PAUL BLEY — Improvisie (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Recorded in 1971 for the French America Recording label, Improvisie captures pianist Paul Bley, Annette Peacock, and master percussionist Han Bennink in concert in Rotterdam. Bley plays electric piano and synthesizer here, with Peacock playing both electric and acoustic piano, synthesizer, and electric bass as well as singing. There are two pieces on the set, the elegiac title cut, which is nearly 14 minutes in length, and the much more adventurous "Touching," which is nearly 24. On "Improvisie," elements of jazz phrasing and harmony usher in the piece haltingly, purposefully, almost reverently. A melody asserts itself from the ether, decorated by Bennink's hushed use of multiple percussion instruments and Peacock's accents on the theme itself. Tones and harmonic fragments whisper their way into the mix, governed by a crystalline use of spatial dynamics. Even as Bennink ups the ante with his instruments, Bley and Peacock dance very slowly through their interaction. It isn't until the six-and-a-half-minute mark where things begin to get atonal and angular, but even here, space is the key to expression. The unhurried procession of tones and colors makes the piece, no matter how strange and ethereal it gets, feel purposeful and accessible in its exploration. "Touching" begins on the fringes as electronic sounds mash up against one another and Bennink decorates the blips and gratings with the organic rhythmic material that keeps it all on the ground. The intensity with which the work begins is off-putting at first, but quickly opens up and out into a more relaxed and perhaps even inviting manner. Peacock's block chords add weight to Bennink's light percussion and Bley goes to elongated, deeply held tones on his synthesizer, single notes as opposed to dense washes of sound. Peacock is clearly the force behind "Touching"; it is her pace, her piano lines, and her sense of time that unwind it from its elementals. When she begins to sing about six minutes in, the work becomes something else entirely: a new song form, or a new framework for it. Her poetic lyric illustrates the music rather than vice versa; whether she is crooning, droning, or emoting powerfully at the margins of her voice, the sheer musicality and ghostly richness in her approach are captivating and beguiling. Bley's filling the spaces between her verses ranges from lilting melodic interplay to harsher, grinding tones that respond to Bennink's manic yet taut and gentle percussive dance. The industrial sounds that begin to assert themselves about halfway through never quite overpower the musicality inherent in the piece's foundation. Even 35 years later, "Touching" is still a brave and uncompromising work, one that asks as many questions as it answers, and one that renews its freshness with each repeated listening.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-

JACKIE McLEAN | LEE KONITZ | GARY BARTZ | CHARLIE MARIANO - Altissimo (1973-1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This is a great summit meeting with McLean and fellow horn players Lee Konitz, Gary Bartz, and Charlie Mariano, plus a piano trio. Ron Wynn
Tracklist :
1     Another Hair-Do 3:47
Charlie Parker
2     Mode for Jay Mac 9:44
William Gault
3     Love Choral 7:32
Lee Konitz
4     Fanfare 6:09
Lee Konitz
5     Du Rain 3:34
Gary Bartz
6     Hymn 3:09
Lee Konitz
7     Telieledu Rama Tyagaraja 7:30
Traditional
Credits :    
Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano, Gary Bartz, Jackie McLean, Lee Konitz
Bass – Palle Danielsson
Drums – Han Bennink
Piano – Joachim Kühn

LEE KONITZ - From Newport to Nice (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This compilation consists of live tracks from various sources, including festivals, television and radio broadcasts over a quarter century. While the playing of Konitz and his various band mates is first rate, the sound quality ranges from excellent to poor, probably due to the condition of the tapes and the fact that some of the songs likely come from audience tapes. Highlights include "All The Things You Are," heard in a swinging quintet that included guitarist Rene Thomas and pianist Misha Mengleberg; Lennie Tristano's "At Twilight," by a quartet that featured the late guitarist Atilla Zoller; and the lengthy but delightful second version of "Lover Man," in a quartet with Shelly Manne, Red Mitchell and Jimmy Rowles. Konitz fans should not let the sometimes dismal sound quality keep them from acquiring this excellent CD. Ken Dryden
Tracklist :
1     Two Not One 5:41
Lennie Tristano
2     My Melancholy Baby 3:09
Ernie Burnett / George Norton
3     I'm Getting Sentimental over You 3:38
George Bassman / Ned Washington
4     Easy Living 3:53
Ralph Rainger / Leo Robin
5     Some of These Days 4:14
Shelton Brooks
6     Lover Man 4:19
Jimmy Davis / Roger "Ram" Ramirez / Jimmy Sherman
7     Will You Still Be Mine? 4:05
Tom Adair / Matt Dennis
8     'Round Midnight 5:10
Bernie Hanighen / Thelonious Monk / Cootie Williams
9     All the Things You Are 9:20
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
10     317 East 32nd Street 6:17
Lennie Tristano
11     At Twilight 7:59
Maceo Pinkard
12     Lover Man 10:05
Jimmy Davis / Roger "Ram" Ramirez / Jimmy Sherman
13     Body and Soul 5:54
Frank Eyton / Johnny Green / Edward Heyman / Robert Sour
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Lee Konitz
Contrabass – Barre Phillips (pistas: 10, 11), Bob Carter (pistas: 1), Frank Carroll (pistas: 2), Henry Grimes (pistas: 5 to 7), Johnny Fischer (pistas: 3, 4), Red Mitchell (pistas: 12), Rob Langereis (pistas: 8, 9)
Drums – Buzzy Drootin (pistas: 1), Don Lamond (pistas: 2), Ed Levinson (pistas: 5 to 7), Han Bennink (pistas: 8, 9), Rudi Sehring (pistas: 3), Shelly Manne (pistas: 12), Stu Martin (pistas: 10, 11)
Guitar – Attila Zoller (pistas: 10, 11), Jimmy Raney (pistas: 13), Johnny Smith (pistas: 2), René Thomas (pistas: 8, 9)
Piano – Jimmy Rowles (pistas: 12), Misha Mengelberg (pistas: 8, 9), Roland Kovac (pistas: 3), Russ Freeman (pistas: 1)
Tenor Saxophone – Warne Marsh (pistas: 1)

EVAN PARKER | DEREK BAILEY | HAN BENNINK - The Topography Of The Lungs (1970-2006) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Along with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's Karyobin and Tony Oxley's 4 Compositions for Sextet, The Topography of the Lungs is one of the landmark early albums of English free improvisation (despite the presence of Dutch percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink), featuring guitarist Derek Bailey and saxophonist Evan Parker in positively coruscating form. This album launched the legendary Incus label in style, and original copies still contain the photocopied typewritten letter announcing the label's manifesto: "The bulk of the revenue from any Incus recording will go directly to the musicians....Once the basic cost of each record is recovered, thus providing the finance for the next, the vast bulk of all income will be paid in royalties to the artists. Incus has no intention of making profits in the conventional sense." (Back in Holland, Bennink had adopted a similar strategy for the ICP label he co-founded with saxophonist Willem Breuker and pianist Misha Mengelberg.) The same sense of commitment is to be found throughout the album, whose ultra-concentrated force marked a clear boundary line between the emerging European free music and its immediate precursor, American free jazz. Despite the music's furious energy -- verging at times on the downright violent, thanks in no small part to the irrepressible Bennink -- proceedings do not lack a sense of humor. Nor does the record's back cover, an almost Monty Pythonesque collage of pages from an old encyclopedia interspersed with brief, enigmatic phrases like "Frederick Rzewski writes about free improvisation and makes sense" and "If you like to draw or paint, this booklet could help change your life." If the booklet doesn't manage it, the music on the album certainly will. Dan Warburton  
Tracklist :
1    Titan Moon    20:45
2    For Peter B & Peter K    4:35
3    Fixed Elsewhere    5:05
4    Dogmeat    12:17
5    Found Elsewhere 1    4:40
6    Found Elsewhere 2    4:52
Guitar – Derek Bailey
Percussion – Han Bennink
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Producer, Liner Notes – Evan Parker

HAN BENNINK | EVAN PARKER | The Grass Is Greener (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Released on Evan Parker's own label, Psi, The Grass Is Greener is a nice session between him and drummer Han Bennink. The relationship between the two musicians goes back to the late '60s when they took part in Peter Brötzmann's groundbreaking Machine Gun. Yet, duets between them have been rare. That's the reasoning behind this release, despite a shaky sound quality. It comes as a surprise, since the album was recorded at Gateway Studios with Steve Lowe at the desk. Nevertheless, the first track, the 15-minute "Traps of Appetite," sounds like a soundcheck. The musicians change place in the spectrum, and some sudden alterations in sound quality indicate shifts between microphones. Once the setup is complete, the players still feel distant and the volume level remains low (maybe the mastering is inadequate). Hi-fi considerations aside, Bennink and Parker are in great shape, playful and witty as ever. The drummer throws in a few beats but fails to corner the saxophonist, who uncharacteristically sticks to the tenor sax and a warmer, more ample sound. The 20-minute "Traps of Instinct" contains flaring moments, but the best pieces are the short ones that round up the album after the two opening epics. "The Empty Hook" turns into an African polyrhythmic groove that will have you check the booklet again to make sure Hamid Drake did not happen to pass by. And if you set your CD player on repeat mode, you'll find Bennink ending "To Tangle Lure and Snare" with the same gong stroke he used to kick off "Traps of Appetite," wrapping things up in a neat package. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1    Traps Of Appetite    15:15
2    Traps Of Instinct    20:23
3    Outside The Usual Rules Of The Eating Game    5:18
4    Smoke Of Sacrifice    7:30
5    The Empty Hook    5:23
6    Coyotes Are Eating Pure Bred Poodles In Beverly Hills    2:24
7    Pluto Has A Moon    4:21
8    To Tangle Lure And Snare    2:03
Credits :
Saxophone, Producer – Evan Parker
Percussion, Artwork [Cover Art] – Han Bennink

SPRING HEEL JACK with MATTHEW SHIPP | EVAN PARKER | J SPACEMAN | WILLIAM PARKER | HAN BENNINK - Live (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

John Coxon and Ashley Wales -- aka Spring Heel Jack -- have been mucking about melding their progressive electronic drum'n'bass experiments with jazz and improvising musicians from the United States and Europe. Two recordings, Masses and Amassed, were released in Thirsty Ear's Blue Series; a third focuses on a live presentation of their ambitious sonic inquiries, where electronic meets organic and blurs the seams to create something entirely different. Performing with Matthew Shipp playing an electric Fender Rhodes piano, bassist William Parker, British sax king Evan Parker, drummer Han Bennink, and Spiritualized guitarist and frontman J. Spaceman, Coxon and Wales (himself a classical composer some years ago) have seemingly done the impossible, taking what is made on the spot and treating, warping, spindling, and manipulating it into a creature that may not resemble itself, but does indeed feel like something that lives, breathes, pulses, whispers, bleats, shouts, cries, and whimpers. Something wholly other that is neither jazz nor pure improv nor electronica, this attains the goal of live music itself -- as a thoroughly engaging experience for musicians and audience alike.

Quotes from great jazz masterpieces like "In a Silent Way" and "Naima" are touched upon, as are forgotten pop hits such as "Little Green Apples," morphing from one individual's voice to another's seamlessly and without communicative strain. Dynamics occur naturally, as do changes in pace, tempo, and harmonic architecture. Given that there are two different pieces here, each over half an hour in length, this pace and focus are hard to keep, but the way Spring Heel Jack treats its collaborators' improvising schemes and mirrors them back, stretching them out against time and pulling them forward, allows for more space, more room for rhythm to assert itself. Bennink and William Parker do this with a vengeance on the extended opening to "Part Two," going on for over eight minutes before the rest of the band comes in. It's not just a dialogue they develop between the bass, drums, and ambience, but language itself. Before they are halfway done, they begin to speak with one voice as a rhythmic solo. When the rest of the band enters, it's fast and furious before breaking down into smaller parts of singles and pairs to meet the language previously created and engage it in dialogue, even while quoting from earlier sources -- "A Love Supreme" is one, a boogie-woogie version of "Harlem Nocturne" is another, while "Lennie's Pennies" is still another. This is fascinating stuff to say the least, and devastatingly original at its best. Highly recommended.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Part I    35:52
2    Part II    39:15
Credits :
Bass – William Parker
Drums – Han Bennink
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Matthew Shipp
Electronics, Instruments [All Other Instruments] – Spring Heel Jack (John Coxon, Ashley Wales)
Guitar – J Spaceman (Jason Pierce)
Music By – Wales, E. Parker, Bennink, Spaceman, Coxon, Shipp, W. Parker
Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker

ANTHONY BRAXTON - Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project (1995) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On this double CD the innovative altoist Anthony Braxton (who also plays a bit of his sopranino and the remarkable contrabass clarinet) interprets 13 bebop songs (two taken twice), 11 of which were composed by Charlie Parker. However, do not mistake these performances (which are comprised of both a studio session and a club set) with the type of music often played by the Young Lions. In fact, those listeners who consider themselves bop purists are advised to look elsewhere. Performing with an adventurous sextet that also includes Ari Brown on tenor and soprano, trumpeter Paul Smoker, pianist Misha Mengelberg (the most consistently impressive of the supporting cast), bassist Joe Fonda, and either Han Bennink or Pheeroan AkLaff on drums, Braxton uses the melodies and some of the original structures of such tunes as "Hot House," "Night in Tunisia," "Bebop," and "Ko Ko" as the basis for colorful and often-stunning improvisations. He does not feel restricted to the old boundaries of the 1940s and '50s, preferring to pay tribute to the spirit and chance-taking of Charlie Parker rather than to merely recreate the past. The passionate and unpredictable results are quite stimulating and full of surprises, fresh ideas and wit. It's highly recommen Scott Yanow  
Tracklist :
1-1    Hot House 15:06
Composed By – Tadd Dameron
1-2    A Night In Tunisia 9:03
Composed By – Dizzy Gillespie
1-3    Dewey Square    12:28
1-4    Klactoveesedstene    8:46
1-5    An Oscar For Treadwell    19:38
2-1    Bebop 8:22
Composed By – Dizzy Gillespie
2-2    Bongo Bop    6:45
2-3    Yardbird Suite    8:14
2-4    A Night In Tunisia 8:28
Composed By – Dizzy Gillespie
2-5    Passport    6:30
2-6    Klactoveesedstene    7:07
2-7    Scrapple From The Apple    5:15
2-8    Mohawk    2:45
2-9    Slippin' At Bells    4:08
2-10    Koko    7:36
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone, Contrabass Clarinet – Anthony Braxton
Composed By – Charlie Parker
Double Bass – Joe Fonda
Drums – Han Bennink (pistas: 1-1 to 1-5), Pheeroan AkLaff (pistas: 2-1 to 2-10)
Piano – Misha Mengelberg
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Ari Brown
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Paul Smoker

THE PETER BRÖTZMANN OCTET — The Complete Machine Gun Sessions (1968-2007) RM | Unheard Music Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This historic free jazz album is a heavy-impact sonic assault so aggressive it still knocks listeners back on their heels decades later. Recorded in May 1968, Machine Gun captures some top European improvisers at the beginning of their influential careers, and is regarded by some as the first European -- not just German or British -- jazz recording. Originally self-released by Peter Brötzmann, the album eventually came out on the FMP label, and set a new high-water mark for free jazz and "energy music" that few have approached since. Brötzmann is joined on sax by British stalwart Evan Parker and Dutch reedsman Willem Breuker (before Breuker moved away from free music, his lungs were as powerful as Brötzmann's). The rest of the group consists of drummers Han Bennink (Dutch) and Sven-Åke Johansson (Swedish), Belgian pianist Fred van Hove, and bassists Peter Kowald (German) and Buschi Niebergall (Swiss). Brötzmann leads this octet in a notoriously concentrated dose of the relentless hard blowing so often characteristic of his music. While Brötzmann has played this powerfully on albums since, never again is it with a group of this size playing just as hard with him. The players declare and exercise their right to bellow and wail all they want; they both send up the stereotype of free playing as simply screaming, and unapologetically revel in it. The sound of Machine Gun is just as aggressive and battering as its namesake, blowing apart all that's timid, immovable, or proper with an unrepentant and furious finality. The years have not managed to temper this fiery furnace blast from hell; it's just as relentless and shocking an assault now as it was then. Even stout-hearted listeners will nearly be sent into hiding -- much like standing outside during a violent storm, withstanding this kind of fierce energy is a primal thrill. Joslyn Layne  
Tracklist :
The Original BRO LP   
1    Machine Gun 17:19
Written-By – Brötzmann
2    Responsible / For Jan Van De Ven 8:20
Written-By – Van Hove
3    Music For Han Bennink 11:29
Written-By – Breuker
Alternate Takes   
4    Machine Gun (Second Take) 15:01
Written-By – Brötzmann
5    Responsible / For Jan Van De Ven (First Take) 10:08
Written-By – Van Hove
Machine Gun Live   
6        Machine Gun 17:40
Tenor Saxophone – Gerd Dudek
Written-By – Brötzmann
Credits :
Bass – Buschi Niebergall, Peter Kowald
Cover [Image - Schiesscheibe, C. 1967, Oil On Found Materials] – Peter Brötzmann
Drums – Han Bennink, Sven-Åke Johansson
Piano – Fred Van Hove
Tenor Saxophone – Evan Parker
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Peter Brötzmann
Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Willem Breuker