2023 was a year of great loss for the world of free jazz and free improvised
music. Not only have great musicians passed away, but also label operators
such as FMP's Jost Gebers. Martin Davidson also died at the beginning of the
month, a man without whom the British improv scene in particular would have
been unthinkable. Davidson was responsible for
EMANEM, one of the most
influential labels of the last five decades, which was also the parent label
of Evan Parker’s Psi label.
Many musicians appreciated Davidson not only for his technical expertise in
mastering, but above all for his passion for this music and for his sharp
humour. His releases were not only professional, they were a testament to his
dedication to the craft and the artists he worked with. The careers of Derek
Bailey, Anthony Braxton, the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Evan Parker or John
Russell - especially their reception in Europe - would certainly have been
different without him.
Damon Smith and Henry Kaiser have published a musical obituary for him, which
you can see here:
We have decided to refer to some milestones of EMANEM label.
Anthony Braxton / Derek Bailey: Duo (1974)
Anthony Braxton and Derek Bailey were not a duo that would have immediately
been described as a match made in heaven in 1974. Braxton, despite his very
brittle philosophy of improvisation, represented an undeniably American
approach, while Bailey was a singular phenomenon even among the abstract
Brits. Moreover, both were in a transitional phase. For a while, Bailey had
concentrated almost exclusively on extended techniques, pitches and chords
were of no concern to him. It almost seemed as if the guitar was just a means
to an end. And then they both came up with an album that placed great emphasis
on truly collective improvisation and listening to each other in order to
create something completely new and unique. That may sound trite today, but
the music still sounds so incredibly fresh and homogeneous that you can’t tell
how old it is. What is more, it has one of best album covers of all time.
Barry Guy / Howard Riley / Philipp Wachsmann – Improvisations Are Forever
Now (1977 - 79)
Martin Davidson has not only helped new talents to make their way, EMANEM has
also re-released outstanding albums on CD for which one would otherwise have
had to pay exorbitant prices on vinyl.
Improvisation Are Forever Now (1977 - 79
) is one such album. As I’m a big fan of all three musicians anyway
(especially Howard Riley, who I think is always underrated), the choice of
this album is no surprise. Riley is the rhythmic and harmonic center of
gravity, relying heavily on his trademark clusters. Wachsmann and Guy scrub,
saw and scrape around this center with their pizzicatos and glissandos. Like
many EMANEM releases, there is a smorgasbord of contrasts here too, with
meditative sections and fast-paced musical chases alternating at an incredible
speed. The music has often been referred to as “insect music“, but the
pejorative connotation contained therein could not be more wrong. Instead,
there is great expressivity and energy to marvel at, as well as an extremely
subtle shaping of the forms presented.
John Butcher/Phil Durrant/Paul Lovens/Radu Malfatti/John Russell: News
From the Shed (1989/2005)
Another great re-issue. News From The Shed was something like my
initiation into what is called improv - and it was radically different from
what I knew as (free) jazz or new classical music. With improv there was no
planned structure, no preconceived form, the pieces only have the form that
they develop spontaneously and the listener has to search for such structures,
textures or parameters themselves. It was listening as work, which is why I
was very disturbed at first, but then found more and more pleasure in
discovering something new with every listen. The music by John Butcher
(saxophones), Phil Durrant (violin and electronics), Paul Lovens (drums,
cymbals and saw), Radu Malfatti (trombone, zither and accessories) and John
Russell (acoustic guitar) is metallic and brittle, but then again organic and
real. Crashing and creaking sounds are contrasted with quiet, long tones, it
takes a while to discover the beauty of the music, but it is undeniably there.
The recording was originally released on the Acta label in 1989. This CD
reissue from EMANEM includes four additional tracks from the same sessions,
which are of the same high quality as the original album and complement it in
that they include some effects not heard elsewhere.
Paul Rutherford - The Gentle Harm of the Bourgeoisie
Well, in the album's liner notes Martin Davidson himself said that
this one “is probably the finest solo trombone album ever made.” I tend
to agree with him, along with Derek Bailey who said “…this is still the best record of solo free improvising you are likely to
find.” The liner notes of the CD reissue are full of this sort of praise. I’m still
not positively sure that Rutherford wasn’t from a different planet altogether.
This album is gloriously wild, subtle, innovative, and funny in all the ways it
needs to be - and it still sounds totally fresh. A record for the ages, and a
testament to Paul Rutherford’s unique genius.
Evan Parker & Paul Lytton - Three Other Stories (1971-1974) Evan Parker & Paul Lytton - Two Octobers (1972-1975)
Between 1972 to 1977 Evan Parker and Paul Lytton released 3 albums of wild,
experimental electro-acoustic free improvisation before their duo morphed into
a trio with Barry Guy and took on a life of its own. The early Parker/Lytton
duo albums are worlds apart from their work with Guy, including their work
with electronic sounds and noise (with the exception of the first trio album)
and can be seen as precursors for Parker and Lytton’s future work in their
Electro-Acoustic ensembles. After 1976’s “Ra” there was nothing to hear from
the duo until these two releases compiled several live and studio performances
from 71-75 into two volumes of never-before-heard manna. These were released
in 95 & 96, respectively, and at that time their previous duo releases
were long out of print, so these came as a revelation to many.
Evan Parker, Paul Lytton, Paul Rutherford, & Hans Schneider - Waterloo
1985
This one is just a great set altogether with a great quartet, one that sees Parker and Lytton with Rutherford and bassist Hans Schneider - who was working with Lytton at the time - filling in for Barry Guy. The recording is from Le Festival Jazz Et Musiques Improvisees in Waterloo on August 17, 1985. Parker and Rutherford sound amazing, the subtle interactions and playful suggestions keep you coming back. You can tell Lytton and Schneider had a great rapport at the time and it comes through in their careful playing. An excellent record that I highly recommend.
Spontaneous Music Ensemble –Bare Essentials 1972-3
There are some recordings that have a big impact on you, the listener. Quite
rightfully I should add. Whenever I think about the importance of Martin
Davidson’s Emanem, what comes first in mind is Face to Face by SME –a duo at
the time consisting, as always, John Stevens and Trevor Watts.
This cd came out in 2007 and is proof that there was a lot more radical
material for us to listen. And a label to publish it, a label dedicated to
free improvisation. Emanem supported this kind of musical practice without
referring to any kind of trends or hip sounds. Connecting Stevens’ liner notes
from Face to Face with this double cd, we discover the essentials in non
idiomatic music making. Non-hierarchical, produced on the spot, on a constant
dialogue between the players, who share a wealth of ideas.
It’s much more than just Essentials, it’s music of the highest order and we
have to thank Martin Davidson for letting it out to the world.
John Carter and Bobby Bradford - Tandem 1 (Enamem 4011) & Tandem 2 (Emanem
4012) (released in a remastered single edition as Emanem 5204)
John Carter and Bobby Bradford had a rare and beautiful partnership. Musical
soulmates, their deep connection led to the recording of some of the most
important records in the history of American free jazz, drawing from folk
music, blues, American history, and the developments in new music happening
from the 1950s all the way until Carter’s death in 1991. But no album quite
captures the spark between them as effectively as Tandem, which
presents two full concerts, a lengthy set from April 30, 1982, recorded at
Worcester’s Piedmont Center for the Arts and a shorter set from October 20,
1979, when the duo played before the Art Ensemble of Chicago at UCLA's
Schoenberg Hall. The sets feature Carter and Bradford playing and improvising
on highlights from their catalog, including “Echoes From Rudolph’s,” “Circle,”
“Angles,” “Woodman’s Hall Blues,” “And She Speaks,” and more. Each of them
takes a solo turn, on clarinet and cornet respectively, and these plus the
duets are utterly sublime. The two takes of Carter’s classic “Woodman’s Hall
Blues” are must-hear for anyone who has spent time with his unique voice. Well
worth also checking out Martin Davidson’s own writing for the liner notes,
available online at
http://www.emanemdisc.com/E5204.html
-----
Reviews by us of Emanem albums (in reverse chronological order). The label
released around 258 titles since its creation in 1974 (including re-issues and
compilations).
"The EMANEM label was founded in 1974 in order to publish music too
good and too adventurous to be considered by most other labels. In particular,
it seemed (and still seems) vitally important to document improvised music that
does not use the vagaries of notation as a (somewhat imperfect) means of
preservation. EMANEM features improvised music at its very best -
unadulterated new music for people who like new music unadulterated. Every CD is
a labour of love - every one an important masterpiece - too good to discontinue.
(Why waste time, effort and resources on anything less?) Most feature total
improvisation, but some use partly composed material. The presentation of each
CD and this website concentrates on clarity (as does the music) - there is no
desire to emulate the current fashion of obscuring and/or omitting vital
information. But then, Emanem is not about fashion, it is about substance."
Emanem is not RAP!
"I have been using the name Emanem since 1974, when the rapper who
subsequently chose a similar name was only one year old. Therefore, if
anything, it is he who is trying to cash in on my reputation, not vice
versa. If you find this situation confusing, then please ask the rapper to
change his nom de rap. Every so often I get requests from budding
rappers to judge their rap. I reply that I am not qualified to do so, but
that I can tell them that their spelling is poor.
I once received an
email from a lady in Greece saying that she loved me, but she lost interest when
I pointed her to my website!"
The Uferstudios, in Berlin's Wedding district, sit on the edge of the Panke, a small creek that cuts through the city from north to south. This collection of low red-brick buildings that once housed public transit workshop is now the long-term home of studios and theaters dedicated to dance. However, on a recent mild mid-December weekend, a theater space near the entrance to complex provided a live report on the state of avant-garde jazz and improvised music in the German capital.
The Serious Series, now in it's thirteenth year, is curated by pianist Achim Kaufmann and woodwind player Frank Gratkowski who took over programming from musicians Kathrin Pechlof and Christian Weidner in 2019. The program, a rich three nights of musical acts, draws heavily from the fertile Berlin music scene as well as reaching out to Europe and the USA.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15
The event began on Friday evening with a fantastic solo set by woodwindist Tobias Delius whose loose limbered demeanor is a perfect compliment to his exuberant playing style. Delius intersperses sudden squawks and vocalization into his melodic and bouncing lines, switching between Bb clarinet and tenor saxophone, and swinging breathlessly from dark and grumbling motives to buoyant and melodic ideas. Though the stage area was deep and wide, Delius filled the space with an inviting warmth. The pieces he played veered between melodic and atonal, the final one, dedicated to his longtime colleague cellist Tristan Honsinger who passed away this year, was a sweetly melodic theme.
The second set of the festival was by the long standing duo of guitarist Olaf Rupp and cellist Ulrike Brand. Having worked for many years together, the two musicians seem to be more a quantum entanglement than just a duo. Tones from one instrument instantly cause a reaction from the other so finely calibrated that one could imagine that even if the two were not within earshot, they would still be as acutely intertwined.
At some point, Rupp plucked a sequence of notes, Brand produced a gently droning reply, which became the catalyst of the guitarists next tone. What then began as a slowly forming soundscape drew to an understated peak. Brand played a sweeping, arcing melody line that settled into legato notes as Rupp clicked on the distortion. At times, both used bows to sculpt their sound. Through their sympathetic musical interactions, the two engage in a natural ebb and flow of ideas and uncannily calibrated responses.
The first night was rounded out by the duo of pianist Steve Beresford and trombonist Sebi Tramontana. Originally programmed as a trio, Frank Gratkowski was unfortunately sick and unable to perform. Undeterred, the two brought the evening to a successful close with humorous set of short pieces.
They began with a whimsical melody from Beresford and a muted melodic line from Tramontana. Then, an elbow to the the keyboard and the consonant melody splintered, Beresford forcefully expelling tonal shards and Tramontana sliding exuberantly through notes. Between - and during - the pieces, Beresford prepared and re-prepared the inside of the piano. He seemed to pull more and more playthings from the instrument's inside, including a penny whistle, what looked like an exercise weight, a rubber duck and a crackling electronic device that he used to augment the musical atmosphere. At one point, he flogged the strings of the piano with a cloth and in addition to the quivering sound from the strings, visible clouds of dust wafted out from the instrument. Tramontana too joined in with humorous vocalizations through his horn among some other extended techniques.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16
Saturday opened with a solo percussion set by French percussionist Toma Gouband featuring the unique use of plants as drumsticks, an array of tiny bells a top the single drum, and a bass pedal that knocked on a piled of bricks. In a sense, the performance could be called hyper-local as Gouband ingeniously incorporated plants sourced from the banks of the Panke as musical devices. Intense and focused, the set began with a curious and engaging energy but whose intense minimalism veered towards monotony after a bit.
The trio of Achim Kaufmann, woodwindist Michael Moore and bassist Nick Dunston picked up the energy again in a set that dazzled with ferocity and calmed with swinging coolness. Though first time performing as a trio, all three had performed with each other in different combinations, especially Kaufmann and Moore who have been playing together since 1998, as a trio they gelled quickly.
Starting with a quiet but quickly moving
improvisation, Kaufmann offered some sparse chords while Moore added a
gentle melody with some slight dissonant moments over Dunston's deep,
walking groove. The group's music fell somewhere on the "jazzier" side of the spectrum without landing in anything routine or staid. Next, the group engaged in an experimental exchange with Moore getting edgier and Dunston going beyond the strings
with his bow. Playing with songs from Herbie Nichols mixed with
compositions from Kaufmann and Moore, the music was seamlessly connected by buzzing freely
improvised passages.
Drummer Michael Vatcher's project with electronics and dancers provided an exciting ending to the night. Taught interplay between Vatcher at the drum kit and Richard Barrett and his self built electronics provided a percolating soundscape for the two dancers, Liat Waysbort and Balder Hansen, to move fluidly around - and under - the musicians. Perhaps the most unusual moments, aside from some surprisingly agile movements from the dancers, was a dynamic exchange between Barrett's electronics and Vatcher playing a saw.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17
Sunday's concerts began with Serious Series' previous organizer and harpist Kathrin Pechlof with her newly formed Radical Empathy sextet. Pechlof is this year's winner of the SWR Jazzpreis and the piece, written for the group in particular, will be recorded at the broadcaster's studio in the coming months. In addition to Pechlof is Christian Weidner on alto saxophone, Elias Stemeseder on synthesizer and harpsichord, Robert Landfermann on bass, Leif Berger playing drums and finally Kaufmann on piano. The group's music is fluid, even ocean like, with slowly ebbing and flowing tidal movements, and ever lapping waves of sound bisected by melodic crosscurrents. During the set the occasional wave crested and blasts of free improvisation brought on musical white caps.
The set began plinkingly with an exchange of the harp and harpsicord's delicate tones. Kaufmann took the first solo, one which slowly formed out the collective playing and ending with stabbing chords. At the same time, Landerferman's bass was a steady but restrained presence, providing a tension-full drone, foreshadowing the turmoil on the horizon. Weidner's sax provided occasional contrasting textures via overblown passages that resolved back into the group full sound. The set-long piece ended in a series of climatic passages, the final an excitingly arrhythmic peak, resolving satisfyingly after the long build-up.
Next, the ACM trio featuring pianist Celine Voccia, saxophonist Anna Kaluza and standing in for bassist Matthias Bauer, Meinrad Kneer (chosen, not just for his improvisational prowess but perhaps also that his first initial required no changes to the band's name), took the stage area to continue the evenings musical journey - though with a more spontaneous approach.
The trio's music exemplified the subtleties that come from listening closely to each other. In their three way conversation, Voccia masterfully crafted rich phrases that ranged from lightly melodic to dynamically urgent, giving the music a push and pull reflected by Kaluza who too swung between blasts of melodic fragments and textural passages. Kneer, whose approach covered the full spectrum of his instrument, fit in perfectly. Throughout the set, Voccia added tension to the music, often with a focus on the lower end of the keyboard, while Kaluza contributed as much tonal shading as she did bright powerful moments and Kneer provided rooted and poignant counter arguments.
The closing act was an unexpected blast of energy in the form of the art-punk prog-jazz project Brique from pianist Eve Risser with the singer Bianca Iannuzzi, the acoustic bass playing of Luc Ex and the rock oriented drumming of Francesco Pastacaldi. The group was a study in contrasts with Risser's sometimes classically oriented playing mixing with Iannuzzi'sno-wave/operatic singing and the commanding punk-like bass and drum work of Ex and Pastacaldi. Just as edgy as the music, with its strong punk attitude, was the lyrical content. While many of the details have melted away, the attitude remains. For example, one song was drawn from letters from patients in a psychiatric hospital in the 1980s. In general, the eclectic rock pulse and classical elements came together in an alluring retro-futuristic way.
The group's energetic set came to an even more energetic encore as Risser ran to the back of the hall to pick up a flute and welcome two guests, namely her Red Desert Orchestra collaborators, trombonist Matthias Mueller and trumpeter Nils Ostendorf. The wildly chaotic brass-band dance party brought the Serious Series to a seriously fun conclusion.
You have to give it her. Joëlle Léandre is one of those musicians whose relentless passion and musical exploration have been a lifelong pleasure to hear. Even if she remains true to herself in her music, there is also an element of surprise in every new album, something new, something different, something unexpected. When you think you've heard it all, please think again. This is also the result of her careful networking with other musicians, as on the three albums presented here. Whether with established musicians like Craig Taborn and Mat Maneri, or with less known and younger musicians, such as Rodolphe Loubatière and Vinicius Cajado. She works with them to expand her sound pallette while at the same time she likes to be challenged and to create musical innovation.
It's amazing to hear three established musicians create music that could easily fit within the current 'classical avant-garde' when the music is only fully improvised. The three 'hEARoes' of this album are Joëlle Léandre on double bass, Craig Taborn on piano, and Mat Maneri on viola.
This is improvisation without leadership, true co-creation of three like-minded artists. They are all three at the same level of instrumental virtuosity, they have nothing more to prove, and what they show here, could be a great example for other musicians about the incredible value of discipline. The quality of the album is to a large extent the result of the mastery of the artists on their own creativity as well as keeping the overall sound, the structure of the improvisation, the balance of instruments and the sense of direction under full control. The pieces are relatively compact, each with its own voice, with no time for long meanderings and expansion. And at the same time they bring something unique and refreshing.
I will not go into the detail of each track. Just know that all three musicans are in great shape, and their musical output here more than meets the expectations, presenting music that can range from cautious development to agitated intensity, from bright sounds to dark moments, jazzy and avant-garde, and the biggest feat is the feeling of freedom, in the knowledge that the control they have no longer requires attention, and that the full focus is on the expressive power of the ensemble-playing.
I've just read - now that I wrote this review - fellow reviewer Stuart Broomer's liner notes, and they are spot on. It's a long text, really worth reading, and these two paragraphs cover it best:
"Another miracle of musical time? Joëlle Léandre informs that she has played with Mat Maneri many times over a 30-year period. The surprise may be that they never sound mechanical, jaded or responding by rote. Further, Léandre remarks that before this day she and Craig Taborn had never played together. The surprise, perhaps strongest, is that they never sound like they’re studying each other, laying hints and clues for ready discussion. They just play, not like they’re reading a score, but rather reading each other’s vast, copious, musical mind.
All three are always playing full out, participating wholly, coming from three different spaces, each a master with a wealth of general and specialized musical experience, collectively assembling and sharing a century of improvisatory practice as well as particular dialects: Joëlle Léandre with experience in every form of improvised music as well as special collaborations with Giacinto Scelsi and John Cage; Mat Maneri, long-time musical partner to his father Joe, and thus an indefatigable explorer of microtonal music, composed and improvised; Craig Taborn, a musician so universally informed and adept, that likely no other pianist might have fit so readily into a band called Rocket Science."
To be honest, I had never heard of Rodolphe Loubatière, a French percussionist and visual artist, residing in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a sound explorer, using all kinds of tools to produce percussive effects, forms and textures. On this album, the snare drum is his instrument, worked on with a few dozen other tools to create the desired sound.
Joëlle Léandre has performed often in duo formats, with saxophonists, pianists, bassists, koto and even saw players, but the number of duets with percussionists is rather rare. In the 128 albums she released as a leader, the following can be identified: "Tricotage" with Daniel Rogier (2000), "Evident" with Mark Nauseef (2004), "Winter In New York" with Kevin Norton (2007), "Off Course!" with Paul Lovens (2022), "BlaBlaBla" with Nuria Andorra (2022).
It's a pleasure to hear her with compatriot in this intimate musical setting. Loubatière is a rather minimalist percussionist, someone who discreetly colours the sound rather than co-lead. This gives Léandre the possibility to design her own improvisations, listening and respecting the percussionist, who is also adept at creating sustained tones from his instruments, often merging with the sound of the bowed bass.
As of the fourth track she starts her powerful vocals, surreal bluesy chants full of repetitions, improvised meaningless and meaningful words. She does something similar on track six, but then with half angry shouts, furious rantings, possibly kicking her instrument, expressing her dissatisfaction with the world, but with the fun laughing interjection "on rigole, tu sais" (we're laughing, you know), as if to reassure her audience.
The last track is the most powerful, gradually building up from near silence to a high-powered single tone bowing contest near the end.
It's certainly not her best album, yet it remains great to listen to.
Her collaboration with the young Vinicius Cajado is great. Cajado, born in 1988, is from São Paulo, Brasil, and he has already made a strong impression in the jazz world. He already won several awards, including at the International Society of Bassists competition. His debut solo record for double bass “Monu” was nominated as “Best of the year 2021" by “The New York City Jazz Record” .
Léandre has a knack for welcoming new talent, regardless of their instrument, as long as they have a musical vision and the willingness to listen and learn, yet I guess she also likes the challenge of the new voices, the new approaches, the things they learned recently. It keeps her young, and it keeps us young.
They perform six 'dances', as each track is called, mostly bowed improvisations, that demonstrate a really close dancing format, all well attuned and like-minded. On the "Fifth Dance", Léandre starts with her usual vocal works, decisively taking the lead in a territory that the young Brasilian is unable to follow, yet he supports her well after some initial background position.
The great thing with Léandre is that she always performs to the full, nothing is done halfway, she shows how to put her entire soul into her music, a level of self-confidence and use of energy that requires time to acquire. Cajado does well in this context, and that's to his credit.
A French virtuoso who makes everything interesting, and a young Brasilian high potential to follow.
One of the most imaginative, dynamic artists, Darius Jones followed his
first solo alto album (2021’s
Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation)
) with, arguably, the most impressive work of his career, thus far. His
latest,
fluXkit Vancouver (
its
suite but sacred),
commissioned by the Vancouver-based Western Front and released this fall in
a collaborative venture between Northern Spy Records and We Jazz Records,
debuts a new musical language, designed by Jones, that features, “extended
technique moments to be unique to each individual player.” As with his
albums in the Man’ish Boybook of music, the intersection
of aural, visual, and physical is foregrounded on
fluXkit Vancouver,
bringing players and listeners together into a collaborative receiving
space, where making the sounds that form the music intersects with
experiencing the performance.
The group features a new recording lineup for Jones, with the great Gerald
Cleaver on drums, and a nontraditional string quartet with Joshua and Jesse
Zubot on violins, Peggy Lee on cello, and James Meger on double bass.
Incepted in 2019, fluXkit Vancouver draws directly on Jones’s
personal experience with the city. Jones had to restart workshops with the
group after cancelling performances in 2020, and that break allowed the
music to, in his words, “gestate.” In addition to the 25 visual directions
created for this music, the gestation period seems to have provided the
players with time to ruminate on all the ways they could perform the
music—or, perhaps, in the parlance of a Fluxkit, assemble (as well as
disassemble and reassemble) the components contained within.
FluXkit Vancouveropens with a short, invocation from Jones,
answered by Cleaver and Meger, who, throughout the album, straddles the
roles of rhythm section and string quartet. As conceptually brilliant as the
material is, Jones has rarely played with such clarity and depth of feeling.
He sounds more exposed than even on Raw Demoon Alchemy, partly
because of the way this music relies heavily on his subsequent direction
and sublimation to the ensemble. It’s a dazzling performance, with superb
leaps and references to traditional jazz, which he plays against
occasionally spiky, modernist violin lines. The Zubot brothers, well versed
in chamber, symphony, and jazz motifs, play brilliantly together with Lee
and Meger, the collective sonic environment is warm, bold, and inviting.
Lyrically circular motifs, like aural curlicues, recur throughout,
syntactical guideposts in the hour-long suite. And throughout, Cleaver’s
pulsing swing showcasing, as always, his brilliance on the drum kit. Late
in the final piece, “Damon and Pythias,” Lee moves forward with a cello
line that could have come straight from Charles Ives or William Grant Still,
over which Jones solos in the middle-to-lower range of the alto sax. The
combination of folk and modern techniques is emphasized by the gradual
addition of Meger and the Zubots, with the final minutes harkening back to
the opening, a gorgeous and contemplative recessional. This will
undoubtedly remain a high water mark for Jones as an emotionally rich,
sweeping epic.
Once the Jost Gebers, the man behind the seminal record label FMP, and Tony
Oxley wanted to take Oxley’s drum equipment in a Volkswagen bus from West
to East Berlin. At the GDR border a guard was checking them and was puzzled
over what strange stuff was being transported. Gebers explained to him that
Oxley was a drummer. When the border guard then found a violin, the matter
was clear to him. Oxley had to be a musical clown. Now Tony Oxley, who was
anything but a clown, and rather a phenomenal sound researcher, percussionist,
violinist and electronic musician, has died after being sick for a long
time.
Oxley was born in Sheffield and taught himself to play the drums. When he
was drafted into the British army, he became a percussionist in the military
orchestra. While serving, Oxley was able to travel to the United States
where he heard jazz greats, such as Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Philly
Joe Jones live. To see these people live was a life-changing experience.
Back home in Sheffield, he formed a jazz combo, which he led for three
years. In 1963, he had another decisive encounter: He met guitarist Derek
Bailey, who was living just around the corner. “A once in a century
coincidence,“ as Oxley described the meeting to the German music journalist
Bert Noglik . With bassist Gavin Bryars they formed a trio called
Joseph Holbrooke (the band was named after a long-deceased British
composer). The group started out playing jazz standards, but quickly
evolved into other kinds of music, driven by the interests of the three.
Bryars was interested in avant-garde classical composers, Oxley in the more
radical players in contemporary jazz and Bailey in both. Improvised music
was the common denominator that kept the trio going. It was music virtually
unknown in England or elsewhere in Europe at the time. According to Oxley
and Bailey the music developed virtually out of itself in the course of
Joseph Holbrooke’s playing. In 1967 Oxley moved to London. Before long he
had established himself as the house drummer at one of the city’s most
popular jazz clubs: Ronnie Scott’s. Although Oxley had already moved
beyond traditional jazz in his own music, he enjoyed performing with the
players who had helped invent jazz - legends such as Ben Webster, Joe
Hendeson, Stan Getz, and Bill Evans. Thus, he developed a distinctive
rhythmic style. He was able to play time in form of polyrhythmic beats,
without losing the original groove, just to pick it up later on. For many
musicians he was a real challenge.
Oxley’s work at Ronnie Scott’s had given him a solid reputation as a jazz
drummer although he had already connected to the freely improvised scene. In
1969, he performed on John McLaughlin’s first LP Extrapolation, and
as a member of Miles Davis’s band the guitarist was already up and coming.
His connection to him might have been the reason why Oxley was offered a recording
contract by CBS and he was able to release The Baptised Traveller,
which featured members of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Evan Parker on
saxophone, Derek Bailey on guitar, Kenny Wheeler on trumpet, and Jeff Clyne
on bass. The result was a vision of the future of jazz, hardly heard at
that time. Oxley’s band even managed to make another record for CBS,
Four Compositions For Sextet
, Paul Rutherford on trombone augmented them. Commercially the albums were
not successful, no wonder CBS sacked him.
Yet, Oxley was on the safe side as to money because of his engagement at
Ronnie Scott’s, but in general improvised music in Great Britain didn’t do
well. It was hardly possible for the musicians to find gigs, media and
record labels simply ignored it. This was the reason why Oxley co-founded
the Musicians Cooperative with Bailey, Parker and several other musicians
in 1970. Another move was to start Incus Records, an independent
artist-owned record label, with Evan Parker and Derek Bailey. Finally, the
musicians were able to document their music, to release and distribute
their albums without being dependent on the big majors.
But most of all, Oxley became the drummer who was so influential for future
generations when he decided to expand his drum kit. He started to
experiment with various forms of amplification and electronic devices such
as ring modulators, for example. He especially liked to use them on the
foreign objects he had incorporated into the kit: bowls, pieces of wire,
screws, and other metal objects that were able to create a wide range of
pure sounds. His already unique rhythmic style was linked to a new sound
universe. From that moment on no one sounded like Tony Oxley.
As to music two more meetings were important in Toney Oxley’s life: The one
with the painter Alan Davie, who gave him his first violin. Oxley was
immediately interested in the rhythmic possibilities of the instrument (not
the melodic ones, again typically Oxley) and so he decided working with
string ensembles of all kinds. The other one was Oxley’s encounter with
Cecil Taylor. He met him when the pianist had an FMP residence in Berlin
during the summer of 1988. He played with him as a duo, with William Parker
in the Feel Trio, and in the 17-piece Cecil Taylor European Orchestra. What
is more, Taylor introduced him to Bill Dixon, with whom he also recorded
several albums for the Italian Soul Note label. Oxley became Taylor’s
favourite partner for the rest of the pianist’s life.
Tony Oxley oeuvre is so huge and various, it’s hard to give
recommendations. His early recordings are certainly important landmarks for
the development of European free jazz. The Baptised Traveller
(CBS, 1969) and Ichnos (RCA Victor, 1971) with the same band,
only that Barry Guy has replaced Jeff Clyne, are just spectacular.
Tony Oxley
(Incus, 1975) - also with the same collaborators (but Dave Holzworth is on
bass and Howard Riley on piano) - must also be mentioned. Oxley’s trio with
Riley and Barry Guy is definitely recommendable, for example
Synopsis
(Eminem, 1974). His work with Cecil Taylor is well-documented and almost
all the releases are excellent. Above all, the first Feel Trio album,
Looking
(FMP 1990), with William Parker on bass is outstanding, possibly one of the
best free music recordings ever made and one I hold especially dearly. As a
duo the two developed a breathtaking energy, just listen to
Leaf Palm Hand
(FMP, 1989) and
Ailanthus / Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions Of 2 Root Songs
(Triple Point Records, 2009). Personal favorites of mine are his albums on
Soul Note with Bill Dixon (trumpet), Barry Guy and William Parker on bass -
Vade Mecum Iand II (1994 and 96).
“I consider myself more a percussionist, in contrast to a jazz drummer who
keeps time“, Oxley told Bert Noglik in the aforementioned interview. “In
the new improvised music, a percussionist can interrupt the flow of his
playing without affecting the nature of his relationship to the other
players.“ Should St. Peter have checked Tony Oxley at the gates of heaven
and the drummer had his stuff with him, he will surely not have taken him
for a clown, but for what he is: one of the greatest drummers of the last
60 years. The jazz band in heaven can look forward to him.
Annotation: parts of this obituary are based on a text by Gerald E. Brennan
on Tony Oxley
Camila Nebbia is one of my favourite artists. An amazing saxophonist,
composer, visual artist, Nebbia is making some of the most interesting
music and art out there. She is a well sought after musician working in a
variety of contexts. Her YouTube channel, (which does not get nearly enough views), is an incredible portfolio of her
work.
Although I have listened to Nebbia playing with many different groups, I
have always been particularly drawn to her unaccompanied sax playing. Her
sound is incredible, and she has developed a distinctive and sophisticated
language of saxophone playing. una ofrenda a la ausencia is one of
Nebbia’s most recent albums featuring her on solo tenor saxophone (with
spoken word, and effects) and is a perfect display of her solo sax work.
una ofrenda a la ausencia, meaning an offering to absence, is
explained in the album description as an exploration of the “depth, the
rawness, harshness and roughness of sound embracing the intense and
unfiltered expressions that emerges from absence.” Nebbia truly does
embrace harsh sounds and through that embrace builds a beautiful and
complex piece of music that feels like a sonic meditation on space and the
possibilities of performance without others. Nebbia crafts beautiful lines
with her sax that swoops and arcs like drawing shapes of sound in the air.
At other times, she growls omitting blistering multiphonics.
The depth and diversity of articulations is astounding - I love the way
Nebbia builds long melodies and then contrasts them with what seem to be
meditations on a cellular-like riff. I would compare it to unit structures
but that isn’t quite right in this case. Instead, it feels like a
deconstruction of a discreet sonic area made possible through articulation
or a meditation on sounding and breathing notes into a tenor saxophone. The
multiphonic passages are particularly captivating with worlds of sounds
emerging from the plumage of harmonics singing from the saxophone.
una ofrenda a la ausencia is a spectacular album by one of today’s
most important artists. It is a gorgeous, visceral, and moving work that
needs to be listened to.
Ash is the Mat Maneri Quartet’s second installment to a proposed trilogy,
following up on the lovely Dust(Sunnyside, 2019), with a projected third recording (Mist) in the works. The quartet is Mat Maneri’s viola, joined by Lucian Ban
(piano), John Hébert (bass), and Randy Peterson (drums). Maneri has played
with Hébert since the 1990s, Randy Peterson since the late 80s, and Ban
since around 2010. The communication across the 4 players feels
effortless, always searching, never trite. Each of the three titles in
the trilogy signals something evanescent, elusive yet omnipresent and
uncontrollable, atmospheric.
Maneri’s music invokes a distinctive tone world: moody and sorrowful, a
bit decrepit; earthy decay against a background of blight blanched by hazy
sunlight. The lilting movement of sound over a windswept field of somewhat
sickly wildflowers, muted yellows and reds, dull greens and browns. New
classical, but in truth a jazz combo that has dropped the formalism, kept
the nocturne, and added a torch singer carried by the viola veering in and
around pitchless angst. Maneri’s viola is mourning incarnate. I could
listen to the first three pieces of this recording on endless repeat.
I first came to Mat Maneri’s musical concept listening to his triptych of
records on Leo recordings: Fifty-One Sorrows(1999), Fever Bed(2000), and For Consequence(2003), and then his solo work on Trinity(ECM, 2001). (This is not even to mention his work with Matthew Shipp, or his
HatHut recordings with his father, the late clarinetist/saxophonist Joe
Maneri (though do check out Out Right Now(HatHut, 2001) with Joe Maneri and Joe Morris on guitar), and Dahabenzapple(Hat Hut, 1996)with Joe Maneri, Cecil McBee on bass, and Randy Peterson.) I was and
remain very taken by his singular expressiveness. Within a fairly tight
aesthetic, Maneri opens up a way of allowing the viola to speak its
sadness. In his interview with DJ Michael Schell (on KBCS (Bellevue
College) from this past October), Maneri jokes that he’s the “Goth Jazz guy.” But then more seriously,
“I’ve always loved the melancholy. It speaks to me.” It speaks to him and
through him to us, the halting implication that we share the world’s
mourning.
The tracks on Ash are all of a piece. Viola rasping over and against the subtle but still
cleanly tonal piano, the slowly throbbing bass, Peterson’s emotive
percussion—no time, all emphasis, unraveling lines.
Highlights from the record: The second track, “Dust to Dust,” captures a
slow-motion mist, working it over 10 minutes. The liner notes read: “Dust
to dust in which dust itself is a prerequisite for dust in which dust
returns to dust and again . . . as if there is no end except in the coming
back around of the end.” The cycle of eternal return. When Maneri drops
off to let the piano-bass-drums trio do their thing, the effect is of a
fog lifting. Ban plays lead and a mildly cheerful moodiness appears;
Maneri returns and the tone is reset to the stoically tragic, face to face
with the muted melancholy of our situation. On the third track, "Earth,"
Peterson’s drum solo closing it out slowly over the last two and a half
minutes is a thing of beauty. The final track, “Cold World Lullaby” has an
Eastern European flavor. Romanian, perhaps. Less Maneri’s concept, than
his concept applied to an adjacent genre. It works.
I do wish John Hébert’s bass were better represented in its sonic detail.
The quartet played Seattle as part of the Earshot Jazz festival in
November, 2023. Brandon Lopez sat in for Hébert. In the new auditorium of
Cornish College of the Arts, the sound was fantastic.
So, here we are, standing on the precipice of a new year looking back at the current one -- who would have thought that would see the future catching up with the present so fast, especially with AI that can take artfully crafted prompts like "Santa delivering records for Christmas, excitement, painting style" and create stunning visualizations like the one above, in addition to generating an endless supply of confusing student essays. Fortunately, we haven't outsourced all our creativity to the machines yet. For example, the past year was a banner one for experimental and improvised music. Here is some anecdotal evidence: over the past 12 months, the Free Jazz Blog received at least two thousand requests for reviews and welcomed over 1.71 million visitors -- a testament to both the spirit and creativity of musicians around the world and a nod to the tireless effort that the collective's volunteer writers put into keeping the website humming.
Now, without further ado, we present the top 10 albums of the year from the Free Jazz Collective:
The Free Jazz Collective's Top 10 of 2023 (A - Z):
Akira Sakata & Entasis - Live in Europe 2022 (Trost)
Anna Webber - Shimmer Wince (Intakt)
Fire Orchestra - Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
Irreversible Entanglements - Protect your Light (Impulse)
King Übü Örchestrü – Roi (FMR, 2023)
Lina Allemano - Canons (Lumo Records, 2023)
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (Constellation, 2023)
Matthew Shipp - The Intrinsic Nature of Shipp (Mahakala, 2023)
Mendoza Hoff Revels - Echolocation (AUM Fidelity)
Rodrigo Amado The Bridge - Beyond the Margins (Trost, 2023)
From each list, the most listed recordings were culled to produce the above list of top 10 recordings of the year. Our rules are simply,
anything
that appears on a list must have been reviewed on the site (or by the reviewer personally, somewhere). You can search for any of
the recordings listed to read a review of the
recording. As you check out the lists the
collective will be busy voting on the top album from the list
below to come up with our top album of the year, which we will present
on January 1st.
And please, share your thoughts on 2023's rich offerings in the comments!
- Paul Acquaro
Alphabetically by first name, the top 10's from the collective:
Eyal Hareuveni
Fred Frith & Susana Silva Santos - Laying Demons to Rest (RogueArt)
Peter Bruun, Søren Kjærgaard & Jonas Westergaard - Thēsaurós (Ilk Music)
Alabaster DePlume - Come With Fierce Grace (International Anthem)
Gerrit Hatcher - Solo Five (Kettle Hole Records)
Julius Amber – Close Up (Veto Records)
Jack Wright, Ben Bennett - Augur (Palliative Records)
Darius Jones - fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred) (Northern Spy, We Jazz)
Rudolph & Sorey -Archaisms (defkaz)
Sam Weinberg Trio w/ Chris Lightcap & Tom Rainey (Astral Spirits)
Anne Gillis + XT - Our(s) Bouture(s) (Art Into Life)
Rupp/Kneer/Fischerlehner - Puna (Klanggalerie)
Historic/Archival/Reissued Recordings:
A few comments on the archival recordings: 2023 was M. Graves' year. Babi, the most important recording for post-Ayler free jazz, was reissued for the first time on vinyl, plus Children of The Forest is a musical statement beyond explanations.
I strongly believe that the NYC recording of Evan Parker solo did not get the praise it deserves. Last but not least, the french avant/free jazz/experimental trio of Axolotl from 1981 gets, finally, a first ever reissue in any format.
Milford Graves With Arthur Doyle & Hugh Glover – Children Of The Forest (Black Editions Archives)
Evan Parker – NYC 1978 (Relative Pitch)
Axolotl - Abrasive (SouffleContinu Records)
Gary Chapin
Tim Berne/Hank Roberts/Aurora Nealand - Oceans And (Intakt)
Art Ensemble of Chicago - The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris (Live at Sons d’Hiver) (Rogue Art)
Anna Webber - Shimmer Wince (Intakt)
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (Constellation)
Irreversible Entanglements - Protect Your Light (Impulse)
Matthew Shipp - The Intrinsic Nature of Shipp (Mahakala)
Ceramic Dog - Connection (Knockwurst Records)
Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim - Starling (self-release)
Fire Orchestra - Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
Marc Ducret - Palm Sweat: Marc Ducret Plays the Music of Tim Berne (Out of Your Head)
Historic/Archival/Reissued Recordings:
Matthew Shipp Trio - Circular Temple (ESP-DSK)
Sam River Archive Series (NoBusiness)
Guido Montegrandi
Natural Information Society - Since Time is Gravity (Eremite, 2023)
Bill Orcutt - Jump on It (Palilalia, 2023)
The Pitch & Julia Reidy – Neutral Star (Miasmah, 2023)
Wadada Leo Smith – Fire Illuminations (Kabell Records, 2023)
Ove Volquartz, Gianni Mimmo, Peer Schlechta, John Hughes – Cadenza del Crepuscolo (Amirani, 2023)
Fire! Orchestra – Echoes (Rune Grammofon, 2023)
The Necks – Travel (Northern Spy 2023)
Dave Sewelson, William Parker, Steve Hirsh – The Gate (Mahakala, 2023)
Fred Frith & Susana Silva Santos – Layin Demons to Rest (RogueArt, 2023)
Zoh Amba, Chris Corsano, Bill Orcutt – The Flower School (Palilalia, 2023)
Gregg Miller
Matthew Shipp - The Intrinsic Nature of Shipp (Mahakala, 2023)
Rodrigo Amado The Bridge - Beyond the Margins (Trost, 2023)
Greg Davis & E. Jason Gibb - Steam Fence (Superpang, 2023)
Rob Brown - Oceanic (Rogueart, 2023)
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden (Constellation, 2023)
Jaap Blonk / Damon Smith / Ra Kalam Bob Moses - Rune Kitchen (Balance Point Acoustics, 2023)
Mat Maneri Quartet - Ash (Sunnyside Records, 2023)
Okay Temiz’s Oriental Wind – Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 1982 (CazPlak)
Milford Graves, Arthur Doyle, Hugh Glover – Children of the Forest (Black Editions Archive)
Dror Feiler – Maavak: Music and Noise, 1980-2023 (Ideal Recordings)
Paul Acquaro Akiri Sakata Entasis's set at Jazzwerstatt Peitz this fall acutally brought me to tears. The intensity that the quartet reached as Sakata summoned the demons with his furious spoken/shouted vocals was simply face melting. A friend in the audience said to me after, "I know a bit of Japanese, he was reciting his grocery list." Ok whatever, I'll have what he's cooking.
Akiri Sakata Entasis - Live in Europe 2022 (Trost, 2023)
