Joe Morris/Nate Wooley Tooth And Nail (Clean Feed; 2010) Joe Morris (acoustic guitar) Nate Wooley (trumpet)
For me Joe Morris is a slightly new discovery. I don't own any of his material as leader. I mainly have a couple of records he's been on with Ken Vandermark--most notably a DKV Trio recording from 1998 entitled Deep Telling (Okkadisk). Nate Wooley, I was aware of through some his work with avant garde drummer Tyshawn Sorey.
So when I found this new duo recording with Nate Wooley, Tooth And Nail (Clean Feed), I decided to give it go. Knowing that Morris is an excellent guitarist and his oblique way of playing was something that I also thought was interesting and inventive; this album is probably going to very excited. And it is.
Tooth And Nail is an improvised and technically brilliant work. There a very sparse passages throughout with Morris delicately picking in far reaching angularity. Nate Wooley's creates some interesting soundscapes that seem like combinations of Arve Henriksen and Enrico Rava. There are some very interesting exchanges on "Gigantica" and "Steelhead" where you can hear the improvised moments but they work in such a timely fashion that it becomes a beautiful melody.
"Noble Reasoning" is another moment in which Wooley and Morris really take off. There is a simpatico that occurs towards the final few minutes of the piece that the notes come rolling fast and furious but its never overbearing or distracting. And it folds perfectly into the next piece "Forest Grove" where Morris' playing feels like cello in hands of an angry child.
The closing number "A Terrific Snag" is another scale jumping moment where Wooley's work really comes to the fore. While Joe Morris sets the parameters, Wooley is exercising some lovely and ingenious phrasing.
One of things that really attracted me to this record was the pairing of guitar (especially acoustic) and trumpet. It's rare. You usually see the regular pairing of drum and sax, sax and piano or sax and sax. Tooth And Nail felt like an anomaly. But its sounds like a well woven piece of art. It's a deep bit of storytelling but I think if you are a fan of Ken Vandermark and the Chicago and New York underground scenes you will definitely find Tooth And Nail a fascinating listen.
Fred Anderson, considered the father of the Chicago Free Jazz Movement, passed away this past Thursday. His influenced could be felt throughout not only Chicago jazz but also European jazz. He was a co-founder of AACM (the Association for the Advancement of Creative Music) in Chicago. Anderson while a late contemporary of fellow saxophone free jazz legends, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp--never really reach to popular heights those artist did. That is until the last decade or so of his life.
I really did start getting into Fred Anderson until 1997 when I picked up a used copy of Fred Anderson and The DKV Trio (Okka Disk). The DKV trio was a side project of Ken Vandermark (sax), Hamid Drake (percussion) and Kent Kessler (bass). It was mesmerizing recording that forced me to seek out more music from Fred Anderson. At the time his material was extremely hard to find. If you were living in Chicago you probably didn't know about Fred Anderson let alone could find a record by him.
Fred Anderson also ran his own jazz club in Chicago called the Velvet Lounge. He recorded a large majority of his latter releases there. And live was probably the best way to hear him. The club was forced to shut down in 2005 but reopen with the help of fellow Chicago jazz musician in a new location and has thrived ever since.
Anderson's playing and vision was direct and powerful. He possessed a full body way of performing that was reminiscent of the aforementioned legends but he too would carve out a distinct path that made each of his record their own. In addition to the DKV Trio, Anderson also worked with Marilyn Crispell (piano), William Parker (bass), Kidd Jordan (sax).
I never got the opportunity to see Fred Anderson perform live. He played the renowned Vision Festival in NYC numerous times. Like an idiot I always felt my favourite artists would live forever, so there would be plenty opportunities to see him. How wrong I was. But Anderson leaves a wealth of music for new fans to dive into. Whether you're into free jazz or not you need to at least experience a Fred Anderson record to understand what a legend he has become and will forever be.
If you decide to pick up any of Fred Anderson's music, I highly recommend you go to order from Downtown Music Gallery (in NYC) or Dusty Groove (in Chicago). They both have the best selection of Fred Anderson material.
My essential Fred Anderson recordings: Dark Day (Atavistic Records reissue from 1979) Fred Anderson/DKV Trio (Okka Disk; 1997) 2 Days In April (Eremite; 1999) Back At The Velvet Lounge (Delmark; 2002) Timeless (Delmark; 2005) Live At The Velvet Lounge 2007 (Estrad Poznanska)
