- Slither- Self-Titled [QBICO]
Another one-sided LP from this Italian LP only label. Where would the Top 10 of the Year be without these guys? Nowhere, that’s where. From what I have heard from this duo, they stick to a fairly predictable, but singular, formula: ping-pongy low-end electronics, molasses-slow tempos, and interweaving layers of horns. Clarinets, Mizmars, both? Slither is the musical equivalent to that Nick Cave book And the Ass Saw the Angel.
- Andrew Barker/ Jaime Fennelly /Charles Waters- Acid Birds [QBICO]
Barker (saxes) and Waters (drums, jaw harp) made the countdown last year as part of a trio with Sabir Mateen. This year I put them up here again, but in a much different context. Now, they are joined by Jaime Fennelly on electronics. This trio broods and rages over three pieces. The vinyl is colored beyond comprehension, and is the only evidence that you will ever have to present to someone that vinyl records are the supreme musical document of human existence.
- Box – Studio 1 [Rune Grammofon]
I have no idea why I am always game for a free jazz horn record, no matter how shitty, yet I hold guitar players within the same genre up to a much higher standard. Guitar/ Viola da Gamba player Raoul Bjorkenheim literally sounds like a horn all across this record without the aid of dorky effects; Stale Storlokken makes telephone noises sound like music and not a sample. Both of these things are hard things to do.
- Ara - Pick Up and Run 2007 [What the …? Records]
A duo playing beautiful drift. One part saxophone, one part electronics, and a heaping teaspoon of ESP. Two side long tracks comprise the release, with the first being far superior to the second. Both pieces are noticeably live, and the ambience of the recording is another attractive element to the whole endeavor.
- Mohel - Babylon Bypass [Tyyfus]
Due to how late it arrived in 2008, this one almost did not make the countdown. A pile-up of Finnish free jazz musicians is Mohel. Their playing is frenzied and overlapping. I mostly enjoyed this record because all of the horns remind me of metal-on-metal rubbing with no lubrication. Musician of note: baritone sax player Janne Martinkauppi.
- Jeffrey Leighton Brown - Dreams [Jaffe]
Brown is a former member of Jackie-O Motherfucker, and currently directs The Evolutionary Jass Band. Dreams is the first record to be released on Brown’s Jaffe records. After listening to this LP, I learned a lot about Jeff Brown (the musician) that I did not already know. Namely, his interests span a wide range of musical styles, and he is a talent not just on the saxophone, but also the guitar. Maybe the guitar playing here is inappropriate for inclusion on the Top 10. However, the sax playing is woven in everywhere, and that aspect of the release qualifies it.
- Arthur Doyle Trio – Live at the Alterknit [QBICO]
Whoa, momma! Doyle busts back on the scene with a white vinyl. I like this trio record for several reasons:
1) Doyle sings his ass off on both tracks.
2) The group plays well together, rather than just letting Doyle steal the show.
3) The album sounds like it was recorded in an enormous bathroom.
- Scorch Trio - Brolt [Rune Grammofon]
Another guitar record on my out jazz chart! What the hell is happening to me? This trio left very little room for improvement after their last outing entitled Luggumt. I have the same reaction to this group as I do to Lightning Bolt. That is, just when I am sure that there is no way to intensify what is happening, that is just what happens.
- Spider Trio - Self-Titled [Assophon]
Assophon is a label that started this year in Seattle. Spider Trio was one of three LP only recordings that came out simultaneously on Assophon. Also, this release is the only jazz-oriented recording of the bunch, unless you count a loose cover of an Albert Ayler song by The Sea Donkeys. This Spider Trio show was recorded by someone else at a performance that I attended in 2007, and it was the first time that I saw Wally Shoup (alto sax), Dave Abramson (Drums) and Jeffery Taylor (guitar) play together live. Anyway, the whole thing has a visual connection for me, and I vividly remember how satisfied I was after the show as I walked out to my car. I am not sure that this LP will snare anyone that was not there. Listening back to the music, there was a lot that I did not remember. In particular, Abramson’s drumming now seems a lot more nuanced and responsive, versus the juggernaut that remains planted in my mind.
- Talibam!/Wastland Jazz - Ecstatic Jazz Duos [Thor’s Rubber Hammer]
The idea that this type of playing is being identified as jazz is a fact that makes me proud to be alive in my particular time and place. It tells me that people are taking the energy from previous jazz forms, but none of the structure. Talibam!, while sometimes a trio with a sax player, are streamlined here to a drum and synth duo. The drumming is an exhausting and pleasurable listen; the synth work is totally remedial. As for the Wasteland Jazz side, horns are heard trilling throughout the piece, but most of the reed work is processed into pure noise. You can sign up on the label’s website as a subscriber to the entire Ecstatic Jazz Duo series. I can’t wait for the second installment.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment