Sonar with David Torn: Vortex

Guitar whiz Henry Kaiser introduced fellow plectrist David Torn to Sonar, a Swiss quartet with Stephan Thelen and Bernhard Wagner on guitars, electric bassist Christian Kuntner and drummer Manuel Pasquinelli, thinking that they would all make some fantastic music together. Vortex, recorded over three days in Switzerland, proves him spot on with his idea. With loops within loops and rhythms within rhythms, this mass of guitar noise and muscular drumming is a load of big electric fun. More about atmosphere and feeling than heroic soloing or pyrotechnic displays of rapid-fire unisons, the rock-oriented fusion of Vortex succeeds rather nicely at imparting a sense of purposeful unity as the ensemble explores and elaborates on the minimalist compositions. Stephan Thelen is the main composer, working with Torn on Monolith and Swiss composer Don Li on the combustible Part 44. Highlights include the shifting grooves of Wave and Particles,  the super-charged title track which features more dynamic movement than the other pieces, and the peaceably angular Monolith, which Torn describes as floating along, “like a cross between Miles Davis and Jon Hassell.” Closing the show is the odd-metered Lookface!, a group improvisation laced with Hendrix-isms and staggered beats, ending with a startlingly quiet and meditative passage that fades slowly back into silence. With Torn’s grit sprinkled over Sonar’s sparkling textures, the results seem to have made everyone happy. Well worth a listen.
RareNoise RNR087; Stephan Thelen, Bernhard Wagner (g) Christian Kuntner (el b) Manuel Pasquinelli (d) with David Torn (el g, live-looping, manipulation); Maur, Switzerland, February 15-17, 2017; Part 44/ Red Shift/ Waves and Particles/ Monolith/ Vortex/ Lookface!; 56:14. www.rarenoiserecords.com

Martial Art: Saga

Take some ECM-styled atmospheric coolness, add some revved-up electric guitar, set it all to a potent beat, and you’ll get an idea of what Swiss trumpeter Martial In-Albon is up to with his Martial Art quintet on their debut release, Saga. In-Albon’s vulnerable sounding trumpet is the main solo voice. His sound is well-served by the supportive rhythm section of guitarist Philipp Saner, keyboardist Eliyah Reichen, bassist Bidu Rüegsegger, and drummer Nici Struchen. In-Albon has worked with pianist Nik Baertsch and a variety of big band projects in Switzerland. He’s influenced by a broad spectrum of musical disciplines, dominated by jazz/rock fusion, electronic music and Baertsch’s avant-groove sound. It’s no surprise that Saga is full of contrasts, beginning with the title track, which opens the disc. The music is gentle and ambient at first until a tempo asserts itself as the main melody kicks in. A wild electric guitar takes over, with bass and drums booming and crashing. In-Albon’s trumpet solo keeps the pace and intensity way up before slowing things down for a thoughtful solo. The music gradually increases in volume and tempo, with an abrupt halt as punctuation. Saga covers a lot of ground in just over eight minutes. Next up is the urgent Recovery which combines an insistent beat, distorted guitar, and funky organ licks. Ron in Rain, which follows, is hushed, the way the world sounds in a light rain. Even guitarist Saner is somewhat restrained on this one, though his solo has a gleaming electric edge. White Lies falls in between those two poles. It’s mellow at first, built on a simple ostinato that grows more heated after the first few minutes, driven by Struchen’s crisp drumming. A raging guitar solo and In-Albon’s strangled trumpet bring the piece to a rolling boil. The band seems to run out of steam for the finale, the rather somnolent The Cicada's Song. Instead of leaving you wanting more, the track almost makes you question the rest of the CD. Luckily, on rehearing the other five tunes, my enthusiasm remains intact, and I’m looking forward to the band’s next outing.
QFTF; Martial In-Albon (tp, flgh) Philipp Saner (g) Eliyah Reichen (kybds) Bidu Rüegsegger (b) Nici Struchen (d); Hünenberg, Switzerland, no dates specified; Saga/ A Fine Line/ Recovery/ Ron in Rain/ White Lies/ The Cicada's Song; 41:19. qftf.net

Silvan Schmid Quintet: At Gamut

The Silvan Schmid Quintet really shook things up when they took the stage At Gamut, a music series in Zürich. Trumpeter Schmid wrote all the tunes for this unusual lineup of his horn with alto saxophone, cello, tuba, and drums. Beginning with clear and simple melodies, he and his band develop them in increasingly complex styles, frequently raising quite a ruckus in the process. Abrupt starts and stops, quick shifts of tempo, constantly evolving blends of instrumental colors, and continual movement between the foreground and background keep the listener on his metaphorical toes. As abstract and severe as Schmid’s music can be, the key thing is that there’s plenty of beauty revealed in these compositions as they unfold. At times, there’s so much happening at once, I could swear I was hearing more than a quintet playing. That’s partly due to the broad bottom of the band’s sound established by Lucas Wirz’s dark tuba and Silvan Jeger’s skittering cello. Then there’s the often appropriately busy drums and cymbals of Vincent Glanzmann. Schmid, with a brassy and penetrating sound centered in the trumpet’s middle register, and the excitable alto saxophonist Tapiwa Svosve make a responsive and nimble team in the front line. Svosve’s commanding solo on Spartitur I is just one of the album’s high points. Also worthy of praise is Schmid’s vocal-like introduction to Turn Into. The longest track on the disc is the finale, just shy of eleven minutes long. The quiet opening of In Bocca Al Lupo (a theatrical way of saying good luck) leads into a swirl of melodies and countermelodies. That quickly leads to a pastoral arco cello solo by Jeger cushioned by the organ-like blend of tuba, trumpet and alto sax which slowly builds in intensity and then ebbs into silence. It’s a lovely finishing touch on a provocative set of truly original compositions. Happily recommended.
hatOLOGY 751; Silvan Schmid (tp) Tapiwa Svosve (as) Silvan Jeger (clo) Lucas Wirz (tba) Vincent Glanzmann (d); Zürich, Switzerland, April 2016; Motten/ Spartitur II/ Ins Leere/ Turn Into/ Spartitur I/ In Bocca Al Lupo; 42:38. www.hathut.com

Grant Green: Funk In France: From Paris To Antibes (1969-1970) & Slick! Live At Oil Can Harry’s

Guitarist Grant Green was a mainstay of the Blue Note label in its heyday, with around twenty albums as a leader. Historically overshadowed, perhaps, by the celebrated Wes Montgomery, Green’s pungent playing and jazz/funk orientation have proved influential with guitarists of all stripes. Resonance Records, in their quest to ferret out unknown but high quality performances, have come up with a bounty of Grant Green music with Funk In France: From Paris To Antibes (1969-1970), a two-CD set that also features a guest appearance by Barney Kessel, and Slick! Live At Oil Can Harry’s, taken from a 1975 club date in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sourced from the French radio archive, the Paris show in October 1969 takes up most of disc 1. Featured are tunes penned by James Brown, Sonny Rollins, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Charles Trenet, plus an untitled blues. How’s that for an eclectic sequence! Green was recording exclusively on organ sessions that year. His bandmates in Paris, bassist Larry Ridley and drummer Don Lamond, were playing across Europe in late 1969 with Newport In Europe. On stages across Europe, the two were backing a rotating cast that included Barney Kessel, Red Norvo, and Stéphane Grappelli, when they played this show with Green. Their support here is impeccable. Green is playing really well, with a dazzling Insensatez and a limber excursion on Sonnymoon For Two. When fellow guitarist Kessel joins the trio, they elect to play I Wish You Love. It’s a beautifully subdued treatment of the song, which was composed by Charles Trenet, and introduced in 1942 in France. Transplanted to the US with English lyrics as the title track to a Keely Smith album in 1957, it’s a singularly appropriate song for Americans to play in Paris. With the last track on disc one, the first version of Green’s own Upshot, we skip forward about nine months to his appearances at the Antibes Jazz Festival. This time, Green is playing with his own quartet of Claude Bartee on tenor, Clarence Palmer on organ, and Billy Wilson on drums. In the looser confines of the Antibes stage, the band has a chance to stretch out. And they came ready to burn. The eighteen minutes of the July 18 take of Upshot zoom by in a flash. The second disc includes just three numbers. The quartet’s rendition of the soul hit Hurt So Bad, also from the July 18 show, is followed by two pieces from a performance on July 20. Upshot expands to nearly twenty minutes, and the finale, a deeply soulful version of Hi-Heel Sneakers, rocks the house for over twenty-seven minutes. Always happy to play for enthusiastic audiences, Green plays very energetically throughout. Resonance’s typically exhaustive 48-page booklet includes interviews, rare photos and some of original producer Andre Francis’ notes contemporaneous notes from the shows. The label talked to Green’s guitar-playing son Grant Green, Jr., and musicians Dr. Lonnie Smith, Clarence Palmer, and Eric Krasno. There are also liner notes by Michael Cuscuna and Pascal Rozat, plus an introduction by reissue producer Zev Feldman.

Move forward another five years to Vancouver, for a quintet gig Live At Oil Can Harry’s. The tapes come from Vancouver disc jockey Gary Barclay saved from his radio station job at the now-defunct CHQM-FM in Vancouver. We hear his voice at the beginning of the disc, introducing the set and reminding the crowd that they could hear it on the radio the following week. Green himself introduces the first tune by the quintet, a deep dive into Charlie Parker’s classic blues, Now’s The Time. Next up is another version of Jobim’s Insensatez, a piece that Green evidently enjoyed playing. Starting with a tender opening by an unaccompanied Green, the piece takes up nearly a half hour. The tasteful playing of Emmanuel Riggins on electric piano, Ronnie Ware on electric bass, Greg “Vibrations” Williams on drums, and Gerald Izzard on percussion gives Green plenty of textured support for his extended flights of fancy. A curious and lengthy medley ends the night. Starting with Stanley Clarke’s Vulcan Princess, this epic jam moves on to Skin Tight, a hit for the Ohio Players, Bobby Womack’s Woman’s Gotta Have It, and Stevie Wonder’s Boogie On Reggae Woman, before ending up with For the Love of Money, originally by the O’Jays. With bassist Ware leading the way, the music wades deeply into funk, with crowd-pleasing results. Green, who was without a record label in this period, is in fine form for this show. Once again, Resonance has put together a 48-page booklet, this time including an introductory essay by producer Zev Feldman, contemporaneous interviews that Barclay did with Green and electric pianist Emmanuel Riggins, the DJ’s reminiscence of the gig, conversations with Grant Green’s son Greg (also a guitarist), fellow guitarists Jacques Lesure and Perry Hughes, and an essay by A. Scott Galloway about Green and this performance. There are also a batch of photographs taken during the Green band’s sojourn in Vancouver. Maybe getting three hours of excellent “new” music on the market will raise Green’s profile to the high rank that he deserves. Both releases are highly recommended.
Paris/Antibes: Resonance HCD-2033; Grant Green (g) with [Paris] Larry Ridley (b) Don Lamond (d) Barney Kessel (g on *) & [Antibes] Claude Bartee (ts) Clarence Palmer (org) Billy Wilson (d); Disc 1 (56:39): Paris, France, October 16, 1969: I Don’t Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door I’ll Get It Myself)/ Oleo/ How Insensitive (Insensatez)/ Untitled Blues/ Sonnymoon For Two/ I Wish You Love*. Antibes, France, July 18 or 20, 1970: Upshot. Disc 2 (61:38): Hurt So Bad (July 18)/ Upshot (July 20)/ Hi-Heel Sneakers (July 20).
Oil Can Harry’s: Resonance HCD-2034; Grant Green (g) Emmanuel Riggins (el p) Ronnie Ware (b) Greg “Vibrations” Williams (d) Gerald Izzard (perc); Vancouver, BC, September 5, 1975; Now’s the Time/ How Insensitive (Insensatez)/ Medley (Vulcan Princess/ Skin Tight/ Woman’s Gotta Have It/ Boogie On Reggae Woman/ For the Love of Money); 67:05. www.resonancerecords.org

Houston Person & Ron Carter: Remember Love

Frequent collaborators Houston Person & Ron Carter have learned a thing or two about music over the years, and on the stirring Remember Love, this stellar duo is ready and able to tell you all about it. Tenor saxophonist Houston and bassist Carter debuted as a duo with 1989's Something In Common for Muse, and followed that up with five more sessions over the decades. Obviously, it’s a situation that both men enjoy, and if the enthusiastic reception of their releases is any indication, plenty of listeners and critics have also found joy in their repeated encounters. Remember Love presents a typically well-selected group of songs, with standards including My One and Only Love (gorgeous) and The Way You Look Tonight (tender and romantic), Luiz Bonfá’s Gentle Rain, the Ellington/Strayhorn masterpiece Day Dream, and a pair of originals in Carter’s Blues for D.P. and Person’s Why Not. The only real surprise, and a welcome one, is the inclusion of You Are My Sunshine, a feature for an unaccompanied Carter. To close the show, Person goes it alone on the standard Without a Song, where he chooses not to improvise at all but just state the melody with his warm and reedy sound. That’s all he really needs. It’s easy to take such mastery for granted after Person and Carter have spent so many years in the spotlight, but that would be a grave mistake. You’d miss the immense pleasure of hearing great melodies performed by two truly gifted jazzmen. Recommended, without a doubt.
HighNote HCD 7315; Houston Person (ts) Ron Carter (b); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 27, 2018; Love Is Here to Stay/ My One and Only Love/ Why Not/ Day Dream/ Gentle Rain/ The Way You Look Tonight/ You Are My Sunshine/ Blues for D.P./ Easy to Remember/ Without a Song; 52:46. www.jazzdepot.com

Justin Brown: Nyeusi and Peter Erskine & the Dr. Um Band: On Call

Jazz-rock fusion never really went away after the first wave of Gary Burton, John McLaughlin, Return To Forever, and Weather Report. Two recent examples in the evolution of fusion are led by drummers, one just starting out and the other an old hand. The youngster is Justin Brown, who’s been making a name for himself in bands led by Ambrose Akinmusire, Thundercat, and Flying Lotus. His debut CD, Nyeusi (Swahili for ‘black’), is chock-a-block with funky rhythms, synthesizer keyboards, electric pianos, and Mark Shim’s wind controller. Except for a version of the obscure Tony Williams song Circa 45, which appeared on Ego (a 1971 album by his Lifetime group), and Burniss, a snippet of a bass solo by Burniss Travis, Brown wrote all of the pieces, which mostly feel like minimalist structures designed to provoke the funk, with his rapid-fire drumming at the core. The funkier the music, the better it sounds, and somewhat surprisingly, Brown’s music largely ignores developments in hip hop in favor of older R’n’B and fusion styles. That makes Nyeusi a bit of a throwback, but Brown and company lay down grooves that are so strong, I don’t think anyone will mind.

The veteran is Peter Erskine, an extremely versatile and well-regarded performer who was first heard on records in the early Seventies with the Stan Kenton orchestra. Perhaps best known for his stint in Weather Report from 1978 to 1982, he’s also played with a broad range of jazz stars, including Stan Getz, Michael Brecker, Kenny Wheeler, and John Abercrombie, to note just a few. On Call is his third disc with saxophonist Bob Sheppard and keyboardist John Beasley as the Dr. Um Band, starting with Dr. Um and The Lost Pages (2016). Electric bassist Benjamin Shepherd came aboard for the 2017 follow-up, Second Opinion. The studio disc of On Call was recorded as part of an engineering master class, with an audience of about a dozen recording engineers, so of course it sounds great. The tunes are all tributes to different musicians, leading off with Erskine’s For the Time Being, dedicated to Airto Moreira. From the start, it’s apparent that the fluent Shepherd and hard-grooving Erskine make a great combination, and their rhythmic connection will keep things interesting at all times. Saxophonist Sheppard penned a toast to Jerry Bergonzi, Might As Well Be, which is a straight-ahead burner that elicits strong solo work by Beasley on piano and Sheppard on tenor and a pleasingly understated drum solo. The main problem I have listening to this group are the grating and predictable sounds that Beasley coaxes from his keyboard setup. He does no favors to Erskine’s Uncle Don, dedicated to Don Grolnick, by soloing with a fairly cheesy synthesizer setting. Basic observation: the more he sticks to acoustic piano, the more I like it. The second disc was recorded while on tour in Italy. The band didn’t know that the house engineer was recording the show, so it was a pleasant surprise for them to hear how well it turned out. (Quick ecological aside: I wonder why Erskine decided to make this a two-disc set, since all of the music here could have fit on one CD.) Playing songs from their first two releases, the quartet settles into a tight groove on the bluesy opener, Hipnotherapy by Erskine. For once, Beasley’s organ fits in just fine. The melody and execution of Hawaii Bathing Suit make for a happy occasion, and Sheppard rises to it with a rollicking solo, goaded by Erskine’s chipper drum work. Once again, Beasley’s thin-sounding electric keyboard detracts from the overall effect. Henry Mancini’s Dreamsville is given a down-tempo treatment, with a bit of a bossa nova feel, which fits the tune nicely. Bob Sheppard is impressive in his lengthy solo. Beasley’s Eleven Eleven is about as funky as this crew gets, with bassist Shepherd and Erskine having some fun with the disco-oriented confection. Another Erskine composition, the straight-forward Northern Cross, concludes the set with a soulful saxophone solo and another display of the admirable tightness that Erskine and Shepherd bring to each and every performance. The drummer’s solo on this one is testament to his chops and taste. All in all, a fun project that would sound so much better to these ears if Beasley would stick to piano.
Justin Brown: Biophilia BREP0012; Mark Shim (wind controller) Fabian Almazan (Fender Rhodes & Wurlitzer el p, Mopho synth) Jason Lindner (Moog, Mopho, Prophet synths) Burniss Travis (b) Justin Brown (d, perc, Fender Rhodes el p);Brooklyn, NY, June 24-25, 2015 *& August 15, 2017; Jupiter’s Giant Red Spot/ Lesson 1: DANCE/ Lots For Nothin’/ Waiting (Dusk)/ Waiting For Aubade/ At Peace (Dawn)/Lesson 2: PLAY/ Entering Purgatory/ Replenish/ FYFO/ Circa 45/ Burniss/ Lindner’s in your body!; 40:35. www.biophiliarecords.com (What you get from the label by the way is a “double-sided, 20-panel origami-inspired medium, bursting with vibrant artwork and liner notes ... made entirely out of FSC-certified, robust paper, hand-folded and printed using plant-based inks.” No CD included; instead there’s “a unique code for the listener to digitally download the music in hers/his preferred format including CD-quality, uncompressed WAV files.”)
Peter Erskine: Fuzzy Music PEPCD025; Bob Sheppard (saxes) John Beasley (p, kybds) Benjamin Shepherd (el b) Peter Erskine (d); Disc 1 (studio), Fort Wayne, IN, June 2017. Disc 2 (live), Occhiobello, Italy, June, 2017; Disc 1 (44:46): For The Time Being/ Might As Well Be/ If So Then/ Uncle Don/ Silver Linings/ Two Paths. Disc 2 (34:29): Hipnotherapy/ Hawaii Bathing Suit/ Dreamsville/ Eleven Eleven/ Northern Cross. petererskine.com

Chris Lightcap: Superette

Bassist Chris Lightcap and his pals in Superette (the band and the album title) are having a party, and everyone is invited. Two guitars plus bass and drums has always been a popular rock and roll format, but lately it’s been gaining currency in improvised music. Superette is Lightcap’s electric guitar venture, and he plays electric bass exclusively in this band, alongside Jonathan Goldberger and Curtis Hasselbring on guitars plus Dan Rieser on drums. (An aside: Hasselbring is best known as a trombonist, first appearing on record with the Either Orchestra and other Boston-area ensembles in the late Eighties. I’d appreciate it if someone could tell me the connection between trombone and guitar, a double that goes as far back as Eddie Durham with the Bennie Moten orchestra in 1929!) With special guests Nels Cline (of the Nels Cline 4 and Wilco) on guitar and John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin & Wood) on organ joining in on a few pieces, this is a gleefully genre-obliterating stew of rock, funk, blues, jazz, surf music, African pop and more. Six of the pieces are Lightcap compositions, and Hasselbring offers a pair of songs, Far Away Planet and Frozen Bread. To give a sense of where this band is coming from, there are also covers of three songs written by guitarists. Ace of Spades is by famed electric guitarist Link Wray, All Come to Meet Her is an elegant ballad from Skip Spence’s Oar, the 1969 cult album by the former member of Moby Grape, and Birds is from Neil Young’s classic 1970 release After The Gold Rush. Superette’s music pretty much ignores the typical rock structure of lead and rhythm guitar in favor of a robust group ethos. The groove and the ever-shifting texture of the instrumentation are what count. No one really stands out from the pack for long, even though there are plenty of opportunities. Superette is big loud fun from start to finish, and it’s cheerfully recommended.
Royal Potato Family no#; Jonathan Goldberger, Curtis Hasselbring (el g) Chris Lightcap (bass g) Dan Rieser (d) Nels Cline (el g on 3,5,7; lap steel g on 8) John Medeski (Hammond B3 org on 3,6,8; Wurlitzer org on 2); NYC, no dates specified; 1.Selector/ 2.She Walked In/ 3.Far Away Planet/ 4.While You Were Out/ 5.Djali/ 6. Calling On Cars/ 7.Ace of Spades/ 8.Light Trails/ 9.All Come to Meet Her/ 10.Frozen Bread/ 11.Birds; 55:38. www.chrislightcap.com

Chris Cochrane & Stuart Popejoy: Geologic Time

In the mood for some minimalist psychedelic drones? Then Geologic Time by the guitar/bass duo of Chris Cochrane & Stuart Popejoy is just what the doctor ordered. This is certainly not your father’s psychedelia. Starting with their live improvisations, the pair applied all sorts of electronic post-production. Together, the noise quotient and the continually varied swell of Eemian hit the sweet spot of unfettered electronic improvisation, with the resulting sound somewhere between the roar of a jet engine and uncontrolled feedback. I’m hooked. While Tractored Out offers more of a give and take between Cochrane and Popejoy instead of the undifferentiated mass of Eemian, the effect is similarly unsettling. When Date Night With the Kids continually threatens to spiral out of control, the basic stuttering pulse underneath it all just manages to holds things together. The title track, at just over ten minutes, is the longest piece of the six tracks. This varied series of groans, shrieks, whoops and burbles lies atop a bed of dark, sludgy drones, creating a brutal and uncompromising soundscape. The relatively brief Aesthete’s Foot hinges on a back forth movement between two notes, shaped by variations in intensity and attack. What To Do closes the set with an urgent blast of sound that comes close to bursting apart before fading back into silence. Played loud, Geologic Time is a good way to clear out a party; listened to on headphones, it’ll give your head a real scrubbing. Either way, this is one release that won’t be ignored.
Infrequent Seams (digital release); Chris Cochrane (g) Stuart Popejoy (b); prob. Brooklyn, NY, no dates specified; Eemian/ Tractored Out/ Date Night With the Kids/ Geologic Time/ Aesthete's Foot/ What To Do; 36:24. infrequentseams.com