The Squid's Ear Magazine


OGJB Quartet, The: Ode To O (Tum)

The second release from the New York-based OGJB Quartet of Oliver Lake on alto saxophone, Graham Haynes on cornet & electronics, Joe Fonda on double bass and Barry Altschul on drums & percussion, an exceptional band of masterful and legendary improvisers each contributing compositions for the album along with two collective improvisations; solid and superb.
 

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Personnel:



Oliver Lake-alto saxophone

Graham Haynes-cornet, electronics

Joe Fonda-double bass

Barry Altschul-drums, percussion


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UPC: 6430015280588

Label: Tum
Catalog ID: TUMR58.2
Squidco Product Code: 31428

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: Finland
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels w/ booklet
Recorded at the Sear Sound Studios in Manhattan, New York City, on June 7th and 8th, 2019 by Jon Rosenberg and Owen Mulholland.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"The names of renowned saxophonist Oliver Lake and drummer Barry Altschul have adorned progressive, improvised, free jazz recordings since the form's beginning in the late '60s while cornetist Graham Haynes and bassist Joe Fonda have followed this path since the late '70s. Each is a bandleader, making the OGJB Quartet one of the strongest units in improvised music. Ode to O is the follow-up to their 2019 debut, Bamako, and, like that one, features compositions from all four members. The name, in fact, is an acronym drawn from each member's first name. The album is named after Altschul's composition, the opener, "Ode to O," a melody that came to him in a dream after hearing of Ornette Coleman's passing in 2015. The album also nods to the great violinist Billy Bang, another premiere improviser, with Altschul's tune "Da Bang." While their debut was totally acoustic, this one features Haynes incorporating electronics on one of his two compositions, "The Other Side" and in the collective improvisation "OGJB #4."

As a quick aside both this release and wonderful trio release, Blues 2 Cecil, from Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, and Enrico Rava, also covered on these pages, are on the TUM label from Finland which specializes in both works from leading Finnish artists and highly improvised music, shunned by commercial labels. It's a great home for projects like these.

The collective experience of these four artists forms undeniable chemistry. Following the title track, which is one of the more melodic ones as Lake and Haynes weave aggressive, riveting lines over steady rhythms, the group then takes on the Oliver Lake composed "Justice," making passionate pleas in the spirit of Max Roach's groundbreaking "We Insist" from 1960. It's as if every member amps up with rhythms bubbling more, and Lake and Haynes often trade the melodic for angry fire in their exclamatory cries. The Fonda-penned "The Me Without Bella," gets a more somber, reflective treatment in various passages that ruminate on the departure of a loved one. The bassist's bow work shines here as does the group's collective ability to build drama over twelve plus minutes, deftly using space to create both calm and highly charged passages. The music is a combination of music from Bela Bartok's String Quartets and Fonda's own music. Thus, its title.

"Da Bang" is repurposed here, having first been featured by the FAB Trio in 2008 and included on Billy Bang's final recording, 2011's Da Bang! also on the TUM label. The piece is designed as a catalyst for improvising, begun by Altschul's frenetic kit work, followed by an ensemble passage that makes way first for Haynes, then Fonda, and Lake, each delivering vigorous statements to continuing feverish percussion of Altschul before the ensemble grandly takes it out.

There's an interesting anecdote regarding Hayne's composition, "The Other Side." It's named for the Orson Welles film The Other Side of the Wind, which had recently been completed and released posthumously around the time of the recording session, about 35 years after Welles' death. The piece was composed specifically for this quartet and has electronic effects, with Haynes using backward delay effects on his horn to create some daunting and downright menacing tones as Altschul specifically conjures angry, stormy winds with his drum and cymbal attack. Naturally, this leads to slightly calmer moments in Altschul's "Caring," a truncated version of a piece that first appeared on the drummer's 1977 You Can't Name Your Own Tune as part of a longer tune "For Those Who Care."

"OGJB #3" and "OGJB #4" are collective improvisations where the members demonstrate their superb chemistry, moving in unanticipated directions, around curves, ascending peaks and descending into valleys as the music constantly shifts. We again hear Haynes's electronics in the "#4." Sandwiched between is the Lake composed "Bass Bottom," a brief piece with colorful point-counterpoint statements from the two horns over Fonda's plucking. The closer is Haynes' "Apaixonado" which means "in love" in Portuguese, perhaps reflecting the cornetist's relocation to Brazil upon marriage. His playing evokes passion, buttressed by the busy Altschul and Fonda rhythm tandem and punctuated by brief articulations from Lake.

OGJB take in both a wide swath of sound and emotion as they journey into startling, ever-unpredictable territory. While only one song is directly dedicated to Ornette Coleman, the spirit of Coleman's free expression prevails throughout, as if to form a more contemporary but less direct version of the acclaimed quartet Old and New Dreams from the late '70s and '80s, who directly channeled Coleman's music."-Glide Magazine


Get additional information at Glide Magazine

Artist Biographies

"Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer and poet. He is known mainly for alto saxophone but he also performs on soprano and flute.

During the 1960s Lake worked with the Black Artists Group in St. Louis. In 1977 he founded the World Saxophone Quartet with David Murray, Julius Hemphill, and Hamiet Bluiett. He has worked in the group Trio 3 with Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille. He is the father of drummer Gene Lake.

Lake has been a resident of Montclair, New Jersey."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Lake)
3/27/2024

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

"Graham Haynes (born September 16, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer. The son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes, Graham is known for his work in nu jazz, fusing jazz with elements of hip hop and electronic music.

With aspirations to push jazz beyond its traditional boundaries, Graham Haynes' first foray into electronic music came in 1979 upon meeting alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. Together, they formed a band called Five Elements, which launched an influential group of improvisers called M-Base Collective. After the formation of his own ensemble Ð Graham Haynes and No Image Ð and the subsequent release of an album (What Time It Be?), Haynes would spend the balance of the 1980s studying a wide range of African, Arabic and South Asian Music. After a move to France in 1990, Haynes incorporated these far-off influences into his next two releases Ð Nocturne Parisian and Griot's Footsteps.

Haynes returned to New York City in 1993 to take advantage of the flourishing Hip-Hop scene; and the resulting album was the sample heavy Transition. After the release of yet another hybridized album Ð 1996's Tones For The 21st Century Ð Haynes discovered drum 'n' bass and began working with some of the genres finest DJs and producers in London and the U.S. This manifested in the release of 2000s BPM, a fusion of drum n' bass beats with the classical music of Richard Wagner.

Over the years, Haynes has kept busy with several critically acclaimed multimedia projects, composed the score for films Flag Wars and The Promise, and lectured at New York University, while receiving two nominations for the prestigious Alpert Award For The Arts. He has collaborated with artists such as Roy Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Vernon Reid, Meshell Ndegeocello, The Roots, David Murray, George Adams, Ed Blackwell, Bill Laswell, Steve Williamson, and Bill Dixon.

He is featured on Vijay Iyer's 2017 ECM album, Far From Over."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Haynes)
3/27/2024

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

"Joe Fonda is a composer, bassist, recording artist, interdisciplinary performer, producer and educator.

An accomplished international Jazz artist, Fonda has performed with his own ensembles throughout the United States ,Canada , Europe and Asia. He has collaborated and performed with such artists as Anthony Braxton ,Archie Shepp, Ken McIntyre, Lou Donaldson, Bill and Kenny Barron, Leo Smith, Perry Robinson, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, , Bill Dixon, Han Bennink, Bobby Naughton, Xu Fengia, Randy Weston, Gebhard Ullmann, Carla Bley, Carlo Zingaro, Barry Altschul, Billy Bang.

Fonda was the bassist with the renowned Anthony Braxton sextet, octet, tentet, from 1984 through 1999. Fonda also sat on the Board of Directors from 1994 to 1999, and was the President from 1997 to 1999 of the newly formed Tri-Centric Foundation. He has also performed with the 38-piece Tri-Centric orchestra under the direction of Anthony Braxton, and was the bassist for the premiere performance of Anthony Braxton's opera, Shalla Fears for the Poor, performed at the John Jay Theater in New York, New York, October 1996.

As a composer, Fonda has been the recipient of numerous grants and commissions From Meet the Composer New York and the New England Foundation on the Arts . He has released twelve recordings under his own name. (Reviews and recordings available). Fonda was also a member of The Creative Musicians Improvisors Forum directed by Leo Smith, and was the bassist with the American Tap Dance Orchestra in New York City, directed by world renowned tap dancer, Brenda Bufalino.

In 1989, Fonda performed with Fred Ho's Jazz and Peking opera in its world premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. From 1982 to 1986 Fonda was the bassist and dancer with the Sonomama Dance Company. An independent producer since 1978, Fonda is the founding director of Kaleidoscope Arts an interdisciplinary performance ensemble and is the producer and musicial director for the Connecticut Composers and improvisors Festival from 2001 to 2011.

Currently Fonda has been recording and touring extensively with the Fonda-Stevens Group, Conference Call , The Fab Trio, The Nu Band and Bottoms Out , with performances at the Bim huis in Amsterdam, Holland, Prague Jazz Festival, Czech Republic, Jazz Halo Festival, Belgium, Jazz Festival Thurinsen, Weimer, Germany, Berlin Jazz Festival Berlin Germany , Jazz Im Agusto Festival Lisbon Portugal, Natt Jazz Festival Bergen Norway, The Vision Festival New York, New York, Jazz and More Festival Sibiu Romania, Bakau Jazz Festival ,Azerbijan, Tondela Jazz Festival Tondala portugal , Vancouver Jazz Festival ,Vancouver Canada, Guelph Jazz Festival ,Guelph Canada .

Two of Fonda's most recent projects are From the Source, The Off Road Quartet.

From the Source is a group that incorporates the tap dancing and poetry of Brenda Bufalino and the healing arts of Vicki Dodd, and four jazz musicians. The group has released their first CD entitled, Joe Fonda and From the Source, on Konnex Records.

The Off Road Quartet is comprised of four musicians from four different countries. Ux Fengia from Beijing China , Carlos Zingaro from Lisbon Portugal , Lucas Niggle from Zurich Switzerland and Joe Fonda New York USA. The Off Road Quartet blends the musics from all four of these musicians cultures into a unique musicial and visual experence."

-Joe Fona Website (http://joefonda.com/biography)
3/27/2024

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

"Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, New York City)[1] is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who gained fame in the late 1960s with the pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea.

Altschul, having initially taught himself to play drums, studied with Charlie Persip during the 1960s. In the latter part of the decade, he performed with Paul Bley. In 1969 he joined with Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton to form the group Circle. At the time, he made use of a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments, which he integrated seamlessly in a whirlwind of sound.

In the 1970s Altschul worked extensively with Anthony Braxton's quartet featuring Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, and George Lewis. Braxton, signed to Arista Records, was able to secure a large enough budget to tour with a collection of dozens of percussion instruments, strings and winds. In addition to his participation in ensembles featuring avant-garde musicians, Altschul performed with Lee Konitz, Art Pepper and other "straight ahead" jazz performers.

Altschul also made albums as a leader, but after the mid-1980s he was rarely seen in concert or on record, spending much of his time in Europe. Since the 2000s, he has become more visible, with two sideman appearances on the CIMP label with the FAB trio (with Billy Bang and Joe Fonda), the Jon Irabagon Trio recording "Foxy", and the bassist Adam Lane. Altschul has played or recorded with many musicians, including Roswell Rudd, Dave Liebman, Barre Phillips, Denis Levaillant, Andrew Hill, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, and Lee Konitz."-Wikipedia

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Altschul)
3/27/2024

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


Track Listing:



1. Ode to O 6:56

2. Justice 5:26

3. The Me without Bella 12:27

4. Da Bang 9:10

5. The Other Side 6:58

6. Caring 5:00

7. OGJB #3 3:55

8. Bass Bottom 2:40

9. OGJB #4 5:14

10. Apaxionado 5:10

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Quartet Recordings
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