The Squid's Ear Magazine


Boneshaker (Mars Williams / Paal Nilssen-Love /  Kent Kessler): Thinking Out Loud (Trost Records)

The third album from this international trio of powerful improvisers--Norwegian drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love, Chicago bassist Kent Kessler, and Chicago/NY saxophonist Mars William-- in four odysseys that take the listener from introspective playing to out and out blowing, using technique to serve their incredible dialog.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Mars Williams-reeds, toy instruments

Paal Nilssen-Love-drums, percussion

Kent Kessler-bass


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UPC: 9120036682429

Label: Trost Records
Catalog ID: TROST 158CD
Squidco Product Code: 24720

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2017
Country: Austria
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
No recording data listed.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Boneshaker are Mars Williams (reeds, toy instruments), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums, percussion) and Kent Kessler (bass), three prolific powerhouse musicians, carrying among them a Grammy nomination and decades of experience with the top ensembles in the world. Thinking Out Loud is their third album."-Trost

Also available on vinyl LP.

"Boneshaker is a small yet very powerful group in which drummer and percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love is involved. Nilssen-Love who's playing with 'everyone' on the free jazz scene (The Thing, Frode Gjerstad Trio, Large Unit, Pan-Scan Ensemble) seem to have a bit more hours in a day than the rest of us. In addition to being part of an impressive number of small and big groups, he's also running his own record label; PNL Records and is a co-organizer of the annual All Ears festival in Oslo, Norway.

In Boneshaker PNL is joined by Mars Williams on reeds and toy instruments and Kent Kessler on bass. Mars who's impressive CV reveals a grammy nominated musician with collaborations spanning across a broad range of genres and artists. On the free jazz scene he has played with Peter Brötzmann, Mats Gustafsson, Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark just to mention a selected few. He can be heard with the Vandermark 5, Chicago Reed Quartet but also with the grammy nominated group 'Liquid Soul' who's 20+ years history is well worth considering.

Last but definitely not least bass player Kent Kessler who can be heard on many highly regarded albums reviewed here on FJB (DEK Trio, Rodrigo Amado, and Peter Brötzmann's Tentet) and who I must admit I haven't paid enough attention to.

The album kicks starts with PNL leading the way on the 14 minute song 'Brain Freeze' and then it just takes off. Boneshaker truly makes the bones shake. This is full throttle free jazz right from the start. Variations in tempo, short improvised melody lines with the trio traveling together with sudden bursts of energy, all comes together in an intense mix. But suddenly they seem to run out of notes and Kessler is left alone. Slowly but surely he's painting a relaxed picture of sounds up and down the scale. Then Nilssen-Love and Williams joins in. They're tip-toeing carefully through the soundstage as to not awaken the beast. I'm like a cat on hot bricks waiting for things to explode. I've heard these musicians before. They're not afraid of waiting for just the right moment for the hammer to fall. But I'm left wondering if this was their intention. The song stops. Baffling!

The second song, 'Puffy Fluffy' brings me back to reality immediately. Kessler, Williams and Nilssen-Love gives me an exhausting 6 minute show-down. It's like three trains going full speed ahead as a unified whole, yet each on its own track. During the last minute they ascend to the surface and slowly come to a halt.

The third track; 'Salty Fruity' is a different creature entirely. It starts off dark, with bells, cracks and chirps. Kesslers bow provides a dark foundation beneath it all. Then there's suddenly what sounds like a dentist drill (scary!) and more trills, cheeps and warbling. We're taken to a very dark place and I'm left alone waiting for what will come next. A sad melody line from Williams travels through thin air but only briefly. Nilssen-Love takes the song into a different direction. Williams joins back to the changed scenery. And then the trio are all dancing together. I'd say this is free and improvised music when it is at its very best. Unexpected turns, changes in tempo, intensity and in character.

The fourth and final song on this album is the 5 minute 'Wabi-Sabi'. This has Williams presenting questions or perhaps statements over the first minute. PNL provides both structure but also dissonance yet without disturbing Williams who comes into full bloom half-way through the performance. Boneshaker ends this great album vibrating and shivering at a calmer pace. Highly recommended."-Gustav Lindqvist, The Free Jazz Collective


Get additional information at The Free Jazz Collective

Artist Biographies

"Mars Williams is an open-minded musician, composer and educator who commutes easily between free jazz, funk, hip-hop and rock, Mars has played and recorded with The Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, Massacre, Fred Frith, Bill Laswell, Ministry, Power Station, Die Warzau, The Waitresses, Kiki Dee, Pete Cosey, Billy Squier, DJ Logic, Wayne Kramer, John Scoffield, Charlie Hunter, Kurt Elling, Swollen Monkeys, Mike Clark, Jerry Garcia, Naked Raygun, Friendly Fires, The Untouchables, Blow Monkeys and virtually every leading figure of Chicago's and New York City's "downtown" scene.

John Zorn credits Mars as "one of the true saxophone players--someone who takes pleasure in the sheer act of blowing the horn. This tremendous enthusiasm is an essential part of his sound, and it comes through each note every time he plays. Whatever the situation, Mars plays exciting music. In many ways he has succeeded in redefining what versatility means to the modern saxophone player."

In 2001 Mars received a Grammy Nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Record with his group Liquid Soul.

Despite his busy touring schedule with Liquid Soul and The Psychedelic Furs, Mars manages to stay active on the Chicago underground improvising scene. In recent years he has toured and recorded with the Peter Brötzmann Tentet, Switchback, Full Blast, Scorch Trio, the Vandermark 5, Boneshaker, Chicago Reed Quartet and Cinghiale, teaming him with such musicians as Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang, William Parker, Ikue Mori, Kent Kessler, Fredric Lonberg Holm, Peter Brotzmann, Joe McPhee, Paal Nilssen-Love, Ab Baars, Mike Reed, Jeb Bishop, Harrison Bankhead, Dave Rempis, Kidd Jordan and Matts Gustafson.

He performs weekly in Chicago along with Jim Baker, Steve Hunt, and Brian Sandstrom in the improvising quartet "Extraordinary Popular Delusions". As a bandleader, he continues to perform and record CDs with his own free-jazz groups, the NRG Ensemble, Witches & Devils, Slam, XmarsX, Mars Trio, Boneshaker and The Soul Sonic Sirkus which features improvising musicians and aerial circus performers. Along with Die Warsau's Van Christie, Mars has started Ratking Music, a production company focusing on music for film and television.

In addition to performing and creating music, Mars has been an educator in the field of woodwinds and jazz improvisation for over thirty years. Mars held the position of Woodwind Instructor at Bard College for two years. In the last few years Mars has presented Master classes and clinics to a number of private and public institutions including, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the University of Chicago, Roosevelt University (Chicago, IL), and June Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art (Auburn, AL)."

-Mars Williams Website (http://www.marswilliams.com/about/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Paal Nilssen-Love was born in Molde, Norway, Dec 24. 1974, and raised at a jazz club in Stavanger, run by his parents. It was natural to choose his fathers drums as his instrument and jazz as his work. From 1990 on he took actively part in the jazz milieu in Stavanger and joined bands with established musicians such as trumpeter Didrik Ingvaldsen and saxophonist Frode Gjerstad. In many ways, these collaborations were essential as they pointed out the directions for Paal's later musical development and career. During his studies at the Jazz dept at the University in Trondheim, where the first self initiated bands were established, things developed really fast - and Paal was nationally acknowledged at the age of 20.

The forming of the quartet Element in 1993 in many ways represented the start of a new phase in Paal's musical life. Element musically became a platform for several other groups with bassist Flaten and pianist Wiik, and lead to collaborations with Iain Ballamy and Chris Potter, amongst others. Paal moved to Oslo in 1996, where he joined and/or took part in the forming of bands like Vindaloo, SAN, Håkon Kornstad Tio, The Quintet and Frode Gjerstad Trio. He later on got more into self initiated projects and collaborations with Swedish musicians, such as pianist Sten Sandell and saxophonist Mats Gustafsson.

Paal played his first solo concert in 1999, and since then the solo concept has been an important part of his work: "Everyone should try doing some solo work, just to feel who you really are and what gets you going". His solo album "Sticks and stones" was put out in 2001 on SOFA Rec.

Being active in several bands at the same time has always been Paal's deliberate working method. He is constantly conscious about the projects he is in, as his participation in each and one of them is fully dedicated. Playing is not about getting from start to goal, but rather being in an everlasting process, a continuous movement where each new piece of music performed is a prolongation of the latest. Hence, keeping focused and concentrating all energy around what's happening there and then is of greatest importance - as is the freedom in the music, the ability of being free within the expression.

All bands, although various styles and musical versatility in general, represent important pieces that make up a total, and all bands are formed or joined with a clear vision. Today Paal's portfolio includes Atomic, School Days, The Thing, Frode Gjerstad Trio, Sten Sandell Trio, Scorch Trio, Territory Band, FME, and various duo projects such as with reedmen Ken Vandermark, John Butcher, Mats Gustafsson, organist Nils Henrik Asheim and noise wizard Lasse Marhaug. And not to forget the recently joined Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet."

-Paal Nilssen-Love Website (http://www.paalnilssen-love.com/biography.php)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Kent Kessler (born January 28, 1957 in Crawfordsville, Indiana) is an American jazz double-bassist, best known for his work in the Chicago avant-garde jazz scene.

Kessler, born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, grew up on Cape Cod and began playing trombone at age ten. He and his family moved to Chicago when he was 13, and a few years later Kessler became intensely interested in jazz. While attending St. Mary Center for Learning High School, he began taking lessons from Kestutis Stanciauskas (Streetdancer) in electric bass and jazz theory in the middle of the 1970s. In 1977 he formed the ensemble Neutrino Orchestra with percussionist Michael Zerang and guitarists Dan Scanlan and Norbert Funk. He spent three months in Brazil during 1980-81 and spent time studying intermittently at Roosevelt University in Chicago; he and Zerang also formed a group called Musica Menta, which played regularly at Link's Hall.

Kessler began playing double bass in the 1980s and it became his primary instrument when he was asked in 1985 to join the NRG Ensemble, who toured Europe and recorded for ECM Records under the leadership of Hal Russell until his death in 1992. In 1991, he gigged with Zerang and guitarist Chris DeChiara; in need of a hornist, they called Ken Vandermark, who had been considering leaving the Chicago scene. Kessler and Vandermark would go on to collaborate extensively on free jazz and improvisational projects such as the Vandermark 5, the DKV Trio and the Steelwool Trio. In the 1990s and afterwards he worked with Chicago musicians such as Hamid Drake, Fred Anderson, and Joe McPhee, and also with European musicians such as Peter Brötzmann, Mats Gustafsson, Misha Mengelberg, and Luc Houtkamp.

In 2003, Kessler released a solo album, Bull Fiddle, on Okka Disk. Kessler performs alone on nine of the twelve tracks, and with Michael Zerang on three."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Kessler)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Brain Freeze 14:12

2. Puffy Fluffy 06:01

3. Salty Fruity 16:11

4. Wabi Sabi 05:19

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation and Experimental Forms
Chicago Jazz & Improvisation
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
Trost Records.


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