Travis Reuter: Sound And Vision

Travis Reuter (guitar, electronics)

Rotational Templates (New Focus Recordings)

Jeremy Viner (sax)

Bobby Avey (fender rhodes)
Chris Tordini (bass)
Jason Nazary (drums)

Rotational Templates is a record that could disrupt the order of things in 2011. Travis Reuter, a classically trained guitarist but you wouldn't be able to tell by this dazzling and inventive array of tracks   that his group have assembled.

Travis Reuter delivers a some great compositional structure and improvisation mixed with the sheer joy of exploring different sound worlds throughout this debut. In Rotational Templates you can hear echoes of fusion and experimentalist greats like Miles, John McLaughlin and Derek Bailey. On the opener, "Vacancy At 29", Reuter allows the group (especially Chris Tordini's funky basslines) to really set the stage as he manipulates the sound around the outside. Reuter has a band that has played together for awhile and appears know each other's next move. Bobby Avey adds the '70s ethereal element with some superb work on the Fender Rhodes. Reuter rises up in decibel and displays some very complex harmonic structures that are rich, dense and mesmerizing.

"Residency At 20 (Parts 1 and 2)" show two distinct sides of Reuter's compositional thinking. Part 1 focuses more on deep exchanges between Avey and Reuter. They have a real connection of investigation rhythmic patterns and sound that gives "Residency At 20" a Bitches Brew feel to it (e.g. "John McLaughlin"). Part 2 is more of a group effort with Viner really coming to the forefront. There's a lot of improvising happening but it remains in a well placed groove that is impressive and fast paced. "Flux Derivatives" starts in a multi-layered pattern and slowly moves into more midtempo structure all the while seeing Viner and Avey laying down some intricate almost psychedelic beats.

Rotational Templates (listen to tracks from the album) is a remarkable and rewarding debut from a talent young guitarist and composer thinking well outside the box. Like Mary Halvorson, Travis Reuter is definitely an artist you should be looking out for in 2011.


Travis Reuter delivers soundscapes, experimentation and a vision that is equally challenging as it is exciting to experience. This is definitely part of our top albums of the year for sure. Highly Recommended!

JazzWrap caught up with Travis Reuter recently to ask a few questions.

While your background is both jazz and classical, there seem to be elements of minimalism and experimental rock simmering just underneath. Is this something you wanted to add to the recording?

I can’t really think of any minimalist or experimental rock musicians that I am directly influenced by. I do love effects pedals and sound manipulation, though, and I enjoy experimenting and finding new ways to incorporate noise and signal processing into my playing and writing.

Were there artists or albums that inspired you on the more experimental/improvisational side?

Evan Parker’s Six of One, The Derek Bailey/Evan Parker duo album Arch Duo, Tyshawn Sorey, Tim Berne and his groups, Anthony Braxton and Andrew Cyrille’s albums Duo Palindromes vol. 1 and vol. 2, Little Women’s album Throat.

We are big fans of Bobby Avey's work. Have you worked with him for a long time? What effect did he and the rest of the band add to Rotational Templates?

I have played with Bobby since 2008; we have played a lot together, and he has played with my band since 2009, when it was in its earliest formation. I played a gig with his group last year that was challenging and very musically rewarding. He also uses Chris Tordini and Jeremy Viner in his group from time to time, so there is some group chemistry on the album. I really respect his playing and writing, and I can trust him with any musical decisions he makes while playing my music. He has his own harmonic and rhythmic approach, and really adds a lot to any playing situation he is in.

The compositional and improvisational structure of the album seems to be a group effort. How would you describe the writing process?

With each piece I try to experiment with a new concept that focuses on form and rhythm. I feel that this is most obvious in Singular Arrays (track 3). In Singular Arrays, the first half of the piece, up until the drum solo, is an exploration of the balance and relationship between post-tonal theory and tonality over a form that is in a perpetual state of transformation. In the opening section of the piece, the written material switches back and forth from tone rows to tonal centers, while containing an immense amount of rhythmic counterpoint. After the drum solo, I wanted the piece to have a solo section, for the piano, that contained notated material for the bass and tenor sax, so that they would be aiding in both the development of the composition and the improvised solo, and from this, there is an established continuity between the written material and the improvisation. The piece ends with a re-capitulation of the drum solo section for a guitar solo. By reworking an already introduced form this way, I am seeking to give the compositional arc of the piece an evolutionary character.

Have you been listening to or reading anything that is pushing your creativity forward?

The Peter Evans quartet cd Live in Lisbon, and the Evan Parker cd Scenes in the House of Music. Last week I saw Fieldwork play at the Jazz Gallery, and the week before I saw the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) play the music of Mario Davidovsky at Miller Theater. I am trying to check out as much live music as possible right now. In addition, I am always revisiting old cds that to me are constant sources of inspiration. These include: Steve Lehman’s Demian as Posthuman and On Meaning, Vijay Iyer’s Blood Sutra, Ben Monder’s Excavation, and many others.

Matana Roberts

Matana Roberts (sax)
Live In London (Central Control)

Robert Mitchell (piano)

Tom Mason (bass)

Chris Vatalaro (drums)

I first came across, Chicago native (now full blooded New Yorker), Matana Roberts last year at a duo concert with Vijay Iyer. I was blown away and I've been waiting for new material ever since.

Live In London (Central Control) is a work of compositional beauty. The album was culled together from performances at London's Vortex club. Roberts has surrounded herself with some great UK talent in Robert Mitchell, Tom Mason and Chris Vatalaro. This is group was put together specifically for this show but it feels like they have played together for years. The interaction between Roberts and Mitchell is truly astounding.

Live In London opens with a epic piece (in length), "My Sistr", a very dark and melodic piece originally written by "alternative folk" artist, Frankie Sparo (real name: Chad Jones). This version that demonstrates Matana Roberts as an artist that is constantly searching, improvising and improving with every note. It's a piece that travels a long way and is experimented with all along the journey. The original version carried an almost "My Funny Valentine" feel (if it were sung by Nick Cave). Roberts explores this beautiful through an emotional and inventive interaction with Mitchell and Mason. Mason sounds as if his bass is carrying the vocal parts while Roberts and Mitchell explore boundaries.

While earlier albums and sessions may have shown signs influences of Albert Ayler, Fred Anderson, Anthony Braxton and even John Coltrane, Matana has been working hard on her craft in the last few years. Live In London really shows sign of her underground voice burst upwards and becoming a real beacon to a new audience.

"Pieces Of We" sees Roberts in full command. It's a track that opens fluidly with Roberts and Mitchell playing off each other beautifully. As the piece moves forward the tonality levels to an almost structural groove with some nimble movements from Mason. "Turn It Around" is an absorbing track with a mixture of blues, gospel and improvisation swirling throughout. Midway through Matana switches gears and it becomes an exploration of sound as she maneuvers through various phrasings.

"Glass", for me, has shades of Ornette Coleman, but you can also hear Roberts exploring different themes all in the span of this 13 minute piece which goes by surprisingly quick. The album closes with "Exchange", a track from Matana's previous album, The Chicago Project. This version is drastically different from the more guitar-centric opener of The Chicago Project. Here we get a more measured and soulful aspect in its live incarnation. It has a wonderful balladry vibe to it and becomes a relaxing mood setter after a well traveled journey.

Live In London delivers a very different vibe than its predecessor due to the accompanying musicians. While the tracks are different, the influence of Chicago and London also provide a very interesting contrast that makes listening to both records a must. Matana Roberts has grown and expanded her compositional skills and musicianship in the few short years since The Chicago Project.


In May, Matana Roberts will release an ambitious cultural project, Coin Coin, which she has been working on for an extended period of time. Coin Coin should solidify her as one of the most promising new musicians on the scene. She continues to develop a unique voice that is resonating across both sides of the Atlantic. Matana Roberts should not be a considered an underground secret anymore. This is an artist who is determined to pushed jazz forward. It may tough listen for some of you but trust me, you will be happier for it.

Ernest Dawkins: Why Chicago Is Important

Ernest Dawkins (sax; b. 1953)
The Prairie Prophet (Delmark Records; 2011)

Marquis Hill, Shaun Johnson (trumpet)

Junius Paul (bass)

Isaiah Spencer (drums)

Steve Berry (trombone)

Jeff Parker (guitar)

(Photo: John Broughton)

Ernest Dawkins has been a stalwart of the Chicago jazz scene for over four decades. He is the Chairman of the influential Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM), which was as founded by follow sax legend, the late, Fred Anderson. Dawkins has built a solid reputation on his keen ability to blend both post bop and free jazz into something that is both accessible and adventurous all in one listen.

Ernest Dawkins expansive group, The New Horizon Ensemble shares slight similarities to follow Chicago avant-protagonist, The Art Ensemble Of Chicago. They both share unique ability to shift gears at will within a piece. While startling on first listen it becomes more clear and exciting upon the second spin. Moments of spirituality and personal empowerment bubble to the top in many of his recordings. All these aspects are on show on his new release, The Prairie Prophet.

The Prairie Prophet is dedicated to his friend, Fred Anderson and his much beloved venue, The Velvet Lounge in Chicago. The club was a bastion for free improvisation and thinking. The album opens on a gospel-tinged but political note with "Hymn To A Hip King" which is both a subtle tribute to Anderson but more a statement of great African American leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. The piece opens like a Sunday morning roll call all the while holding on to some beautiful post bop sensibilities. The performance from both Dawkins, Hill, Parker and Johnson are real emotional standouts--bristling with energy and joy.

"Sketches" delivers on that AACM heritage with uptempo rhythms and time changes and some fierce playing by Dawkins and Spencer. "Sketches" is a great example of Dawkins philosophy of playing what some may call "inside/outside"--the ability to play both accessible language built on an avant garde theme (or vice versa). "Mesopotamia" written by Steve Berry is a lovely, meditative piece that explores the range of the entire ensemble. It's a ballad with a great deal of depth and range. Berry and Spencer take the lead in the beginning with great solo work. Parker joins in later with an effective and resonant performance. Dawkins closes out the piece with a gentle and impressionist display.

The closing number "Baghdad Boogie" is a whimsical yet jumpin' number that also serves as political statement on the horror in Iraq. The ensemble displays a real craft for melodic movements within solid, bold statements. The chants, vocals and force of Dawkins sax and the intricacy of Parker, Paul here delivers a real impact for me. There have been very few musical statements in jazz about the war. "Baghdad Boogie" hearkens back to the Black Power Movement of the late '60s and '70s and the Vietnam War. A great close statement. 

The Prairie Prophet is yet another stellar and importnat document from the Chicago scene that blends the old and new guard thoughts with ease. Ernest Dawkins keeps the flame and philosophy of AACM, AEC and Fred Anderson alive with another powerful performance that while it might be label as free jazz is still thought-provoking and listenable by any music fan. Highly Recommend.

Rez Abbasi

Rez Abbasi (guitars)
Natural Selection (Sunnyside Records)

Bill Ware (vibes)

Eric McPherson (drums)

Stephan Crump (bass)

Rez Abbasi has been layering his multi-cultural rhythms on the scene for almost 20 years. I really only knew about him in name. I had seen his name in live listings but never really ventured out to check him out. This past week I was surprised when a friend gave me a copy of his latest album, Natural Selection (Sunnyside Records).

Abbasi is originally from Pakistan but has been in the US for most of his life. He has studied and played with a variety of genre bending musicians including, Greg Osby, Rudresh Manhanthappa, Kadhri Gopalnath, Tony Malaby and Marilyn Crispell to just name a small few. Rez Abbasi like Manhanthappa and Gopalnath, has seamlessly blended his Eastern heritage into his Western learning and it is perfectly done on Natural Selection. It is a straight ahead jazz album but you get his life experience as the foundation throughout the session.

Natural Selection gets started with a cover of one of my favourite artists of all time, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan 's "Lament". This caught me completely off guard because I didn't really look at the track listing before I put the CD on. And I knew within seconds who he was covering and my head went spinning. So now that he's caught my attention... "Lament" is a somber tune and driven by what in this case would be usual instruments from the traditional Pakistani style--guitar, vibes, drums and bass--this turns out be a beautiful swirling opener and homage to the legendary voice.

"Pakistani Minor" delivers an almost John Abercrombie-esque quality with some wonderful passages and manipulation. Eric McPherson sounds extremely stunning on drums. In addition, Bill Ware and Stephan Crump hide dreamlike inside the melody making this Abbasi original a real standout. "Up On The Hill," a dedication to the great pianist Andrew Hill, has many of Hill's philosophy built in. There are multi-faceted statements here both large and small. Complex, but a real delicate beauty as played out by Abassi and Ware in unison. One of those foundation points for me was "When Light Falls", a short piece with just Abbasi on guitar, but what you get is that East-West blend from an instrument that is clearly Western in nature. Played with the intimacy and integrity of years of understanding.

"Blu Vindaloo" is an adventurous number which could easily appear on a Jason Adasiewicz album. The performance from Ware sounds almost like a piano at times. Crump and McPherson shine here in slow midtempo blues. "Ain't No Sunshine" (the Bill Wither's classic) closes out the album in a soulful and spiritual way. Abbasi delivers this rendition fairly straight forward and romantically. But it also shows a soft tone and versatility that many current guitarists may not take with number like this. A really superb passage.

For me, Natural Selection was a rich surprise from a unique talent that I probably should have been listening to for awhile. The use of all acoustic instruments and the manner in which each musician tackles the compositions is truly stunning. And at times you really wonder "how'd they do that?" I may be late for the train and some of you might be too--so let's get onboard together. Rez Abbasi has delivered a document of high quality and inventiveness that is well worth your time.