Arts & Sciences: New You

Arts & Sciences (quartet)

New You (Singlespeed; 2012)

Jordan Glenn (drums)

Jacob Zimmerman (sax)

Michael Coleman (fender rhodes)

Matt Nelson (sax)

The American west coast continues to bubble with urgency, at least on the improvised front, so we turn to Oakland, CA and the dynamic talents of a new quartet, Arts & Sciences. On their second release, New You, released on Aram Shelton's Singlespeed Music (he also plays on one track), this quartet show that they have a lot of improvisational ideas that can fight with the best of the New York and Chicago scenes.

"Baby Boner" slowly rises with delicately paced improvised notes, then folds into a high octane, pulse-pounding collision of sound. It felt like a segment of Miles Davis' Agharta. Dueling tenor and alto saxophones cause a cacophony in the middle section which sound beautiful smashed against Coleman's keys and Glenn's unyielding kit. The quartet later come down gently in a psychedelic interlude of squeals on the rhodes and tiny percussion tones that give off a Steve Reich ambiance. 

The band site Tim Berne is an influence. It can be heard and felt in throughout but that's just the building blocks. Nelson and Zimmerman take that influence and turn it into their own fun, free floating  nihilistic structure. "Scram" illustrates this with a number of challenging expositions and exchanges between the horn section and clashing notes from Coleman and Glenn. The rhythm is easy to pick up but you'll probably be more entranced by how much fun they're having with this piece...brilliant!

"Scientology" is wonderful ensemble piece featuring Aram Shelton on clarinet, Rob Ewing (trombone), Theo Padouvas (trumpet) and Andrew Conklin (guitar). It's almost an improvised balled with echoes of Joe Zawinul sprinkled about. Pleasant yet strikingly bold. It's an expansive piece that allows the musicians a lot of freedom while maintaining a real clear direction.

Arts & Sciences did a brief tour last month; hopefully they'll be able to add some more dates soon. They are band that is worth every effort to see. New You not is a signal that more beautiful sounds keep coming from the west--its also an album deserving of much wider attention here and abroad. Highly Recommended!

Niski Szum: Songs From The Woods

Niski Szum (guitar)

Songs From The Woods (Audio Tong; 2011)

I'm actually more familiar with Polish electronic/guitarist, Marcin Dymiter's work with Arszyn than his solo material. But upon listening to his most recent release, Songs From The Woods, I have a lot of catching up to do. This is a brilliant work of sonic sculpture that at times is cold and dreamy yet romantic and spacious. It reminded me of Sonic Boom (ex-Spacemen 3). And that's impressive!

"Blues From The Green Hills" rides along like an American western. A bluesy theme accompanied by electronic manipulations/reverb provides for surrealistic journey into Dymiter new soundscape.

"The Woods Parts I-II" are Dymiter emitting a lush ambient tone that is reflective as it is cold. The piece is based on Robert Frost poem Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening with Dymiter utilizing soft well masked vocals. It's passages provide a somber level of comfort and move the listen into dark territory--but you will actually like going there.

The highlight piece is "The River," a long dense droning number, with chords that eventually envelope you like a cocoon. Dymiter's use of guitars and electronics manifold into a swirling hypnotic blur as you enter the middle section of the piece. But somehow he pulls through to the other side with grace and beauty. It's that night you look up into the sky and everything seems almost perfect (for awhile) and then you brought  back to earth.

Songs From The Woods is a nice discovery and well balanced mixture of electronics, blues, folk and minimalism. So if you enjoy your music with touch of adventure and solitude, you would be well served by checking out Marcin Dymiter.

Esbjorn Svensson Trio: 301

Esbjorn Svensson Trio

301 (ACT Music; 2012)

Esbjorn Svensson (piano)

Dan Berglund (bass)

Magnus Ostrom (drums)

E.S.T. are perennial favourites in the JazzWrap office. So when word came at the beginning of the year that new studio material was on the way, I was stoked with excitement.

The Swedish trio has been in the forefront of the European jazz scene for well over a decade. The tragic passing of founding member, Esbjorn Svensson, signaled the end of one of the best trios Europe has produced in a very long time. But the final music from the session that produced Leucocyte in 2009, also included material that shows how far the trio had come and where they were about to go. It's also a statement of how important they have become.

That session is now released under the title 301, after the studio for which it was recorded. Like it's predecessor, 301 is intensely dark and experimental. The opening track "Behind The Stars" is a solo piece driven by Svensson's steady tone that always had an element of Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett. A rich modular number that rises and descends with elegance. This is reminiscent of the group's earlier work--quiet like a chamber trio.

"Behind The Stars" transitions beautifully into seismic harmonic structures of "Inner City, City Lights." A slow moving ballad that catches Berglunds haunting basslines sounding like Mick Karn (maybe a stretch, but you know what I mean). A droning synth line hovers above Svensson's notes adding the cold electronic ambiance that E.S.T. had been researching on their previous efforts to this point. It's tantalizing and brooding but somehow still bursting with sublime vitality.

The epic, "Three Falling Free I-II" exhibits a Debussy calm and mastery. A romantic ballad that circles along the calculating notes of Berglund and Svensson. The elegance of Part I gives way to the fury of Ostrom's rhythmic patterns that roll independently and create the basis of freedom and experimentation for the second movement. Ostrom leds the trio through a more aggressive, almost rock orientated workout. The group are continually pushing themselves. "Three Falling Free" is one of those pieces that probably would have made the live audience go nuts. Amazing.

The gospel tinged "The Childhood Dream" closes out 301 on a supreme note. It's blossoming with charm, soul and a well balanced sense realism. A mirror to ones on reality.

As a document of one moment in time, 301 stands alone from its parent, Leucocyte. A darker album with mixtures of E.S.T.'s past, present and future. This may have been the last statement but it is by no means studio outtakes. It is also a declaration of how important this Esbjorn Svensson, Dan Berglund and Magnus Ostrom have been to the entire jazz scene over the last decade. Highly Recommended.

Rodrigo Amado: Burning Live At Jazz Ao Centro

Rodrigo Amado (sax)

Burning Live At Jazz Ao Centro (JACC Records; 2012)

Jeb Bishop (trombone)

Miguel Mira (cello)

Gabriel Ferrandini (drums)

A brief set but long in the compositional sense, Burning Live At Jazz Ao Centro, sees Rodrigo Amado in blistering form. This is a fierce recording of a live event that was probably exciting and very intense on concentration.

This group consists of Amado's Motion Trio augmented by trombonist Jeb Bishop (known not only for his own groups as well as his work with Ken Vandermark). For this live evening, Bishop provides strong, bold muscular lines that challenge the rest of the trio. "Burning Live" is just as it says--a fiery opener that later rounds into a rhythmic pattern that hovers almost blues-like thanks to Bishop. Ferrandini adds the abstract passages against Bishop's notes as both Amado and Mira quietly begin to re-emerge and set the piece aflame again. The quartet finally comes resting with calm clashes but still a heavy spirit.

"Imaginary Caverns" moves like a ballad but with the philosophy of free association. Quiet motifs soon rise and fall with Amado and Ferrandini's perspective on the harmonics. Midway through Amado's tone becomes a scorching mixture of Ornette Coleman/Albert Ayler. It's intense and beautiful but not for every ear. Bishop, Mira and Ferrandini beam with solid atonal exchanges that drain you until just the right moment when Amado returns to add some toppling hues to the closing bars.

Rounding out the evening is "Red Halo," led by Mira sounding fully focused and moving the group in a calm fashion toward the inevitable wall of sound. Mira's pace quickens while Amado and Bishop's dialogue starts to sound like one instrument. The quartet finally roll into one another in the final moments bringing an intense jubilant session to its logical yet bewitching end.

Truly, an absorbing performance and another very creative outing for Rodrigo Amado. There are only a handful of saxophonists on the European scene today that are as acute and descriptive as Amado. Burning Live At Jazz Ao Centro is a perfect example as to why. This same group will also have a new studio album out on Not Two later this year.