6843/18858
AARDWOOF
1 — Bob Reigle/With Surreal estate: The latest in new music from deep in the heartlands of Nebraska. In their own words “All of the music on this Lp was totally improvised . . . exempt from moral and aesthetic preoccupations.” Each album sports a unique hand drawn cover. With Mike Mansfield, Tom Malone, and Mike Bergenstraesser.
2 — Bob Reigle/Solo Saxophone: “Melancholy melodies, raging squeals, controlled harmonics to soft airy sound explorations.” — Cadence
3 — Bob Reigle/The Marriage of Heaven and Earth: Bob’s third album combines his love of 20th Century classical, ethnic and avant-garde musics, utilizing both composed and improvised sections. Side One is a quartet piece featuring Air’s Steve McCall. Side Two features overdubbed saxophone and flute in a piece dedicated to Giacinto Scelsi and Cecil Taylor.
ABOUT TIME
1001 — Abdullah/Life’s Force: A very solid debut from one of the top New York loft scene trumpet players: with Jay Hoggard, vibes; Vincent Chancey, French horn; Muneer Abdul Fatah, cello; Jerome Hunter, bass; Rashied Sinan, drums.
1002 — Jerome Cooper/The Unpredictability of Predictability: “This is not just an album for drummers . . . anyone can dig this music. Classical music people can dig it because it’s structured, people into rock because of the beat, people into jazz because of the improvisational aspect, and those into ethnic, because of the instruments involved.” — Jerome Cooper — Solo Percussion.
1003 — Ronald Shannon Jackson/Eye on You: Ronald Shannon Jackson has arranged and composed a body of music reminiscent of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time group with excellent support from these virtuoso side-men: Billy Bang, violin: Byard Lancaster, alto and soprano saxophone: Charles Brackeen, tenor and soprano saxophone: Vernon Reid, electric and acoustic guitar: Erasto Vasconcelos, percussion, Melvin Gibbs, electric bass; and Bern Nix, electric guitar.
1004 — Henry Threadgill Sextet/When Was That?: Air’s saxophonist-flutist seems intent on expanding the boundaries of music with this unit (it’s actually a septet) and its versatile style. The compositions (all the leader’s) range from beautiful flowing chamber jazz to Bleyish-bluesish dirges to hard-swinging New Orleans stomp. All sounding like music you never heard before. The accent is on ensemble playing with plenty of room for personal statements, especially from Olu Dara (comet) and Craig Harris (trombone), two of the most-deeply-rooted-in-tradition brassmen on the scene today. Also with Pheeroan AkLaff (drums), Fred Hopkins (bass), John Betsch (drums), and Brian Smith (piccolo bass).
1005 — Henry Threadgill Sextet/Just The Facts and Pass the Bucket: This has to be Louis Armstrong’s and Jelly Roll Morton’s favorite record of the decade. Threadgill has reincarnated the sound and spirit of the New Orleans funeral band with a very modem sound. He is certainly one of the premier new jazz composers, and extracts an orchestral sound from this small band with the best brass section in town. New Old Mu-sic(?) Old New Music(?) New New Music! With: Henry Threadgill, flute, clarinet, alto & baritone saxophones; Craig Harris, trombone; Olu Dara, comet; Deirdre Murray, cello; Fred Hopkins, bass; Pheeroan AkLaff, John Betsch, percussion.
1006 — Willem Breuker Kollektiff/Collective: Carla Bley and Willem Breuker and now Vienna Art Orchestra are cut from the same mold. A twig taken from jazz, America’s original art form with roots in Gospel and Blues, grafted onto the band traditions of Europe. Wonderful solos and swinging tunes make this a hot Breuker record. From Kurt Weill’s “Benares” to “Kontrafunk” — not a weak cut in the bunch.
ADEYME
1 — The Freestyle Band: Bassist Earl Freeman, best know for his appearances on numerous BYG records and also for his work with Archie Shepp, teams up here with percussionist Philip Spigner and clarinetist Henry Warner. Definitely “New Age music” for those of us who miss the good old days.
ADVANCE
FGR-1 — Bertram Turetzky/New Music for Bass: Works by Gaburo, Martino, Perle, Weinberg, Sydeman, and Whittenberg written for and performed by the renowned virtuoso of the contrabass.
FGR-27 — American Society of University Composers: Richard Brooks/Sonata for Violin and Piano; Walter Hartley/Metamorphoses; Steven Gerber/String Quartet; Hehuda Yannay/The Hidden Melody.
ADVERSITY
1 — Su Tissue/Salon De Musique: Su Tissue is in a group called the Suburban Lawns. They must have been pretty hip, because one of the HIP people in New York called us up and asked us to talk to Su and possibly carry her new solo album. Su seems very shy and retiring with a voice so small it is almost inaudible. On this record, she sings wordless vocals in a lilting and sometimes powerful voice over repetitive and beautiful minimalist structures that seem to have little to do with her persona. Oh, yes. She also brought us a box of promotional tissues. Solo piano. “Su Tissue drowns a repeated Steve Reich-like piano figure in the ambience of a cabaret. I’d visit every night if she’d care to open it.” — GREG SANDOW.
AERIAL
482 — Bob Siebert/Six Lyric Pieces: New Music Distribution seems to specialize in records that defy category. One could look at this Bob Siebert LP as just a straight Jazz date or one could see more there, possibly due to the exclusive use of electric piano or the atypical nature of the compositions. This trio record sounds like a cross between John Klemmer and Terry Riley.
AGARIC
1980 — Borbetomagus: Borbetomagus is the original name for the German city of Worms. Cadence feels this group “puts through a Pollock of sound, an earshattering soundscape”. What do you think, Laurel? Donald Miller, guitar; Jim Sauter, reeds; Donald Dietrich, reeds; and Brian Doherty, electronics.
1981 — Borbetomagus Work On What Has Been Spoiled: The “Pollock of sound” guys return, with a more polished record, including English synthesist Hugh Davies, and take up the cudgel where they left off.
1982 — Borbetomagus/Sauter, Dietrich, Miller. Their third record consists of four untitled live improvisations of raw, screaming power. Each piece is described only by the location, one side from New York and one from New Jersey. Jim Sauter & Donald Dietrich (reeds) and Donald Miller (guitar).
1983 — Borbetomagus/Barbed Wire Maggots: A true sense of apocalypse (impending doom?) pervades this album by the trio of Jim Sauter and Don Dietrich . . . reeds and Donald Miller . . . guitar. Disturbing improvisations, to say the least. The boiler-maker-drinkers of New Music.
1984 — Borbetomagus/Zurich: More angst from the dissonance-to-the-forehead gang. Can two saxophones and one guitar really make this much noise? Sure. Good song titles, too: “Fried Tampons,” “Nein is the Loneliest Number,” etc.
1985 — Sauter Dietrich/Bella Together: Remember dueling banjos? Sauter and Dietrich (two-thirds of Borbetomagus) offer the sounds of two saxophones mating. Again and again.
AISHA
1001 — John Shaw/Spirits Fly with the Wind: Strong performances from composer/ tenor saxist Shaw, pianist Don Friedman, tenor saxophonist David Schnitter, and percussionist Candido in a jazz small group setting with guitar, bass, drums and fluegelhom included. John Shaw is a first-class, triple-threat composer, arranger and tenor saxophonist who is destined to become a force in contemporary jazz circles.
1002 — John Shaw/Assemblage: Saxophonist Shaw here has assembled a big band featuring name artists Frank Wess, Pete Yellin, Johnny Coles, Don Friedman, and Candido, to perform his interesting contemporary compositions. This is pure jazz from which Shaw departs in several different directions. The diversity and the unusual voicings on several tracks add to an already solid effort by all concerned.
AKASHIC
888 — John Okas/Music: John Okas, saxophones; James Hogan, guitars. “Duets exploring the melodic avant garde,” so they say.
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
0 comments