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Daniele Cavallanti | Electric Unit | with Nels Cline | Smoke Inside | Long Song Records

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As a sideman, Cline is no less adventurous. His guitar snakes through the opening silence of Daniele Cavallanti’s Smoke Inside, before the leader’s smoky tenor gives chase. “Cline’s Line” is a fusion anthem, complete with spacey Rhodes, electric bass and pulsing rock beat. After the band enters, Cline cuts a jagged course, sparring briefly with Cavallanti before taking the lead all the way to the finish. Smoke Inside “is electric jazz: pre-fusion… pre-crappy,” says Cline of Cavallanti’s “Electric Unit”. The vibe is old school, but the playing is distinctly modern. Cavallanti positively burns on “Moods for Dewey”, driven by Cline and the relentless groove of drummer Pacho. The intensity rarely wanes through the album’s six tracks and Cavallanti’s “Electric Unit” shows the potential of jazz-rock in capable hands. —All About Jazz Continue reading →

Rod Poole | Jim McAuley | Nels Cline | Acoustic Guitar Trio | Vignes | Long Song Records

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This is one of many recordings that Rod Poole made documenting this trio’s concert work. Tragically, Rod was murdered in 2007. But after reviewing his recordings during our concertizing days, we had collectively selected and sequenced pieces from this perfomance at the Downtown Playhouse and arrived at the title “Vignes”, which is the name of the street in Downtown Los Angeles where the space is located. It is a blessing to see this music finally released. This document is dedicated with love to the memory of our brilliant comrade, Rod Poole.Nels, Jim – Los Angeles, November 2008 Continue reading →

Jacek Kochan | Monorain | Not Two Records

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Jacek Kochan – drums | Andre Leroux – tenor sax, soprano sax (1, 3, 5, 7) | Adam Pierończyk – tenor, soprano sax (2, 4, 6) | Michel Donato – bass (1, 3, 5, 7) | Sławomir Kurkiewicz – bass (2, 4, 6) | Grzegorz Nagórski – trombone (2, 6) | Piotr Wojtasik – trumpet (2, 4, 6) | Jean Pierre Zanella – alto, soprano sax (1, 3, 5, 7) Continue reading →

Tongs | Jazz With The Megaphone? | Long Song Records

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This album has been lying around here, not knowing what to do with it. Does it fit the profile of this blog or doesn’t it? Is is sufficiently jazz? Is it sufficiently adventurous? Well, in a way it is. The music is hard to pigeonhole. If you like The Happy Apple or Lucien Dubuis Trio, you must give this one a try too. Carlo Garof plays drums, percussion, objects, sinori, megaphone, live electronics; Antonio Bertoni plays double bass, electric bass, effects and sampler, Luca Serrapiglio plays baritone and tenor, bass clarinet and lo-fi electronics. The music has a definite rock attack and approach, with the studio being the fourth musician of the band. There is lots of fun on this album, lots of unexpected and interesting new subtleties added to the genre (and not only the megaphone). It rocks, it funks, it pumps, it swings, but on top you get colorful delivery of new sounds, ground-shaking drumming, gut-wrenching arco, hair-blowing horns, hair-raising electronics, feet-raising rhythms. Lively stuff! A little more unity would have made this a better album. Sometimes a little too sweet (like in the first track), sometimes hesitating between just plain fun and real artistic ambitions, but it sounds very promising. — Stef Continue reading →

The Shipwreck Bag Show | Il Tempo … Tra Le Nostre Mani, Scoppia | Long Song Records

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Xabier Iriondo and Roberto Bertacchini are together again to continue the work started with the mini-cd of the same name which closed the wallaceMailSeries. Two years to forge a sound that has become much more than the sum of two styles, whose personality has become trademark. Shipwreck The Bag Show is a group, a band playing live and this album offers twelve tracks that are real songs. Without forgetting the sound research carried out over the years, the duo is dedicated to singing and playing blues songs obviously drunk and crooked, obviously cripple blues, dirty, primitive and evocative. God (or who for him) makes them … Continue reading →

Adam Pierończyk | Ed Schuller | Jacek Kochan | Plastinated Black Sheep | Not Two Records

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PBS is a 1999’s trio led by drummer Jacek Kochan. The dominant style here is an Ornette-ish kind of free blues feel, with material contributed by all three men. Kochan, who directs the musical flow from the traps, studied in the U.S. back in the Eighties, and he combines the melodic drumming of a master like Max Roach with the polyrhythmic approach to Elvin Jones. His beat is infectious, and so is the lift he brings to a band. Considering that you can feel that kind of energy through your home stereo, imagine how inspiring it must be to be sharing a bandstand with Kochan. Saxophonist Pieronczyk has an attractively gruff sound on tenor, loose and facile with hints of Sixties-era Rollins and Coltrane. His soprano is a pleasant surprise, controlled and tuneful. Kochan’s “Sparrow Dance” is his soprano feature, as he races bassist Ed Schuller’s busy throb and the composer’s pounding drums to the end. Schuller is in his element here, with a lot of space to fill with his massive sound and an active rhythm partner in Kochan. He also contributes two compositions. His “Sooner Then Before” is a dedication to the late Jaki Byard, with Pieronczyk on tenor charging through the melody urged on by Kochan and the composr’s probing bass. It’s a long track, but they prove time and again on the CD that they can grab and hold the listener’s interest without strain, even on original tunes that run as long as ten minutes. The other long piece, “For Walter” by Pieronczyk, is a tender song that evokes a relaxed performance and a spirited tenor solo. All told, an ispired first-time encounter among three musicians with limitless imaginations and big ears. Very hip, and recommended. — Stuart Kremsky (Cadence) Continue reading →

The Wall-London Band | Birth & Rebirth | Not Two Records

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Greg Wall and Frank London have been making music together for close to twenty years, since their student days at the New England Conservatory of Music. Their collective experiences, taking them throughout North America and Europe, run the gamut of many diverse and exciting projects -Jazz; Old and New; Blues; Ethnic and World Music; Performance Art and Avant / New Music Wall and London’s new recording, “Birth / Rebirth” is a celebration of the individual creative spirit, while simultaneously embracing the rich tradition of the American Jazz Band. The nine compositions on the album, all composed by Wall and London, represent a distinct voice in interpreting the Jazz legacy. Continue reading →

Arek Skolik | Sylwester Sośniak | Michał Szumlas | Checkmate | Not Two Records

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Arek Skolik – drums | Sylwester Sośniak – guitar | Michał Szumlas – bass | Józef Antoni ‘Ziut’ Gralak – trumpet | Stanisław Soyka – vocal | Paweł Rozkrut – conga. All compositions by Sylwester Sosniak. Arrangements by Arek Skolik & Sylwester Sosniak. Produced by Marek Winiarski.Special thanks to: Marek Gachowski, Krzysztof Kobylihski, Marek Winiarski, Grzegorz Gutowski, Andrzej Zielinski, Andrzej Kalinowski, Joziu Gralak, Stasiu Soyka, Pawet Rozkrut and all the people who helped in this project. — Arek Skolik, Sylwek Sosniak Continue reading →