Substantial creative free jazz with compositions each from trombonist Steve Swell and reedist Gebhard Ullman, recording at Park West Studio in Brooklyn with Barry Altschul on drums and Hilliard Green on double bass, the structures of their compositions providing lyrical launch points for adept free soloing, amidst unusual and masterful technique and surprising asides; exceptional!
Format: LP Condition: Sale (New) Released: 2022 Country: Lithuania Packaging: LP Recorded at Park West Studio, in Brooklyn, New York, on April 11th, 2007, by Jim Clouse.
"We're Playing In Here? is something every improvising or experimental musician must've said at some point, given the all-too-often unavoidably shoestring-run venues that tend to host the music. It's also the name of an album of impeccable contemporary acoustic jazz by the quartet of saxophonist/bass clarinetist Gebhard Ullman, trombonist Steve Swell, double bassist Hilliard Greene, and drummer Barry Altschul.
The album's five tracks, all but one of them written by Swell, strike a balance between free flights of solo improvisation and tightly scored melodies for ensemble. The post-bop swing of the opener Planet Hopping on a Thursday Afternoon leads to La Mariposa, a feature for Ullmann's vocal-like acrobatics on bass clarinet. Like Ullmann, Hilliard on this track reaches into his own instrument's upper register, which he plays with a beautifully clear articulation. Sketch #4, the third track, is like the first track driven by Altschul's propulsive swing, but at a higher velocity. The title track moves from an opening gambit of extended technique for trombone-air notes and other unpitched noises-into a loosely structured, collective polyphonic improvisation that culminates in an unexpected unison melody. The final piece, Ullmann's Kleine Figuren #1, is a high-energy piece that includes a long-lined melody and a solo for Altschul. Superb music from four superb musicians."-D Barbiero, Avant Music News