Michael Vlatkovich: With You Jazz Cat

  It always brightens my day when a new CD from trombonist/composer Michael Vlatkovich arrives. His latest communiqué is With You Jazz Cat, nine new tunes arranged for an octet plus a short trombone and piano duet. The bittersweet opener is Mister 60, with a fine Vlatkovich solo, buoyed by the rhythm section of keyboardist (and recording engineer) Wayne Peet, bassist Dominic Genova, and percussionist Ken Park. Vlatkovich’s music draws on jazz of all eras, movie and cartoon music, and a whole lot more, all filtered though his idiosyncratic temperament and unique sense of humor. The mission seems to create an always fresh and always changing setting that frames and enhances the solo work by Vlatkovich and his confrères. Especially bright moments are provided by Peet’s soulful organ introduction to Friends 9113, a wild soprano sax solo by Andrew Park on Bob, the fish that discovered water, bassist Genova’s well-mannered solo on the Ellington-ish 011 ...... 923, the ensemble’s lush sonorities on Association of the Well Meaning, and of course, Vlatkovich himself. I was particularly knocked out by his endearingly melancholy solo on the ironically titled Nursing Home fashion show and his lyrical spot on Friends 9113, not to mention his gut-bucket style outing on Bob, the fish that discovered water. Check out With You Jazz Cat and you’ll be sure to find your own favorites. Happily recommended. 

pfMENTUM PFMCD142; Greg Zilboorg, Louis Lopez (tpt) Michael Vlatkovich (tbn) Bill Plake (ts) Andrew Pask (ss, bari s) Wayne Peet (kybds) Dominic Genova (b) Ken Park (perc); Los Angeles, CA, 2018-2020; Mister 60/ Don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone/ Friends 9113/ Bob, the fish that discovered water/ Nursing Home fashion show/ 011 ...... 923/ I’ll show him who he thinks we are/ Association of the Well Meaning/ How is anyone going to recognize you without your disguise?/ Jazz Cat; 61:24. www.pfmentum.com

Michael Vlatkovich 5 Winds: Five Of Us

One of my favorite aspects of the first wave of jazz recordings in stereo, around 1957 and 1958, was the direct relationship between where musicians were positioned physically in the studio and the spatial dimensions of the finished product. When, for example, the baritone saxophone player was at the far left, he was also on that side of your listening room. The peripatetic and imaginative trombonist Michael Vlatkovich creates different musical situations for himself wherever he goes. Five Of Us is new from the innovative pfMENTUM label, source of many Vlatkovich projects, and the music is presented in that old school style. The ensemble is Michael Vlatkovich 5 Winds, with a line-up, from left to right, of the great David Mott on baritone saxophone, Lina Allemano on trumpet, Mr. Vlatkovich in the dead center with his trombone, Nicole Rampersaud on trumpet, and Peter Lutek on tenor saxophone and frankenpipe, which I discovered is “an attempt at converting a traditional Highland bagpipe into a MIDI controller.” (Lutek also expertly recorded, mixed, and mastered the disc.) Vlatkovich, who wrote all the pieces, authors some of the most cheerfully odd music you’ve ever heard, as you might guess from a glance at some of his song titles. The first nine tracks comprise the 5 Winds Suite, and there’s so much beauty packed into the melody and arrangement of Part 1: Six, the listener is ready for anything, secure in the feeling that whatever the 5 Winds throw at you will make you happy. And so it is, for more than an hour. It seems that limitations, particularly self-imposed ones, often lead to creative breakthroughs. Three brass and two reeds is an unusual combination, but a potent one when the players are as self-assured and accomplished as Vlatkovich and his partners. Key attractions are the leader’s limber and expressive trombone, the sheer beauty of the melody of For You, the gorgeous brass wail on a piece like Part 5: Five, Mott’s creamy baritone, and Vlatkovich’s inventive charts. I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of Vlatkovich’s music over the years, but Five Of Us might be his best outing of all. Heartily recommended. pfMENTUM PFMCD130; Lina Allemano, Nicole Rampersaud (tpt) Michael Vlatkovich (tbn) Peter Lutek (ts, frankenpipe) David Mott (bari s); Toronto, ON, June 3, 2015; Please Help Me I’m Blowing Bubbles/ 5 Winds Suite (Part 1: Six; Part 2: Twenty-Six; Part 3: Nineteen -> No. 7, Part 4: Zero; Part 5: Five; Part 6: One; Part 7: Twenty-Four; Part 8: Nineteen; Part 9: Ninety-Three)/ For You/ Natural Identical Flowers/ People in My Wallet/ (Alt), The Recognition of Rhythm in the Life of Worldly Things/ What Question Did the Man with Seven Ears and Three Eyes Ask the Plastic Surgeon?/ For the Protection of Yourself and Others You’ll Need to Wear Your Space Suit; 64:44. pfmentum.com

Steph Richards times four

There was a time when I could keep pretty good track of all the musicians in the jazz world that I was interested in hearing. By tracking musicians from album to album, I would discover yet more names to follow. Alas, there are always more players to listen to, I'm getting older, and the existence of the internet mocks my internal database of improvisers. Still, there’s plenty of value to be gained by tracing a particular musician’s path, enjoying her work and, in the process, discovering yet more music to savor. The work of trumpeter Steph Richards occasions these thoughts.

 

My first exposure to her playing was Trio Music, a 2017 recording by Vinny Golia, Steph Richards & Bert Turetzky. I’ve been a Golia fan for ages, and I know he’s a busy guy. Double bass wizard Bert Turetzky is in his eighties. So based on her companions, I gathered that Steph Richards will be someone definitely worth hearing, and now having listened I’m not disappointed. Her dark sound seems to be infinitely adaptable, from wobbly to clear and bright. The quickness of her responses and her self-assured attitude in this freely improvised batch of performances are a delight. Turetzky, with his arco rumbles, and Golia, with his panoply of woodwinds and “ethnic aerophones,” are lively collaborators who first recorded as a duo back in 1986 for Golia’s Nine Winds imprint. Previous trio sessions for the pair have added such luminaries as trombonist George Lewis (1996 and 2003), trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith (1997), and bassist Barre Phillips (1998), which puts Richards in very good company. Over the course of a dozen fairly short improvisations, the trio explores a range of moods and approaches. The spaciousness of the music and the superbly recorded and mixed sound (thanks to Andrew Munsey, who we’ll get back to in this post) are a real plus here, helping the listener truly appreciate the individual sounds of each musician. While I have my favorites, including the buzzy and gnarly Cerberus (and what a great name for a trio improv!) and the unsettled slip-slide of Atazoy, any music fan that listens to Trio Music with an open heart will find much to enjoy. pfMENTUM PFMCD117; Steph Richards (tpt, flgh) Vinny Golia (winds, ethnic aerophones) Bert Turetzky (b); San Diego, CA, April 23, 2017; Solana/ Proprioception/ Cerberus/ As I was Saying…/ $19.95/ SunnySide Up/ Desert Wind/ Hector Shear makes his entrance…(could they really exist in Maine?)/ Atazoy/ The Paradox of Zazu Pitts/ Descendant Un Escalier/ The Duo That Became A Trio; 53:26. pfmentum.com

Now that I knew that her work merited close attention, I latched onto Resonant Bodies, a duo project from 2015 featuring Stephanie Richards on trumpet, flugelhorn, and percussion, with percussionist Andrew Drury limiting himself to just a floor tom and timpani. When the pair listened to what they’d improvised, again recorded by Andrew Munsey, “the timbres suggested thawing glaciers to us--groaning, cracking, splitting, of large masses of ancient ice under extreme pressure, moving and melting.” Hence the album’s title, Thaw, with the fairly brief tracks named after glaciers on five continents. The duo conjure up some truly odd combinations of sounds, with the source often unrecognizable. There’s an appealing rawness to their encounters, as they ignore many of the usual qualities of music like melody, harmony, and tempo, in favor of brutal expression. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it’s a trip worth taking for fans of boldly adventurous improvising. Different Track 50004; Stephanie Richards (tpt, snare d, flgh, timpani) Andrew Drury (floor tom, timpani); San Diego, CA, November 2015; THAW/ Kilimanjaro 2040/ Fracture (for Larsen C)/ Mendenhall/ Drangajökull/ Kangiata Nunaata Sermia/ Nisqually/ Thwaites/ Panchchuli/ Snow Dome/ Athabasca/ RETREAT; 28:32. resonantbodies.bandcamp.com

Released, like Thaw, in the spring of 2018, Stephanie Richards’s first recording under her own name is Fullmoon. The format is another duet, this time with electronic musician Dino J.A. Deane who live-samples her trumpet and manipulates the results back into the mix. This makes for a wild and almost limitless encounter, sometimes busy, sometimes sparse, but always deeply intriguing. As a way of making music, improvised music in general is especially suited for headphone listening, and Fullmoon is a great example. Close listening reveals both the nuances of Richards’ mercurial trumpet and the finely honed interactions of instrument and sampler. By and large, Richards maintains a fairly clean, brassy sound, allowing Deane to “mess it up” with whatever effects he brings to bear. Highlights include the other-worldly atmosphere evoked on piano, the chilly purity of the very brief half moon, and the calmly meditative gong (part I). All told, a fascinating recital, rich in surprises and well worth a listen. Relative Pitch RPR1066 (CD, lp): Stephanie Richards (tpt, flgh, perc) Dino J.A. Deane (sampler); prob. San Diego, CA, no dates specified; new moon/ snare/ piano/ half moon/ gong (pt. 1)/ gong (pt. 2)/ timpani/ full moon (pt. 1)/ full moon (pt. 2); 32:46. www.relativepitchrecords.com

Steph Richards’ most recent release is Take The Neon Lights, where she helms a quartet with James Carney on piano, Sam Minaie on bass, and Andrew Munsey on drums. Richards, who composed all the tunes, co-produced the set with Munsey, who also mixed and mastered the session. Richards, who can whisper and growl with equal commitment, employs a wide vocabulary of shrieks, burbles, and fluttery bursts of sound. Add to that her careful manipulation of mutes and a trick bag of extended techniques, all allied to a fertile and fearless musical imagination. Richards’ open-ended compositions, doubtlessly influenced by her work with notable composers and bandleaders like Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill, also build on her unconventional approach to the trumpet. Tunes like the mysterious and hard-driving Brooklyn Machine, the disquieting Rumor of War, and the densely propulsive Stalked By Tall Buildings unfold in series of unexpected twists and turns. Richards’ peregrinations are, naturally, the main focus here, but pianist Carney is worth some attention as well. From his scattered inside-the-piano work on Time and Grime to his brisk and meaty solo on Skull of Theatres, Carney seems preternaturally attuned to the many nuances of Richards’ playing. With Minaie and Munsey maintaining a careful rhythmic scaffold, and the adventuresome Carney matching wits with Richards, Take The Neon Lights is a compelling and nearly irresistible release. Recommended. Birdwatcher BW008; Stephanie Richards (tpt, flgh) James Carney (p) Sam Minaie (b) Andrew Munsey (d); Paramus, NJ, no dates specified; Take The Neon Lights and Wear A Crown/ Brooklyn Machine/ Time and Grime/ Rumor of War/ Transitory (Gleams)/ Skull of Theatres/ Stalked By Tall Buildings/ All the Years of Our Lives; 44:02. birdwatcherarts.org

Vinny Golia and Ken Filiano: Elongation

Vinny Golia and Ken Filiano engage in an extended musical dialogue on the stimulating Elongation. Multi-instrumentalist Golia, whose command of an array of wind instruments is unparalleled, is heard here on saxello, sopranino and tenor saxes, bass clarinet, flutes from Turkey (ney) and Bulgaria (kaval), and djura gaida, a Bulgarian bagpipe. His link with bassist Filiano goes back to the middle Eighties, and the two have recorded together on dozens of projects since then, including a previous duo album in 1996, The Art Of Negotiation for CIMP Records. Those years of collaboration pay off here as Golia and Filiano match wits with breathtaking speed and bravura. A moment by moment recap of their endeavors is pointless, as well as impossible. Suffice it to note that Elongation is a fervent and inspired 62 minutes of bold duets, enlivened by Golia’s ongoing sonic explorations of instruments from all the cultures of the world. The recording was made in 2009, the CD was issued in 2016, but I just ran across this in a pile of review discs. Good taste is timeless, right?
pfMENTUM CD098/Ninewinds; Vinny Golia (djura gaida [Bulgarian bagpipe], saxello, sop sax, ts, bcl, Turkish ney, kaval) Ken Filiano (b, elec); Valencia, CA, May 19, 2009; Prologue/ Elongation, section A/ Elongation, section B/ Written in H2O/ Elongation, section C/ Your final Phone call arrives for Victoria Galli/ Elongation, section D/ Elongation, section E/ Siri/ Elongation, section F/ Epilogue; 62:53. pfmentum.com

Wayne Peet Trio: What The?

Keyboardist, occasional bandleader, and recording engineer par excellence Wayne Peet has long been a mainstay of the Southern California improvised music scene. He first recorded with guitarist Nels Cline back in 1980 as part of a large ensemble led by bassist Roberto Miranda, and they’ve worked together sporadically in the decades since. Peet, Cline, and drummer Russell Bizzett are the Wayne Peet Trio, captured live in Peets’s Los Angeles studio over two days in 2006 for the just-issued What The? on the pfMENTUM label. An earlier edition of the band, with guitarist G.E. Stinson joining the fun, recorded Live At Al’s Bar in 1999, also for pfMENTUM. Here the trio stretches out at length on four of Peet’s tunes, Cline’s supercharged Chase to the Cut, and four group improvisations. Peet is heard mostly on organ, with little touches of clavinet and theremin. For the most part, the music just sort of flows along as riffs come and go. The focus drifts between Cline and Peet with no one voice dominant for very long. The music is often pretty laid-back, though they do build up a head of steam in parts of Capable Faith and again towards the end of the fifteen-minute extravaganza Improv 3 - Special Feeling, as Cline’s effects-laden guitar threatens to break things wide open. There’s also a deliciously rambunctious passage in the middle of Improv 2 - Above & Beyond the Bend. While organ groups tend to aim for danceability and a soulful, blues feeling, that vibe is mostly absent here in favor of an atmospheric approach to sound and the free exchange of musical ideas. Mostly, but not altogether, as the trio slams through the concluding title track on waves of electric guitar, snaky organ, muscular pedal bass, and Bizzett’s fierce beats. Peet’s musical world embraces the happy accidents of improvisation and the surprises that result from allowing the music to go in any direction. What The? is a kick, with thanks to Peet and pfMENTUM for rescuing this set from the archives.
pfMENTUM PFMCD127; Wayne Peet (Hammond B3 organ, clav, theremin, FX) Nels Cline (g, FX) Russell Bizzett (d); Los Angeles, CA, June 6-7, 2006; Capable Faith/ Devout Vulgarity/ Improv 1 - Immoral Dilemma/ Improv 3 - Special Feeling/ Chase to the Cut/ Hushbubba/ Improv 2 - Above & Beyond the Bend/ Improv 4 - Momently/ What the?; 75:49. pfmentum.com

Vinny Golia: Intercommunications: Music For Woodwinds and Percussion

Multi-instrumentalist and visionary composer Vinny Golia plays all the instruments on Intercommunications: Music For Woodwinds and Percussion, and what an aggregation of horns and percussion devices he’s assembled for the project. The scrum of flutes, saxophones, piccolos, bass clarinet, basset horn and various ethnic reeds is shadowed by Himalayan singing bowls and various gongs as Golia concocts an indelibly unique soundscape. While I listened to the flow of the music, I began to wonder about Golia’s methodology. Did each track start with a solo horn performance, with more reeds added next? Or maybe he started with the gongs, and overdubbed the horns from there. However he put it together, the results are a brashly unpredictable riot of tone colors and unusual sonorities. Despite the overdub methodology, there’s a surprising feeling of spontaneity and serendipity throughout the proceedings. Particular favorites include the austere opener, Rongorongo - Opening For Richard Nuns, the eerily subdued The Taulas of Menorca, the meditative Xenoglossy, the occasion for an excitingly complex soprano sax solo, the brief and busy Dedicated to the Great Instrument Builders: Eva, Peter, and Benedict, which reminds me of Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant from a Nonesuch album with music from Bali. Intercommunications offers a fascinating dip into inventive musical mind of Vinny Golia, and is well worth an hour of your time.
pfMENTUM CD111/Ninewinds NWCD329; Vinny Golia (Maori bird call, C & G picc, alto fl, bass fl, basset horn, bcl, G mezzo & Bb ss, sop sax, Tibetan trumpets, gyaling, fujara, overtone flutes, Himalayan singing bowls, gongs) Valencia, CA, October 2016; Rongorongo - Opening For Richard Nuns/ Let Me Introduce Myself, I’m Norman Reed/ The Taulas of Menorca/ I...Have a Turtle Neck and Can Be Trusted/ Hessdalan Lights/ Nazca Lines/ Xenoglossy/ Dedicated to the Great Instrument Builders: Eva, Peter, and Benedict/ The Agropelter...(Bobo...How are You?...)/ Unexpected Incidents For Wenseslao Moquel; 55:22. www.pfmentum.com

George McMullen Trio: Boomerang

         I’ve had a soft spot for a trombone, bass and drums trio ever since I first heard Albert Mangelsdorff with Elvin Jones and Palle Danielsson on 1975's The Wide Point. That feeling was reinforced by the long-running BassDrumBone trio. The trombonist/leader of the George McMullen Trio has been gigging around California since the early Nineties, notably in a succession of large ensembles led by Vinny Golia. Boomerang with bassist Nick Rosen and percussionist Alex Cline is his first release as a leader. They jump right out for the jaunty title track, the first of seven McMullen compositions that share the space with four group improvisations. It’s abundantly clear from the first bar that these three gents are deeply attuned to one another, with an enticing, finger-snapping bounce that grabbed me right away. Solos by each player introduce their individual sounds, in a time-honored strategy for opening tracks. McMullen has the smooth, clear sound of a modern trombonist, with little hint of the gritty and growling approach so common in the early days of jazz. Bassist Rosen’s solo is lyrically and rhythmically astute, keeping the flow going with quiet commentary from Cline, a distinguished percussionist who’s built a solid and varied discography since his earliest recordings back in 1977. Rosen is a new name to me, but on the basis of his work here, I hope to be hearing a lot more from him. Cline takes a succinct solo before bringing the trio back to the theme. Follow the Bouncing Ball is an impressive display of group cohesion as the tempo keeps shifting. The piece starts out with a quickly limned theme, then slows way down for the start of McMullen’s beautifully articulate solo before speeding up again. Once again, Rosen takes an effectively emotional solo. The first of the improvs follows, Earth Mystery. The short track is an exercise in slowly moving long tones, with McMullen’s carefully held notes, Rosen wielding his bow and Cline concentrating on his cymbals. I Loved Her Laugh is a bittersweet ballad that features McMullen’s thoughtful trombone, steeped in regret and loss, with Rosen’s brief solo maintaining the mood. From the title, I was expecting The Open Gate to have a lot of energy, but instead it’s rather laid-back, opening with a Cline drum solo before meandering along without much resolution. The three-way call-and-response structure of Improv II; Air Currents leads them to another brief exploration of the sonic possibilities of this lineup. It also serves as a lead-in to Geonomic Preview, with an upbeat theme that has Rosen and Cline in a tight lock while McMullen glides and soars on top. Rosen’s solo is a beaut, at once sensitive and robust. The lachrymose Waiting is another tender ballad, with McMullen’s expressively subdued trombone leading the way. A rapturous bass solo by Rosen opens Dirty Stinking Lowdown Cryin’ Shame, a sort of altered blues featuring Cline’s off-kilter drumming and McMullen’s modern gloss on old-school trombone playing. The last of the group improvisations, Fire, Dancing, offers some exciting free-wheeling interactions, bringing this largely enjoyable set to a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.
pfMENTUM PFMCD120; George McMullen (tb) Nick Rosen (b) Alex Cline (d, perc); West Los Angeles, CA, August 16, 2015; Boomerang/ Follow the Bouncing Ball/ Improv I; Earth Mystery/ I Loved Her Laugh/ The Open Gate/ Improv II: Air Currents/ Geonomic Preview/ Waiting/ Improv III; Prairie Wind/ Dirty Stinking Lowdown Cryin’ Shame/ Improv IV; Fire, Dancing; 53:29. pfmentum.com