Fire! Orchestra - Exit! [Rune Grammofon]

Fire! Orchestra:
voice: Mariam Wallentin, Emil Svanangen (+ guitar), Sofia Jernberg
trumpet: Niklas Barno, Magnus Broo, Emil Strandberg; trombone: Mats Aleklint; tuba: Per-Ake Holmlander
reeds: Anna Hogber (alto), Mats Gustafsson (tenor + live electronics), Elin Larsson (tenor), Fredrik Ljungkvist (baritone, clarinet), Christer Bothen (bass clarinet + guimbri), Jonas Kullhammar (bass sax)
guitar: Andres Soderstrom, Soren Runolf, David Stackenas
piano and electronic: Sten Sandell; electronics: Joachim Nordwall; organ: Tomas Hallonsten
electric bass: Johan Berthling; double bass: Joel Grip, Joe Williamson, Dan Berglund
drums: Andreas Werlin, Thomas Mera Gartz, Johan Holmegard, Raymond Strid

Rune Grammofon 2013

Fire! burned hot with improvised psychodelia on their latest trio release ("Without noticing") as well as previous ones featuring guest guitarists ("Unreleased?" with Jim O' Rourke on the blog as well). Mats Gustafsson however is ever a restless and exploratory soul and "Exit!" is a fruit of that.

Gustafsson's fondness for playing in larger groups is evident (vital member of Chicago Tentent, and Barry Guy's LJCO as well as New Orchestra for many years now) but It was not until the Krakow Jazz Autumn and Nu Ensemble performance I had a pleasure to see him lead his own unit, performing his own material, I was  

Fire! Orchestra not only predates the Autumn festival (the material presented on "Exit!" was recorded in the january of 2012), it features Gustafsson's musical vision expanded into even larger, 28-piece strong ensemble.

William Parker Trio & Wroclaw Philharmony Orchestra (16,11) / Tony Malaby TubaCello Quartet & Polish Cello Quartet (17.11) at Jazztopad Festival

The 2nd and 3rd day of the Jazztopad festival presented to the audience specially commissioned projects, all three posing a question of a possible interjections between composed, classical music and improvisation - an ambitious task in any circumstances and kudos for the festival's for taking such a pro-active attitude, kudos for the artists for jumping on the train.

William Parker has quite an experience writing and leading for a big jazz bands but I believe that "Ceremonies for those who are still" written for a full scale 40 piece orchestra is a first of its sort in his musical activity. The amount of colours and textures you can get from such group may be in many ways overwhelming. The composition dedicated to a late friend of the composer, Moscow-based bassplayer Rustam Abdullaev and the mourning aspect of it seemed clearly present the ominous chants by the choir section. The colourfull passages would be linked together by the improvising trio.

Nu Ensemble final concert at Maghha (Krakow Autumn Jazz) 12.10

Gustafsson's ability to lead bands as well as play in the orchestras (Chicago Tentet, London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Barry Guy New Orchestra) is well documented but I must admit I did not know what to expect of him leading such a big ensemble (although Fire! Orchestra project did promise a lot). I had a sneak of what's about to happen on saturday during one of the weekdays as I could overhear the band practice, excitement is the word. 

NU Ensemble presented one extended multimedia piece, the main axe of it being the two solos by Stine J Motland who was simply spectacular and

Barry Guy London Jazz Composers Orchestra - Harmos (Schaffhausen Concert) [Intakt]

London Jazz Composers Orchestra:

Barry Guy - director, bass

reeds: Evan Parker (ts, ss), Mats Gustafsson (bs, fluteohpone), Trevor Watts (as), Simon Picard (ts), Pete McPhail (as, sss, fl);

trombones: Contrad Bauer, Johannes Bauer, Alan Tomlison;

trumpets: Henry Lowther (tp, flh), Herb Robertson (tp), Rich Laughlin (tp, flh); tuba: Per Ake Holmlander

violin: Phil Wachsmann; bass: Barre Phillips

percussion: Paul Lytton, Lucas Niggli

piano: Howard Riley

Intakt Records 2012

"Harmos" was originally composed in 1987 and registered two years later for the Intakt label. The DVD at hand presents the piece as it was performed on Schaffhauser Jazz Festival at 2008. It's worth noticing that more than the half of the Orchestra on the stage had taken part in 1989 recording as well, namely: Riley, Lowther, Tomlinson, Watts, Parker, McPhail, Picard, Wachsmann, Phillips, Lytton, Guy and Phillips.

Power of the Horns - Alaman [ForTune]

Power of the Horns
Piotr Damasiewicz - trumpet, voice
Adam Pindur - soprano sax
Maciej Obara - alto sax
Marek Pospieszalski - tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute, growl
Pawel Niewiadomski - trombone
Dominik Wania - piano
Max Mucha - double bass
Jakub Mielcarek - double bass
Wojciech Romanowski - drums
Gabriel Ferrandini - drums
Tomas Sanchez - percussion

ForTune 2013

I wrote briefly about the Power of the Horns on the occasion of their Warsaw Summer Jazz Days concert and I promised that I'd write more soon. "Alaman" is not only group's debut release but, with the number 001, it's also the first position in the catalogue of a new polish jazz music label ForTune, a quick view on their list makes you sure the guys are serious about publishing good music. 

Power of the Horns is led by Piotr Damasiewicz whose responsbile for the compositions and for conducting the group that gathers together some of the hottest names on the polish modern jazz scene. They've been performing together for a couple of years, gaining a big, if underground, reputation, the official release was in fact long overdue.

Barry Guy New Orchestra - finale at Manggha (Krakow Autumn Jazz; 23.11)

For three evenings at Alchemia, Barry Guy New Orchestra mixed the elements, ingredients of the band. Feel free to check the previous posts for the detailed line-up of each evening. Both sax trios that make the axis of the band (Evan-Barry-Paul and Mats-Barry-Raymond) could make another statement and develop their history but mostly the line-ups were surprising and unconventional. And so was the music -  exploratory and uncomprimsing.

The three evenings gave an insight into the infinite world of possibilites that exist in a big band, in coulour and texture of music. The music created in an instance, raw yet pure, born from the moment. Majestic or joyfull, energetic or soothing, hidden as well as right in front of your eyes/ears. To be perceived in all it's glory on the final set of those three days, when eleven musicians squeezed onto the stage and ripped and sew again the space with the music.

A series of spontaneously created parallel universes met all together at once yesterday evening at Manggha, given the support of the composed structure.

The Orchestra presented three pieces, each featuring a different main soloists (Maya Homburger, Trevor Watts, Augusti Fernandez). And the music rose in thousands of sounds and colours and shapes, rich and purely majestic. The compositions going light-years beyond any jazz idiom, probably where Gil Evans and Stan Kenton sometimes dreamt of going , concertos for orchestra and soloists. Music that has the immediate element of improvisation built-in, that strikes your heart, while it builds an entire reality of symphonic depth and richness, harmonies sharp or lush, that touch your mind.

And my mind is still striving to grasp it, without any real success. What I know is: those four days of music, in all its variety of aspects and manifestations - that's why we (I hope to speak those words not only for myself) love this music. This is music that unifies passion and vision and expression.

Barry Guy New Orchestra:
Barry Guy - double bass, conductor
Maya Homburger - baroque violin
Augusti Fernandez - piano
Evan Parker - tenor sax, soprano
Trevor Watts - alto sax
Mats Gustafsson - baritone sax, fluteophone
Hans Koch - bass clarinet
Herb Robertson - trumpet, pocket trumpet
Johannes Bauer - trombone
Per-Ake Holmlander - tuba
Paul Lytton - drums
Raymond Strid - drums

Krakow Autumn Jazz. Alchemia (20-22.11.2012) and Manggha (23.11.2012)

Ratchet Orchestra - Hemlock [Drip Audio]

Reeds: Cristoper Cauley (soprano), Louisa Sage (alto), Damian Nisenson (tenor), Jason Sharp (bass), Lori Freedman (clarinet), Gordon Krieger (bass clarinet); Flutes: Craig Dionne, Jean Derome (bass flute, piccolo, flute)

Trumpets: Gordon Allen, Philipp Battikha

Trombones: Scott Thomso, Jacques Gravel; Brass: Thea Pratt (Eb horn), Eric Lewis (Euphonium), Noah Countability (sousaphone), Gabriel Rivest (Tube); Strings: Joshua Zubot (violin), Brigitte Dajczer (violin), Guido Del Fabbro (violin), Jean Rene (viola), Gen Heistek (viola), Norsola Johnson (cello), Nicolas Caloia (bass), Chris Burns (guitar), Sam Shalabi (guitar); Piano: Guillame Dostale; Rhythm: Isiaiah Ceccarelli (drums), John Heward (drums), Ken Doolittle (percussion), Michel Bonneau (conga)

                                                                          DRIP Audio 2012

I felt that once I've copied the band's members list my work is close to finished. The Ratchet Orchestra is led by Montreal based bass player Nicolas Caloia who composed all the tunes on "Hemlock" which is the big band's second release. Just one look at the line-up gives you some idea about how huge might be the sound of this music.

The Big Bang - Little Red Big Bang [ILK]

The Big Bang
Johanna Borchert - piano
Elena Setien - vocals
Jimmy Nyborg - trumpet
Jeppe Hejgaard - alt sax
Kevin Christensen - trombone
Jesper Levdal - tenor sax
Jakob Munck - tuba
Peter Bruun - drums
Jonas Westergaard - double bass


ILK Records 2012

I've been gathering myself to write about this one for quite a while. A few orchestras showed up on the blog recently but this one is unlike any of them.

Ken Vandermark Resonance Ensemble - What Country Is This? [Not Two]

Resonance:
Ken Vandermark - baritone sax & Bb clarinet
Dave Rempis - alto & tenor sax
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto sax & bass clarinet
Waclaw Zimpel - Bb & bass clarinet
Steve Swell - trombone
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Per-Ake Holmlander - truba
Devin Hoff - double bass
Michael Zerang - drums
Tim Daisy - drums

Not Two 2012

I've written very briefly about this band's performance in the beginning of the year and you can check the old post for a bit of background history. "What Country Is This?" is basically is a result of the third meeting of the band, recorded in Chicago studio session after busy small-groups concerts and rehearsal schedule. If you know the previous recordings (especially the last year's "Kafka in Flight") you know more or less what are you going to get, which means you shouldn't hesitate to take another round.

Jazz Alchemist radio with solos and orchestras

In the last months a few reviews were concerned with the two possibile extremes of the musical statement - a solo recital and an orchestra concert.
That being said both orchestras as well as solo performers searched their own place on other bipolar "scale" of creative music - between jazz-rooted improvisation and the struggle for individual, "non-idiomatic" (or pluri-idiomatic) expression known as (for the lack of better term) free-improv. The playlist makes the four ends of the spectrum meet, hope you'll like it.

Steve Lacy; photo Guy Le Querrec

1. Piotr Orzechowski - Scherzo V (from "Pianohooligan")
2. Tomek Choloniewski - United (from "Un")
3. Paul Hubweber - Albartz Lark's Tongues (from "Loverman (Tombone Songs)")
4. Matthiaz Ziegler - Stop N' Go (from "La Rusna (Music for Flutes)")
5. Jeremiah Cymerman - Lateral Semicircular Canal (from "In Memory of the Labirynth System")
6. Royal Improvisers Orchestra - Burocratie (from "Live at Bimhuis")
7. Aardvark Jazz Orchestra - Sumner : a Biography in Jazz (from "Evocations")
8. Steve Lacy - Weal (from "Avignon and After")
9. Royal Improvisers Orchestra - His Composition (with Han Bennink) (from "Live at Bimhuis")
10. Tomek Choloniewski - Untitled (from "Un")
11. Paul Hubweber - Lover Man (from "Loverman (Tombone Songs)")
11. Royal Improvisers Orchestra - Imigratie Walk (from "Live at Bimhuis")
12. Matthiaz Ziegler - ContraBasics (from "La Rusna (Music for Flutes)")
13. Jeremiah Cymerman - Superior Canal (from "In Memory of the Labirynth System")

Jazz Alchemist Radio 24.09 with solos and orchestras by Jazzowy Alchemik on Mixcloud

Orchestra Part 2 - The Royal Improvisers Orchestra - Live at the Bimhuis (Riot Impro)

And here's the 2nd Orchestra I promised in the previous post:

The Royal Improvisers Orchestra 

Live at the Bimhuis

Yedo Gibson - tenor sax , eb clarinetl John Dikeman - tenor and alto sax, Jose Gomes - baroque basson, Rodrigo Parejo - flute; Oscar Jan Hoogland - piano; Sandra Pujols, Marie Guilleray - voice; Berta Puigdemasa - harp; Alfredo Genovesi, Mikael Szafirowski - guitar; Angel Faraldo, Ofir Klemperer, Ofer Smilansky - electronics; Gerri Jager, Marcos Baggiani - drums;  Thibault Viviani - recorder, Raoul van der Weide, Renato Ferreira - double bass

special guest - Han Bennink - drums

Riot Impro 2011

A welcomed first release from a new label that is about to focus on Netherlands improvised scene presents a meeting of a handfull of musicians from around the globe, geographically and musically speaking as their main fields of activity range from baroque music to noise. A different kind of balancing act, one where the improvisers' taks is to connect and create a big picture, put together an impromptu puzzle without having the box cover to show you how it's supposed to look like.

Orchestra Part 1 - The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra - Evocations [Leo

I will try to make up for the recent lack of activity on the blog by putting together series of brief reviews/impressions of albums that share something in common. The first round will see paired together two orchestras, a musical entity of many diverse historical backgrounds - as one could think of jazz big band as an expansion of combo band as well as genre-transgression of classical symphony group. And this bi-polarity is well exemplified by the pair of the orchestras about which below and in the next post.

The Aadvark Jazz Orchestra

Evocations

Mark S. Harvey - music director, conductor, trumpet, piano

Saxophones & woodwinds: Arni Cheatham (as, ts, fl), Peter Bloom (as, fl, picc), Phill Scarff (ts, ss, cl), Chris Rakowski (ts, cl), Dan Zuban (bs, cl, bs cl), Will Swank (ts); Trumpets: K.C. Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass, Eric Dahlman; Trombones: Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser, Jeff Marsanskis, Russel Jewell, Ethan Fenn; Bass Trombone/Tube : Bill Lowe

Guitar : Richard Nelson; Double Bass : John Funkhouser / Victor Belanger /Rick McLaughlin; Electric Bass : Jerry Edwards; Drums : Harry Wellott; Percussion : Craig Ellis; Theremin : Brian Robison

Leo Records 2012

I'd like to think that Jazz Orchestra is somewhat of a balancing act. You have a massive sound at your disposal, a ton of colours and shades, yet you have to make a wise use of those, as it's so easy to loose the power of singular vision, personal statement, within all the mass. And I think that set of tunes composed for the band by Mark S. Harvey does just that.

The cd starts with "March of the Booboisie", with its steady rhythm and quirky, whimsical dissonance of the various horn sections and somewhat comical trombone - trumpet duet, yet at certain point it breakes into the heroic line of  and ends with eerie, mournfull, reflective chords.

Resonance at Fabryka (14.03)

Bit of history : Resonance was born on 2007, special project for the Autumn Jazz Festival, ten musicians from four different countries, five different cities, some of them old fellows, for many of them it was the first chance to collaborate. Which, as a result, brought on many new, ongoing, partnerships like Reed Trio (Waclaw Zimpel, Ken Vandermark, Mikolaj Trzaska), Mikolaj projects with Michael Zerang, Inner Ear (Mikolaj, Steve Swell, Per-Ake Holmlander, Tim Daisy), Project Four (Waclaw Zimpel, Dave Rempis, Mark Tokar, Tim Daisy) or Waclaw & Michael duo.

The new cd "What Country is this" presents the program played in Chicago last year, which was the third edition of project. Now they started an european tour to present the program, gradually introducing new compositions to the playlist. 

There will be chance to write more about music and the cd, for now let me say this - if any of the next few dates happen to be anywhere nearby your place, do not miss it. This band storms through complex charts and arrangements with grace, power and conviction, explodes with fiery improvisations, rides the funk-rock powerfull grooves (not unlike the riffs and tunes Ken writes for Vandermark V but with twice the same amount of colours, layers and brass-reeds contrasts and contrapoints). 

Ken's writing echoes Mingus, Kenton, Evans, Lutoslawski and probably much more that I'm not able to enlist here. Ten of the top improvisors's execute the pieces bringing the life to the notes with massive group sound and mind-blowing soloing. (immagine a powerfull base line played by the baritone, tuba, bass and two drum -sets, a rhythm counterpoint set by roaring brass section, another layer added by reeds and a smoking solo on top of that). Will get back to the cd (can't wait to have my first listen tomorrow evening), for now, let me repeat - do not miss this band's performance if you have a chance to see them!

next dates:

March 15th, 2012

Pawilon Nowej Gazowni, Poznań, Poland

[part of the cycle, "Nowy Wiek Awangardy"]

more: http://www.nowywiekawangardy.pl/

March 16th, 2012

klub Żak, Gdańsk, Poland
more: http://www.klubzak.com.pl

March 17th, 2012

Kunstencentrum Belgie, Hasselt, Belgium 
more: http://www.kunstencentrumbelgie.com

more info about the group
http://resonancefestival.blogspot.com/


Resonance:

reeds:
Ken Vandermark - baritone sax, clarinet
Dave Rempis - tenor sax, alto sax
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto sax, bass clarinet
Waclaw Zimpel - clarinet, bass clarinet, alto clarinet
brass:
Steve Swell - trombone
Magnus Broo - trumpet
Per-Ake Holmlander - tuba

Mark Tokar - double bass
Michael Zerang - drums
Tim Daisy - drums

Fabryka Klub. Krakow. 14.03.2012

IC Ensemble at Alchemia (12.09)

IC stands for Imperial College in London and IC Big Band stands for a 5-trumpets, 5-saxes, 5-trombones and rhythm section strong orchestra comprised by the its students. And just the idea of non-professional musicians and non-music students gathering together to play some music is inspiring to say the least.

The stage in Alchemia saw an 8-piece group (it would be pretty much impossible to fit the entire band into this space) that nonetheless delivered a nicely round sound (alto, tenor, trumpet/flugelhorn, trombone in the horns section) and a great selections of tunes - avoiding the trap of watershed standards in favour of a couple of nice obscures (tunes by Steve Davis, Cedar Walton) and a handfull of niecely done originals, couple of ballads (a nice piece by the pianist) thrown in between the more up-tempo tunes with a funky twist ("Kool" by John Scofield, "Blackjack" by Donald Byrd) and my personal favourite of the night - exuberant and joyfully south-african "Sonia" by Dudu Pukwana. Obviously each tune a platform for a set of solos that, while not exactly memorable, were pretty solid (with special acknowledgement towards the trumpet player who, to my ear, used best the solo time he was allowed).

Ken Vandermark Resonance - Kafka in Flight [Not Two]

 

Resonance :

Magnus Broo - trumpet
Michael Zerang - drums
Ken Vandermark - tenor saxophone, Bb clarinet
Mikolaj Trzaska - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Mark Tokar - double bass
Dave Rempis - alto & tenor saxophone
Steve Swell - trombone
Per-Ake Holmlander - tuba
Tim Daisy - drums
Waclaw Zimpel - Bb & bass clarinet, tarogato

Not Two 2011

This one I've been long waiting for. I had the privilege to witness the process of coming together of the first edition of this project. In 2007 Marek Winiarski and Ken Vandermark invited musicians from all over the world to Krakow, they would practice for an entire week every morning, play improvised sets of music every evening and finally perform as an orchestra on the last evening of the week (all of this material has been released - saturday concert in Lviv on LP, evening concerts and final concert in Krakow in a fantastic 10-cds "Resonance" box).

Two years later Resonance happens again, with the same musicians (one exception - Waclaw Zimpel takes over the place of Yuriy Yaremchuk), the same time of the year (main project of the Autumn Jazz Festival), the same place ("Alchemia" club which hosts the festival). But with only two days to practice (with first one being almost entirely lost because of flight delays). Because of that Ken has to change to concepiton behind this band. It is still big ensemble, so it draws on his experience of playing in and writing for Chicago Tentet and Territory Band, but, what is a clear difference, this is a jazz band and it relies on scored material. Only the organization of this material has to be different.

Joelle Leandre Tentet / Trio - Live at the "Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon" [Leo]

Tentet - Can You Hear Me

Joelle Leandre - double bass; Sussana Gartmayer - alto saxophone, bass clarinet; Boris Hauf - tenor saxophone, clarinet; Lorenz Raab - trumpet; Bert Mutter - trombone; Burkhard Stangl - electric guitar; Thomas Wally - violin; Elaine Koene - viola; Melissa Coleman-Zielasko - cello; Kevin Norton - vibes, percussion

Trio
Joelle Leandre - double bass
John Tilbury - piano
Kevin Norton - vibes, percussion

Leo Records 2011

It's a silly thing really, but I'm always excited when I get to have the first cd of the new year, and this is the first 2011 released record I listened to. And I can begin by saying that this double cd, part of celebration of Joelle's 60th birthday, is a great start to, hopefully, another year full of new and exciting music

Maciej Trifonidis Bielawski - Trifonidis Free Orchestra : ... be like a child ...[Slowdown]

...be like a child...

Trifonidis Free Orchestra:

Maciej Trifonidis Bielawski - tenor sax; 

Daniel Polkowski - alto sax; Ray Dickaty - tenor sax; Louis Nubiola - alto sax; Kamil Szuskiewicz - trumpet; Kacper Szroeder - trumpet; Piotr Janiec - tuba; Wojtek Traczyk - double bass; Pawel Szpura - drums

Slowdownrecords 2009

Another big group, my favourite position in the slowdownrecords catalogue - not really surprising if You notice the 'free' word both in the band's name and in this blog's title. While still a set of composed pieces this one allows much more room for improvisation and brings You also the most balanced instrumental line-up - with 2 tenors, 2 altos, 2 trumpets, a tuba and the rhythm section.

Maciej Trifonidis Bielawski - Downtown Project / Tricphonix Street Band [Slowdown]

Maciej Trifonidis Bielawski could be known to some of You as the bass player in Horny Trees trio - clarinet-bass-drums band led by Pawel Szamburski which released its first cd on Kilogram Records - Mikolaj Trzaska's label. But he's also a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, working in and leading his own projects in very different musical enviroments, from raw freejazz improvisation (would love to hear his upcoming trio concert with Pawel Szpura and Ksawery Wojcinski - rhythm section from Hera) up to large groups with strings, accordions, brass, horns, playing mostly composed, strictly arranged music, balancing classical and popular influences (the biggest of those - Trifonidis Orchestra - is 16 men strong). His recent releases on his own Slowdownrecords label testify to his vast talents and multiple skills. And while I'm not that big a fan of such orchestral ventures, the sonic richness those can offer and many of the simply charming melodies he delievers are definitely not to be missed because of such a prejudice.

so here are some thoughs about two  recent albums, both big groups, first one clearly outside the jazz genre, the second one mixing it with all kinds of popular influences. The best is yet to come as the third review will be posted (most probably) tomorrow.