Saturday, January 8, 2011

Ken Thomson and Slow/Fast - It Would Be Easier If

In late 2010 saxophonist and composer Ken Thomson with his quintet Fast/Slow, released their first CD, It Would Be Easier If. Original jazz of the early 21st Century is sometimes referred to as “New Music,” especially when it incorporates jazz, rock and traditional composition techniques. But, the term is not entirely appropriate since it was used to describe the atonal orchestral and ensemble compositions which were the result of the evolution of traditional classical music in the late 20th Century. Thomson describes his music as “21st Century Third Stream,” a very ambiguous characterization for most listeners. Perhaps in can be more accurately, if more blandly, described as composed free-form modern eclectic jazz fusion until a simpler and more commonly accepted term prevails.


While Thomson’s compositions are unique and fresh, two hallmarks quickly become apparent while listening to Slow/Fast the unmistakable rock influence conspicuous in the guitar parts and the nearly non-existent solo sections which throughout the 20th Century were a fundamental and resolute part of traditional jazz. The rock influence is natural since all the musicians have rock credentials and one of Thomson’s many ongoing gigs is as leader of Gutbucket, a punk rock jazz band. Nir Felder’s guitar is charged with rock style distortion, purposely undisguised finger-against-string sounds, blunt static chords and even a bit of shredding (“Goddamn You Ice Cream Truck”). Thomson has intentionally turned the jazz tradition of a composed head followed by solos upside down and allowed improvisational style melodic material to become the principal compositional ingredients, relegating true free improvisation to a minor role. In addition to Thomson on bass clarinet and alto saxophone and Felder on guitar are Russ Johnson, trumpet, Adam Armstrong, bass, Fred Kennedy, drums and guest glockenspiel player Melanie T Sehman (“Wanderangst”).
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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Jason Robinson - The Two Faces of Janus

The title of saxophonist Jason Robinson’s 2010 CD, The Two Faces of Janus, is taken from Roman mythology and is rich with significance not only for this recording but for Robinson’s overall approach to music. In Roman mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings, endings, doorways and time. He is often depicted with two faces, one looking back as if into the past and the other forward into the future. Robinson’s music is conceived and constructed with both historical perspective and a doorway to the future as often innovative free jazz is infused with vestiges of tradition...With highly diverse backgrounds, Robinson’s confederates are five of the most insightful, intelligent and skilled available anywhere: guitarist Liberty Ellman, a longtime Robinson colleague from the San Francisco area, born in London with early years in New York; percussionist George Schuller—son of composer/conductor Gunther Schuller—an acclaimed composer and performer from the Boston/New York area; bassist Drew Gress, an impressive background in the Baltimore/Washington and Philadelphia/New York areas including work with Sonny Stitt, Clifford Jordan, Mose Allison and Marc Copland; reed player Marty Ehrlich, teacher at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA with roots in Missouri and a professional life on the East Coast as a soloist and composer (The Long View Down Beat's Critics Poll four years running, born in Italy, raised in Colorado and educated at Berklee College of Music in Boston and DePaul University in Chicago. , composed in residency at Harvard University); and on three tracks, alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, a "rising star" in Down Beat's Critics Poll four years running, born in Italy, raised in Colorado and educated at Berklee College of Music in Boston and DePaul University in Chicago...MORE...