Brian Marsella / Jon Irabagon - Blue Hour

July 29, 2024

Label: Irabbagast Records / Red Palace Records, 2024

Personnel - Jon Irabagon: mezzo soprano, tenor and sopranino saxophones; Brian Marsella: piano, Yamaha CS-60, Korg BX-3, Ritm-2.

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon never lets me down, regardless of the context or format he’s playing in. He can compose exceptional straightforward tunes inspired by jazz tradition and be a spectacular improviser who colors outside the lines, bringing novelty to the setting. The fully improvised duo album Blue Hour marks his first collaboration with innovative pianist/keyboardist Brian Marsella, known for his work with iconic saxophonist and composer John Zorn.

Purposely unsystematic in form, the music often volleys between enigmatic atmospherics and fleshier impulsions. The first two tracks were recorded live at The Stone. The album’s opener, “A Day That Will Live in Infamy”, starts with a psychedelic freeflow of effect-drenched keyboards and a panoply of saxophone timbres. There’s a passage that seems to evoke liturgical classical music with poignant saxophone melodies atop, later evolving to something more contemporary, in an agitated cacophony filled with whirling figures. The piano is louder than it should be at this phase, and the piece ends enigmatically, exploring darker alleys.

The second track, “Zeros and Ones and a Nine”, puts Marsella’s synths on the rise with glitchy sounds and digital frequencies, insistent bass notes, and animated piano delivered with a rag feel. This abrasive experimentalism suits Irabagon, a master of timbral mutation who uncoils ever-climbing spirals, racing, swinging, and grooving through the harmonic tapestries. The mood veers to dreamy before ending in manifest discomposure.

Tracks 3 to 6 are studio recordings, where the impressive technical quality of the players also unveils their impeccable sense of direction. The title “Centrifugal Machine Goes to the Scrapyard” makes you take your own conclusions beforehand, displaying saxophone extended techniques and gritty dissonance before morphing into wistful melancholy. The rollicking final track, “Bird Games With a Tragic Ending” surprises, hitting at swing, blues, and stride with a disarming naturalness.

This is killer stuff, deeply ingrained in the experimental side of jazz. For both artists, Blue Hour feels like a creative leap in a different direction that we urge them to explore further.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - A Day That Will Live in Infamy ► 02 - Zeros and Ones and a Nine ► 06 - Bird Games With a Tragic Ending

Jon Irabagon's Outright! - Recharge the Blade

January 18, 2024

Label: Irabbagast Records, 2024

Personnel - Jon Irabagon: soprano saxophone; Ray Anderson: trombone; Matt Mitchell: piano, Fender Rhodes, Moog model D; Chris Lightcap: acoustic and electric bass; Dan Weiss: drums; Ben Monder: guitar (#10); Chris Cash: drums, bass, guitar, programming (#12); Trans-Atlantic Line Cigar Lounge All Stars (#12).

The remarkable saxophonist, Jon Irabagon, makes a triumphant return with his Outright! project, delivering yet another epic album that seamlessly follows the success of its predecessors, Outright! (2008) and Unhinged (2012). Undergoing its third lineup change, the ensemble keeps featuring outstanding musicians and improvisers, now including trombonist Ray Anderson, Matt Mitchell on keyboards, Chris Lightcap on bass, and Dan Weiss on drums. The collaboration produces rich and intense musical moments, further elevated by additional skilled musicians.

The core quintet works through a compelling program, presenting a nine-part suite titled Recharge the Blade, and is enlarged with guests on two numbers of the multi-colored War Trilogy. Irabagon and his associates boldly jump out of the box with “Kilgrave Part 1”, where angular piano forms and eerie soprano whispers are complemented by candid trombone expressions. This sets the stage for “Blood Eagle”, a hard-swinging romp filled with pure fire, with bassist and drummer locked in, and the horn players immersed in exciting extravagance. The piano adds an extra layer of clarity, engaging in counter-action comping during Anderson’s statement. Then, Irabagon’s smearing scorcher of a soprano solo takes the forefront, followed by Weiss’ stylish drum chops and Mitchell’s dynamic contours on the Rhodes, all layered over a thumping funk bass groove and a hi-hat/snare-driven flow.

While “Keelhauling” explores freewheeling avant-garde territory with circularity at its peak, the balladry of “Nightshade” invokes the easy gliding melodicism of Wayne Shorter before transitioning into a hip-hop rhythm with M-Base vibes. “Kilgrave Part 2” loosely echoes Coltrane, leading into “Recharge the Blade”, a playful neo-bop meets New Orleans dixie exercise crafted with powerful unisons and confident split-ups. The solos, synergistic and abrasive, overflow with glistening cascades and dramatic swells. Also contrasting,“Trés Bechet” glows in romantic bolero style as if lit from within, while the motivic “Tsar” propels itself with open-space energy, culminating in ecstatic explorations outside the norms.

The album reaches its pinnacle with The War Trilogy, where the blooming first movement, “Quarum Call”, features the atmospheric quirkiness and noise density of guitarist Ben Monder. He feels at home in the company of Weiss’ abrasions of wood on skin. “We’ll Meet Again”, penned by Hugh Charles and Ross Parker in 1939, is offered as a soprano/piano duet, serving as a bridge to “Welcome Parade”, a surprising if divergent R&B/soul-jazz-influenced track featuring multi-instrumentalist Chris Cash and the monumental Trans-Atlantic Line Cigar Lounge All Stars.

As a strikingly original player with an imaginative vision, Irabagon keeps his music refreshingly focused but also bursting with freedom. Not a single dull moment is found in this opus, where the members of the group showcase their extraordinary rapport.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Blood Eagle ► 08 - Tsar ► 10 - Quarum Call

Jon Irabagon - Rising Sun

January 4, 2023

Label: Irabbagast Records, 2022

Personnel - Jon Irabagon: tenor saxophone; Matt Mitchell: piano, Fender Rhodes; Chris Lightcap: electric, acoustic bass (#4); Dan Weiss: drums.
Guests: Miles Okazaki: guitar (#3,6); Adam O’Farrill: trumpet (#5,7).

Walking blazing trails that show all his musicality and technical prowess, saxophonist Jon Irabagon puts together seven incredible pieces inspired by and composed during a post-pandemic-restrictions road trip to the American Mountain States (South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming).

On the album, aptly titled Rising Sun, Irabagon is joined by a virtuosic rhythm section that includes the ultra-modern keyboardist Matt Mitchell, the sturdy bassist Chris Lightcap, who eschewed his usual upright for an electric bass guitar (the sped-up rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Bebop” is the exception), and the driving drummer Dan Weiss.

The session, dedicated to saxophonist Barry Bergstrom, starts freely bouncing with “Sundance”, which sets the mood with excitement and post-bop verve. Irabagon’s language is professed with impressive details and superb articulation. After unison segments with Mitchell, it's the pianist who deconstructs with polyrhythmic consciousness. This number becomes balmy, mellow and bluesy, inviting Lightcap for a solo, and then vamps with circular demeanor in the changes, gaining a dimension that evokes the folk jazz of Keith Jarrett, the avant-garde intensity of David Murray, and the sophistication of Sonny Rollins.

“Alliance” cuts across in post-modern fashion. Apart from anything else, Weiss introduces the proceedings, and his work is subsequently consolidated with a motivic, wildly loping bass line full of funk. In the background, Mitchell is on the loose, while Irabagon, making a delayed entrance, expands the motif at the base during his powered flight. In the third part of the song, the group installs a pulsating Latin feel, escalating into a spirituality that recalls Pharoah Sanders.

The bandleader launches “Hoodootoo” unaccompanied, moderately growling with expression and extracting focused pitches from his horn. Intervallic mosaics stimulate the group, here turned into a quintet due to the responsively rowdy presence and progressive vision of guest guitarist Miles Okazaki. Amping the energy to new heights via stitching wha-wha fabrics, the latter also plays on “Rising Sun”, a nearly hallucinogenic trip set in motion with rapturous free-funk liberties.

Trumpeter Adam O’Farrill builds a formidable frontline coalition with Irabagon on two numbers: the cool but heavy in pace “Mammoth”, which is initially peppered by the saxophonist with inside/outside agility, metric balance and soulful posture; and the closing “Needles”, where the dance continues with Weiss momentarily on the spotlight.

Abounding in freshness, this is a pure saxophone treat that shows why Irabagon is one of the most foremost saxophonists of our times.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Sundance ► 05 - Mammoth ► 06 - Rising Sun

Flash Reviews - I Don't Hear Nothin But the Blues / Tiffany Goode / Russell Fortunato Project

December 3, 2020

IRABAGON’S I DON’T HEAR NOTHIN’ BUT THE BLUES VOL. 3 (Irabbagast, 2020)

Personnel - Jon Irabagon: tenor saxophone; Mick Barr: guitar; Ava Mendoza: guitar; Mike Pride: drums.

The project I Didn’t Hear Nothing But the Blues, originally conceived as a duo by saxophonist Jon Irabagon and drummer Mike Pride, was progressively extended to trio and quartet formats on their subsequent editions. The third volume - Anatomical Snuffbox - features the twosome alongside boisterous guitarists Ava Mendoza and Mick Barr for a cathartic sonic mayhem that might sound atrocious for a day of headache, but liberating when you’re in those energy-bursting states that make you feel alive. Dedicated to Dutch bandleader Willem Breuker, this is a wild, unstoppable, 47-minute stretch of hyperactive activities walled in by a headstrong noisy envelope. In the course of swaggering cadences and circular trajectories of free improv, we hear the insurgent slaps, pops and howls poured out of Irabagon’s tenor, as well as Pride’s thumping percussion in prevalent disarray. The guitarists, while advocating a deliberate disharmony, help keeping the music on the edge. You can test your limits of noise endurance with this unrestrained extravagance meant for unshakable free jazzers. [B]

TIFFANY GOODE - TODAY WAS A GOODE DAY (Self released, 2020)

Personnel - Tiffany Goode: trumpet; Planet Vness: keys.

This record sonically depicts a day in the life of Richmond-born, Atlanta-based trumpeter/composer Tiffany Goode. With the jazz at the center, Ms. Goode invites us to other territories she explores with effortless spontaneity such as hip-hop, smooth funk and R&B. Whereas “Goode Morning” works as a motivator, offering layers of trumpet over a snare-driven rhythm, “Catch the Sun” has a nice, breezy flow with relaxing trumpet melodies crossing the harmonic roads paved by synth-generated wah-wah and percussion. The tune is about catching dreams. Both “Forward Movement” and “Movement One” feature Atlanta keyboardist Planet Vness, with the former piece flowing in three, and the latter inviting us to a chilled out yet confident atmosphere. It’s simple cool jazz washed by calm sonic waves. Far more produced are the hip-hop numbers, “Do It For a Dollar” and “Song 4 Jon”, where deep, booming beats mix with sedative, trance-like jazz lines. The title track also brings some glee to the table with a dash of funk. Although combining different styles and moods, the connection between the concise songs is evident. [B]

THE RUSSELL FORTUNATO PROJECT - 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY (Self released, 2020)

Personnel - John Aruda: saxophone, ocarina, flutes, voice; Christophe Bilodeau: piano, flute, voice, percussion; Russell Fortunato: bass, voice; Michael Aiello: drums, percussion; Chris Anzalone: percussion, penny whistle.

The Boston project led by bassist Russell Fortunato celebrates 25 years with a record where they fluctuate between sound worlds and explore their edges.
Fortunato’s “Resting For Wrens” boasts a propulsive, epic theme later transfigured into a smoothly swinging tapestry for the saxophone solo. Aruda intertwines hard-bop and post-bop vocabularies with pragmatism, and there’s also a persuasive piano discourse as well. Substantiating this uncompromising post-bop affinity with some crossover appeal, Bilodeau’s “The Beginning and the End” flows at a 3/4 tempo, while the collective improvisations “Tale of Gwoh” and “Lost in Tibet” get closer to the percussive avant-garde craft of The Art Ensemble of Chicago. The former piece is populated by flutes and extricate bass lines; the latter, by a mysterious droning eloquence and vocals.
The grey atmosphere of “Lost But Not Forgotten” relies on elegiac melody-laden hooks, displaying a piano stretch over a bass pedal, and a brief dialogue between sax and piano over talkative snare drum routines. By contrast, the hummable “Regression” is based on a cyclic harmonic movement and ends somewhat abruptly with drums. An enjoyable ride. [B+]

Jon Irabagon - Invisible Horizon

October 1, 2019

Label: Irabbagast Records, 2019

Personnel - Jon Irabagon: sopranino; Matt Mitchell: piano + Mivos Quartet: Olivia de Prato: violin; Lauren Cauley Kalal: violin; Victor Lowrie Tafoya: viola; Mariel Roberts: cello.

Invisible Horizon, the 11th album as a leader from Jon Irabagon is not like anything you’ve heard him playing before. The saxophonist, a mastermind of contemporary jazz, has been consistently at the front of the creative pack that populates the current scene, and now presents us one of his boldest releases, a two-CD set split between a six-movement suite for piano and string quartet (bookended by two pieces for strings and sopranino) and an incredible solo mezzo soprano session recorded at the Emanuel Vigelund Mausoleum in Oslo.

On the first album, Invisible Guests, Irabagon is showcased with the Mivos Quartet and the sought-after pianist Matt Mitchell. The powerful ensemble is assigned with the complex task of executing rarely heard arrangements. The disc opens and closes with two vignettes for mouthpieceless sopranino and string quartet where the bandleader takes his instrument to extremes, pulling out a panoply of odd sounds through extended techniques and exploring pitch gradation with ferocity and virtue. The synchronism with the strings is phenomenal and the final rasping resonances help to create an impactful cinematic impression that is worthy of a horror film, whether classic or not.

Operating under strong classical and avant-garde spells, the suite feels like a mordant chamber essay with each dynamic movement incorporating several other movements inside. Matt Mitchell’s miraculous pianism works like magic within the aesthetic as he embarks on disconcerting, punchy, and often dancing motions set against the scintillating string charts. His introductory segment on the “Movement 2: Heaven’s Blessing” is beautiful, and the quintet gives it a logic sequence through stunning counterpoint, impenetrable textures with variable concentrations of sound, and animated sections with discernible rhythmic sequences.

Upon probing intensities with spirit and poise, “Movement 4: Red Four” gently embraces Argentine tango with an elegance that is also partly found on “Movement 6: The Dreamer”, which encloses both seriously deep and light, fluid passages.

Disc two, Dark Horizon: Live From the Mausoleum, features Irabagon alone on the Conn mezzo soprano saxophone. The production of this instrument only lasted for one year and a half in the late 20s. The conspicuous reverb effect is naturally created by the aforementioned mausoleum where the album was recorded, and the sound produced never ceases to amaze.

“Dark Horizon (entrance)” is an incantatory marvel that inundates the place with a mix of calm introspection and ardent spirituality. Its tones nothing have to do with pieces like “Forest & Field” and “Eternal Rest”, shapeless abstractions subjected to eerie contortions, or even “Half a World Away”, a chilly messenger of piercing, honking, and buzzing reverberations.

“Dragonwort” opts for some Celtic emphasis during the circular breathing; “Holy Smoke” lives from the vivid articulacy and extended techniques subjected to a riff; and Leroy Shield’s “Good Old Days”, the theme song from The Little Rascals and the sole non-original to be included, is creatively taken to another dimension.

Anything but conventional, Invisible Horizon is never short of ideas and leaves a lasting impression, reaffirming Irabagon as a visionary composer and one of the most influential musicians of our times.

Favorite Tracks:
03 (CD1) - Heaven’s Blessing ► 04 (CD1) - Red Four ► 01 (CD2) - Dark Horizon (entrance)

Jon Irabagon Quartet + Tim Hagans - Dr. Quixotic's Traveling Exotics

May 7, 2018

Label: Irabbagast Records, 2018

Personnel – Jon Irabagon: tenor saxophone; Tim Hagans: trumpet; Luis Perdomo: piano; Yasushi Nakamura: double bass; Rudy Royston: drums.

Searchers and enthusiasts of contemporary jazz will probably agree with me about the works of saxophonist Jon Irabagon being a must-listen. Let me add that his explosive new album of originals, Dr. Quixotic’s Traveling Exotics, is one of his very best. Portentous trumpeter Tim Hagans was invited to join the saxophonist’s sonically-solid quartet, which includes musicians of the highest caliber such as pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Rudy Royston. This multi-cultured, multi-perspective collective engenders giddy dynamics with the same impact they craft inventive improvisations.

“The Demon Barber of Fleet Week” kicks off with the bandleader on his own, excavating ideas from the resourceful language he has been developed throughout the years. Trenchant rock strokes lead to an effusive bass solo over a smooth funk-inflected vamp prior to accelerated circular harmonic movements swoop down on a hyperkinetic articulation of bass and drums. The occasion serves to uphold Perdomo’s fast and thunderous flurries. The earliest rock frame of mind is then regained, time when Irabagon exerts his authority on tenor.

“Emotional Psychics/The Things” invites us to another tour-de-force locomotion that rocks and swings aplomb. The well-defined structure includes concurrent logics that take into account catchy ostinatos, free rambles, galloping counterpoint, and mutable intensities and paces. Followed closely by Hagans, the saxophonist shows determination and resolve in his rhythmic ideas and melodic paths. This piece guarantees such a fun ride, swamping us in its lively extravagance.

With a natural predisposition to diversify paces and textures, the quintet digs “You Own Your Own”, a fantastic integration of written score and improvised material. A revolutionary hip-hop rhythm, sturdy bass strolls, and punchy Coltranean lines, whether delivered in unison or counterpoint, join the introductory piano with avidness. While exchanging sparkling phrases with grip and receptiveness, Hagans and Irabagon bring the house down with their vertiginous eloquence.

Carrying something gypsy or Spanish, and at the same time mixing elements of avant-garde and post-bop, “The Bo’Ness Monster” highlights not only the expeditious rides of the horn section, packed with fiery and indomitable energy, but also the remarkable piano work by Perdomo, whose melodicism gravitates between Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. His improvisation comes suffused with delightful angularities that make us beg for more.

The group eases the rampant impetuosity with “Pretty Like North Dakota”, an emotionally driven piece that starts circumspectly and ends boldly, culminating the session with a sonic description of the “Taipei Personality”. Expect percolating rhythms and syncopation, variations in motion, tight interplay, and vibrant solos.

Nothing in this music is pointless or forced, in the same way that everything is tangible, honest and risk-taking. Irabagon shows off brilliant compositional skills and a personal tenor conception that elevates him to a superior level.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - The Demon Barber of Fleet Week ► 02 - Emotional Psychics/The Things ► 04 - The Bo’Ness Monster