Another in an occasional series…
Gebhard Ullmann/Chris Dahlgren/Jay Rosen, Cut It Out (Leo Records)
The German woodwind maestro with bassist Chris Dahlgren and drummer Jay Rosen. Dahlgren stirs it up electronically; Ullmann focuses solely on bass clarinet and bass flute. Truly odd, truly wonderful.
Sam Rivers/Adam Rudolph/Harris Eisenstadt, Vista (Meta Records)
How this one got away from me in ’04 I can’t say. But I’m glad I’m hearing it now. Seven exploratory, collectively composed, crisp-sounding tracks, with the great Rivers at his freest on saxes and flute, Rudolph on hand drums and Eisenstadt on drumset.
SF Jazz Collective 2 (Nonesuch)
This didn’t end up on my 2006 year-end list but probably should have. A worthy follow-up to the supergroup’s 2005 self-titled debut, with some different personnel. Anything featuring pianist Renee Rosnes is worth checking out. Especially when she’s with Josh Redman and Miguel Zenon on saxes, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Isaac Smith on trombone, the master Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, the young and underrated Matt Penman on bass and the emerging force Eric Harland on drums. Band originals, plus three interesting Coltrane arrangements (“Moment’s Notice,” “Naima,” “Crescent”).
Marc Copland with Gary Peacock & Bill Stewart, Modinha (Pirouet Records)
Thomas Rückert with Matthias Pichler & Jochen Rückert, Blue In Green (Pirouet Records)
Two delightful piano trio records from a Munich-based label worth watching.
Sylvain Luc, Joko (Dreyfus Records)
Wolfgang Muthspiel & Brian Blade, Friendly Travelers (Material Records)
Two somewhat overlooked virtuoso guitarists from Europe, doing interesting things with sound-on-sound and exploring lush terrain on electric and acoustic instruments. Muthspiel’s outing with the visionary drummer Brian Blade will prove one of the remarkable duo sets of the year.
[Update: Romero Lubambo’s overdub-heavy solo-guitar disc Softly (MaxJazz) bears a family resemblance to the two records above. So does the duo outing Storybook (Jazz Compass), by LA-based plectrist Larry Koonse and bassist Darek Oles.]
“Composer Portraits: Frank Zappa” at Miller Theatre, NY, Feb. 2
Astounding virtuosity and insight from the Fireworks Ensemble led by bassist Brian Coughlin, as well the Zephyros Winds and a chamber orchestra under the baton of Jeffrey Milarsky. The first half featured sonorous yet grotesque music for winds, then strings, then orchestra. The second half opened with three versions of Zappa’s notorious “The Black Page” and continued in more of a rock vein. Highlight? The woodwind pieces “Times Beach II” and “Times Beach III,” the former for contrabassoon, bass clarinet, French horn, oboe, clarinet and flute. I wondered about “Times Beach I” and found an explanation in the program: Zappa premiered the complete work in 1985, but “the first movement was literally impossible to play … and has not been attempted since.”
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