Jazz

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The Rob Brown Trio | Live at Firehouse 12 | Not Two Records

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Alto saxophonist and composer Rob Brown moved the New York City in the mid 1980’s and slowly began developing an impressive reputation in progressive jazz circles, playing with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Butch Morris and a long stretch in William Parker’s extraordinary quartet. Brown’s music is a very nice modernizing of the progressive alto saxophone tradition of Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Jackie McLean, building a deep, original and thoroughly modern view of jazz. On this album (I guess it’s recorded live, but I don’t hear any applause) he is joined by Daniel Levin on cello, Satoshi Takeishi on drums and percussion. Brown’s pinched and citrus saxophone tone and Levin’s sawing cello make for an alluring sound. “Quick Be Nimble” is a medium tempo opener, getting a wide open Ornette-ish feel with the musicians probing and exploring. “Walkabout” has a plucked cello opening around slow percussion with metallic gongs and when the alto enters, it makes for an interesting and mysterious sound. — tim, jazzandblues blogspot Continue reading →

The David Arner Trio | Out / In the Open | Not Two Records

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David Arner – pianist, composer, harpsichordist, percussionist – David Arner is a long time proponent of innovative music and spontaneous composition. His wide interests have encompassed the avant-garde, birding, mythology, astrology, modern dance and silent film within his musical pursuits. While well known for his solo piano work, over the years Arner has also worked with Michael Bisio, Jennifer Choi, Connie Crothers, Dominic Duval, Lisle Ellis, Avram Fefer, Joe Giardullo, Lou Grassi, Francois Grillot, Rosi Hertlein, Susie Ibarra, Adam Lane, Joe McPhee, Tatsuya Nakatani, Pauline Oliveros, Jay Rosen, the Sirius Quartet, David Taylor, Tomas Ulrich, Sarah Weaver. Continue reading →

The Rempis Percussion Quintet | The Disappointment of Parsley | Not Two Records

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The first piece is somewhat of a swinger. For those of you who don’t like their free improvisation too jazzy, head for the bar. (And for those jazz writers who can’t seem to tell one instrument from another, despite the fact that you review dozens of records in public forums each year, I play tenor here, and alto on the other two tracks. They sound different. Dexter Gordon played tenor. Lee Konitz plays alto. Figure it out.) The second piece is a ballad of sorts, dedicated to my grandmother, Stamata Rempis, who passed away at the age of 102 three weeks before this recording was made. She was one of the strongest and kindest people I’ve ever known. As we stood onstage at the end of the first set, before starting this piece, thoughts of her flooded over me. I had been at Alchemia a few weeks earlier, on tour with Ingebrigt Hºaker Flaten’s Quintet, just after learning that she was about to pass. Zoni is the name of the small village in which she was born, just outside of Megalopóli, Greece. — Dave Rempis Continue reading →

The Michael Bisio Quartet | Live at Vision Fest. XII | Not Two Records

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For years, free improvisers have explored the tactile aspect of performance, in which the nature of the encounter between the player and the instrument becomes the subject of the music itself. Bisio is one of the few musicians that has managed to meld this high-concept sense of physicality with the soulful charge of jazz. His fiddle-high, scraped overtones create a tangled choir that is impossible to resist; his expressiveness with the bow is unmatched. Having whirled the listener into a transportive state, he gently shows the way out… Paul DeBarros, Signal to Noise Continue reading →

Petr Cancura | Joe Morris | Jason Nazary | Fine Objects | Not Two Records

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Great unpretentious sax trio playing improvised music around thematic structures, with three excellent musicians, freely, but sounding like a very traditional bop sax trio. A pleasure to hear, “fine objects for listening”, as Joe Morris aptly puts it in the liner notes. Morris plays bass, Petr Cancura tenor and soprano, and Jason Nazary drums. The playlist consists of two “older” Morris compositions, one by Dolphy, one by Ornette Coleman, and a few group compositions/improvisations. The sound quality is good, the technical skills are excellent, the improvisations deeply felt, the accessibility is high. No boundaries are broken, no exceptional things are tried out, but just listening to the absolute basic notion of what a sax trio should sound like, is a true joy. — stef, freejazz-stef blogspot Continue reading →

Ivo Perelman & Dominic Duval | Nowhere to Hide | Not Two Records

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Some pieces are quite jazzy, rhythmic even, but some of the other tracks go deep into uncharted tonal territories, with Duval on arco and Perelman exploring the higher regions of his tenor, as on “Eyes And Pearls”. Some, like “Polish Poles” mix both, starting quite avant-garde, the tune starts gathering rhythmic momentum as it evolves and becomes jazzy. A nice album for those who like adventurous intimacy. — stef, freejazz-stef blogspot Continue reading →

Michael Marcus | Lotus Symphony | Not Two Records

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Lotus Symphony – a serene pool where a forest of sound can exist, because the artists have committed to coming together, symphonically, in the rhythms of light where the tradition of American Improvised Music has no bounderies, celebrated and thus the special bloom occurs. Special thanks: to all the musicians who contributed their artistry in making this recording come to life. Eric Enjem and to Marek Winiarski at NotTwo Records. — Michael Marcus, August 2008 Continue reading →

Simone Massaron feat. Carla Bozulich | Dandelions On Fire | Long Song Records

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I couldn’t help but feel that the material presented by Massaron’s Dandelions on Fire would be at home on any of the Tom Waits’ albums from the past decade. I couldn’t find any direct correlation from Massaron to Waits through background digging, and that’s what makes this album even better. It bears the almost unmistakable variances of an extremely seasoned veteran, yet makes no apologies when it comes to claiming its individuality. This is one uniquely diverse collection that’s sure to satiate any fan of Mr. Waits or Nels Cline, but would likely also be in frequent rotation of any dedicated Carla Bozulich fan. — songfrontiers Continue reading →

The Foot Job Band | Porno Jazz | Long Song Records

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The subject of today’s lesson is…….. Porno Jazz!!!!!!!!! These are the first words spoken from our esteemed professor Whiskey San Martino announcing the topic of the day’s lecture, and what a subject it it! Its roots lie in the world’s oldest profession as well as the day to day thoughts and fantasies of most of us. O.K. let’s get just say it and get it out of the way. We all know what the course work is and believe me, everyone of us all wants to pass with flying colors. SEX baby and I want a PHD! Continue reading →