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Itinerary
1991 release ** "Recorded at the Listen to Lacy festival in Vienna, 1990, this large ensemble recording is really the Steve Lacy Sextet plus ten. One of the dectet members is Franz Koglmann. Although some of Lacy's other large group experiments met with mixed results, it is not so here. Itinerary, with its seven selections, is an orchestral work on par with at of Gil Evans' (to whom this record is dedicated) Out of the Cool sessions for Impulse, and of course the Gil Evans and Ten recordings tha…
Annum Per Annum
1995 release ** Contemporary music for organ by Arvo Pärt, John Cage and Giacinto Scelsi.
35th Reunion
2000 release (no OBI) ** "It may be unfair to compare this recording to the seminal album recorded on ESP almost 35 years earlier, but such comparisons are hard to resist. In truth, the group -- now with Amiri Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) assuming an expanded role and bassist Reggie Workman substituting for the late Lewis Worell -- sounds as fresh and, yes, revolutionary as it did back in the heyday of 1960s radicalism. To be sure, each member has changed, but the sounds here are surprisingly r…
Through Acceptance Of The Mystery Peace: The Music Of William Parker
1998 release ** "This recording is an important part of bassist William Parker's early discography and comprises four ensemble pieces. The sound quality is slightly subpar, but the raw, 1960s feel of this album should appeal to those who appreciate the unassuming brilliance of this giant of the string bass. Each of the four tracks features different groups, with Parker composing all the pieces and appearing on all four. The two larger ensembles presage some of the large bands Parker was to lead …
The Environmental Control Office
2003 release ** "An important release is not necessarily a great release, and while the rare Environmental Control Office recording of legendary Swedish saxophonist and clarinetist Bengt Frippe Nordström is a significant contribution to the discography of Swedish jazz, his lengthy improvisations remind the listener of Albert Ayler on an off day, which when you think about it is a complement of sorts. Nordström squeezes a primitive sound from his horns, his tenor sounding precisely how drummer Pe…
Take Some Risks
1989 release ** "On November 23, 1986, at the Galerie Maximilien Guiol, a small art space in Paris, Alan Silva, Roger Turner, Misha Lobko, Didier Petit, and Bruno Girard shared the stage for the first time. They knew each other well, since they had all performed alongside one another in various groupings, but as a quintet, as this quintet, it was their first concert. From the moment Turner starts hitting his metal scraps, they all dive in and begin to Take Some Risks. A satisfying session, focus…
Drum Sketches
2007 release ** "Susie Ibarra is a percussionist, but she doesn’t hit you over the head with the fact. Rather, her powerfully delicate, insistent sounds seem to emanate from the landscape of drums and tuned gongs by themselves. Drum Sketches, Ibarra’s first solo CD following several Tzadik ensemble releases, is inspired by various images and sounds of her native Philippines. Among her glowing array of percussion are tuned bronze Kulintang gongs and a Surunay xylophone that blend with field recor…
Ethnoloopography
1994 release ** "37 Strange (and not so strange) ethnic rhythms, chants and musical pieces sampled, repeated, distorted or transformed in nightmarish landscapes... it's not new age effect, this scares...."
Crossing Ngoli
1992 release ** "Greinke and Angus met at Penn State where they started composing and performing together. In 1982 they moved to Seattle and began playing in clubs and festivals, working with a variety of musicians in various bands and projects. Their work as a duo was documented on the classic album Crossing Ngoli (Ear-Rational, 1992)."
Meanwhile
1995 release ** "Trance Mission creates powerful electro-tribal ambience with a variety of standard, traditional, and eclectic devices. Meanwhile, their second CD, is a collection of tribal atmospheres forged with respect and passion. Stephen Kent, Kenneth Newby, Beth Custer, and John Loose are constantly on the same page. They impact the respect and reflect the passion. It is all done with varying degrees of urgency. Kent's didg creates the drone from which Newby's atmospheres arise. Custer's r…
Invocation
1995 release ** Tuu were an ambient group that specialized in incorporating Tibetan instrumentation, among other regional elements, into their music. They tended to also use tribal or ritual ambient bits as well. From the mitical "Invocation" tape we offer a totally remastered music with some new tracks. As usual, Tuu's music has a unique touch: ghatam, tablas, flutes and pipes, harmonium and synthesiser meet togheter in a magic language."
All Our Ancestors
1994 release ** "Tuu is one of those bands that manages to straddle the seemingly disparate worlds of traditional ethnic music and ambient electronica, somewhat the same way that African Head Charge and Mouth Music do, but with very different results. In this case, the interactions between synthesist Mykl O'Dempsey, exotic percussionist Martin Franklin, and flutist Rebecca Lublinski (who spends most of her time on either the bansuri or the Chinese flute) result in a music that is dark and strang…
Tout De Suite
1994 release ** "This is the logical companion to Tout Court. The lineup has been hardly changed. The only newcomer is Alfred Spirli, who alternates percussion duties with Xavier Desandre. Yves Robert also sticks to the same formula with an emphasis on musical vignettes. The relationship with Tout Court is also underlined by the deliberate choice of opening with the composition that concluded its predecessor, "Epilogue" -- several other pieces are also revisited. It would be a mistake, however, …
The Firmament / Fury
1994 release ** "Hooker's music is good, unabash ed free-jazz improvising. He and Lawrence make an effective duet: Hooker's rolling bed of drumming avoids direct comment on Lawrence's strong, Lyons-inflected alto. Of the trio and quartet tracks on the album, Pralaya and Radiance are probably the strongest. The horn players get their solo moments and do well with them, but the music is framed to emphasize the group, and that's where a listener's ears are drawn. There's good group improvising to b…
Jazzbühne Berlin '82
1990 release (RARE) ** Recorded live at Volksbühne East Berlin on June 13, 1982.
Honig Und Asche
1998 release ** "A cosmopolitan synthesis of visionary music and outstanding poetry" is the concept and program of "Honey and Ashes," according to the press release. This claim naturally raises many questions about the work of German saxophonist Michael Riessler: Is it jazz—what constitutes "jazz"? There is little improvisation, as "Honey and Ashes" is largely through-composed. Is it contemporary classical music? Can you find pounding bass drums in classical music? "Honey and Ashes" is a speech …
Rough Ride
2002 release ** "The drummer and band leader Lucas Niggli, with his trio ZOOM and quintet Big ZOOM, provided the big surprises at many festivals last year: the band's concerts in Moers, Saalfelden, Willisau, Münster, Schauffhausen count among these festivals' highlights. «Unbelievable how the genre-idioms from blues, rock and jazz styles are paired up among each other in the controlled gesture of new music,» said the journalist Marcus Maida after the performance at the Moers Festival. «Everythin…