Month: December 2008

Categories
General

2008 Village Voice Jazz Poll Winners

Sonny Rollins
Image via Wikipedia

The annual Village Voice poll is a great way to catch up on the year’s recommended listening. The top 25 are listen below.

1. Sonny Rollins Road Shows, Vol. 1 (Doxy/Emarcy) 208.5 points (29 ballots)

2. Rudresh Mahanthappa Kinsmen (Pi) 118.5 (16)

3. Charles Lloyd Rabo de Nube (ECM) 115 (18)

4. Vijay Iyer Tragicomic (Sunnyside) 68 (11)

5. Wadada Leo Smith Tabligh (Cuneiform) 67 (13)

6. Cassandra Wilson Loverly (Blue Note) 64.5 (12)

7. Joe Lovano Symphonica (Blue Note) 63 (10)

8. Donny McCaslin Recommended Tools (Greenleaf) 59.5 (9)

9. Bill Frisell History, Mystery (Nonesuch) 57.5 (9)

10. Guillermo Klein Filtros (Sunnyside) 56 (10)

11. Martial Solal Longitude (Cam Jazz) 54 (10)

12. Lionel Loueke Karibu (Blue Note) 54 (9)

13. James Moody & Hank Jones Our Delight (IPO) 54 (8)

14. David Murray & Mal Waldron Silence (Justin Time) 52.5 (7)

15. Bennie Maupin Early Reflections (Cryptogramophone) 50 (7)

16. William Parker Petit Oiseau (AUM Fidelity) 49 (10)

17. Dave Holland Pass It On (Dare2/Emarcy) 49 (9)

18. James Carter Present Tense (Emarcy) 48 (9)

19. McCoy Tyner Guitars (Half Note/McCoy Tyner Music) 46.5 (10)

20. Brian Blade Season of Changes (Verve) 45 (8)

21. Mary Halvorson Dragon’s Head< (Firehouse 12) 44 (8)

22. Dafnis Prieto Taking the Soul for a Walk (Dafnison) 44 (7)

23. Anat Cohen Notes From the Village (Anzic) 43 (7)

24. Mario Pavone Trio Arc (Playscape) 37 (5)

25. Carla Bley Appearing Nightly (WATT/ECM) 36.5 (7)

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Categories
Artist Profile

Louis Guarino’s Enchanted Vibrations Records

Louis Guarino composes and plays trumpet, and is influenced by a broad range of music, from jazz to classical and beyond. His site has more information and samples of his recordings.

Categories
Performances

Meehan/Perkins Duo at Carnegie Hall

An upcoming performance from the Meehan/Perkins Duo:

The Meehan/ Perkins Duo (Todd Meehan and Douglas Perkins), comprised of two of the country’s leading contemporary percussionists, will perform a concert on Friday, January 16 at 8 PM at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. This is the first full-length recital for these two since they performed in NYC as founding members of So Percussion. The Duo will present a diverse evening of chamber and solo percussion music including works by Paul Lansky, Michael Gordon, John Fitz Rogers, Nathan Davis and 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lang. Several of the works, including David Lang’s Table of Contents and Paul Lansky’s Travel Diary, were commissioned by the Meehan/ Perkins Duo and will receive their New York premieres at this concert. The repertoire explores the sonic possibilities of percussion, including both acoustic and electro-acoustic works, and showcases the virtuosic talents of the two performers. Tickets are $20 and are available through the Carnegie Hall box office at http://www.carnegiehall.org or by calling 212.247.7800.

Founded in 2006, the Meehan/Perkins Duo has emerged as a driving force in new music through their compelling performances of new works for percussion. The Duo believes in cultivating relationships with living composers through commissions and collaborations that expand the percussion genre. They have commissioned works from David Lang, Paul Lansky, and Nathan Davis, and will premiere a new concerto for percussion duo and orchestra by Jonathan Leshnoff during the 2010-2011 season.

Todd and Doug first began collaborating as chamber musicians in 1999 as founding members of So Percussion. They have since performed at countless venues across the country including the Bang on a Can Marathon, the BAM Next Wave Festival, Miller Theater, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Round Top International Festival-Institute, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. In addition to their performances the duo regularly teaches master classes at universities throughout the country.

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Categories
Interviews

Ten Questions with Ches Smith

From Glowing Realm:

Ches Smith is a drummer/composer living in NY. He is an extremely busy and fast rising presence on the new music scene. If there was a tabloid covering free jazz, than he would have been caught by the paparazzi playing with such numerous figures as: Marc Ribot (in Ceramic Dog), Devin Hoff (in Good for Cows), Mary Halvorson, Tony Malaby (in These Arches), Xiu Xiu, Trevor Dunn (in Trio Convulsant), and many many more. Luckily Ches was able to take time out of his busy schedule to answer the Ten Questions.

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Categories
Performances

Is That Jazz? Festival in Seattle

Is That Jazz? is a new fest starting up soon in Seattle.

Featured performers:
Elliott Sharp (NYC)
Sean Ryan (Seattle)
Tari Nelson-Zagar (Seattle)
Christian Asplund (Provo)
Brian Cobb (Seattle)
Beth Graczyk (Seattle)
Krispen Hartung (Boise)
Tom Baker (Seatle)
Greg Campbell (Seattle)
Corrie Befort (Seattle)
Michael Monhart (NYC)
Alia Swersky (Seattle)
Ezra Dickinson (Seattle)
Tom Swafford (Brooklyn)
Jesse Canterbury (Seattle)
Greg Sinibaldi (Seattle)

experimental music festival
seattle january 2009

all shows 8:00 PM at the
chapel performance space
$15 suggested donation
all ages

thursday, january 8, 2009

christian asplund (provo)
cipher (seattle)

thursday, january 15, 2009

krispen hartung (boise)
radiosonde (seattle)

thursday, january 22, 2009

triptet (seattle and nyc)
elliott sharp (nyc)

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Categories
Reviews

Free Jazz Blog Reviews

From Free Jazz:

Monday, December 29, 2008
Darren Johnston – The Edge Of The Forest (Clean Feed, 2008) ****

Sunday, December 28, 2008
Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly – The Speed Of Change (482 Music, 2008) ***

Saturday, December 27, 2008
Louis Moholo-Moholo & Marilyn Crispell – Sibanye (We Are One) (Intakt, 2008) ****½
Carolyn Hume – Gravity And Grace (Leo Records, 2008) ****

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Categories
Free Music

S.N.O.W. – Sound Noise and Other Waves

Free Albums Galore delivers another recommended offering.

For the most part, the musical project S.N.O.W. is a quiet affair. Sound artists Federico Mosconi and Mauro Graziani creates sculptures of tones and noise. They describe the music as “sonic representations of experience and dream, expression of a moment, through life memories and towards an imaginary future” which gives a good idea of the complexity and drama that these seven tracks can deliver. Most of the music is ambient in nature but occasionally a track like “Crashing in The Snow” provides a good amount of industrial-like tension. This is an exceptional example of electronic experimentation that straddles the border between calming music and the avant-garde.

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Categories
Performances

Yael Acher at RUCMA

From New York’s RUCMA:

Start: 01/05/2009 – 7:30pm
End: 01/05/2009 – 10:00pm
Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

Yael Acher
Monday, January 5 @ 7:30 pm
Yippie Café: 9 Bleecker Street, near Bowery
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors: $7
Jam Session @ 9pm: $5

Yael Acher, flute & electronics
Ras Moshe, tenor sax
Daniel Levin, cello
Matt Russo, drums

A native of Tel Aviv, Yael Acher graduated with a BA degree in music and Classical flute performance from the Rubin Academy for Music and Dance in Jerusalem. She has lived and worked as a performer, composer, and educator in Copenhagen since 1992. In 2005 she won a Fulbright scholarship to study Composition at NYU and Hunter College. Since then she has resided and worked in New York, performing Classical, Modern, Free-Improvisation, Progressive , Free Jazz, Latin, Funk. She has collaborated with such artists as Kim Itoh (Japan), Tim Rushton (UK), and Ellis Wood (NYC). Since the early 90s, Acher has been the leader of an electro-instrumental progressive groove jazz group, Junk”KAT” & Modiano. The band performs throughout Europe and New York, in collaboration with rappers, DJs and video artists. Acher is also involved in the free-jazz scene, performing with artists in Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, Milano and New York. Her music has been reviewed internationally in New Music Connoisseur, and Cadence Magazine in NYC, and Jazz Magazine (France).

http://www.myspace.com/junkkatmodiano

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Categories
Reviews

Musique Machine Reviews

Cover of
Cover of I Knew Her

From Musique Machine:

Hoor Paar Kraat – A Whisper In The Sow’s Ear
This 3 inch cd finds surreal sound smiths Hoor Paar Kraat in a more horror filled droney, ritual, hypnotic and mainly field recording stripped mind set. With the 3 pieces on offer here concentrating on sinister manipulated gong, feed back and singing bowl tones.

Alex Tiuniaev – I Knew Her
I knew her is one long gracefully, majestic and building 40 minute track that mixers together soundtrack string soar, electronics, synthetic choir elements, ect

Various Artists – Zelphabet Vol E
This is the 5th letter volume compilation from the Zelphabet label this time as the title suggests taking in artists beginning with the letter E. We have five tracks on offer here one from each of Ed Osborn, Elliott Sharpe, Emil Beaulieau & Evil Moisture.

Nahvalr – Self Titled
Nahvalr is the grim and dense black metal meets noise project by the two minds behind the superbly lo-fi retro goth 80’s pop meets doom project Have a Nice Life.

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Categories
Releases

New Matthew Shipp Coming Out on Thirsty Ear

avant-garde pianist Matthew Shipp
Image via Wikipedia

From Thirsty Ear Recordings:

Matthew Shipp : HARMONIC DISORDER
Release Date: January 27th, 2009 CD

Matthew Shipp has reached the Holy Grail of jazz, in that he possesses a unique style on his instrument, and he’s one of the few that can claim such an achievement.

He has returned with his Piano Vortex trio (respectively, Whit Dickey on Drums, and Joe Morris on Bass), to deliver HARMONIC DISORDER- a new set of tracks, including two standards : There Will Never Be Another You” and “Someday My Prince Will Come”. The Disc hits shelves January 27, 2009.

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