Tony Jones Trio, "Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness:" Explorations in Chamber Jazz

Tenor saxophonist Tony Jones has gathered together a singular trio and put together a vivid set on the vinyl release Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness (New Artists 1049LP). They manage to give out with a kind of synthesis between the chamber jazz of the classic Jimmy Giuffre trios and the exploratory subtleties of some of the early AACM small group excursions.

It's Tony on tenor, Charles Burnham on violin and Kenny Wollesen on percussion.

They go from Jones's "Dear Toy," which sounds like a sort of paraphrase of "Don't Explain" with reminiscences of "My Funny Valentine," to more absolute realms of evocative abstract improvisation.

The subtle play of Wollesen's gongs, cymbals and bells sets up a contemplative world that allows for some very introspective tenor and unadorned modernistic violin. There are winding written lines juxtiposed with spatially sensitive freely quiet musical utterances, purely free-form junkets and almost Eastern sounding periodicities.

It's music that does not easily translate into words because it is highly singular. And it is all the more interesting for it.

The album comes with a free access code for a download of the music, so you can have it in analog and digital forms if you wish.

This is a highly interesting, very worthwhile set. Apply your ears to it with earnestness and I believe you will agree.

Szilard Mezel Wind Quartet, "Innen:" More Chamber Jazz From an Innovative Ensemble

The Szilard Mezel Wind Quartet have made a number of very interesting albums over the last several years. The latest is Innen (Ayler 122) and it is one of their very best. The somewhat unusual instrumentation of viola (Szilard Mezel), alto sax, bass clarient, clarinet (Bogdan Rankovic), trombone (Branislav Aksin), and tuba (Kornel Papista) gives the group an unusual sound. As in previous outings the compositions are by Mezel. Some of the earlier releases tended to have a dark sound color, partly because the instrumentation lends itself to this, partly because of the tenor of Mezel's compositions during that period. There was some excellent music but some of it was an acquired taste.

For the new album the sound palette is a bit brighter, but no less distinctive for that. All four artists interpret and phrase the pre-planned passages with a very worthy attention to ensemble blend and they can and do improvise in ways that extend and enhance the feel and mood of the composition at hand. There are seemingly totally free improvisational sections too which are handled well and offset the written sections nicely.

This is chamber jazz of a high order with inventive writing and an almost art-deco-for-today stance. The music can be ornate at times, straightforwardly plain other times, but all with a kind of modern timelessness. It is music of our era but resonates with the last 100 years and the sort of innovative ensemble writing of Milhaud and Weill without the timeworn period jazz flavor. But one would not mistake Mezel's writing for those earlier composers because it has its unique sound and very contemporary flavor. The improvisations are somewhat free-avant as well and that brings the music squarely into the new jazz camp.

This is one of those recordings that needs to be heard several times before the memory of recognition and familiarity assures the listener that there is a great deal to this music. Mezel does important work and he seems to be growing in his handling of the flow of ideas and their meaningful quality. The ensemble is one-of-a-kind as well.

I've read criticisms of critics who seem to like everything they review. Is it disingenuous? In my case at any rate I tend to review what I like. Who wants to read that a CD by someone you don't know is not that great? Well now, did you have any intention of getting it? Probably not. So I'll cover music/artists in my reviews that may not be perfect but have something or many things about them that seem worth experiencing, or they may raise issues about the music scene today and how it is evolving. Or they may simply be great.

Innen may not be quite in the "great" category. The Szilard Mezel Wind Quartet is making music that is provocative and memorable, however. And that's a great thing. This one will get you thinking and listening.

Plunge Brings Chamber Jazz to a Good Place in "Tin Fish Tango"

New Orleans is a trombone town. Aside from Kid Ory and the tailgate players. Today for example you have Delfeayo Marsalis, Jeff Albert and . . . Mark McGrain. It is with the latter of the three that we concern ourselves today. He is an integral member of the trio Plunge, the others being James Singleton on contrabass and and Tim Green on alto. They are joined by guests reedman Tom Fitzpatrick and Kirk Joseph on Sousaphone for several numbers of the new CD Tin Fish Tango (Immersion 10-05).

Mr. McGrain's trombone and his compositions are front and center throughout. He is a fine player and writes fully realized material that suits the player resources well. There are times when I am reminded of the Giuffre Trio in the classic days when Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall teamed with Giuffre for a music that favored paired-down jazz roots, arranged effectively and cleverly for the resources at hand and swung pretty hard, yet with a free element as well. Plunge does that, only in a way that somehow suggests NOLA roots and occasionally such rootsy offshots as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (maybe that's because of the lively entrance of the Sousaphone on those numbers that have it).

Everyone plays well. James Singleton in particular benefits from the small-group density. But all are on their game.

It's a very attractive outing. It gets down to the bone, in this case a fish bone? Very very nice. Bravo and I look forward to an encore!

Bob Gluck and Trio Present "Something Quiet"

My impression of Bob Gluck, from what I know of him, is that he is a man with a lot on, or rather in his mind. He is also a pianist of real accomplishment. Put those two things together, add the painstakingly original soprano sax of Joe Giardullo and the big-toned, eloquent bass of Christopher Dean Sullivan, allow them to freely elaborate seven Bob Gluck compositions, and you have something very worthwhile.

That's what you get on the new Gluck recording Something Quiet (FMR 294-0810). It's a "free" date with plenty of room for (mostly quiet) thoughtful expression.

Bob shows the subtle sensitivity of a pianist who has listened carefully to what's good in improvisational music today and also has had classical training (which comes out especially in a rubato lyricism). He makes of all of the raw sensations gained from exploring the musical scene and the diligent schooling into an original approach. Joe Giardullo adds the spice of a soprano sound that is penetrating without being piercing, that has the control, timbre, and phrasing of a master. Christopher Dean Sullivan brings in the bottom as a third line-creating voice. He doesn't accompany as much as he contributes to the musical dialog.

Put all that together and you get music that challenges your ears at the same time as it delivers musico-logical brilliance. It would be a good one for those who are intimidated by the more abrasive high-energy onslaughts of the wild-man contingent of free music making (which I love also but that's another matter) yet wish to explore what this free sort of music is about. It also will please those who are already well into the new music.

In short this has much going for it. I'd love to hear what this lineup would do with the addition of a drummer, but that's for another occasion. This is more in the chamber jazz realm and it's an excellent example of that to boot.

Vibist Jason Adasiewicz Shines in "Sun Rooms" CD

Chicago vibist Jason Adasiewicz has been making important contributions to some landmark record dates in the past several years. His work with the Lucky ‘7s comes to mind, among others.

Now he makes his debut as a leader on Sun Rooms (Delmark 593). It’s a nicely manned trio with Jason plus Nate McBride on bass and Mike Reed on the drums, both of the latter important participants in the latest wave of great Chicagoland modern jazzmaking.

Adasiewicz in larger ensembles (at least on records) tends to excel at the staccato jab phrases that come out of the lineage of Bobby Hutcherson, though Jason has his own musical sensibility. In a smaller group such as this one, unencumbered by the need to accommodate one or more solo voices, he stretches out his phrasing and allows the vibes to ring a little bit more than he might do in a larger ensemble. In that sense the great Walt Dickerson comes to mind, if only as a referent. The music sometimes tends toward the contemplative side, with some wonderfully laid back neo-balladic playing. But there are also numbers that have forward-moving momentum and plenty of energy in reserve.

There are some excellent originals here plus an affectionate, legato look at Ellington’s lyrical "Warm Valley". Everyone is on his “A” Game, not the least Mr. Adasiewicz. Sun Rooms is a superb outing and probably the vibes album of the year. It is chamber jazz at its finest.

Charles Tyler's "Eastern Man Alone" Reissued

Charles Tyler's Eastern Man Alone (ESP 1059) was first released in 1967 and perhaps could not be said to have caused a sensation. That was a year where so much was going on musically that some things did not get all the attention they deserved.

Now it's out again on CD and to return to it again after so many years is to hear it with all the intervening music in between as a new context. Fact is the instrumentation was unusual at the time. Tyler on alto plus David Baker on cello and the two acoustic basses of Kent Brinkley and Brent McKesson.

Tyler began his career in the limelight as a member of Albert Ayler's group and by 1967 he was taking some steps away from the speaking-in-tongues frenetic solo style he initially adopted. Eastern Man moves toward a chamber jazz. The three strings and sax combination allows for a more intimate sound, with the strings playing foil to Charles's stringent alto. The melody heads still have an Ayleresque down-home folkishness to them, but Charles' solos tend to bounce off the ceiling a little less.

It was a rather different offering to the typical "new thing" sides that preceded it. But the music is still on the outside track.

It bears hearing again. There is much to like in the interactions of the quartet. It innovated and it turns out that similar instrumentations became quite ordinary in later years. There are moments where intonation is non-standard, but that gives the music some rawness and guarantees that those who are looking for a slicker veneer will not take to it. Perhaps that explains it's relative neglect over the years.

Listening again now, though, I find that there was much that was prophetic. The music has a conviction to it. Listen a few times and you'll no doubt see what I mean.

Jugendstil II: Fine Improvisations from Konitz, Cheek, Leibovici

The second album by the improvisational chamber trio Jugendstil (Jugendstil II) (ESP 4059) has the magic that can only come out of the musical alignment of three inspired players. . . resulting in exceptional group interactions and individual presence, all honed to a brittle, fragile, yet exceptionally sharp surface. An improv syzygy. . .

It's a classic lineup for intimate chamber improv: the alto of the great Lee Konitz, who is sounding as good as ever, the tenor of Chris Cheek, a perfect foil for the bittersweet Konitz tone, and a solid anchor from bassist Leibovici. The group is supplemented here and there by harp, mallets, flutes, celesta and clarinet. Their subtle addition adds atmospheric, impressionistic ambiance.

But it is the focus on the three players in intimate interaction that is primary. The two horns engage in an extraordinary dialog that you expect from Lee Konitz but sometimes do not get from his accomplices. Cheek is the man to listen, respond and speak plainly but eloquently as called for. The same applies to Leibovici, but for the most part in a somewhat secondary role.

It all works smashingly well. This is a major addition to the Konitz legacy to my mind. But also to those of Chris Cheek and Stephane Leibovici as well. Alternately languidly, then crisply poignant. But most definitely poignant.

Marty Ehrlich's Dark Winds Ensemble

Marty Ehrlich should never be taken for granted. With a track record that includes associations and recordings with some of the finest musicians out there, and a series of excellent recordings under his own name, he has been somewhat quietly making music of the first rank. That does not mean he is now settling comfortably into a style niche and repeating past successes. Not at all.

The 1999 recording Sojourn (Tzadik) with his Dark Woods Ensemble can serve as an example. It cannot be easily classified. It has Marty on clarinet and soprano, Erik Friedlander, cello, Mark Helias, bass, and Marc Ribot on guitar. You would think such a lineup would produce a chamber jazz date, and it is in many ways that. But it is much more. It is first and foremost MUSIC, call it what you will. There are jazz elements, folk-Jewish, middle-eastern elements, rather classical sounding aspects, and just simply Marty-music in the end.

The music is deeply evocative, deeply moving and, ten years down the road, music that still needs to be heard. "Is is said that the only home we have is in a song," Ehrlich remarks in the liner notes. If that is the case, the music of Sojourn opens up a home we can all live in with great pleasure and comfort.