Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford Live

Multi-keyboardist Patrick Moraz and rock-jazz drum legend Bill Bruford recorded several duet studio albums in the mid-'80s that were well received. It turns out that there was a very high quality live recording made during that period which is only now seeing the light of day. In Tokyo (Winterfold) gives you a good hour of the duo at their best.

It's a wide-ranging performance that shows Moraz to be a melodist of inventive fullness with an orchestral approach to the aggregate of instruments that contrasts and sets off Bruford's propulsive yet subtle drumming.

The music has prog-fuse ambiance. There's plenty of variety in the feels explored, from Jarrett and Corea influenced lyricism and drive to dense and dynamic post-prototypical jazz-rock.

It's a duo who could run the gauntlet of possibilities and they do so impressively in this live concert. It's another goodly tribute to Bill Bruford's keen ears and musical execution and shows Moraz to be a totally worthy partner in the endeavor.

Drummers and their friends will love this music. But just plain old listeners will have much to like as well.

Geoff Leigh and Yumi Hara Team Up to Good Result

Yumi Hara's previous CD with the late, legendary bassist Hugh Hopper was reviewed favorably on my http://www.gapplegate.com/musicalblog.html site. She returns here with Geoff Leigh on winds and electronics. Mr. Leigh has an impressive background; he's been with Henry Cow, Hatfield and the North (which I must listen to more closely, having missed them in my earlier years), Mike Oldfield, Faust, and significant others. Yumi has an equally impressive resume, but since I've gone over that in my review of her last album, I'll leave you to refer to that (see link above).

For their new CD collaboration Upstream (MoonJune) the two present a program of adventure into the lesser explored musical thickets. Yumi's keyboard work and vocals are of her own creative volition. Her vocals are avant without getting under your skin, which can be the case sometimes, and she mans her arsenal of keys with a real sense of drama. Geoff sounds almost shakuhachi-like on the flute, with a beautiful use of space and sense of form. His soprano is game. His electronics atmospheric.

Upstream is outside music, in the good sense of that term. It has a kind of narrative flow that these kinds of duets can sometimes lack. I must say that listening to it has brought me a good deal of pleasure.

Bill Bruford and Piano Circus Play Colin Riley's Music

The further we travel into the 21st Century the more it becomes clear that the formerly hard and fast segregations of musical genres are dissolving, little by little. This is of course a process that began to become a huge factor in '60s musical circles. After some fluctuations in the community about whether purity of style was to dictate continuing directions or not, we now have those who integrate whatever elements necessarily to their personal musical expression versus those who work more or less exclusively within a set of particular genre norms.

Today's CD decidedly follows the way of integration. It spans a number of genres, and does so engagingly. Skin and Wire (Summerfold) devotes its aural space to the music of Colin Riley. Progrock, fusion and minimalist/modern concert styles fall together into a synthesis that takes on individuality thanks to the predilections of the composer, and the virtuosity and musical depth of drummer-percussionist Bill Bruford and the Piano Circus collective.

Acoustic instruments are sometimes altered electronically by the composer. For example Piano Circus plays the conventional acoustic pianos for which they originally became known, but with the digital transformations that occur in varying degrees throughout, they do not always strictly sound like a piano ensemble. Bill Bruford's percussive array is also subjected to various transformations at times. All this leads to an ambient sound that can and does groove like hell at various points in the program, yet still has a three-dimensional depth and staging that expands subtly and transforms the conventional ensemble recording into something more spacious.

It's Bill Bruford in all this who most fully amazes with his incredibly musical approach. At times it sounds like a concerto for Bruford and ensemble. At times the ensemble predominates. At all times Skin and Wire operates on a high level of musical interest. It's certainly to me one of the year's most important fusion hybrid offerings.

Baertsch's Ritual Groove Music No. Six his Masterpiece?

Pianist-composer-bandleader Nik Baertsch, with his musical amalgamation of enlightened repetition and rhythmic intensity, has been the subject of a fair number of blog entries this year. We now come to his sixth ritual groove installment, REA (2004) (Ronin Rhythm), which may be his best ever. The reason for that involves pacing, development and density. This disk/download has the most diverse offering of musical vignettes of all six releases. There are almost Gamelan-like cross-musical dialogues of instruments in long interlocking sections, there are more leisurely, introspective interludes, and there are hard-charging, wildly funky polygrooves.

In all this the musical motives are never banal, always interesting and individual and the ensemble colors shine in a sunny luminescence. The ensemble is a fairly large one. Winds, mallet percussion, drums and Baertsch's prepared and conventional piano give texture and solid-line clarity to the musical picture. If you were looking for one album to introduce you to Nik's ritual groove music, I would unhesitatingly recommend this one. It's an important contribution to the Miminalist oeuvre, if you are keeping score. Otherwise it's just plainly good music and a joy to hear.

Beppe Crovella's Piano Minatures

Italian keyboard maestro Crovella pushes aside his many digital devices and sits down at the acoustic piano for Pianovagando (Electromantic), a new Italian release. He is usually found in the Prog-Fuse outfit Arti & Mestieri, where he is a key player in their sound.

What's rather remarkable about Pianovagando is Beppe's richly inventive approach. On the disk is found no less than 57 miniatures, all rather brief. The pieces have a variety of moods and drives, though the emphasis is on the lyrical side of Beppe's playing. This is not a technical, blow-it-out-your-socks display of virtuosity. It's a straightforward exposition of some interesting musical ideas. As far as genres go, it's probably a mistake to lump this set in with typical solo piano jazz, since improvisation is not a major component. Nor is it really comfortably placed in the classical or concert camp. These are for the most part pieces that show Beppe's roots in Prog-Fuse. Most of these themes could be reset for an electric band and you would feel that the music was not unusual stylistically for a Yes, an Arti & Mestieri, ELP, or whoever in a more "progressive" portion of their set.

Once you get rid of your preconceptions of what a solo piano record is supposed to be like, you can sit back and begin to appreciate Beppe's achievement. It's a madcap dash through Beppe's musical mind. What's inside there is a lot of music, a lot of heart, a lot of lyric themes. It is all brought off with a panache and dash not usually found in this sort of performance. Kudos to Beppe for that!

Carnatic Alto Sax from Radhakrishnan

South Indian Carnatic classical music is one of the oldest living traditions available to the world's music lovers today. I believe only Japanese Gagaku goes back further. In the world of Carnatic practice, "living" is the key. It does not stand still, as witnessed by such things as the cross-fertilization realized in combined Carnatic-Hindustani compositions and improvisations, various interactions with other musics, and the incorporation of non-traditional instruments into performance practice.

For example, there's the alto saxophone, as played by Prasant Radhakrishnan. A recital spotlighting his prowess can be had on East Facing (Lotus Music), featuring Radhakrishnan and a full Carnatic ensemble. Now I am not by any means an expert on the highly complicated, incredibly rich Indian classical world, other than a little study of it and a lifetime of rewarding listening. But I must say I am impressed with his facility and inventive ornamentation. He gets a tone like no western jazz saxophonist I've heard. It's no doubt in part a product of phrasing in the Carnatic idiom; it also comes out of Radhakrishnan's formidable musical artistry and a very personal use of breath control, which is most evident on this recording. The supporting musicians are all quite good and Prasant wisely provides a program of short compositions and ragams for this initial outing.

Anyone interested in South Indian classical and/or alto sax virtuosity is encouraged to listen to this one. You can get it directly from www.prasantmusic.com.

Ted Sirota and the Chicago Sound

One thing about Chicago's improvising artists: they could play "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and it would sound different. It would sound like the special cats who are playing it. Whether you are talking about Von Freeman, the Art Ensemble, Ken Vandermark, or, going way back, the original "Chicago School," the best of Chicago musicians have carefully gone their way, crafting their own personal musical identities over time. So that if they play a reggae sort of tune, say, or afropop, funk, the Flintstones theme song, whatever it is, you say as you hear it, "that's __ playing." The stylistic veneer, the reference is there, but it's primarily a vehicle for what THEY sound like.

All this is true of drummer Ted Sirota's Rebel Souls ensemble. Their Breeding Resistance (Delmark) CD exemplifies what makes Chicago important as a musical center. This is no "second city" music. It's "first city" music. The lineup of Jeb Bishop on trombone, Geof Bradfield on tenor and soprano, Jeff Parker, guitar, and Clark Sommers on bass creates a fiercely individual sound, which owes as much to the loose arrangements and quirky compositions as the strongly individual solo power involved.

There's fine music here throughout. And who can fault the leader for dedicating the music to the fight against oppression, wherever it may be found?

You will find a little of everything in this program, and again, it's done so well, so much in the spirit of the players' identities, that it emerges from the speakers as ONE sound, albeit bifurcated into various grooves and moods. Don't miss this one.

There's a new Sirota disk just coming out which I will cover soon.