The Squid's Ear Magazine


Fragile Quartet (Moore / Fraanje / van der Feen / Hemingway): Cretan Dialogues (Ramboy)

If fragile means a thoughtful album of improvisation with a lyrical intention and sophisticated playing, then reedist Michael Moore's quartet with Harmen Fraanje on piano, Clemens van der Feen on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion shows a sublimely muscular fragilility in a lovely and extremely intelligent modern jazz album of embraceable and exemplary work.
 

Price: $16.95



Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 2.00 units

Sample The Album:





product information:

Personnel:



Michael Moore-alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, melodica

Harmen Fraanje-piano

Clemens van der Feen-bass

Gerry Hemingway-drums, percussion


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 5902249002255

Label: Ramboy
Catalog ID: 35
Squidco Product Code: 29472

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2019
Country: The Netherlands
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Splendor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on February 13th and 14th, 2019, by Marc Schots.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

A gracefully energetic album of original compositions from Amsterdam reedist Michael Moore, performed with Michael Moore on alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, melodica, Harmen Fraanje on piano, Clemens van der Feen on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion. Though "fragile" may imply a certain level of delicay, the quartet break the bonds of fragility often with quietly muscular playing, quick runs that never become histrionic, and incredible technical skill and conversational ability. Moore's compositions are cleverly spacious, yielding great moments of detailed interplay, and room for sublime soloing.



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Michael Moore was born (1954) and raised in Arcata, California, USA. After absorbing music at home, playing locally and attending The College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University, he moved to Boston to study with Jaki Byard, Gunther Schuller, Ran Blake, Joe Allard, George Russell and Joe Maneri at the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1977. After a year in New York City he travelled to Europe for the first time in the summer of 1978 to play with Available Jelly, the musical accompaniment to the Great Salt Lake Mime Troupe. Since 1982 he has made his home in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The early '80's found him working in the theater (Baal, Dogtroep, De Voorziening, Teo Joling, Mug met de Gouden Tand) and dance (Pauline De Groot, Katie Duck, Allessandro Certini, Shusaku Takeuchi and Virgilio Sieni) as well as various musical contexts such as Gijs Hendricks' Octet, Franky Douglas' Sunchild, Guus Janssen's Septet and Maarten Altena's Quartet and Octet. Later he played and recorded with the groups of Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway, Sean Bergin, Maurice Horsthuis, Georg Graewe, Klaus Konig, Burton Greene (Klezmokum), Simon Nabatov, Dave Douglas, Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, Ig Henneman and others.

In 1986 he received the Dutch jazz award, the Boy Edgar Prijs. In '97 Trio Clusone was voted #1 acoustic group (Talent Deserving Wider Recognition) in Down Beat's Critics Poll; in 2000 - 2002 Moore was voted #1 clarinetist in the same poll. He was also voted winner of the Bird Award from the Northsea Jazz Fest in 2000.

Since '91 his activities as composer and performer have been documented both on his own recording label, Ramboy, and others including hatART, Palmetto, Gramavision, Between the Lines and Red Toucan. His playing and writing are to be heard on more than 80 CDs.

His activities as a concert designer came to the fore in '93 with a commission for YoYo Ma's Carte Blanche at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; a three day festival (Moore & more) in Bremen, Germany; Clusone & friends concerts in Italy and Holland, and a three-day Available Jelly Festival at the Felix Meritus concert hall in Amsterdam. In '94 he organized three evenings at De Singel in Antwerpen with Lee Konitz, Misha Mengelberg, Joey Baron, Marilyn Crispell, Gerry Hemingway, Kenny Wheeler, Mark Feldman and others.

His more recent activities include performances with his 'Fragile' Quartet, Michael Moore Quintet, Jewels & Binoculars - play the music of Bob Dylan, Misha Mengelberg's Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, the Magpie dance and music performance group, the Achim Kaufmann Trio, Benoit Delbecq, Oskar Aichinger (music of Carla Bley and Annette Peacock) and the Paul Berner band.

Michael Moore has a deep understanding of both the American jazz and the Dutch improvised music traditions, but his writing and playing are also influenced by music from other cultures. He has played Turkish music with Ogüz Büyükberber and Hüsnü Senlendirici, Malinese with Toumani Diabate, Keletigui Diabate and Habib Koite, Portuguese with Fernando Lameirinhas and Cristina Branco, and Brazilian with Rogerio Bicudo, Banda Mantiqueira and Paulo Moura. The musics of Sicily, Madagascar, Istria and Indonesia have also been particularly influential. He has collaborated with and been influenced by poets and poetry, dancers and other visual artists. Michael continues to write, improvise, play and prepare new releases for Ramboy and other labels."

-Ramboy (http://www.ramboyrecordings.com/mm.htm)
3/27/2024

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

"Harmen Fraanje is a pianist, composer and educator from the Netherlands.He leads and co-leads several projects like his solo project, trio Reijseger Fraanje Sylla, a quartet with Magic Malik, Brice Soniano and Toma Gouband, a new duo with Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen, a trio with Finnish musicians Aino Peltomaa on voice and Mikko Perkola on viola da gamba and a duo with Dutch guitarist Anton Goudsmit. These groups mostly perform original works with a lot of space for improvisation.

Harmen is also very active as a sideman in various projects in the European jazz scene, like the Mats Eilertsen Trio and Michael Moore's Fragile Quartet. With these projects he frequently performs at festivals and concert venues throughout the world. Recordings of the projects he's involved in have been released by renowned record labels like ECM, Winter & Winter, Hubro Music, Challenge Jazz...Furthermore Harmen founded the label / platform 'Astropi' with Brice Soniano and Toma Gouband.

Harmen collaborated with the likes of Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner, Kenny Wheeler, Arve Henriksen, Thomas Morgan, Tony Malaby, Han Bennink, Ernst Reijseger, Trygve Seim, Jesse van Ruller, Magic Malik, Nelson Veras, Theo Bleckmann, Ben Monder, Enrico Rava, Werner Herzog, Trio Mediaeval, Hein van de Geyn, Perico Sambeat, Igor Roma, Louis Moholo, Ferenc Kovács, Rudi Mahall, Cristina Branco.

Harmen is in the faculty of the Conservatory of Amsterdam / University of the Arts Amsterdam. He is frequently invited to give workshops and masterclasses at other conservatories throughout the world."

-Harmen Fraanje Website (https://harmenfraanje.com/)
3/27/2024

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

"After some occasional drumming on various items, Clemens (1980) began singing and playing bass in the band of his older brothers (the Feenbrothers) at the age of eleven. Later on, he studied jazz and classical bass at the Conservatories of Amsterdam and Detmold (Germany) and received his Master Degree in both fields with honors.

After playing with orchestras like the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, he got back into studying and playing jazz and improvised music mainly. For that reason he lived in New York for a while to take private lessons with Ben Street and John Pattituci, among others.

In 2010 Clemens started the Clemens van der Feen Band, resulting in an album called "High Places" (2011), with as special guest the great Toots Thielemans! The year 2013 saw the birth of yet a new band, the Clemens van der Feen 4tet, and a new album: "14PM" which was called " one of the highlights of Dutch contemporary jazz..." by Jazzism Magazine.

Clemens is currently working with Tutu Puoane (SA), Dré Pallemaerts 'Seva' feat. Sebastian Gille and Pablo Held (BE/GER/NL), the Michael Moore Quartet feat. Harmen Fraanje and Gerry Hemingway (US/NL), 'Medusa Beats' featuring Jonas Burgwinkel (DE) and Benoît Delbecq (FR), the Paul Lay Trio (FR), Robin Verheyen (BE), Octurn (BE/FR), Franz von Chossy (DE/NL) and every now and then with classical groups like the New Dutch Academy, The Dutch Wind Ensemble (NBE) and the Grammy Award winning orchestra LUDWIG. In days gone by, Clemens has performed with many great international musicians such as the late Toots Thielemans, Tony Malaby, Chris Potter, Nelson Veras, Becca Stevens & Billy Hart.

Clemens has been playing all over the world, from jazz clubs in Paris and Tokyo to the Musikverein in Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York. Clemens plays on a double bass from the collection of the NMF."

-Clemens van der Feen Website (http://clemensvanderfeen.com/biography/)
3/27/2024

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

"Gerry Hemingway has led a number of quartet and quintets since the mid 1980's. In addition he has been a member of a wide array of long standing collaborative groups including Brew with Reggie Workman and Miya Masaoka, the GRH trio with Georg Graewe and Ernst Reijseger, the WHO trio with Michel Wintsch and Bänz Oester, as well as numerous duo projects with Thomas Lehn, John Butcher, Ellery Eskelin, Marilyn Crispell, and others. Mr. Hemingway is a Guggenheim fellow and has received numerous commissions for chamber and orchestral works as well as being noted for his innovative and multifaceted work as a solo performer which began in 1974. He was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet between 1983 and 1994 and is also well known for his collaborations with some of the world's most outstanding improvisers and composers including Evan Parker, Cecil Taylor, Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, Derek Bailey, Leo Smith and many others. He currently lives in Switzerland having joined the faculty of the Hochschule Luzern in 2009."

-Gerry Hemingway Website (http://www.gerryhemingway.com)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Lolapalooza 4:47

2. Fenix Blue 6:52

3. The Meliae 4:06

4. Europa 3:47

5. Doldrums 3:28

6. Leaving Paleochora 3:53

7. Euginia Uniflora 4:32

8. Pussy Willow 2:58

9. Content (For Saul Leiter) 4:14

10. Faint Of Heart 5:15

11. A Little Box Of Jazz 2:43

12. Klee 2:59

13. Rola-Turca 3:37

14. Slowly Slowly 1:48

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Free Improvisation
Quartet Recordings
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Staff Picks & Recommended Items

Search for other titles on the label:
Ramboy.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Gantar, Miha
Amsterdam [5 CD BOX SET]
(Clean Feed)
The second box set from Slovenia-born pianist Miha Gantar, named for his adopted city of Amsterdam, through five CDs presenting the many aspects of chamber-oriented, refined jazz that he composes and improvises around, with one CD each of trio and quartet settings, a CD of duos with Michael Moore, an extended solo improvisation, and a dual piano work.
Bridge, The (Amado / von Schlippenbach / Haker-Flaten / Hemingway)
Beyond the Margins
(Trost Records)
Assembled by Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, this stellar quartet bridges nations with German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, Norwegian double bass player Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, and American drummer Gerry Hemingway, presenting the extended, masterful collective title track, along with two shorter works, particularly revisiting Albert Ayler's "Ghosts".
Hemingway, Gerry
Afterlife [VINYL]
(Auricle)
Taking what he describes as a road he's never been on, percussionist and improviser Gerry Hemingway turns in an astute album of original songs, Hemingway's voice expressive on work he explains was originally influenced by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, Lou Reed or Monroe Brothers, the album developed over four years with a cast of collaborators including Ralph Alessi, Earl Howard, Michael Moore, &c.
Kimura, Izumi / Gerry Hemingway
Kairos
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
After their trio album Illuminated Silence with bassist Barry Guy, Japanese-born, Irish-based pianist Izumi Kimura and US drummer/percussionist Gerry Hemingway living in Switzerland distill their improvisations into these deeply personal, highly concentrative and masterful dialogs, in five spontaneous compositions, one work from each performer, and a traditional work.
Orquesta del Tiempo Perdido (Jeroen Kimman)
Sepk
(Shhpuma)
Fusing many styles into a strange jazz-like environment fueled by exotica, electronica, orchestral forms and unusual transitions, Dutch multi-instrumentalist & composer Jeroen Kimman, along with ten Amsterdam musicians including John Dikeman, Koen Nutters, Michael Moore and Mark Morse, present Kimman's unusual and often rubbery musical vision while continually fascinating his listeners.
Brew (Hemingway / Workman / Masaoko)
Heat / Between Reflections [2 CDs]
(Clean Feed)
Recorded two decades apart, first in 1998 as a combination of recordings in the studio and live @ The Knitting Factory, and then in 2019 in the studio, the trio of Miya Masaoka on Koto, dan bau & electronics, Reggie Workman on bass, percussion, musical saw & digeridoo and Gerry Hemingway on drums & electronics, show both their consistency and evolution as masterful, creative improvisers.
Hemingway, Gerry
Afterlife
(Auricle)
Taking what he describes as a road he's never been on, percussionist and improviser Gerry Hemingway turns in an astute album of original songs, Hemingway's voice expressive on work he explains was originally influenced by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, Lou Reed or Monroe Brothers, the album developed over four years with a cast of collaborators including Ralph Alessi, Earl Howard, Michael Moore, &c.
Day & Taxi (Gallio / Jeger / Hemmingway)
Live in Baden
(Clean Feed)
For 35 years saxophonist & composer Christoph Gallio has directed the exemplary Swiss jazz group Day & Taxi, here in a trio format with bassist Silvan Jeger and drummer Gerry Hemingway, Gallio on soprano, alto & C melody saxophones, heard in this 2021 live performance at Stadtbistro Isebahnli, in Baden, Germany for nine diverse, creative and delightfully quirky pieces.
Ming Bau Set (feat Gerry Hemingway / Vera Baumann / Florestan Berset)
Yakut's Gallop
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Meeting regularly since 2018, these three Luzern, Switzerland improvisers have developed a shared language of collective creative improv, the best known of the three being drummer & percussionist Gerry Hemingway working with two younger generation musicians, acoustic & electric guitarist Florestan Berset and vocalist Vera Baumann, here in their first wonderfully paced album.
Blaser, Samuel / Consort In Motion
A Mirror To Madchaut
(Songlines)
The Consort in Motion ensemble of Samuel Blaser on trombone, Joachim Badenhorst on bass clarinet, clarinet & tenor saxophone, Drew Gress on double bass, Russ Lossing on piano, Rhodes & Wulitzer and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion adapt the late medieval court music of Guillaume de Machaut and Guillaume Dufay into arrangements for modern creative improvisation.
Gantar, Miha
Introducing [5 CD Box]
(Clean Feed)
An introduction to Amsterdam-based, Slovenian pianist & composer Miha Gantar in a specially priced 5-CD box, performing his diverse and sophisticated compositions in a variety of configurations from solo, duo, trio, quartet & large ensemble, with notable participants including Gerry Hemingway, Christian Lillinger and Axel Dorner; liner notes by Nate Wooley.
Graewe, George / Ernst Reijseger / Gerry Hemingway
Concertgebouw Brugge 2014
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Performing together since 1989, at first frequently and now as very special events, this concert at Concertgebouw in Brugge of pianist Georg Graewe, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and drummer and marimba player Gerry Hemingway, is a superb example of the both telepathic and confidently confrontational interplay of their chamber-oriented and superbly paced improvisation.
Blaser, Samuel / Gerry Hemingway
Oostum [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
A fantastic album of free improvisation between two creative and versatile players captured live at Kerkje van Oostum, Groningen, The Netherlands in 2015--percussionist Gerry Hemingway and trombonist Samuel Blaser--both using immense talent and unorthodox approaches to their instruments as they shift from unexpected atmospheres to lyrical richness.
Tree Ear (Strinning / Troller / Hemingway)
Witches Butter
(Clean Feed)
After percussionist and composer Gerry Hemingway migrated to Luzern, Switzerland he joined forces with the creative improvising community in that city, in particular with guitarist Manuel Troller and saxophonist and bass clarinetist Sebastian Strinning, the trio taking the name Tree Ear, blending free and idiomatic improv in bold, uncommon and spellbinding ways.
Eskelin, Ellery Trio (w/ Gary Versace / Gerry Hemingway)
Willisau Live
(Hatology)
2015 recordings of tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's trio with Gary Versace on organ and Gerry Hemingway on drums, an ebullient set live at the Jazz Festival in Willisau, Switzerland, sequencing Count Basie, Victor Young, Ernie Burnett, and Thelonious Monk tunes.
Blaser, Samuel / Benoit Delbecq / Gerry Hemingway
Fourth Landscape
(Nuscope)
Trombonist Samuel Blaser leads a trio of Benoit Delbecqu (piano & keys) and Gerry Hemingway (drums & percussion) through 11 tracks that merge modern improvisation with conceptual compositional elements creating intense, introspective & intelligent music.
Graewe, Georg / Ernst Reijseger / Gerry Hemingway
Sonic Fiction
(Hatology)
Other Recommended Releases:
Taubenfeld's, Ziv Full Sun
Out Of The Beast Came Honey
(Clean Feed)
Amsterdam-based bass clarinetist Ziv Taubenfeld's sextet perform the leader's innovative compositions that include a tribute to alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, and a graphic composition for Sunny Murray, in a band with Michael Moore (sax & clarinet), Joost Buis (trombone), Nico Chientaroli (piano), Omer Govreen (double bass) and Onno Govaert (drums & percussion).
Ming Bau Set (feat Gerry Hemingway / Vera Baumann / Florestan Berset)
Yakut's Gallop
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Meeting regularly since 2018, these three Luzern, Switzerland improvisers have developed a shared language of collective creative improv, the best known of the three being drummer & percussionist Gerry Hemingway working with two younger generation musicians, acoustic & electric guitarist Florestan Berset and vocalist Vera Baumann, here in their first wonderfully paced album.
Who Trio (Wintsch / Hemingway / Oester)
Strell [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)
The collective Who Trio of pianist Michel Wintsch, bassist Bänz Oester and drummer Gerry Hemingway take on the music of Billy Strayhorn & Duke Ellington in eight studio recordings and one live performance, interpreting in a collective fashion rather than straight readings of each work, allowing a unique level of freedom to be applied to these essential jazz compositions.
Berner, Palu / Michael Moore
Amulet [2 CDs]
(Ramboy)
More uncommon than than the sax/drum duo format, reedist Michael Moore performs on clarinet and Paul Berner on contrabass, releasing this double CD of intimately recorded duos, an eclectic mix of standards and original compositions in a lovely and engaging set of lyrical and succinct expression from two eloquent and passionate improvisers.
Moore, Michael (w/ Wierbos / de Joode / Vatcher)
Felix Quartet
(Ramboy)
Recorded at the historic Bimhuis during the Felix Meritis festival, this was the first meeting of the Felix Quartet featuring frequent collaborators Michael Moore on sax & clarinet and trombonist Wolter Wierbos, with Wilbert de Joode on bass and Michael Vatcher on drums & hammer dulcimer, performing Moore's superb compositions written for this event & for these players.
Holshouser / Bennink / Moore
Live in NYC
(Ramboy)
A rollicking set of interwoven tunes and improvisations from the trio of Michael Moore on clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone & melodica, Will Holshouser on accordion, and Han Bennink on drums, performing live at Drom, in New York City in 2009 during a 2-week American tour, a joyfully upbeat and lyrical set of improvisations with exuberant drive.
Hemingway, Gerry / Barre Phillips / Michael Moore
Slips
(Ramboy)
The first four pieces of a concert at Splendor Performance Space in Amsterdam in 2019 by the free improvising trio of Michael Moore on alto sax, clarinets & bird whistles, Barre Phillips on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion, three open-minded and masterful improvisers who balance free jazz forms and non-idiomatic approaches with a chamber sensilbility.
Who Trio (Wintsch / Hemingway / Oester)
Strell
(Clean Feed)
The collective Who Trio of pianist Michel Wintsch, bassist Bänz Oester and drummer Gerry Hemingway take on the music of Billy Strayhorn & Duke Ellington in eight studio recordings and one live performance, interpreting in a collective fashion rather than straight readings of each work, allowing a unique level of freedom to be applied to these essential jazz compositions.
Kaucic, Zlatko Quintet
Morning Patches
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Using the natural resonance of the St. Martin's Church, in Smartno, Slovenia, percussionist Zlatko Kaucic leads the quintet of Michael Moore on alto sax & clarinet, Marco Colonna on clarinet & bass clarinet, Albert Cirera on tenor sax, and Silvia Bolognesi on Double Bass, in ten conversations from cinematic conversation to commandingly interactive.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC