David Torn: The Guitar And What's Next

David Torn (guitar, electronics; 1953)

New Yorker David Torn, not unlike Mark Isham, is a jazz musician with uncategorizable talents. He has worked on both jazz, world, rock and film and tv projects consistently throughout his career. His career includes studying under John Abercrombe and Leonard Bernstein. He does have a very deep catalog but unfortunately only a few albums are available. He received significant recognition for his work on the Everyman Band albums during the 80s. The albums that are available are truly phenomenal and worth the purchase, especially if you are a fan of Brian Eno, King Crimson, David Sylvian, Supersilent, et al.

David Torn's style is layered and tempered with ambient elements similar to Nils Petter Molvaer or Michael Brook. His style is subtle and sublime with beautiful combinations of the avant garde, mysticism and traditional jazz. Torn can turn the guitar into a dangerous instrument with elements of prog as highlighted from his latest album Perezens (ECM) with the titled track and its preceding track, "Bulbs". His music can be unsettling to the uninitiated but if you are already used to some of the aforementioned artists and you haven't listened to David Torn yet, Perezens is definitely the place to start.

He has recorded three albums for his current label ECM and Prezens is by far the most realized of the three. There is wonderful work from the rest of the band consisting of New York regulars, Tom Rainey (drums), Craig Taborn (piano) and Tim Berne (sax). The album provides a funky turn of sorts with "Them Buried Standing" which I've always loved. This is usually the point at which if you haven't lost the uninitiated, they might start to enjoy the album. If not, trust me they never will.

Perezens is an album of lovely textual soundscapes and loud cacophonous minimalism. If you dig this, his previous ECM album Cloud About Mercury and Best Laid Plans are well worth seeking out. There is a compilation of his earlier work pre-ECM (both solo and as session member) entitled The David Torn Collection which is good but not very well sequenced. It does show the range and variety of artists and styles he has worked in but I would stick to the ECM recordings for best enjoyment.

Five Corners Quintet: Looking At A New Century

The Five Corners Quintet
(group; formed 2005)

Five Corners Quintet hail from Helsinki, Finland. Many of the members were originally with the short-lived collective, Nuspirit Helsinki, an electronica outfit that used jazz as a small jumping off point. The Five Corners Quintet flips the script by utilizing those jazz elements to create something that pays homage yet is fresh for a new decade.

They have also collaborated with one of the greatest living jazz vocalists, Mark Murphy on both of their albums, Chasin' The Jazz Gone By (Ricky Tick Records) and Hot Corner (Ricky Tick Records), which shows they did their homework. Both albums employ a hard bop approach with splendid musicianship (especially on the vibraphone and horn sections).

Chasin' The Jazz Gone By really is superb. A collection of new beats, hard bop and hip-shakin' grooves that not only are perfect for the party atmosphere but will also compliment your evening alone with a nice glass of Merlot. The tracks with Mark Murphy ("Start Of Something", " Before We Say Goodbye","Jamming") are excellent showcases for both the band and the legendary vocalist. But don't let those tracks fool you. You need to check out "Devil Kicks" and "Straight Up" as case studies in how European bands are absorbing American influences and turning it into something unique and highly interesting.

On first listen to their debut I thought they would be a one album wonder. Then I picked up the second and was genuinely floored by the fact that Five Corners Quintet actually mean business and this may be a band that will be around for awhile. Hot Corner is an uptempo floor-burning album with more emphasis on melodies and instrumentation than the added use of electronics. The barn-burning '"Hot Rod" opens the proceedings and set the stage for what will be an exciting ride for the next 45 minutes. Mellow groove of "Midnight In Trieste" and "Waltz Up" for me shows some lessons learned from Lee Morgan and Sonny Clark. Again Mark Murphy joins in on the funky, latin-tinged "Kerouac Days In Montana" with great effect. A whole album of Mark Murphy backed by Five Corners would awesome. The other vocalist on Hot Corner is named Oku and she provides an additional soulfulness on the lovely "Rich In Time". The album stays funky and contemporary on the outro with "Habib's Habit" with some wonderful trumpet playing from founding member, Jukka Eskola.

Both Chasin' The Jazz Gone By and Hot Corner are pretty easy to find in most stores and are definitely available online. While I don't think The Five Corners Quintet will change the face of jazz, I do think they will give a reason to listening over and over and over. Great stuff from a band born out of electronica and finally finding its feet in the tradition in jazz. If you looking for something fresh with a graceful nod to the past, The Five Corners Quintet is a good place to start.

The Intersection: Parov Stelar

The Intersection is an occasional feature on JazzWrap that looks at artists that blend jazz with electronica (a tradition pioneered by none other than Miles Davis on such classic recordings as On The Corner).
This week's focus is Parov Stelar

Close your eyes and listen to the music of Parov Stelar, Austrian DJ, producer and head of Etage Noir Recordings, and you can easily picture yourself sitting in some posh boutique hotel lounge, sipping a pomegranate martini and thinking about that hottie you met at the club the night before. You invited him/her to join you here in the lounge this evening. Will (s)he come? Who cares... as long as you can groove to Parov's stellar blend of jazz- and swing-spiked house and breakbeat grooves.

Parov has four full-length albums (not to mention a "best of") and many EP's and singles. The most recent album is Coco, which continues to mine catchy samples from obscurity and revitalize them with modern beats and grooves.

JazzWrap caught up with Parov via email this week to find out why his grooves swing.

How did you get hooked on using jazz/swing samples?

Because the recordings from that time sound so great! You can feel the groove, and the mood is like nothing else in today's recordings. You can´t simulate it with a plug-in.

How do you select the samples?

Sometimes it feels like the samples actually select me : ) It´s not always so easy; you might already have the groove, but no sample fits. It´s a bit like picking up a woman in a bar -- it depends on whether the right one is there and wants you too.

Why jazz/swing and not something else (soundtracks, soul, rock)?

It´s more about the sound than about the genre. Not surprisingly, I love to listen to jazz, but not exclusively.

Who are your favorite classic musicians?

Well, it´s obvious, I think some musicians influence me so much that you can hear it in my music -- not always just with the sound, but with their attitude or with the mood of their work. I think Art Blakey is a great example.

Who are your favorite contemporary acts?

There are so many, but right now you can find a lot of tracks by Riva Starr in my playlist.

What makes your latest album Coco your best album so far?

Coco is a mixture of all stylistic elements I´ve been using so far. A special kind of work exhibition (as there are not old but new works), and a collage of the different moods of my soul. It sums up the whole "Parov Stelar" vibe but also leaves enough perspective for upcoming things.

What's next for Parov Stelar?

I am working on a new EP which will be released in may. And, together with the A.G. Trio, I´m working on revitalising Etage Noir Special, the electro sublabel of my label Etage Noir. Also, in the next months, there will also be a lot of concerts and DJ-sets.

Kenny Garrett: Bebop Into The Future

Kenny Garrett (sax; b. 1960)

Detroit born Kenny Garrett learned a lot as one of Miles Davis' session and touring band members during Miles' final years (1987 - 1991). He has also played with Woody Shaw (a major influence), Freddie Hubbard, Geri Allen and Art Blakey to name a few. His style has always been compared to Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt and definitely John Coltrane. But while the influences are there, Kenny Garrett has managed to create his own path and voice over the course of 15 albums. Garrett has shown himself to not only be a solid performer but a versatile one as well. He incorporates raw soulful grooves into his repertoire regularly, which makes many of his albums quite adventurous as well as refreshing.

There is a very solid block ('92 - '96) in which Garrett was prolific, thought-provoking and in clear grasp of his what he wanted to deliver to the public. For anyone, the albums Black Hope, Threshold, Triology and Pursuance (all on Warner Brothers) are all worth seeking out. For me these are 4 star albums of the highest order.

My personal favourite, Triology (Warner Brothers, 1995) is a fantastic record performed by a young artist that showed a myriad of ideas. The strength of his performance as well as his trio featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Charnett Moffett (bass), & Brian Blade (drums) made Triology a worn out CD in my house for almost two years. The album included a nice mixture of standards and originals, all played with fresh verve and distinctive virtuosity. Standards like "Night And Day" & "Giant Steps" glide well against Garrett's own "Wayne's Thang" and "Oriental Towaway Zone" with true honour and respect to the foundations of jazz. The main thing for me has always been that some of the standards are very challenging to perform as a trio (without piano or trumpet) especially Coltrane's "Giant Steps," and towards the end of the album Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way," but Garrett's trio pull this off with great ease and beauty.

Triology, among the aforementioned albums, is perfect for any music lover (jazz fan or not). Hope you dig them.