New Jazz Releases

XB-70 Valkyrie · July 09, 2015, 09:36:06 PM

Some interesting electronic free jazz with violin, trumpet, and drums--and a cool cover. Somewhat reminiscent of Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds. I don't want to pay $18 for the CD, but am not happy with an MP3 either. Looking for a lossless download if there is one to be had:

Henk · July 11, 2015, 12:30:59 AM

Quote from: Henk on June 21, 2015, 11:56:11 AM

Very good stuff.

Henk · July 11, 2015, 12:32:06 AM

Quote from: XB-70 Valkyrie on July 09, 2015, 09:36:06 PM
Some interesting electronic free jazz with violin, trumpet, and drums--and a cool cover. Somewhat reminiscent of Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds. I don't want to pay $18 for the CD, but am not happy with an MP3 either. Looking for a lossless download if there is one to be had:

I checked that recording when it was released some years ago. Check it again and indeed interesting.

Henk · July 13, 2015, 01:14:40 PM

XB-70 Valkyrie · July 13, 2015, 09:48:08 PM

Fascinating cover--kind of reminiscent of Hiroshi Sugimoto's magisterial large format, long exposure seascapes. http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/seascape.html

Judging by the covers in this thread, and those I've bought recently, it seems that the art directors of jazz labels are currently a thousand times more creative than those of classical labels. Back in the day of 78s and LPs, classical records (like their jazz counterparts) had some very interesting cover artwork --some of it by artists commissioned by the labels. In the digital era, standards have fallen, and we are left with photos of the performers, who usually are not all that photogenic. Jazz and great photography in any case clearly have had a long and fruitful symbiosis.

Anyway, Can you describe the music?

king ubu · July 15, 2015, 01:36:33 AM

finally got the new Threadgill and gave it a first spin last night:

[asin]B00V8JUAZ2[/asin]

actually, as it's Threadgill's wont to dissolve any band when it's at its apex, I wouldn't have been surprised to see "Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp" as the final chapter of Zooid ... however, this new one was recorded late in 2014, a six part piece spreading over two discs, with cellist Christopher Hoffman still on board (he was the late-joiner in Zooid, was new with the group when I caught them live in Amsterdam, and he's quite an enrichment indeed), but bassist Stomu Takeishi is gone. Other than that, it's the regular group with Liberty Ellman on guitars, Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums, Jose Davila on trombone and tuba, and Threadgill himself on alto saxophone and flutes.

Here's a paragraph from Larry Blumenfeld's WSJ review:

QuoteMusicians call Mr. Threadgill's music demanding, yet it sounds utterly organic—mutable as the patterns of a good conversation or of cloud formations. Rhythms are forceful yet slippery, like a wave's undertow. Harmony and counterpoint sound novel, a product of Zooid's unusual instrumentation (a quintet including tuba, cello and acoustic guitar) and Mr. Threadgill's strategy of assigning specific intervals to guide each player's improvisations. Mr. Threadgill's liner notes cite each piece as focused on a different instrument, yet his music's nature defies such analysis. Despite its name, "Dosepic (for Cello)" is highlighted by Elliot Humberto Kavee's brilliantly melodic trap-set playing and by an astoundingly lovely and articulate passage from Jose Davila's tuba. You can home in on, say, guitarist Liberty Ellman at any moment and sense the full logic of any piece: The music here is born of group communion. And yet Mr. Threadgill's playing—full-throated and ripe on alto saxophone, airy yet declarative on flute and bass flute—best defines its essence, often through short fanfare-like bursts or a judicious single note.

John Fordham gives four stars (out of five) in his review for the Guardian, All About Jazz offers all of three reviews, each giving four and a half (out of five).

My first impression is very positive, but I just love that band and Threadgill anyway. The music is dense, textures and patterns (rhythmic, melodic) keep flowing and evolving - to me, Threadgill offers is some of the most unique (moronic word, pardon me for using it) sounds jazz has had to offer in the past decades. I know nothing else like it, and I keep being completely hooked.

Henk · July 23, 2015, 12:06:50 PM

Compositional work by excellent bass player Tony Overwater.

Henk · July 24, 2015, 10:54:38 AM

Samples sound promising. Just a bit of Middle-East influences which is nice.

San Antone · July 24, 2015, 11:36:54 AM

Quote from: Henk on July 24, 2015, 10:54:38 AM

Samples sound promising. Just a bit of Middle-East influences which is nice.

I'll have to look that one up. I don't know if he is Israeli or not, but Israel does have a very good jazz scene. Many good players and venues. In fact, the town my wife and I plan on moving to has an annual jazz festival each year.

Cool - I found it on Spotify.

kishnevi · July 24, 2015, 11:54:28 AM

Quote from: sanantonio on July 24, 2015, 11:36:54 AM
I'll have to look that one up. I don't know if he is Israeli or not, but Israel does have a very good jazz scene. Many good players and venues. In fact, the town my wife and I plan on moving to has an annual jazz festival each year.

Cool - I found it on Spotify.

Amazon lists a few recordings from him. But it says that one is a single from 2006. What does Spotify say?

San Antone · July 24, 2015, 12:05:09 PM

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on July 24, 2015, 11:54:28 AM
Amazon lists a few recordings from him. But it says that one is a single from 2006. What does Spotify say?

Says he was born in 1980 in Tel Aviv and has been influenced by John Zorn, Ornette Coleman and other traditional jazz saxophonists. He's since moved to NYC and released CDs on the Tzadik label (Zorn). One interesting side note, he's (at least dresses as) a religious/Chasidic Jew. His music has a strong klezmer streak going through it.