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
If ever a recording needed to be trumpeted from the rooftops, it's this one, and perhaps we all owe a debt of gratitude to John Zorn for making it happen. This initial trio meeting of saxophonist Anthony Braxton, drummer Milford Graves, and ubiquitous bassist William Parker is a vanguard jazz fan's dream come true. Beyond Quantum places these three modern legends in a completely improvised setting in producer Bill Laswell's studio for 63 minutes of pure inspirational, communicative fire. First is the fact that Graves performs seldom and records even less. Secondly, he's never appeared with either of these men before.
The five selections on Beyond Quantum are all "meetings," ordered one through five, showcasing the three individuals as part of one dynamic, dramatic, and profoundly inventive unit that moves inside and outside the constraints of modal, melodic, and harmonic improvisation with a seemingly effortless groove. So much so in fact, that even fans of straighter, more structured jazz composition and improvisation will almost willingly accept this as proof that not only is free jazz not "dead," but this entry into its historical annals may offer some proof of it entering a new phase of creativity. Braxton plays alto, sopranino, bass, and concert bass saxophones, one at a time -- though he often employs more than a single horn in a selection. His playing is far from the more sparse theoretical articulations, and moves effortlessly between his more aggressive tonal investigations and spiritually (even cosmically) inspired expression. Check his wild bass clusters on "Second Meeting," his snake charming sopranino on "Third Meeting," and the nearly boppish blues sopranino streams on "Fourth Meeting." Parker uses all of his tricks here. Whether it's creating riff-like phrases or single high note pulses on his contrabass as he does on "First Meeting," the Eastern scalar repetitions as he does in the middle of "Second Meeting," the beautiful high chord repetitions near the end of "Third Meeting," or his amazing arco work in dialogue with Braxton on "Fourth Meeting," he is always the pinnacle of energy and focus, always supporting, always insisting on "further." Graves is just something else to behold here. He is a drummer who never pauses, each idea comes fluidly either from the one immediately preceding, or the one being articulated in the moment. He uses his sticks to be sure, but also brushes, his hands, and on "Second Meeting" in particular -- though in other places as well -- his voice as both a lyric(less) and percussive device. (Think of Leon Thomas with Pharoah Sanders, or better yet, Sanders and John Coltrane on Live in Seattle and you get the idea.) Graves is never overwhelming in his stream of "motion" ideas; he is a layered drummer, working cymbals and snares or toms with an instinctive -- by this point inspired -- lyricism inside one another in open-ended loops.
An added treat on this set is in the final or "Fifth Meeting," when Parker joins Braxton (on sopranino) on a double reed instrument. Both men begin speaking streams of lyric and chant-like ideas, accenting the spiritual fire between them. Graves moves into them both on his deep-toned tom toms as the horn phrases become a call and response dialogue. Though it's over an hour, Beyond Quantum is over all too quickly. It never once feels like an endurance test, and the flood of creativity, passion, and direct communication between participants leaves the listener not breathless, but astonished. This is a serious contender for vanguard jazz recording of 2008.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1 First Meeting 14:49
2 Second Meeting 10:48
3 Third Meeting 16:34
4 Fourth Meeting 16:08
5 Fifth Meeting 5:11
Credits :
Bass – William Parker
Percussion – Milford Graves
Producer – Bill Laswell, John Zorn
Saxophone – Anthony Braxton
Having suffered the passing of longtime musical partner Jimmy Lyons just a year prior, pianist Cecil Taylor enlisted alto saxophonist and flute player Carlos Ward as a replacement for a series of European dates in 1987. Filling out the group were percussionist Thurman Barker and violinist Leroy Jenkins (both veterans of Chicago's trailblazing AACM free jazz collective), as well as bassist William Parker. The new group members proved to be up to Taylor's capricious and galvanizing ways on this Bologna concert recording, not only providing sympathetic support for the pianist's expansive explorations, but also creating uniquely improvised statements of their own. They maintain a high standard throughout the 90-minute concert (the CD version has been edited down for time limitations), shifting from frenetic, full-ensemble runs to slow, primordial stretches of music-making. Barker particularly stands out, adding a multitude of textures and colors on marimba and a variety of other percussion instruments, while Jenkins also impresses with violin work that matches Taylor's own protean playing. For his part, Ward might not be up to the incisive work Lyons produced during his 20-year tenure with Taylor, but he turns in enough engaging statements to blend in nicely with the others. Although this is a great Taylor release, certainly essential for fans, Live in Bologna might not be the best disc for newcomers. Curious listeners should start with either of Taylor's mid-'60s Blue Note discs (Unit Structures and Conquistador), or check out later titles like 1986's live solo piano recording For Olim and his A&M trio date In Floresence. by Stephen Cook
Tracklist :
1 Live in Bologna 1:09:53
Cecil Taylor
Credits :
Bass – William Parker
Marimba, Drums – Thurman Barker
Piano, Lyrics By [Poetry], Music By – Cecil Taylor
Reeds – Carlos Ward
Violin – Leroy Jenkins 
This three-part group improvisation by Cecil Taylor's Feel Trio was recorded in the summer of 1989, exactly a year after his series of concerts in the same city, and about a week before the Berlin Wall fell. After its members had played together sporadically over the previous couple of years, the Feel Trio was a working group, and the empathy and instinct provided by that luxury is certainly in evidence here. As usual, it's Taylor who starts things off, but with very few notes as opposed to his trademark solo beginnings, in order to find a language all the musicians in his group can speak from. Oxley and Parker chime right in, flowing into the heart of Taylor's idea, a loosely structured series of themes -- all linked by sixths and ninths and most extended beyond recognition -- by Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and even Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. But Penderecki, Lutoslawski, and Stravinsky also emerge in this wildly crisscrossing match of musical wit and dexterity. The pieces all "swing," and while it's true that there are flourishes and lines taken from Taylor's formative years with his first trio and with the late Jimmy Lyons, the proceedings are very much rooted in the now, and in the dynamic of this particular band. They play together flawlessly with Parker and Oxley trading eights, 16ths, and even 32nds with Taylor and each other! It's more than just listening for a rhythm section to get this far inside the pianist's voice, it's more than empathy or affinity, it's downright musical telepathy. There are no extra notes played here, no lazy harmonic structures or modal clichés. This is new music in the purest sense of the phrase. The listener is treated to, and hopefully moved by, the sound of something being born, coming from silence, and an hour later returning there somehow -- making it even bigger, more cavernous, and colorful as a result of this trio's awesome creation.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1 First Part: Looking the Feel Trio 36:22
Tony Oxley / William Parker / Cecil Taylor
2 Second Part: Looking the Feel Trio 5:05
Tony Oxley / William Parker / Cecil Taylor
3 Third Part: Looking the Feel Trio 30:49
Tony Oxley / William Parker / Cecil Taylor
Credits :
Double Bass – William Parker
Drums – Tony Oxley
Piano, Composed By [All Music] – Cecil Taylor
"Retrospective - The Very Best Of e.s.t." is a retrospective of the unique work of e.s.t. and a tribute to the late mastermind Esb...
