Jon Irabagon: Invisible Horizon

Saxophonist Jon Irabagon has explored an immense amount of territory so far in his career such as mainstream and progressive jazz, hip hop, free improvisation and many other areas. This new two disc effort brings two of his more off-the-beaten-path projects together. CD 1, Invisible Guests, contains classical works featuring a string quartet while CD 2, Dark Horizon: Live From The Mausoleum, is a set of live solo improvisations on the mezzo soprano saxophone.

The meat of the first CD is the suite "Invisible Guests" played by the Mivos Quartet and pianist Matt Mitchell. The suite is inspired by the game of mahjongg and has constant interaction between the quartet and piano. it begins with vigorous layered turbulence from the strings eventually augmented by Mitchell's banging chords. The pianist's calm solo playing on "Heaven's Blessing" is followed by a thicket of bowed and plucked strings which eventually works itself into a delirious whirlpool. 'Benevolence, Sincerity and Devoutness" is more subdued and eerie on both sides and conjures up an atmosphere of dark romance.

The mood of the suite constantly shifts. Dense string chugging and icy piano notes mix on "Red Four." The quartet swirls around Mitchell's descending cascades on "The Dreamer" and the intricate agitation of the final movement. "Catching the Fish" eventually dissipates into wispy string echoes that make way for a final collage of motifs that includes an Asian folk melody, a tango and an Irish jig. It's an intense work that brings out the power of the quartet's playing and shows how well Matt Mitchell can fit into this kind of formal atmosphere.

This disc also includes two pieces where Irabagon himself joins the Mivos Quartet on sopranino saxophone. On the first he plays with no mouthpiece, emitting sickly whistles and scraping noises against an imposing wall of groaning strings. With the mouthpiece, his sound is a lot more forceful coming out as siren wails, lush howls, scraps of blues, shredding noise and high-pitched, bubbly runs, all making a fierce contrast to the thick string edifice.

The solo recital on the second disc is a continuation of the exploration of lesser known saxophones. Irabagon began with his exploration of solo sopranino sax on his Inaction Is An Action, (Irabbagast, 2015). This time he turns to the Conn mezzo soprano saxophone, an instrument that has not been manufactured since the 1920s.'

This performance was recorded in an actual mausoleum in Norway that produces a nineteen-second reverb. That allows Irabagon to play around with deep textures using echo and delay. His sound comes out as delirious romantic chatter in "Dark Horizon (entrance)" and shrill, pealing twists on "Dragonwort." Long interludes of creaking and spitting noises on "Forest & Field" and "Eternal Rest" are enhanced by ghostly echoes due to the reverb. On "Half A World Away" unbroken streams of single notes broken up by honks and rapid-fire stutters sound cavernous. In the midst of all this, a recognizable tune shockingly appears, "Good Old Pals," the theme for the old Little Rascals comedy shorts. Irabagon plays the melody straight the first time around, then immediately starts pulling it apart like taffy with stretched notes, pauses and dying moans.

This release shows the boundless reach of Jon Irabagon's musical curiosity. He can write strong classical music and has become one of the most interesting saxophone experimenters around, in addition to all his other credits. This is one of his more unusual releases but it is definitely worth hearing.

Track Listing: CD1 Invisible Guests: Vignette For Mouthpieceless Sopranino Saxophone And String Quartet; Invisible Guests: West Wing; Heaven’s Blessing; Benevolence, Sincerity, And Devoutness; Red Four; The Dreamer; Catching The Fish At The Bottom Of The River; Vignette For Sopranino Saxophone And String Quartet; CD2 Dark Horizon: Live From The Mausoleum: Dark Horizon (entrance); Dragonwort; Forest & Field; Holy Smoke; Good Old Days (Theme From The Little Rascals); Eternal Rest; Half A World Away; Dark Horizon (exit bow).

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

Title: Invisible Horizon | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Irabbagast Records

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Wadada Leo Smith: Rosa Parks: Pure Love

Wadada Leo Smith has been on a roll in the 2010s, recording and composing in several formats, including ambitious, long-form works such as the Pulitzer-nominated Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012,) which dealt mostly with the history of race relations in America. His latest work concentrates on one specific figure mentioned in that suite, Rosa Parks, the woman whose defiance of racial segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama triggered a bus boycott that helped spark the civil rights movement from the mid 1950s onward. Smith celebrates her with a seven song oratorio performed by varying combinations of three vocalists, a string quartet, a trumpet quartet and a drummer plus electronics, in addition to some vintage free jazz samples. 

Overall the music is stark and dramatic. The string quartet carries the majority of the instrumental load. The players fill the space, bowing in long arcs with elements of wariness and tension. Intermittent statements from the horns and drums give the music color while the voices add humanity and body. The singers take turns performing texts mostly written by Smith and each contributes a different texture and feeling. Their contrasting approaches really stand out in the section that comprises "Change It!," "The Truth," and "No Fear," accompanied by either the string quartet's edgy drones or a single, hovering viola or cello with Pheeroan AkLaff adding drum accents. 

The "Vision Dance" sections of the oratorio bring the trumpets into the picture. They interact with the strings and percussion, bubbling up from an agitated murmur on "Rosa's Blue Lake" and pealing out of a hazy weave on "Defiance." Smith steps briefly to the front for crying and calling exchanges with Graham Haynes on "A Blue Casa" and a solo on "Apartheid." In addition, Smith leads in and out of certain sections with bits of old solo recordings by himself and his partners in the early AACM group, the Creative Construction Company: Steve McCall, Anthony Braxton and Leroy Jenkins. 

This is a moving work. The dignified presentation of the singers is enhanced by the flowing tapestry of sound woven together by the various musical units. It has a spiritual beauty that is appropriate to the legacy of Rosa Parks and is yet another testament to Wadada Leo Smith's creativity.

Track Listing: Prelude: Journey; Vision Dance 1: Resistance and Unity; Rosa Parks: Mercy, Music for Double Quartet; Song 1: The Montgomery Bus Boycott - 381 Days of Fire; Song 2: The First Light, Gold; Vision Dance 2: Defiance, Justice and Liberation; Song 3: Change It!; Song 4: The Truth; Song 5: No Fear; Vision Dance 3: Rosa´s Blue Lake; Song 6: The Second Light; Vision Dance 4: A Blue Casa; Song 7: Pure Love; The Known World: Apartheid; Postlude: Victory!

Personnel: Blue Trumpet Quartet: Wadada Leo Smith: composer, trumpet; Ted Daniel: trumpet; Hugh Ragin: trumpet; Graham Haynes: cornet. Red Koral String Quartet: Andrew McIntosh: viola; Mona Tian: violin; Shalini Vijayan: violin; Ashley Walters; cello. Diamond Voices: Min Xiao-Fen, Carmina Escobar, Karen Parks: vocals. Janus Duo: Pheeroan akLatf: drum set; Hardedge: electronics. Musical excerpts: Anthony Braxton: alto saxophone (6); Leroy Jenkins: violin (7); Steve McCall, drum-set (6).

Title: Rosa Parks: Pure Love | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: TUM Records

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

The Jamie Baum Septet: Bridges

Far from prolific, Jamie Baum has recorded just four albums in the past decade. However, each recording has clearly been created because the flutist was inspired to contribute something new. Bridges is presented as six songs separated equally by the three part "Honoring Nepal: The Shiva Suite." This almost cinematic 20-minute centerpiece composition is an expansive dedication to the country and its people following the destruction and loss wrought by an earthquake just three years prior. At times regal and calm, at others ominous or triumphant, the septet captures a rich and colorful tapestry of emotions, led by Baum's impressive compositional ability. 

That same talent as composer is the very thing which elevates Bridges well above the mundane. While Baum's skill as a flutist is commendable (she was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 2015), her ability to skillfully weave together sounds from almost a dozen instruments as well as a few occasional vocalists is most impressive. Of course, it helps that she has surrounded herself once again with top-tier talent, giving her the ability to write specifically to her band member's strengths. Rather than reigning her septet in, she gives the musicians freedom to explore within the songs they've developed. This has the effect of giving the album's songs character as well as structure. 

Aside from the album's suite, a few standouts include "Joyful Lament," wherein Brad Shepik showcases his talent as a guitarist, ending the song with a 2 ½ minute solo serving as a culmination to the relentless, driving melody established before it. While the album-opening "From the Well" allows Baum a chance to weave her flute together with Sam Sadigursky's saxophone in a blustering, anxious number, pianist John Escreet plainly steals "There Are No Words." He yields an exuberant solo, giving heft to Baum's flute playing while causing the whole ensemble to seem effortless. 

Continuing to meld her Jewish, Arabic, and South Asian influences with meaningful music fashioned primarily from feelings of anguish and spiritual contemplation, Bridges is the most polished and coherent of Jamie Baum's Septet+ albums. It feels like a natural progression within her discography, offering a more impressive level of composition and arrangement than she has released yet.

Track Listing: From The Well; Song Without Words (for S. James Baum); There Are No Words; Honoring Nepal: The Shiva Suite Part 1 - The Earthquake; Honoring Nepal: The Shiva Suite Part 2 - Renewal ; Honoring Nepal: The Shiva Suite Part 3 - Contemplation; Joyful Lament; Mantra; UCross Me.

Personnel: Jamie Baum: flutes, singing bowl; Amir ElSaffar: trumpet, vocals; Sam Sadigursky: alto saxophone/bass clarinet; Chris Komer: French horn; Brad Sheik: guitar; John Escreet: piano; Zack Lober: bass, singing bowl; Jeff Hirshfield: drums; Jamey Haddad: percussion; Navin Chettri: percussion, vocals.

Title: Bridges | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Sunnyside Records

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Mat Maneri / Matthew Shipp: Conference Of The Mat/Ts

Although their paths have crossed in other ensembles, this release is a follow-up to pianist Matthew Shipp and violist Mat Maneri's initial duet release, Gravitational Systems (Hat Hut, 2000). Here, the immensely talented improvisers perform a set that emphasizes their spontaneous instincts and deep understanding of each other's sense of direction, highlighted by a laser-like focus throughout this sparkling audio production. 

The duo experiments atop a fundamental jazz base, along with chamber-like overtones. On "Conference #1" Shipp and Maneri execute stark contrasts and toggle courses between sensitive underpinnings and mild disturbances via adroit exchanges, and an ending that steers the listener toward an unresolved argument or something along those lines. No doubt, the musicians score high marks in the 'imagery' department. As other movements include nip and tuck discourses amid Maneri's shimmering staccato lines and Shipp's sonorous chord voicings and nimble right-hand soloing etudes that often encircle or deconstruct a given theme or current. 

The artists delve into some rambunctious and excitable free-jazz regimens along with mutable cadences. And they occasionally counterbalance austerity with playful detours. Although "Conference #7" is a sanguine and introspective ballad-framed work, where Maneri's arcing and overlapping notes are accentuated by Shipp's intermittent block chords, rendered within a complex storyline, swarming with an impassioned outlook. But the plot shifts during "Conference #8," which is another semi-structured improv conveyed with fleeting statements and a fast and frisky impetus, heightened by the pianist's blazing single note runs. 

Several passages feature swirling dialogues, edgy treatments and a bit of angst. Yet the musicians' near effortless advances and perceptive theme-building sprees may hide the fact that these works are largely improvised. However, when you expect master-craftsmen to perform an expert job or service, the outcomes usually meet or exceed expectations, substantiated throughout this provocative musical event.

Track Listing: Conference #1; Conference #2; Conference #3; Conference #4; Conference #5; Conference #5; Conference #6; Conference #7; Conference #8; Conference #9; Conference #10; Conference #11; Conference #12; Conference #13.

Personnel: Mat Maneri: viola; Matthew Shipp: piano.

Title: Conference Of The Mat/ts | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Rogueart Records

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Marion Brown/Dave Burrell: Live At The Black Musicians' Conference, 1981

One of the benefits of our digital music world is the ability to drive deeply into the jazz narrative. By that I mean, preserving the story of important musicians, the ones whose story was omitted from the Ken Burns' CliffsNotes history of jazz. Without a few labels and several producers, musicians like Bobby Naughton, Clifford Thornton, Jacques Coursil, and Marion Brown, might be lost forever. Well, at least to those of us who aren't avid crate digging vinyl freaks. 

Live at the Black Musicians' Conference, 1981 is not a re-issue of a long lost LP, but a time capsule sent to the future (now) to awaken adventurous listeners to music's rich history. The setting was a week-long collection of workshops, concerts, lectures at UMass Amherst coordinated by Archie Shepp and Roman Wiggins. The opening concert was this duo between Marion Brown and Dave Burrell who was a substitute for Hilton Ruiz. The pianist was not just any old stand-in. Burrell and Brown had a history together, recording together on Brown's now classic Three For Shepp (Impulse!, 1967), and the long out-of-print Juba-Lee (Fontana, 1967), and Live In Japan (DIW, 1983). In between Burrell's early years in New York performing fire music with Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders and this 1981 date, the pianist had steeped himself in the jazz tradition. He was just as comfortable with the music of Jelly Roll Morton as that of Cecil Taylor. Later he would go on to record exceptional music with saxophonist David Murray, and today has become a 21st century jazz patriarch. 

This live recording is analogous to the classic session Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (Impulse!, 1963), if not only because the pair cover two Billy Strayhorn compositions, "My Little Brown Book" and "Lush Life," but because they take it upon themselves to project maximum warmth with this music. The Strayhorn songs are cradled lovingly and performed as if the two had nothing to prove to each other or the audience. Indeed, they didn't. 

The theme constant here is a musical gentleness. Brown's "Gossip/Fortunado" is a vehicle of investigation and interplay. Brown provides momentum and Burrell accompanies, filling and expanding the spaces the music allows. The pianist draws as much from Morton as he does from Monk and Duke here, a fitting complement to Brown's matured and delicate tone. Even though both of these musicians had their sound forged in the 1960's New York free jazz fires, this reunion opted for a suspension of hostilities.

Track Listing: Gossip/Fortunado; La Placita; My Little Brown Book; Punaluu Peter; Pua Mae ’Ole; Crucificado; Lush Life.

Personnel: Marion Brown: alto saxophone; Dave Burrell: piano.

Title: Live at the Black Musicians' Conference, 1981 | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: NoBusiness Records

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.

Eric Dolphy: Musical Prophet:The Expanded 1963 New York Sessions

Eric Dolphy's Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Sessions was released as a limited-edition vinyl recording in November 2018 and a CD and digital collection two months afterward. Flautist James Newton, Jason Moran and Resonance Records aided in procuring and restoring the original tapes for this box set. The multi-instrumentalist Dolphy enjoyed only a brief recording career but this collection demonstrates a wide range of interests. Free jazz, avant-garde, mainstream, and classical influences share space in this eclectic collection. 

Disc One is the album Conversations (FM Records, 1963). Disc two is the mono Iron Man which was recorded in 1963 but not released until 1968, four years after Dolphy died (Douglas International Records). The final disc consists of outtakes from both sessions, highlighted by two versions of Dolphy's alto solo "Love Me" and an alternate take on the Dolphy-Richard Davis "Alone Together" duet. A previously unreleased bonus track, "Jim Crow" is a cross between free jazz and opera. At fifteen minutes, it is not one of Dolphy's finest moments but there are plenty of those such as Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz" and the Prince Lasha/Sonny Simmons piece "Music Matador." Simmons, the teenage trumpeter, Woody Shaw and Bobby Hutcherson offer stirring contributions. 

The two albums represent a transition period for Dolphy and even within the confines of Conversations where we hear Latin jazz, traditional and avant-garde in close proximity. But with so few years to record, Dolphy was always looking forward with one eye on the past. He began his recording career with the bebop-oriented Outward Bound (New Jazz, 1960) and never fully embraced the style again. With his final studio album Out to Lunch! (Blue Note, 1964) Dolphy shaped an avant-garde classic but with elements of free jazz and third stream in the mix. Musical Prophet highlights two somewhat overlooked albums and is a worthwhile collection for Dolphy fans.

Track Listing: Disc 1: Jitterbug Waltz; Music Matador; Love Me; Alone Together; Muses For Richard Davis (previously unissued 1); Muses For Richard Davis (previously unissued 2). Disc 2: Iron Man; Mandrake; Come Sunday; Burning Spear; Ode to Charlie Parker; A Personal Statement (previously unissued); Disc 3: Music Matador (alternate take); Love Me (alternate take 1); Love Me (alternate take 2); Alone Together (alternate take); Jitterbug Waltz; Mandrake (alternate take); Burning Spear (alternate take).

Personnel: Eric Dolphy: alto sax, flute, bass clarinet; William "Prince" Lasha: flute; Huey "Sonny" Simmons: alto sax; Clifford Jordan: soprano sax; Woody Shaw: trumpet; Garvin Bushell: bassoon; Bobby Hutcherson: vibes; Richard Davis: bass; Eddie Kahn: bass; J.C. Moses: drums; Charles Moffett: drums. Track 2-6: Bob James, piano; Roy Brooks: bass; Robert Pozar: percussion; David Schwartz: vocals.

Title: Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Sessions | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Resonance Records

Saburo K, Saitama, Japan.