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The second album from New York trumpeter Peter Evan's band Being and Becoming stretches out his concepts in five extended works that dovetails superb contemporary jazz integrating extended techniques and solid vibraphone work with beautifully rich and explorative passages, masterfully performed with Joel Ross (vibes), Nick Jozwiak (bass) and Michael Shekwoaga (drums). ... Click to View


Peter Evans Being & Becoming (Evans / Ross / Jozwiak / Ode):
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Charles Mingus:
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Federico Ughi (w / Leo Genovese / Brandon Lopez):
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Federico Ughi (w / Leo Genovese / Brandon Lopez):
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The first album under 577 label leader and drummer Federico Ughi's name in five years brings together the incredible bass skills of Brandon Lopez and expansive Argentinean keyboard sonics of Leo Genovese, the first of two planned volumes recorded in the studio for a boundary-less album of acoustic and electric improv influenced by the music and philosophy of Sun Ra. ... Click to View


Sven-Ake Johansson / Alexander Von Schlippenbach:
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Musicworks:
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Winter 2024 issue of Canada's premiere new music magazine, with Saxophonist Andrew MacKelvie on the cover; plus features on Indonesia's Music Subculture; Sonny-Ray Day Ride; Solidaridad Tango; A History of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble; plus album reviews, essays and a CD of tracks from artists covered in the magazine. ... Click to View


Witches & Devils (Williams / Vandermark / Lonberg-Holm):
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Before his ecstatic Xmas series, An Ayler Xmas, Chicago saxophonist Mars Williams led the Witches & Devils quintet of Mars Williams on reeds, Ken Vandermark on reeds, Jim Baker on keyboards, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and Kent Kessler on bass, an incredible and passionate free jazz group paying tribute to the music of Albert Ayler, heard live at The Empty Bottle in 1997. ... Click to View


Simulacrum:
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Peter Brotzmann / Paal Nilssen-Love:
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Peter Brotzmann / Paal Nilssen-Love:
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Often performing together as a duo after their initial 2004 Chicago Tentet encounter, drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen and multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann typically released albums of live performances, this 2015 studio date in Antwerp unique in their catalog, an exemplary set of recordings, particularly with Brötzmann on a new contra-alto clarinet and Paal adding gongs to their improvisations. ... Click to View


Jean Derome:
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Concepts of community, dialog, sharing and transmission, or "recontre", are the linking ideas between these four works commissioned of Montreal composer and wind player Jean Derome, developed for four Quebec ensembles, these pieces combine contemporary and improvisational forms, the scores shaped by constraints from the combinatorial mathematics of Marin Mersenne. ... Click to View


Giuseppe Doronzo / Andy Moor / Frank Rosaly:
Futuro Ancestrale (Clean Feed)

Having worked together in other collaborations, this was the first meeting as a trio by Giuseppe Doronzo on baritone sax & Iranian bagpipe, Andy Moor on electric guitar and Frank Rosaly on drums, performing live at BIMHUIS in Amsterdam for a contemplatively charged set of unorthodox instrumental approaches using contemporary improv attitudes through structured and collective playing. ... Click to View


Norbert Pfammatter / Florestan Berset / Francesco Losavio:
A Vol D'Oiseau (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

The Swiss guitar trio of Florestan Berset on electric guitar with Norbert Pfammatter on drums and Francesco Losavio on double bass perform a mix of lyrical compositions from Berset, along with lyrically inclined collective improvisation from the group, each player bringing unique approaches to their instruments in a highly compatible set of conversations. ... Click to View



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  Alexander von Schlippenbach & Aki Takase 
  Live at Cafe Amores  
  (NoBusiness) 


  
   review by John Eyles
  2019-05-14
Alexander von Schlippenbach & Aki Takase: Live at Cafe Amores (NoBusiness)

This husband-and-wife duo was recorded live in concert at Café Amores in Hofu City, Yamaguchi, Japan, in August 1995, but the album had never been released until this 2018 issue, as part of the NoBusiness label's Chap Chap series. Although Alex von Schlippenbach and Aki Takase have recorded together in various formats every few years, there are only two previous releases of them playing as a duo, Piano Duets — Live in Berlin 93/94 (FMP, 1995) and Iron Wedding (Intakt, 2008). As Live at Café Amores was recorded during a tour to promote Piano Duets — Live in Berlin 93/94, it is unsurprising that the two have several compositions in common, notably the Schlippenbach pieces "The Morlocks" and "Na, Na, Na, Na...Ist das der Weg?", Frank Zappa's "You Are What You Is" and Monk's "Misterioso" and "Existence", while neither shares any pieces with Iron Wedding.

A significant difference between Live at Café Amores and the two previous duo albums is that on them Schlippenbach and Takase played two separate Steinway grand pianos whereas, because Café Amores was only big enough to accommodate one piano, on the Japan album the two played side by side. All the tracks on the previous album were duos, while Live at Café Amores includes a solo piece from each pianist, three-minutes of jaunty ragtime from Takase on "Lulu's Back to Town" and, in contrast, the thirteen-minute "Jackhammer" from Schlippenbach, on which he roams free, delivering an imaginative, energetic improvisation of which Cecil Taylor would have been proud.

The duo tracks are the beating heart of this release, as they feature Schlippenbach and Takase locked together in performances that burst with energy, and easily match those on the Berlin album. Although seated adjacent to one other (with Schlippenbach at the lower end), they never seem to get in each other's way but straightaway, on "Na Na Na ist das der Weg", co-operate so effectively that they sound as if their four limbs are controlled by just one brain. If anything, their physical proximity aids communication and adds verve to their playing. The Zappa composition is taken at a pace which makes the Berlin version sound lethargic by comparison, a comment which applies to all the tracks where such comparisons are possible. The album's grand finale is an extended version of "The Morlocks", in which prepared piano figures prominently; generally, in Japanese venues, performances with prepared piano are hardly allowed but in this instance the club owner, Takeo Suetomi, gave permission and Schlippenbach and Takase put a metal pizza plate inside the instrument. As a result, "The Morlocks" begins with a sound which resembles a broken threshing machine and is just loud enough to drown out the notes being played. Gradually, the piano sound emerges from the maelstrom and, with the occasional hint of preparations, manages an exciting and highly musical performance. Altogether, a fine end to an album which is a welcome addition to the already excellent Schlippenbach-Takase oeuvre.



Alexander von Schlippenbach & Aki Takase: Live at Cafe Amores
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Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Federico Ughi (
w /
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Calling You You You,
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