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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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...

Leslie Pintchik - We're Here To Listen

On this, her third studio recording, Leslie Pintchik continues to exhibit prodigious talents for composing and performing tasteful, well-crafted jazz sambas and ballads. Six of the ten tracks are Pintchik originals.  Again the quartet (Pintchik, piano; Scott Hardy, bass; Satoshi Takeishi, percussion and Mark Dodge, drums) demonstrates their cohesiveness and finely focused attentiveness to each other and the music. There are no missteps. Warm smooth jazz flows gracefully and precisely from these four instrumental talents. There is no attempt to break new ground or to push boundaries, but those were never Pintchik’s goals. For the purpose of making a point, take, for instance, an animal trainer: One free-thinking, mischievous seal cub is an attraction and a delight for the audience. A whole pod of mischievous animals is complete anarchy. In that way, it is not always appropriate to use innovation as the complete measure of a musician. For Pintchik et al, descriptors such as delicate, tasteful, subtle and precise are more apt than “progressive” or “visionary.” It’s a matter of classification, ranking and, of course, the illusive “enjoyment” and “appreciation” factors...MORE...

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Live at the Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA October 16, 2010

Fiddles, guitars, banjos, kazoos, bones, jugs, spoons, singing, dancing and an enthusiastic crowd...what's not to enjoy? The old timey string band, Carolina Chocolate Drops, brought their show to the Paradise Club, Boston, MA, on October 16, 2010. The trio, Rhiannon Giddens, Justin Robinson and Dom Flemons, are riding a well-deserved wave of popularity amidst their recently released second CD, Genuine Negro Jig, and they drew a large adoring audience at the Paradise. There has been a resurgence of traditional music in recent years, call it folk, country, roots or Americana, but most of the performers have not been African-Americans despite their having been a substantial proportion of the progenitors of these genres. Maybe string/jug band music had fallen out of favor in part due to the association with minstrel shows and their unfortunate historical role in race relations. In the beginning the group also faced the challenge that by resurrecting the old string band style their work risked being seen as simply an erudite homage to a defunct historical oddity and not accepted as a revival of a serious art form in its own right with current validity. But Giddens, Robinson and Flemons have succeeded wonderfully in their effort to return this music to popularity and respectability. They are very knowledgeable about the music and its historical importance, but the key to their success is combining instrumental mastery, a love of the music and a passion for entertaining. They enjoy what they do. They breathe life and fresh energy into the music and audiences love it...MORE...

Bobby Avey - A New Face

The ascendant jazz pianist, Bobby Avey, released his debut CD, appropriately entitled A New Face, August 1, 2010 on jayDell Records. While he may be a new face to many, Avey is, like most talented artists, not entirely an “overnight” success story. He graduated from Purchase Conservatory of Music in 2007 and his abilities quickly landed him New York gigs with notables such as guitarist Ben Monder, Phil Woods and another illustrious sax man, Dave Liebman, who is featured on four tracks of A New Face. While Avey was still a student he was approached by Liebman to help arrange and perform a set of 19th century classical or art songs. The resulting highly acclaimed recording, Vienna Dialogues (ZOHO) was released in 2006.  Joining Avey and Liebman (soprano on tracks 2, 4 & 6 and tenor on track 8) is Thomson Kneeland on bass and Jordan Pearlson on drums on all tracks except 6, “Influence,” where Avey and Liebman go duo...MORE...

Conference Call - What About.....?

Free jazz took root over 50 years ago in rebellion against the confines of traditional jazz formats. Now, as then, free jazz practitioners seek new forms of expression outside of common modalities. While recent popular music has undergone several insurgencies such as rock, rap and hip-hop, and has enjoyed the nostalgic reflections of Americana and roots music, in many ways jazz still leads a paradoxical existence, maintaining a strong tonal tradition on one hand and a desire for experimentation and deviation from convention on the other. Audiences still demand familiar standards and musicians enjoy playing them, but progressive musicians and audiences aspire to strain the boundaries or break them down completely. Some musicians have successfully split hairs and embraced both extremes, but currently there has been no evolutionary union of the two that would give birth to a wholly new and unique offspring. However, when the free jazz idiom is wielded with such authority and prowess as demonstrated by Gebhard Ullmann and Conference Call it seems clear that a transformation is underway...MORE...

Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra; Darrell Katz, Director - Live at the Regattabar, Charles Hotel, Cambridge, MA October 12, 2010

The Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra debuted in late1985 and they have now released 8 critically acclaimed CDs since their first recording in 1992. The Regattabar performance on October 12, 2010 was the release party for their latest CD, “A Wallflower In The Amazon.” The JCA Orchestra is led by founder Darrell Katz, who, teamed with lyricist Paula Tatarunis, composes or arranges the orchestra’s material. Many of the other band members have deep roots in the jazz community as bandleaders, composers, arrangers and teachers: Phil Scarff, tenor sax (Natraj), Alan Chase and Jim Hobbs, alto sax (Fully Celebrated Orchestra), Bob Pilkington, trombone (Chandler Travis), Norm Zocher, electric and steel guitar (Abby and Norm Group) and Rebecca Shrimpton, voice (Rebecca Shrimpton Quintet). These examples serve as a meager sampling of the JCA Orchestra’s sundry bona fide credits...MORE...