The Squid’s Ear Reviews

From the Squid’s Ear:

Morris / Voigt / Plsek – MVP LSD: The Graphic Scores of Lowell Skinner Davidson
Wadada Leo Smith / Jack Dejohnette – America
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto with Ensemble Modern – Utp
Mary Halvorson / Reuben Radding / Nate Wooley – Crackleknob
Christof Kurzmann / Burkhard Stangl – neuschnee
Biosphere – Wireless
Sophie Agnel – Capsizing Moments
Annette Krebs & Rhodri Davies – Kravis Rhonn Project
Ikue Mori – Class Insecta
Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra – Poetics
Morton Feldman – For Bunita Marcus
Juno el Grande – Neo Dada

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Jon Irabagon finds the balance between inside and outside jazz

From the Chicago Reader:

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon, who grew up in Morton Grove and later Gurnee and studied music at DePaul University, has steadily made a name for himself since relocating to New York in 2001 to pursue further studies at the Manhattan School of Music. For the plast few years he’s earned plaudits for his work in the gonzo freebop quartet Mostly Other People Do the Killing, and last year he made an impressive debut as a leader with his band Outright! With these projects and as an in-demand sideman he routinely erases the boundaries between hard bop and free jazz, excelling at both approaches.

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Sonomu Reviews

From Sonomu:

Astro, Shell Star/Spica (Cipher Productions)
Everybody seems to presume that the sound of outer space should be floaty, only slightly eerie and perfectly symmetrical. From Pythagoras to Gustav Holst, theorists, musicians and artists alike have posited some kind of harmony of the spheres or gently pulsing or undulating rhythm. But I believe… [read]
Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 09:09, 17 Jul 2009

Richard Bone, Sudden Departure (Quirkworks Laboratory Discs)
Richard Bone´s twenty-five year recording career has seen him release music of impressive diversity – from the dark ambient of “The Spectral Ships” to the playful exotica of “Electropica“. But never has he dubbed an album with such an obvious misnomer as this one. “Sudden” implies rushed or… [read]
Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 06:49, 13 Jul 2009

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2009 Chicago Jazz Festival

This year’s Chicago Jazz Festival offers a strong lineup. Excerpts below.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Jazz on Jackson
• 2:20-3:15 pm – Jason Adasiewicz’s Rolldown

Petrillo Music Shell
• 5:00-5:50 pm – Jeff Parker Quartet
• 6:00-6:55 pm – The Trio featuring Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis and Roscoe Mitchell

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Jazz on Jackson
• 12:00-12:55 pm – Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards
• 2:20–3:15 pm – Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Strings

Petrillo Music Shell
• 5:00-5:50 pm – 80th-Birthday Jam with Fred Anderson
• 7:10-8:10 pm – William Parker presents “The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield”
• 8:30-9:30 pm – Dave Holland Big Band

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Jazz on Jackson
• 2:20-3:15 pm – James Falzone’s KLANG: The Goodman Project

Petrillo Music Shell
• 5:00-5:50 pm – Archie Shepp Quartet featuring Willie Pickens, Avery Sharpe and Ronnie Burrage
• 8:30-9:30 pm – The Arthur Hoyle Orchestra conducted by Muhal Richard Abrams

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Jazz Listings from the New York Times

From NYTimes.com:

A BODY WITHOUT ORGANS (Sunday) This metaphysically named series, held every other Sunday in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, reflects the rugged ideals of its organizer, the drummer Mike Pride. In the later sets here, at roughly 10 p.m., he leads a quartet called From Bacteria to Boys; an earlier set, at 9, features a quartet led by the incisive trumpeter Kirk Knuffke. Coco66, 66 Greenpoint Avenue, between Franklin and West Streets, Greenpoint, Brooklyn , (718) 389-7392, coco66.com; cover, $6. (Chinen)20090716

ANDREW D’ANGELO GAY DISCO TRIO (Friday) Strenuous, polymorphous improvisation is the mandate of this working band with Andrew D’Angelo, an alto saxophonist and bass clarinetist; Trevor Dunn, a focused bassist; and Jim Black, a feverishly inventive drummer. (The name is a red herring, but a tasty one.) At 9 and 10:30 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, West Village , (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)20090716

DIGITAL PRIMITIVES (Sunday) The multireedist Assif Tsahar, the multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore and the percussionist Chad Taylor make up this experimental ensemble, which released an album of the same title a few years ago. For this engagement they welcome a sturdy interloper, Charlie Burnham, on violin. At 8 p.m., Zebulon, 258 Wythe Avenue, near Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn , (718) 218-6934, zebuloncafeconcert.com; no cover. (Chinen)20090716

TOMAS FUJIWARA AND THE HOOK UP (Wednesday) Mr. Fujiwara’s alert drumming has propelled some excellent ensembles on the new-music landscape. Here he presents his own open-ended compositions for a band with Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Brian Settles on tenor saxophone, Mary Halvorson on guitar and Danton Boller on bass. At 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn , (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com; $10. (Chinen)20090716

JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY (Saturday) This freewheeling jam band recently expanded from trio to quartet form: its full lineup now includes the pianist Brian Haas, the lap steel guitarist Chris Combs, the bassist Matt Hayes and the drummer Josh Raymer. The group has a new album, “Winterwood,” available for free download at jfjo.com; this one-night stand should strike a similar mood of swirling whimsy. At 11:30 p.m., Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village , (212) 598-7100, joespub.com; $12 in advance; $15 at the door. (Chinen)20090716

JOE MORRIS’S WILDLIFE (Friday) “Wildlife” (Aum Fidelity), an engagingly prickly new album by the guitarist-turned-bassist Joe Morris, features a working free-jazz trio with the expressive saxophonist Petr Cancura and the responsive drummer Luther Gray. It’s a small but potent effort, and it probably only hints at what’s possible in performance. At 8 p.m., Barbès, 376 Ninth Street, at Sixth Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn , (347) 422-0248, barbesbrooklyn.com; cover, $10. (Chinen)20090716

TRIO 3 (Monday) This avant-garde supergroup, with Oliver Lake on alto saxophone, Reggie Workman on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums, has been working on and off together for 20 years. Capable of tenderness as well as of turbulence, it’s a collective entity that explores every available option in the course of a performance — even, one hopes, a free performance in a bookstore. At 6 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway, at 66th Street , (212) 595-6859; free. (Chinen)

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