Rob Mazurek Pulsar Quartet, Stellar Pulsations

Chicago's Rob Mazurek is one of those select artists out there now whose every recording is interesting, unpredictable and worth hearing. A recent one by his Pulsar Quartet, Stellar Pulsation (Delmark 2018) is no exception.

The quartet is a good one, Rob on cornet, the burgeoning pianist Angelica Sanchez, and a rip-snorting rhythm section of Matthew Lux on bass guitar and John Herndon at the drums.

It features seven memorable Mazurek compositions in an in-and-out zone. There are changes at times, chromatic expansions, rhythmic freedom and infectious pulse as called for, moods alternately blazing and tender, and some wonderful musicianship.

Rob sounds great as ever, Angelica Sanchez shows why she is especially in demand these days with her very pianistic ability to be inventive and striking in whatever the vein, and Matthew and John tear it up.

It's one not to miss. Mazurek is essential and this is one of his best.

Mikolaj Trzaska, Olie Brice, Mark Sanders, Riverloam Trio

NoBusiness Records has been doing an excellent job exposing the world to important aspects of the American and International improvising avant garde. They have also, from their home base in Lithuania, been taking the opportunity to document and present Eastern European artists that we might not otherwise get the chance to hear.

Altoist-bass clarinetist Mikolaj Trzaska is one such artist. The recent double LP Riverloam Trio (NoBusiness NBLP 52/53) gives us a good listen to Mikolaj in a fine trio setting. Olie Brice on double bass and Mark Sanders on drums provide an excellent collaborative twosome for Trzaska's reeds. They are free-wheeling and inventively varied, accomplished free improvisers.

And Trzaska has stylistic originality. He has a soulful rasp a la Threadgill and the ability to weave interesting lines with excellent consistency. He can soar in the clouds or whisper with the wind.

The double LP is a joy to hear. But keep in mind only 300 copies have been minted. So grab one now if you are inclined. It's a great listen.

Jeff Davis, Leaf House

The Fresh Sound/New Talent series showcases up and coming players, those perhaps not yet well known but filled with promise, at least ideally. Funny thing about the volume by Jeff Davis, Leaf House (Fresh Sound/New Talent 407). It sounds anything but. I don't mean it doesn't sound new. It does. It doesn't sound "up and coming." It sounds most definitely "already there."

It's Jeff Davis on drums, Eivind Opsvik, contrabass, and Russ Lossing, piano, for a trio that has great power and finesse, something you don't expect from youthful, promising neophytes.

It's a set of Jeff Davis compositions that do a great job getting the trio into a spontaneously prosaic mode.

The trio gels beautifully. Jeff is loose, free, inventive, strong. Eivind is a beautiful bassist with sound command and note choice that take him far from the norm. Russ is a pianist of complexity and directness combined.

The ambiance of this date is something like the classic Paul Bley trios of his middle period--steeped in the tradition, working way outside the old tradition but run through with its essence.

Yet it sounds not like the Bley trios of yesterday, in that this is "new" music. Like how things go when they go right, it is steeped in the Bley tradition, so to speak, yet is working its way outside the tradition, though run through with its essence.

That can be how it goes. One to another bringing the one to the other and on again. How Leaf House goes. Don't miss this one.

Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut-Marcus Cummins, Cannibal Love (The Field Recordings)

Because of a chance encounter with certain recordings, I used to think of Jeffrey Hayden Shurdut as a kind of Eddie Condon of the free-avant improv scene. That is, that he was an excellent organizer of sessions with good people, had a way of getting good results and produced a music, in this case of avant-free jazz, of exemplary purity.

All that was true of the couple of live albums I happened to first listen to, but I've been hearing other things now and realize I was wrong. Jeffrey is also a multi-instrumentalist who can play.

Today I am covering one he did as a duet with Marcus Cummins: Cannibal Love (The Field Recordings) (ABRI). It's a very adventurous live set with Cummins at the soprano, Shurdut on piano. It gives you a very good chance to hear Shurdut's pianoforte style close-up as well as Cummins' sax work.

Jeffrey shows himself here as a very energetic post-Taylorian exponent, keyed well into Cummins' equally noteful soprano expositions. It's a fine example of energy music in mostly high gear and showcases their interactions nicely.

Record of the Year 2012, and Why I Shy Away from End-of-Year Lists

I don't tend to do end-of-year lists on my blogs for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I cover too many genres and I would rather not be forced to categorize those I pick. Second, I consider everyone whose music I cover a winner. They've furthered music in good ways, so it's all of them that should be applauded and encouraged.

But this year I've chosen a "Record of the Year" because I find it especially inspiring. It's Wadada Leo Smith's Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform Rune 350-353).

Now for the new year of music! Stay tuned.

Bobo Stenson Trio, Indicum

In listening to the new Bobo Stenson Trio album Indicum (ECM 2233) I said at first, "gee, sounds familiar." Then I had to remind myself that Maestro Stenson was a part of ECM (with Garbarek, etc.) nearly from the very beginning. If there is an ECM piano sound (and there is), he had something to do with fashioning it. Bley, Jarrett, Stenson...they shared and share stylistic traits. Bill Evans was an elder relation then, surely. Bobo Stenson today is still a vital part of that sound, and he is playing and extending himself, it is important to remember.

Appropriately Indicum gives him and his trio a good variety of material to work with, band originals and improvisations, a Bill Evans number, George Russell's "Event VI" in a very nice version, a Norwegian traditional melody, and so forth.

Anders Jormin on doublebass and Jon Falt on drums do what you might expect from such a trio and do so well. Bobo shows a ruminative, reflective side on many of the pieces in a balladic sense and he sounds very beautiful in the process.

It's one that modern piano trio fans will love. A perfect record for long winter nights ahead...Norway or New Jersey.

Happy New Year!

A storm last December 20th knocked out my internet and phone for most of the holiday season. I am back and wish you a fulfilling and worthy new year ahead. My blogs starting today will be back on their usual schedule. There are many new releases to cover so I will get right to it!