Nov 23 2012
Ben Rolston – “Fables”
I listen to a lot of new jazz every year. Not a week goes by that I haven’t sifted through lists of hundreds of new releases, employing a personal system that allows to listen to everything at least a little as I whittle those long lists down into something more manageable, something that I can spend more time investigating. It’s a lot of work, but one of the results of this hard work that makes it all worth it are the debut albums by young musicians that belie their relative inexperience.
They are often hit and miss, with a statistical weight heavier on the latter than the former. But, really, even many of the misses have their admirable qualities… qualities that they share with the hits: An abounding energy and optimism, an incessant need to get as many ideas out there and make as many definitive statements about who they are as musicians, and a willingness to take chances and make mistakes even as they pursue the infeasible goal of putting out the perfect album on the first attempt.
It’s where rock n’ roll bravado meets jazz musicianship. And my enjoyment in discovering these albums and bringing them to light on Bird is the Worm never wanes.
Recent U of Michigan grad and bassist Ben Rolston has put out one such album. Let me introduce you to it…
Your album personnel: Ben Rolston (double & electric basses), Ingrid Racine (trumpet), Marcus Elliot (tenor sax, EWI), Alex Levine (guitar), Ian Finkelstein (piano, Wurlitzer), Julian Allen (drums, programming), and guests: Stephen Rush (Wurlitzer, harmonium), Andrew Bishop (bass clarinet, soprano sax), and Annlie Huang (cello).
This is 100% modern jazz, though with the myriad of forms that modern jazz takes, that’s an insufficient tag. The is the modern jazz that can trace its lineage back to Brian Blade’s Fellowship Band, sometimes referred to as nu-jazz, though it seems even that phrase has been co-opted to imply other thing. The is jazz with strong indie rock influences… melodies that roam away and may never come back, rhythms that will shift in and out of Rock mode, and an approach that echoes the John Coltrane transition period between Hard Bop and Free Jazz (a la A Love Supreme), which often dangles strong melodies over the precipice of wildly churning percussion.
Take for example album opener “The Tar Sun (intro),” a gale force of instruments with a mournful rising moan, a series of calls in the absence of any response, a song whose shape is defined more by what it didn’t do than where it went. And second track “Branches and Bark,” which opens with a frenetic Ralston bass solo, has some lilting sax (tenor and soprano; Elliot and Bishop) layered over the top, even as Ralston continues to pound away at the tempo and creating a nice sense of two stories being told at the same time. Other members of the ensemble get a little space to speak up, and the tune wanders pretty far from bass camp… even a slight return to melody feels like miles away. But this is a quality of the type of modern jazz I’m talking about, and honestly, it’s only a bad thing if it gets under your skin to not hear a strong restatement of melody. Personally, I don’t mind an ambiguous finale.
On “Kiss the Speaker Wire,” Rolston pairs a bass arco with Annlie Huang’s cello for a hauntingly lovely opening statement. Finkelstein and Allen interrupt with an alluring burst of piano and drums that hints at the opening to a spiritual jazz track, but trumpet and sax shift the song into a gently rocking sway, and though piano does bring some choppy waters into play, the ensemble stays the course.
The two-part “For Continuing Curiosity and Wonder” has a freer form that sometimes works in its favor, sometimes not. Like: How sax and rhythm section interact on the up-tempo sections, especially in the closing moments of Part 2. Dislike: How sax and rhythm section interact on the sparser sections. Additional Like: How the free forms of the two-part piece immediately transitions into the strong melody of subsequent track “The Disappearance of Clarence Shaw,” the most song-like of all the album tracks.
And, in truth, that’s probably where the album should’ve ended. But that’s goes back to one of my initial observations about debut albums from young artists… trying to get too much down on paper. A way that typically manifests is in knowing what to cut out of a recording session and save for another time. The track “(mineral)” is a disassembled funk tune, heavy on electronics, light on form. It isn’t bad or anything, but woefully out of place with the rest of the album. Also, “Leafy” has a lot going on, too much really, and the transitions from free form to jazz-rock etc seem out of place.
The album ends with “(vegetable)” and “The Tar Sun (outro).” I like both tracks, and while I’m of the opinion that the album would’ve gone out strong with “The Disappearance of Clarence Shaw,” I can’t find fault with the engrossing bass solo of “(vegetable),” which brings a nice soulfulness to the proceedings, and “The Tar Sun (outro)” which provides a nice sense of closure with its flip-side rendition of the album opener. Regardless of where Fables should’ve ended, it does go out strong, which is an album quality one should never undervalue.
Fables is a very promising start to Rolston’s recording career.
The album is Self-Produced.
Jazz from the Ann Arbor, MI scene.
You can stream the album, and purchase it, at the artist’s bandcamp page.
Nov 24 2012
Something Different: Oddarrang “Cathedral” & Katherine Young “Pretty Monsters”
The Something Different series isn’t really an official Bird is the Worm review category, though with some of the albums I’ve got lined up, I probably should institute one. I use the designation to highlight albums that don’t really sound like anything else around. They won’t be capital-J Jazz. Without exception, they’ll transcend genre. They’re their own thing. They’re Something Different. I’ve got two of those right now.
Let’s begin…
Oddarrang – Cathedral
However, even though it’s a jumble of influences, the music is laid back and easy on the ears. Yes, the compositions present a variety of folds and wrinkles, but it’s still just a warm blanket… lovely music that fills up a quiet room with peaceful sounds made for drifting through the day.
Your album personnel: Olavi Louhivuori (drums, percussion, synths, piano), Osmo Ikonen (cello, vocals, church organ), Ilmari Pohjola (trombone, noise, voice), Lasse Sakara (acoustic & electric guitars), and Lasse Lindgren (acoustic & electric bass).
Horns soar effortlessly, and appear at times to just hang there suspended in place. Guitars refract notes, and sometimes twang ’em. Trombone and cello collaborate to provide the cool gurgle of a forest stream, where trombone is the rocky current and cello the placid surface bathed in sunlight. Drums take their time adding asynchronous syllables to a measured conversation. Ambient music for the thinking man on a day spent dreaming.
This is strange and beautiful music, and nobody but this ensemble could’ve created it.
Released on the Texicalli Records label. Technically released in the final month of 2011, I’m including it under 2012 reviews.
Music from the Helsinki, Finland scene.
Available at eMusic. Available at Amazon: MP3
Katherine Young – Pretty Monsters
There is nothing pretty about this music. And as far as monsters go, this music has sharp claws and fangs, but a smile like a muppet. This is an album that a person could warm up to. It’s likable in its way. It’s Something Different.
Your album personnel: Katherine Young (bassoon and electronics), Owen Stewart-Robertson (guitar and electronics), Mike Pride (drums, percussion), and Erica Dicker (violin).
Best tracks juxtapose a refracted sway and pretty tones with frenetic screeches and hard dissonance, especially when one sonic trait gradually forms from the midst of the other and the other fades into the backdrop. Fourth track “Crushed” is a prime example of the engaging soundplay.
Two songs that don’t fall into that mold, but have their own charismatic identities are track six “Deuterium,” replete with elegant strings atop choppy guitar chords… a ballad for those happiest in loneliness. Also, second track “Patricia Highsmith,” which has a stoned headbangers Rock pulse that gets increasingly magnetic as the song develops.
This ain’t an album that’s gonna appeal to everybody, but it is an album everyone should at least give the time of day to. It’s albums like this that will have such a provocative effect on some people (albeit, perhaps but a small group) as to leave them thinking about music in an entirely different way.
Released on the Public Eyesore Records label.
Music from the Chicago scene.
You can stream the album, and purchase it, on the artist bandcamp page.
Available at eMusic. Available at Amazon: CD
| MP3
That cool album cover art is by Rob Patterson.
Katherine Young is also a member of chamber music quartet Till By Turning. Go on and listen to some of their music on their bandcamp page. It’ll give you a different facet of her music.
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2012 Releases • 2 • Tags: Something Different