Recorda-Me

You, me, the music, and me.

Friday, August 31, 2007

FRANCOIS CARRIER Travelling Lights

Justin Time JUST 203-2 (2004)

Though its instrumentation is of the traditional sax-piano-bass-drums variety, the music on Travelling Lights feels like anything but the usual quartet jazz suggested by such an ensemble. Any one of the players are as likely to take the lead as any other, with the others entering and leaving on different "levels" of sound within the group... it's these constantly shifting sonic hierarchies that make this completely improvised record such a fascinating listen. Drummer Michel Lambert mostly eschews traditional timekeeping in favour of gently propulsive ornamentation, nudging the group's inventions with pulsating toms and cymbal washes. Carrier's alto and soprano saxes soar over and around the structures with a quietly Coltranian authority, and bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Paul Bley fill the spaces in between with inventive interplay. Each track is named for a continent or global mass ("Asia", "Oceania", "Europe") and the idea of the music as territory is explored by the musicians as each takes turn "staking out" his terrain in the tunes. The territories of Travelling Lights are well worth visiting.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

PETER BROTZMANN/JOE MCPHEE/KENT KESSLER/MICHAEL ZERANG Tales Out of Time

hatOLOGY 589 (2004)

I was lucky enough to see these guys as part of the larger Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet two years ago in Victoriaville, Quebec; the sounds they make on this album are slightly softer and more compact than the (unamplified!) wail that came from the stage that night, but the intensity is undiminished. Brotzmann and McPhee on twin tenor saxophones produce a thick, meaty sound that is unlike anything in free jazz, and the endlessly creative Kessler (bass) and Zerang (drums) provide inventive support throughout. The music is reminiscent of Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman (especially in its two horn/bass/drums instrumentation). The relative brevity of the tracks (from just over two minutes to twelve, with only two clocking in at over eight) keeps the music tight and focused, with highlights including the screaming "Alto Lightning in a Violin Sky (for Jimmy Lyons)" and the traditional gospel tune "Blessed Assurance" (dedicated to Thelonious Monk, who also recorded a version).

Here's a brief video snippet of Brotzmann and Zerang:

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

THE SPIRITUALAIRES OF HURTSBORO, ALABAMA Singing Songs of Praise

CaseQuarter CASE103 (2006)

Go here.