their play the new Ganelin Trio is without comparison in European music. — Wolf Kampmann, Berlin, 2006 Continue reading →

Yaremchuk | Tokar | Kugel | Yatoku | Not Two Records

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A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. — Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) Continue reading →

Vandermark 5 | Four Sides To The Story | Not Two Records

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NotTwo Records extremely limited, outstandingly lavish 2- LP’s box-set, further pushes limits not only musical boundaries of improvised music but also the whole concept of conceptual package, as recently re-defined by its own issue of “Alchemia” by Vandermark 5. This exquisitely realized set includes 2 separate LP, housed together in a one-of-its-kind unique box with absolutely astonishing covert art. Comprehensive booklet with many personal insights from Ken Vandermark himself, rare pictures, interviews and essays from acclaimed critics, compliment the whole set. Continue reading →

Satoko Fujii | Natsuki Tamura | In Krakow, In November | Not Two Records

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Recorded in Poland in November 2005 it is perhaps most notable for Tamura’s dominance. While the trumpeter is often in the shadows of his pianist wife, here five of the eight pieces are his, three of those — including the title track — also recorded by his excellent group Gato Libre. Fujii and Tamura play beautifully together and the Krakow studio session is a lovely, somber affair. They open with the title track from Gato Libre’s first album, 2005’s Strange Village. It’s rare for the pair to revisit compositions — they seem to have too much forward momentum for that — but here it’s great to hear new arrangements of familiar tunes. With the Gato Libre project, Tamura has from his quirky, sometimes noisy work of just a few years ago and has been writing unabashedly beautiful, Spanish-inflected melodies for his new group. Here, without guitar or rhythm section, Fujii’s romantic playing sets them at a different angle. Without space between the tracks, the album comes off as a suite and 22 minutes in, when Fujii’s first piece begins, it’s immediately apparent how different they still are. If Tamura has dropped some of the humor and abstraction of his earlier work, Fujii is still the jazzier of the two. With Ninepin’s the tempo picks up, the melodies come out of hiding and Tamura meets her with bright, boppy playing. — Kurt Gottschalk, All About Jazz Continue reading →

Gebhard Ullmann | Basement Research | Live in Münster | Not Two Records

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Thefour players get off to a sparring start as they weave rings around each other in the quiet introspection on “Blaues Lied”, before they find the blues. The pace continues to be sombre: Ullmann takes the tune out on the tenor saxophone, laying the melody open and bringing in dramatic turns and twists. He forges new ideas on the go as he changes pitch and direction. When Malaby comes in, the atmosphere opens up and the two horns shoot some tensile lines, which evaporate as Malaby traverses new territory with a cogent solo on the melody. Ideas continue to germinate as the recording proceeds. Ullmann moves to the bass clarinet on “Kreuzberg Park East”. Shifts of time herald this tune, where Ullmann and Malaby engage in spirited exchanges that heat up as they go along. There is never a dull moment as the tension of the horns is leavened by the space created by bassist Drew Gress and drummer Phil Haynes, flexing the rhythm with light accents. “New No Ness” is a happy romp with Ullmann on the soprano, unfurling light and airy spirals. Malaby comes out and swings before he goes into an open-ended improvisatory run and cues in Ullmann and Gress, who cast intrigue with their turn of pace and direction. It is here that the Ullmann flips the tune into calmer waters; he churns the mix with darting lines before the group gets back together and rollicks off into the night.– Jerry D’Souza, All About Jazz) Continue reading →