Monthly Archives: April 2012

Boxer Livingstone Bramble never became a household name. But during his brief run in the sport, he presented one of the more intriguing styles of fighting. Equally capable of thriving in a slugfest, he also was an effective counter-puncher and able to jab and move with the best of them. Often, he did both during a fight, creating stylistic problems for his opponents, who were often more accustomed to seeing one-dimensional fight strategies. In his Lightweight title fights with Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Bramble traded bombs with Mancini in one round, then would spend the next counter-punching, and he’d switch between these styles repeatedly during a fight.  All of this springs to mind as I listen to the Beats & Pieces Big Band release Big Ideas. You just can’t afford to make assumptions of what you’ll hear from them round to round. It’s just best to keep your guard up and your ears open.

For instance, opening track “Bake” starts out counter-punching…

It begins with a few body blows just to get the heart rushing, but then quickly shuffles in and out of punching range, not boxing and not slugging, just finding its openings to do some damage.  The motion almost resembles dancing.  Maybe it is.

Now, let’s introduce your album personnel: Ben Cottrell (director), Anthony Brown, Sam Healey, Ben Watte (saxophones), Tim Cox, Simon Lodge, Paul Strachan (trombones), Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters (trumpets), Anton Hunter (guitar), Patrick Hurley (piano & Rhodes), Harrison Wood (bass), and Finlay Panter (drums).

Second track “YAFW (Part III)” just soars, even as piano jitters along.  Trumpets arch overhead, saxes buffet the wind from beneath, and guitar notes are the contrails marking the path.  In his fight with Tyrone “Butterfly” Crawley, Livingstone Bramble outboxed the boxer.  The details are fuzzy in my mind, but it was the 14th round and Bramble was gracefully circling the ring, peppering Crawley with jabs and right hands, forcing the light-hitting Crawley (who only had something like five knockouts in a thirty fight career) to assume the role of brawler, a situation which had him exhausted by the tenth round.  Meanwhile, Bramble kept along at the same speed, throwing shots, moving around the ring, unfazed by the late round, and as announcer (Gil Clancy?) observed that, for Bramble, the fight was “a walk in the park.”  That’s “YAFW (Part III)”… a sensation of a long exhausting journey that exudes a sense of exhilaration and ease.

And then some tracks, like “Jazzwalk” come right out looking for blood.  Whether it’s the rapid-jab of bass or the right hook-left cross of guitar and trombone, or the fierce stare of trumpets and snarl of saxophones, it’s a staredown that says someone isn’t leaving the album on both feet.  Nice to hear some ferocity.  Better yet, to feel it.

Overall, Big Ideas is a fascinating mix of traditional big band and modern composition, with some pop-rock elements fused into the foundation.  It’s got plenty of fight and mixes it up to keep you thinking.  Apparently, the group is mostly (or all) comprised of young jazzers, which makes this release even more promising in that they will only continue to grow and develop their sounds, both as an ensemble and individually, but that the big band format hasn’t lost favor for yet another generation of musicians.

Released on the Efpi Records label.  Jazz from the UK.

Stream the entire album on their bandcamp page, as well as purchase it there in a number of file formats (including lossless) at no additional charge.

Available at eMusic.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

For a guy who seems to channel music of the past, Eivind Opsvik is one of the more forward-thinking musicians out there.

Releasing the fourth recording in his Overseas series, bassist Opsvik lays on the Olde Countryside Folk Music with heavy use of the harpsichord, then rockets it into the present day with rock ‘n roll fuel and distortion.  The music lands on Planet Jazz, and the music looks like aliens straight out of the X-Files.  Not exactly easy to categorize Opsvik’s music, on this album or many of his other projects, but some artists embrace the word ‘experimental’ with a capital E.  Opsvik is one of those artists.  Probably better to approach his music that way; his music is extraordinarily Different, and avoiding any genre-based preconceptions will make it easier to accept his music on its own terms.  At least, that method has worked for me over the course of time.

Let’s talk about Overseas IV…

Your album personnel:  Kenny Wollesen (drums, cymbals, timpani, vibraphone, marching machine), Jacob Sacks (harpsichord, farfisa organ, piano), Tony Malaby (sax), Brandon Seabrook (electric guitar, mandolin), and Eivind Opsvik (bass).

It’s important to remember that music being experimental and avant-garde doesn’t necessarily preclude it from being catchy or blissful.   Depending on the characteristics of a particular piece of music, it may not end up that way, but it also shouldn’t be a foregone conclusion.  Opsvik seems to get this.

That’s also not to say that you can tap your foot along to all of Opsvik’s tunes.  Some, like “1786,” which opens with the sound of a minuet as performed by dancers on Dramamine, transitions into a staccato march of military rhythms, then slowly builds into a transcendent lesson on the beauty of repetition as sax solos slowly upward in tight cyclical patterns as the jam of rhythms buffet it upward ever higher into noisier, more chaotic elevations.  The tune ends with the band flying off into the setting sun, the sound of their music receding as they fade from sight.  It’s the highlight of the album, and arguably, one of the highlights of 2012 thus far.

Where Opsvik is most successful is when he distills all the disparate sounds and mad scientist visions down to a tiny but powerful liquid serenity.  The impact is still there, as are the unusual variations in tone and pitch, but it’s communicated in a way that lets the listener sit back, close their eyes, and just slowly drink it all in.  It’s one thing to create a Frankenstein monster, but it’s an entirely different thing to create one you can peacefully kick back and have a quiet beer with.  Opsvik’s music may be monstrous, but it makes for a good drinking buddy.

The song “White Armour” is a nice example of this…

Even though “White Armour” has its share of distortion and fury, it’s still got a lush languid sway to it, like a Springtime breeze that carries a bit of leftover Winter on its back… relaxing, but with a hint of danger as warning not to let your guard down just quite yet.

Overseas IV is an odd, outstanding album.

Make sure to check out other Opsvik recordings on his site.  Also, check out albums where he’s a sideman; pick any innovative modern jazz album from the last few years, and there’s a good chance that Opsvik’s name appears in the credits.

Released on the Loyal Label.

Music from the Brooklyn scene.

You can stream the entire album, and purchase it, on Opsvik’s bandcamp page.

Available at Amazon: CD | MP3

My review of the San Francisco Latin Jazz Society‘s This was originally published at AllAboutJazz.  You can read the original review, HERE, at AllAboutJazz.

*****

The San Francisco Latin Jazz Society is standing all by its lonesome in a corner of the jazz room. Filling a largely ignored niche, SFLJS channels late sixties Latin jazz à la Gato Barbieri and fuses it with the rock-jazz fusion that rose to prominence in the seventies with bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra and the Love, Devotion, Surrender (Columbia, 1973) collaboration between guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin.

On its previous release Now What, SFLJS kept a course bordering close to the avant-garde territory to which Barbieri led his ensemble on the seminal In Search of the Mystery. On This, however, the SFLJS’s focus is heavier on the ’70s psychedelic trip-jam. The result is a series of compositions with hazy riffs, intoxicating vamps and billowy grooves.

The title track opens the album with drips of keyboard and drops of percussion that grow into a cascade of guitar lightning and trumpet thunder. “For Demian” follows, starting with a languid sense of peace that builds up to anthemic shouts to the skies above. “Mambo Psychedelic Blues” tosses fire in all directions, but it’s the casual loping bass lines that drive the tune. “Right Here” bounces along with a buoyant groove, even as guitars slash across the rhythms with razor sharp distortions and keyboards scatter skewed notes around the melody like rose petals. “That” provides for some strong soloing over infectious Latin rhythms. The album finale, “Amen,” is a boiling cauldron of notes that cooks itself away and ends with steamy wisps of flute.

Listening to a disparate amount of jazz, the development of the music over time becomes apparent. It’s an exhilarating sensation to hear an album that has stepped outside of the jazz timeline and recorded music that has a heart beating in the present day yet with an old soul sound. This is deliciously nostalgic to a time of vast musical experimentation, and the San Francisco Latin Jazz Society imbues this sound with a modern voice to make for some very compelling music.

Your album personnel:  Scott Brown (guitar & percussion), Jim Gordon (tenor sax & piano), Andy Woodhouse (bass), John S Rodriguez (drums), and Alex Nunez (conga).

Released on the Ahau Records label.  Jazz from the San Francisco scene.

You can download a free album track at AllAboutJazz, courtesy of the artists.

Available at eMusic.  Available at Amazon: CD | MP3