Jon Corbett's Dangerous Musics - Kongens Gade [Leo]

Jon Corbett - trumpet, pocket trumpet, valve trombone, bamboo flute

Nick Stephens - acoustic bass

Louis Moholo-Moholo - drums

Leo Records 2011

I recently reviewed Calling Signals' release, where one can hear Jon Corbett's and Nick Stephens' playing and here they are again with addition of Louis Moholo-Moholo to please our ears.

All three of them mainstays of british free music scene for a while so there's nothing to be proven or revealed here - and they can just go for it as they feel.

And they definitely do so, the playing is intense and vivid. The music is raw and energetic and there are no artificial confines to be respected, just a joyfull ride, an act of communication and creation with the three sharing the reponsibilities and the rewards of creating and stustaining the musical narration.

Calling Signals 09 (Gjerstad, Corbett, Stephens, Nilssen-Love) - A Winter's Tour [Loose Torque]

Frode Gjerstad - clarinets and alto saxophone
Jon Corbett - trumpet, valve trombone and conch
Nick Stephens - double bass
Paal Nilssen-Love - percussion

Loose Torque Records 2011

This Norwegian/British quartet just lets it all loose on this live release with only two tracks yet over an hour of pure music (47 + 17 minutes). And the great quality of the registration allows you to fully absorb and appreciate the spontaneous creation, as if you were there in the audience, just with your eyes closed.

There's an entire debate to it but my opinion is that next to the live experience the live registration is the most direct listening experience, and there's an extra level of honesty, fidelity and truth to a live recording as it allows the musicians to express more freely, necessitates a more complex and immediate interactions (not only with the fellow musicians but also with the audience and the acoustic space that is very different to the usually neutral studio recording).