Ullmann/Swell 4tet featuring Barry Altschul at Firehouse 12

From http://www.improvisedcommunications.com:

Ullmann/Swell 4tet featuring Barry Altschul
Firehouse 12
45 Crown Street in New Haven, CT
Tickets are $15 (opening set) and $10 (second set)
Tickets are available at http://www.firehouse12.com or (203) 785-0468
Learn more at http://www.gebhard-ullmann.com/ullmannswell.htm
Images are available online or by request

Gebhard Ullmann, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet; Steve Swell, trombone; Hilliard Greene, bass; Barry Altschul, drums

Media Contact for Firehouse 12:
Scott Menhinick, Improvised Communications
(617) 489-6561
scott@improvisedcommunications.com

On Friday, March 30th, New Haven’s Firehouse 12 will present a two-set performance by the all-star Ullmann/Swell 4tet. Co-led by saxophonist/clarinetist Gebhard Ullmann (Basement Research, BASSX3, Conference Call) and trombonist Steve Swell (Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, William Parker’s Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra), the group also features bassist Hilliard Greene (Dave Douglas, Charles Gayle, Jimmy Scott) and drummer Barry Altschul (Paul Bley, Circle, Sam Rivers). This performance is part of an early spring tour of the Eastern United States and Canada during which the band will record its second CD.

Critics called the group’s 2004 debut, Desert Songs And Other Landscapes (CIMP), “a fiery set full of explorative colorful solos and dynamic group interplay” (Scott Yanow, All Music Guide) and “intelligent, articulate pieces of modernist music making” (Duncan Heining, Jazzwise). In a 2005 live review, AllAboutJazz-New York editor Laurence Donohue-Greene wrote, “Reminiscent of the NY Art Quartet (particularly Swell’s brassy Roswell Rudd roots and Altschul’s Milford Graves-like, multi-rhythmic expertise), this quartet’s tight heads and arrangements, and intertwining improvisations around highly structured pieces, demanded undivided attention.”

Collectively the members of Ullmann/Swell 4tet have performed and recorded with the most recognizable names in creative music. Ullmann has recorded more than 30 releases as a leader and co-leader, working regularly with players including Gerald Cleaver, Joe Fonda, and Michael Jefry Stevens. Swell appears on over 70 recordings, including a dozen as a leader, and has collaborated with everyone from Joey Baron to Makanda Ken McIntyre to Buddy Rich. Greene’s 20+ year career is equally diverse, and includes solo bass concerts in addition to work as musical director for Jimmy Scott and concert master for Cecil Taylor’s Phtongos. Altschul, perhaps best known for his long association with Paul Bley, was a member of the supergroup Circle (with Anthony Braxton, Chick Corea and Dave Holland) and has appeared on such seminal albums as Holland’s Conference of the Birds (ECM). Learn more at http://www.gebhard-ullmann.com/ullmannswell.htm

About Firehouse 12:

Firehouse 12 is an award-winning bar, state of the art recording studio and unusually intimate music venue located in New Haven’s historic Ninth Square District. Its distinctive 75-seat performance space, located inside the recording studio, offers world-class acoustics and unprecedented technical possibilities to both listeners and performers. Many of the most respected names in jazz and creative improvised music have performed at Firehouse 12 since it opened its doors in April 2005.

The local media has called it “a steamy source of bold new music” (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant), noting both its “astutely stylish, updated-classic aesthetic” (Hugh Elton, New Haven Advocate) and its dedicated fan base of “people who bring near-religious reverence to the music, producing an exchange of energy that often fires great performances” (Regina DeAngelo, New Haven Independent).

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven recognized owner/producer/recording engineer Nick Lloyd with a 2006 Arts Award for his “visionary restoration” of this landmark firehouse building, which also earned the architects, Gray Organschi Architecture, a 2006 Design Award in the preservation category from Connecticut’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

In 2007, Firehouse 12 founded its own label, Firehouse 12 Records, with the intention of releasing a mix of physical and digital-only recordings, including music recorded live during recent performances. Its first new releases, the Anthony Braxton 12+1tet’s 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 and the Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet’s The Middle Picture, will be released April 3rd.

Find out more at http://www.firehouse12.com