Consolidating her considerable musical gifts, Canadian-born, New York-based Kris Davis organized a uniquely constituted octet here to premiere or propogate her compositions. Confirming her range, the eight tunes are breezy and animated in spots, while looped around a dense, metal-like core. With an ensemble consisting of Ben Goldberg, Oscar Noriega, Joachim Badenhorst, and Andrew Bishop,Continue reading “Kris Davis. Save Your Breath.”
Genre Archives
Cluttertones. Ordinary Joy.
If the word clutter evokes the notion of a copious mess, its use in the moniker of Toronto-based Rob Clutton’s quartet The Cluttertones—Lina Allemano (trumpet), Clutton (bass), Tim Posgate (banjo and guitar) and Ryan Driver (synthesizer, piano, voice)—suggests more of a daydreamy disarray. And, indeed, the group’s loose, quizzical playing is as evocative as itContinue reading “Cluttertones. Ordinary Joy.”
Matana Roberts. Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee.
The third instalment of Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin presents an utterly overwhelming listening experience—a densely netted mass of images, information, and deeply visceral sensations, so profusely intelligible that it becomes opaque with stimuli. Where the previous two volumes were ensemble records that often felt like a live show, the impression of the third is anythingContinue reading “Matana Roberts. Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee.”
Jean Derome’s Reflections of Joy
Over the past four decades, Jean Derome’s musical interests have spanned everything from standards to skronk. He has composed graphic scores for large ensembles, created multimedia works for string quartets, and devised music for dance, theatre, and cinema works. But what Derome is best known for is his key role in the development of theContinue reading “Jean Derome’s Reflections of Joy”
Divorce Records
“It depends on what you call the beginning, I guess,” says Darcy Spidle when probed about the origins of his experimental music label, Divorce Records. “The first thing I did with the label— about fifteen years ago—was to make big posters that said ‘Music Sucks,’ and then put the Divorce logo underneath. I pasted themContinue reading “Divorce Records”
Avec Le Soleil Sortant De Sa Bouche. Zubberdust!
Zubberdust! blasts off with whimsical punk-rock exuberance into a patchwork quilt of insistent interlocking grooves, fluorescent panels of synthesizer, and various could’ve-been aural hallucinations. Both hypnotic and jagged, the music of Avec Le Soleil Sortant De Sa Bouche transfixes with tunnel-vision repetition only to hurl the listener, sometimes suddenly and beguilingly, into a different musicalContinue reading “Avec Le Soleil Sortant De Sa Bouche. Zubberdust!”
Lina Allemano’s Titanium Riot. Kiss the Brain.
The Toronto-based trumpeter Lina Allemano has created a substantial body of work with the quartet she calls Four, releasing five CDs over the past decade. The last four (since 2006) have included the same musicians—alto saxophonist Brodie West, bassist Andrew Downing, and drummer Nick Fraser—and have codified a distinctive style, matching Allemano’s sometimes playful themesContinue reading “Lina Allemano’s Titanium Riot. Kiss the Brain.”
Kris Davis nurtures new shapes in jazz
Kris Davis is working on setting a routine. It’s not an unusual task. It’s one that new mothers all over Brooklyn who work odd hours have to contend with. But it’s a challenge. She’s up at six a.m. every day with her son, who turned one in July 2014. While on new-mother duty, Davis isContinue reading “Kris Davis nurtures new shapes in jazz”
Tilting. Holy Seven.
One of the linchpins of Montreal’s Musique Actuelle potpourri, bassist Nicolas Caloia is, underneath it all, a jazz musician, and this session shows off his mastery of the idiom. With the group Tilting, he elaborates his take on jazz by utilizing the talents of fellow travellers baritone saxophonist Jean Derome, pianist Guillaume Dostaler, drummer IsaiahContinue reading “Tilting. Holy Seven.”
Gorilla Mask. Bite My Blues.
With a program built around his rugged compositions, Canadian expatriate alto saxophonist Peter Van Huffel and his Gorilla Mask trio mine the seam of improvised music with implements forged equally from effervescent melodies reminiscent of Ornette Coleman’s electric bands and the obdurate rhythms of punk rock. At the same time, the Berlin-based saxophonist and hisContinue reading “Gorilla Mask. Bite My Blues.”