There can't be too many tenor / bass clarinet and vibes duos although Jason Adasiewicz has just released his second such disc, this time trading blows with fellow Chicagoan Keefe Jackson as opposed to Peter Brotzmann. I've been waiting for "Row and rows" to be released for a number of weeks now and it eventually landed on my doormat this evening. I've never been struck by Brotzmann even though he frequently keeps the company of the kind of musicians I enjoy. Keefe Jackson is pretty new to me although I have heard him previously in a Frank Rosaly group.
"Rows and rows" is probably a lot more introspective than anything BP would be likely to record but I think it still remains a pretty uncompromising duo record. No mainstream label would dare put something out like this but this follows on from earlier examples on Delmark like Josh Berman's "A dance hop and a hop" and the Sun Room discs where unlikely trios have featured in some hugely impressive records. This approach has now been whittled down to a duo. The opening chimes of "Caballo ballo" sounds like the music to a children's TV programme from the late 1960's written by someone who had been indulging in a lot of the New Thing of that era. Keefe Jackson is a peculiar player who you might imagine sounds like an amalgam of Warne Marsh's coolness and with the worried, uncertain tone of Albert Ayler. The track is underpinned by a kind of giggy-up, giddy-up motif with both players ending up using extended techniques. It is totally unlike anything else I have heard and, like most people on this board, I don't know a great deal about Jackson. His playing is probably more approachable on the bass clarinet which owes very little to Dolphy. Adasiewizc glues the duo together.
Clarinetist James Falzone's liner notes make great play of the wider community from where these players have emerged and cites the examples of Frank Rosaly, Tim Daisy, Aram Shelton, Dave Rempis and Josh Berman who have followed in the wake of Ken Vandermark. Adasiesicz remains the most recognised, a fact not hampered by his readiness to seek out the most forward thinking players in jazz. "Rows and rows" is needs to be listened to a few times to get to grip with what is going on.
What I like about this record is that the instrumention is irrelevant. It is effectively a combination of two, like minded musicians with an obvious connection and affinity . I suppose it does straddle jazz and improve and the sounds coaxed out of the vibraphone would be alien to Bobby Hutcherson let alone Milt Jackson. the tunes aren't really be-bop and maybe more akin to the more abstact stuff that Andrew Hill composed. It is a fascinating disc with some staggering playing by JA with the ballad "A rose heading" being particularly jaw-dropping. There are elements that swing in a traditional sense yet the music remains pretty restless.
It is intriguing listening to this stuff. You wouldn't call it accessible yet I would suggest from a note by note basis, there is as much music happening on this record as Wayne Shorter's quartet on a good day, In short, a really rewarding listen.
"Rows and rows" is probably a lot more introspective than anything BP would be likely to record but I think it still remains a pretty uncompromising duo record. No mainstream label would dare put something out like this but this follows on from earlier examples on Delmark like Josh Berman's "A dance hop and a hop" and the Sun Room discs where unlikely trios have featured in some hugely impressive records. This approach has now been whittled down to a duo. The opening chimes of "Caballo ballo" sounds like the music to a children's TV programme from the late 1960's written by someone who had been indulging in a lot of the New Thing of that era. Keefe Jackson is a peculiar player who you might imagine sounds like an amalgam of Warne Marsh's coolness and with the worried, uncertain tone of Albert Ayler. The track is underpinned by a kind of giggy-up, giddy-up motif with both players ending up using extended techniques. It is totally unlike anything else I have heard and, like most people on this board, I don't know a great deal about Jackson. His playing is probably more approachable on the bass clarinet which owes very little to Dolphy. Adasiewizc glues the duo together.
Clarinetist James Falzone's liner notes make great play of the wider community from where these players have emerged and cites the examples of Frank Rosaly, Tim Daisy, Aram Shelton, Dave Rempis and Josh Berman who have followed in the wake of Ken Vandermark. Adasiesicz remains the most recognised, a fact not hampered by his readiness to seek out the most forward thinking players in jazz. "Rows and rows" is needs to be listened to a few times to get to grip with what is going on.
What I like about this record is that the instrumention is irrelevant. It is effectively a combination of two, like minded musicians with an obvious connection and affinity . I suppose it does straddle jazz and improve and the sounds coaxed out of the vibraphone would be alien to Bobby Hutcherson let alone Milt Jackson. the tunes aren't really be-bop and maybe more akin to the more abstact stuff that Andrew Hill composed. It is a fascinating disc with some staggering playing by JA with the ballad "A rose heading" being particularly jaw-dropping. There are elements that swing in a traditional sense yet the music remains pretty restless.
It is intriguing listening to this stuff. You wouldn't call it accessible yet I would suggest from a note by note basis, there is as much music happening on this record as Wayne Shorter's quartet on a good day, In short, a really rewarding listen.
Comment