Gush - Afro Blue

Label: Trost Records, 2024

Personnel - Mats Gustafsson: tenor and soprano saxophone; Sten Sandell: piano; Raymond Strid: drums.

The North European trio Gush, featuring the expansive saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, adventurous pianist Sten Sandell, and thoughtful drummer Raymond Staid, releases a fantastic record, Afro Blue, containing a live performance that dates back to 1998 at Stockholm’s Fasching.

The bass-less trio creates electrifying frameworks in the first two tracks, drawn from the Behind the Chords series penned by Sandell. The pianist is essential to the sound that references the trio. “Behind the Chord V”, a 27-minute odyssey, comes to life with the curiosity and excitement of a harmonically rich piano construction. Gustafsson’s saxophone wanders about, opting for mysterious paths while exploring with passion, and the responsive rhythm section provokes rhythmic variations. The music reaches a feverous delirium before the piano becomes percussive, and then it’s Strid who embarks on an articulated drum talk, later joined by Gustafsson’s growling blows and meaty tones. Sandell contributes to an epic ending with his complex textural surfaces.

“Behind the Chords IV” is another looming track, with a digressive soprano saxophone creating trepidation as well as an interpolative piano using nuance for rhythmic stimulation. Strid introduces pulsation subtly, integrating timbres in the sonic fabric weaved by the pianist, who extemporizes in due course with oblique moves. The music advances explosively with jittery and cacophonous passages, leading to mindful percussive moments and a melodically supplicant and elliptical finale.

A magnetic reading of Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue”, popularized by John Coltrane in the 1960s, exposes its modal possibilities as Sandell explores polyrhythmically, Gustafsson unleashes entrancing lines with spiritual substance, and Strid paves the way in fearful convulsion, taking the piece to ecstatic realms. The album concludes with a peaceful improvisation.

Afro Blue highlights Gustafsson and his associates as outstanding improvisers whose directional waves align with engaging foundations and unconfined melodies. The trio's performance demonstrates not only a profound understanding of what they need to do as individuals and group but also a deep connection and inventive spirit.

Favorite Tracks: 
01 - Behind the Chords V ► 03 - Afro Blue

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Ivo Perelman - Seven Skies Orchestra

Label: Fundacja Sluchaj, 2023

Personnel - Ivo Perelman: tenor sax; Nate Wooley: trumpet; Mat Maneri: viola; Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello; Joe Morris: bass; Matt Moran: vibes.

Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman stands as an unwavering improviser who refuses to tread standardized paths. His open-mindedness and creativity are mirrored in an extensive discography of duos and trios, but his latest release, Seven Skies Orchestra, is a chamber improvisational work that offers a rare opportunity to hear him leading a larger ensemble of fantastic sonic painters. He pairs up with trumpeter Nate Wooley in the frontline, having vibist Matt Moran providing sinuous harmonic context, and a trio of string players - violist Mat Maneri, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and bassist Joe Morris - designing a multitude of paths with color and detail. The double album comprises ten improvised expositions, but for the present review, I’m going to focus on disc one.

In “Part One”, Moran’s transcendent vibes sets the stage, later backed by Morris’ loose foundation over which Perelman and Wooley engage in a dialogue with unccpompromised freedom. It’s like listening to a superbly articulated conversation whose intensity ebbs and flows whimsically. The protagonists change, dialoguing often in pairs, with logic and abandon. By the end, we are presented with nicely robust and exquisitely shapeless passages.

“Part Two” commences with expert slides and glides, with Wooley infusing sinuous phrases and Perelman responding with contrasting low-register blows, circular patterns, and thrilling staccatos. This occurs while Maneri and Lonberg-Holm instill a folk innuendo into the avant-jazz setting, and the piece becomes almost collectively mantric, in an expression of unity that goes beyond improvisation.

The introductory interplay of “Part Three” stems from the cogitation of the instruments clashing and acquiescing in a positive manner. It’s a pondering piece that builds to a peak with a tenor improvisation over bass and vibes, in a more contemplative demonstration of the group’s capacities.

The music constantly lives of dynamism and mood shifts, and “Part Four” is here to prove it. It can be busy and tumultuous one minute, hushed and cool the next.
Perelman always considers new collaborators to explore fresh sounds and expand musical horizons. Seven Skies Orchestra stands as a singular entry in his extensive body of work.

Favorite Tracks (CD1):
01 - Part One ► 02 - Part Two ► 04 - Part Four

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John Zorn / Bill Laswell - Memoria

Label: Tzadik, 2023

Personnel - John Zorn: alto saxophone; Bill Laswell: electric bass.

Saxophonist John Zorn and bassist Bill Laswell, stalwart figures of the New York’s downtown scene, have been close collaborators since the mid-‘70s. In their recent duo effort, Memoria, they pay homage to three late visionaries of jazz and improvised music. Working together in the spirit of trust, they transcend in their tantrums, creating an intense and evocative journey that explores new musical territory. The results are no less than telepathic.

In “Pharaoh Sanders”, Laswell's washing bass chords limned with synth effects provide a backdrop for an explosive saxophone performance. Zorn explores in feral fury with piercing squeaks, contrasting with Laswell's long, reflective notes. The saxophone pitch is manic, creating an astonishing density. The circular, spectral, and enigmatic bass texture transforms into atmospheric harmonics, pedals, and vamps, inviting Zorn to deliver intricate coils and rebellious shouts that challenge comfort zones. 

“Milford Graves” features Zorn working on circular breathing techniques with fast notes over Laswell’s expert ambient treatment. The deep foundational underpinning of the bass brings uncanny feelings, encouraging Zorn to explore inventive phrases, patterned imprints, and circular arches. The result is an atmospheric ride suffused with restless tones.

In “Wayne Shorter”, there’s a mindfulness to melody, and the saxophone lines rest atop an effect-drenched, spaced-out haze that never loses its dark edges and exoteric spirituality. The propulsive, rippling fluxes of the bass invite fabulous interplay as Zorn blows his horn with authoritative power. This duo, with nothing to prove, does great things within experimental free jazz and structured improvisation.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Milford Graves ► 03 - Wayne Shorter

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William Hooker - Flesh and Bones

Label: Org Music, 2023

Personnel - Ras Moshe: tenor saxophone, flute; Charles Burnham: violin; On Davis: guitar; Hilliard Greene: bass; Luke Stewart: bass; William Hooker: drums.

William Hooker, a drummer of immense power and drive, provides a cliché-free experience with his latest album, Flesh and Bones, featuring a synergistic new musical unit of New York-based vanguardists and improvisers. The group, dedicated to creating freely, includes violinist Charles Burnham, woodwindsman Ras Moshe, guitarist On Davis, and two bassists of different generations yet equal facility and invention: Luke Stewart and Hilliard Greene.

Aiming at addressing social issues of our times, the album, a reaction to how Black People are being treated in America, opens with “Flames”, an exaltation made of flute, percussive clapping, somber bowed bass, mantric guitar tantrum, and a wah-inflected violin whose presence takes the group places it might not otherwise have reached. The piece seamlessly transitions into “My Blood”, where a burnished saxophone soars over fractal bass work and stimulating drums. Tearful violin sounds pair up with uncanny ascendant bass glissandi after an energy-loaded passage roughed up by free expressionism.

If Moshe introduces “Sewing the Seeds” with poised tenor, later infusing a magnanimous force into the piece alongside Hooker’s powerful drumming, then “True Dat” heats up with Davis’ hot guitar strings responding to the bandleader’s incentives, both vocal and percussive. The pair is later joined by Burnham, who creates an unexpected undercurrent through breezy folksy balladry.

Both “Reveal a Truth” and “The Soul of Fire” are standouts. The former is set on motion by Burnham, shaping up as a Western dance with swinging bass accompaniment and, eventually, a fine ride cymbal-driven flux. The latter brings muted guitar scratches à-la Jimi Hendrix, flute extroversion, electric bass curvatures of grandiose melodicism, and awesome off-centered accents.
At 77, and boasting a nearly five-decade career, Hooker is as thunderous and indefatigable as when he started.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - My Blood ► 07 - Reveal a Truth ► 11 - The Soul of Fire

Rodrigo Amado The Bridge - Beyond the Margins

Label: Trost Records, 2023

Personnel - Rodrigo Amado: tenor saxophone; Alexander von Schlippenbach; piano; Ingebrigt Haker Flaten: bass; Gerry Hemingway: drums.

The Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado has consistently explored the outer boundaries of improvised jazz, striving to breaking new ground at each new collaboration. His latest recording, Beyond the Margins, features an international quartet known as The Bridge, with German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and American drummer Gerry Hemingway. This three-track album is a leap forward for Amado who, fully committed to bringing expressivity and energy to the setting, extracts the utmost from the group’s push-and-pull inventiveness.

The journey begins with the title cut, a sprawling 40-minute piece filled with spontaneous detours, a bountiful fruit of their visionary creativity. Amado’s tenor, skillfully bending notes to create a sense of delightful dissonance in the phrasing, dances atop a dreamlike Coltranean texture that, steering away from melancholy, soon escalates in density and intensity. The music follows a focused direction, painted by amorphous bass moves and colorful drum work. Burnished high-range saxophone lines and agile piano take turns in the melodic thread, and we realize these musicians respect each other’s spaces within the framework.
Fine melodies and balanced rhythmic cadences are complemented with bright figures, which usually culminate in moments of visceral impact. Tricky harmonic choices, crisp angularity, and staggering rhythms are all part of the music tapestry. As the piece unfolds, we have expansion and contraction as expected, ending with a swinging eruption driven by Haker Flaten, who previously had operated with arco, and Hemingway, a sophisticated drummer who infuses meticulously placed rhythms throughout.

A piano riff sets “Personal Mountains” in motion, soon joined by bracing drumming, candid bass lines, and folk-inspired saxophone chants that gain further expression in “(visiting) Ghosts”. The latter, a free interpretation of Albert Ayler’s original piece, plays out like a spiritual ballad at the outset before exploding with energy.

Amado and The Bridge demonstrate a remarkable ability to work at both micro and macro levels, crafting moments that captivate the attention of open-eared listeners. Alternating between apparent stagnancy, simmering tension, and fiery explosions, this is a record free jazzers should go for.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Beyond the Margins ► 02 - Personal Mountains

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Peter Brotzmann / Majid Bekkas / Hamid Drake - Catching Ghosts

Label: ACT, 2023

Personnel - Peter Brotzmann: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Majid Bekkas: guembri, voice; Hamid Drake: drums, percussion.

The late German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, who left us on June 22nd at the age of 82, was at the wheel of numerous free jazz outings over the course of a rich six-decade career. His last recordings - An Eternal Reminder of Not Today (with the experimental rock outfit Oxbow) and Naked Nudes (with cellist Fredrik Lonberg-Holm and pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh) are worthy musical journeys, as well as this entirely improvised live recording, Catching Ghosts, a culture-blending trio effort with Moroccan guembri player and vocalist Majid Bekkas and American drummer Hamid Drake.

Brotzmann was open to exploring new territories on every session, and the threesome here frame their distinct sounds into an offbeat hybrid fusion of gnawa songs and free jazz. The program, recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin 2022, offers four free-flowing and unrehearsed gnawa traditional pieces that, following consistent textural palettes, are galvanized by the driving force of Brotzmann’s saxophone playing. The opener, “Chalaba”, blazes the trail. The two-stringed, camel-skin-backed guembri can sound like a bass in the lower registers, soon establishing a sextuple time groove while having clean cymbal scintillation by its side. The saxophone clamors find space between phrases, entering this dance arena with either growling intensity or hoarse moaning, yet invariably with class and personality.

The following three pieces were included on Bekkas’ 2002 album African Gnaoua Blues. “Mawama” appears here with strong hi-hat pulsation and snare activity, putting more emphasis on the vocals than the sax; the 14-minute “Hamdouchia” presents a 10-beat cycle groove, having Brotzmann - in all his fiery, subversive and provocative style - responding to Bakkas’ voice; and “Balini”, both propulsive and airy, features Brotzmann’s whining clarinet prayers over rhythmic interlocking patterns generated by Bekkas and Drake.

These musicians take chances, each serving the material with musical passion and care. This is a wonderful goodbye from Brotzmann, a force of nature who will be deeply missed by all free jazzers.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Chalaba ► 03 - Hamdouchia

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Evan Parker / Matthew Wright, Trance Map+ - Etching the Ether

Label: Intakt Records, 2023

Personnel - Evan Parker: soprano saxophone; Matthew Wright: live electronics, sound design; Peter Evans: trumpet, piccolo trumpet; Mark Nauseef: percussion.

This recording reunites the British saxophonist Evan Parker and his fellow countryman, the electronic musician, turntablist and sound designer Matthew Wright. Together, they are Trance Map, a project in constant mutation. As usual, ambiguity and experimentation prevail, with two talented guest musicians helping them build something unique on the spur of the moment. The participation of trumpeter Peter Evans and percussionist Mark Nauseef, and the way they deal with sound and texture, makes Etching the Ether a much more exciting record than the previous, Crepuscule in Nickelsdorff (Intakt, 2019).

Putting today’s technology at their service, the foursome begin their inexhaustible post-jazz excursion with “At Altitude”, combining high-pitched whistles, droning electronics, infinite soprano roundabouts, growling trumpet multiphonics, sparse gong vibrations, and a mix of tinkling, rattling, and metallic percussion sounds.

With tense layers of sound as their grooves, and a fusion of circularity and obliqueness as their language, “Drawing Breath”, at nearly 21 minutes, is an instigation with breadth of vision. There’s an intensification of the percussive tract at an early stage and a buzzing tapestry over which Evans unpacks swift trumpet phrases with an excitable temperament. Parker joins him to probe orbicular and elliptical trajectories that, occurring in parallel, create an intensively flickering stimulus on the ear. Riffing in ecstasy, they reach magnitudes of sound whose color, shape and motion are difficult to anticipate. By the end, electronic murmurations accommodate dark synth-like waves and noisy patterns of different pitches.

For “Engaged in Seeking”, the leaders gave full rein to Nauseef, who created an elusive background in post-production. He contributes heavily to a wider and deeper dimension of the music, whose intensities are masterfully commanded by Parker and Evans. They reach a climax before the quiet finale, with the trumpeter stretching erratically over a granular texture. This stirring, free-flowing ride is best experienced in sequence.

Favorite Tracks: 
02 - Drawing Breath ► 03 - Engaged in Seeking

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Daniel Carter / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela - Shine Hear Vol. 1

Label: 577 Records, 2023

Personnel - Daniel Carter: saxophones; Leo Genovese: piano; William Parker: bass, gralla, shakuhachi; Francisco Mela: drums, voice.

This potent quartet composed of two veteran leaders of the downtown free jazz scene - saxophonist Daniel Carter and bassist William Parker (here taking a larger role as he joins the frontline playing woodwind instruments) - and two excellent  musicians of a younger generation - Argentine pianist Leo Genovese and Cuban drummer Francisco Mela - deliver a cutting-edge session of free improvisation in which they show not to be afraid of dissonance, atonality, and experiment with sound.

“Intertext Salute” exhibits a moderate yet assured percussive drive at the outset, with irregular piano coiling, fully framed bass work in the forms of sturdy pizzicato and burbling arco, and poised manifestations of saxophone angularity. At some point Parker brings the gralla (a Catalan double reed instrument) into the game. He and Carter burn through simultaneous phrases that, emphasizing accentuation, create a sophisticated and witty musical dialogue. Tonally brilliant, Genovese’s playing feels like a tornado of tremendous force, and the energy peak coincides with when Mela’s Cuban chants start to intensify.

Many will say the intensity wanes on “Shine Hear”, a splendorous modal piece of immense beauty, but moments like this one do make the difference. With big ears and resourceful skills, they express themselves in a prayerful communion where saxophone and shakuhachi interact closely.

The concluding cut, “Glisten Up” goes through a cycle of different moods and textures. Furious gralla lines fly atop the martial snare drum flow; subsequently, we have soaring piano hooks rambling until crashing loudly in the low register; and then a repetitive vocal phrase uttered by Mela while maintaining a steady rhythmic pulse. This becomes the motivic center for what comes next. Carter seems to evoke the black spiritual “When the Saints Are Marching In” at the beginning of his statement; there are reflective phrases over mechanic rat-a-tat-tas and apt chordal work; and everything fades into a dreamy ambience with bowed bass at the fore.

Assembled with structural and sonic invention, this disc is a vast sea of interminable motion and mood. With ensembles like this, one can still find coherent free jazz cooked with taste and passion. With new sounds but also with the intensity of the old times.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Intertext Salute ► 02 - Shine Hear

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Lurch Purse - Don't Mess With Lurch Purse

Label: Mother Brain Records, 2023

Personnel - Michael Eaton: tenor saxophone; Max Kutner: electric guitar; Kevin Shea: drums.

The collaborative free-improv trio Lurch Purse, composed of saxophonist Michael Eaton (James Brandon Lewis, Dave Liebman and Lionel Loueke appeared on his recordings), guitarist Max Kutner (Grandmothers of Invention) and drummer Kevin Shea (Most Other People Do the Killing, Peter Evans Quartet), debuts with Don’t Mess With Lurch Purse, an album whose title works like a warning for the avalanche of tense and intense sounds built.

Their rough-around-the-edges approach has authoritative saxophone expressions combined with guitar interjections and irregular drumming, giving way to unstoppable forays - Eaton explores range and multiphonics within blunt-toned phrases, Kutner delves into roaring distorted rampages inspired by thrash metal, and Shea provides rambunctious drum work with unremitting energy. 

Following this first improvisation titled “Five Years in a Concrete Egg”, comes “Boite de Lune”, which offers air sounds and long saxophone notes contrasting with speckled guitar noodling. It all changes into fast runs and vehement drumming, in a restless agitation that lasts eight minutes, time when Eaton spits out jumpy intervals to obtain off-the-wall responses from Kutner. The thing with this free jazz ensemble is that intensity is constantly peaking and that can become exhausting.

The musicians certainly show admirable skills, but this recording is in need of more twists to fully work, being one of those ear-puncturing blasts that are too manic to reward a close listening. “Crack Goblins” falls into cacophonous delirium, with intermittent drum attacks and strangled guitar gamboling over it. This is the type of record that would benefit from more variation in the dynamics or, if maintaining the level of verve, less duration. Still, it will probably appeal to those searching for free form, bursting energy, and pugnacious improvisation in music.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Five Years in a Concrete Egg

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Dave Liebman - Live at Smalls

Label: Cellar Music Group, 2023

Personnel - Dave Liebman: soprano saxophone; Peter Evans: trumpet; Leo Genovese: piano; John Hébert: bass; Tyshawn Sorey: drums.

Master saxophonist and improviser Dave Liebman put together a quintet of such mighty force for a 75-minute free jazz session at Smalls in New York. The captured live is not always brilliant, but the interaction between virtuosic musicians who command their instruments with excellence, worth your time. 

Trumpeter Peter Evans is a superb partner in the frontline, who armed with focused brass work and inventive language, is impressive right from the start. His ideas are caught up by Liebman, who plays with an outer clarity that astonishes, and especially by Argentinian pianist Leo Genovese, whose winding phrases and deft harmonies simultaneously provide density and color. With the emotions running rampant at this early stage, John Hébert, an in-demand stalwart bassist versatile both in comping and improvisation, makes his instrument sing.

The transition to the middle part is pacific, with Liebman giving a self-possessed speech. He is subsequently joined by Evans, who enjoys a few minutes with just Tyshawn Sorey’s drum cycles underneath. The drummer, even sounding more straight-ahead at this juncture, still surprises. After piano and bass pour forth with energy, there’s an extended abstract moment of quietness that leads to a residual rhythmic stuttering that finishes off this middle section.

Taking down the guardrails of written music, Liebman probes complex melodies that expand and contract across multiple rhythms. “The End” evolves within a relaxed conversational atmosphere until reaching a heated final climax. Stimulating music.

Favorite Track:
01 - The Beginning

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Peter Brotzmann / Heather Leigh / Fred Lonberg-Holm - Naked Nudes

Label: Trost Records, 2023

Personnel - Peter Brötzmann: alto and tenor saxophone; Heather Leigh: pedal steel guitar; Fred Lonberg-Holm; cello, electronics.

German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, a prolific in-the-moment creator, can be heard in the wonderful company of two musicians he knows very well: the Glasgow-based pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh and the cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, a stalwart of the improvised jazz scene. The saxophonist released a handful of duo recordings with the former and played in several groups and settings (from duo to tentet) with the latter. The record we have in our hands, Naked Nudes, was recorded in his hometown, Wuppertal, on the occasion of his 80th birthday concerts celebration. 

The music presented here consists of three functionally structured improvisations that, on one side, show that the trio has no interest in playing it safe, but on the other, doesn’t merely follow aleatory trajectories just for the fun of provoking and releasing energy. The outcome of this collaboration manifests the triumph of a levelheaded musical sense over any preconceived idea.

For nearly half an hour, the mighty title track demonstrates their passion, revealing newfound subtleties at every listening. Brötzamnn enters unaccompanied, later having the poignantly chanting vibration of cello and chiming steel guitar as a backdrop. The saxophonist blows his horn forcefully as the tapestry under his feet gradually roughens with noise guitar and electronics. Seven minutes in, and the whirring noise dissipates to make a new form emerge. A quiet lull made of uncanny timbral utterances appears but the chiming guitar puffs are turned into ominous noise in a subsequent phase. Like a distant, confusing dream, Leigh’s pitch-bending guitar waves invite Brötzmann to step into a resigned, supplicant redemption.

The other two tracks are shorter. “Flower Flaps” kicks off rumblingly and pointillistically, making way for the incisive and eloquent saxophone; “Johnny Anaconda” is a brew of sounds entrenched with bowed cello, guitar flaccidity, and keen sax manifestations that faintly blur the picture. Naked Nudes is thrilling and wholly original.

Favorite Track:
01 - Naked Nudes

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Ivo Perelman / Ray Anderson / Joe Morris / Reggie Nicholson - Molten Gold

Label: Fundacja Sluchaj, 2023

Personnel - Ivo Perelman: tenor saxophone; Ray Anderson: trombone; Joe Morris: bass; Reggie Nicholson: drums.

The intrepid, unstoppable tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman along with the master trombonist Ray Anderson bring keen improvisational acumen to this expressionistic quartet complemented by the rhythm section of bassist Joe Morris and drummer Reggie Nicholson. The two frontmen, who had never recorded together before, play around with both perceptible melodic figures and alternative terminologies in Molten Gold, a frequently striking new double-disc outing.

They pursue deeply intuitive excursions in this engagement, starting with “Warming Up”, the first of four extended free improvisations (all four tracks pass the 20-minute mark). Insistent short attacks are delivered by the horn players in a tart, impassioned manner. The slyly witty chanting patterns of Perelman disclose his strong folk influence, while Anderson responds with terse interjections, helping to create dynamism in their unrelieved probe of intensities and moods. By the last segment, Morris and Nicholson fortify the architectural backbone by locking into an open-ended cycle leveled with a certain marching quality.

“Aqua Regia” turns up surreptitiously, creating mystery through the combination of arco austerity, brushed decoration, and melodic figures that repeat, evolve, and transform into new ideas. After amusing us by going from a temporary balm to a jarring commotion, the group seems to immerse itself in a dance that prolongs until the piece's denouement. Perelman, who often juggles with shrilling rises and sliding descends, ends “Gravity” by doing this dancing. He has plenty of support as Morris and Nicholson hold the fort. This track, darker in tone but no less compelling, wraps up a particularly satisfying session of  infectious free jazz.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Warming Up ► 03 - Aqua Regia

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Chris Brown / Ben Davis / Matt Ingalls / Marshall Trammell - Tremble Trove

Label: Artifact Recordings, 2023

Personnel - Chris Brown: piano, electronics; Ben Davis: cello; Marshall Trammell: drums; Matt Ingalls: clarinet and bass clarinet (CD2 only).

This quartet of free improvisers from Oakland manages the art of sound with a strong desire to be spontaneous and creative. 12 electroacoustic tracks spread throughout two discs, the first of which is presented in trio format - with Chris Brown on piano and electronics, Ben Davis on cello and Marshall Trammell on drums - and the second as a quartet with the addition of clarinetist Matt Ingalls.

You won’t find loads of melody in here but more of rugged and grainy textures as the group vigilantly avoids intemperate tunefulness. “The Theme”, stand-offish at first while carrying earnest low frequencies, still pulls some lyricism, electing despondency as it drops any vestige of gladness. “Brewing” is also stern, but contains a sparkling rumble of pianism, well-developed cello lines that later morph into bow raspiness, and a focused rhythmic print. 

“Among Us” is stealthy, indivisible and responsive at the same time, whereas the chilly “Undisturbed” is stationary but not devoid of tension. “Look Out”, for example, is ominous in tone and somewhat aggressive in posture, but also risk-taking and well-designed. It emerges from solid-body cello continuum, prepared piano, and tinkling percussive dramatization.

Brown’s electronics mark the outset of “Aviary”, which ends in a fiery climax, and the first disc culminates with the 26-minute “Suite”, where temperate meanderings abide with jittery motions.

Each of the four tracks on the disc 2 follows a specific structure that allows the quartet to engage in crescendos with a sequence of solo, duo, trio, and quartet moments. Ingalls probes highs and lows by whistling and harrumphing, but that doesn’t make the second disc better than the first. With a solid core and knotted fringes, these sonic fabrics will please more those who search indefinitely than the ones who like to tap their feet to the beat.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Theme ► 05 - Look Out ► 07 - Brewing 

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Masayo Koketsu - Fukiya

Label: Relative Pitch Records, 2022

Personnel - Masayo Koketsu: alto saxophone.

The Japanese saxophonist Masayo Koketsu shows stimulating storytelling capabilities through a single 46-minute piece that signals her solo debut record. Steeped in the free jazz tradition of Japan, this effort summons her bravery, denoting remarkable levels of agility and a wide range palette of tonalities. Fukiya is the Japanese blowgun, which seems to have inspired Koketsu to throw sonic darts here with a focused precision. 

Not having who pave her way gives her complete freedom, and this improvised journey begins with extended multiphonics delivered with occasional tremolo. They are regularly interrupted by silences that help set an atmosphere of unexpectedness, awe, and search at every turn. Bubbling here, and charging there, the lines are delivered with more or less friction, simmering without boiling. However, you should be prepared for abrupt piercing screeches interlaced with sweeter articulations, in a constant ebb and flow that, varying in intensity and emotion, feels like a tidal wave of thought and conversation with her psyche.

There are sections where the melody takes a more regular shape. Yet those passages are constantly stricken by throaty cries, controlled shrieks, and brisk contortions. Multi-directional flows convey anger and repose without damaging any narrative coherence, and halfway she becomes prayerful, later throwing in hiccuped popping sounds and one-stroke sketchy lines that, in my head, serve to paint an imaginary sky of red and blue. The final part brings a little bit of the Coltrane spiritual fervor mixed with some gut-wrenching pleas and circular patterns.

As with any solo effort, especially when harmony is not involved, you have to be open-minded and in the spirit to follow the recital. This is not for casual listening, and demands attention from the listener. Free jazz saxophone enthusiasts will be the targeted consumers of a recording where Koketsu’s burning fire claims for international recognition.

Rodrigo Amado Northern Liberties - We Are Electric

Label: Not Two Records, 2021

Personnel - Rodrigo Amado: tenor saxophone; Thomas Johansson: trumpet; Jon Rune Strøm: double bass; Gard Nilssen: drums.

The saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, the most representative figure of the Portuguese free jazz scene, proceeds with fruitful international collaborations, this time leading a new quartet rounded out by three qualified Norwegian players namely, trumpeter Thomas Johansson (from the adventurous quartet Cortex), bassist Jon Rune Strøm (a regular in the Paal-Nilssen Love Large Unit), and drummer Gard Nilssen (a bandleader of excellence who spearheads the Acoustic Unity trio and the Supersonic Orchestra). Their debut, We Are Electric, consists of four improvised tracks recorded live at ZDB in Lisbon, and finds the foursome exploring creative idioms with a rare cohesion. 

Clocking in at 17+ minutes, “Spark” bears a manic energy right from the start. Vivid contortions created by a saxophone that cuts in with fiery aplomb and a muted trumpet that explores timbre with logic in the phrasing, heat up the densely packed rhythmic mesh. In one minute, the frontline men engage in well-rounded motifs, but in the next they have things thriving with slapping-tongue staccatos on the saxophone and uncompromisingly keyed trumpet. At some point, the group swings, and later we are immersed in a free rock 'n’ roll from outer space. The piece ends with the horn players in absolute control, just like they do on “Response”, a number that has the particularity of being finalized with a long hoarse tenor shriek.

“Ignition” starts unhurriedly, set in motion by bowed bass and sparking brushwork. A simple two-note figure serves as an excuse to start a dialogue between Amado and Johansson, but all this is stretched and expanded into a boiling collective commotion that is interrupted by the subsequent piece, “Activity”. Here, the multiphonics, muted trumpet and palpable melodic lines denote a lyricism that counterbalances the effusiveness that comes next. They even set up a nice swinging motion and inflict a bluesy feel on this one. This is well-developed improvised music made by an intrepid quartet who knocks down all the pins in all contexts.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Spark ► 02 - Ignition ► 03 - Activity

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William Parker - Mayan Space Station

Label: AUM Fidelity, 2021

Personnel - William Parker: double bass; Ava Mendoza: electric guitar; Gerald Cleaver: drums.

Bassist, composer and bandleader William Parker has been at the forefront of the creative jazz scene for decades. His music and stunning bass playing keep high standards of quality whether he plays in small ensembles or big bands, and he never turns his back to innovation and spontaneous creativity.

One of his latest records, Mayan Space Station, immediately caught my ear. Comprising six improvised numbers that will attract fans of fleshed indie rock, free jazz and groove-centered music alike, the album features a fearless, progressive avant-jazz trio that includes the up-and-coming guitarist Ava Mendoza and the versatile, sought-after drummer Gerald Cleaver. 

“Tabasco” opens the record with a lucid, dance-inviting groove containing thrashing bass plucks and occasional tumultuous drum fills. This serves as a sustain for the cathartic post-rock forays of Mendoza. Parker devises a more intricate groove for “Rocas Rojas”, where the anthemic distorted guitar and patterned mosaics of toms and cymbals gradually converge to a final psychedelic haze. 

If “Domingo”, which accommodates a fluttery abstraction, goes from an unorthodox walking bass to a more perceptible and rounded groove with slick details and percussive moment, then “The Wall Tumbles Down” swings from the very beginning, paving the ground for a saturated guitar statement delivered with a country-rockish vibe and echoing some of the Led Zeppelin’s charisma. The latter piece evolves into moody territory with siren-laden ostinatos for a broodier sense of danger.

“Mayan Space Station”, whose title is a conduit for peace and inspiration that invites us to space traveling through music, is an absorbing shapeshifter where the excellent team of Parker and Cleaver works the rhythmic flow in many ways while changing directions. Their throbbing propulsion undergirds Mendoza’s electric shrieks, which, later on, wildly contrasts with Parker’s bowed bass. The taut drum chops are intensified and a groove in five takes us to the conclusion.

In comparison, “Canyons of Light” brings more atmospheric awe in its suspended first half, getting piercingly austere as it moves forward.

Parker’s new trio navigates high peaks and deep valleys with a riotously unpredictable temper and exploding energy. Check it out for yourself and feel the groove.

Grade A

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Tabasco ► 02 - Rocas Rojas ► 04 - Mayan Space Station

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Rodrigo Amado This Is Our language Quartet - Let the Free Be Men

Label: Trost Records, 2021

Personnel - Rodrigo Amado: tenor saxophone; Joe McPhee: pocket trumpet, soprano saxophone; Kent Kessler: bass; Chris Corsano: drums.

The Portuguese free-jazz saxophonist Rodrigo Amado reunites his flagship project - This Is Our Language quartet - for their third outing, the second on the Austrian label Trost Records. Comprising four spontaneous improvisations, Let The Free Be Men is not as powerful as its predecessors, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t moments of pure passion or sonic rollercoasters with plenty of hooks and fast turns for us to ride.

All members give their instruments a workout, with the saxophonist/trumpeter Joe McPhee serving as a perfect foil for Amado’s attacks in the first line, while bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Chris Corsano generate concrete tapestries that feel heavy and uncompromising.

“Resist!” starts off with a drum monologue, equal measures inquisitive and driving, which is subsequently softened up by the arrival of bowed bass. Yet, it’s in this section that Corsano better shows his agility over the snare and toms, and a rare intuition of when making the cymbals crash for a great effect. Tenor and trumpet dive in simultaneously. Amado with a forceful discourse packed with rhythmic figures and punctuation marks and McPhee with deliberate and thoughtful melodic lines. From here on, the energy never stops to propagate at a vertiginous speed, and McPhee, switching the trumpet for the soprano, adds extra color to the party.

The title cut blooms with a multiphonic coalition between the two horn players, who create an abstract atmosphere with the help of a somber arco bass and controlled fluxes of brushed drums. A lament takes shape, bearing a resemblance to choral music, but the group blazes another trail at the midway point, indulging in a folk-inspired groove that inflames the saxophonists’ improvisatory stimuli. This is the most provocative track on the album.

“Men is Women is Men” incorporates humming, warbling and murmuring sounds that lead to a cacophonous parade, whereas “Never Surrender” takes the plunge in a suspended, Ornette Coleman-esque state but ends in a more-scrappy-than-polished mishmash of horns, bass and drums.

The closed circle of sounds repeat and revamp with perpetual tension and they would probably benefit from a bit more of melodic thread and groove. It’s up to the group to decide that, but free jazzers can go for it as it is.

Grade B

Favorite Tracks: 
01 - Resist! ► 02 - Let The Free Be Men

Flow Trio with Joe McPhee - Winter Garden

Label: ESP-Disk, 2021

Personnel - Louis Belogenis: tenor and soprano saxophone; Joe Morris: bass; Charles Downs: drums + Joe McPhee: tenor saxophone.

Flow Trio comprises intrepid, like-minded explorers of sound and texture with proven merit in this peculiar musical art known as free jazz. 

Influenced by Ayler, Coltrane and S.Ware, the saxophonist Louis Belogenis was an intermittent collaborator of the late drummers Rashied Ali and Sunny Murray; for his part, bassist Joe Morris is a rhythm machine who’s been faithful to his own vision alongside many musical partners (multi-reedist Ken Vandermark, tenorist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp); Chicago-born drummer Charles Downs (aka Rashid Bakr) joined the pianist Cecil Taylor in the early 1980’s for a more-than-a-decade collaboration, and was a member of Billy Bang’s Survival Ensemble. Winter Garden marks their third outing as a group, the second on the ESP-Disk label, and features another prolific pathfinder and timbral digger on the tenor, Joe McPhee.

The trio grapples with violent agitation on the opener, “Rabble Rouser”, where the saxophonists clash against each other, pulling out raucous and raspy timbres as their phrases swell with volume and speed. The robust foundation of bass and drums never vacillates in the support of horn growls whether in complete ecstasy or severe distress. There’s still time for Morris’ arco dissertation. He starts alone, but somewhere down the line, is joined by antsy drumming and juxtaposed saxophone ostinatos.

“Recombinant” adopts a more pattern-based approach. McPhee’s repetitive tenor figure is later matched and kept by Morris, while Belogenis keeps chanting loose, longer lines on the soprano with perseverance and plasticity. A stream of cymbal attacks accompanies this process until the flow gets interrupted by a bass solo. 

Whereas “Incandescence” is a blistering discharge of tension that becomes more melodic in its final phase, “Glistening” is the calmest track on the album. Although amorphous in form and free in pulse, the latter is less vehement in the expression and more discernible in the direction.

The title track alternates intensities and concludes the session with the saxophones on the same side. It features a double intervention by Morris, first bowing across the bass strings and then opting for pizzicato. 

Unpacked with multiple levels of abstraction, Winter Garden is a raw and ferocious album that lives from intensive communication and unrestricted reciprocity.

Grade B+

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Rabble Rouser ► 02 - Recombinant ► 05 - Glistening

Roscoe Mitchell & Mike Reed - The Ritual and the Dance

Label: Astral Spirits

Personnel - Roscoe Mitchell: reeds; Mike Reed: drums, percussion, electronics.

The free jazz genre is graced by the dynamic duo of multireedist Roscoe Mitchell, an unapologetic nonconformist, and drummer Mike Reed, an artisan of the rhythm. The sophomore release of these AACM artists is called The Ritual and the Dance and was recorded live in 2015 during their European tour. It consists of a nearly 37-minute uninterrupted storytelling with no idle moments.

The high-pitched soprano laments delivered by Mitchell take the form of piercing indigenous chants blown vertiginously with circular breathing and patterned stimuli. The dry rat-a-tat of the snare drum makes a beautiful tonal contrast with the deep bass drum kicks, establishing an intense, sedulous workout routine that will put you in a state of bemused fascination.

The impressive versatility of Reed surfaces not only when he seats behind the drumset, but also when he operates electronics with subtle sensitivity. At some point, his adept pulses are transformed into droning backgrounds, whose dark tones allow the saxophone to reflect brightly. Reed then resumes the stomping cadence but keeps changing its colors. 

The turbulent environment is refrained at the minute 20, when Mitchell switches to tenor, seeking folk melodies and exploring some long notes that oscillate in pitch. His beefy, occasionally raucous tone is unadorned, if slower, here, but he switches horns again for a stimulating final stretch.

Adventurous jazz listeners will be struck by the force of this music, certainly wishing that Mitchell and Reed can collaborate again soon.

Grade A-

Sabir Mateen / Christopher Dell / Christian Ramond / Klaus Kugel - Creation

Label: 577 Records, 2020

Personnel - Sabir Mateen: tenor saxophone, voice; Christopher Dell: vibes; Christian Ramond: double bass; Klaus Kugel: drums.

This free jazz session, recorded live at A-train in Berlin in 2012, brings together Philadelphia-born, New York-based saxophonist Sabir Mateen and a German rhythm section composed of vibraphonist Christopher Dell, bassist Christian Ramond and drummer Klaus Kugel. Creation comprises three parts, the last of which is a bonus track only available in the digital format.

“Creation (Part One)” enters upon a straightforward storytelling with nimble tenor phrases, digressive vibraphone movements and loose groundwork from bass and drums. The often jittery drumming goes against the soft vibes but shares the same state of mind of Mateen, who improvises with anxious fervor, expressing lucid motifs that exclaim, ask and sometimes answer. For this, the saxophonist employs a timbral alchemy that applies to the whole range of his instrument.

Clocking in at 31 minutes, the second movement starts with a steady flux of vibes, bass and drums, but its textural surface is not always maintained even. On top of this, Mateen unleashes raucous staccatos and multiphonics, fluttering whistling blows and winding phrases occasionally enhancing ascendant and descendant movements through a pinned note as a reference. These oblique trajectories are quite thrilling. At times the group goes for cathartic left turns and sharp angles as they muscle up the procedures, on other occasions they swing in an open manner, virtually soliciting the scat-singing abilities of the American frontman. The piece doesn’t come to an end without Kugel’s rollicking drum solo.

The third part is perhaps the one shrouded in louder and more intense sonic waves, generating a similar sense of engagement and freedom.

Grade B

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Creation (Part One)

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