Julius Hemphill/Peter Kowald, "Live at Kassiopeia," 1987

When two artists the caliber of Julius Hemphill and Peter Kowald left this world, they left a creative vacuum in their wake. Certainly there were and are others carrying the torch for the new improvisational music, but the singular musical personalities of these two artists were not and cannot be replaced. So when new and vital performance recordings emerge of either these days, it is an occasion. And when they are playing together as a duet, even more so.

Such is the case with the new issue Live in Kassiopeia (No Business 2-CD NBCD 35-36), captured live in January 1987. The first disk features long solo improvisations by both artists individually; the second brings them together in duet.

The two are in great form. They generate the kind of results together that can only come about when the chemistry is right. It most certainly was. Hemphill is in extraordinary voice, his dry and whirlwind way around both soprano and alto is impeded by no obstacles and Kowald responds in kind with a barrage of notes and textures that complement what Mr. Hemphill is doing with all the melodic-vertical and double-stop brilliance he can conjure.

It IS a night of brilliance. The root-scaffolding of the music is left visible at times, like in the boppish solo improv Hemphill inaugurates the set with. But the going beyond puts us all in a place that one can only contemplate with a certain awe.

These were two masters, frozen in time now, 1987, but living and breathing through this recording as the titans they were, and are.

I'll say no more. Highly recommended.

Desiring Machines, "MicroMeditations," Paul Hartsaw and Company's Poignant Essay in Pure Avant

Desiring Machines is an improvisa- tional quartet dedicated to realizing a pure sound poetics that avoids conven- tional musical phrases and periodicity for an abstract series of essays in sound color spontaneity. The electronics and live processing of Brian Labycz conjoin with the no-output turntable manipulations of Aaron Zarzutski to form the unconventional sound production half of the group; Paul Hartsaw on soprano, tenor and pocket trumpet & Kevin William Davis on cello work at advanced sound production techniques on conventional instruments.

MicroMeditations (MetastableSound 014) is the 2010 release of their music, which has the rigor of the later Stockhausen improvisational ensembles plus the AMM, MEV attention to space and semi-flatness of trajectory that owes something to the pioneering works of John Cage from the later '50s-early-'60s.

For this sort of thing to work, there should be keen attention and focus from all participants, a desire to interact without responding strictly in kind, a sure and imaginative sense of the sound color blend to be achieved at any given moment.

This group has all of that. They create a worthy tapestry of sound in 45 minutes of sustained inspiration. Nice job!!

Joe McPhee/Michael Zerang, Creole Gardens (A New Orleans Suite)

It has now been well over 50 years since Ornette Coleman recorded his classic Free Jazz date. The music of open improvisation continues to thrive, as it has steadily marched forward through the rein of nine US Presidents (one of course currently ongoing), the rising and fading of countless ephemeral fads, wars, recessions, moon landings, voodoo economics, the leveraged buyout, disco and the rise and fall of CB radio. So why is it still controversial? The answer to that is complex, and the dumbing down of the cultural terrain no doubt plays a part.

So we press on, leaving aside for now the question of the reception of cultural legacies over time.

One of the scene's most consistent innovators in open improvisation is Joe McPhee. He has held forth for many years as master of tenor, alto, soprano and trumpet, a member of Trio X, a bandleader of stature, a player of striking creativity and inventiveness, a composer of both instant and considered form.

In September of 2009 he and drummer Michael Zerang played a live duo concert at the BIG TOP in New Orleans. Fortunately the recording machines were rolling. We now have the results of that gig in the form of a newly released CD/LP Creole Gardens (A New Orleans Suite) (No Business NBCD32). The music is dedicated to NOLA legend, master drummer Alvin Fielder.

The music is in the form of a continuous hour of creative improvisation, McPhee going to pocket trumpet and alto sax, Michael Zerang concentrating on his drum kit. The result is some genuine music of adventure. Echoes of NOLA's past can be heard as an understated and implied backdrop, but primarily this is spontaneous interaction of an advanced sort. Michael Zerang is limber and articulate, freely creating timeless figuration or dropping into various loose grooves. Joe McPhee generally builds each section around melodic phrases that he uses as springboards to variations and excursions of pure discursive soul.

Hey, this is one very nice set. Recommended.

Ran Blake & Dominique Eade, "Whirlpool"

After countless decades of pianistic probings and keenly original recomposi- tions it would be no exaggeration to assert that Ran Blake has become a national musical institution in his own right. Maestro Blake can take a well or lesser known standard and reharmonize it so radically and naturally that the melody line can stand out as suddenly sounding uncannily strange, no matter how familiar to the listener from previous exposure. This most certainly is so of his new collaborative album with singer Dominique Eade, Whirlpool (Jazz Project 3002).

Thirteen songs--twelve standards and one excellent song composition by Ms. Eade ("Go Gently to the Water") comprise the totality of this set. Ms. Eade has a stong and appealing instrument, great pitch control and eloquent phrasing. I would not go so far as to say she plays the "straight man" to Maestro Blake's wide recasting of meta-substitutions and reworkings of the accompaniment, but she most certainly at times subtly makes the melody line soar and contrast with its recontextualization.

She centers Ran Blake's orbital flights but in the process creates her own universe of vocal-interpretive excellence. Listen to "Old Devil Moon" and you get a good idea of the brilliant rethinking that goes on here. That brings out an important aspect of Blake's approach and Ms. Eade's complicity with it. That is, you never get the sense that the restructuring, the recompositions come about for anything but the right reason: that Ms. Eade and Mr. Blake love these songs and seek to extend their impact and make of them something wholly new. They do. Exceptionally so.

Thank you for this wonderful music!

FAB Trio, "History of Jazz in Reverse," Billy Bang, Joe Fonda, Barry Altschul

We are approaching the year point since violinist Billy Bang left us for another plane of existence (it was last April). The only consolation for those who appreciate his music is that there still remains the body of recorded works. So of course any new and substantial additions to his recorded legacy are most welcome. His recording of History of Jazz in Reverse (TUM CDE 028) as a member of the FAB Trio, with Barry Altschul and Joe Fonda, is all the more so, because it is some beautiful music.

It's the three in top form, freely kicking out the jams for an extended studio set. They engage in highly inspired, sometimes greatly swinging improvisations throughout, with Barry in top form, Joe meshing inventively and skillfully with the rhythmic and harmonic implications of the other two and adding his own good-idea styling, and then there's Billy. He sounds especially cohesive, inspired, at a peak.

The rest is probably silence this morning. Maestro Bang sounds as great as ever here, which makes you feel the loss all the more. This album is pure PRESENCE, a celebration of music. So we should hear it with the joy and appreciation of what remains! RIP Billy Bang.

Andrea Centazzo, Moon in Winter, for Quintet

Today we continue our survey of the recent recordings of drummer-percussionist-composer Andrea Centazzo, this time out with his quintet doing Moon in Winter (Ictus 155). The emphasis is on a distinctive ensemble blend, a compositional thrust, and improvisations that go a long way to establish the identity of the players--Andrea on perc-drums and kat mallet, Dave Ballou, trumpet, Daniel Barbiero on double bass, Nobu Stowe at the piano, and Achille Succi on alto, clarinets and shakuhachi.

Ensemble pieces alternate with three "Winter Duets," the latter featuring Centazzo and trumpet, flute, and piano, respectively.

This is yet another example of the orchestral range and sonor brilliance of Andrea the complete percussionist. He again uses a full battery of instruments to vary his sound color and does it with his own phrasing and sense of control. The other soloists are inspired to contribute something equally distinctive as well.

But in the end it is the overall sound of this ensemble and its Zen-like attention to sonic ambiance and thrust that shows Centazzo to have mastered the full presentation, his sidemen to have in turn been inspired to nail their contributions right on the head, so to speak.

This is music of space, music of sound color, music with an almost Asiatic sense of focus and concentration, music of singular light.

Mike Longo Trio + 2, "Surprise:" Hard Bopping and Burning Contemporary Jazz

Pianist Mike Longo came to fame as a member of Cannonball Adderly's and Dizzy Gillespie's units and, well, he's been around the scene ever since. If he doesn't always get his due, his new CD To My Surprise (CAP 1030) may help fix that. It's his formidable trio of himself, Bob Cranshaw, bass, and Lewis Nash, drums, plus the welcome addition of two excellent horn players in Jimmy Owens (trumpet and fluegel) and tenorist Lance Bryant.

The quintet barrels through some new bop, blues and gospel funk by Mike and one by Jimmy Owen, some jazz chestnuts (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock) and standards. Everyone sounds great, not the least being Maestro Longo himself.

It has that burning fire, smoldering in the balladic interludes, breaking into full flame on the swingers.

It's as good a place as any to dig into Mike Longo the artist. This is center-of-the-pavement mainstem jazz done right.